{{Infobox building | name = Majara Residence | native_name = اقامتگاه ماجرا | alternate_names = Presence in Hormuz 02 | image = Tahmineh Monzavi Photo Majara Residence Hormuz Iran View from the sea 2020.jpg | caption = Majara Residence, Hormuz Island as viewed from the sea, in its surrounding landscape | status = Completed | location_town = Hormuz Island | location_country = Iran | completion_date = 2020 | architect = ZAV Architects | owner = Ali Rezvani | floor_area = 4000 square meters | main_contractor = Amir Nobahari Tehrani | awards = Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2025, Archdaily Building of the Year 2021, Golden Award at Taipei International Design Award, 2nd prize at Memar Award public buildings category | references = [https://boty.archdaily.com/us/2021 Archdaily Building of the Year 2021] [https://www.taipeidaward.taipei/en/exhibitions_main.aspx?sn=2020TIDA20200715200309426 Golden Award at Taipei Design Award 2020] [http://www.memarmagazine.com/en/#award 2nd prize at Memar Award in the public building category] | building_type = Accommodation | client = Ehsan Rasoulof | grounds_area = 10300 square meters }} '''Majara Residence''' ({{langx|fa|ماجرا|4=Adventure}}) is a seaside accommodation complex on Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf, south of Iran.
The building consists of 200 colorful domes of varying sizes and shapes built with the participation of the local population of the island, using the Superadobe sandbag technique.<ref name="Treehugger">{{cite web |last1=Mok |first1=Kimberley |title=A Community of Superadobe Earthbag Domes Empowers Its Residents |url=https://www.treehugger.com/superadobe-presence-domes-by-zav-architects-5091869 |website=Treehugger |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Architectural Digest India">{{cite web |last1=Mehra |first1=Pallavi |title=Iran: These colourful domes are a unique alternative to typical seaside holiday homes |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.in/content/colourful-domes-unique-alternative-typical-seaside-holiday-communities/ |website=Architectural Digest India |date=February 2021 |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> The domes, some of them interconnected, contain both accommodation (17 suites hosting up to 85 guests) and public facilities such as restaurants and cafes. Majara, as the first major eco-touristic hotel on the island, was completed in 2020.<ref name="Interior Design Magazine">{{cite web |last1=Sacchetti |first1=Vera |title=Zav Architects Creates an Environmentally-Sensitive Complex on the Island of Hormuz |url=http://m.interiordesign.net/projects/19090-zav-architects-creates-an-environmentally-sensitive-complex-on-the-island-of-hormuz/ |website=Interior Design Magazine |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> It is designed by the Tehran-based architectural firm ZAV Architects and since its completion, it has been recognized internationally with several awards,<ref name="ZAV Architects">{{cite web |title=Awards won by Majara Residence |url=https://zavarchitects.com/works/PRESENCE-IN-HORMOZ-02 |website=ZAV Architects}}</ref><ref name="Archdaily building of the year">{{cite web |title=Building of the year 2021 - Winners |url=https://boty.archdaily.com/us/2021 |website=Archdaily |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Taipei International Design Award">{{cite web |title=Majara wins the Golden Award at Taipei International Design Award |url=https://www.taipeidaward.taipei/en/exhibitions_main.aspx?sn=2020TIDA20200715200309426 |website=Taipei International Design Award |access-date=14 June 2021 |archive-date=9 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609050922/https://www.taipeidaward.taipei/en/exhibitions_main.aspx?sn=2020TIDA20200715200309426 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2nd place in the Public Projects category at the Memar Awards 2020 |url=http://www.memarmagazine.com/en/#award |website=Memar Magazine |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winners of the 2025 Aga Khan Award for Architecture announced |url=https://the.akdn/en/resources-media/whats-new/news-release/winners-of-the-2025-aga-khan-award-for-architecture-announced |access-date=2025-12-13 |website=Aga Khan Development Network |language=en}}</ref>
==History== ===Hormuz Island=== Hormuz used to be the name of a historic port in mainland Iran before circa 1300, located on important trade routes, whose ruler moved it to the Island of Hormuz, 8 kilometers off the mainland,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-5689.html|title=Hormuz Island, Qeshm County, Hormozgan Province, Iran}}</ref> to found the new port of Hormuz out of the reach of robbers. Once again, it became a thriving trade center in the region.<ref name="Hormuz Britanica">{{cite web |title=Hormuz Island on Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Hormuz}}</ref> Its decline started with the Portuguese occupation of the island circa 1500. Later taken back by Iran's Abbas the Great, it never reached the success of the past.