Student Portfolio
ARCH 473/3522 - DIGITAL DESIGN STUDIO AND WORKSHOP Ahmed Shafik - 900160240 Fall 2019
The American University in Cairo (AUC) School of Sciences and Engineering - Department of Architecture ARCH 473/3522 - Digital Design Studio and Workshop (Spring 2019) Student portfolio documenting samples of work submitted along the course, including research, experimentation, 3D modeling, digital fabrication, parametric design and modeling, physical model realisation and analysis. Student name: Ahmed Shafik Student ID: 900160240
Š The American University in Cairo (AUC), May 2019
Located in GIza, the mobile shelters is inspired by the naturally occuring sand dunes in the area
01 Mobile Shelter for the Homeless
2
Project Scope Studies show that homelessness in Egypt is an alarming social issue that is currently affecting more than 12 million people nationwide, including around 3 million street children according to UNICEF and the National Center for Social and Criminological Research in Egypt. Despite efforts by the government to provide affordable housing to Egypt’s ever-growing population, homelessness remains a pressing issue that hosts serious threats including drugs, abuse, violence and health risks to mention the least, due to the abundance of slums where citizens live in extreme poverty and deteriorating basic services and conditions. Almost 80% of Egypt’s homeless children are found primarily in 10 governorates: Cairo, Giza, Qaliobya, Minya, Sharqya, Alexandria, Assiut, Suez, Beni Suef, and Menofya, based on the Ministry of Social Solidarity’s reports in the past five years. Efforts by the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Social Solidarity typically lie short of the increasingly growing population of the homeless. In addition, the outcomes of such efforts tend to result in shelters that are mass produced and fail to provide character and a sense of inclusivity to their residents. Some recent initiatives have attempted to address some out-of-thebox ideas such as mobile shelters and units but have not fully materialized. In this project, I am required to design a mobile shelter for the homeless. You are encouraged to develop several alternatives and design ideas as part of your preliminary search for a language of formal expression that responds to basic aesthetic and functional requirements. My site should fall into one of the 10 governorates mentioned above, which entails an awareness of the context I am designing within and how it informs and inspires your design and character. The design is open-ended in terms of the required functionality, form, mechanism and number of residents, to allow me to generate innovative ideas; it should however lie within the range of 40-50m2
Portfolio
3 Site Location: Giza
Why Giza? Giza hosts a notable percentage of the homeless population in Egypt Giza is representative of most of the Egyptian climate.
Why Sand Dunes? It is a common element in the Giza desert It is a dynamic phenomenon shaped by its environment Dune patterns could be used to formulate different iterations of the shelter Sand Dunes consist of micro patterns that come together to form macro patterns
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
4 What Are Sand Dunes? Sand Dunes are hills of loose sand formed by the movement of wind or water. Sand Dunes are dynamic in both nature and location, constantly being moved and shaped by the wind. The shape of a dune is entirely dependent on the direction of wind hitting it, making them ideal inspirations for shelters as they are shaped by their environments.
Types of Dunes Inspired By Parabolic Formed when the wind pushes into a mound of sand, forming a concave shape that collects wind rather than blocks it. It is a good solution for hot environments. Barchan Barchan Dunes are formed when wind blows heavily from one direction. This pushes sand together and collects a large, heavy hill which wind has to move around, hence the crescent shape. It embodies the idea of a natural shelter. Reversing Formed when wind hits from many different directions. Naturally interesting and dynamic shape. Are informative of natural wind patterns and flowlines. Are made up of one element, repeated in each direction the wind goes. Portfolio
5
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
6 Design Process Focused on reaction of the dunes to wind Each type of dune reacts in a certainn way, either collecting, blocking, or getting shaped by the wind All share a common element: A slip face
Portfolio
7 Dune Reactions
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
8 Inspirations
Ayla Golf Club EMULATES FORM FOR A CONTEXTUAL DESIGN. CURVES SEPERATE OPEN PLAN VISUALLY BUT NOT LITERALLY
Portfolio
9
Bee’ah Headquarters INCORPORATES SAND DUNE SHAPES FOR WIND COLLECTION
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
10 Form Generation Holistic Layout
Emulating Holistic approach and function of wind collection Was deemed to disconnected from concept
Dynamisim and Movement
Spirit and Shape
Emulating shape of dune Was deemed too literal
Structure and Functionality
Emulating spirit and dynamisim of sand dunes
Combining spirit with functionality
Had potential but was lacking functionally
Developed upon
Portfolio
11 Architectural Translation
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
12
Portfolio
13
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
ŠAll rights reserved, American University in Cairo (AUC) May 2019
Bimetal sheets are 2 sheets that expand at different rates leading to a bending motion
02 Material Experimentation
16
Project Scope Today’s computational capabilities introduce an associative and performance-based process that was not available before. Material exploration and digital fabrication in particular is gradually gaining prominence as a fundamental shift in design development and construction. Being able to fulfill “informed manufacturing potentials becomes a principal strategy in realizing innovative contemporary architectural design intentions” – Kolarevic and Klinger, Manufacturing Material Effects: Rethinking Design and Making in Architecture, 2008. In this experimental project, the objective is to physically explore with different materials and fabrication techniques to devise a unit prototype for a building façade. You are encouraged to investigate several physical /digital techniques and material explorations that can support the process of experimentation with your ideas, including but not limited to: Casting Fabric Forming Tensegrity Structures Sectioning Tessellation Folding .
