German University in Cairo | Architecture and Urban Design Program
Bachelor Thesis 2019
Aswan College of Art and Building Craft
Rana Khaled Abdelhamid
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German University in Cairo | Architecture and Urban Design Program
Bachelor Thesis 2019 Aswan College of Art and Building Craft
Author:
Rana Khaled Abdelhamid
Supervisor
Univ.- Prof. Dipl. -Ing. Architect Dunja Karcher
Teacher Assistants
B.SC. Ethar Amr B.SC. Mayar Elsemary B.SC. Rana Taher
Examination Committee:
Prof. Dr. Arch. Hatem Mahmoud Department of Architecture Aswan University ASWU Prof. Dr. Arch. Emanuele Palazzotto Professore di Composizione Architettonica e Urbana Coordinatore del CdS in Architettura UniversitĂ degli Studi di Palermo Lecturer Martin Saelhof M.A.M.Sc. Department of Architecture and Urban Design Faculty of Engineering and Material Sciences German University Cairo (GUC)
Examination Date Submission Date:
26/05/2019 19/06/2019
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German University in Cairo | Architecture and Urban Design Program
This is to certify that: 1. this thesis comprises only my original work towards the Bachelor Degree 2. due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used
Rana Khaled Abdelhamid 37-799 19.06.2019
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Contents
Declaration Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Space Program
II 01 02 03 04
Design References a. The Site b. Urban Analysis c. Urban Correction
5 6 9
Project Design a. Problem Definition b. Concept and Form Finding c. Developed Concept d. Final Proposal
10 11 13 14
Critical review on work and process
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Conclusion and recommendations
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References List of Figures Bibliography
27 28
Appendix: Project Presentation Boards Model Photos
30 36
1
Abstract
The vocational education is a type of education that offers to the students practical training for specific careers or jobs, unlike traditional academic institutes that offer only theortical contents in which it prepairs graduates for the fisrt stages of work without any further training. Most of the vocational schools offer academic courses along with awarded certificates with degrees like bachelor’s and master’s, also they offer great opportunities for stuednts by facilitating the process in which a student is eligable for specific job or vacancy. However, vocational education is being viewed as a second degree education where a huge number of students prefaire the traditional academic education giving up more guaranteed and secured opportunites to fing open work vacancies. Designing the college of art and building crafts in Aswan has several challenges, one is to try to convience the young users to reconsider vocational education by offering facilities and privileges from the urban scale of the city to the building scale, another challenge was how to introduce vernacular Architecture and how to integrate a local material with modern architecture technique to create a more balanced and practical design.
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Introduction
The aim of this project is to develope the urban scale within the site and design a pleasant and welcoming college for arts and crafts with special features in the quality of space inside the building to create a tranquil feeling of the day to day activities and promote a sense of intimacy within the space, by using vernacular architecture from the local materials to bring a balanced combination between former building techniques with a modern perspective. From a location with so many aspects one that is quite distant from the Nile Rive The site is located in Aswan within the axis of nagaa el karour street and el sadaat street, this location is considered as a city gate from the people arriving from the airport reaching the center of the city and the Cornish, where almost all the important buildings and facilities are located. Leaving the rest of the city with informal urban fabric. During a 7 days visit to the site of the project, lot of observations and conclusions raised with keys on how the design process will follow,starting with the location of the site that lies in an informal settlement of residential districts, along with an educational zone where the Arab Academy For Science, Technology & Maritime Transport and other schools and colleges are located,
of Aswan to the nature, a city with a huge amount of nature resources, that is presented in the Nile river with plenty of islands along it, integrated with considerable amount of desert, by the side of the topography of the city, a strong statement of blue and yellow color, with a slight of green color that rarely appears in the color scheme of Aswan, however it once appeared intensively represented by the green river in the site The thesis report is divided into three sections Section I - Site analysis followed by the concept of the design and formation of the mass. Section II - The transformation of the conceptual into urban correction and architectural scale. Section III -The final design solution achieved along the design process including the details and materiality.
