Habitat for Orphan Girls (Khansar, Iran)

Rong Cultural Center (Hormuz Island, Iran)

Farsh Film Studio (Tehran, Iran)

Social, politically committed architecture

Although the office was officially founded in August 2006, ZAV Architects existed as a loose association a few years earlier. From two founding partners Mohammadreza Ghodousi and his two women partners are now leading ZAV: Fati Rezaiee and Golnaz Bahrami. ZAV already received national attention with its early work, but it was not until the House Award of the Architectural Review 2018 to the orphanage for people in Khansar that the office entered the international stage. Most of her projects are characterized by a self-confident socio-political attitude and depth. For example, the hybrid architecture of a public grandstand with a cultural center and tourist information center on the island of Hormos (2017) or the conversion of a residential building for a film studio in Tehran (2016), in which the original building was changed as little as possible and only was supplemented with used components such as steel stairs, doors or windows - which has led to wonderfully detailed and ambiguous rooms. All three projects are characterized by an extremely multi-layered architecture, which opens up a multitude of possibilities for its users with a few but precise setting.