The increasing growth of cities, especially in developing countries, has reduced some of the life quality of citizens in recent decades. In other words, architects and urban planners have less opportunity to maintain and develop a lifestyle of urban dwellers along with an acceleration of changes in urban form and concepts. Thus, in megacities and their vast suburbs, the experience of living is limited to spending time in high-rise buildings and deprivation of social interaction spaces and natural light and green space. The Mashhad metropolis, as the host of the “Honarestan” project, is no exception to this rule.

In the process of this heterogeneous growth, the lack of interaction between the urban fabric and the form of buildings becomes quite apparent. In the study of urban planning structure and hierarchy of routes in the given area for the “Honarestan” project, a network of accesses and urban plazas, as well as greenery, was chosen as a model for use in the facades of building to bring the dynamics of the urban context into the volume of the structure and create more connection between the building and the city. This blowing of the spirit of the urban body in the project concept is a response to the challenges posed by the lack of connection between the environment and the building.

On the other hand, to recover some of the forgotten urban and local qualities, an interconnected network of access routes as well as common spaces as social camps on all floors have been developed in three dimensions. It is worth mentioning that in the structure of Iranian cities until a few decades ago, there was a hierarchy of neighborhoods and access routes between them, as well as spaces for gathering and social interaction which played an undeniable role in inducing a sense of identity and memories and common interests among the residents of a neighborhood. Therefore, in this project, the design team has tried to use this positive function this time in a residential tower with a form and function that keep pace with the contemporary movements of architecture. To achieve this goal, the vertical accesses of the building are located in the middle spaces of the tower and reach common spaces along with them through branches of horizontal routes which are common areas for gatherings and friendly meetings and holding family ceremonies between several adjacent residential units. In developing the concept, these neighborhood units are organized as follows: one space on the third and fourth floors, one space on the fifth and sixth floors, two spaces on the eighth and ninth floors, and the highest neighborhood unit on the twelfth and thirteenth floors. In this way, several adjacent residential units create a common but relatively private space between them.

Also, the vertical network of accesses, in addition to creating a connection between residential spaces, connects the above-mentioned neighborhood units to various functions that are included in the physical planning and design of the building. In other words, this project is designed as a multi-purpose building to bring self-sufficiency on the one hand- as one of the principles of traditional Iranian architecture - and on the other hand, lead to increase social interaction and a sense of common identity. Thus, the conference hall, cinema and gallery on the - 1 floor, the main lobby and restaurant on the ground floor, the swimming pool, massage, and spa rooms, gym, the billiard tables, the meeting space and cafe, which all arranged on the twelfth floor are connected to other commons areas, especially neighborhood units through vertical access routes. The outstanding achievement of organized functions is the reduction of residents’ visits to other districts for recreation, sports, and gatherings, which can have an undeniable effect on reducing residents’ Urban Journeys and be considered as a pattern in similar projects to achieve architecture in line with the trend of sustainable urban growth. Therefore, this project can be considered a reflection of the city in the body of a residential tower; a building with multiple uses next to residential spaces, and also a manifestation of urban dynamism in neighborhood units and other common spaces.