SARA ALMUTLAQ
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Sara Almut;aq
De-Fencing the Mosque With Ziad Jamaleddin Partner Max St. Pierre During Fall 2019 On Page 5-34
Library of Corners With Jose Arraguz During Spring 2018 On Page35-52
Chronical Housing With Gabriella Etchegaray Partner Tola Oniyangi During Fall 2018 On Page 53-74
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Four Experiments With Carrie Norman During Fall 2017 On Page 87-94
Confessional of Dissent With Stepehn Cassel & Annie Barrett During Fall 2020 On Page 95-118 Table of Contents
Seam Community Center With Rober Marino During Spring 2018 On Page 75-86
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Self-Reflections on Graduate School
Sara Almtlaq
Clarity in the foundations of our work, our personal behavior and self-perception is the driving force for attainment. The following sentences were either post-rationalized or penned during the design process of each of the six studio projects presented in this portfolio. The aim here is self-recognition. To articulate personal tendencies that drive a personal design process. And then, by virtue of re-articulation, reproduction and redesign, develop an expertise in ones own ambitions.
Haptic and Optic Shock waves “… a lot of our impressions of spaces are due to the spaces before them. We, as humans of recollection, can only truly experience space by contradicting it with our recent memory. ”
Corners “The value of a corner lies in its rotational symmetry. It is a point in which multiple perceptions and physical relationships are embodied. Altering corners is an easy way to alter perception. “
Collective Memory “While building materiality embodies collective memory (brick, stone, concrete) our material culture also embodies our collective memory. Bodega neon signs, scrap tires, metal fences and paper adverts are just as much a part of our collective consciousness as the buildings that surround us” A seam is also a place
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“In thinking of diptychs of colors or space, recognize that the seam is a third condition”
“Good architecture recognizes the idiosyncratic needs of its users, and through this, it produces good design that only reflects itself”
Space is psychological “there are metric, optic and haptic measures in space making that can reproduce sentiment. Marble is in fact cold, ceilings can make us claustrophobic, fur does remind us of childhood. Governmental buildings have always been the best at utilizing the power of architecture”
Self-Reflections on Graduate School
architecture doesn’t need a capital A
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin 5
DE-FENCING THE MOSQUE RE-FENCING THE ECONOMY
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
The brief for this advanced studio led by Ziad Jamaluddin was to investigate and reintegrate the 300+ mosques on the Island of Djerba, Tunisia, into the sociopolitical climate of the local, state and global environment at large. By varying in public use and relationship to the ground plane, the mosques represent an independent architectural typology within the general survey of mosques worldwide. They each serve a multitude of historical purposes ranging from water collection to maritime defense. Initial data and maps on the island was limited. The students broke out into teams and tasked with uncovering and drawing certain layers of information necessary to understand the island’s history and contemporary context. Maritime Trade, Agricultural Production, Tourism and Hotels, Geology and Sea Life, Markets and Local Economies, Menzels and Mosques.
DJERBA: AN ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF TUNISIA
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Through, my partner and I’s, investigation of the island, two distinct yet interrelated aspects were brought to our attention. The first being the existence of an olive oil economy in boom, and a clay production economy in demise. The second, is the historical system of socio-economic dependency between various geographically located trade communities. Within this system, excess and waste material is reintroduced and used in the same cycle. With these ideas in mind, we proposed the use of the mosque social structural as a CO-OP through which we can leverage trade between these distinct communities, thus reinforcing material and social cycles.
Fall 2019, De-Fencing De-Fencing the Moquethe : Re-Fencing Mosque the Economy
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Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin 9
THE ANCIENT CITY OF POTTERS: GHULLALA We found our site in the south-western tip of the island near the city of Ghullala. The city’s name is attributed to the Arabic name for potter, indicating a traditional community of potters stemming from the roman times when the craft was introduced. Here, a demising community of potters is scaling down, while a community of olive pickers is in growth. The project finds itself as an interstitial network between the two. larity and differentiation become a guiding force that do not compete with one another.