Some already existing buildings lied on the site and it was announced later that these buildings are to be removed by the local government due to the inefficiency of the structure of these buildings as a result of having underground water that lies beneath the surface of the site also another significant element in the site was a huge green river that was created as a result from the rain water running from the higher point of the street until it reaches the lower point which is the land of the site, as the topography of the site shows a huge difference along the sadaat street. Another significant observation was the connection 3
Asawan College of Arts and Building Craft
Space Program
Public Area 640m² Entrance hall, reception counter, back office, Restrooms, Srorage, Cafetria , Exhibition space, workshops Education / Research 833 m² Conference hall, Av room, Classrooms, Open space offices reasearch, Cell offices esearch, Meeting room, Library, Cafeteria, Restrooms and lockers Workshops Area Big workshops, Supporting facilities, Small workshops, Storage, Restrooms and lockers, Cafeteria
1404m²
Administration Area 400m² General manager office, Secretary office, Deputy office, Archive for file, offices, meeting rooms, Gift shop, Reception counter
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The site
Site
Figure 1, Site Map 5
Analysis
Figure 3, Greenery Map
The greenery map of Aswan shows the amount of green areas in the city, which is nearly unnoticed, however, it suddenly appears strongly in the district of our site in the form of a green river created out of the rain water running from the higher point of the street until it reaches the lowest part which is our site.
Figure 2, Solid and Void Map
The solid and void map of the whole city shows the urban fabric of Aswan, with informal and fragile districts stating that the city of Aswan is not a formally urban planned city specially in the areas distanced from the Nile, which leaves the other parts that is considered mostly important due to their connectivity with the Cornish with higher rates demands rates that effects the infrastructure and networks of the city.
Figure 4, Site photo
The collage shows the already existing buildings on the site, These buildings are to be demolished by the local government for having inefficient structure, due to the underground water beneath the surface of the site
Figure 5, Site photo
The collage shows the only greenery in the site and almost in all the city of Aswan, this huge element was formed from the running water of rain
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Analysis SWOT Analysis of the site Strength -The district where our site lies on is an educational zone where the Arab Academy For Science, Technology & Maritime Transport and other schools and colleges exist. -The surrounding context of the site which includes residential areas with the amount of human resources and actual users of the arts and building crafts college, Airport where tourists are forced to pass through our site to enter the city therefore the site is considered as a city gate Weakness-A military base is located within the boundaries of the site -The site lakes any relation to the nature since it is far away from the nile river -The context of the site lacks the identity of Aswan in terms of the material used in the surrounding areas and the residential ones too, where mostly the common material used is bricks and concrete which oppose the climate nature of Aswan Opportunities-The Topography in the site is considered as an opportunity to complement the site with an element of nature and integrate it within the design of the building Â-The corner side of the site, where it is a transition zone between the road from the airport to the street that connects the area with the Cornish -The green river, another strong element that can also complement the site in terms of the connectivity with nature Threats-The underground water -Height limit -The informal settlements on the west side
Figure 6, Swot diagram
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Analysis
Figure 7, Color scheme collage
The collage shows a group of pictures from the site visit to Aswan which shows how rich is the city with all the nature elements combined and integrated all together, starting with the most important element which is the nile river surrounded by several islands with topography and desert lands with natural stones and rocks.
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Project Design After the whole process of analyzing the site, starting from the site visit that allowed me to experience more the city , passing by analyzing the data and maps of Aswan, I came to conclusion that for a city with that amount of natural elements and treasures, I wanted my concept for the urban correction and building scale is to consider the greenery and nature elements by integrating all the sources in the site from the topography and the green river
For the urban correction I started with designing a pedestrian lane for the the locals and tourists so that it is used for walking , cycling and for the young users of the schools and colleges in the area for a more safety and security , and to be shaded with vertical green elements along the path to encourage users to actually utilize it as for the existing street there was no proper walkable areas for the pedestrians. Another approach was to correct the solids and voids of the surrounding area of the site so I created a new cluster typology to vill the voids and connect them with the existing buildings. to have these units clustered around shared courtyards to provide more intimately open spaces with shaded areas that can be vegetated for special spacial qualities, and to use the pores resulted between the clustered units for pedestrian connectivity and finally link these pathways with the main pedestrian lane on the main streets
Figure 8, Urban correction diagram
Figure 9, Cluster diagram
Figure 10, pores diagram
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Project Design
The site plan shows the application of of the urban correction on the solid and void map, the clustered typoloy is showing the encloused courtyards along, also the pores of the clusters connected to the main pedesrian pathway. The conept for the landscape appears also in the site plan where the pedestrian pathways are surrounded with greenery which act as shadin elements for the pedestrians, The top view of the building shows the relation between the pedestrian path and the crack that formed the main entrance of the building. Also the outdoor space over looking the green river shows the visual connection between the main building, the green river and the exhibition building
Figure 11, Site plan
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Project Design
Starting the form while considering the two main aspect of the design concept, first the green river and how to integrate it within the building to create a unique outdoor space that allows the student to experience a feeling of belonging to the college, which will result a better quality of education and learning. So the first step was to direct the orientation of the form towards the green river. The second step was finding another dominant direction and axis for the form, which I concluded from the analysis, was the direction of the street coming from the airport, to have an outstanding building with a statement appearing from distance Not only the out space of the building to be integrated with the green river, but also the interior space, by having transparent areas in the form of courtyards and terraces overlooking the green river, so I added two courtyards to crack the building and divide it into three main zones, and the next step was to distribute the main functions of the program space upon these zones The second aspect is the topography of the site that will allow the building to have a dynamic form emerging from the ground, inspired from the dynamic typology of Aswan to have a unique standing building with a form that will attract the tourist’s sights while arriving from the airport And to emphasize the importance of the pedestrian pathway I wanted it to have a role in the process of the form creation and shaping of the building by extending the lane to the building and crack the form creating the main entrance along with the sub-entrances of the building
Figure 12, Form creation diagram
Figure 13, Form creation proposals
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Project Design
The diagrams show the transformation of the conecpt in the form creation, where the main target was to integrate the green river in the design process, create a transparency between the out side and the inside, a visual connection between the functions and most important, a special spacial quality for the students and users of the building.
