This article was taken from the December 2014 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
This home in Tehran is made from distinct rotating parts, like a giant Rubik's Cube. The rooms in Sharifi-ha House spin 90° on turntables to react to Iran's extreme climate fluctuations, opening up in summer and turning inwards during winter. "The hardest technical challenge was resolving airlock issues," says architect Alireza Taghaboni, whose Tehran studio nextoffice designed the house. "We had to prevent outside air from penetrating the boxes." This was solved by creating a vacuum with inflated silicone sealings around the open edges of the rooms.
The first, second and third floors of the seven-storey property rotate at the touch of a button: hinges hidden in the terrace's floor tiles allow the balustrade handrails to fold down and out of the way while the pods swivel. The rotating mechanism was provided by German engineering firm Bumat, which usually makes turntable systems for exhibitions and theatre sets.
As well as keeping Tehran's temperature fluctuations at bay, the pods make the best use of a deep urban plot with a narrow façade width. When open, they are suspended over the front yard rather than over the street, as the architects built the façade three metres back from the permitted construction boundary line. Nice pivot.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