Fall 2019, De-Fencing De-Fencing the Moquethe : Re-Fencing Mosque the Economy
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AN EXPLORATORY LANDSCAPE OF CO-DEPENDENCY
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Using drawing as a medium to unravel and investigate the Djerban Landscape, we developed an investigative imaginary in which all forces affecting our site of interest are laid out. The drawing begins at the human scale and understanding the historical methods of clay extraction and production and their inherent laborious process, then shifts to the olive, examining at the island scale the intrinsic economic entanglements embodied in this agricultural industry. Moving in scales across new buildings and olive oil production facilities on the island and finally to Italy, Spain and the International Olive Council, the global governing body that oversees the certification process of market-ready Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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THE RED BRICK ROAD: OLIVE SOUTH
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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We identified a unique condition in the south of the island that extends from the clay faults in the north, to the fisherman mosque Sidi Yati, in the south. Binding these two sites is a 30 minute foot path that traverses a semi-urban area, a part of the town of Ghullala. The community is active, as indicated by a lively mosque that lives along this footpath. Here lives a community of people that have a heritage of clay extraction and olive picking. The path ends with the Sidi Yati mosque, an abandoned coastal mosque that has the potential of activating both the coastline and the olive orchards around.
Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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THE RED BRICK ROAD: CLAY NORTH
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Conversely, on the northern tip of the site sits the double domed clay manufacturing facility, embedded within the clay faults. Through the articulation of potential material exchange between these trade communities, our intervention binds the container, clay manufacturing, to the contained, olive oil and octopus production. The following spread shows cycles of exchange, in earthen brick (fired and unfired), olive oil pomace for firing the kiln, or clay bi-product for plant growth. These relationships allow for a phasing of the project in time, as more olive oil is produced, building materials are produced in tandem, thus binding architecture to product. These cycles create a codependency between units producing an architecture, territory and commercial product that is deeply rooted in place and is able to compete with and withstand global economic pressures.
Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Summer Winter
Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
Fall 18
Spring
DOUBLE DOME POTTERS STUDIO
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Our project’s first site lies in the faults. The projects begin 30 feet below grade with a clay tunnel and an open-air work area. Once the clay is extracted from this lower datum it needs to be worked, usually by stomping on it, and finally left outside to dry fully before being sifted and reconstituted. Drying and sifting happen on the bleacher like staircase that leads to the main workspace, a domed building constructed of concrete rings and beams. The brick infill is a mix of unfired brick and raw clay, not contributing to the structural performance of the building. The intention is to use the building envelope as a materials bank, in the winter - low production season - the walls can be filled clay and thermally insulate the space, during the high season clay, is taken from the shell to perforate the wall and allow air in. The nested domes, starting with the interior kiln, followed by the perforated dome is used to trap heat and keep the building comfortable in the winter. Outside the building we see the exchange of materials, olive pellets and pomace arrive by a cart while clay products leave. Moving material from underground, through the walls, the kiln and finally to Mosque.
Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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CLAY NORTH : CYCLES OF ACTIVATION (Image 1) The building sits tightly in the landscape, and we see an empty cart returning home and the walls of the building perforated. Allowing the summer Mediterranean breeze into the space. (Image 2) Here a detailed moment of exchange takes place. The olive pomace pellets sit outside space, ready for firing, broken pots used by fishermen sit in a circular enclosure, ready to be reused in the earth as fired clay is often used to help hold water in fields in arid climates.
