Contents

1. 120 Hours

2. Reconnecting with nature

3. The Academic’s Club

4. Dunnottar Castle

5. House for two professors

6. Space in a city

PLACE WITHOUT PEOPLE

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PLACE WITHOUT PEOPLE

The definition of to preserve is ‘to keep’ however what is to be kept if nobody has a claim to ownership and responsi-bility? This underlying question established the rightful owner of Pyramiden not to be humanity - who raped, exploited and abandoned the land and wildlife - but rather nature itself.

Our project proposal returns the site back to the earth. The entire site of Pyramiden has all waste materials and ex-posed pollutants removed. Biocrete casts of the inside of all buildings are formed, except for the roof space. Once cast, the façades are entirely removed to expose filled forms which were once thriving with life and now no longer used. These forms enable humanity not to forget but rather to reflect on the extremities of man’s persual of his own desires.

Over time nature will once more prevail, what were once roads will become chasms. With global warming comes flooded plains. Remnants of our civilisation will remain; Pyramiden to future generations will be the parallel of the Egyptian Pyramids in today’s society.

Our design proposal is a landmark symbolising the transition into a new era of sustainable thinking benefiting nature and wildlife. It is paramount we must allow nature to take back the land that we took from it.

We must remember but let go.

120 Hours Competition 2015

EXPERIMENTAL PRESERVATION:Preserving Pyramiden

Location: PYRAMIDEN, Billefjorden, Spitsbergen Is-land, Svalbard, Norway. Latitude: 78°40′45′′ Longi-tude: 16°23′43′′

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PLACE WITHOUT PEOPLE

1233Design proposal

PLACE WITHOUT PEOPLE

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Pyramiden today

RECONNECTING WITH NATUREGRAY’S SCHOOL OF ART REFURBISHMENT

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Understanding the Gray’s building

The Gray’s School of Art is a modernist building, designed by Michael Shewan and built in post war Scotland, in 1966. The architect was inspired by the International style buildings, US Modernism and Mies van der Rohe’s works in particular.

The Gray’s School of Art building has a value in the Robert Gordon University’s history as it marked the beginning of Garthdee Campus redevelopment and successfully functioned as an Art School which is ranked between 20 top art schools in UK. Built during post war period, today, building stands as one of a few good examples of modernist ar-chitecture in UK. Its clarity, form, materials, light consideration and structure reflects modernist features and aims to find the balance between architecture, nature and the man.

Today, after 49 years of continuous use, the building has lost its modernist qualities and is no longer able to meet its spacial and environmental requirements. Following recent campus development plan, The Art School is going to be relocated and is in danger of being demolished. Our task was to give the building new purpose and make improvements in relation to building’s energy efficiency, environmental strategy, space, light and services to meet the living standards of 21st century.

Changes over the time:

Model of Gray’s School of Art as built in 1968. (Made in studio, scale 1:50)

Gray’s today:

Proposed Gray’s design:

Design proposalRECONNECTING WITH NATURE

Conference and Exhibition Centre;Centre for Northern Culture and Design;Accommodation;

‘Form follows function’ - L. Sullivan

‘We should attempt to bring nature, houses, and the human being to a higher unity ‘ - Mies van der Rohe

The new building’s function gives reason to change its form; allowing the main point of concentration to be directed towards the building’s relationship to nature. The middle part of the building is removed, thus framing the view towards the River Dee, subconsciously directing every passing person towards the open courtyard, sun and greenery. The new Gray’s design allows for an unobstructed landscape flow from the main road down the bank of the River Dee. This continuous, organic, sloping curve of the site slowly transitions to minor steps where it finally meets the man made object.

Every aspect of the Gray’s Cultural Centre has an explicit relationship to the surrounding landscape; which is di-rectly accessible. Separate block forms relate to the surrounding campus’ buildings, each possessing a different purpose with a sole individual function. The public can access both inside and outside spaces, providing the com-munity with a rich, high quality environment with the power to improve our wellbeing.

Original plans Proposed design: Ground floor plan

First Floor Basement

Changes made to primary structureBuilding’s primary structure Complete building’s structure

Exhibition space axonometrics

South Elevation

North Elevation

West Elevation

Section through exhibition space

THE ACADEMIC’S CLUB

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Located in the historically rich part of the city – Old Aberdeen, The Academic’s Club is a 21st century’s addition to the ‘life’ of one of the oldest UK’s Universities. The medieval context of Old Aberdeen manifests itself in a long, narrow, enclosed, path, along the north boundary of our site, which linking 2 main streets, became a very crowded and dark space. The project aimed to create contemporary design transforming its surroundings into more open spaces; reflecting current University’s impact on the city; providing community with pleasant internal spaces.

