+
(RE)generative Design
Many Parts to a Whole: HIV Awareness+Local Production
in Lilongwe, Malawi Patrick Munro McAffrey / ARCH 485 Thesis / 2011-2012 / Dr. Hajo Neis
+ Spring Term
These images depict the process in which one would acquire the standard kit of parts necessary to build a new shelter, and bring that shelter to their village.
+ Two gentlemen load two crates onto a
bicycle, a relatively easy load compared to what they are used to carrying.
+ The bike is then ridden, and occasionally
walked to a nearby village roughly 10 kilometers away (an hour’s ride).
+ The kit is then unpacked, the structure is
assembled on the ground, and the earthen bricks are built on site using the materials native to the particular village.
+ The final product is a relatively open space with a tent canopy for a roof.
+ Design Revisions/
Tectonic Explorations
Site Plan showing smaller building forms, smaller canvas forms, a more thoughtful sequence of interaction, and a covered walk way for the public. Additionally, this page includes an updated program listing spatial requirements for the necessary functions.
Canvas Production: 22,000 sq. ft. Babmboo Production: 15,000 sq. ft. Packaging: 7,000 sq. ft.
Amphitheater: 8,000 sq. ft.
prevention education
ing ag ck pa
lobby
kids
vocational education
the ate r
Sales Space: 1,800 sq. ft. Storage: 1,500 sq. ft.
canvas production
bam prod boo uctio n
Prevention Eduction: 9,000 sq. ft. Vocational Education: 12,000 sq. ft. Large Classroom: 3,000 sq. ft. Lobby: 9,000 sq. ft. Kids: 1,500 sq. ft.
Top Image: In-progress design with updated building forms that react more to the vernacular of the place and the traditional factory aesthetic. Bottom Image: Early structural model that shows the contrasting relationship between the traditional roof forms and the canvas canopy.
Top Image: Experiential concept rendering of walking underneath the small canopies that form the public pathway. Bottom Image: A representation of what the structure would look like that supports the small walkway canopies.
Top Image: Showing relationship between conceptual building masses and the existing market across the river. Bottom Image: Building masses with covered pathway intertwined throughout programmatic elements.
Top Image: Early concept image of factory roof truss design. Bottom Image: Rough site plan to show relationships between building masses and the distinction between structural systems.
+ Week Five
Final Midterm Review:
Old Town, Lilongwe, Malawi
Urban Plan shows bridge connections with the Open Air market (dotted) to maintain the same language as the existing in brown. Additionally this helps to show how the smaller forms on the site react better to the small market stalls of the market across the Lilongwe River.
Healing of Programmatic Elements with Canvas Structures
Thread the Needle
Site Plan
N
Structural Diagram showing the differentiation in systems between the canvas structures and the more traditional elements. The factory is supported with steel trusses, the schools will use wood framing and the canvas roofs will be supported with light steel in most places, and heavier, triangulated trusses in between the factory elements.
Ground Floor Plan 1/64” = 1’ - 0”
Second Floor Plan 1/64” = 1’ - 0”
Third Floor Plan 1/64” = 1’ - 0”
Section Perspective
North Elevation
Conceptual Perspective showing structural systems and abstract programmatic functionality.
Conceptual Perspective depicting the experience of the catwalk and how it relates to the space below.
Exterior Perspective showing west factory facade and interwoven canvas structures.
+ Week Nine
Final Review:
need for creative solutions on a local level.
FUNCTION:
A Building That Makes Buildings. Prefabricated canvas tent structures
to replace existing corrugated metal and thatched roofing. Offering ease of maintenance, more day light an a more comfortable space to inhabit. Additionally, this structure can be implemented on several scales to fulfill various programmatic requirements.
+The kit would come in three sizes:
Small - for homes or market stalls. Medium - for Education, gathering, awareness. Large - for entire market halls, worship, large gathering.
+ Materials:
Canvas - for the primary shelter and enclosure Bamboo Segments - for structure Hemp Rope - for tension Miscellaneous Hardware - for connections A Box - for transport and pouring footings
Site Plan
N
‘Sawtooth’ roof system
allows the factory to have ample amounts of diffused daylight during prime working hours. The open air quality of the roof facilitates natural ventilation of the space consistently throughout the day. Deep overhangs provide shading to the open clerestory spaces.
Compressed Earth Block Wall
24” deep blocks are pressed on site by local masons and built up using bamboo as reinforcement. This creates a thick enclosure of thermal mass that helps to keep the space cool during the summer months. This type of assembly lends itself well to the unconditioned nature of this building.
Unconditioned Window Slats
Wooden box frames are prefabricated to mimic the hand-made aesthetics of the nearby foot bridges. These bump outs allow for sitting within the wall on the interior, and their pattern creates interesting shadows within the space while still maintaining a secure window system.
Small Green Roofs
have been placed on the bump outs for shipping and receiving. The gutters drain here and water catchment systems would be implemented to re-use the rain water from the wet months.
Roof System
Structural System
Wall System
Circulation Diagram illustrating the relationships between the catwalk aesthetics and the aesthetics of the local hand-made foot bridges.
+ A system of catwalks is implemented to help deal with grade change. In addition, it mimics the “dual-level market place� aesthetic of the neighboring open air market.
Elevation Diagram showing how the canvas forms move from larger, more complex forms to smaller, simpler forms as they move down the site towards the river.
The formal language will also closely follow that of the handmade bridges that span the Lilongwe River at the marketplace.
Healing Diagram depicts where the canvas roof forms would be and how their presence would start to inform positive outdoor space as well as bind the separate buildings and forms together.
Healing of different programmatic elements. (like with bandages)
Spatial volume increases as one climbs the site.
Diffusion Diagram talks about how the spatial volumes of the interior spaces step up the site with the change in topography creating open relationships between the upper floors and those below them.
First Floor Plan
N
B.
A.
Second Floor Plan
B.
A.
Third Floor and Catwalk Plan
B.
A.
Third Floor/Catwalk Plan
1/16” = 1’ - 0”
Vocational School 12,000 sq. ft. Bam 15,0 boo p 00 s roce q. ft ssin . g
Prevention/ Awareness/ Counseling 10,000 sq. ft.
m st ark al e l t
m oo s L ft nva q. Ca 000 s 20,
Section A
kids .
Section B
Wall Section 1/8” = 1’ - 0”
5’ - 0”
Standing seam metal roof
4’ - 0”
2’ x 1’ compressed earth block cap stone 2’ x 3’ reinforced compressed earth block made on site Metal bracket inlaid in block to stabalize steel structure
19’ - 0”
Bamboo reinforcement spaced 18” o.c.
3’ x 4’ Window box reinforced with vertical members
Cast in place concrete footing
Wood board catwalk; 14’ in length, 10” in depth, width varies
18” deep wide flange columns to support wide flange roof structure
Interior Catwalk Perspective
Underneath Canopy Perspective
Exterior Perspective