tareq al khawam selected works
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Bachelor of Architecture, Undergraduate American University of Sharjah, UAE 2011- 2013
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A prospective client requests the design of a small weekend and vacation dwelling on a site of spectacular natural beauty. The client is a single woman in her middle thirties. She is a professor of classics at a university in Germany and has recently inherited a coastal property on the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Agriculturally, the property has little value due to the rocky soil, but it is located near the town where her mother’s family has lived for generations. As a city dweller, she seeks a quiet retreat from the busy, urban, intensely social rituals of her professional life in favor of a direct relationship with the surroundings through the spatial occupation with the place, in terms of weather, vegetation, and views. During much of the year the climate of the Mediterranean region allows one to treat the outdoors as a simple extension of indoor living—windows and doors can remain open and much of life can occur in the fresh air. To enhance this lifestyle outdoor spaces should be developed in association with the primary indoor living spaces. Her immediate interest is the design of a path which celebrates and integrates the features of the site, provides places to sit and look, to write and read, to create art, to converse and visit, to picnic and to access the beach.
site section N
contour interval 0.3m
view of ямБnal model in the site, cyprus
PRIVATE ZONE PUBLIC ZONE GROUND PLANE INHABITED SPACES CIRCULATION
3d narrative diagrams
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site section
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section AA
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floor plan
ground floor plan
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Initial 2d diagrams illustrating the thought process that led to the ďŹ nal brick wall design. The diagrams show how the wall is treated in terms of solid and void, and the attempt to create a gradtion of how porous the wall is in allowing light to ďŹ lter through. Bricks were manipulated and rotated in order to ahcieve other desired conditions.
solid void
3m
2m 7m
interval spacing between bricks
illustration of voids along the wall
THE WALL: INTRODUCING VOIDS INTERVAL SPACING BETWEEN BRICKS
interval rotation of bricks
illustration of bricks rotating along the wall
ILLUSTRATION OF VOIDS ALONG THE WALL 7m
7m
‘A’ =10mm
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250mm
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SHIFTING IN THE -X DIRECTION 1
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SHIFTING ARRANGED IN VERTICAL MANNER 230mm
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SHIFTING DECREASES BY ‘A’ 18 -x
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perspective render of hot steam shower
I N H A B I T A T I O N : T H E
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Initial 2d diagrams illustrating the thought process that led to the ďŹ nal brick wall design. The diagrams show how the wall is treated in terms of solid and void, and the attempt to create a gradtion of how porous the wall is in allowing light to ďŹ lter through. Bricks were manipulated and rotated in order to ahcieve other desired conditions.
perspective render of cold bathing pool
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You are asked to create an architecture that is both contextual and contemporary. This presumes a careful study of both conditions and a sustained search for connections across time. Now is the time to combine material, experiential and spatial experimentation with an ongoing study of vernacular building traditions and landscape integration. As a proposal for a full-scale endeavor, the project represents an opportunity to discover evocative, sublime, and subtle design opportunities a located in common typologies, pragmatic necessity, and standard construction materials and methods. The projects should evidence an attempt to challenge the fragmentary nature of contemporary architectural practice in which drawing and making, site and building, interior design and spatial container are too often seen as separate, codified realms of expertise. Specifically, a focus on spatial landscapes, outdoor live/work space, vernacular and climatic influence, and a rigorous attention to material craft informs the basis for the project.
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PRIVATE / PUBLIC
PRIVATE SEMI-PRIVATE PUBLIC
INDOOR / OUTDOOR
INDOOR OUTDOOR
AXIAL ORGANISATION
PRIMARY AXIS SECONDARY AXIS
CIRCULATION
PRIVATE CIRCULATION PUBLIC CIRCULATION
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ENTRY ELEVATION
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floor plan 00
floor plan 01
entry elevation
view to the public entry of the building towards the gallery and courtayrd
perspective renders cycling through the public gallery and courtyard, aswell as the private entry to the living spaces
Protective layer: Ballast Waterproofing membrane Insulating layer Roof concrete slab
Flashing
Wall tie Thermal insulation Cavity Brick exterior Whitewashed brick interior
Weep hole 150mm
Concrete floor slab
Expansion joint
700mm Earth Concrete footing 365mm
Rebar reinforcement
365mm
365mm
1.095m
365mm
D E T A I L S E C T
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Dear Architect, In response to your work in Bastakiya, I would like to engage your services on a new project that we might call a “Knowledge Archive”, for lack of a better term, located at Qanat Al Qasba in Sharjah. The name or typology does not fully capture the scope and sensibility of the project I imagine, but I trust in your intellect and sensitivity. Please help me imagine a place where one might visit in homage to knowledge and all that it entails. This place would accommodate, and be inspired by, a variety of activities familiar to the typology of the library, book store, lecture hall and cafe, but it can not be limited to these known entities. Consider a full spectrum of activities, such as - lectures, library, café, book store, research center, rare book archive, map archive, digital database, films, or even a museum—to create an architecture that is the inspirational domus for the mind as well as the senses. I am looking for a project that recognizes the advancement of knowledge from its past forms, accommodates the present forms and looks to the future continue its advancement. I trust that you will be able to accomplish an inspirational project that situates itself perfectly into its surroundings. While I have purchased a 540 m2 site adjacent to the existing Al Qasba building, I would like to occupy, or provide interior space equal to approximately sixty-five (65%) percent of the site with the other thirty-five (35%) percent devoted to exterior space, such as gardens, courtyards, and outdoor rooms: a variety of spatial experiences that activate all of our sensory perception. Local building codes require that the new architecture does not exceed the volumetric parameters established by the height and width of the existing, adjacent building. The code does allow construction to extend to five meters below the existing grade. As this is essentially an addition to the existing building context, your proposal should address, or define, the entire volume of the site such that the addition communicates with the existing rather than appear as not something completely foreign. We might say it has similar genes but is not an identical twin. I look forward to your creations and the opportunity of working with you. I know that you will produce an inspirational, experiential, ephemeral architecture that will bring a tear to my eye. Sincerely, George Soros
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floor plan 00
floor plan 02
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floor plan 01
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floor plan 03 N
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photos of the structural model
photos of the ďŹ nal model in al qasba site
diagrams of the structurual levels
level 00
level 01
level 02
level 03
level 04