Our intervention started with two topics: the existing condition and the client's brief. The site was already framed by an eight-column and beam structure in concrete. On the one hand, the client's initial request was to design a villa with an area of approximately one hundred square meters, of slightly higher quality compared to similar constructions. However, more significant than those two points, during the site visits, an issue became apparent: the structural grid was extremely constraining circulation, creating small corridors along the north-south axis. We envisioned a scenario where the service areas were integrated into a compact volume, allowing for seamless circulation and light to permeate the villa’s walls from every side.
Driven by a clear organizational logic, the project is defined by three distinct functional zones that maintain a rigorous consistency between plan and section. This tripartite division shapes the project’s spatial experience. 1. The Service Zone: Central to the plan is a monolithic wooden volume that consolidates all utilitarian functions—kitchen, bathrooms, and closet. This multi-faceted "box" operates as a functional pivot; its "fifth facade" (the roof) is reclaimed as an elevated mezzanine for relaxation, introducing a vertical layer to the service program 2. The Living Zone: Primary living quarters—lounges, dining, and bedrooms—are arranged around this central core. These spaces prioritize a fluid, bidirectional relationship with the landscape, utilizing transparency to ensure constant visual and physical connectivity with the environment 3. The Chilling Zone: The program extends into the outdoors via an expansive entertainment area. This zone integrates an elongated platform, a swimming pool, and dedicated spaces for outdoor cinema and social gatherings, blurring the boundary between the villa and its site.
In other words, the project functions as a purification of its surroundings, achieving a transparency that only concealed the necessary private areas with curtains, much like the ease of stepping out of the shower, resolved with minimal yet effective coverings. This semi-exposed, relatable situation evokes the word “Pati” in Persian literature, which is defined in dictionaries as empty, simple, nude, naked, and obvious. It was this vision -Pati- that created the maximum project footprint with the least apparent mass. This expansion was articulated through the continuity of the ground plane via the extension of the existing concrete slab, and overhead through a lightweight, shelter-like canopy integrated into the structural beams, echoing the vernacular elements of the context. The intervention achieves habitability through a series of choices: the implementation of a double-skin roof, the floor expansion at a raised foundation level, the use of high-performance double-glazed apertures, and the application of white textiles.
This "Pati-fication" ethos flowed through every decision, from the conscious reduction in material layers within the detailing to the specifying of semi-open metal structures and furniture for outdoor spaces or masonry walls of cement block. This process evolved through a collaborative synergy with local craftsmen, pushing the boundaries of traditional construction. The project is a celebration of simplicity and honesty, as every element is revealed in its purest form.
