Ma’en Bata

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1. Motel Design

2. Audiology Center

3. 20 Housing Units in Abdoun

4. Competing With ... Wild Jordan

5. German - Jordanian University Sports Complex

6. Othman Bdeir House of Architecture and Design

One of the most challenging tasks is to go public within a private frame. Setting the site in the middle of a calm housing block in As-Salt - Jordan, the implementation of a separative device within the connection between the two different functions was the general concept in reaching the developed stage of design, with a great concentration on the functional successes and the general appealing layout of the motel itself.

Behind the concrete facades of the motel, there exists the areas of human interaction and hence, reaching the maximum level of social appeal of a motel, without forcing it to the outside sides. As a result of this, comes the idea behind separating the masses based on the applied functions within them, such as the entrance and registration, the restaurant and utility section, and the accommodation of the guests.

Having a concrete skin surrounding, it did not mean having no feel of light integration and ventilation. Those were provided by the subtracted and shifted masses of concrete, adding a visual representation of an intended movement.

The plans existing on both the previous and the current

page are representations of the Ground Floor Level

and the First Floor Level respectively. This shows

the application of the grid used and the unity, that

is obvious within the arrangement of the structural

columns, that the whole complex is built upon.

M O T E L DESIGN

The above drawing represents the arrangement of the masses on the site, showing the entrance and the restaurant departments (bottom) and the two accommodation masses (top), with the landscape flow-ing around. Below is the “Human Perspective”, showing the regulation of the height in proportion.

Introducing the elevations, and the three dimensional interpretation of them shows a better understanding of the statement of height regulation and divisions.

North Elevation (Above Diagram)South Elevation (Adjacent Diagram)Section through South Side (Adjacent Diagram)West Elevation (Below Diagram)

At a closer look, the pencil-rendered drawings pro-vide a better understanding of the casting shadows, and the depth of each and every space within the motel. The material-representation describes the in-tegration of plane concrete facades, and the stone work provided at the entrance of the restaurant.

The isometric drawing (Adjacent Diagram) pro-vides an “Arial View” of the project as a whole. This clarifies the massing that is created. By that, the motel comes to the end of its design phase.

East Elevation (Below Diagram)

was one of the design projects that makes oneself think about what is the most comfortable for whom. We always hear about the difficulties that impaired people go through in their lifetime. Hence, the concept of this project was to create a space that can be easily accessed by the disabled and abled. This then makes some kind of social integration of the first group with others, leaving no one behind.

Summarizing the project itself involves three main tasks that must be fulfilled. These are:

1. To produce an architectural design that makes the user at maximum ease, whether through the fluidity of the circulation or the emotional impact.

2. To provide the required functional elements of a complete “Health Care” and “Audiology” Cen-ter, and the correct distribution of departments.

3. To take into consideration the latest methods of Sustainable Architecture, or what is referred to as “Environmental-Friendly Buildings”, by a variety of methods, such as natural ventilation and day-light use.

Human care is always considered as a main responsibility within our lifestyles. Hence comes the role of architecture in providing “Places for the People”. Whoever a person is, he/she plays a major role in society, no mat-ter ill or disabled. Therefore, introducing an

AUDIOLOGYC E N T E R

The implemented grid was intended to be radial, mak-ing the surface area in contact with sunlight at a max-imum level, allowing daylight access. In addition, being located in As-Salt meant the need of provid-ing a blick over the horizon from a rather mountain-ous region. Hence, the concept of creating different scenaries within a strict function succeeded in add-ing a more emotional appeal, away from rigidity.

The integration of the landscape on the lines o the grid itself reflects a stronger impact on it. As can be seen from the floor plans (middle row), the po-sitioning of the ramp on the outer side gives a bet-ter understanding of the concept of scenaries and shows the critical points of circulation. Transition-ing from one function to another is thus reflected. The method of presentation (color pencil) was used to show the curvature and the relationship with the site, mainly obvious by the elevations.

It all started with some simple sketches that turned later into the Audiology Center. The conceptual draw-ings (left) represent the first stages at which the idea begins to get processed. Until, at one point, it reach-es the final stages represented by the model photos.

Sustainable methods of implementing the rules for an eco-friendly design can be of a huge variety. Passive methods, specially, were the main to be applied on the design, such as cross-ventilation and natural sun light.

20 HOUSING UNITS IN ABDOUNwere introduced as a residential complex to host around 20 families, with the facilities required for a luxurious lifestyle. Abdoun, being a highly-rated area within the Capital of Jordan, Amman, forces a certain type to be studied and followed for the im-plementation of future projects in the region. The concept in producing the design was the variety that could be clustered together, without the exact notice of it, making a combination of one, two and three-bedroom apartments possible without differentiation.

More as an introverted complex, it allows for a feel-ing of security and integrity within the surrounding. Neighbor interaction is thus enhanced and encouraged.

Going through a phase of mass manipulation, the complex itself has a rigid mass-to-ground rela-tionship. However, the introduction of several in-trances and walkways breaks this rigidity and frees the motion within the created space. The Ground Floor Plan (below) shows the interpretation of the 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartments on the site. Formal Architecture, but rather interactive.

