Samian Dormitory Office Building by Ashari Architects

Located on the elevated grounds of Shiraz University, the Samian Dormitory Office Building by Ashari Architects occupies a unique vantage point—nestled beside the student residences and gazing across the city toward the surrounding mountains. This position situates the building within the heart of campus life while maintaining visual and spatial openness to the broader landscape. Its placement is both symbolic and strategic, reflecting the university’s dual identity as a center of knowledge and a vibrant social organism.

From this elevated perch, the building is exposed to the rhythms of academic and student life. The design responds not only to its physical context but also to its cultural and temporal one—acknowledging the evolving needs of a modern university campus that remains alive long after office hours have ended.

Problem: Dormant Architecture in a Lively Campus

Administrative buildings traditionally embody rigidity and formality. Once working hours end, these spaces fall silent, becoming static objects in an otherwise dynamic campus environment. This condition is particularly problematic in academic settings like Shiraz University, where the peak of student life begins precisely when administrative activity ceases.

A university is not merely a place of instruction—it is a microcosm of social and cultural life, a platform for encounters, conversations, and shared experiences. Within such an environment, architecture cannot be restricted to fulfilling purely functional roles. The challenge lies in transforming the administrative building from a closed, singular-use structure into a living part of the campus that remains active day and night, reflecting the continuous flow of student energy.

Necessity: Flexibility and Multiplicity in Design

In response to these challenges, Ashari Architects reimagined the contemporary university building as a flexible and multifunctional system. Today’s campuses demand spaces that embrace change, enabling multiple scenarios to unfold seamlessly. This requires dynamic programming—a strategy that ensures buildings remain adaptable, inclusive, and open to reinterpretation by their users.

The Samian Dormitory Office Building was thus designed not as a singular-purpose entity but as a hybrid space—a structure capable of accommodating administrative efficiency by day and communal vibrancy by night. The architects viewed this duality as essential to cultivating an architecture that fosters dialogue between formality and spontaneity, order and freedom, structure and life.

Strategy: Reprogramming the Building as an Event Platform

The design concept centers on re-programming, transforming architecture from a static form into an event-driven framework. During daytime hours, the building functions as a standard administrative center, hosting management offices and operational spaces essential to the dormitory’s organization. However, once work hours conclude, the building undergoes a temporal transformation—its terraces, plinth, and rooftop shift roles, becoming a stage for student life.

These spaces are envisioned as flexible platforms—places for studying, informal meetings, outdoor film screenings, or spontaneous gatherings. Even silence becomes a collective act within this adaptable setting. Through such programming, the building becomes an instrument of engagement, designed not only for occupation but for activation.

Architecture of Thresholds: Between the Formal and the Informal

The architectural language of the Samian Dormitory Office Building reinforces this conceptual duality. The roof and terraces are not treated as secondary elements but as core social spaces—transitional zones that blur the boundaries between interior and exterior, private and public, individual and communal.

These in-between spaces act as architectural thresholds, enabling fluid movement and layered interaction. Their design fosters encounters that are neither fully planned nor entirely spontaneous, echoing the unpredictability and vibrancy of campus life. By creating overlapping scenarios, the architecture encourages shared experiences that strengthen the sense of community among students.

From the outside, the building’s elevated massing and terraced geometry respond to the topography, visually anchoring it to the hillside while opening panoramic views toward the city. Inside, the spaces are designed for flexibility and reconfiguration, allowing students and administrators alike to reinterpret the building through use. The interplay of light, shadow, and transparency across its surfaces further reinforces the dynamic nature of the design.

Future: Architecture as a Catalyst for Campus Vitality

The Samian Dormitory Office Building represents more than a functional facility—it proposes a new typology of university architecture. By embracing flexibility, openness, and participation, it transforms from a passive object into a catalyst for social interaction.

This approach redefines the role of architecture in educational environments. Buildings are no longer static backdrops to academic life but active participants in it—spaces that evolve alongside their users, continually reprogrammed through lived experience.

In doing so, Ashari Architects articulate a vision of architecture that transcends conventional definitions of form and function. The building becomes an event in itself—a framework that accommodates management while simultaneously nurturing the collective vitality of student culture.

Ultimately, the Samian Dormitory Office Building stands as a manifesto for living architecture—an adaptable structure that celebrates the fluidity of human activity. Through its layered design and thoughtful programming, it embodies the belief that the built environment should not simply house life but amplify it, ensuring that architecture remains as dynamic, creative, and resilient as the communities it serves.

Photography: Navid Atrvash