‘Desiging for Teheran‘ is an international competition organized by the Benetton Group and open to creatives, designers and architects, who are called upon to develop a design for two multistory buildings, called simply A and B.

Giuseppe Iodice came in third with their proposal for project A (Grzegorz Witold Woronowicz’s won the first prize). His proposal aimed to create an architecture that  ‘would investigate a social, political, cultural function and become an element of dialogue between different cultures…thus assuming a role of balanced mediation between western and eastern culture without renouncing its expressive identity.’

Inspired by the high mountain ranges in Teheran, the structure’s form presents itself, initially, as a monolithic mass. However, upon approaching the structure, the large form finally breaks. As light penetrates the solid components, it is evident that ‘inner gorges’ are hidden behind the exterior. These ‘gorges’, and the interplay of light and shadow that they create, attract passersby who are curious about the inner-holdings of the structure. Therefore, a dialogue is created between the seemingly mute exterior of the building and its dynamic inner nature.

From a distance, the building sinks into the ground (‘Teheran’ itself means ‘going down’) to create an angular volume. Before reaching contact with the ground, the volume tapers as to create a ‘great sculpturesque point of view’ to attract people passing through the space.

More information from iodicearchitetti:

‘Before of any possible architectural solution, we think that the project should investigate the site as well as the history and eventually find a definite answer in a modern language responding to the specific feature of is not the form but the quality of the relationships which is capable of establishing between the parts; therefore, there is willingness and awareness of having a deep comprehension of this set of relationships so as to conceive the single intervention within a wider context.

The focus of interest, in fact, is not the object of the intervention instead the dialogues that it can establish with the context elements. As George Candilis states: ‘the isolated building is a monster; whereas, if it is part of a system, it never represents a bulk in the space but it opens towards new possibilities. In developing the project, ‘rigor’ has become the necessary requirement, animated by a feeling of serenity tinged with hidden harmony.’

The project is set in a context which is very different from that European and western realities. The basic difficulty was that of coming down in this new reality; it has been that of searching and finding genuine, deep relationships whit these lands and places. Thus, the search for ‘genius loci’ has gone beyond any visual perceptiveness that is in search for the ‘hidden truths’ of these lands. In fact, the project is strongly influenced by the orographic presence of these places, characterized by high mountain ranges, which are visible even from the same lot of intervention.

Object of our proposal, the project responds to this basic analysis. Far away from any easy sensationalism, the project presents itself, initially at least, like a monolithic, massive, unitary architecture. We believe, in fact, that the architecture and the Benetton building in such a case-beyond being a perfect functional machine, should even investigate a social, political, cultural function so becoming element of dialogue between different cultures that ever in such a case come to be rather antithetical, and thus assuming a role of balanced mediation between western culture and eastern culture, but without renouncing to its expressive identity.

We have tried to avoid architecture unconnected with these places, packed somewhere else. From a planimetric point of view, the intervention raises along the whole perimeter of the lot, lime a full block, which is emptied in correspondence of the inner space where the light of large glazed surfaces come to light, a huge mass that is corroded from the natural forces and resolved in there great blocks of stones, so creating enormous inner ‘gorges’ that will completely come to be glazed.

In terms of run, the building in hand comes to be strongly permeable in both the relations with the surrounding city and inside the building. In fact, during the daytime, the huge ‘gorges’ become city runs, responding to the exigency of being great magnets; the beneficiary, that is the passer-by, Is captured and seduced by this great internal dynamism.

It fallows that the project worms on the great contraposition between a well constructed, ’silent’ outside and an inner reality which is very dynamic and thundering; the whole work plays indeed on this fundamental ‘contradiction’ this project solution aims to be viewed not like a renunciation of the dialogue with the outside reality but like a more refined willingness to interact whit the context. In other words, it is established a respectful relation of a local architecture made up of buildings, with surfaces which are essentially closed in order to protect oneself from the particular climate of these places.

Therefore, from the outside, the building appears lime something austere, mute, secret; while going in, it is found out a space which reveals all its incredibly dynamism. From afar, the building sinks into the ground like a rock with ‘cubic will’. For example, the word ‘Teheran’ itself means ‘going down’: this wall has been developed in the angular volume treatment where, before of any contact with the ground, it tapers down so creating a great sculpturesque point of view, a sort of intuition to enter for the people passing through this place.

The same theme has been developed in the planimetric design of the floors at the outside. In fact, only thanks to the surfaces completely glazed, but attic which are laid one on top of the other indeed, the perception o the building from different distances defines superimposed reading levels, just like a literary text. If we place ourselves at a medium distance, we may observe a nearly perfect form before it leaves space to the indefinite it appears thus the tract of an irregular line deforming the sharp corners; the superficial vibration of light on the great masses, matter and shade alternate variously during the daytime. If we approach a little more, the form finally breaks, the pieces ‘jump’, so expressing their abrasive materialness and defining empty spaces that mark the construction scale of the building. Besides, incisions of light cut the facades irregularly and that if perceived at distance they might transform the empty in a shade communicating subtractions because of the light.

Our intent was that of archiving a deeply rooted architecture, based on the cultural and environmental peculiarities, which follow the memory of the place. The sign, initially telluric, assume in itself the significance of content without losing its original generative power.

The project synthesizes its power in fewer balanced gestures; three block entirely covered with stones come out irrevocably from the subsoil, like a telluric energy at working.’