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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FORTIFYING OLIVE PRESS
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
Our southern site, Siti Yati sits on a small cliff over a flimsy staircase that leads to a dock, that leads to the sea. Time has taken its toll on this abandoned mosque and the hill is eroding beneath it, the mosque precariously holds onto its last piece of stable earth. This state of emergency instigates our intervention on the site. larity and differentiation become a guiding force that do not compete with one another. Starting with the octopus fisher at sea level, we manipulated the remaining earthen material to create rammed earth enclaves for the storage of pots seen in section. Ramping up to the olive press the space becomes semi-enclosed, a necessity for olive oil production. The roofing system is made of brick arches with a terracotta flooring sourced from shattered pot material. The project starts at sea level with the octopus fisher. Fresh olives are brought to the mosque and deposited in the cascading brick containers. A staircase up from this space leads to an expanded ground floor for the mosque in which an outdoor prayer area is provided above the press. The ablution area is revamped for Sidi Yati mosque, sourcing water from its unused water reserve.
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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OLIVE SOUTH: CYCLES OF ACTIVATION (Image 1) The octopus area is just above sea level. The average daily tide change in this region is 4 feet. In this way, space is cleaned out daily of the what’s left of the octopus, naturally washing the area daily. The olive oil area is 6 feet above sea level, protecting the product from the daily swing in water. (Image 2)) The ramp into the olive area hugs the wall and is unpaved. The wall doubles as a place for olives to be deposited by local farmers as well as maintaining its function as a retaining wall. Just as in the clay site, outside of the 2 sites is an active space for material exchange between these three interconnected and dependent economies.
Instructor: Ziad Jamaleddin
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Fall 2019, De-Fencing the Mosque
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Instructor: Jose Arraguz
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LIBRARY OF CORNERS
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Spring 2018, Library of Corners
Instigated by Rosalind Krauss’s essay “Grids”, an enthusiasm for the tension withheld in a corner developed in my work. Through the theoretical approach of “Spatial Infrastructure” proposed by architect and professor Jose Arraguz, we developed a library that stems from the architectural articulation of corner modules. Each corner module is derived from a lofting between the X-Y and Z axes creating access points and sectional relationships between floors. The aggregation of these units through differentiation in scale, rotation and elimination allows for a cohesive mass with subtle variation. Thus, based on the theory of “Spatial Infrastructure”, modularity and differentiation become a guiding force that do not compete with one another.
Instructor: Jose Arraguz
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Spring 2018, Library of Corners
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Instructor: Jose Arraguz
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FROM CORNER TO SPACE By understanding space as a volume defined by edges and corners, the project seeks to manipulate our perception of this universal system. The aggregation of corner and edge modules, represented on the right, delivers a spatial configuration that is universal and infinite, yet precise to its intention. To allow for spatial variation within the system, these modules are scaled, rotated or eliminated based on program and use.
Spring 2018, Library of Corners
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AGGREGATION A: SMALL SPACES A
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Instructor: Jose Arraguz
AGGREGATION A: SMALL SPACES
FROM CORNER TO STRUCTURE Due to the modules’ dependent relationship to the universal grid, it is easily converted into a modular structural system. The ambition is that each of the single story corner modules are stacked and anchored to one another, creating rooms. The module is counter intuitive to our habitual assumption of buildings being made of walls, slabs and columns, and tests the assumption by converting it to corners and edges. .
Spring 2018, Library of Corners
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FROM CORNER TO SPACIAL EXPERIENCE Variation in the scale of these modules allows for the creation of scalar variation in space. Seen in the traverse section is a scaled module housing a series of outdoor spaces. Conversely, in the longitudinal section, scalar variation allows for sectional relationships via stairs to continue through the project.
Instructor: Jose Arraguz
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Spring 2018, Library of Corners
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MATERIALITY AND LIGHT ATMOSPHERE Finally, the counter intuitive location of openings, doors and light sources at edges and corners allows for a unique lighting experience in which the sinuous forms of the structural module are reinforced by the softness of sunlight. The rendering below, and on the left, shows the materiality and atmosphere in a typical reading room in which the intimacy of the act of reading is reinforced by the intimacy of light and scale. Conversely, the image on the right, indicates the experience in the sequential large reading rooms and circulation spaces, in which double heights, large openings reinforce collaboration and support.
