1 - Portfolio - RIBA Part I & II

REFERENCES

First Year

Second Year

John Ng John.Ng@aaschool.ac.uk

Christopher Pierce pierce_ch@aaschool.ac.uk

Christopher Mathews chris@pastinamatthews.co.uk

Amandine Kastler amandine.kastler@gmail.com

Third Year

Theo Sarantoglou Lalis theo@lassa-architects.com

Dora Sweijd dorasweijd@gmail.com

Placement Year

Gianni Botsford Gianni.Botsford@giannibotsford.com

Lina Ghotmeh

L.Ghotmeh@linaghotmeh.com

Melodie Leung melodie.leung@zaha-hadid.com

Fourth Year

Miraj Ahmed Ahmed_mi@aaschool.ac.uk

Martin Jameson Martin.Jameson@aaschool.ac.uk

Fifth Year

Theo Sarantoglou Lalis theo@lassa-architects.com

Dora Sweijd dorasweijd@gmail.com

MALEK PIERRE ARIF

21/03/1998

Lebanese

Based in London

E-mail: malekpierrearif@gmail.com

Mobile: +44 (0) 7743772858

Instagram: malekarif

RIBA Part II graduate looking for a position as architectural assistant from October 2023 onwards (Tier 4 Student Visa)

EDUCATION

2017-2023

2016-2017

2013-2016

EXPERIENCE

- Architectural Association School of Architecture

. MArch AA Diploma RIBA Part 2 (Commendation/Honours Nominee)

. BA (Hons) Architecture RIBA Part 1

- American University of Beirut

. Freshman Year

- International College

. High School Program, Honourable Mention

London, UK

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon

- Zaha Hadid Architects - Internship - 2 months

ODESA EXPO 2030 modular pavilions in Ukraine

Design & research for virtual exhibition spaces

- Lina Ghotmeh Architects - Architectural Assistant - 5 months

ConfEX Park Competition for a convention centre in Thessaloniki, 2nd prize

Model for “Hermès in the Making” exhibition in Copenhagen

- Gianni Botsford Architects - Architectural Assistant - 3 months

Water’s Edge Competition for private residence in Jersey

- Kojirakura Workshop - AA Visiting School - 1 month

Design Manufacture and Assembly of A-frame wooden structure in Kojirakura

- Oteri - Part-time Graphic Designer - 9 months

Product brochure designs

- Raed Abillama Architects - Internship - 1 month

Responsible for competition physical model

- Archika - Internship - 1 month

Apartment interior design

AWARDS

2022-2023

2019-2020

2017-2018

SKILLS

- Studio Technical Studies High Pass (AA Fifth Year)

- Studio Technical Studies High Pass (AA Third Year)

- Media Studies High Pass (AA First Year)

London, UK

Paris, France

London, UK

Niigata , Japan

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon

Rhinoceros 3D

- Computer: - Analogue:

Maya Blender

Revit

Enscape

AutoCAD 2D

Metashape Photogrammetry

Adobe CS Package

Notions in Grasshopper

Notions in 3DS max

Notions in Unreal

LANGUAGES

- Auto:

- Trilingual: French - Fluent English - Fluent Arabic - Fluent

Woodwork : Cutting, Joinery, Processing

Metalwork : Cutting, Bending, Welding

Formwork : Foam, Wood, Perspex, Latex

Casting : Concrete, Plaster, Resin, Glasswax, Silicone, Rammed earth, Teracotta

CNC milling machine

Laser Cutting machine

Ultimaker 3D printing machine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIMESTONE, STEEL THE WORK OF REHABILITATION

STEEL

THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE

CONCRETE, CORK

MATERIAL EXPERIMENTS

Material Experiments FORMWORK, FALSEWORK

DORMANT INFRASTRUCTURES: From Non Places to Public Spaces

Beirut, Lebanon ( 33.535380, 35.314395 )

(Fifth Year)

The proposal takes place in Lebanon, a relatively young state with an abundant history as a crossroads, be it of caravans, railways, or airplanes at the mercy of external influences. Originally known for its lively streets and cities, the country now has a big lack of formalized public space for its people. Within highly privatised and precarious Beirut lies a nexus of publicly owned lands that the state of governance has failed to make public. Among them is a derelict fragment of the Damas Hama & Extensions railway which is discontinued since the 1970s, only the stations remain, abandoned and inaccessible.

