ART BRIDGE Rebuilding A Community through Art and Technology
Kataun Habashi
Advisor: Herbert Enns Department of Architecture Faculty of Architecture University of Manitoba October 2020
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ART BRIDGE Rebuilding A Community through Art and Technology
Kataun Habashi
Master of Architecture Thesis
Advisor: Herbert Enns Chair: Carlos Rueda
University of Manitoba
Faculty of Architecture
October 2020
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Department of Architecture
Copyright Š 2020 Kataun Habashi All photographs and images have been produced by the author unless otherwise stated.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank everyone whose help was of utmost importance for the completion of this project. I wish to dedicate this book to my wonderful parents, who have always been there for me and have unconditionally supported me my whole life so that I could pursue my dreams. Additionally, this book is to my brother, Keivan, who has encouraged me to always live my life to the fullest. I hope to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, Professor Herbert Enns, whose persistent support helped me to achieve my goal throughout the project. I would also like to pay my special regards to my dear friend, Nasim Sadeghi, whose criticism and point of view have helped in the best way through the process of this project. Finally, I am grateful to all my other friends, who made this journey more joyful for me. Hasti Fakouri Pegah Farzin Andrew Fritschij Sara Ghanbarzadeh Victoria Lovell Bruno Michaelis Mahsa Mosavari Nasim Sadeghpour Mehrnaz Sadroleslami Jessica D’Toste
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ABSTRACT
Human beings are social creatures. Lack of enough human connection leads to physical, emotional and spiritual sufferings. On the other hand, Winnipeg is a sprawling city and needs to become more vibrant to encourage citizens to live and participate in different activities. Moreover, it is a multicultural city with many potentials for getting people from different backgrounds more connected. Throughout history, art has been a subject that has risen the interests and united people from all around the world. Therefore, this thesis is dedicated to proposing a quality place where people meet and socialize; where art and culture come together to bring people of Winnipeg closer. A community art centre presents art as a medium and aim to be a space for creative and social activities.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
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Euphoria
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Site
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Program
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Forming
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Site Plan
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Elevation
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Plan
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The Iso-cut
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Sections
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Renders
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Structure
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Additional Renderings
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INTRODUCTION
Spaces are good mediums for affecting emotions. In places where intense emotions run high, materials, sounds, smells, light, and colour have an enormous impact on how people perceive themselves and cope with their situations.1 The proposed project will involve creating an artistic space where people tend to interact and learn from one another. An unpredictable and spontaneous place where encourages creativeness. Architecture highly affects the health of people both mentally and physically. The utilitarian shell that is architecture subconsciously informs and structures people’s understanding and expectations. Individuals may become a reflection of the environment in which they live. Project exploration starts with how people feel and how our subconscious will influence our feelings and emotions. Regarding architecture and creation of the sense of belonging, architecture and the built environment that people inhabit affect and more closely define the view they have of themselves. As Roberts and Carlisle suggest, “architectural settings that individuals feel connected to form a part of their psyche even after the built fabric of these structures no longer exists. Such architecture continues to reside in people’s memories and stories, informing their image of who they are.”2
1 Beggs, Jennifer Lynda, “Healing through Architecture.” Master’s thesis, University of Waterloo, 2015. 2 Glusac, Tanja, “Architecture and Belonging: Migration, Re-territorialisation and SelfIdentity.” PhD diss., Curtin University, 2015.
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EUPHORIA
Concepts of euphoria and isolation are how the project commenced. Factors such as the structure of the city, culture diversity, harsh climate, the style of education and somewhat modern life affect how people feel. The feeling of happiness is mainly under human conscious control and based on intentional activities.3 A happy place has the qualities where people feel they belong there and it is designed for the varied dimensions of people’s lives. It could be incorporated with mixed-use environments that integrate opportunities to work, learn, shop and relax. Additionally, it respects local knowledge.
3 Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: a Practical Guide to Getting the Life You Want. London: Piatkus, 2013.
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A HAPPY PLACE
It is the people who create spaces. Hence, having a dynamic community, with different cultures promotes the quality of space. The relation between the interaction of people and euphoria is quite close and relatively connected. Socializing, talking about shared interests, working on a group project as a community or visiting exhibitions, enhances the happiness in people. The interaction among different cultures and euphoria is represented in the connected colourful lines.
The central law of first nations state that ÂŤ We are one and we are connected. Âť4
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BARROW, EDMUND. OUR FUTURE IN NATURE: Trees, Spirituality, and Ecology. S.l.: BALBOA PRESS, 2019.
