Mira Al Suradi Portfolio 2021 by Mira Al Suradi

Academic and Professional Works 2021

Mira

AlSuradi

MArch (2018 - 2021) University of Applied Arts VIENNA BArch (2012-2015) University of EDINBURGH

My work focuses on exploring a new field of expression through the use of visualisation and a variety of materialisation, in order to realise conceptual and researched projects in the architectural medium. The portfolio reflects a glimpse into the wide spectrum of interests that I have explored as a student that im looking forward to further develop and add to as an Architect and professional.

Mira Al Suradi

CONTENT

University of Applied Arts Vienna

1 2 3 4

4 12 18 24

Fast Slow World The Local Hub Cultural Factory Fourth Natures

University of Edinburgh 5 6

Civic Fabrications Digital Ecologies

28 32

Concepts & Competitions 7 8

Pixel Mosaic Iso Crystal

36 40

01 M

ARCH

Final Diploma Thesis

FAST/// S L O W W O R L D Fast Slow World explores a new form of productive space one that can accommodate both work and leisure activities at any single moment in time , built on the remnants of the old factory, the building reorganises itself in order to open up the site to a multiplicity of users and help create a new community with an affinity towards a sympathy of making.

The existing spatial condition of the building acts only as an enabling frame, to serve as its main structural system, the newly added extensions will attach themselves to it, creeping out from its every side aiming to blur its interior boundaries to create the ultimate state of decentralisation.

Studio 01 - Studio Díaz Moreno und García Grinda Die Angewandte MA - Year Three March 2021 - July 2021 Prof. Cristina Diaz Moreno Prof. Efren Garcia Grinda https://www.diazmorenogarciagrinda.at/

architecturaldesignstudio1@uni-ak.ac.at

that would facilitate moments of work, privacy and leisure. the constant attachment, detachment , rotation, and wrapping around the columns create a series of different spatial conditions facilitating a new sense of inhabitation, and flows of people .

FAST SLOW WORLD

the new plan depicted here is one that builds on what is there and aims to create new spatial characters within it and around it. A series of continuous surfaces, that would wrap around and intertwine with the existing serial grid, to create a new field of subdivisions

diagram of relationship of new walls to existing field of columns

principal floor plan

FAST SLOW WORLD

Like in plan, the horizontal continuity projects itself in the vertical, where in section new volumetric relationships facilitate higher double volumes and series of openings that facilitate light and air to flow through the building, What once used to be a concealed environment, is transformed now into a new state of productive atmosphere, filled with air and light intertwined with moments of social interaction.

oblique exterior elevation

right material studies opposit right interior section : These subdivisions thus facilitate three forms of use, where the walls wrap around and create intimate moments to be inhabited by one, or open up to allow the use of the whole group, and in between floods the free spaces of medium size that would facilitate social interaction and moments of leisure. experiments with mixing of crushed brick and powder concrete aggregates were carried out to understand their material properties and how to reinforce them.

interior atmospheric view

FAST SLOW WORLD

FAST SLOW WORLD 10

inside and out the aim for mass customisation, calls for a new form of matter to be used, harvested on site from the surrounding buildings as part of the process of opening up. The surrounding buildings are harvested for their material values, element by element Brick , Concrete , Metal , and glass.

left diagram outlining the structural systems of the facade

The transformation can not only take place on the scale of the building, but also on the scale of the neighbourhood, where the community would implement the rebuilding

facilitating a new appreciation of our material surroundings, a relationship erased by the dematerialised industrial state of the old productive sphere

FAST SLOW WORLD

external facade view

02 M

ARCH

Pre Diploma Thesis

T H E L O C A L H U B In order to break free from outdated models of hierarchical systems, where mass production and assembly lines divided human lives into separate spheres of production and free time; the project spatially explores systems of circulation, in order to create a new form of productive space, one intertwined with moments of leisure, rest and rejuvenation.

Thus, the Local hub creates a new form of publicness, aiming to decentralise the typical factory, maximising its access to a multiplicity of actors, through the use of digital and contemporary methods of production. The result is a network of working and leisure spaces that facilitate collective and idiorrhythmic sharing of space.

Located on the site of an existing Bread Factory complex, the project aims to reuse and conceptually redefine outdated models of mass production into ones more in tune with human subjectivity and potential. Contrary to the notion of industrialized labor, understood through a series of repetitive tasks, the project highlights instead small-scale industries that are reliant on the proliferation of craftsmanship and design-in-making.