Discussion around the reconstruction of the railways offers potential for this field of presently connected yet disconnected spaces owned by the state: a potential to insert ourselves in this in-between state of fragility, between a derelict railway station that once was and a future one that could be. To open up and rehabilitate these inaccessible voids, to create much-needed public spaces and facilities for the communities within their radii without removing the possibility for the dormant infrastructure to manifest one day.

The project seeks to utilise platforms as spaces that can foster civic life and Ad Hoc Lebanese culture, which suffers from a lack of publicness today. It aims to spark the rigorous public inquiry and transparency, which is necessary for the reclamation these lands and the people’s right to access public services.

The platforms, and what was once a railway that divided, becomes a space of gathering and occupancy. A porous open space, a white canvas for the locals to inhabit appropriate as they see fit.

https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/academicprogrammes/diploma/17

Theo Sarantoglou Lalis

Dora Sweijd

PROPOSAL PLAN

Public space in the middle east is governed by sunlight. Creating a strong correlation between occupancy and environmental conditions. Thus, a wide variety of light filtering is crucial for the success of the spaces. This resulted in the deployment of opaque and translucent - permanent and impermanent shading mechanisms.

EXISTING PHOTOGRAMMETRY ANIMATION

This animation shows the current state of the station remnants: I conducted fieldwork on various stations where I scanned, mapped and analysed the existing typologies through the technique of photogrammetry. Based on the collected data I was able to develop a strategy that could be deployed on the various sites using the existing buildings as the seeds of the project, as the loopholes to access these public voids.

PROPOSED PHOTOGRAMMETRY ANIMATION

This animation shows the proposed state for the station remnants: Preserved, stabilized and inhabited. Re-immersed from a context of segregation to one of immersion. It is in one instance, the preservation of something that is fading away with time, both physically and in memory. In another, the revival of its remnants with a careful addition and subtraction of elements within it and around it.

TECTONIC CATALOGUE

In a project of this nature, with infinite opportunity yet very limited means, the aim is to create a large impact with low-cost minimal interventions. I therefore propose the re-use of widely available limestone waste generated by the local industry in conjunction with light steel enablers to form the spines of the project: Limestone gabion walls, that vary in shape and consistency in response to site conditions.

AERIAL VIEW

The Mar Mikhael proposal is made with careful consideration of what is already there. Parts of the site are demolished, other parts are preserved and others are built.

PROGRESSIVE PHASING

The re-appropriation of the plot results in four complementary interventions:

I. The preservation and inhabitation of the existing derelict remnants of the old railway, which have become fragments of heritage.

II. The partial substraction of estranged site occupancy that has rendered it inaccessible today. And minimal ground alterations for the transformation of the site into a series of platforms that actively involve the local community and facilitate the integration of diverse activities.

III. The addition of porous stone infrastructural walls that will converse with the ground to form spaces that bleed into each other while still establishing a strong sense of spatial division.

IV. The insertion of light permanent and impermanent shading elements that extend from the limestone walls to provide various types of light filtering that will make different parts of the building functional throughout the year.

MOMENT 1 - CAFETERIA

AN INTEGRAL PART OF LEBANESE CULTURE REVOLVES AROUND THE SHARING OF FOOD.

THE WORK OF REHABILITATION: (Re)Harvesting the Land & Culture of Mt. Lebanon.

Qartaba, Lebanon ( 34.1134568, 35.8718520 )

(Fourth Year)

The title of this project can be interpreted in two ways: “The Work of Rehabilitation” & “The Rehabilitation of Work.”

On one hand, it criticizes the evolution of work since its origin, when it was deeply intertwined with the community and mutual aid. On the other hand, it critiques an archaic system of governance, highlighting the division it promotes and the weakening of Lebanese culture and agriculture.

