House of Keivanis Heads for Europe Architecture Award
TEHRAN. (Iranart) - A n architectural project named ‘Transformative House’ designed and constructed by two Iranian architects Nima and Sina Keivani, has been nominated for 2A Europe Architecture Award.
Although architects from Iran, including the Keivani brothers, have won several awards for their works at Asian events, this is the first time Iranian architects are nominated for a European award, Mehr News Agency reported.
As part of its growing activities, 2A Architecture and Art Magazine is now organizing 2A Continental Architectural Awards for Asia and Europe as an annual event. The event will highlight world achievements in architecture in terms of contemporary challenges.
According to the event’s website, the challenges include: the great diversity of design ideologies and methodologies, advanced technologies, communications and digital media, new social sensitivities, technologies in sustainability and periodic times of economic slowdown.
The number of participants in the first stage of the competition was 109, out of which 70 were announced qualified. Later 49 projects received enough scores by the three-member jury panel as worthy of winning awards.
Unique Work
Nima and Sina Keivani’s project in Latvia, in the category of Future Projects and Innovative Designs, received 18 out of the total score of 30, and is now among the finalists.
The compatibility of the building with its surrounding nature is what makes it a unique piece of architecture. “We decided to design a building that could be transformable like nature itself. The conceptual framework expects the building to transform with the change of seasons and ecological alterations and eventually adopt itself with the surrounding environment,” Keivani brothers wrote about the project in their website.
“Through the process of design, nature made us think of the ways in which a bird raises its feathers to create pockets of warm air and enhance insulation during cold winters. Subsequently, this inspiration resulted in two interrelated ideas: First, a dynamic building that can alter its form, and second, a dynamic interior design that can move and transform internally in order to create a significant spatial quality for every season,” they added.
Furthermore, to provide insulation and a better compatibility with the environmental changes, they have designed a double-skin for it. The interior plan includes dynamic cubic modules with various dimensions that can easily move on fixed rails to transform the inner spaces. The cubes differ in heights and surround the embedded central courtyards with trees and therefore provide a dynamic form even in the design sections.
Wood and Solar Panels
The outer layer of the double-skin design can open up in some parts to bring in light, and to let the cubes move easily both in and out of the initial plan border lines. The material that is used for the outer skin layer is wood covered by solar panels. In summers the cubes provide a natural circulation of the air and cool the spaces by protruding from the surface of the outer layer walls. A reverse readjustment occurs during winters while these cubes move back on the rails and retract to enclose the spaces.
Keivani Architects Studio was established in 2009 by the two architect brothers. Both Nima, 36, and Sina, 30, hold a master’s degree in architecture.
Their projects include a wide range of architecture such as residential complexes, commercial buildings and restoration of architectural heritage. Aesthetic, function, genius loci and vernacular architecture form the basis of their design process.
The awarding ceremony of the 2A Europe Architecture Award will be held on October 20, at Design Academy Berlin.