<ref name="Hormuz Iranica">{{cite web |title=Hormuz Island on The Encyclopædia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/hormuz-ii |website=The Encyclopædia Iranica}}</ref> Today it is inhabited by around 6000 people<ref name="Statistical Center of Iran">{{cite web |title=Portal of the Statistical Center of Iran |url=https://www.amar.org.ir/english |website=Statistical Center of Iran |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> whose main occupation is fishing.<ref name="SurfIran Hormuz">{{cite web |title=Travel Guide of Hormuz Island |url=https://surfiran.com/hormuz-island-the-rainbow-island-in-the-south-of-iran/ |website=SurfIran |date=3 June 2019 |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> Most of the island is arid and uninhabited, and the economy is fragile.<ref name="Tehran Times Hormuz">{{cite web |title=Hormuz, the rainbow island of Iran |url=https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/417572/Hormuz-the-rainbow-island-of-Iran |website=Tehran Times|date=14 October 2017 }}</ref><ref name="StirWorld Hormuz">{{cite web |title=ZAV Architects designs a community cluster of crayon-like homes in Hormuz, Iran |url=https://www.stirworld.com/see-features-zav-architects-designs-a-community-cluster-of-crayon-like-homes-in-hormuz-iran |website=StirWorld |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> In the media, the name of the island is strongly connected to the strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil transit chokepoint that is often a site of tension between the Iranian government and the Western powers.<ref name="Time strait of Hormuz">{{cite web |title=The Strait of Hormuz Is at the Center of Iran Tensions Again. Here's How the Narrow Waterway Gained Wide Importance |url=https://time.com/5632388/strait-of-hormuz-iran-tanker/ |website=Time}}</ref>
===Tourism development in recent years=== According to research, ecological, geographical, and cultural resources of Hormuz Island are potentially suitable for its development as an ecotourism and geotourism destination.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Akbarian |first=Mohammad |date=Summer 2021 |title=Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Geotourism Development on Hormuz Island, Iran |url=https://www.geomorphologyjournal.ir/article_134549_en.html?lang=en |journal=Quantitative Geomorphological Research |issue=1 |pages=20-39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ranjbaran |first=Mohsen |last2=Zamanzadeh |first2=Syed Mohammad |last3=Sotohian |first3=Farzad |date=2020 |title=GEOTOURISM ATTRACTIONS OF HORMUZ ISLAND, IRAN |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7701/02fcf806f31c2a0fb2ea64772e4862637e63.pdf |journal=GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites |volume=28 |pages=232-245}}</ref> Since 2009, through an annual land art event, tourists and nature-lovers started to rediscover the somewhat forgotten island. During this annual event called the Soil Carpet of Hormuz, in a coast 5 kilometers outside the boundaries of Hormuz city towards the west, a large area of 1300 square meters was covered with the ochre of various colors naturally existing in the island, tracing a pattern similar to that of a carpet but in a much larger scale, and therefore every year a carpet was “woven” using sand with the participation of artists and people.<ref name="IRNA Soil carpet">{{cite web |title=Fourth world soil carpet finished in Hormoz Island |url=https://en.irna.ir/news/80545755/Fourth-world-soil-carpet-finished-in-Hormoz-Island |website=IRNA |date=16 February 2013 |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WORLD'S LARGEST SOIL CARPET |url=https://www.itto.org/iran/attraction/worlds-largest-sand-carpet-hormuz-persian-gulf/ |website=Iran Tourism and Touring Organization |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> Today Hormuz is one of the most visited Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf<ref name="SurfIran Hormuz" /> despite lacking touristic infrastructure. The last Soil Carpet Event was held in 2014. Six years later in 2020, Majara residence was completed in the location of the campsite next to the soil carpet coast, with the participation of the Soil Carpet Event organizers, investors from Tehran, and the local people of Hormuz.<ref name="StirWorld Hormuz" /><ref name="DesignBoom Majara">{{cite web |title=ZAV architects builds colorful village of rammed earth domes on iran's hormuz island |url=https://www.designboom.com/architecture/zav-architects-colorful-village-rammed-earth-domes-iran-hormuz-island-12-07-2020/ |website=DesignBoom |date=7 December 2020 |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> thumb|Tourists buying colorful ochre souvenirs from a local street vendor in Hormuz Island, Iran thumb|Hormuz Soil Carpet Event thumb|view from top of dome
===Presence in Hormuz Development Plan=== Presence in Hormuz's goal is to take a sensitive approach to the impact of mass tourism, through a series of private initiatives intended to draw tourists to an island lacking touristic infrastructure in an environmentally sensitive way to support the community.<ref name="Interior Design Magazine" /> According to the architects, the goal of presence in Hormuz is not exactly boosting the number of visitors but to manage and monitor their presence on the island, their interaction with the local community, and their awareness of the fragile ecosystem of the island.<ref name="Architectural Digest India" /> Based on their timeline, Majara Residence is the second phase of Presence in Hormuz, hence its other name Presence in Hormuz 02.<ref name="DesignBoom Majara" /> Other projects include Rong cultural center which opened in 2017 and Badban, a center for human-resource training and the management hub for the whole development, completed in 2021.<ref name="Interior Design Magazine" /><ref name="CAOI Factsheet">{{cite web |title=Presence in Hormuz 2 Factsheet |url=http://www.caoi.ir/en/projects/item/1557-presence-in-hormuz-2-majara-residence-zav-architects.html#fact-sheet |website=Contemporary Architecture of Iran |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref>
