Final Year Project: Temporality

PORTFOLIO

AHMED HAMID A R C 6117 DESIGN RESOLUTION 3

CONTENTS Temporality Development Orthographics Site Plan Plans Elevations Sections Composite Technical Drawings Element 1:100 Section Model Renders

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TEMPORALITY

During the first semester our studio interrogated Rituals and Taboo within our site Wednesbury Markets. The Markets had a very rich history, which is carried mainly through the memory of the traders.

The ritual, transience of the market helped me uncover the history of Wednesbury. This idea that each time the markets moved something was left behind or took its place allowed me to explore the identity of the site in a lot more depth and stood as a strong anchor for my project.

The public of Wednesbury share the memory of the Market place.

Research alone wasn’t sufficient enough to uncover the story of Wednesbury markets. Interviewing the traders and bargain hunters, shop owners and customers was what first started this hunt for the truth and what helped reveal the history and identity of the site. It was very hard to find alot of this information in books and online without having an indication in where to look. Here are some of the interviews that gave me a sense of direction.

Photocard of Market Place before the markets moved

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Julie a Charity trader explained how, “they used to complain that they couldn’t get through with cars and lorries, and deliveries and stuff like that so they stopped it and they moved it down here, but there used to be stalls all the way up the highsteet.”

Another trader who helps with her fathers watch stall, explained that the market had moved through several locations. “Morrison bought out the big indoor market from us. It started off at the clock tower right up in the street and then it moved to the indoor one and then it moved to here.” The big indoor market that Morrison bought off the traders was mentioned only a couple of times and it wasn’t very easy to find information on this but I did manage to find a picture.

Bargain hunters examine the merchandise in this 1968 scene. Market days have long been held on Fridays and Satudays

In 1970 Market place was moved to a canopied site nearby Camp Street seen here in 1971. Later the open sides were replaced with brickwall

WEDNESBURY When the markets first moved from the clock tower, before moving to the indoor market, it was relocated to a road nearby. It was known as the Shambles, the name taken after the road,“It used to be down there mate. It used to be an open market.”

Senior pedestrian indicating to the road. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a lot of information from him so I asked Julie if she could shed some light on this, “The shambles

had all little shops, that were old fashioned like they had a cobblers and a dry cleaners, there used to be a couple of banks there was a sweet shop and a couple of butchers, and green grocers. Gradually they moved out but Wednesbury have acquired some lottery funding.

Upper highstreet they are going to be modernising some of the shop fronts.

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TEMPORALITY Once I became familiar with the history of Wednesbury Markets I began to interrogate the site under the lens of the ritual of Temporality.

I first recorded the way the traders moved into and out of the site setting up and taking down their stalls.

Another observation that I was able to make with information provided to me by the traders was that the stalls in the centre of the site were fixed in place. The stalls have always been permanently located on site since the markets moved to this location. These stalls are a lot bigger and have tables on either side.

The second type of stall surround the site alongside the gate. These stalls can actually be taken down and put back up and were before the steel gate was fenced around the whole site.

This was to prevent people from defacing and vandalising the site.

This temporary structure is very unique, used only by the trader of a watch goods. The base of this structure locks into the stall and lines up flush against the legs of the stall. Useful against harsh winds but is mainly used so that the trader can keep an eye out through the plastic sheet.

This structure is left up after the trader is finished for the day.

The Traders have to shelter themselves while they are outside during the Market days. This can be for several hours long, and so one strategy that they use to shield themselves from the weather, is by temporarily hooking up sheets to protect them from the harsh cold winds. This is done before they even start setting up their stalls in the morning.

They use the roof of the temporary stall structure and the gate beside their stall to tie the sheets down. All the stalls surrounded by the gate use this method, and it is apart of their routine of setting up.

One other interesting use of the surrounding is this fence. The roof of the stall stands flush against the top of the fence, acting as a barrier against weather and used as a display for the traders goods.

Only a few of the traders benefit from this fence. It’s interesting to see that where other traders tend to switch stalls, the traders using these stalls don’t use any others. It is embedded into their routine, where they feel the most comfortable.

