ABAR office repurposes ancient bricks with sculptural bazaar in mashhad

ABAR office introduces its cheshm-o-cheragh bazaar to mashhad, iran’s second sprawling city and one of the largest religious capitals in the world. the area had been struggling with numerous social problems, becoming known as an ‘anti-dialogue city.’ urban developments have seen the extensive demolition of the historic district and an unbalanced fabric of high-rise constructions. the new bazaar, designed with sculptural brickwork, is sited within the historic district near the 400-year old ‘gonbad-e-sabz’ heritage building which had been crowded among these high rises, discrediting public interest.

image by mostafa delbarian | @mostafadelbarian

with respect for its historical context, ABAR office designs its cheshm-o-cheragh bazaar as a low volume, rising only two-stories. to expand the interior space without adding height to the project, the team embeds the building below the ground. the bazaar is inward-looking, with a solid, closed-off exterior that wraps a translucent and open interior. this open circulation contradicts the common bazaar typology generating a new ‘contemporary bazaar.’ this strategy achieves a spatial integrity, visual and circulatory continuity, and light transmission.

image by mostafa delbarian

by establishing a dialogue between the building and the ground, ABAR office’s cheshm-o-cheragh bazaar criticizes the demolitions among the historical district and its valuable architectural heritage. the volume is constructed entirely of brick, repurposing the wasted material from the demolished heritage buildings. dating back 60 to 300 years, the bricks were gathered with the help from locals conservators. in the dialogue between context and era, new materials like metal and glass are used along the interior together with the historic language.

image by mostafa delbarian