Figure 14, First collage for the mass
Figure 15, Second collage for the mass
Figure 16, Working model
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Project Design
The concept for the courtyard was to have an interior relation with the green river so that the whole building can have visual connection with a source of greenery, also the courtyards will act as a connection with the interior spaces and functions inside the building, creating a special quality of space inside. Another function for the courtyard was the lighting of the interior spaces and ventilation To emphasize the role of the courtyards I added another function to it which is the vertical circulation for the building, by adding the stairs that will direct the users from one zone to another, accompanied with ramps for the handicapped students Figure 17, Conceptual diagram 1
After adding the two courtyards to the form it divided it into three zones, to have the three main functions divided on them, the first zone would be the administrative area with the main entrance of the building, entrance hall, manager offices and other administrative offices. The second zone would be the educational area with all the academic functions, the library, conference halls and classrooms.
Workshops Figure 18, Conceptual diagram 2
Figure 19, Conceptual diagram 3
Educational
Adminstration
The third zone and final one would be the workshops area along with the facilities from toilets, lockers and storages for the workshops
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Project Design Starting with the floor plans, the building stands on a three levels of topography, the lowest part is the street level +103 / +0.00 the second level is +104.5/ +1.50 and the final level is +107/+4.00 As mentioned before the building is divided into three main zones with three main functions so I wanted each function to stand alone on a level of topography to apply the concept of integrating the building with the topography and have a dynamic form emerging from the ground. So for the first part which is the administration area with the main entrance of the building, it stands on level +0.00, with three storey height. Once you enter the building you will find a double height entrance hall with a reception counter desk on the right, office and a gift shop in the front, there are three options for the circulation, the first one for the tourists and the visitors to exit the building to enter the exhibition building while experiencing the transition between the street, the main building, the green river and finally the exhibition building. For the workers and managers they can enter the building and then use the stairs and elevator on the right side to go for the upper floors of the administration zone The final option is to use the stairs or ramp in the courtyard on the left side to go up for the other zone which is the educational zone. Moving to the educational zone which stands on level +1.5 of topography, the educational area has a private entrance from the outside for students so that they do not have to enter the administration in order to enter the academic area, the educational area is of two storey height, one you enter it, there will be the open offices for research along with the conference hall and other facilities on the left side, while the right side which is overlooking the green river is aligned with the classrooms as an application for the concept to have unique spacial qualities to encourage students to have a sense of belonging to their college of arts, so one aspect while thinking of the zoning inside each area was to consider the most important rooms and functions to have an overlooking view to the green river. And in order to go for the upper floor of this zone you can use the stairs in front of the entrance and beside the courtyard, finally there is a cafeteria on the right sight with an exit to the green river so that the students can enjoy their breaks and free time while using the out space of the building with the view of the green river
Figure 20, Master plan
The final area to cover in this diagram is the exhibition area, which is on the same level as the first floor of the educational area +1.50, this part is mainly for the tourists and visitors use, once they exit from the main building and take the stairs to arrive on the exhibition level, they will feel the transition between the functions and they will get to experience the view of the green river, until they enter the exhibition part where they will find the open exhibition hall over looking the green river with a visual connection with the main building, also the exihibtion part have two workshops for visitors to interact with the students and for them also to try themselves if they wanted to, with the reception counter on the right side from the entrance to guide them, the small building also have a small cafeteria so that the visitors can have their orders and use the outdoor space overlooking the green river. 14
