Barin Hotel

Barin Hotel, just an hour away from Tehran in Iran’s second largest ski-resort Shemshak, stands out with an impressive igloo-like design. Responsible for the design is the architecture studio RYRA.

Photography by © Parham Taghioff

The creators wanted to imitate a snow-clad edifice that will blend with the natural context of the surrounding snowy mountains. The marvelously white unit floats against the blue sky on sunny days to reflect light and shine like a glacier.

Photography by © Parham Taghioff

The igloo’s white-skinned façade unfolds like waves of snow with an array of oval windows to accent its sculptural plasticity. The ski-hotel is ten floors high and features 67 individual rooms of unique sizes and shapes, 45 square meter flats and a 270 square meter penthouse.

From inside, the undulating and interwoven spaces create an effect of a cave with smooth and fluid surfaces to give a very contemporary feeling.

Photography by © Parham Taghioff

The purpose of the project is to show new ideas that help in modifying the relation between architecture and nature without blindly repeating vernacular models or copying imported historical styles .It aims to reach that the logic product of any architectural design process should be free and flexible formation responding to the surrounding forces, say the architects.

The domical mass of the curvy igloo achieves its final form by mimicking nature and succeeds in creating a touristic attraction. The design won Silver A’ Design Award for Architecture last year.

By: Sabina Karleva