Hidden Boxes 住宅 by Yahya Kashi is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award 铁奖 in 建筑与结构设计 Competition Category.

铁建筑· 2025

Hidden Boxes 住宅

by Yahya Kashi

Client: Kasa Office

A' Design Award 铁奖 Winner in 建筑 Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #169443

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Hidden Boxes 住宅

“隐藏盒体”（Hidden Boxes）项目回应了当代建筑中单调空间结构长期占据主导地位的现状——尽管历史上早已出现诸如空间构成（Raumplan）、多米诺体系（Domino）与通用平面（Universal Plan）等理念。该项目试图解构这些既有空间配置，以形成一种新的综合体系，既回应建筑内部的核心议题，如空间组织、实体与虚空（Mass/Void）的关系以及界面之间的相互作用，也应对气候、私密性与文化需求等外部因素。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 铁奖

Hidden Boxes 住宅是 A' Design Award 铁奖得主，这是授予满足人们对设计精良的创作所期待的专业与工业要求的优良设计的声望认可。铁奖得主展现出其创作者的高超技艺、高度专业化、专家级的理解力和创造能力。预计Hidden Boxes 住宅将成为一件备受推崇、令人钦佩且被珍爱的创作，既实用又创新。这件赢得 A' Design Award 铁奖的设计整合了行业最佳实践，并拥有与专业知识和才华相结合的称职技术特性。Hidden Boxes 住宅因其严谨而受到尊重，旨在提供有助于让世界变得更美好的生活品质改善。

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The Hidden Boxes project in Hamedan redefines residential space by deconstructing monotonous spatial structures. In pursuit of this, we sought to break down the monotony by placing independent spatial boxes together to form a cohesive whole, balancing internal elements like Mass/Void relationships with external factors such as climate, privacy, and cultural needs.In the end, we tried to redefine a residential space in the context of structural binary oppositions between the internal and external issues of architecture with a view to the history we have gone through.
Dimensions & Packaging: 20.30 m x 12.45 m x 16.00 m
Tags: HiddenBoxes, Kasaoffice, Iran, Hamedan, Residental, Void, Brick, House,
Production Technology: The project features a prestressed structure with a column system, chosen to accommodate cantilevered slabs and optimize structural efficiency. The facade was designed to create a transparent yet solid boundary between interior and exterior spaces. Utilizing Fakhr o Madin bricks, connected with bolts and anchored to the main structure, ensures privacy, light control, and spatial coverage while addressing contextual considerations.
Design Challenge: The Hidden Boxes project in Hamedan addresses the challenges of contemporary Iranian architecture, which is dominated by monotonous spatial structures. The project aims to break these structures, focusing on internal architectural elements like the Mass/Void relationship, and external factors such as climate, privacy, and cultural needs. Historical architectural references and native residential types were considered, while issues such as sunlight control and privacy were key factors in the design process.
Research: The project advanced its research through multiple layers. The historical and architectural discipline layer explored concepts such as the Raumplan, Domino, and Universal Plan. Meanwhile, the formal and spatial analysis layer examined the vernacular houses of Hamedan, aiming to reinterpret and represent aspects of their spatial organization within the project.
Inspiration: "Hidden Boxes" reflects architectural history, responding to the persistence of monotonous spatial structures despite concepts like Raumplan, Domino, and Universal Plan. This project explores deconstructing conventional configurations to form a new synthesis, addressing both internal factors-spatial organization, Mass/Void dynamics, surface relationships, and fragmentation and external concerns such as climate, privacy, and cultural needs.
Project Duration: Hidden Boxes started in 2019 and finished in 2021 in Hamedan, Iran.
Operation Flow: The surrounding urban fabric primarily consists of residential buildings. Due to rapid and unregulated urban development, the area is transitioning from a low-density, villa-dominated neighborhood to one characterized by high-rise apartment buildings with maximum height density. Consequently, the project is positioned at the intersection of these two typologies, engaging in a dialogue between low-rise single-family houses and high-density apartment structures. This hybrid villa-apartment typology responds to and interacts with its contextual surroundings.
Patents: Copyrights belong to Kasa Office, 2022
Image Credits: Image #1: Photographer Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh, Hidden Boxes, 2022
Image #2: Photographer Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh, Hidden Boxes, 2022
Image #3: Photographer Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh, Hidden Boxes, 2022
Image #4: Photographer Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh, Hidden Boxes, 2022
Image #5: Photographer Mohammad Hassan Ettefagh, Hidden Boxes, 2022