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PEOPLE AND SPACE
Space is not about the object but interactions and behaviours. It nurtures, acts, connects, comforts and teaches us to play in and love it. Buildings straighten local community and connect people to one another. Human interactions affect the shape of space during time in a spontaneous and unpredictable way.
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Images created in Houdini
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THE SITE
One of the main concerns that arose this topic was social isolation and shifting it into euphoria by the means of art and technology. Isolation is a growing issue around the world, which can affect the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being of people. Factors that can cause this phenomenon may include the lack of individual engagement with others, insufficient social contacts, lack of quality relationships, and missing a sense of belonging. Winnipeg being a sprawling city intensifies the loneliness of people, forcing them to live in their bubble space. However, cities are the places where people meet to exchange ideas, trade, or simply relax and enjoy themselves. The human dimension is a crucial factor in building cities which has been ignored for a long time. It affects how we look at our surroundings and how connected we feel to them. Today’s speed of commuting and our field of view are influenced by the structure of the city. As the city is more sprawl and distant, transportation would rely more on cars and high-speed vehicles. Hence, causing fast transportation systems and us not paying attention to our surroundings and details. Most cities have been built based on car speed transportation, which makes human interaction much less than walking on pedestrians in a lively neighbourhood.5 The extreme weather of Winnipeg escalates this matter. Winnipeg was formed by the river, which has had a major impact on the city’s population, economy and overall its importance in the area. The Red River and its tributaries were significant to transportation, trade and fishery, while the surrounding land was important for hunting and ceremonial activities. Nowadays, rivers are mostly great public spaces for people to spend quality time out of the city’s routine life. Moreover, downtown Winnipeg needs to be revitalized, which is mostly populated by young adults. The proposed site is on Alexander Docks, crossing Red River to the east side of the city, North Saint-Boniface. It is a historically important location with access to the river. The dock was built in 1929 as a key transportation hub for trading. During the time, it was an important site for the gathering of the General Strike in 1919, as well as being a memorial place to Tina Fontaine, a first nations teenage girl whose body was recovered from the Red River.
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Richard Rogers foreword to Cities for People, by Gehl, Jan. . Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010.
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Site Surrounding
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Red River flood-line
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The dynamism of Red River in a year.
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Freezing
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Melting
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Alexander Docks and the surrounding neighbourhood
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SITE PHOTOS
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Alexander Docks looking South
North Saint-Boniface looking to Alexander Docks
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Alexander Docks looking South
Alexander Docks looking to North Saint-Boniface
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Alexander Docks looking North
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PROGRAM
Based on a survey taken in 2017 about the docks’ revitalization, people showed more enthusiasm towards turning the site to a public space, a space to do river-related activities or a park art.6 Having these factors in mind and Winnipeg is considered a multicultural city, a community art centre is proposed to connect people by the means of art since art is integrated with all cultures.
6 Bachand, Laurène, and Aaron Pollock. “The Alexander Dock: Report on Public Consultations for Future Use of the Alexander Dock Site.” The Alexander Dock: Report on Public Consultations for Future Use of the Alexander Dock Site. Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2017.
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The majority of the bridge would be dedicated to the exhibition section, which would include both temporary and permanent exhibition types. This would encourage people to visit and pass the bridge on different occasions while the presented arts being kept interesting and diverse. There would be two studios, one educational and one for community work purposes to get people engaged with art. Additionally, the bridge would provide many spaces for seating and letting visitors enjoy the art and the surrounding landscape.
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THE CONNECTIVITY
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The fabrics in the cubic frame define space. They are all sewed together in a way that by pulling one side, all the rest gets affected by that movement and stretches.
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THE LIGHT STUDY
These deformed cubes demonstrate connectivity. The more they are lit by the light inside them and the more they illuminate light through their holes, the more the spaces in the cube are connected and flowing.
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The built model experiment with tiny lamp in the middle
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program
connectivity
cutting zones
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FORM PROCESS EXTENSION
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PHYSICAL PROCESS MODELS
Entrance part from Alexander Docks side
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SITE PLAN
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SOUTH ELEVATION
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WEST ELEVATION
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A-A
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B-B
PLAN VIEW
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C-C
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THE ISO-CUT
Illustrating the relationship between the interior spaces and overall, the bridge to the surrounding environment. The sculpture park attracts people and encourages them to enter the bridge. Additionally, as a tribute to the memorial of Tina Fontaine, it is a permanent outdoor exhibition of indigenous art.