The project, therefore, centres around a scheme that utilizes the current charity model as a facilitator to gradually establish a network of voluntary farms that draw from traditional farming methods to rehabilitate the stepped landscapes of Mount Lebanon and reinvigorate the cultural activities that formed around them.

Prompted by economic collapse and a lack of imports, the proposal involves constructing the first voluntary farm in Serghol, a small village situated along what is still locally referred to as the Valley of Adonis. The existing land, characterized by neglected limestone retaining walls dating back to the Romans, is rejuvenated for (Re) Harvesting.

Utilizing the unique clay-rich Terra Rossa found in the Middle East, a series of compression structures are gradually and collaboratively erected along the existing ridges of the site. These structures house the working and living facilities while preserving the natural flow of the site.

Through collaboration, cooperation, and volunteering, the objective is to unite a divided populace and revitalize a forgotten culture that once bound them as one.

UNIT TUTORS

Miraj Ahmed

Martin Jameson

https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/academicprogrammes/diploma/1

LAND OWNER - MIGUEL EL KHOURY

Miguel oversees all of the farms associated with Beit el Baraka NGO that were included in my analysis. Following numerous interviews with him, the initial farm is established on his land—a dream he has nurtured for a long time.

PROPOSAL PLAN

The layout is a product of embracing a significant ridge situated at the heart of the site. The proposal involves constructing a public road along this ridge, essentially acting as a central spine that interconnects the stepped terraces. The arrangement of structures follows a village-like approach, aiming to imbue the spaces with a communal ambiance rather than a formal establishment.

Scan for Proposal animation.

SITE LOCATION - SERGHOL

The Site is located in the district of Jbeil in the north of Lebanon where a farming movement is already happening as a result of the economic situation.

1. Administration

2. Crop Processing

3. Mooneh Kitchen

4. Cafeteria

5. Accommodation

6. Mooneh Storage

7. Launderette

8. Barn

9. Greenhouses 10. Ponds

PERSPECTIVAL VIEW

The south-facing Catalan vaults act as floating elements, allowing the existing terraces to remain undisturbed, with the existing gabion walls seamlessly integrated into the structure.

LONG SECTION

The proposal is characterized by a continuous transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, seamlessly integrating living, working, and farming areas to foster a strong connection with the land.

TRANSVERSE SECTION

Featuring expansive Catalan vaults and accordion facades, the design ensures uninterrupted horizontal movement on the terraces. This allows for a seamless transition between enclosed indoor spaces and covered outdoor areas, accommodating changing needs with the shifting seasons.

The following model demonstrates the approach used to address the stepped terraces using compression structures, ensuring the creation of a continuous building without altering the existing groundwork.

1:25 PROCESS MODEL (Dimensions: 0.5x0.2x0.2m)

Presence:

Middle English: via Old French from Latin praesentia ‘being at hand’, from the verb praeesse (present).

. The state or fact of existing, occuring, or being present.

Dictionary

. The part of space within one’s immediate vicinity.

Merriam webster Dictionary

A feeling that someone or something is still in a place although they are not there.

Cambridge dictionary

Absence:

Late Middle English: from Old French, From Latin absentia, from absen (absent).

. The state or fact of not existing.

Dictionary

. A state or condition in which something expected, wanted, or looked for is not present.

Merriam webster Dictionary

. The fact of someone or something being away from a place where they are usually expected to be.

Oxford dictionary

ICE CAST EXPERIMENT

A TEST CASTED ON PRE-SHAPED ICE FORMWORK, THAT HAS SELF DEMOULDED LEAVING ITS NEGATIVE TRACE BEHIND.

THE

PRESENCE OF ABSENCE: Constructing a self demoulding formwork that will inhabit the site and leave traces to tell its story.

Climate Specific.

(Third Year)

The project takes place in continental climates with significant annual variations in temperature, it is fabricated by utilising cold and warm periods as means of moulding and demoulding. A series of thin concrete shells are be casted through the use of a hybrid deployable formwork composed of 3 main components: The core, the vessel and the voxels.

