Mohammad Kafi and Mahtab Hassan, a young architect couple, are the main designers of the "Yard of the People" project in the village of Tar in Natanz County. This project was referred to their office in 2019 and 2020. Initially, the client's request was to build a residential house on inherited land, but upon visiting the site, they realized that the village's fabric was changing due to unprincipled construction.
Changes in the Village Fabric and the Need for Shared Spaces
Mohammad Kafi stated that flat roofs and traditional yards are gradually being replaced by urban patterns, adding: "In discussions with the locals, we found out that they lament the removal of old gathering places." In the past, ponds and surrounding spaces of houses were places for people to gather, but these spaces had gradually disappeared.
Kafi continued: "We also spoke with the village children. One wanted a space for water play, another a place for reading books, and another wanted a space for football. These discussions led us to suggest that the project should not be limited to building a private house, and part of the area should be allocated for the use of locals."
Creating a Public Space with a Pond in the Center
Based on this suggestion, the design of a large gathering space with a pond in the center was proposed so that locals could sit around the pond and converse with each other. To supply water, a branch was taken from the village's qanat so that water, after entering the pond and overflowing, would return to the main path and be used for irrigating the downstream gardens.
Kafi emphasizes: "In this way, we had no wastewater, and the flow was facilitated by gravity." The implementation of this project took about three and a half to four years, and actions such as organizing the drainage of groundwater and paving about 1,600 to 1,700 square meters of the surrounding area were carried out.
Kafi stated: "In addition, we undertook actions such as repairing doors and plastering for about eight to nine houses around the project. After the project was completed, some locals also began to repair their houses and walls." This project became an excuse for people to pay more attention to the condition of certain parts of the village.
Mohammad Kafi describes the main idea of the project as going beyond ownership responsibilities and continues: "We tried to enhance the sense of belonging and social responsibility so that the area in front of the house would be taken out of private ownership and turned into a place for all locals to use."
This architect, referring to the project's impact on his office's future designs, says: "The Yard of the People was our first serious project, and after that, similar proposals for creating gathering spaces in other projects were made."
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