CONTENTS

◆

ArchitectureofTransition

Master’sthesis

~

HealingGround

Master’syear1project

~

Workshops&Building

~

Bachelor’swork

ARCHITECTUREOF

TRANSITION

◆

PROPOSING

a

NEWMODEL

forthe

MARSAOPENCENTRE

master’sthesis~2011

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

8

singantheexistingMarsaOpenCentrestartingpoint,withallits

inherentissuesandopportunities,Idevelopedanewmodelofanopencentrethatgrewdirectlyfromtheneedsoftheoccupantsandprovidedopportunitiesfortheirtransitionintosociety.

An modationandcommunitycentreforasylumseekersinMalta

U

MyproposalfortheMarsaOpenCentreembodiedamovefromanarchitectureoffear,dependency,andisolationtoanarchitectureofcommunity,participation,andtransition.

Aflexiblestructuralsystemwascreatedinconjunctionwithanoverallschemethatsupportedexistingcentersofcommunitysupportaswellasnewfacilitiesthatcouldbesharedbyasylumseekersandthesurroundingcommunity.ThisenabledthenewMarsaCentretoresponddynamicallytochangingneedsandunstableconditions,inparticularfluctuationsinmigrationtoMalta.

Publiccenters

Identifycrucialexistingcentersonthesite

thatwillbesupportedandenhancedthroughtheproposal

Site

access

Createroutesandpathsthatincreaseaccesstothesiteandalsorespect

thelandscapeallowingforremediationofpollutedareas

Landscapestrategies

Usingbio-remediationtechniques,createamorehealthyenvironmentandencourageself-sustainingpracticessuchasagriculture

Flexible

armature

Agridstructureactsasa

highlyflexiblearmatureontowhichprogramcanbeaddedorremoved

accordingtothechangingneedsoftheusers

Newprogram

Futureexpansion

1

2

3

4

HOUSING

SHARED

COMMUNITYSPACE

FLEXIBLESPACE

OPENPUBLICSPACE

ROUTESTO

ANDFROMSITE

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

9

Generativeprocessandasequenceofunfolding

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

10

Sincetheprojectusedanexistingprogramandsiteasastartingpointwithhundredsofasylumseekersalreadylivingthere,itwascrucialthatanychangeswereimplementedincrementally,overtime,inresponsetotheneedsofthepresentandfutureusersaswelltheirenvironment.

Changescouldbemadestep-by-step, A

allowingforfeedback,corrections,andadjustmentsateachstage.

TheseimagesshowhowthedevelopmentoftheMarsaCentrecouldpotentiallyrespondtofluctuationsinmigrationtoMalta.

Existingcondition>>bedsforapprox.500asylumseekers

Asylumseekerpopulationholdssteady;developmentofexistingcommunityfacilities

Constructionbeginsfornew,largercommunityfacilitiesandoutdoorpublicspace

Increaseinasylumseekerpopulationdueto“ArabSpring”uprisings>>redistributionofresourcesintorapidconstructionofadditionalhousing;developmentofcommunityspacestemporarilyscaled-back

Decreaseinasylumseekerpopulationduetoresettlementprogrammes>>resourcesfocussedondevelopmentoflargecommunityfacilitiestobesharedwithhostcommunity

B C

D

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

11

UsingaGENERATIVEPROCESS,onethingunfoldsfromanotherasspaceisDIFFERENTIATEDandDEFINED

E

Thestructuralsystemforthemaincommunitycentreismeanttosupporthighlyflexiblecommunityspaceswithminimaldisruptiontotheexistingconditions

Left:Explodedaxonometricdetailofcommunitycentreconstruction

Useofexistingmaterialflowsandlocalfabricationtechniques

Top:Entrancetocommunitycentre

Middle:Interioroflibrary>Shelving/seating/windowsystem

Bottom:Externalwalkwayview

Left:Explodedaxonometricdetailofhousingandmarket ceconstruction

Small,lightweightcomponentsincreaseflexibilityandopportunitiesforself-building

Top:Section ofnewhousinginteriorwithatta enttoexistingstructure

Bottom:Infillpaneloptions>“opensourcepartitioning”

Site

n

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

14

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

15

2

1

n

BridgeCommunityCentre

Workshops

Multipurposehall

Classrooms/entrance

Restaurant

4

3

counsellingoffice

multi-faithroom

media

workstations

readingroom

classrooms/

meetingrooms

Prevailingwind

Hot,staleindoorair

Cooler,feshoutdoorair

Excessrainwater(not

collectedbyroof)

SectionA-A

Naturalrunoffmanagementandbiofiltrationsystems>>

Macophytepond Gabionembankment Constructedwetland

>settling >filtering >cleaning

fabrication

50m

construction

Canaconstructionstrategyhavetheabilityto

EMPOWERandCONNECTcommunities?

