CONSTANTINA CHARALAMBOUS ARCHITECTURE PART II GRADUATE
CONTACT EMAIL: constantina1992@gmail.com PHONE NUMBER UK: +447514268480
YEAR 6 THESIS PROJECT
YEAR 5 FINAL PROJECT
YEAR 5 FIRST PROJECT
B ARCH
SEMPER EADEM ALWAYS THE SAME
THE BLOOMING CLARINET
ARCHITECTURE AND BAROQUE
AUGMENTED MEMORY
Power Devolution in the city of Leicester
A musical experience through the caves of Ragusa
An analysis of perspective, illusion and geometry
Journey through the past and its memories
PROJECT 01
PROJECT 02
PROJECT 03
PROJECT 04
Masterplan
SEMPER EADEM-ALWAYS THE SAME Power Devolution in the city of Leicester
Site Location: Leicester, United Kingdom Semper Eadem: Always the same Semper Eadem is the personal motto of Queen Elizabeth I which also can be found above her royal coat of arms. It represents equality and identity. Additionally, it is the characteristic phrase of the city of Leicester due to the high diversity of the city and its community.
Inspiration:
The concept of the design is inspired by the English Devolution and the power of the locals over their city. Leicester is among the most multicultural cities of England and a public regional assembly is a way for everyone to be part of major decisions. The scheme is stirred by the democracy of Ancient Athens and the participation of the Athenians to the politics of their city.
Visual within its current context
Isometric view of the immediate site
Leicester Martket Square
The Masterplan
Markets are considered to be one of the most crucial public spaces among a city. Leicester Market is an important connection point creating unforced interaction for the highly diverse community and an iconic area within the city . Spaces of public interaction, such as a marketplace, reveal the variety of cultures in a community.
Placed at the site of the Corn Exchange, the building is surrounded by the most vital interaction places of the city; the Leicester marketplace and the town hall. It will create new noticeable links between the town hall square and the marketplace forming a new democratic public square.
Back elevation - View from the public plaza towards the building
1910
Design
1930
1950
As shown above, noticeable changes have been made to the structures of the Leicester Market throughout the last century. The structures have a crucial impact on the design of the project. Most noticeable is the link of the roof structure between the project and the 1970s design. Major and minor references reflect the evolution of the market’s design onto the design of the regional public assembly.
1970
Current
The local public spaces form the quality of life in a community while it benefits the function of the city. It is crucial factor which brings all the citizens of the city together. The building has an archive and a library, presentation rooms, meeting rooms, and a debate Chamber, which is the most vital space within the scheme which is placed at the back of the building, and is part of the public plaza.
Part Elevation
Connecting the old and the new-Side door view
Public Regional Assembly A civic center is a monumental building in either the topographical or the commercial core of a city. More commonly they represent the jewel of the area, and enhances the local, regional and national character of the community. The position of the public regional assembly should reflect both, the everyday life of the citizen but also the everyday life through the building.
The project investigates the civic center, or more specifically the public regional assembly as a crucial public element within the community and the relationship with the urban development of the city of Leicester. Important buildings with the same political character influence many cities, but most of all, the cities themselves influenced their political buildings.
Connecting the old and the new-View through the upper entrance
Experimental Model
Debate Chamber An open-air debate chamber at the back of the building in the public plaza complements the design. Democracy was based on the act of debate since the golden age in Athens. Using this form of communication local democracy also becomes direct democracy. It is an opportunity for the citizens to share their thoughts and their concerns with the rest of their community.
The entire building in front reacts as a big stage of interaction. The theatricality of this act shows the theatricality in politics and how it can be a reflection of our everyday life. A new contemporary ancient agora can be formed as it can show a variety of public gathering spaces in a neighborhood and a regeneration of the city center.
Final Model
Connecting the old and the new- Front window view
Local Democracy The project is aiming to support a new form of Democracy through the Devolution of England as an attempt to decentralize its power. The main focus of the inspiration is to embrace the local communities in the government and how people can be more educated about the political conditions of their polis.
The public regional assembly is an intermediate level to link the citizens of Leicester with the town hall with a more democratic result. As a result the project is going to be a chance of educating the public for the politics of their city, in order to make a more unified political system.
Section A-A
Section B-B
Section A-A
Section B-B
Section A-A cuts through numerous chambers and shows a variety of internal activities. It shows both the public and private segment of the building, with the more private being the meeting chambers and the library while the more public the open-air sitting spaces with the internal climbing plants.
Section B-B cuts through the entire project; the Market, the public Regional assembly and the public plaza. It shows the entrance space of the building, with the circulation area and the hanging libraries. At the back it is visible the townhall bell to point out the relationship of the two sites.