It respond to the disciplinary culture of architecture by replacing the existence of architectural elements with a membrane, a malleable surface, on which multiple functions can be imprinted depending on the needs of that space.

The blending of architectural elements into one surface: The door, the wall, the staircase, the bench... It engages a conversation about the relation between form, use, elements and the certitude we can have on the role of each typology.

A play of opposition between traces of presence and absence, positives and negatives, will unfold the story of its construction and establish the language of the project at multiple scales. In order to generate this formwork, I explored materials suitable for the core, flexible formwork to enclose that core and schemed a set of voxels that will shape the initial two components on site.

The closed loop concrete shell walls, balanced by straight and double curved surfaces, serve as the inhabitable cores supporting the roofs of buildings which are populated with its re-used falsework, left as anchoring points to the absences it has left on the surfaces of the project.

It also celebrates the construction of a project as the ergonomical norms are inscribed into the surface as the traces of the formwork which is usually removed from site after casting, absent

UNIT TUTORS

https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/academicprogrammes/experimental/16

Theo Sarantoglou Lalis

Dora Sweijd

Construction Sequence Duration: 5 years

Stage 1 : Site, Pond and gutter excavation.

Stage 2 : Transportation of containers to site.

Stage 3 : Assembly of voxel arrangements.

Stage 4 : Hanging of PVC membranes.

Stage 5 : Pumping of collected water from ponds into the membranes.

Stage 6 : Water is left to form 30cm layer of ice over 1-2 months depending on temperature level.

Stage 7 : Removal of voxels from the ice core and re-arrangement for next shell cluster.

Stage 8 : Application of HPC shortcrete in layers while adding reinforcements.

Stage 9 : Shell self demoulds naturally and concrete curing is completed.

Stage 10 : Preparation for Casting Next Cluster during the next season.

PROPOSAL PLAN

The project takes place on a 15° sloped landscape, excavated and carved out into two plateaus which are interconnected by ramps creating a fluid circulation throughout the site.

Cluster 2.0

1 Shell 2 surface imprints Program : Gallery Bookshop

Cluster 1.0

3 Shells 4 surface imprints Program : Gallery

Cluster 4.0

1 Shell 5 surface imprints Program : Open Air Shell

Cluster 3.0

2 Shells 7 surface imprints Program : Restaurant

Cluster 5.0

4 Shells 5 surface imprints Program : Library

Something absent is something that is missing. What is missing cannot be deciphered or translated if the object is not identified, seen or present. Thus, the absent must remain present within the vicinity performing as an anchoring point or trace of its absence elsewhere.

If two geometrical opposites are used, one being present and the other absent, moments are hinted or highlighted through their juxtaposition, thus initiating association.

Association is activated with a direct inclination to imagine and experience the process of formation. The story of the building unfolds itself through the desire to decipher and make sense of its components.

The presence of absence is determined by rather than just a 3-dimensional form, it adds a new element of experience. It surpasses the limits of three dimensions thus gains a sense of meaning which can only be understood when the architecture is experienced.

This project will be constructed seasonally in a region that is suitably cold for 3 months a year. Using hot and cold weather to its advantage to create a self-demoulding formwork through the use of ice, that leaves its negative trace behind.

The voids created due to the formwork amplifies this immensity of absence and presence to allow for one to place themselves outside this 3-dimensional realm of traditional architecture. It transcends the present as the geometry is once again shaped with immeasurable water pressure and gravity encased and restrained by the once arranged voxels.

SHELL FORMATION PRINCIPLE:

The use of one flexible vessel that can be pressed in different shapes depending on the flasework placed around it.

SHELL CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

PART I: VOXEL ASSEMBLY

Voxels

The modules are pre-manufactured and imported in a shipping container.

Modular arrangements

The modules are then arranged manually following instructions.

PVC Membrane

The Pre-manufactured PVC membrane is light and flat pack, allowing it to be transported in a container wit the voxels.