Portfolio
17 Chosen Material Bi-Metal Sheets
What are Bi-Metal Sheets? They are sheets of 2 different metals welded together
How do they work? Due to the different rates of expansion under heat, and the fixed connection between them, a bending motion occurs
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
18 Experimentation 1 Using aluminium foil and parchment paper. Two strips of aluminium foil are added to the oven at 130 C, one control strip and a strip with parchment paper glued to the back using UHU.
A very slight curve towards the paper size was seen in the experimental strip when left in the oven. The control strip remained unchanged.
When removed from the oven, the experimental strip gradually curved towards the foil side while cooling. Portfolio
19 Experimentation 2 Using aluminium sheets and canson. Two strips of aluminium are added to the oven at 130 C, one control strip and a strip with canson glued to the back using
Before heating, the canson and aluminium were exactly the same size and well bonded.
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
After heating, more curvature was observed, but the metal strip expanded and its edges surpassed those of canson. This is probably due to issues with gluing the two materials.
Ahmed Shafik
20 Experimentation 3 Using aluminium foil and parchment paper. Two strips of aluminium foil are added to the oven at 130 C, one control strip and a strip with parchment paper glued to the back using UHU.
Thick material didn’t respond to temperature change. Thin material was quicker to respond but only saw a slight change in curvature.
Portfolio
Thick material curved more when cooled down overnight. Thin material curved in a deeper way when cooled down overnight.
21 Experimentation 4 Using aluminium sheets of two different thicknesses and parchment. Two strips of aluminium are added to the oven at 130 C, one control strip and a strip with canson glued to the back using UHU.
Thick material had a slight change in curvature. Thin material was quicker to respond and experienced the greatest change in curvature out of all conducted experiments.
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Thick material curved more when cooled down overnight. Thin material curved in a deeper way when cooled down overnight.
Ahmed Shafik
22 Form Generation Iteration 1
This form consisted of a module that was compacted then expanded radially with fabric in between.
The initial form was considered too two dimensional
Iteration 2 This form consisted mainly of a repeated square module where the thermal bi-metals expanded & contracted according to the heat exposure. The form was too rigid and all the sub-modules were identical
Portfolio
23 Form Generation Iteration 3 This form consisted mainly of triangular modules where the thermal bi-metals expanded & contracted according to the heat exposure levels. The form was too rigid and all the sub-modules were identical
Final Form
This form consists of a framework of 8 iterations of two different sized pyramids. Some areas were left exposed, some covered in bi-metal sheets and some covered
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
ŠAll rights reserved, American University in Cairo (AUC) May 2019
The building that we are facelifting is Blom Bank Headquarters
03 Parametric Facelift
26
Project Scope In this project, the objective is to explore, generate and fabricate a prototype for a building façade skin that takes into consideration issues of environmental comfort, spatial relations and human aspects using a passive approach. You are required to develop a parametrically driven building skin for the building below (Blom Bank Egypt SAE - Main Branch, South Teseen Rd, New Cairo). The main façade of the building is in a South/Southwest orientation, and so you are required to devise an appropriate envelope that provides adequate shading and sun protection. How can parametric modeling be exploited for creative design exploration? How does parametric design inform form-finding as a bottom-up approach? What strategies can be developed to extract data from parametric models for fabrication, analysis, and documentation?
What are Bi-Metal Sheets? They are sheets of 2 different metals welded together
Portfolio
27 Concept & Approach
Module
Reflective Crystal
Deformable Bi Metal
Diffusing light inside through multiple layers of reflection and refraction
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
28 Mechanism Closed Modules
As the day progresses and the sun’s heat hits the facade, One of the faces will open up to allow light into the crystal, which will then be refracted and dispersed inside as ambient light
Open Modules
Portfolio
29 Spatial Experiences
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
30
Portfolio
31
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik
32
Portfolio
33
ARCH 473/3522 - Fall 2019
Ahmed Shafik