Sasan SeyedKalal, Ph.D.

Early Life & Music

Sasan SeyedKalal's enthusiasm for music began during his childhood in the 1970s, an era marked by the climax of contemporary rock, pop, progressive, and experimental music. Through older members of his family, he was introduced at an early age to Western popular and rock music, establishing an interest that would remain an important part of his creative life.

During his teenage years, SeyedKalal began learning Setar and Tar, two principal string instruments of Persian classical music, under well known teachers of traditional Iranian music. These formative years introduced him to the melodic structures, tonal character, rhythm, and cultural traditions of Persian music.

As he later started his education in the field of architecture, his musical studies continued through the practice and study of classic guitar. Architecture and music gradually became interconnected areas of exploration.

This relationship between space and sound, structure and rhythm, proportion and composition would become a recurring theme throughout his work as an architect, educator, designer, researcher, musician, and multidisciplinary artist.

Architectural Education

SeyedKalal pursued advanced architectural education in Iran and Canada.

He received his Master of Architecture (MArch) and his PhD from Shahid Beheshti University and a Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) from the University of Guelph in Canada.

His architectural education was closely connected with his musical interests. During his graduate studies, SeyedKalal explored the relationship between architecture and music, including a master's design project centered on the concept of a grand music center in Tehran named as City of Music..

Following his studies in architecture, his move to Canada provided an opportunity to expand his architectural perspective into the field of landscape architecture, further developing his interest in the relationships among buildings, landscapes, culture, nature, and human experience.

His doctoral research subsequently returned to this interdisciplinary territory. Records associated with Shahid Beheshti University's doctoral program document his architecture dissertation under the title “The Integration of Architecture and Landscape” (پیوند معماری و منظر).

Through these successive areas of study—architecture, landscape architecture, and doctoral research—SeyedKalal developed an approach to design that extends beyond the building as an isolated object and instead considers architecture as part of a larger cultural, environmental, spatial, and artistic context.

Academic Career

Alongside professional architectural practice, SeyedKalal developed an academic career involving architectural education, research, design instruction, and mentorship.

His teaching experience has included architectural and design education in Iran and Cyprus, where he worked with students across architecture and related design disciplines.

Records from the European University of Lefke in Cyprus identify him as Assist. Prof. Dr. Sassan Seyedkalal and document his involvement with architecture and interior architecture students.

His academic activities have included the supervision and development of student design projects as well as workshops emphasizing the importance of freehand drawing and sketching within the architectural design process.

For SeyedKalal, drawing functions not merely as a presentation technique, but as a method of observation, investigation, conceptual development, and communication—allowing an architectural idea to evolve from an initial thought into spatial form.

His academic work reflects a broader philosophy in which architecture is understood through a combination of design, landscape, culture, history, environment, visual communication, and artistic expression.

Architecture & Research

SeyedKalal's architectural research has consistently explored the relationship between the built environment and the larger cultural and natural landscape.

Among his documented scholarly works is the study “Landscape Space: Integration of Culture and Nature,” co-authored with Shahram Pourdeihimi and published in 2012.

The research investigates landscape as something considerably broader than scenery or physical environment. Instead, landscape is approached as a multidimensional spatial condition shaped by the interaction of culture, nature, human perception, environment, and space.

His research interests have also extended into architectural heritage, conservation, restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive revitalization.

This includes scholarly work examining the Vazir Historical Complex, a nineteenth-century architectural complex situated along the historic Silk Road corridor between Yazd and Meybod, Iran. The research considered approaches to preserving and revitalizing historic architectural environments while maintaining their cultural and spatial significance.

His architectural work also encompasses contemporary design and architectural competitions.

He has presented design proposals to various design competitions and he has achieved some notable prizes. His design for AutoCity (a national exhibition center for automobile industry in Tehran)won the third award in 2006.

More recently, SeyedKalal served as Lead Designer of Akhtar School in Yazd, Iran.

The project's architectural response draws upon the climatic and cultural conditions of Yazd, utilizing brick architecture and a sunken courtyard arrangement to organize two independently functioning but spatially connected educational environments.

Akhtar School received a Bronze award in the Primary, Elementary & Middle Schools category of the 2023 International Design Awards.