Instructor: Jose Arraguz
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Spring 2018, Library of Corners
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Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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CHRONICAL HOUSING
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Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
The project brief for the 2018 Housing semester at GSAPP deliberately chose a site in a gentrifying neighborhood in South Bronx, NY. Thus, the site’s complicated relationship between history, ethnicity, race and gentrification became the driving principle for my partner and I. How can we propose a modern housing project, that is approachable to the community, yet attractive for developers to build? By so, the premise became, how can an architectural project retain the collective memory of a place while simultaneously increasing it’s standard of living?. The answer, for us, began with the buildings on site and their footprints on the lot.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNPOSTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX.
Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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Private Metal Deck Balconies
Materiality: Brick & Metal Fences
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNPOSTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX.
Scale: Narrow Urban Corridors
Private Courtyards
Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
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Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN CONTEMPORARY HOUSING
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1. Renovate the band
2. DEMOLITION
2. Occupy the center
3. HOUSING TYPOLOGY: TOWNHOUSE
3. Increase density
4. HOUSING TYPOLOGY: TOWER
4. Bind the spine
5. CONNECTION: INTERSTITIAL SPACES
Retained facades
New construction
New construction
Interstitial spaces
Demolished
Retained facades
Retained facades
New construction
Existing
Existing
Existing
Existing
Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
The site as it exists today is defined as a low-density donut of brick row house buildings, housing a large communal courtyard at the center. The back of the row houses have metal porches and balconies that are clipped on post construction. In recognizing the historical value of the existing brick row houses for the community, we decided to maintain the existing, while adding additional row houses and apartment towers to increase the density of units in accordance with client requirements. Below, a series of diagrams show the step by step choices we made in order to increase the density.
2. DEMOLITION
1. RENOVATE THE BAND Retained facades Demolished Existing
Our first response to the site is to uplift the existing rowhouse units through a façade, kitchen, and exterior space renovation. Recognizing the community’s relationship to self-owned shops (bodegas) and the increasing need for shared work spaces, we decided to allocate a portion of square footage for retail/work use. These spaces, which live in the back face of the row houses, also guarantee community and pedestrian movement in the courtyards within the donut. Additionally, in order to maintain the brock façade, while uplifting heat retention capabilities, a new façade is pulled back from the existing one, allowing for more light and specific architectural expression. PROCESS DIAGRAM 1/64”= 1’
GF
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Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
1ST
2ND
Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
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3. HOUSING TYPOLOGY: TOWNHOUSE
2. OCCUPY THE CENTER New construction Retained facades Existing
Within the center of the band of rowhouses, the existing courtyard is divided into four outdoor spaces through the use of bands of new row houses. Similar to the existing one in material and size, the new rowhouse increase the density while maintaining their relationship to their predecessor. The bands of new rowhouses connect to the tower that fracture the existing buildings through elevated pathways and shared workspaces. In this way, the new rowhouses, the existing ones and the tower and its lobby form a cohesive whole that stimulates community collaboration. PROCESS DIAGRAM 1/64�= 1’
GF
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Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
1ST
2ND
Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
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4. HOUSING TYPOLOGY: TOWER
3. INCREASE DENSITY New construction Retained facades Existing
Finally, in order to further increase the density of units on the plot, two row houses are demolished on each street front, creating a rotational symmetry in the design. The Facades of the demolished units are maintained and now house a 9 story residential tower. The first two levels house the lobby and the second level connecter to the row houses beyond. PROCESS DIAGRAM 1/64�= 1’
Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
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5. CONNECTION: INTERSTITIAL SPACES
4. BIND THE SPINE Interstitial spaces New construction Existing
Finally, a key driver in the preservation of the existing buildings is the preservation of existing social and economic structures that allowed the community to preserver to this day. This is defined in their relationship to private-ownership retail stores (bodegas). Highlighted on the right, is an elevated walkway in which this relationship of living quarters to retail is emphasized through architectural moves. PROCESS DIAGRAM 1/64�= 1’
Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
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Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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GROUND LEVEL
Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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FIRST LEVEL : SPINE CONNECTION
Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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SECOND LEVEL - ROOF GARDENS AND TOWER
FACADE DETAILS: MATERIAL PRESERVATION Inspired by the saturated cultural identity of the South Bronx Neighborhood, for a proposed high density residential complex, my partner and I decided to maintain the power of collective memory by avoiding demolition and preserving the existing materiality, construction methods and urban scale of the allocated block. The existing, and generic, envelope of brick veneer backed with CMU blocks was built in the 1940’s and is now altered to allow more light into interior of spaces, while maintaining security measure necessary in the south Bronx neighborhood. Preserving a language of time in the new façade of the row houses reveals itself in the contrast between the new brick, with its thin slender profile sourced from the manufacturer Peterson, and its short stumpy counterpart with a lime green tint of decay. One can trace the location of old windows on the new façade from the squares that are inset and infilled with the new Kolomba brick. New window frames are concealed on the exterior façade with a weathered steel L-shape anchor that acts both as lintel, water drainage, and support for perforated bricks inset within it. The perforated brick acts here as a substitute for the metal frame security measure previously installed in the row houses, while additionally adding privacy and exposing the materiality from the interior. Finally, the plastering of the 3rd floor preforms optically by adding horizontality to the rowhouses, thus creating an illusion of a ribbon unity between the row houses that circle the site.
Instructor: Gabriella Etchegaray
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Fall 2018, Chronical Housing
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Instructor: Robert Marino
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SEAM COMMUNITY CENTER
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Seam Community Center
The project investigates geographic landscapes through the idea of seams. Located on a cliffside in Newburg, NY, in which a running river is demanded to be diverted via a weir. Here, the seam exists between earth, and water, and at a higher elevation between earth and air. Through a system of embedded retaining walls and spaces inside of the cliff, the proposed community center snakes between these two topographies.
SPACE BETWEEN LAND AND WATER 30.00
space
Earth
Instructor: Robert Marino
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Water
RETAINING STRUCTURES
The birthing module for the project is a 30’ x 30’ space embedded within the cliffside, on one side, retaining the earth beyond, on the other, the water beyond. Due to the different pressure conditions of water vs earth, two systems of retaining walls are integrated to formulate the space. A concrete shell, encapsulates the space within the earth, while a metal like structure pushes the water beyond. These two systems are integrated with one another during the casting phase of construction.
Seam Community Center
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ADA Ramp
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A SEQUENCE OF SPACES IN SUPPORT
Instructor: Robert Marino
The 30’ x 30’ modules are scaled, stretched and stacked then strung together through an interlacing circulation path that creates a necklace of experience at the wet seam between earth and water. The plan on the upper right shows this singular circulation path descending to the level of the weir from the level of the city above. Space is left exposed to the weathering conditions of nature and used by the community as necessary.
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Seam Community Center
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GLASS CUBES AT THE SEAM The snaking system of circulation engages with the seam by looping into the earth, and back out into the water in a sequential manner, until it finally reaches the final level in which the weir lives. The final reading of the building becomes one of ice cubes embedded in the earth, viewing the landscape beyond.
Instructor: Robert Marino
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Seam Community Center
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Instructor: Carrie Norman
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BELOW: A SUBWAY STATION
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Fall 2017, CORE 1
Another Core-1 project debated out understanding of the ground plane through the program of a subway station on 14th avenue. Here, the proposal stemmed from a parti of two triangles intersecting, formulating a circulation path that tethers between spaces that contradict one another in density of light, materially and scale. The intention is to create a spatial shock therapy in which the user is driven through a multitude of forceful changes in order to elevate their sense of being present.
