Editor in chief speech - German Villas Edition
On the occasion of the Launch of the Villa Magazine "German Villas Issue".
Amir Abbas Aboutalebi Speech, Editor in chief Villa Magazine.
February 17th, 2021.
Amir Abbas Aboutalebi, Editor in of chief of Villa Magazine, initiated his speech by welcoming the guests and greetings them for joining the ceremony of launching the Villa Magazine German issue. He pointed out that although the coronavirus serves as a significant barrier, collaboration has been a constant theme in their work in the past three years.
He depicted the resume of Villa Magazine, including collaborations with different embassies in Iran, such as Finland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, and Switzerland, and other cooperations with architectural organizations and universities.
Amir Abbas Aboutalebi introduced his experiences and background as a delicate amalgam of many roots, languages, and cultures.
"Lacking common ground, I found architecture as a language from which to speak and to promote cultural integrations." Amir Abbas said.
He demonstrated the event location as a Bauhaus villa by pointing to the inner and outer building, the glass and steel materials, the minimalistic forms, and the asymmetrical spatial organization.
Amir Abbas Aboutalebi talked about his pride in the quality of the visual experience, content, and artistic taste of the annual edition Issue No.12 and the peculiarity of that due to the eight leading German architects in this issue and 16 Iconic villa projects in Germany that are trying to develop an “architectural dialect” and a “contemporary manifestation.” He said: "These villas are not just a second home or an escape from city life. They are an ideal setting for conversations about architectural inventions."
He mentioned a relationship between the historical German castles and the modern democratized villas by referring to the issue's timeline. He pointed to the new topics in the magazine, including "call for paper", "research award", "rediscovering Bauhaus heritage in Iran" and "the influence of Bauhaus on Iranian art and architecture" in three themes which are "design", "culture", and "history". The news about the unbuilt villa award, the Norwegian issue ceremony, and the upcoming issue – villa dialogue with leading Iranian architects can be found in the magazine.
In the end, he concluded his speech by expressing his gratitude, which the complete text can be seen below:
Just above and beyond that, I am so proud of making this work happen in IRAN, a country under the most severe sanctions and in a state of isolation. Tomorrow is the Iranian “DAY OF LOVE” and the day of “THE WOMAN AND THE EARTH” in the Iranian Zoroaster calendar. I want to express my gratitude to my wife, friends, mentors, advisory board, editorial board, media, and sponsors. I would like to thank Mr. Stephan Reitze, the head of the cultural section of the Royal German embassy in Iran, for his generous support and for helping us spread the word! I would like to thank our guests of honor from different embassies in Tehran. May this event start a great cultural exchange between our countries for the years and decades to come!
Related news:
German Embassy in Cooperation with Villa Magazine
Honorary guests of Villa Magazine unveiling ceremony-No.12