PARABLE OF MEHR

Sharjah Architecture Triennial

Project by Samaneh Moafi,

Modelling and Visualization by Maria Bessarabova

Mehr is a Farsi word that translates to compassion. It is also the name of the largest public housing scheme of the Islamic Republic, constituting 2.3 million nuclear-family dwelling units spread across the territory of Iran. Using the Mehr as a base, architect Samaneh Moafi develops a project in collaboration with Platform 28, WORKNOT! collective, Mhamad Safa, Maria Bessarabova and the residents of Mehr in Dowltabad, Esfahan. The project sets out to challenge the structures of state patronage and male patriarchy in working-class homes. Organising a workshop and deploying performative methods, the work reclaims domesticity as a space for collective rituals and alternative forms of dwelling.