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SECTION A-A
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ZOOM-IN SECTION
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SECTION B-B
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SECTION C-C
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ISOMETRIC SECTION CUTS
In order to demonstrate the interior spaces, the bridge is cut into seven pieces.
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THE SECTIONS SEQUENCE
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THE ART BRIDGE
The Art Bridge is a proper means to connect the west and east sides of the city. The French side on the east and the west have always been separated by politics and geography. Saint-Boniface used to be considered a city itself in Manitoba around 1818 founded by the French, making Manitoba entering the Dominion of Canada as an officially bilingual and bicultural province. Through history, the east and west had been going through some issues until even now, that still seems the East side is separated from the west of the city. Red Rivers’ placement intensifies this separation.7
7 “History of Saint-Boniface, Manitoba.” The French-Canadian Genealogist. Accessed May 21, 2020. https://www.tfcg.ca/history-ofsaint-boniface.
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The diversity of the interior spaces may lead to spontaneous and unpredictable performances.
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Project on the site Photo taken on Alexander Docks
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View from the bridge to the North
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View from the bridge to the South
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View from the North Saint-Boniface side on the balcony
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Entrance from Alexander Docks side
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Looking through the balcony through at the river after entering from Alexander Docks side entrance
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Studio space view
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Performing Stage Zone
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Temporary Exhibition Zone, Hanging Gallery
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PHYSICAL MODEL
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THE STRUCTURE PRELIMINARY IDEA
At first, the base structure began with box girder, which lead to the physical built model. Later, the intersections were 3D scanned and created points in digital world. The points were connected step by step to recreate the digital model of the physical one.
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THE FINAL STRUCTURE
The bridge has an autonomous structure to maintain the strength to cross the river without any piers. The structure resembles a river of strands flowing in the bridge. Fifteen primary horizontal strands are in line with the river span going up and down to allow the possibility of having voids in the form.
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Still shots from Unreal Engine 4
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Entrance View from Alexander Docks side
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Balcony View
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Alexander Docks side’s View from Red River
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Bridge from North Saint-Boniface
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Bridge View from Red River
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View to the South side of the main entrance
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The Balcony
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View from the bridge to the balcony
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Studio space view
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Performing Stage Zone
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On the balcony of the North Saint-Boniface side
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The Bridge viewed from high North-East
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LAST WORD
Moving to Canada and my education in U of M was challenging, yet interesting, with many ups and downs. These two years have taught me a lot about life and myself while exploring more in the field of architecture and design. I really appreciate this chapter of my life and I am excited to begin the next one with full passion and energy.
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REFERENCES
Crossley, Nick. The Social Body: Habit, Identity and Desire. London: SAGE, 2001. Beggs, Jennifer Lynda, “Healing through Architecture.” Master’s thesis, University of Waterloo, 2015. Gehl, Jan. Cities for People. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010. Bachand, Laurène, and Aaron Pollock. “The Alexander Dock: Report on Public Consultations for Future Use of the Alexander Dock Site.” The Alexander Dock: Report on Public Consultations for Future Use of the Alexander Dock Site. Winnipeg, Manitoba, 2017. Lyubomirsky, Sonja. The How of Happiness: a Practical Guide to Getting the Life You Want. London: Piatkus, 2013. Pasricha, Neil. The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing Do Anything = Have Everything. London: Vermilion, 2017. Glusac, Tanja, “Architecture and Belonging: Migration, Re-territorialisation and SelfIdentity.” PhD diss., Curtin University, 2015. Bond, Michael. “The Hidden Ways That Architecture Affects How You Feel.” BBC Future. BBC, June 6, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170605-the-psychologybehind-your-citys-design. “History of Saint-Boniface, Manitoba.” The French-Canadian Genealogist. Accessed May 21, 2020. https://www.tfcg.ca/history-of-saint-boniface. Patricia Saldaña Natke, “Architecture & Design: Renewing the Social Agenda”, filmed June 2016 in Chicago, US, TED video, 18:20, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkVGIy7zNIo Thomas Bryans, “Architecture’s ripple effect: Designing for big impact”, filmed May 2017 in Guilford, Canada, TED video, 13:16, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVpABMspmD8 Jonathan Dessi Olive, “Building a community through architectural exchange”, filmed June 2015 in Philadelphia, US, TED video, 10:49, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=03UmxeDToSo Gary Gaston, “Improving Public Health Through Community Design”, filmed November 2017 in Nashville, US, TED video, 15:00, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_M04dK5jx4 Jeff Sharpe, “Shaping Behavior Through Intentional Design”, filmed February 2013 in Austin, Texas, TED video, 12:50, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUuUhKBzgJM
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