DUMB BOX 2.0

PROFESSOR - FABRIZIO GALLANTI YEAR - WINTER 2020

What is a dumb box?

The large green space on which sits the project is located in Mile End. The reminiscence of the borough’s industrial nature translates into the urban fabric, specifically on the formal language of the facade. Indeed, the repetitiveness of windows, the exposed columns and beams and the rectangular elevations highlight the spirit of economy driving these monotonous ‘boxes’.

Thereby, this project investigates the following interrogation: How to transform something banal and mundane into a spatially rich architecture, while designing inside a predetermined volume?

The design proposal entails the concept of lightness which renders both spatially and programmatically, in response to the increasingly opaque context. As a result, this lightness is achieved architecturally, through the treatment of the facade, the internal spatial organisation, the structural strategies and the choice of materials. The geometrical articulation of the formal logic is based on the idea of discovery and exploration, namely through the choice of an organic language. A series of disks with a diameter spanning from 5- 25m overlaid at different heights allow for increased visibility. Multiple ramps connecting the platforms together act as promenades, while simultaneously allowing for fluidity of movement. The vertical cores constitute both a strategy for circulation as well as a structure for the disks. The lateral supports convey a feeling of lightness to the seemingly floating platforms.

The experience of this leisure center constitutes an interpretation of being among the clouds, through the achievement of different spatial conditions. Thus, the boundaries with the outdoors are blurred through the treatment of the facade and the introduction of ambiguous spaces that read as in-out.

Animation - virtual tour

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