‘God is beautiful. The Architect is the creator of beauty and comfort.’ -Kamal Kamooneh
Perhaps Architecture can be understood as creating a living being which contains the life, memories and experiences of humankind. With stone, wood, metal, light, water and plants etc. Architecture, as an ideal, strives to make reality of our greatest collective dreams.
Kamal Kamooneh was born in 1932 (1312 Shamsi ) in Tehran and graduated in Architecture from the University of Tehran. It was at that time that he was introduced to Nezam Amery and the masterworks of Frank Lloyd Wright and in 1962 (1342) he was invited to join the office of Nezam Amery and Hormoz Khosrovi and thus the practice of Nezam Amery – Kamooneh - Khosrovi was born. Their office worked with sensitivity and diligence in creating architectural works for the pleasure of humankind.
The office had been established in 1961 under the direction of Nezam Amery who had worked and studied with Mr. Wright at Taliesin in Wisconsin and Arizona. After Wright’s passing, Mr. Amery and his new partners Kamal Kamooneh and Hormoz Khosrovi, represented the continuing legacy of Organic Architecture in the Middle East along with the efforts of the other Taliesin pupils around the world and in the United States. Kamal Kamooneh and Hormoz Khosrovi had worked with Nezam Amery since they were students and under his guidance they completed their architectural training. For 18 years they were consulting architects to the Persian Government and executed more than 90 projects including hospitals, universities, hotels, office and government buildings nationwide. They also engaged in private projects. Due to the instability and onset of the revolution in 1979, the office was closed.
During the 12 years Kamal Kamooneh lived outside of Iran, he completed a number of projects in the United States including residential and commercial works. One of these projects was the adaptive reuse and extensive renovation of a historic 1921 Masonic Temple across from The Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The building was made into a night life and entertainment complex and was complimented by the Los Angeles Times.
In 1990, when Kamooneh returned from the United States, he started his own office and the first project upon his return was the Mehdad Medical Building which he designed and supervised. He then completed the Sharp Center for Electronics in Tehran and continued with Abshar residential mid rise building as well as many other works.
From his Tehran office, Mr. Kamooneh continues to use his vast professional and life experiences to inform and assist him in completing architectural projects in the organic spirit with influences gained from his collaborations with Mr. Amery and Mr. Khosrovi.