The White Iris of Riyadh

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | 2022
International competition proposal — private residences
Finalist, Dream Villas YAC Competition

Team: Ellina Poltavtseva, Shida Wang, Wentao Zeng, Zeming Zhang

This international competition proposal explores a shared residential model for two families seeking proximity without sacrificing privacy. The challenge was to design adjacent homes that support communal family life while responding sensitively to Riyadh’s desert climate, cultural values, and spatial traditions.

Inspired by the white iris flower, the architecture unfolds through layered horizontal planes that cast deep shadows and shield interior spaces from the intense desert sun. These planes define thresholds, mediate privacy, and frame carefully composed views toward the surrounding landscape. Rather than relying on walls alone, the design uses spatial sequencing to create connection and separation simultaneously, allowing visual and social exchange between the residences while preserving moments of retreat.

The project combines a contemporary architectural language with traditional passive bioclimatic strategies, ensuring the homes remain cool and shaded throughout the day. At its core, the design investigates a series of dualities central to contemporary Riyadh: luxury without excess, openness without exposure, and modern ambition grounded in cultural and environmental context.

Selected as a finalist in the Dream Villas YAC International Competition, the proposal advances a new residential typology that balances privacy with shared family life. It demonstrates climate-responsive design through passive shading and thermal strategies, frames architecture as cultural narrative rather than stylistic object, and positions contemporary domestic architecture in Saudi Arabia as both restrained and aspirational.