Bringing the Outside, In
This off-grid small building has been designed to allow residents the opportunity to connect with nature and weather conditions of their environment through the architecture's form, as it allows rain to be directed into the building in an elegant yet interactive way, ultimately bringing the outdoors inside. The building's simple extruded timber structure allows for easy and affordable construction anywhere, remote or far, warm or cold, prone to a significant amount of rainfall or not. For this project, the building has been chosen to be placed on the Wular Lake in Kashmir, India, because of its rich natural context, natural fresh lake water and frequent rain activity.
The home's roof takes inspiration from the typical A-frame home. Still, instead of having the roof's peak in the centre, causing the rainfall to be directed outward, this roof takes an inverted approach to lead the rainwater towards the centre and ultimately inside. This extruded roof has been designed specifically to allow the rainfall to be guided inside the home in an organized and direct path to ensure the rain will be entering directly onto the central planter on the ground floor and not making a mess for the rest of the home. To maintain a smaller footprint, the house utilizes a second-floor loft for the bed, which has been placed directly in front of the waterfall condition to remain connected. The roof will also feature a remote-controlled hydraulic system to open and close the roof's opening so the decision to have rain enter the home can be provided to the residents.
A Traveller's Shelter
The second and third assignments are designed to build upon investigatory research of the first assignment. The intent is to afford students the opportunity to apply the course lectures and guest presentations into a personal statement, which reflects the content of the course by way of a thorough and meaningful design exercise. The intended learning outcomes include an understanding of how small buildings relate to their immediate context, be it urban, suburban, rural or wilderness (reflecting the identity of place), how to design for specific contexts (materiality and constructability), how to look at the detail as a powerful design element and how to employ case study research as a source of inspiration, informing the design process.
Bridge Bazaar
In 1863, Mr. Thomas Alcock, the East-Surrey member of parliament, proposed an alternative to the new bridges in the city of London. Mr. Alcock suggested to provide market stalls built into the bridges and to use the rent from these booths to offset the construction expenses for the infrastructure, rather than tolling the public. His idea, which he termed “Bazaar Bridge”, had many merits, allowing lower classes to afford the use of the infrastructure, and providing walkthrough traffic for the sellers. Ultimately, the city did not move forward with this idea. Instead, it was criticized in newspapers, presented that the “Bazaar Bridge” would cause loitering in front of the shops on these bridges, slowing down traffic, would obstruct the views of the city, and would cause passersby to breathe ‘second hand’ air which was deemed unhealthy.
Although seemingly revolutionary, incorporating buildings into spanning structures is not new. In fact, building bridges simply for the purpose of crossing, only re-emerged primarily from the modernist movement in the 1930s and 40s. With the need and desire for multi-purpose infrastructure beginning to re-emerge, new typologies for public spaces need to be re-considered. Commercial programs may be viably incorporated into transit infrastructure. This holds the opportunity to both capitalize on the passage of potential buyers through the space, but also on the profit of rental spaces for local business owners in order to fund the existing infrastructure and others. The physical manifestation of merging these two programs can take the form of modular units, taking advantage of the transportability of smaller components and allowing the structure to be modified easily over time.
Although seemingly revolutionary, incorporating buildings into spanning structures is not new. In fact, building bridges simply for the purpose of crossing, only re-emerged primarily from the modernist movement in the 1930s and 40s. With the need and desire for multi-purpose infrastructure beginning to re-emerge, new typologies for public spaces need to be re-considered. Commercial programs may be viably incorporated into transit infrastructure. This holds the opportunity to both capitalize on the passage of potential buyers through the space, but also on the profit of rental spaces for local business owners in order to fund the existing infrastructure and others. The physical manifestation of merging these two programs can take the form of modular units, taking advantage of the transportability of smaller components and allowing the structure to be modified easily over time.
Such a proposal, the “Bridge Bazaar” is proposed to be implemented in Montreal, in order to rejuvenate the Île Notre Dame and the Île Saint-Helene. The element of the market, or ‘bazaar’ on the bridge would serve as a community space, serving as a place for sellers throughout Montreal to rent booths to distribute their goods.
In anticipation of Expo 67, Montreal not only created the islands in the center of the city and built pavilions on them, but also built a monorail bridge, the Expo Express, which crossed over the water to the islands which then turned around at “La Ronde”. In the years following the event, much of the architecture and infrastructure was either deconstructed or left in disarray, including the Expo Express, which was largely dismantled barring a portion which became the “Pont de la Concorde” and another bridging portion which remains abandoned in the water. Although the Île Notre Dame has since become a rowing and racing facility for the Olympics as well as a casino, while Île Saint-Helene houses the biodome and an amusement park, both islands fail to satisfy the everyday needs of the population. Save for special occasions, the islands remain largely deserted especially the northern portion of Île Notre Dame, which serves as a stockyard.
The implementation of a “Bridge Bazaar” on the Expo Express bridge remnant is intended to spur the passage of Montrealers between the Île Notre Dame and the Île Saint-Helene, catalyzing not only on beautification and reunification efforts but also the restoration of Expo 67 pavilions and artworks remaining on the site.
In anticipation of Expo 67, Montreal not only created the islands in the center of the city and built pavilions on them, but also built a monorail bridge, the Expo Express, which crossed over the water to the islands which then turned around at “La Ronde”. In the years following the event, much of the architecture and infrastructure was either deconstructed or left in disarray, including the Expo Express, which was largely dismantled barring a portion which became the “Pont de la Concorde” and another bridging portion which remains abandoned in the water. Although the Île Notre Dame has since become a rowing and racing facility for the Olympics as well as a casino, while Île Saint-Helene houses the biodome and an amusement park, both islands fail to satisfy the everyday needs of the population. Save for special occasions, the islands remain largely deserted especially the northern portion of Île Notre Dame, which serves as a stockyard.
The implementation of a “Bridge Bazaar” on the Expo Express bridge remnant is intended to spur the passage of Montrealers between the Île Notre Dame and the Île Saint-Helene, catalyzing not only on beautification and reunification efforts but also the restoration of Expo 67 pavilions and artworks remaining on the site.