Inspired by ‘folding architecture’ the building has a continuous ‘S’ shape section suggesting that it was ‘folded’ out of one metal sheet. It was shaped and placed in order to engage with the exterior and ‘cut’ into 2 blocks – one accommodating private, other – public areas which can be entered at different levels directly from the outside. The narrow cut is emphasised by the dramatic sun light entering from the south and one of the blocks was turned to let earlier sunlight inside, and create separate for each block external space.

Carefully placed with attention to its neighbours and made from the contrasting, modern materials, the Academic’s Club could become a great addition to the historical context of Old Aberdeen.

Location Ground floor plan

First floor plan

21st CENTURY INTERVENTION IN THE DUNNOTTAR CASTLE

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The Dunnottar Castle is a historic fortress located South from Stonehaven and placed on a dramatic, ruined cliff in a stunning setting. The project aimed to create 21st century re-inhabitation of part of the castle that would transform visitor’s experience reinforcing the qualities of the ruin and providing spaces that would allow for a rich physical and cultural understanding of the Dunnottar Castle and its place in Scottish history.

The West Range is the most ruinous part of Northern Enclosure therefore I decided to restrict new intervention within it, leaving the most significant places untouched. Originally West Range played an important role in the life of the Dunnottar Castle as the long gallery or ballroom was located within it, where all events used to take place. The gal-lery was originally placed on the first floor of the West Range and as being a narrow and extremely long space it would probably create an impression of an endless room when entered at one end. It was the most important place of the West Range which now is often forgotten as the first floor is ruined. Placing an intervention within this part of Northern Enclosure would bring back the qualities of forgotten gallery and the West Range’s original purpose - hosting visitors of the Castle.

In the design proposed, the gallery was recreated and all activity spaces were placed above or below it. The length of the gallery is reinforced by an additional cantilever at the North end from where a spectacular view towards the sea could be seen. The circulation around the building is designed in a way that forces every visitor to move through the gallery admiring its long, narrow space.

The activity hub was placed on a very top rising from the ruin. It allows children to see the whole surrounding from above and becomes their own place separated from the rest of the castle. As it rises above the ruin, it was made out of polished steel to become invisible from the outside. For a contrast, at night when the castle is closed and it becomes too dark to see the ruins from the distance, the activity hub would become the only thing visible on the cliff with the colourful lights in its windows catching people’s attention from as far as Stonehaven.

HOUSE FOR TWO PROFESSORS

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The house for two professors is located within the Robert Gordon University’s Campus, placed on the sloping site with a spectacular view towards the River Dee. As the title suggests, it is built to accommodate two university’s visiting architecture professors and provide informal learning environment where students’ works could be presented and dis-cussed during extra hours.

I took this project as an opportunity to explore and play with the light, shape and internal spaces. The building’s form follows the slope expanding towards the view. The house was shaped to provide privacy from the north side, where the busy pedestrian path, connecting different university’s buildings, is located, and open up towards the river and the trees, which itself provide some shade and privacy to the internal spaces facing South. The roof was extended on the South to protect the inside from the direct sunlight.

The building was divided into two spaces: public and private. Two blocks are joined and at the same time separated by a ‘bridge’ allowing movement between two spaces on the upper level. While both blocks have their own circulation, they are bound by the semi-outside part in the centre which is the entrance into the house. At the same time, it serves as a transition from the building into the landscape.

During this project I gave myself permission to explore and create a house which could raise discussions rather than agreement as long as it serves its purpose.

MEDITATION SPACE

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Here it is, the very first project I designed...

The meditation space is a small space in the city, placed within a rectangular back garden of a traditional gran-ite house in Aberdeen, surrounded by tall granite wall. Having a freedom to imagine who is the owner of the house and how the additional space will be used, I had designed a space for a scientist where he could relax, reconnect or free his mind. My aim was to design a small, open and inspiring space which would be warm and comfortable for spending long hours in ‘stillness’.

Most of the works were completed as part of my education at the Robert Gordon University, from year 1 until March

2015. I would like to thank you for taking your time to look through my portfolio and considering my application.