Studio 01 - Studio Díaz Moreno und García Grinda Die Angewandte

left exterior view of proposal suspended facade right perspectivial views of the proposal highlighting the flows of the people

MA - Year Three October 2020 - Feb 2021 Prof. Cristina Diaz Moreno Prof. Efren Garcia Grinda https://www.diazmorenogarciagrinda.at/

architecturaldesignstudio1@uni-ak.ac.at

A decentralised state is in high contrast to the old strategic placement of the assembly line, where scattered flows and obsession in repetition manifests itself in the architectural elements that make up the composition of the new proposal. left- below mapping of existing labor conditions where repitition create endless flows of movement between humans and machines

THE LOCAL HUB

opposite top plan view of proposed elements in relation to existing factory

plan of proposed functions

THE LOCAL HUB

THE LOCAL HUB 16

the spatial organisation depicted here, facilitates a new form of flows, ones designed to be both effecient like the old factory typical plan but also the newly founded human

relationship to leisure which is fun. different forms of circulatory elements allow for the transformation of the enclosed structure into an open all enclusive environment

from left diagram showing relation in terms of placement atmospheric view of

perspective structure

section through and proposed

existing building

the Bread Factory was an emblem of the workers class with its association and formation of the workers union. However, nowadays some parts of the complex has been privatised to a multi use complex that gentrified the neighbourhood, and my project aims to locate itself in the remaining soon to be derelict part of the factory. Examining the spatial organisation of the factory it is one based on logistics, calculating highest efficiency of placement of people and machines in order to yield the highest production. Thus, a generic plan is usually what constructs the spatial organisation of these mass productive spaces, in order to facilitate this form of production.

THE LOCAL HUB

So What happens when production is not just the repetitive labouring processes in the factory or the office, but also takes the form of all cognitive, creative, and even political faculties of human beings?

03 M

ARCH

Cultural Factor y Pata Rat, Cluj Napoca

The project aims to create a new reality in the site of Cantonului Street. One that would help elevate the living conditions and help create a new culture of making, through which a new process of learning would be inherently passed on from one generation to another.

To achieve a production based community on multiple scales, a specific method of construction with brick that would facilitate the thermal properties of heat and the active involvement of people building the structures themselves is utilised. Thus, facilitating a relationship with the handmade and the refounding of a skill that was once part of the Roma culture.

This could serve as a new power asset that would allow for the flourishing of their economy and political status that would unify the segregated community.

right top oblique view of the settlement with the new ovens below zoom in on the newly erected walls and floor

Studio 01 - Studio Díaz Moreno und García Grinda Die Angewandte MA - Year Two March 2020 - June 2020 Prof. Cristina Diaz Moreno Prof. Efren Garcia Grinda https://www.diazmorenogarciagrinda.at/

architecturaldesignstudio1@uni-ak.ac.at

CULTURAL FACTORY

mapping the skills of the Roma

The act of making is embedded in the culture of Roma people, many Roma are still practicing their crafts, it is a tool that they associate and manifest their identity with, passing it from one generation to another.

The use of color plays an important role, one that would manifest the inherent beauty of the context of the Roma, allowing them to show their true identity and be a source of their enjoyment.

The architectural form tries to establish new relationships with the people, one that is representing their culture, not abiding to the normal rules of simple brick construction. That is, the use of colored brick, of different sizes and patterns, in the construction of new walls and floors it is trying to manifest the beauty of the collective identity of the community. Furthermore, the element of the vault with its varying arching types and how it connects to its adjacent vaults, aims to further spatially demonstrate the importance of the handmade by employing one of the oldest building techniques that celebrate the handmade the catalan vault. Without any formwork the builder is capable of creating a structure that holds itself with simple mortar, brick by brick stuck together creating a new testament for the beauty of making.

CULTURAL FACTORY

The emphasis on brick as the matter, and its manifestation in construction is one of great evidence on the advancement of the project.

right 1.1 elevation view of the proposed structures right 1.2 differing spatial typologies of the proposal 21

CULTURAL FACTORY

plan of the settlement, growing according to time

final timeline of the 22 growing settlement

Stretching along the entire settlement scale, through time every piece of brick manifesting itself in the wall, vault or floor is being constructed by the people to serve an immediate need.

intermediate timeline of the growing settlement

This new concept of comfort the series of spaces are trying to introduce involves the direct use of heat, and consequently how heat acts as a social condenser to create a communal space.

To reestablish a relationship with the handmade, the project facilitates the involvement of the Roma in the process of learning how to make the bricks and firing them in kilns that would be erected on the site.

CULTURAL FACTORY

zoom in on the colored brick wall tectonic

04 M

ARCH

Landscape Urbanism

R i v e r a fourth n a t u r e

Fourth Nature is an architectural and landscape strategy that challenges the standard methods of flood management and occupation of cities with rising water levels. The strategy focuses on establishing new territories between land, water, and inhabitable learning spaces across both river banks of the city Stein, near Krems an der Donau.

