Majara Residence: The Colorful Dome Village of Hormuz, Iran ~ Kuriositas

Majara Residence: The Colorful Dome Village of Hormuz, Iran

Approaching the small island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf by boat, an entirely unexpected sight greets the eyes: a series of colorful, interconnected domes of different sizes. Perched at the southern tip of Iran, the island is sparsely populated, little visited (even though many of its 6,000 residents rely on tourism for their living), and somewhat overlooked by the rest of the country. So, have a group of aliens, looking for a quiet corner of our planet, landed and made their home here? The truth is a little more down-to-earth than that — but just as fascinating. Image - Wikimedia

The domes are, in fact, an accommodation complex, created to help solve a problem. The island relies on tourism but has a lack of places for visitors to stay. Known as Majara Residence (from the Persian word for adventure), the gateless community is made up of 17 suites which can hold close to 100 guests, plus cafés and restaurants.

Image - Wikimedia

Iran is an old country with deeply rooted traditions - socially and architecturally. So, at first glance, it might seem that ZAV Architects, the group behind the domes, have created something that flies in the face of the conservative conventions of this ancient civilization.

Far from it. The architects may have given Iranian tradition a little shake, but the residence, designed to echo an interconnected community space, relies on both local construction techniques and materials sourced from Hormuz. Hardly a surprise then that the “Zav” in Zav Architects conveys the identity of a design practice — affirming their role as creators and builders. It reflects a commitment to local materials, social agency, and process-driven design.

Image Wikimedia

Talking of social agency, the people of Hormuz are at the very heart of the project. Locals, many of whom had never built anything before, were hired and trained to create the colorful domes. The method they used is called Superadobe — which, put simply, means lots and lots of sandbags. These are filled with earth from the island itself and then carefully stacked, one on top of another, to make strong, rounded buildings. In the process, local people picked up new skills (it’s more complicated than it sounds!), earned an income, and ended up with a neighborhood built quite literally from the ground beneath their feet.

For Majara, Zav Architects adapted the Superadobe process so the domes could be wider and lower, making them perfectly suited to the island’s hot, dry climate. Inside, cool spaces await.

The local birds have certainly give the complex their seal of approval.

If you saw this from above, wouldn't you consider making it your new home? Or at the very least, fly down and take a peek?

Back on the ground, step inside, and it feels less like a hotel and more like a winding village, where each turn reveals another dome-shaped surprise, a tucked-away courtyard, or a sunlit open space for playing, resting, or simply watching the light shift across the island. The domes cluster together in playful arrangements, creating paths and pockets that encourage exploration and discovery at every corner.

Finally, with splashes of red, blue, yellow, and green, the domes are painted to reflect the island’s extraordinary scenery, including its beaches that famously shimmer in the sun, creating a colorful kaleidoscope that seems to grow straight from the shimmering earth.

And so, the Majara Residence stands as a curious blend of imagination and reality - a place where tradition meets adventure, and the land itself seems to have sprouted a village of rainbow domes. Visitors arrive expecting a hotel but discover a living, breathing community, shaped by the hands of those who call Hormuz home. In this corner of the Persian Gulf, architecture isn’t just about buildings; it’s about people, color, and a little bit of magic rising from the earth itself.