Poonehzar-Farm

After roving over the mountains of northern Fars, passing by the nomads in the high pastures of Mount Barmfirouz, one would arrive at Komehr, a small village surrounded by peaceful agricultural fields; a patchwork of diverse eco-textures. Our landscape enhancement and ecolodge design project Poonehzar is in the middle of that area. It is a piece of land associated with a range of functions. The diverse nature of the landscape has been a source of inspiration in our minds in order to devise varied design programs. Having various lifestyles and age groups in mind, these programs include a resort area, small cabins and recreational landscape areas. Of all the design programs, this portion of the project aimed to represent the attempts made to manipulate traditional concepts of a maze. To achieve this, we launched our work where there used to be a farm on the land. We attempted to find a way to intervene in the rich ecological texture of the site in a subtle and cor-responsive way. The character of the proposal had to be aligned with the farm in terms of temporality and lightness. Consequently, the objective was to benefit from the farm’s flexible and organic growth. We intended to highlight our interaction with nature and embody it in an architectural and spatial narrative. After several site visits, we created a masterplan proposing an approach to treat the landscape in a more active way. Since the cornfield was a significant part of the land, we started to build on the classic concept of a maze for the rebirth of new ideas. In this maze, some leisure spaces were defined to host both social and individual activities in response to the mysterious character of the maze and its interaction with the natural context. Celebrating playful childish sneak peeks, unexpected encounters, innocent erotic air, the mania of being lost, the suspense of diving in imagination in such a context were all translated into architecture. Having entered the reshaped maze, one would step into a public gathering area which provides room for an event platform and a warm place where you can watch a film or sit around a fire. The perimeter of the area opens to a whole world of unknown experiences. Away from the crowd, where people slip away to find their corner, there are unique places to bathe, rest, or sleep. On the edge of the farm, in order to achieve a different perspective of the maze, we built a Viewpoint Tower. The construction of this wooden-deck tower helped us to create a panoramic view where immense tranquility of nature can be felt while the breeze gently waves over the farm. The project was realized with a sustainable approach, a minimum footprint and up-cycled materials. Throughout the project, there was a community-based collaboration with villagers. Poonehzar-Farm was a project designed around experiment and playfulness with a new perspective of basic activities while inhabiting nature respectfully.