ZAVAREH MULTI-FAITH TEMPLE – alirezashahi.com

Design Frim: Cama Circle

Role: collaborate in developing the final design idea and create written presentations for project design

Location: Zavareh, Isfahan, Iran

Date: 2018

Zavareh Temple was built based on the idea of constructing a mosque in a new power plant area, 8 kilometres away from the historical city of Zavareh. The city is situated on the border of the central desert of Iran, neighbouring one of the oldest mosques from Ilkhani’s era (12th AD) and the resulting architecture affected by it. There was a huge power plant under construction which had to build a mosque by knowing that, nobody will use it. Therefore, Instead of constructing a spacious mosque practicing a single religion, It is suggested to build a Multi-Faith Temple like a monument for all religions.

Design

The Temple has been designed based on a contextual approach declining to the desert orientation. It is like ice from far away and becomes familiar to the locals from a closer distance. by entering the spaces; you encounter a precious element of the desert, water.

Figure Ground Organization

Spatial Organization

This monument contains three elements, a porch (Riwwaq), Water & Dome house, which are the main elements at most religious monuments. At the same time, it is narrated with a contemporary organization and made an inviting space suitable for power plant entrance.

The spatial organization was designed with a linear form in the horizontal axis to create the Riwwaq to induce motion. The temple was organized in a circular shape on the vertical axis to create a pause and grab all attention to the light. Moreover, the water bonds the surface between the Riwwaq and the temple while it spreads on the land. All the practiced shapes are curved to match the context.

Sequence Spaces

Glazed Bricks

Passing from the light to the dark space prepares people to face up an appointment, a steady light that comes from the top of the temple.

To make a colour spectrum for the temple, the traditional colours which were widely used in the mosque were applied in an innovation setting. Six colours were chosen and glazed on a typical brick with high heat to be strength enough. So the glazed bricks were coded and became ready. The dome cover was divided into 16 vertical sections, and each piece was classified into horizontal sections from A to M. The map of each level is along with the desired codes, and each portion contains 3456 bricks fixed by mortar, creating a new colour spectrum. It shows the element as a cold mass in its hot context.

Idea Reference

The shape of existing historic buildings was a reference to the design of the shape of the temple. Therefore, the new form would not be strange to locals, and they could feel it belongs to them, as it was here before.

Outstanding stucco art was the invention of Ilkhani’s artists and is seen in the congregational mosque of Zavareh. It was impressive and identical to be inspired to design the inside of the temple. It represents art as a handicraft technique in its context while giving identity to it.

The Art of Stucco

For practicing plaster shells, 16 handmade types of plaster panels were hung on metal profiles with a specific space from the wall using 34 horizontal structural rows. Each row has been processed individually. To build plaster panels, only four fibreglass frames were used to create all these plaster panels, and each frame was cut to make the upper panels. Six hundred forty-eight plaster panels have been produced inside the dome chamber and installed by local masters with mechanical fixing techniques. As a result, infinite geometry has been created, which will be attached to the light.