9 Iran Projects Win 2A Asia Architecture Awards

Nine projects from Iran were among the winners of the second 2A Asia Architecture Award which were announced at a ceremony in Vienna last week.

The 2A Award is the most prestigious architecture prize for projects in Asia. An international jury selected 160 projects for the final round of the competition, from over 350 submissions, and awarded gold, silver and bronze prizes in a total of seven categories to 23 projects.

Organized by 2A Magazine and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the event focuses on recognizing an individual’s or group’s contribution to present-day architecture in Asia. This year’s theme was “Innovative Architecture in Asia”, Honaronline reported.

In the Residential Apartment category, ‘Saba Apartment’ designed by Reza Sayadian and Sara Kalantari was awarded the first prize and ‘Jey Shir’ designed by Hamed Moradi Aleshtar got the third prize.

In the Interior Architecture category, three projects by Iranian designers came second.

‘This is not a Cafe!’ designed by Sanaz Ghaemmaghami and Mojtaba Zaheri, ‘Parsin Dental Clinic’ by Moein Jalali and ‘Parsmilan’ by Babak Toosipour and Babak Nasirabadi were awarded silver prizes in this category.

‘IMPI Office Building’ designed by Mohammad Khavarian was ranked second jointly with works from South Korea and the UAE in the category of Future Projects / Innovative Designs.

‘Mehrshahr Villa’ designed by Hooman Balazadeh won the bronze prize in the Residential Villa category.

In the Old and New category (Reuse and Adaptation, Renovation, Restoration, Regeneration), ‘Renovation and Restoration Project of Imam Ali Square in Isfahan’ designed by Hamid Mirmiran received special acknowledgement from the jury.

The award recognizes and acknowledges architects who have engaged in creating and designing buildings and cities in Asia originating from their specific cultural and geographical localities which possess specific characteristics attributable to their local origins.

  Inspire Dialogue

The event aims to inspire an architectural dialogue among Asian and European practitioners where participants have the opportunity to explore topics such as the roots and history of their architecture, the effects of culture, history and tradition, the evolutionary process, the use of innovative technology and sustainable methods in architecture and urban planning.

In the first edition in 2015 held in Istanbul, six Iranians were among the winners, and six more received special mentions for their projects.

2A Magazine is the Middle East regional source for information regarding architecture, design and art.

Ahmad Zohadi, 47, Iranian architect, researcher and publisher, is chief editor of 2A (Architecture & Art) international (English) quarterly magazine, published from Tehran and Dubai. The magazine has a distribution in the Middle East region as well as selected countries in Europe and the Americas. It started publication in 2005.

All the nominated projects were displayed in an exhibition, October 17-22.