Silver A' Design Award Winner 2025
Sarah Harhash's Aziz House Residential Building operates within a rich symbolic vocabulary that positions dwelling as mediator between earth and sky, tradition and innovation, shelter and landscape, encoding through its formal decisions a meditation on human habitation within challenging yet beautiful environments. The earth-toned palette functions symbolically to assert rootedness and belonging, the building appearing to emerge from rather than be imposed upon the land, evoking archetypal associations of the cave, the den, the primordial shelter that protects without alienating from the surrounding world. The triangular lattice screen carries multiple symbolic resonances, the triangle representing stability, aspiration, and the sacred in numerous cultural traditions, while the repetitive pattern creates a visual rhythm suggesting cosmic order and mathematical harmony underlying apparent simplicity. The threshold sequence marked by the curving pathway encodes a ceremonial approach to dwelling, the journey from public to private realm functioning as psychological preparation and spatial ritual rather than mere functional circulation. The solitary figure in white garments introduces symbolic dimensions of purity, tradition, and continuity with ancestral practices, their movement through the landscape suggesting pilgrimage or daily devotion elevated to aesthetic significance. The xeriscaped garden with its succulents and cacti symbolizes adaptation, resilience, and the discovery of beauty within constraint, transforming apparent limitation into distinctive regional identity. The interplay of solid masses and void spaces suggests fundamental dualities of presence and absence, shelter and exposure, community and solitude that architecture uniquely mediates. The horizontal emphasis and connection to earth plane may evoke humility and groundedness in contrast to vertical architectural expressions of aspiration or dominance, encoding values of modesty and harmony with natural systems. The warm-cool chromatic dialogue between terracotta architecture and cerulean sky represents the complementary relationship between earth and heaven, human construct and cosmic expanse, temporal dwelling and eternal permanence that architectural traditions across cultures have sought to articulate.
A serene retreat that harmonizes contemporary design with its natural surroundings. Featuring clean lines, expansive glass facades, and a balanced interplay of light and shadow, the residence offers seamless connection between indoor and outdoor spaces. The architecture maximizes natural ventilation and daylight, enhancing comfort while reducing environmental impact. A thoughtful material palette of breeze blocks, wood, and Palm leaves creates a refined yet warm ambiance. Designed as a tranquil escape, the house provides both privacy and openness, making it an ideal sanctuary for relaxation