For the past twenty-two years, NextOffice has practiced architecture amid the unstable, contradiction-filled realities of Iran’s economic, political, and social landscape. In a context where politics permeates everyday life and formal and informal modes of living coexist in a fragile balance, our central question has been: how can architecture remain meaningful within instability? Rather than smoothing out tensions, our approach has been to cultivate them—transforming contradiction into a productive force capable of enriching architecture and impacting urban life.
Our practice operates through a detective-like reading of social fractures, spatial conflicts, and overlooked conditions, which are then reframed through narrative and design as spatial strategies. This method has led to the development of binary, hybrid, and complementary dualities across program, structure, spatial organization, and materiality—from merging introverted and extroverted diagrams to juxtaposing traditional and contemporary construction systems, and addressing the “third façade” in response to the aesthetic disorder of the city.
Over two decades, NextOffice has become an influential voice in contemporary Iranian architecture. Its formal and critical approaches have inspired a younger generation of architects. Through teaching, publications, and independent institutional initiatives, our impact extends beyond built projects.
For us, architecture is an act of persistence. In a landscape where permanence is uncertain, continuing to define, build, and narrate is itself a form of agency.
Alireza Taghaboni
CEOAlireza Taghaboni, a practicing architect, founded Next Office in 2004. Taghaboni is also a painter and holds a PHD degree in Architecture. A frequent contributor to Iranian architecture and urbanism magazines and periodicals, he is a tutor and partner at the Center for Contemporary Architecture, a private institution in Tehran that offers an alternative architectural education program.
Explore our portfolio, achievements, and design philosophy in a concise document