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Site 1 Friday

Site 2 FridaySite - James Carpet Stall Carpet Stall 2 Friday - James Site 2 Friday - James Carpet Stall

Site 1 Friday

Site 2 Friday - James Carpet Stall

Site 3 Tuesday Charity Stall Charity Stall Site- Julie’s 3 Tuesday - Julie’s Site 3 Tuesday - Julie’s Charity Stall

Site 3 Tuesday - Julie’s Charity Stall

Study understanding the ritual of temporality on a smaller scale by documenting how the traders moved into and out of the site.

For this I had to go to the site very early. Fridays were not busy, when I would get there at 7am, I waited for traders to get there before asking to record. On Tuesday however, traders would already be setting up when I got there at 7am. The diagram shows the impact of opening a couple hours earlier.

What was unbelievable to me was that people would get there while the traders where setting up.

James sets up a bit later on a Friday because it isn’t as busy and he also takes the stall down earlier because he trades by himself unlike Julie who has a lot more support from her husband and friends from the church which they gather the funds for.

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DEVELOPMENT

MASSING These mass modelling forms present a couple of my initial design ideas in the early stages of this project. I created the massing blocks based on the spaces in my schedule of accommodation. Using a flow to see how I could link one space to another under the confines of the site. I placed the forms on top of a 1:200 site plan in order to stay within the site boundary because I decided to build in the centre of the site replacing the clock tower.

Using Photoshop to add a little bit more detail to the forms using free hand drawing. This served as a great exercise to get a feel of the scale of the site before developing my ideas further.

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TIME The gods confound the man who first found out How to distinguish hours! Confound him, too, Who in this place set up a sun-dial To cut and hack my days so wretchedly Into small portions! When I was a boy, My belly was my only sun-dial, one more sure, Truer, and more exact than any of them.

This dial told me when 'twas proper time To go to dinner, and when I had aught to eat; But nowadays, why even when I have, I can’t fall to unless the sun gives me leave.

The town’s so full of these confounded dials The greatest part of the inhabitants, Shrunk up with hunger, crawl along the streets.

—The parasite’s complaint from Aulus Gellius (1927, 247 [second century, 3.3.6– 14]) 24

Before transitioning from concept to a built form a lot of research was required to understand the relationship between temporality and architecture. We experience time in many ways during our daily life. Birds chirping in the morning, Church bells ringing, being stuck in traffic during rush hour. Aulus Gellius explains how we as humans have become too

dependent on our clocks relating to the “dials” in his poem, “The parasite’s complaint”. He expresses his frustration about how short his day feels, “To cut and hack my days so wretchedly Into small portions!” He uses a line break purposely to exaggerate the short and tedious cycle of life, constrained by time. This is very interesting because it shows how out of touch we are with our environment. How we need

an alarm in the morning to get us up, oblivious to the beautiful singing of birds.

A planted garden by Dutch designer Piet Oudolf enclosed at the heart of the black-painted pavilion, filled with flowers and shrubs. The project was made in collaboration with Peter Zumthor.

The concept for this pavilion is,

a contemplative room, a garden within a garden. The building acts as a stage, a backdrop for the interior garden of flowers and light. Through blackness and shadow one enters the building from the lawn and begins the

transition into the central garden, a place abstracted from the world of noise and traffic and the smells of London. An interior space to sit and observe nature.

SERPENTINE

One of the functions this lead me to include in my scheme was a cloister. An enclosed garden with a tree right at the centre.

With the intention to allow the users to experience time through the floral cycle. Understanding its cycle of life during the different seasons of the year.

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LO UI S KAH N One requirement of the brief for this project was to design a ritual hall. For this main function I designed a multi-faith space for the three Abrahamic religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Religion often involves cultural beliefs, texts, prophecies, revelations, and morals that have spiritual meaning to members of the particular faith. It can encompass a range of practices including sermons, rituals, prayer, meditation, holy places, symbols, and feasts.

Each of the three Abrahamic religions have their bespoke ways of praying and at specific times. These religions give us a sense of time and place. I mentioned before about Church bells ringing during a Sunday ceremony. As well as this the athaan (call to prayer) on Friday.

Every space must have natural light, because it is impossible to read the configurations of a space or shape by having only one or two ways of lighting it. Natural light enters the space released by the choice of construction.” - Louis Kahn 1961 26

I interrogated the techniques used in the National Assembly Building, Bangladesh by famous architect Louis Kahn. He successfully uses light to create a spiritual atmosphere, having a strong impact on the users experience of the built environment surrounding them.

