智慧之地 · Ferdowsi 纪念馆的多功能建筑设计丨伊朗丨Ordibehesht office

Firm： Ordibehesht office

Type： Commercial › Office Cultural › Cultural Center Gallery Hall/Theater Museum

STATUS： Concept

SIZE： 10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET： $100K - 500K

Shahnameh is an epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi. This book is the national epic of the Grater Iran, so it identifies Iran and is considered an honor for the Iranians in the world. As a result, a group of Ferdowsi’s admirers founded the cultural institute of “Kheradsara Ferdowsi” (literally meaning Ferdowsi’s wisdom land) about a decade ago to maintain the supreme values embedded in Shahnameh.

The Kheradsara Ferdowsi institution needs a multifunctional, efficient, and prominent building to facilitate its actions and plans. Defining the “Kheradsara Ferdowsi building project” was based on this purpose. The design of this monumental building was put into a competition so that the designers and architects could participate. The design presented by Ordibehesht Studio was selected as honorable mention.

The Kheradsara Ferdowsi complex in Mashhad is not merely a building, but also a space that provides interaction with the city. It is an arena for the citizens and elite’s presence and communications. The idea in designing this project was to define an urban platform (called Sofeh in Iranian Architecture) in coalescence with the city and the urban space. This Sofeh’s design, its accessibility, the potential, and actual happening, and events occurring there would form the visual impression and memorability of the project in the visitor’s minds. Consequently, the Sofeh acts as an introduction of the project to the audience on an urban scale. It will adjust and modify the building’s scale compared to the city. Moreover, considering the slope and the height difference of the four corners, the needed functional spaces are located on the upper levels and underneath the Sofeh.

The gallery and exhibition spaces (temporary and permanent), educational and offices, museum and documentation center, auditorium, and related facilities, are located at the building on the Sofeh. This building has a simple cubic form with four parts. The simplicity and purity of this cube, the combination of simple materials with the cyan surfaces (inspired by the architectural ornaments and the art of Iran and Khorasan district), and the Sofeh and sunken courtyard space would visualize the Kheradsara Ferdowsi as a contemporary Iranian building in the viewer’s minds.

Location and the site’s geometry

Accesses and adjacencies

Defining the Sofeh, stairs, ramp and urban bridge and the parking entrance

Access from the kindergarten and local businesses from the Northern side

The formation of the sunken courtyard and the functional spaces underneath the Sofeh

Defining the four-part cube and the connecting ramp