1st prize international competition Zhengzhou New District: Baisha Cluster Urban Design An urban design proposal for a new 42 sq km district of 500.000 people near Zhengzhou, China. Inspired by settlements along the Yellow River since ancient times, the design introduced a new riverfront as the defining feature of the urban identity. Dynamic public spaces and buildings, each with their own unique character, addressed the human scale within a cohesive, liveable urban fabric. Responsibilities as part of the competition team at Nieto Sobejano included: > Research on urban waterfronts, public space, transportation systems, and housing typologies in China > Schematic design and model making > Public transportation, roads, and traffic analysis and planning > Programme and land use planning > Drafting of plans, sections, and elevations in AutoCAD > Complete 3D modeling of the project in Rhino 3D > Rendering in V-ray for Rhino
An accommodation and community centre for asylum s e eke r s i n Malta
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sing an the existing Marsa Open Centre starting point, with all its inherent issues and opportunities, I developed a new model of an open centre that grew directly from the needs of the occupants and provided opportunities for their transition into society.
My proposal for the Marsa Open Centre embodied a move from an architecture of fear, dependency, and isolation to an architecture of community, participation, and transition. A flexible structural system was created in conjunction with an overall scheme that supported existing centers of community support as well as new facilities that could be shared by asylum seekers and the surrounding community. This enabled the new Marsa Centre to respond dynamically to changing needs and unstable conditions, in particular fluctuations in migration to Malta.
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
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Public centers Identify crucial existing centers on the site that will be supported and enhanced through the proposal
Site access Create routes and paths that increase access to the site and also respect the landscape allowing for remediation of polluted areas
New program
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S HA R E D C O M M U NI T Y S PAC E
O PEN PUB L IC SPACE
FL EX IB L E SPACE
RO UT ES TO AND FRO M SIT E
Landscape strategies Using bioremediation techniques, create a more healthy environment and encourage self-sustaining practices such as agriculture
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Flexible armature A grid structure acts as a highly flexible armature onto which program can be added or removed according to the changing needs of the users
Future expansion
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H O U S I NG
ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
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Generative process and a sequence of unfolding
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ince the project used an existing program and site as a starting point with hundreds of asylum seekers already living there, it was crucial that any changes were implemented incrementally, over time, in response to the needs of the present and future users as well their environment.
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B
C
Changes could be made step-by-step, allowing for feedback, corrections, and adjustments at each stage.
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
These images show how the development of the Marsa Centre could potentially respond to fluctuations in migration to Malta. A. E xisting condition >> beds for approx. 500 asylum seekers B. A sylum seeker population holds steady; development of existing community facilities C. C onstruction begins for new, larger community facilities and outdoor public space D. Increase in asylum seeker population due to “Arab Spring� uprisings >> redistribution of resources into rapid construction of additional housing; development of community spaces temporarily scaled-back E. D ecrease in asylum seeker population due to resettlement programmes >> resources focussed on development of large community facilities to be shared with host community
D
Using a
GENERATIVE PROCESS , one thing unfolds from DIFFERENTIATED and DEFINED
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
another as space is
E
The structural system for the main community centre is meant to support highly flexible community spaces with minimal disruption to the existing conditions Left: Exploded axonometric detail of community centre construction > U se of existing material flows and local fabrication techniques Top: Entrance to community centre Middle: Interior of library > Shelving/seating/window system Bottom: External walkway view
Left: Exploded axonometric detail of housing and marketplace construction > S mall, lightweight components increase flexibility and opportunities for self-building Top: Section perspective of new housing interior with attachment to existing structure Bottom: Infill panel options > “open source partitioning�
Site plan Marsa Open Centre
Landscape strategy
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
Plan Bridge Community Centre
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1 Workshops 2 Multipurpose hall 3 Classrooms/entrance 4 Restaurant
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
2
counselling office
classrooms/ meeting rooms
reading room
media workstations
multi-faith room
f ab r ic a ti on
50 m
c on s truc ti on Can a construction strategy have the ability to
EMPOWER and CONNECT communities?
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION Prevailing wind Hot, stale indoor air Cooler, fresh outdoor air
E x ce s s r ain w at e r ( n o t co l l e ct e d by r o of )
Section A-A
Natural runoff management and biofiltration systems >>
Macrophyte pond >settling
Gabion embankment >filtering
Constructed wetland >cleaning
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ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
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2
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HEALING GROUND
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Reinterpreting and reconnecting public space in Sarajevo
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he existing Markale Produce Market in Sarajevo, site of one of the worst civilian massacres during the Bosnian War, became the basis for a community marketfarm in the heart of the city.
A combined cooperative market and farm offered the potential for psychological and physical healing through re-connection to productive land, the environment, food systems, and ideas of provenance. The goal was to build resilient urban food systems and reinvigorate an existing public space. Components included: > A rooftop farm with terraces and raised beds to grow crops and flowers to be sold in the market. > A solar greenhouse that contained aquaponic units in order to provide fresh fish and vegetables in an integrated closed loop system for sale in the market. > A chicken house attached to the greenhouse that provided a renewable source of heat as well as eggs and poultry for the market.
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HEALING GROUND
Permaculture Principles
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HEALING GROUND
Permaculture The conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order Permaculture design A system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit all life in all its forms Principle of cooperation Cooperation, not competition, is the very basis of existing life systems and of future survival
Chicken house
Aquaponics
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HEALING GROUND Thermal mass wall > assists in temperature regulation of greenhouse
Rooftop farm
Drainage + water storage > rainwater collected for irrigation during dry spells
Top: Structural Bay, 2008 Middle and Right: Yurt construction, 2009 Bottom: Natural building, 2008
Material Behaviour: A workshop with guest prof. Mark Burry, RMIT, & CITA ~ 2010
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workshop that developed tools and strategies for the fabrication of a light-weight, materially efficient reciprocal beam structure for an exhibition by the Centre for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA) and RMIT at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture.
Tools employed: Maya, Grasshopper, Rhinoceros, physical modeling and prototyping
8-Bit Behaviours: Exploring architectural potentials of time-based, spatial & material transform ~ 2010
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his collaborative workshop with students and professors from the Bartlett School of Architecture included: > Introduction to and experimentation with general concepts of physical computing. > Exploration and invention of synergies and complementaries that can be constructed between the digital and the material.
Tools employed: Processing, Arduino, physical modeling and prototyping
Woven Wood: Designing for material performance ~ 2009
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his workshop explored the intersection between digital design strategies and designing for material performance. Working with woven wood structures, hybrid materials, and parametric digital design tools, students investigated how self-bracing wood structures can lead to new structural systems.
Tools employed: Grasshopper, Rhinoceros, physical modeling and prototyping
Civic Space: The Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry Terminal and Camera Obscura ~ 2009
A
final-year Bachelor’s studio project that explored the connections between urban public space, city infrastructure, and a building program through the design of a significant public building on the Halifax Harbour.
The main programmatic elements were a ferry terminal and an observation tower with a camera obscura. The project investigated ideas of extending the public space to the roof of the ferry terminal and shifting perspectives of the city and harbour.
Below: Container House, 2008 Bottom: Hydrostone Community Performing Arts Centre, 2008