==Architecture== thumb|South east viewMajara residence consists of 200 domes, some of them interconnected, with different sizes and shapes,<ref name="Architectural Digest India" /> organized in a gateless area in a fashion similar to a small neighborhood or a village, 5 kilometers outside the city of Hormuz.<ref name="CAOI Factsheet" /> The small-scale domes take on organic shapes and connect in a variety of ways to form clustered structures. In between these clusters, walkways and other connective spaces for gathering, playing, and resting are formed.<ref name="Treehugger" /> It has an area of 10300 square meters, with 6300 square meters of open spaces and 4000 of built area.<ref name="World Architecture Community">{{cite web |title=ZAV Architects Built Colorful-Domed Housing Made Of Rammed Earth And Sand On Hormuz Island, Iran |url=https://worldarchitecture.org/wa-top-teaser/egengzzh/zav%20architects%20built%20colorful-domed%20housing%20made%20of%20rammed%20earth%20and%20sand%20on%20hormuz%20island,%20iran |website=World Architecture Community |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="CAOI Factsheet" /> The domes are capable of accommodating a variety of programs,<ref name="DesignBoom Majara" /> 130 domes host 17 suites with a maximum capacity to host 85 guests. The rest of the domes have public uses such as galleries, restaurants, cafes, a prayer room, a souvenir shop, and tourist info points.<ref name="Architectural Digest Middle East">{{cite web |last1=Marchese |first1=Kieron |title=A Holiday Retreat on Iran's Hormuz Island Formed From Candy-Coloured Domes |url=https://www.admiddleeast.com/architecture-interiors/architecture/a-holiday-retreat-on-irans-hormuz-island-formed-from-candy-coloured-domes |website=Architectural Digest Middle East |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref>
The domes are made using the Superadobe technique,<ref name="Earth Architecture Majara">{{cite web |title=Majara Residence on Earth Architecture |url=https://eartharchitecture.org/?p=788 |website=Earth Architecture |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> a construction technology pioneered by Iranian-American architect Nader Khalili in the second half of the 20th century, which earned him an Aga Khan Award. The technique involves layering bags filled with earth and sand, using on-site soil to create a compression structure like domes and other structural forms.<ref name="Treehugger" /><ref name="CalEarth Superadobe">{{cite web |title=What is Superadobe? |url=https://www.calearth.org/intro-superadobe |website=California Institute of Earth Architecture |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> For Majara, ZAV customized the Superadobe process to allow the creation of larger-radius and lower-height domes. In this process, 50 local unskilled workers were trained to become construction masters.<ref name="Interior Design Magazine" /> This type of structure is well-suited to the arid climate of the island as earth provides a high thermal mass.<ref name="Treehugger" />
The project's commercial goal was to complete the project with minimal investment, the budget of the project being equivalent to 900.000 US Dollars (1.800.000.000.000 IRR in 2020). Within its low budget, it shifts its impetus from material costs that often bear an excessive transportation/import component to labor costs that directly benefit the community.<ref name="StirWorld Hormuz" />
The shape and colors of the building try to echo Hormuz's colorful landscapes and topography.<ref name="Treehugger" /> The domes of Majara are colored with tints of yellow, red, blue, and green, and the use of the naturally colored ochre of the island was avoided due to environmental reasons.<ref name="Interior Design Magazine" /> The interiors are also characterized by these tones, whose variations match exterior colors.<ref name="Elledecor majara">{{cite web |last1=Musella |first1=Ciro Marco |title=These Colorful Architectures on a Little Known Island Come As a Political Manifesto |url=https://www.elledecor.com/it/best-of/a34974041/majara-residence-hormuz-zav-architects/ |website=ElleDecor |date=15 December 2020 |access-date=14 June 2021}}</ref> Pieces of furniture are a mix of pieces produced in the region and custom designs executed by Hormuz craftspeople.<ref name="Interior Design Magazine" />
== See also == *Hormuz Island *Iranian architecture *Superadobe
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Iranian Architecture}} {{Hormozgan Province}}
Category:Hormuz Island Category:Tourist attractions in Hormozgan province Category:Buildings and structures in Hormozgan province Category:Domes in Iran