Instructor: Carrie Norman
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TWO INTERSECTING TRIANGLES Situated at the corner of 14th Street and 2nd Avenue, the project invites the pedestrian downwards through a sequence of rooms, ranging from well lit, to damp and dark. Here we see the plan for the transportation station on the left, and a section on the right. The central core is left hollow as a light shaft and a visual connection between the spaces beyond.
Fall 2017, CORE 1
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Instructor: Carrie Norman
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Unrolled Section Through Circulation
Fall 2017, CORE 1
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Instructor: Carrie Norman
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Sequence Persepctive Through Circulation
Fall 2017, CORE 1
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Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett 95
CONFESSIONALS OF DISSENT
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
The Advanced Sequence studio titled “Copula Hall” is an investigation of behavioral and political strata through architectural interventions set within the fictional novel “The City and the City” by China Mivielle. The novel narrates the dynamic of public life between the twin autocratic states of Bezsel and AlQoma through the unraveling of a murder mystery that crosses physical and imaginary boarders. From this narration and fantastical geographic blueprint the students are set up to bring words and syntax into architectural motifs, geo-political theories and a relative understanding of the political climate we live in today. By reading, and re-reading, the 300 page novel the students imagined and built with Rhino what the city of Bezsel and AlQoma looks like. This is done in preparation for phase two in which the students analytical arguments about the space of the novel is then reflected within their design for shared government building Copula Hall. The following pages present the city, my personal analysis of the literature and the architecture that is produced by that analysis.
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett 97
Through a sequence of town hall meetings between a now divided 6 team student body representing AlQoma on one end and Bezsel on the other, a series of city plans were created. The final one, which is represented in the site plans below, shows a zoom in view of the site of Copula Hall within China’s novel. Here, what is indicated, is a empty plot of land, from which, and perhaps to which, the city’s transportation arteries connect. The site is set within the “crosshatched” old town, in which buildings act as diptychs of one another, each separated by a fictional boarder, and belonging to one city or the other. Copula Hall, the almighty authority that oversees the observation of law within the two cities sits on a hill, thus both physically and symbolically hierarchal.
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
FROM FICTION TO RHINO
FICTIONAL CITIES HAVE SECTIONS TOO By extracting architectural details from the literature the two student teams articulated architectural motifs for each city in the form of Rhino Blocks. The Blocks, when scattered on their respective building elevation create a cohesive architectural language for each city. On the one hand, Bezsel is describes nostalgically as a city of decaying Art Nouveau and brickwork. Contrastingly, AlQoma, its superior double, is experiencing a stage of economic development that is reflected in its fast paced mass produced architecture. Within the narrative of the city, these motifs become the sign posts for civil society on what is prohibited and not.
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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CARTOGRAPHY OF DISSENT: Instigating Events 1. Mahalia’s Death 2. Anonymous Phone call 3. Unificationists tip 4. NATs in Copula Hall 5. Mr. Geary Breaches 6. Keeps the case 7. Saving Yolanda Borlu Crowli Mr. Geary
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QUOATES OF SENTIMENT: Safety in Breach:
Belonging to Breach: "Weird to hate it. Like hating air or something. And hes a nat and if theres no breach, there is no beszel. No homeland" Crowli
Unseeing/Fear of Seeing: “"I had forgotten what this was like; I had tried and failed to imagine it. I was unseeing alqoma" Borlu
Intentional Seeing: Page 210:Borlu intentionally seens his apartment in Beszel while in Alqoma
Confusion: "the thought of breach had always seemed right. I remembered though, suddenly, the look on mrs gearys face. “ Borlu
A CARTOGRAPHY OF DISSENT By saturating our habitual acts of conformity within the domain of “seeing” and “unseeing” China brings the civic habit of obedience to the fore. Borlu, the main character and lead investigator in the cross-boarder murder crime, fluctuates between alliance with common authority and defiance of it, only to finally fall victim to the authority’s punishment. Here, the cartography, presents sentiments of conformity and dissent within the characters of the novel, thus exhibiting the complex relationship between people and their governments.