The ambition is to create educational spaces that would facilitate a more homogenous layering of the three stratas that constitute Stein; the old city, the water, and the natural tree landscape. In order to facilitate this mediation, our research is carried out under two parameters, first an understanding of how to channel the water,

in order to work with the force of the water and not merely to create structures that would act as a shield against it. Second, the establishment of new ground, that would allow the creation of a new dynamic landscape, that is created by the new sediment collected through the placement of a series of obstacles, or inhabitable spaces.

left series of models created to help understand possible flood management using dune formations

below progression of the established settlement overtime with the consolidation of more sediment

Studio Kazuyo Sejima Die Angewandte Year One March 2019 - June 2019 Prof. Kazuyo Sejima http://studio-sejima-vienna.com/

studio.sejima@uni-ak.ac.at

FOURTH NATURE 26

D i f f e r e n t parameters control these obstacles or the architectural form, such as curvature and orientation, dictating the placement and production of different layers of our intervention within the landscape.

below zoom in model of one of the proposed spaces

top left series of sand dune formations demonstrations studying varying angles of the stationary solid in accordance to the different speeds of water . opposite a variety of different atmospheres dictated by the newly developed fourth nature spaces,

FOURTH NATURE

and the stages of implementation on site, allowing the sediment build-up and its consolidation within the force of the water in order to produce a new holistic relationship between architecture and landscape.

05 B

A R C H

Final

Year Project

Civic

Fabrications:

A Further Education College in Dalmarnock

In the image, thr concept of using a specific point of force was used as a point of perception where a series of images were taken of the same space but from different view points. The overlaying of all these perspectives is the final piece where distortion is used to create a new perception of the space, an illusion.

An extrusion of the lines created the final images that highlight the tension created by the intersections of the lines. This 3D visualization could be incorporated into the second part of the project in which they would serve as the College’s ceiling beams.

The University of Edinburgh

creating patterns that explore the rhythm of the spaces confined in between the lines (an exploration of solid and void). the patterns created could mirror this with the use of order to create dynamism.

The Edinburgh School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture

Year Three Jan 2015 - May 2015 Alex MacLaren

amaclare@exseed.ed.ac.uk 29

https://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/edinburgh-school-architecture-andlandscape-architecture-esala https://www.degreeshow.eca.ed.ac.uk/2015/portfolio/anamorphosis-furthereducation-college-dalmarnock-glasgow

voidvoid

The translation of the tectonic themes Anamorphosis: investigated is captured College for the Performing Arts by this key interior render showing the building’s atrium. The structure is formulated due to the tension between two main nodes identified on site which formulate the main central void space that shifts and twists according to these two forces. The void also creates distortion and dynamism by being the anchor that shifts the axis of the spaces surrounding it.

act i void

of the void space model ofmodel the void space

TECTONICS

CIVIC FABRICATIONS

TECTONICS

Dramatisation

TECTONICS

College the Performing College for theforPerforming Arts Arts

model of the void space

The architectural this central The architectural intent intent of thisofcentral void isvoid is to create a homogenous building that allows to create a homogenous building that allows connections between its programs. connections between all its all programs. At theAt the basement and ground it creates basement and ground floor floor level level it creates a connection between the theatre and the a connection between the theatre and the workshops. toplevels, two levels, it connects workshops. As forAs thefor topthe two it connects between the rehearsal and the classrooms between the rehearsal spacesspaces and the classrooms The architectural intent of this of central void is to the fulfil the function the building whichwhich aims toaims fulfil function of the building to create a homogenous building that allows as a teaching as a teaching school.school. connections between all its programs. At the basement and ground floor level it creates a connection between the theatre and the workshops. As for the top two levels, it connects between the rehearsal spaces and the classrooms which aims to fulfil the function of the building as a teaching school.

BB Section Section BB

A detailed slice of the building highlights the materials used in construction in relation to the architectural intent of the design. The use of a lightweight system for the external cladding The architectural intent creates a contrast with the heavy material of the of this central void is interior and further improves the quality of the to create a homogenous spaces behind.

Tectonic Assembly From Gutter to Sky

study model of the facade

which aims to fulfil the function of the building as a teaching school.

building that allows connections between all its programs. At the basement and ground floor level it creates a the staircase is Tectonic Assembly incorporated connection between is From Gutter to Sky the theatre and the into the void order to workshops. As for the top in people two levels, it connects allow “We are all in the gutter, but some of experience between the rehearsal to us are looking at the stars.” complexity spaces and the classrooms the

of the atrium’s structure. Thus, the positioning of the theatre was one of the key aspects of the program to be firstly resolved due to the poetic and functional aspects it has to the viability of the building as a whole.

Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan

“We are all in the gutter, but some of floor us aretypical looking atplan the stars.” Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan

A detailed slice of the building highlights the materials used in construction in relation to the architectural intent of the design. The use of a lightweight system for the external cladding creates a contrast with the heavy material of the interior and further improves the quality of the spaces behind.