Project Design Moving to the floor plans diagram with the second floor of the administration, second floor of the educational zone and first floor of the workshops. For the second level of the administration area +4.00, this floor have the manager’s office along with the secretary office, meeting room and other facilities. Once you arrive from the stairs or the elevator you will find a small courtyard in the middle over looking the main entrance hall on the lower floor, the manager’s office, secretary office and an additional office on the right side of the building over looking the green river, on the left side stands the meeting room along with the toilets and lockers, To go from the second floor of the administration to the second floor of the educational zone you have to use either the stairs or the ramp in the courtyard, as the second floor of the educational is with a difference in heights by 1.5 meters, standing on level +5.50. This floor height contains the remaining functions of the educational zone, a library over looking the courtyard for better reading and spacial quality for the students, research office and toilets on the left side, while the remaining classrooms are also placed on the right side just like the lower floor, for visual connectivity with the green river. The other courtyard connects the educational zone with the workshops area visually and also by the vertical circulation through the stairs and ramp so that users can use them to go down from the second floor of the educational part +5.50 to the first floor of the workshop area +4.00. The final zone of the building which is the workshops zone stand on the final topography level +4.00, with a difference in height with the educational zone of 2.5 meters, also with a private entrance like the other zones, the workshop area is accessible from the outside.
Figure 21, Floor plans
Once you enter the workshops zone you get to experiance the transition between the functions through the transparency between the rooms in the workshop area, so that most of the workshops are connected to each other and also connected by the hallways through the colomns instead of being totally blocked by the walls, an approach to create intimate feeling inside the college, specially in this zone for having all the workshops. Trying to apply the concept of distrbution for the important functions of each zone to have a unique visual connectivity with the greenery, I divied the workshops among the right side for the connectivity with the green river and from the side connected to the courtyard, and for the other facilities to be placed in the left side. With a cafeteria beside the courtyard and the exit for the outspace for the students use
The final floor plan is for the third floor of the administration area, where it has the remaining functions as the deputy’s office along with the secretary’s office , meeting room and other facilities like toilets and lockers.
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Project Design
Figure 22, Longitudinal section
Figure 23, Cross section
The longitudinal section is showing the relation of the floors between the building, the administration area with three floor levels ,+0.00 ,+4.00, +8.00 The educational area with two floor levels , +1.50, +5.50 and finally the workshops with one floor level, +4.00 Also as mentioned before that the vertical circulation between the zones is through the two courtyards using stairs and ramps for the handicapped stuednts.
The section also shows the spacial qualities discussed before in terms of the relatioan of the courtyards with the interior space, where the main aim of the zoning was to place the special rooms of the space program with direct relation to the courtyards, like for rxample the entrance hall, classrooms, library, conference hall and workshops
The cross section shows the relation between the exhibition building with the main college builidng, in which I wanted to maintain a connection between both functions without totally seperating them, as for the users of both builiding can have indirect relation between each other. The exhibition builidng is on level +1.50 so for visitors and tourists they can enter the exhibition through the main builidng from the main entrance level +0.00 then using the outdoor stairs until they reach the green river space on the outside. This journey allows the visitors to experiance the transition between all these phasess starting from the street then the main building , the green river with the outdoor space and finaaly the exhibition part.
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Project Design
Figure 24, Solid and void elevation
The final proposal for the elevtaions was to maintain the propotions of the solids and voids of the building and have a rythem in the pattern of the voids so I designed the openings of the elevations to be as a holes digging inside the mass it self to create a balance between the relativly huge mass with the openings .
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Project Design Inspired from the Nubian Museum, the material used for the elevations is Sandstone, as an application for using vernacular architecture, sandstone is a local material in Aswan used in several builidngs and walls, for being a cheap and obtainable material .
Figure 25, Nubian Museum in Aswan Figure 27, Sandstone
Figure 28, Sandstone Figure 26, Nubian Museum in Aswan
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Project Design
Figure 29, West elevation
Figure 30, East elevation
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Project Design
Figure 31, Facade section detail
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Project Design
Figure 32, Urban section 1
Figure 33, Urban section 2
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Project Design
Figure 34, Exterior shot
The diagram shows part from the shaded pedestrian pathway with relation to the main building.