Water drainage

A guttering system is pre-dug prior to the concrete shell casting in order to drain away the melting core.

PART II: CORE FORMATION

Movable Crane

A movable crane is used in order to insert the membrane and diaphragm in place and temporarily support them until the core water freezes.

Pumped Lake Water

Once the modules and membrane are deployed on site, the water gathered in the ponds is pumped into the vessel.

Steel Diaphragm

The inserted steel diaphragm grips the top of the membrane keeping it at the required height from ground level.

PVC Membrane

The installed membrane filled with water takes its final shape due to the water pressure and the falsework placed around it.

Modular arrangements

The sets of modules are fully assembled and act as retaining walls controlling the buldging created by the water pressure.

PART III : CONCRETE APPLICATION

Ice Core

After a few weeks, the ice core is formed and the solid formwork is ready for casting.

PVC Membrane

The shape of the membrane is static, now that the ice core is formed, modules are demoulded and their imprints remain on the surface.

Concrete Layering

A thin layer of HPC concrete with an ad mixture is sprayed onto the membrane surface. Once that hardens, the following thicker layers of concrete can be applied independently of the ice core.

Shotcrete application

The concrete is pneumatically projected at a high velocity onto the formwork via a robotic movable shotcrete sprayer.

Water drainage

Once the concrete has set and the winter season is over, the ice core will melt naturally and self-demould, draining back to the ponds to be reused for the construction of a next

PART IV : SELF DEMOULDING

Shell Edge

The diaphragm is removed leaving a clean edge at top of the 25cm thick concrete wall.

Ice Core

The ice core is fully melted, leaving a hollow concrete shell.

Imprints

The removed falsework leaves traces on the surfaces of the geometry creating function, in this case two door openings.

Geometry

-The areas of the membrane which were in between the retaining walls buldge outwards creating double curved surfaces.

DETAILED STUDY OF EXISTING TIMBER FRAME WAREHOUSE CENTRAL COLUMN.

1:5 FRAGMENT MODEL

RESERVOIR ROOFS:

A mutation from warehouse to greenhouse. Stockholm, Sweden ( 59.3293508, 18.0794322 )

(Second Year)

“Reservoir Roofs” is a proposal that takes place in Blasieholmen peninsula, on the last remaining municipal site in the city centre of Stockholm. Adjacent to the national museum, the site contains two timber warehouses from the early Twentieth-century that embody the sites historical function as a shipping, trade and industry hub.

Initiated from experimentation on Swedish cuisine, aeration experiments and on site technical and cultural studies, the proposed strategy is a site mutation into the embodiment of a growing movement called Farm To Fork, resulting in a built environment that constantly changes depending on weather conditions.

The two existing timber warehouses are transformed into self-sustaining greenhouses with malleable water collecting roofs, an open fire kitchen is niched in between the two building structures and a dining space is extended to the riverside; The remaining site is converted into farming space.

Inspired by Noma and Rosendals Biodynamic farm a curated menu of locally grown flavours is built each season. Visitors experience spatial transitions form the farming space, through the greenhouses and into the dining space.

UNIT TUTORS

Christopher Pierce

Christopher Mathews

Amandine Kastler

https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/academicprogrammes/Intermediate/9

As a driver of the farm to fork movement, they conducted an experiment showing that 1 person would need 2000sqm of fields in order to eat for 1 year.

Rosendals biodynamic farm 1:1000

Proposed Reservoir Roofs 1:1000

Rosendals Biodynamic Farm Head Gardener NICHOLAS

Seed

After crossing the National Museum Park, Nicolas finds himself in front of colorful fields, filled with what seems to be an infinite set of fruits and vegetables. Facing them is an unconventional yet mystical structure. He sees a warming spark, shimmering on the other side. Curiosity fills his mind, fresh air coursing through his lungs. He starts walking through the fields, following the cobblestone paths and wondering what he will find on the other side.

