Kian Design Studio: The story of Mr. Ghapani's house in the historic fabric of Kashan begins as an exciting dialogue with the street, the pedestrian pathways, and the surrounding houses. Kashan, a city known for its rich history, architectural heritage, and traditional Persian gardens, served as the perfect backdrop for this journey. The city's layout, with its narrow winding alleys, intricately designed courtyards, and beautifully ornamented facades, offers a unique blend of privacy and connection to the outside world. Mr. Ghapani’s deep attachment to his ancestral home became the foundation of this narrative—a narrative that transported us from the sun-baked lanes of Kashan to a serene garden nestled at the heart of his home.
This intimate garden, sheltered by the strong, embracing walls of the house, gradually transformed into the very soul of the home. Much like the historic homes of Kashan, where the architecture adapts to the extreme temperatures of the desert, the design of this house evokes a harmonious relationship between the interior and the exterior. The courtyard, like its older sibling, the garden, draws light deep into the home. The courtyard becomes a space where the boundaries between the inside and outside blur, creating a dynamic interplay of full and empty spaces. These in-between spaces form a bridge, connecting the inhabitants to the sky, the earth, and the city itself.
Kashan’s architectural language speaks through the delicate balance of openness and seclusion, where every room is designed to capture the essence of light and nature. With each sunrise, this connection between the home and the elements is renewed, breathing new life into the spaces. The house’s interior spaces, oriented towards the central courtyard, each frame a different aspect of this shaded pathway, bringing the outdoors in. The sky, an endless frame, begins from the street façade and extends deep into the home, seamlessly blending the natural world with the architectural one. It is here, in this fusion of nature and design, where the green of the garden intertwines with the vast expanse of the sky, creating a space that fosters life and connection.
In a city where the desert's harshness is softened by the nurturing embrace of nature, Kashan offers a profound understanding of how architecture can engage with the environment. This house, through its careful design, is not just a shelter, but a reflection of Kashan’s rich cultural heritage, a place where the boundaries between past and present, inside and outside, sky and earth, beautifully dissolve.