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
"We're not the best people crowie. She deserves better than we can do n ones going to be able to look out for her like breach" - Borlu
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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A REDUNDENCY OF UTILITY
The axonometric views displayed on these pages represent a specific site within the novel, the cross-hatch area in which the detectives from the two cities live. By incrementally drawing of each city with its buildings, lamp posts, signage and traffic control then overlaying them upon one another, an inevitable discrepancy presents itself. That is that within the practical domain of two cities, two city councils and two urban plans, redundancy and confusion is bound to happen. Here, the drawings ask, what is the urban landscape of this imaginary topography?
The city of AlQoma 104
Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
The city of Beszel
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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CONFESSIONALS OF DISSENT Inspired by the Catholic church’s use of confessionals as a pressure valve to mitigate dissent within its community, the projects’ provocation becomes: can a structure invite its own dissent as a way to legitimize its authority? By understanding spaces of dissent as synonymous with “safe space” their architectural representations elude to the obscure and detached from reality. Safe spaces are at times rough, like the underbelly of bridges, at others inviting, like play-rooms in google offices. Here, the architectural language of Copula Hall is derived from an architectural language that is predicted to entice safety in dissent.
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Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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Through an understanding of buildings as an aggregation of modules, the nucleus of the building becomes the articulation of the space of dissent. The sequence of alterations in the module is described as: First, create a space that can only be entered via long, dark and rough corridors. Second, place that space as the underbelly for a space of civic use, a parliament hall for example. Third, alter conditions based height and light needs. Fourth, dilute the contrast between the edges of each. Finally, this module becomes the building block for the building, through which the basement spaces become circuitous paths for dissent.
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
THE SPACE OF DISSENT
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
Qoma Lobby
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Bez Lobby
Because the module itself has two fronts, the N-S dissenting front, and the E-W public front, its aggregation acts in a similar manner. Within this axon view of Copula Hall, the folding E-W curved faรงade invite the public through material and softness, while the N-S facades are stark and rough in material yet hint at a underground pedestrian path that is obscured through materiality and scale.
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
THE FACES OF GOVERMENT
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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DOCILE FACE
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
Depicted in this render is the eastern public entrance to AlQoma Lobby. The base of the bars is clothed in refined marble material, exerting its presence and authority through its wealth of materiality and softness of form.
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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DISSENTING FACE Similar to the way in which a coin is two things at once, so is this Copula Hall. Seen from the bottom of the hill, under the shadow of the Church of Inevitable Light, the dark storm blankets a government building languished in its deceiving graffiti. From this view, the path to dissent is apparent, albeit dark and covered in words of protest and search for safety.
Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
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AN OBSCURE UNDERBELLY PATH Contrasting the public face of Copula Hall, is an obscure path in its underbelly. While this path is connected to two large civic plaza’s at the top and bottom of the hill, connecting city to church below, its material aggressiveness and scalar relation marks it as purposefully underused. Carving the earth, this path takes the venturing pedestrian through a sequence of secret corridors arriving at spaces in which dissent is invited in. These spaces may range from bureaucratic confessional for seeing and unseeing in the twin cities to spaces for verbal and physical exchange between the separated communities.
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Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
Qoma Lobby
Bez Lobby Bez Lobby
Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
Space of dissent
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Space of dissent
THE CENTER In the nuclei of the building, the path of the conformist car circulation, and the dissenting civic body cross, marking a moment of material and perceptual schizophrenia. The refinement of the white marble abuts with the aggressiveness of the graffiti. Here, at the center, Copula Hall states what it has always wanted to: that dissent itself is in fact patriotic.
Instructor: Stephen Cassell & Annie Barrett
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Spring 2020, A Confessional for Dissent
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