B
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B
Ground Floor Scale 1:100
Key: 1.The open-air debate chamber 2. Interior sitting area 3.Exterior sitting area 4.Kitchen 5. Lobby 6. Reading Chamber 7. Library
Plan
Technical Details
The ground floor plan is one of the four plans of the building. Geometries which were inspired by the symmetry of Corn Exchange with horizontal and vertical axes defined the spaces within the building as well as the debate chamber on the back of the building.
The technical details show the roof rain gutters in crucial areas on the roof. An important connection point is how the old building with the bell is connected to the new structure. Additionally another focal point is how the roof structure is connected and how the green roof affects the construction.
THE BLOOMING CLARINET PROJECT
Site: Ragusa, Sicily
Inspiration
The project is based in a city called Ragusa in Sicily, Italy and is inspired by the classical music festival which is held every July and attracts major professionals . It is developed through the caves of the site and highly influenced by the site’s context and vegetation.
It is a musical experience through the staircase and its growing wall as the two rooms of the scheme are used by street musicians throughout the year. The scheme is inspired by the clarinet, an instrument of the classical orchestra and they shapes of its keys.
Immediate Site
The caves
Ragusa has a noticeable level change from its bottom to its top. The rocky site is located at the bottom of the ancient part of the city of Ragusa, a connection point of the old and the new city. It is a vital position within the city as it stands next to the river and the main road.
The existing property of the site is a ruined house with separated rooms. The back of each room was connected to the enormous rock of the location; a major inspiration for the design of the project. The project focuses on the light and the shadows that are created by the sun and the impressive rock.
Internal View- The visual shows how the ivy plant goes to the top of the facade creating protection from sun and noise.
Decomposing the clarinet
Internal View- A drawing which focuses on the performance
space and the sitting area for the views. The staircase becomes the viewing platform.
Model Exploration of the caves
Exploded Axonometric Revealing the scheme
Interior View-
The perspective illustrates the interaction of the users with the scheme, both the visitors and the performers.
Elevation View
Top view- An aerial top view which shows how the stair-
case stands behind the growing wall as well as the project within its context and its surroundings.
Section
ARCHITECTURE AND BAROQUE
An analysis of perspective, illusion and geometry SAN CARLO ALLE QUATTRO FONTANE, by Borromini Site Location: Rome, Italy
About the church
About the analysis
San Carlo alle quattro fontane by Borromini is a baroque masterpiece. Despite its small size, the beautiful interior of Borromini’s church gives the illusion of a bigger scale monument. Its outstanding geometry sets the building as a manifest of baroque architecture.
The project’s aim is to explore the church through the basic principles of the Baroque era; perspective, illusion and geometry. An installation which represents the tree principles is the final result of the analysis where the visitor can experience the spatial beauty of the church.
Geometry
Symmetry
Baroque is based in geometrical perfection. Borromini’s church is the perfect example of the geometry and symmetry in Baroque. While exploring the geometry of the plan we discovered a symmetrical axis where the plan is complete if it is mirrored among the two axis.
The entire church is divided by four quarters from the plan to the dome. Even though the four chapels lead to different plan design the openings to the chapels are symmetrical. The project investigates the symmetry of the church as its one quarter being the ideal component.
PERSPECTIVE The symmetrical perfection is the inspiration for the illusions and development of the project . The project explores the dome of Quattro Fontane from three specific viewpoints which they declare three crucial acts ; enter, pray, and explore.
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EW N VI NTA OM FO TT RO BO ATT U Q OF
ILLUSIONS By this stage, light projections are used to create depth through flat objects. The analysis is based on how light can be translated in different surfaces; curvy or flat . The final installation is based on the illusions created through the light and the shadows the shapes are creating.
Enter
Pray
Explore
CONCEPT ANALYSIS
The model represents the development of the ideas and explain the experiments which have been made in order to analyze the symmetry with reflections, viewpoints and the shadows of the church. The final dome is hte combination among the three viewpoints.
The views are created using light and shadows on the three selected viewpoints within San Carlo. It is a combination of the process that led to the final result; a quarter of the church which created the dome as seen from the viewpoints using light projections and reflection
DOME 01
DOME 02
The viewer will be able to experience two different dome representations in two different spots in the church. The dome one is a representation using light projections and dome two is a representation based on the viewpoints. Both representations are using the symmetry of the church to create a complete reflection of the entire dome.
Augmented memory A journey to the past
Site Location: Prince’s Docks, Liverpool The project is based on Liverpool and the Irish immigration, the potato femine. The design is inspired by a study made in an Irish ruin on the island of Inish man, Ireland. The design is focused into a journey which begins from the streets of
contemporary Liverpool, goes through a memorial exhibition and ends at a terminal .A site full of memories as it was the initial boat terminal where the Irish once used to arrive when they immigrated to the city.