The use of a lightweight system for the external cladding creates a contrast with the heavy material of the interior and further improves the quality study the facade behind. of model the ofspaces

CIVIC FABRICATIONS

ground floor plan

study model of the facade

06 B

A R C H

D i g i t a l Ecologies images: examples of the land/sea transition and seaweed markers left by the extent of the tide.

HT1 225 14:47

HT14 247 15:09

HT1 HT24 225264 14:47 15.24

fig.1.2

0-300 in water

300-700 humid soil

700-950 dry0-300 soil in water

300-700

1985 1973

fig.1.1

fig.1.2

1990

1985

1973

1959

fig.1.2

1959 1955 1949

1990

1985

1973

fig.1.1

1990

The ambition of this strategy is to challenge the boundaries between land and water. By inhabiting the intertidal zone the structure is based on a responsive relationship between the tidal cycles and the ground moisture fluctuations by an anchoring and tethering system. The project proposes a series of systems that will facilitate this inhabitation by a collection of different people some from a marginalized background others from the existing Dalgety Bay community.

fig.1.1

fig. shoreline contours for the east of the study area, the boatyard and ‘mud’ bay area

1959

1955

1949

The ambition of small data collection was targeted towards identifying soil moisture on the site. A soil moisture prosthesis was developed as the wearable fieldwork instrument to sample and log the environmental changes that aren’t available online. The prosthesis is comprised of a moisture sensor that sends values to an arduino uno unit that translates the values to be read on a mobile phone via an app designed to be used with the instrument while it’s used on the site.

input Moisture Sensor component with fitted finger prothesis

translation of values breadboard with moisture sensor and gps tracker connected, the components are within waterproof casing that acts as an arm prothesis

least moist

most moist

Arduino Uno Board with nine volt battery power supply within waterproof casing prothesis in dialogue with both the moisture sensor and mobile app

The University of Edinburgh The Edinburgh School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture

Year Three Sept 2015 - Jan 2015

output Mobile phone displaying readings of soil moisture directly from sensor

LISA MOFFITT ; lisa.moffitt@ed.ac.uk 33

https://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/edinburgh-school-architecture-andlandscape-architecture-esala https://www.degreeshow.eca.ed.ac.uk/2015/portfolio/anamorphosis-furthereducation-college-dalmarnock-glasgow

to the date of the site visit along the coast onto a google maps engine map, it was possible to test the soil at the points identified from the studio. A holistic gathering of data from the whole site provided enough information to generate an abstract representation of soil moisture on the site.

DIGITAL ECOLOGIES

The wearable f i e l d w o r k instrument exposed the environmental conditions and temporalities on site relating to soil moisture and subsequently involved further big data research relating to tide altitudes, timing and seasonal changes. by plotting the high and low tide points specific

34 formulation of settlement patterns using a grasshopper script *see appendix page 6

using a grasshopper script a mapping of the urban settlement configuration for the proposed intervention is created. Multiple patterns were produced according to changes in the variables set where the distance from the main anchors were increased or decreased as a response to the moisture level in the soil. The resulting urban network is one that expands and contracts depending on the water level fluctuations at the intertidal zone facilitating its inhabitation by sharing of resources between pods.

DIGITAL ECOLOGIES

films taken from the building systems machine movie showing the anchoring and tethering system of the machine; link to movie: https://www. youtube.com/

07 Concepts & Personal Endevaours

Pixel Mosaic

a robust critical exploration of the technical and material methodologies employed in the contemporary practice of architecture, to include a stronger emphasis on emerging technologies. Building upon already strong foundations in digital modeling, fabrication, and visualization,

oblique top view of the settlement

oblique plan view of the settlement

PIXEL MOSAIC 38

taking over existing structures, the new network of spaces manifest themselves in a new morphology set on the basis of masonry vault construction but with a glitch on the unit. the material constructing the volumes is made of multiple aggregates that are digitally modelled and fabricated left the different morphologies of spatial volumes created using vaulting techniques.

PIXEL MOSAIC

top digital material sample of the different aggregates left/ / / right attachment, detachment and anchoring to existing structure using reinforcements.

08 Concepts & Personal Endevaours

iso crystal

ISOCRYSTAL

In this Grasshopper D e f i n i t i o n the isosurface component from the Millipede plugin has been used to create the isosurface mesh. Iso value defines the effective field around each point and merge vertices is set to true to produce smoother mesh around some corners.

right (top) plan view of the proposal structure

ISOCRYSTAL

from left axonometric diagram showing structural relation in terms of placement

right (bottom) atmospheric perspective view of structure

emphasis on the materiality creates a further emphasis on the spatial qualities of these atmospheric continous spaces, clashing with the rigid serial strucure, creating atmospheric bubbles that would allow connections and new form of circulation on each level.

2021 Academic and Professional Works

MIRA AlSuradi email

mira.suradi@gmail.com

mobile

+4366499006763