Hidden Boxes Residential House

Hidden Boxes Residential House

Hidden Boxes Residential House is an architecturally significant residential structure located in Hamedan, Iran, designed by Yahya Kashi of Kasa Office, completed between 2019 and 2021, representing a critical intervention in contemporary Iranian residential architecture through its deliberate deconstruction of monotonous spatial configurations that have dominated modern building practices despite the historical precedents established by seminal architectural concepts such as Adolf Loos's Raumplan, Le Corbusier's Domino system, and Mies van der Rohe's Universal Plan. Hidden Boxes Residential House emerges as a research-based architectural response to the persistent homogeneity in spatial organization, addressing both internal architectural concerns including spatial hierarchy, the dialectical relationship between mass and void, surface articulation, and compositional fragmentation, while simultaneously engaging external contextual factors encompassing climatic responsiveness, privacy requirements, and cultural sensibilities inherent to Iranian domestic life. The design methodology employed in Hidden Boxes Residential House involves the strategic placement of independent spatial volumes, conceptualized as discrete boxes, which are assembled to form a cohesive architectural whole, thereby challenging conventional notions of residential space through a process of architectural deconstruction and subsequent synthesis. The structural system of Hidden Boxes Residential House utilizes a prestressed concrete framework with a carefully calculated column arrangement that facilitates cantilevered slabs, optimizing structural efficiency while enabling dramatic spatial gestures and volumetric projections that distinguish the building's formal composition. The facade treatment of Hidden Boxes Residential House employs Fakhr o Madin bricks, a traditional Iranian building material, which are mechanically connected through a bolting system anchored to the primary structural frame, creating a permeable yet protective boundary that mediates between interior and exterior realms while addressing functional requirements of privacy, natural light modulation, solar heat gain control, and visual connectivity with the surrounding urban context. Measuring 20.30 meters by 12.45 meters in plan with a height of 16.00 meters, Hidden Boxes Residential House occupies a transitional position within Hamedan's rapidly evolving urban fabric, situated at the intersection between the area's historical low-density villa typology and the emerging high-rise apartment building paradigm that characterizes contemporary urban densification patterns in Iranian cities. The architectural research underpinning Hidden Boxes Residential House encompasses multiple investigative layers, including a disciplinary historical analysis examining the evolution of spatial planning concepts in modern architecture, alongside a formal and spatial analysis of vernacular Hamadani residential architecture, seeking to reinterpret and contemporize aspects of traditional spatial organization within a modern architectural vocabulary. The design process for Hidden Boxes Residential House engaged with the specific challenges of contemporary Iranian architectural production, including the need to balance traditional cultural values regarding domestic privacy and family life with contemporary spatial requirements, while responding to Hamedan's continental climate characterized by cold winters and warm summers, necessitating careful consideration of solar orientation, thermal mass, and natural ventilation strategies. Hidden Boxes Residential House represents an experimental approach to residential design that positions architecture as a critical practice capable of interrogating and advancing disciplinary discourse through built work, demonstrating how theoretical investigations into spatial organization, structural expression, and material tectonics can be synthesized into a coherent architectural statement that addresses both universal architectural concerns and site-specific contextual conditions. The project's intellectual framework draws upon binary oppositions between internal architectural logic and external contextual forces, seeking to establish a productive tension that generates architectural form and spatial experience through the negotiation of these competing demands, resulting in a building that functions simultaneously as a functional dwelling and as a built argument for alternative approaches to residential design in contemporary Iran. Hidden Boxes Residential House received recognition through the Iron A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category in 2025, an accolade that acknowledges designs demonstrating solid understanding of design principles, practical innovation, and creative capacity in addressing real-world challenges through thoughtful architectural solutions that meet professional and industrial standards. The award recognition of Hidden Boxes Residential House validates its contribution to advancing architectural discourse through its experimental approach to spatial organization, its sensitive integration of traditional materials within contemporary construction methodologies, and its successful negotiation of the complex relationship between architectural autonomy and contextual responsiveness that characterizes significant contemporary architectural production. The intellectual trajectory embodied in Hidden Boxes Residential House reflects the broader research agenda of Kasa Office, established in 2019 with a focus on experimental work and critical architectural practice, positioning the project within a larger body of work dedicated to advancing architectural knowledge through built projects that challenge conventional assumptions and explore alternative spatial possibilities. The copyrights for Hidden Boxes Residential House are held by Kasa Office as of 2022, establishing the legal framework for the project's intellectual property while documenting its place within the office's evolving portfolio of research-based architectural interventions.

Hidden Boxes Residential House, Iranian Contemporary Architecture, Spatial Deconstruction, Residential Design Innovation, Brick Facade Architecture, Hamedan Architecture

— Adam Dawson

CITATION : "Adam Dawson. 'Hidden Boxes Residential House.' Design+Encyclopedia. https://design-encyclopedia.com/define/hidden-boxes-residential-house?E=482775 (Accessed on October 14, 2026)"