The complete complex is based on three main pro-totypes, each representing a type of apartment:

1) One-Bedroom Apartment (Below Left)2) Two-Bedroom Apartment (Middle Center)3) Three-Bedroom Apartment (Middle Right)

However each represents something different than the others, we notice that the base of the three types (i.e. the grid and structure) is basically the same. Hence are the windows and the glass facades arranged in a way that brings ease to the eye, rather than being tiring.

On the opposite side, we notice the three-dimen-sional representation of the project. It shows a clarification of the massing and the corner windows and glass facades used in relation to each other. The mullions are based on theGold-en Ration 1:1.6, making them more unified.

A combination of different materials was used, adding the solidity of stone, to the purity of con-crete. This, then , is garnished with the colors of nature, represented by the variety of vegetation.

COMPETING

WITH ... WILD

J O R D A N, being a wildlife reserve cafe and lounge, designed by the famous Jordanian architect «Ammar Khammash», and positioned on the side of Jabal Amman, a heritage site where architecture in Amman is said to be origined there. Overviewing the downtown and the Citadel of Amman, it is the place to be in. (Check the photograph on the side)

How to compete with it? Well, it was an open project. You can choose the function and the style, and the site was just beside Wild Jordan.

At that point, I thought what would be more suitable, than a gallery and library to embrace the Jordanian intellectuals, being also part of the heritage of Amman. Hence, the project started.

A challenge that was presented to us as students? How long did it take? “Three weeks .. no more!” ... What is the method of presentation needed? “A detailed model, with whatever can be provided.” At that point came the question of what will the project be? At the end, the project was entitled as

The concept was to start the calculation phase of the lifetime of different Jordanian intellectuals to invent a grid, that was never used before. This then gave the shape provided on top of the page, and being a library, what would be a better influence than innovating a design based on books, in their structure and folds.

This, however, did not mean being strictly symbolistic, but to manipulate the form to give a non-direct analogy

Here is the model presented with more than one view

to clarify the level of detail present. Choosing the

white color for this model was intended to make it ap-

pear simple, and leave space for details to be noticed.

Rather than focusing on the color of the model, the im-

portant spaces inside and outside can be highlighted.

G E R M A N -

JORDANIAN

UNIVERSITY

S P O R T S

C O M P L E X

Located in Madaba-Jordan, the German - Jordanian University gave us the chance to participate in designing the

, which would be used by the student as an indoor basketball/volleyball court, a swimming pool, a gym and squash courts. The special aspect of this project was to choose a world-famous architect and adopt his/her style in design. Therefore, I chose REM KOOLHAAS for his principles in design, that reflect the basic principles of architecture, but with a contemporary interpretation.

Rem Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, born on the 17th November, 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Koolhaas was, and is still known for his writ-ings concerning urban development and work-ing under the pressure or context. Some of the major points that Rem Koolhaas works upon are:

1) Expansion into landscape and greenery, which suggests that the landscape itself is a major source of influence to architectural development.

2)Working by combining ORDER and DISOR-DER, or FORMAL and INFORMAL. Hence creat-ing a sense of duality within the project.

3) Planning new masses to absort what the culture generates.

These three points influenced the design by mak-ing it more related to the site, exaggerating its slight slope (First Point), and the form itself is based on form structural elements, arranged in a non-formal way (Second Point). This DYNAM-IC DESIGN then proves the energy of the youth and reflects the function within (Third Point).

The complex is based on two main masses that carry the functions. One representing the basketball/volleyball court (Left) and one representing the indoor gym and swimming pool (Right).

The structure carrying the exterior shell is left uncovered. This makes the angles of the exterior structure obvious from the interior. This is better observed in the section above.

The diagram on the left represents how the form of the building was developed from the earli-er stages to the final stage of submission. The idea behind creating an entrance that is raised above the ground and forced from two sides in. This force comes from the original site of the German-Jor-danian University, and those two passages are a continuation to the originally designed walkways.

As can be seen in the space between the two masses, the steel structure of the roof is left bare. This is a statement, showing that the entrance created pushed the two masses away, leaving this structure as the only evidence on this separation.

O T H M A N

B D E I R

HOUSE OF

A R C H I -

T E C T U R E

A N D

D E S I G NWorking on this as part of my local internship project, this is the building that is supposed to be the Faculty of Architecture and Design of the German-Jordanian University, and thus our part was to develop the landscape of this old build-ing on the side skirts of the downtown of Amman.

The area of interest was the renovation of the old private house on the left corner of the plan pre-sented on the left. This was now being turned into a guest house to be used by guest professors visit-ing the university from different parts of the world.

This now would be divided into two bedrooms, a living room and a small kitchen. The en-trance area has an added buffer zone to add to the privacy of the house. Those are presented in the 3-D modelling presented on the right side.

These photographs and 3-D shots represent the transformations that are intended to take part surrounding the main building of Oth-man Bdeir House of Architecture and Design.

For instance, changing a cavey narrow area, holding the old piping system (Above) to a gallery of art-work, with adding a water feature that keeps on fil-tering the water and re-pumps it without the need of new water sources (based on the shaded positioning of it) (Below). Also, redesigning the stairs area to add more life to it and a better usage (Left and Right).

Due to the forced topography, it was a must to keep the stairs within the site. However, we tried to manipulate it with indulging greenary with it, thus creating a grided display of the stairs.

One side of it was left to create a “Screening Stage” for viewing movies that students create. Therefore it was wise to use the space as a screening stage, and a small community room under it for encouraging reading.

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen”

Frank Lloyd Wright