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Yasaman Esmaili
Yasaman Esmaili is an architect, independent researcher and educator and the founder of studio chahar. She received her architectural education at the University of Tehran, the University of Arizona and the University of Washington. She is interested in examining existing presumptions in order to experiment with alternative design processes and create innovative, equitable and context-driven spaces. She believes that architects can play an important role in empowering the community and forming a social shift in the global society.
Besides founding studio chahar, Yasaman co-founded a community-based initiative in 2019 in collaboration with Architecture for Refugee, USA, called “Color My Home”, focusing on finding the meaning of lost homes as experienced by immigrants and refugees, through architectural thinking. Yasaman is also a founding member of united4design, an international design collective formed in 2013 to simulate a dialogue about architecture and intelligent global practice.
Before forming these initiatives, Yasaman worked as an architectural designer for over six years at Blokable, and Hewitt Architects, in Seattle, Washington, and AE Architects in Istanbul, Turkey, amongst other firms. Yasaman is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and her recent design research is focused on World Heritage sites.
Yasaman is the recipient of the 2020 Tamayouz Women in Architecture award, Rising Star category and the 2023 University of Washington Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award. She is currently a visiting professor at Wentworth Institute of technology. She has also taught architecture at Keene State College, Roger Williams University, and the University of Washington. She has been a guest critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Washington, Washington State University, Portland State University, and Yale University.
Practice Ideology
Studio chahar is a nomadic architectural design and research practice, founded in 2018 as a platform for design thinking and making. They focus on projects that transform the built environment in an equitable and innovative way, and create an awareness towards their footprint on the urban and natural environment. They join other designers, makers and artists in order to create responsive, context-driven, and thought-provoking architecture.
Chahar means “four” in Farsi and is used in many Iranian architectural terms; chaharsoo is the center of the bazaar, where the exchange of knowledge and expertise happen, where all the energy of the city meets and greets and flows. Chaharbagh is the Persian garden, with a quadrilateral form, where the four directions of North and South and East and West equally meet at the center of the garden.
Studio chahar focuses on the fluidity that comes from the interdisciplinary teamwork and cultural exchange in any given situation, like the energy that is formed at the center of the bazaar.