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

16

ARCHITECTUREOFTRANSITION

17

HEALINGGROUND

◆

an

URBANMARKETFARM

in

SARAJEVO

master’syear1~2010

1

2

3

4

5

HEALINGGROUND

20

ReinterpretingandreconnectingpublicspaceinSarajevo

heexistingMarkaleProduceMarketinSarajevo,siteofoneoftheworstcivilian

massacresduringtheBosnianWar,becamethebasisforacommunitymarket-farmintheheartofthecity.

T

Acombinedcooperativemarketandfarmofferedthepotentialforpsychologicaland

physicalhealingthroughre-connectiontoproductiveland,theenvironment,foodsystems,andideasofprovenance.Thegoalwastobuildresilienturbanfoodsystemsandreinvigorateanexistingpublicspace.

Componentsincluded:

Arooftopfarmwithterracesandraisedbedstogrowcropsandflowerstobesoldinthemarket.

Asolargreenhousethatcontainedaquaponicunitsinordertoprovidefreshfishandvegetablesinanintegratedclosedloopsystemforsaleinthemarket.

Achickenhouseattachedtothegreenhousethatprovidedarenewablesourceofheataswellaseggsandpoultryforthemarket.

HEALINGGROUND

21

PermaculturePrinciples

Permaculture

Theconsciousdesignandmaintenanceofagriculturallyproductiveecosystemswhichhavethediversity,stability,andresilienceofnaturalecosystems.Itistheharmoniousintegrationoflandscapeandpeopleprovidingtheirfood,energy,shelter,andothermaterialandnon-materialneedsinasustainableway.Withoutpermanentagriculturethereisnopossibilityofastablesocialorder

HEALINGGROUND

22

Permaculturedesign

Asystemofassemblingconceptual,material,andstrategiccomponentsinapatternwhichfunctionstobenefitalllifeinallitsforms

Principleofcooperation

Cooperation,notcompetition,istheverybasisofexistinglifesystemsandoffuturesurvival

Chickenhouse

Aquaponics

Thermalmasswall

assistsintemperatueegulationofgreenhouse

Rooftopfarm

Drainage+waterstorage

rainwatercollectedforirrigationduringdryspells

HEALINGGROUND

23

WORKSHOPS&

◆

at

DALHOUSIEUNIVERSITY

and

KUNSTAKADEMIETSARKITEKTSKOLE

BUILDING

Top:StructuralBay,2008MiddleandRight:Yurtconstruction,2009Bottom:Naturalbuilding,2008

MaterialBehaviour:Aworkshopwithguestprof.MarkBurry,RMIT,&CITA~2010

workshopthatdevelopedtoolsandstrategiesforthefabricationofalight-weight,materiallyefficientreciprocalbeamstructureforanexhibitionbytheCentreforInformationTechnologyandArchitecture

A

(CITA)andRMITatTheRoyalDanishAcademyofFineArts,SchoolofArchitecture.

Toolsemployed:Maya,Grasshopper,Rhinoceros,physicalmodelingandprototy

8-BitBehaviours:Exploringarchitecturalpotentialsoftime-based,spatial&materialtransform~2010

WovenWood:Designingformaterialperformance

~2009

hisworkshopexploredtheintersectionbetweendigital

designstrategiesanddesigningformaterialperformance.Workingwithwovenwoodstructures,hybridmaterials,andparametricdigitaldesigntools,studentsinvestigated

howself-bracingwoodstructurescanleadtonewstructuralsystems.

T

Toolsemployed:Grasshopper,Rhinoceros,physicalmodelingandprototy

hiscollaborativeworkshopwithstudentsandprofessorsfromtheBartlettSchoolofArchitectureincluded:

T

Introductiontoandexperimentationwithgeneralconceptsofphysicalcomputing.

Explorationandinv