Projects 2016-2017 Transformations Re-thinking building shapes
Steep Skylines San Anton's revival
Irene de Miguel
Transformations Re-thinking building shapes
Steep Skylines San Anton's revival
Irene de Miguel López, Marina Patón Ballester irenedml94@gmail.com, marinapatonballester@gmail.com 2012-2018 Proyectos 8 Profesor: Capdevila Castellanos, Iván
Transformations
Re-thinking building shapes “Using an existing reference for its development, Transformations aims to experiment and play with different case studies that propose the modification of the parameters that define the shape of a building, considering a posthuman perspective for each one of the designs.” Tipología: transformación, diseño urbano, paisaje. Keywords: posthuman, remake, metamorphosis, dimension, experimentation.
https://architecturegames16.wordpress.com/category/student/irene-de-miguel-lopez/ https://issuu.com/irenedemiguel/docs/issuu3
Transformations is a project that has its origin in the course Playing, remaking and exaggerating architecture, therefore, that is always going to be the goal of its different phases, to test and analyze the architectural strategies and elements of the project, simplifying its ideas to create a complex modification re-thinking the shape of the design itself. The remaking will take place in the following steps, findings, reductions, homogenizations, displacements and hybridations. The aim of the first phase, Findings, is to investigate and analyze as many references as we can, approaching to the concepts of cosmopolitical and posthuman architecture while learning from existing projects that will be useful in the coming process. We chose two final references, extracting the elements and strategies that form their concept. Big Pin, a project design to be the main landmark in Phoenix, by BIG architects, and Primeval Symbiosis, a sustainable home in the middle of the forest which main goal is to create an habitat with the minimum impact for nature, by Konrad Wojcik. We chose Primeval Symbiosis as the project to develop our experiments with. The main inspiration for this project was a functionality and structure of a tree. Studying its nature, allowed the architect to come up with ideas and solutions to create a completely self-sufficient construction. The aim was to design a structure that would not have any footprint on the nature. The first transformation we made was the Homogenization. We made two different approaches using completely opposite scales to modify the building. The first challenge was to change the design to a 50x50x50 meters building. We kept the original idea and the characteristic diamond shape of Primeval Symbiosis. However, the orientation was different and the interior design had to be adjusted for the new necessities that came with this change of scale. For the second part of this phase, we turned the original design into a 10x10x10m building. The first try we came up with widened the central body of the structure, however it was quite similar to the previous shape. That is the reason why we used a different approach for the final design, supporting the building in one of its current facades and changing its orientation in the process. The next phase was about Displacements. We worked with a radical three dimensions change of the shape. Using the 10x10x10m design, we composed a curved building with a more organic shape, fitting better in nature and taking the most advantage of the sunlight and the natural resources it is surrounded by. Hybridations was the last experimental phase of the project. The aim was to create a hybrid between two existing projects that had been modified as part of the architectural course, meaning we had to take into account the original reference and the changes that took place on its design, including its displacement. In our case, Primeval Symbiosis was combined with the Technological Center in La Rioja, which displacement was only in one dimension. For this phase, using the 50x50x50m model, we changed the use of our building, from residential to laboratories, offices and orchards, keeping the concept of sustainability and the general distribution of the design. Transformations shows the relationships between the strategies used in a project, the elements that appeared as a consequence of those objectives and the concepts used for the development of the design.
Transformations Re-thinking building shapes
Steep Skylines San Anton's revival
Irene de Miguel López irenedml94@gmail.com 2012-2018 Proyectos 9 Profesor: Capdevila Castellanos, Iván
Steep Skylines
San Antón’s revival “San Antón used to be a safe neighbourhood for modest, humble families that spent their time at the streets, which became the ideal space for social interaction. However, it has deteriorated through the years due to squatters and lack of maintenance. Steep skylines aims to rebuild the community, providing a high-quality familiar healthy environment.” Tipología: acción urbana, residencial, formas de comunidad. Keywords: ecologizant, vertical orchard, lookout, neighbourhood, healthy lifestyle.
https://posthumanarchitectures.wordpress.com/category/student/irene-de-miguel-lopez/ https://issuu.com/irenedemiguel/docs/ph4_01 https://issuu.com/irenedemiguel/docs/entrega_phase_3_01 https://issuu.com/judit.lastres/docs/phase_02
Steep skylines develops the idea of rebuilding a community from scratch, providing high quality buildings for a wide variety of families that will be able to enjoy a healthy environment where domesticity happens in the streets. San Anton used to be a safe community where low-income families spent their time at the streets. However, because of vandalism, squatters and lack of maintenance it has been deteriorating through the years. Now it is damaged and even dangerous for its inhabitants. Currently, due to squatters that are invading the neighbourhood and public transport being left out, San Anton is losing its income, local stores are closing and citizens are afraid to visit the community. With this proposal, San Anton will become the new paradigm of a new economic urban model for Elche, as it will have extra space for commercial uses that will take advantage of the local products and traditions of the city. The project takes back one of the hidden identity signs of the neighbourhood, the Arabic canal. Centuries ago it was used as an innovative form of irrigation. Now it will recuperate its function and expand to reach the whole neighbourhood. It will also be part of a complex system to reuse treated greywater. This system goes from the dwellings through the facade, allowing water to heat and control the temperature inside the building, from where it goes to the orchards, the parks, the pulverizators areas and finally the canal, which will collect rainwater as well. This measure, amongst others, will make San Anton the main key for the development of the proposal for Elche to be the European Green Capital. Each building is designed to take the maximum amount of sunlight, inclining the facades and growing vertical orchards with an hydrophonic system that will considerably improve air quality in the area. However, there was still a problem to be solved, as humans and vegetation were not the only living agents to consider, there are animals too. Being ecologizant means humans are not the center of the design anymore, that is the reason why Steep skylines provides animal friendly spaces, paying special attention to pigeons. Nowadays, these birds are an issue in San Anton, they are dirty, noisy and useless for the community. The project does not only solve this problem, it makes pigeons a part of the solution by providing bird lofts at the top of each building, placing trays to pick up the excrements that will serve as fertilizer for the orchards. One of the most relevant identity signs of Elche is the Palmeral. San Anton is located at the north-west of one of these green areas, which provides an opportunity to attract visitors to the neighbourhood and contribute to the economic urban model as well. The proposal consists in making each building a lookout to the palmeral, by lowering one of the hills that shape it and inclining the two resultant roofs. Vegetation at the highest point will also direct the visual towards the palmeral, contributing to this effect of a viewpoint. Thanks to Steep skylines, San Anton is the new central hub between Elche and the Palmeral. It will be a must go place for tourist and visitors, increasing the activity in the streets of the neighbourhood. Consequently, the design of the building is a result based on connections, the connection between all the uses related to the greywater itinerary, the connection between all the agents that contribute to the care of the orchards and its products, the connection between the common levels in the building, and its connection to the private ones, and finally San Anton becoming the connection between Elche and the Palmeral.
Irene de Miguel