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Project Design
Figure 35, Interior shot
The diagram shows the exhibition building, and how it is integrated within the context to maintain a visual connectivity with the green river and the main building
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Figure 36, Exterior shot
The diagram shows the outdoor space along with the green river in the middle between the main building and the exhibition building.
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Critical review on work process
The working process on the project had a very tight time schedule, for three months of intensive work and submissions, it was definitely a very hard journey. The excursion to Aswan was advantageous and helpful to fully understand the typology of the city of Aswan. As I got to see the problems and strengths of the side in the real life, defiantly the topography of the site was so challenging. However,the hardest phase of the design process was the trials of applying the concept in the form creation and zoning, as choosing nature and the specifically the green river to be the main design concept was really a very challenging decision.
Some changes could have been done of course specially after hearing so much beneficial critics from the jury during the final presentation of the design. At the end designing the college of art and building crafts in Aswan has been one of the most challenging yet interesting projects I have worked on until now.
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Conclusion The design phases of the College of Arts and Crafts in Aswan had so many challenges and aspects to consider during all the phases of the design process, due to the so many restrictions and limitations that we found during the excursion to Aswan and the site analysis afterward. Starting with the location of the project. The city of Aswan, a place with so many treasures that make it a very special place with a spirit which is totally unique than other places in Egypt. Starting from the Nile river which is a dominant element in the heritage of Aswan along with so many islands and deserts, also the Nubian villages, accompanied with so many touristic spaces, museums and hotels, considering all these aspects and with a one major question was, how would the design approach complement these aspects, putting in consideration the typology of the site it self which is some how different than the rest of the city. Moving to the site with the so many challenges and difficulties like the underground water, the topography, the neighborhood with the informal settlements, and mostly the lack of any connectivity to the nature However, the site had other opportunities like the green river, this dominant green element was the inspiration of my concept for the urban correction and design of the building, where I started to consider the greenery in the site and try to integrate the green river within the building by creation spacial qualities to create a strong relation between the users and the building. The next step was the form creation and the zoning, where I chose to have a dynamic building integrated with the nature and topography of the site, directed towards the green river and the main road from the airport,
and cracked by the pedestrian pathway and two main courtyards. The functions were distributed after the division of the mass by the courtyards, creating the three main zones of the building, the administration, educational and workshops along with the separated function which is the exhibition space, but without totally blocking it from the main building , it is connected visually with the outdoor space, the green river and the main building. The materially and the design of the elevations were the following phases where I chose to use sandstone, for being a vernacular material, a local one and mostly a material that reflect the culture of Aswan. To sum up designing the College of Arts and Crafts in Aswan was a challenging, task with so many design decisions to make, difficulties that needed to be solved in order to achieve the desired output from the whole design process. 26
References
List of Figures Figure 1, Site map Figure 2, Solid and Void Map Figure 3, Greenery Map Figure 4, Site photo Figure 5, Site photo Figure 6, Swot diagram Figure 7, Color scheme collage Figure 8, Urban correction diagram Figure 9, Cluster diagram Figure 10, Pores diagram Figure 11, Site plan Figure 12, Form creation diagram Figure 13, Form creation proposals Figure 14, First collage for the mass Figure 15, Second collage for the mass Figure 16, Working model Figure 17, Conceptual diagram 1 Figure 18, Conceptual diagram 2 Figure 19, Conceptual diagram 3 Figure 20, Master plan Figure 21, Floor plans Figure 22, Longitudinal section
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Figure 23, Cross section Figure 24, Solid and void elevation Figure 25, Nubian Museum in Aswan Figure 26, Nubian Museum in Aswan Figure 27, Sandstone Figure 28, Sandstone Figure 29, West elevation Figure 30, East elevation Figure 31, Facade section detail Figure 32, Urban section 1 Figure 33, Urban section 2 Figure 34, Exterior shot Figure 35, Interior shot Figure 36, Exterior shot
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References
Bibliography Hassan Fathy - Natural Energy and Vernacular Architecture: Principles and Examples Vicky Richardson - New vernacular architecture James B. Steele - An Architecture for People Ronald Brunskill - Illustrated handbook of vernacular architecture James W. P. Campbell - Brick: A World History Louis Kahn - The Power of Architecture I Youtube Gernote Minke - Building with Earth Renzo Piano -The genius behind some of the world’s most famous buildings | Youtube Neufert
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Appendix
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Model 1:2000
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Model 1:200
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