Together, his academic research and built-design activities demonstrate an architectural philosophy concerned not simply with producing buildings, but with understanding the relationships between people, architecture, landscape, climate, history, culture, and place.

Architecture Meets Music

One of the defining characteristics of SeyedKalal's creative career is his desire for exploring the relationship between architecture and music.

Both disciplines depend upon composition.

Architecture organizes mass, void, movement, proportion, material, light, and space. Music organizes rhythm, frequency, dynamics, silence, texture, and time.

SeyedKalal's work has repeatedly explored the territory where these systems interact and intersect.

His early study of Persian instruments, later work with classic guitar, architectural education, landscape research, teaching, and subsequent participation in professional musical projects have allowed these interests to develop alongside one another for decades.

This multidisciplinary perspective eventually became particularly significant through his association with Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) and JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC.

Friendship & Musicianship with Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi)

An important chapter in the artistic and professional life of Sasan SeyedKalal, Ph.D. is his friendship and evolving creative partnership with Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi)—Musician, Composer, Professional Drummer, Percussionist, Producer, Master Builder of JoubinDrums® handmade drums, and founder of JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC.

Their relationship represents considerably more than a conventional collaboration between two musicians.

Over time, friendship, musicianship, architecture, design, sound, visual art, three-dimensional development, and instrument building increasingly became interconnected elements of their creative relationship.

The two brought distinctly different yet complementary artistic backgrounds into that relationship.

Joubin Mahmoudi's (Joobin Mahmoodi) creative career is deeply rooted in professional drumming and percussion, composition, music production, live performance, sound development, and the hands-on design and construction of drums.

SeyedKalal's background combines architecture, landscape architecture, academic research and teaching, visual and three-dimensional design, Persian traditional music, classical guitar, acoustic guitar, and broader artistic interests.

These different disciplines ultimately provided common creative ground.

From Friendship to Musicianship

Music became one of the strongest connections between Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) and Sasan SeyedKalal.

As their friendship developed, so did their musicianship together. Their relationship gradually expanded beyond conversations and shared interests into active participation in musical and multidisciplinary projects.

The contrast between Mahmoudi's rhythmic and percussion-oriented musical background and SeyedKalal's experience with string instruments created a natural musical exchange.

Mahmoudi contributed the perspective of a Musician, Composer, Professional Drummer, Percussionist, and Producer, while SeyedKalal contributed his experience with Guitars, Acoustic Guitar, Background Vocals, Persian Traditional instruments, and Classical Guitar.

Their collaboration consequently developed not simply around performing music together, but around creating and shaping the broader artistic environment surrounding the music.

Friendship Becomes a Multidisciplinary Partnership

As their creative relationship expanded, architecture and design increasingly became part of their musical collaboration.

A discussion about music could develop into a discussion about visual identity.

A musical concept could evolve into a three-dimensional form.

An idea about an instrument could lead to questions about materials, geometry, construction, resonance, and sound.

This continuing exchange of ideas gradually created a working relationship in which their respective professional backgrounds complemented one another.

The friendship between Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) and Sasan SeyedKalal therefore became an important creative bridge between music and architecture, rhythm and geometry, instrument building and product design, sound and physical form.

That relationship would become particularly visible through AtarWratH® and JoubinDrums®.

AtarWratH®

The artistic relationship between Mahmoudi and SeyedKalal became particularly significant through AtarWratH®, with SeyedKalal becoming actively involved in the project beginning in 2018.

Within AtarWratH®, SeyedKalal contributes:

Guitars • Acoustic Guitar • Background Vocals

His involvement combines his longstanding musicianship with the project's broader creative and visual development.

Working alongside Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi), AtarWratH® created an environment where Mahmoudi's experience in drumming, percussion, composition, production, and musical direction could intersect with SeyedKalal's experience in guitar, architecture, visual composition, and three-dimensional design.

AtarWratH® 3D Character & Visual Development

SeyedKalal's contribution to AtarWratH® extends beyond musical performance.

Drawing upon his architectural background and understanding of three-dimensional form, he participated in the configuration and development of the AtarWratH® character in three-dimensional form, contributing to the transformation of the project's artistic concept into a recognizable visual identity.