To

As he gets closer, he sees water trickling down from the roof, into a fish pond. He then finds himself in front of an open fire kitchen, niched between two building structures. He notices dark pipes, coiled around the chimneys in a serpentine manner, heating up water. Intrigued, his gaze follows the direction of the pipes, which are branching out of the kitchen towards his right. His feet follow his gaze, taking him to what seems to be a greenhouse, but one that is unlike anything he has ever seen. As he looks to the roof, he is gripped with a jumble of emotions, as great admiration and confusion course through his veins. In this peculiar greenhouse, the roof is composed of multiple water reservoirs that are popping out and pushing down towards the ground, giving the terrifying yet exiting impression that the vessels can burst at any moment. Protruding from the water vessels are clear water hoses that naturally hang from the roof, effortlessly resting on the ground where raised beds and fishponds are located.

Fork

As he crosses the greenhouse, he finds himself in a dining space filled with a mixture of different aromas. He is again gripped by excitement as he sees all that he has just experienced, ready to be savoured.

PROPOSAL ROOF PLAN

The collected water is used for the greenhouse and the field plantations during dry seasons.

LONG SECTION

Once the water reservoirs are saturated, the excess water trickles down into the fish farm, through the building and then into the trans-Sweden water Canal.

AERIAL BIRDS-EYE VIEW

The buildings continuously manifest themselves from within their translucent facade.

Depending on time and position, day and night: The reservoirs are sometimes visible from the outside and sometimes hidden by reflections on the facade.

1:25 PROCESS MODEL (Dimensions: 0.5x0.15x0.1m)

Transformation from existing timber frame warehouse, to reservoir roof greenhouse.

ICE CORE FORMATION

Interrupted transition from water to ice.

+ MATERIAL EXPERIMENTS

AA School, London

(Second/Third Year)

Material experiments that often derive from the architectural sphere, are the starting point of my work. Each material has a (culture) of its own, each material goes through different states, processes and decay making them extremely expressive. As these gestures are tested analysed and drawn, they start to be seen as architecture. Often requiring the tweaking and modification of processes from other industries in order to reach architectural scale.

These experiments all aim to capture a moment of great intensity in the geometry, leaving clear traces onto the surfaces of the casts, allowing one to perceive that moment manifesting itself forever, towards more expressive architecture.

AERATION EXPERIMENTS

This test aims to capture a moment of tension when a pumped air pattern escapes through liquid plaster, resulting in a static geometrical void that still manifests that moment of pressure.

Plaster samples, aerated from wider to denser air patterns. Silicone cast of the Negative of the aerated plaster for 3D scanning.

Several sections are cut through a fragment of the 3D scanned void in order to scale it to

skeletal wire frame model.

SAND AS FORMWORK

This experiment addresses the question of variability in architecture through the use of loose granular formwork that is re-usable and self-demoulding.

TRACE

If a loose granular materials is used as formwork for concrete, it leave a clear unique type of trace onto the cast and embeds itself within parts of its surface.

High frequency welding is a manufacturing process where two plastic parts are welded together using an electromagnetic field. The resulting joint can be very strong - often close to the original strength of the materials joined. In some cases the weld can be even stronger than the original materials.

MEMBRANE WATER CONTAINER EXPERIMENTS + MANUFACTURER VISIT (YEAR 3)

Assembled at Outsourced Manufacturing

Outsourced Manufacturing Services Ltd, Bristol, UK Table cutting CNC

Pen Cutter

Manufacturing services Ltd, Bristol, UK

Grommet guide joints are punched into the PVC membrane in order to hang it.

100 000 L PVC welded water tank, flexible storage bladder.

40cm

200cm

PVC 2 bladder successfully contained 150L of water.

The bottom of the container buldged more than the rest due to high pressure and no stitch pattern control.

60 000 L PVC welded water tank, flexible storage bladder.

1:5 DETAILED FRAGMENT MODEL (Dimensions: 1.6x1.6x1.6m)

Built in order to understand the joinery and craftsmanship put into the construction of the two timber warehouses during the 1800s (ref: to pages 34 - 50 - 51)