Hormuz is a form­erly glorious historic port in the stra­tegic strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, South of Iran, that controls the ship­ment of petro­leum from the Middle East.

The island has outstan­ding colorful surreal land­scapes. Oddly, the local inha­bi­tants of the beau­tiful, touristic and poli­ti­cally stra­tegic island struggle econo­mic­ally, getting involved in illegal traf­fi­cking acti­vi­ties using their boats.

Presence in Hormuz is a series of urban deve­lo­p­ments by a semi-public insti­tu­tion that hired ZAV Archi­tects, in order to empower the local commu­nity of the island.

Its second phase (here is phase 1) is a multi­pur­pose cultural resi­dence called Majara Resi­dence (meaning adven­ture) that ties toge­ther the lives of local people and visi­tors both cultu­rally and econo­mic­ally.

Archi­tec­ture has the capa­city be a mediator in the middle ground that converges the inte­rests of diffe­rent groups, from the state and inves­tors to various classes and groups of people.

Majara Resi­dence does so in brin­ging toge­ther the owners of land from the neigh­boring port of Bandar Abbas who orga­nize an annual landart event in Hormuz, the inves­tors from the capital city Tehran, and the local people of Hormuz as part­ners in the project.

Presence in Hormuz is a conti­nuous process aiming at buil­ding trust rather than archi­tec­tural objects, in order to encou­rage the parti­ci­pa­tion of local people and the inclu­sion of their inte­rests in any inter­ven­tion in the island.

Majara Resi­dence is a multi­tude of small-scale domes built with the super­adobe tech­nique of Nader Khalili, the inno­va­tive and simple tech­nique using rammed earth and sand. Domes are fami­liar struc­tures in the region. Their small scale makes them compa­tible with the buil­ding capa­bi­li­ties of local craft­smen and unskilled workers, which have been prepared for this project with previous smaller projects. Today they are trained master super­adobe masons, as if Nader Khalili multi­plied expo­nen­ti­ally.

Umbrella Sky Project is an inno­va­tive artistic concept aimed at suspen­ding umbrellas in the air. Origi­nally only with colorful models, it now has several diffe­rent compo­si­tions. Various models and colors are available, which seek to bring color and joy to citi­zens and users of diffe­rent spaces.

In November 2020, the Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition in Águeda has been offi­ci­ally opened.

Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition is inte­grated into the cele­bra­tions of the Christmas season of Águeda, an artistic instal­la­tion executed by Impact Plan Art Produc­tions. On the subject of this instal­la­tion, visi­tors will see the Christmas version of the Umbrella Sky Project, whose umbrellas now become white and illu­mi­nated.

And, as the sky is not enough, the suspended Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition contrasts perfectly with the long red carpet, the colorful Christmas trees and the succes­sive murals that are presen­ting them­selves, painted throug­hout the space, on the stairs, garden benches and in the rest of the available urban space.

It is also worth mentio­ning that the whole project was desi­gned for visi­tors‘ circu­la­tion in suffi­ci­ently large spaces, conside­ring all the secu­rity measures the current Covid-19 situa­tion requires.

Umbrella Sky Christmas Edition can be visited until January 8th, 2021.

The project was deigned by Rotterdam-based firm DROM in colla­bo­ra­tion with Strelka KB.

Drom wanted to convert the lifeless public space of a typical Russian mono­town built in the Seven­ties and domi­nated by a single industry – the famous Kamaz truck factory – into a multi­pur­pose area with a fresh take on inha­bi­tants’ inter­ac­tion.

The former central area has been divided into three diffe­rent squares, each with its own unique character. To the East, the Event Square is a pink concrete paved urban space that is also used for weekly outdoor markets.

Next to it, is the Green Square, a rela­xing spot with a wooden amphi­theatre and a broad lawn from which to enjoy the seasonal land­sca­ping conducted by the city’s plan­ting depart­ment and lastly, the Cultural Square, with a foun­tain and a new circular shallow pool for playing in the water on hot days.

DROM desi­gned pecu­liar paving patterns for each of the squares and inte­grated spaces that are protected from the strong cross­winds and sun by stra­te­gi­cally placed “hills” and local species of linden, red maple and blue spruce trees.

In addi­tion to the pavi­lions, Azatlyk Square features bespoke urban furni­ture and lighting elements, which were deve­loped and produced by local manu­fac­tu­rers closely involved in the crea­tion of a new niche in the city’s economy.

The city and its inha­bi­tants embrace the new public space and the flou­ris­hing green areas as a stimulus to trans­form a mono­tone indus­trial past into a lively contem­po­rary dimen­sion of living that injects new energy into their roots.