His architectural understanding introduced principles such as geometry, proportion, mass, volume, surface, balance, and spatial relationships into the development of the character.

AtarWratH® therefore became one of the clearest examples of how the friendship and musicianship between Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) and Sasan SeyedKalal could extend beyond conventional musical collaboration.

Within the same project, they could work with:

Music • Sound • Performance • Architecture • Visual Identity • 3D Design

The project became a meeting point between two creative languages—one strongly rooted in rhythm, percussion, composition, and production, and another connecting guitars, architecture, visual composition, and three-dimensional design.

DevaWratH® & Hallucinations BLUE®

SeyedKalal has additionally been involved with DevaWratH® and Hallucinations BLUE®, projects associated with JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC.

These projects form part of a broader multidisciplinary creative environment in which music interacts with visual identity, conceptual development, digital design, performance, and other artistic media.

His participation further demonstrates the breadth of the creative relationship developed through Mahmoudi, SeyedKalal, and the projects operating within the [JP]® INC. organization.

JoubinDrums®

One of the most important developments in the creative partnership between Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) and Sasan SeyedKalal emerged through JoubinDrums®, under the supervision of JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC.

JoubinDrums® represents a particularly direct connection between their respective expertise in:

Music • Architecture • Product Design • Sound • Acoustics • Craftsmanship • Instrument Building

Joubin Mahmoudi — Master Builder

Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) is the Master Builder of JoubinDrums® handmade drums.

His decades of experience as a professional drummer and percussionist provide an essential foundation for his approach to building instruments.

For Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi), the drum is not simply a designed or manufactured object. It is an instrument understood from the perspective of the musician who must perform with it.

His approach connects hands-on craftsmanship with considerations including shell construction, materials, dimensions, hardware, tuning response, resonance, projection, attack, sustain, sensitivity, and tonal character.

His work as a Musician, Composer, Professional Drummer, Percussionist, Producer, and Master Drum Builder allows instrument construction and musical performance to remain directly connected.

Sasan SeyedKalal — Co-Founder, Product Design & Sound Engineering Consultant

SeyedKalal contributes another perspective to JoubinDrums® as:

Co-Founder • Product Design Consultant • Sound Engineering Consultant

His architectural and design background complements Joubin Mahmoudi's (Joobin Mahmoodi) practical and musical experience as a drummer and master drum builder.

Architecture and drum building may initially appear to belong to entirely different disciplines, yet both depend upon many of the same principles:

Material. Structure. Geometry. Proportion. Volume. Resonance. Craftsmanship. Function. Human Experience.

In architecture, these elements influence how a structure performs and how a space is experienced.

In drum building, they influence how an instrument responds, resonates, projects, feels, and ultimately sounds.

JoubinDrums® therefore became one of the most direct expressions of the creative exchange between Mahmoudi and SeyedKalal.

The Master Builder, the Architect & the Musicians

An important characteristic of their collaboration is that both approach instrument development as musicians.

Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) approaches the instrument through decades of experience in professional drumming, percussion, composition, performance, production, and hands-on drum building.

Sasan SeyedKalal approaches it through the combined perspective of an architect, designer, guitarist, musician, and sound engineering consultant.

This allows their creative discussions to move freely between physical construction and musical performance.

A design decision can become a sonic decision.

A material decision can become a tonal decision.

A structural decision can influence resonance.

And a musician's response to an instrument can influence its physical development.

This continuous exchange among master builder, architect, designer, and musicians has become an important component of their creative partnership and of the identity of JoubinDrums®.

JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC.

Sasan SeyedKalal's broader creative relationship with Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) has also connected him with projects developed through JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC.

His involvement has included associations with:

AtarWratH® • DevaWratH® • Hallucinations BLUE® • JoubinDrums®

Across these projects, SeyedKalal has been able to bring together several aspects of his professional background—architecture, music, visual development, three-dimensional design, product design, and sound engineering consultation.

Rather than participating exclusively as either an architect or musician, his work reflects the multidisciplinary character that has defined his broader career.

Multidisciplinary Art

SeyedKalal's artistic interests extend beyond architecture and music.

He has maintained interests in painting, drawing, cinema, visual arts, three-dimensional design, and other forms of creative expression.

