ZAV architects designs a cultural center on hormuz island in iran

hormuz island, located on the persian gulf, is economically stressed out and has a history of consecutive failures when it comes to environmental issues. ‘hormoz red soil’ has long been an issue of tension and the matter has been and still is perceived by many locals as plundering of their island’s natural resources. ZAV architects’ long cultural center has entered the island in 2014, but with a sad end, people in hormuz burned some parts of his construction.

music event at rong cultural center

due to limitations of resources, a participative process had been set up. afterwards, a multi-disciplinary brainstorming workshops was held by ZAV architects and ‘presence in hormoz’ as an over-arching vision was further developed to a set of strategies and tactics of an intervention plan. the first series of project that were planned, based on environmental, self-sufficiency, and simple implementation features is going to target hormoz’s tourism infrastructure: a community center, a tourist information center, a passenger station, a series of bicycle rental stations, cafes and restaurants, a waste recycling management center, a variety of tourist accommodation centers, multiple urban public spaces.

main view

first, a community center was set up temporarily to gain the participation of hormozians. then a series of studies have been done on the morphology and constituting elements of hormoz. after consideration of local and international case studies, the design team came to the conclusion that the rammed soil system could be appropriated and retrofitted with more contemporary solutions to be used. ‘rong’ is the name that was chosen for this complex. ‘rong’ is an urban space that people can walk on. it has harmony with the island’s geomorphology and is iconic at the same time. its presence in hormoz brings pride for the citizens.

recycling management space

view to the west

nightlife at rong cultural center

diagrams

in its implementation, the adopted sandbag technology was combined with steel structure covered with cement. rong accepts the people’s reality and invites their participation and engagement. it is sustainable and recyclable and, it is built fast and with ease and as such, it can be replicated again and again.

prototypes

rong cultural center

top view

bird’s eye view of the site

drawings

project info:

architects in charge: mohammadreza ghodousi, fateme rezaei fakhr-e-astane, golnaz bahrami client: ehsan rasoolof
project manager: soroosh majidi
research and design team: kaveh rashidzadeh, mohsen safshekan, hosein panjepour
design of community center: maral ashgvari
operation manager: amin davaee
furniture: amin davaee
executive manager: amir nobahari tehrani
graphic: yegane ghezelloo,negar yaraghi, golnaz khosrawani

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