These disciplines are not isolated from his architectural practice.

Drawing informs architectural thinking.

Cinema introduces sequence, framing, atmosphere, light, movement, and narrative.

Painting explores composition, texture, color, and abstraction.

Music introduces rhythm, dynamics, repetition, contrast, harmony, and time.

Architecture provides structure, geometry, proportion, material, and space.

Together, these influences contribute to a multidisciplinary creative philosophy in which different artistic languages can communicate with one another.

A Career Between Space, Form & Sound

The professional and artistic career of Sasan SeyedKalal, Ph.D. exists at the intersection of disciplines that are frequently treated separately.

He is an architect whose creative interests extend into sound.

A landscape architect interested in culture and nature.

An educator concerned with drawing and the process of design.

A researcher investigating architecture, landscape, heritage, and spatial experience.

A musician whose experience encompasses Persian traditional instruments, classical guitar, guitars, acoustic guitar, and background vocals.

A designer applying three-dimensional thinking to visual characters and artistic concepts.

And a product design and sound engineering consultant participating in the development of handmade musical instruments.

His friendship and musicianship with Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) added another dimension to this interdisciplinary path.

Through AtarWratH®, their relationship connects musicianship with visual and three-dimensional development.

Through JoubinDrums®, their relationship connects architecture and product design with professional drumming, craftsmanship, sound engineering, and handmade instrument building.

Through JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC., their collaboration extends into a wider environment of music, design, sound, visual expression, and multidisciplinary experimentation.

Their friendship represents more than the history of two artists participating in the same projects. It represents an ongoing exchange between the musician and the architect, the drummer and the guitarist, the master drum builder and the designer.

For SeyedKalal, this collaboration reinforces an idea that has followed much of his architectural and artistic career:

Architecture can have rhythm. Music can create space. Design can shape sound. Craftsmanship can give sound physical form. And friendship can provide the creative space in which all of them meet.

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Name: Sasan SeyedKalal, Ph.D. Disciplines: Architecture • Landscape Architecture • Architectural Education • Research • Music • Product Design • 3D Design • Visual Arts Musical Instruments: Guitar • Acoustic Guitar • Setar • Tar Vocals: Background Vocals AtarWratH®: Active involvement since 2018 JoubinDrums®: Co-Founder • Product Design & Sound Engineering Consultant Associated Projects: AtarWratH® • DevaWratH® • Hallucinations BLUE® • JoubinDrums® Associated Organization: JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC. Creative Collaboration: Joubin Mahmoudi (Joobin Mahmoodi) — Musician • Composer • Professional Drummer • Percussionist • Producer • Master Builder of JoubinDrums® Handmade Drums

References

European University of Lefke. (n.d.). Creative designs by EUL architecture students. https://www.eul.edu.tr/en/creative-designs-by-eul-architecture-students/

European University of Lefke. (2018). Exhibition of spring term projects of EUL Faculty of Architecture has started. https://www.eul.edu.tr/en/?p=19116

Farahza, N., & Seyedkalal, S. (2016). Vazir historical complex: Past, present, future conservation, restoration, rehabilitation and revitalization. In Living in earthen cities: Kerpic ’16. Istanbul Aydın University. https://www.aydin.edu.tr/tr-tr/arastirma/universite-yayinlari/Documents/kerpic_.pdf

International Design Awards. (2023). Akhtar School. In International Design Awards 2023: Architecture winners. https://www.idesignawards.com/books/IDA2023-book-ARCHI.pdf

JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC. (n.d.). AtarWratH®. JPINC.US. https://jpinc.us/

JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC. (n.d.). DevaWratH®. JPINC.US. https://jpinc.us/

JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC. (n.d.). Hallucinations BLUE®. JPINC.US. https://jpinc.us/

JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC. (n.d.). JoubinDrums® store and official digital catalog. JPINC.US. https://jpinc.us/company/store

JOUBIN PRODUCTIONS [JP]® INC. (n.d.). Official music and release catalog. JPINC.US. https://jpinc.us/company/store

Seyedkalal, S., & Pourdeihimi, S. (2012). Landscape space: Integration of culture and nature. AGRIS, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://agris.fao.org/search/es/records/67bda3847a9727816ad36f45