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1:500 MASS MODELS

1:200 MODEL

ORTHOGRAPHICS

1:200 S I T E Psite L A N plan

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KEY 1 Sunken Garden

2 Gardening Workshop

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KEY 1 Entrance to Enclosed Garden 3 Main Building Entrance 5 Administration 7 Cafeteria

2 Gardening Workshop 4 Foyer/ Reception 6 Lift access under stairs 8 W/C

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KEY 1 Enclosed Garden Gallery 3 Multi-Faith Room 5 Mens Ablution/ WCs 7 Storage room for Prayer Hall

2 Twitcher Gallery 4 Small Office Space 6 Women’s Ablution/ WCs 8 Stairs to Accomodation

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SECOND FLOOR KEY 1 Accomdation

2 Multi-Faith Room Gallery

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KEY 1 Observatory

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E L E VAT I O N S One of the main concerns of my proposal was to make sure that the scale of the building was appropriate. Although at first the 40m height may seem very tall, when you look at the surrounding buildings the schemes sits well within the site. The varying heights of the buildings nearby were used as a guideline to design the different levels of the proposal.

The columns at the base are 5m high and extend outward by 2.5m.

This was designed to provide traders with a new space to set up after finding out that the council had plans to bring back the markets to its original location. This space provides natural cover and aesthetically is a continuation of the vertical elements in the North Elevation.

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The narrow archway cut into the stone wall, in the West Elevation, invites people to walk into the narrow underpass. The depressions in the stone facade of the Multi-Faith room continuing up to the roof where the dome lies encased by the Timber roof.

The elevation in context shows, the relationship of the proposal to the buildings nearby. As the site plans show, the main road is re directed into Shambles road allowing for people to gather and more activity to flourish in the Market place. What once was an abandoned bench in the middle of the main road will be replaced with stalls, bringing people back to the original location of the Markets. This will allow more businesses to flourish and shops to reopen.

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The main entrances to the cloister (enclosed garden) and the gardening shop are located at the East elevation. There is a recess in the arches replicating the depressions in the facade towering above the garden. Narrow slits are carved into the centre of the stone arches, allowing for light to enter the gallery space of the cloister from early morning to noon.

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The south elevation is interesting because it is split into three segments. The thick stone walls of the enclosed garden. The stone depressions of the Multi-faith room, and the timber facade of the accommodation space. There is a lot more windows in the south elevation because this face of the proposal doesn’t receive any direct sunlight.

The south elevation in context also shows how the surrounding context has had and influence on the varying ceiling heights of the proposal. The ceiling of the accommodation aligns with the roof of the adjacent buildings.

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SECTIONS The orthographic sections were a great way of showing the atmospheric quality of the scheme. In the long section you can see how sunlight filters into the prayer space. The light permeating through the double skin structure, shining down through the columns of the inner skin. The building was intentionally designed with a low average daylight in order to allow sunlight to shine directly into areas like the front of the mosque to create a spiritual aura.

Sunlight shines directly onto the tree casting shadows into the courtyard. During the summer season people will want to cool down in the shade of the tree and in the gallery level of the cloister.

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The short section cutting through the courtyard perpendicular to the long section also shows how sunlight will cast into the courtyard. During Duhr (Noon Prayer) Muslim worshippers making ablution will be able to feel the warmth of the sun, filtering through the tree, against their backs.

The plants are placed low against the windows in the gardening shop. Receiving sunlight during the winter when the sun is low and shines underneath the archway.

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C O M P O S I T E D R AW I N G

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TECHNICAL DRAWINGS

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Summer Solstice June 22

Length of Day

7pm

+14hours

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7am 4pm

8am 3pm

9am 2pm

Spring / Fall

1pm

Noon

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10am

+12 hours

Maarch/September 22

Winter Solstice

+10 hours

December 22

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Prevailing Wind

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ENVIRONMENTAL SECTION

The enclosed garden will be exposed to the elements with no insulation. Weathering will encourage decay showing the passage of time. The narrow slits on the arches will break apart allowing more light to shed through. The enclosed garden will eventually turn into a ruin, vegetation taking over the space as the building becomes uninhabitable.

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Sunlight obstructed by buildings but as mentioned before the plants are placed low against the windows in the gardening shop. Receiving sunlight during the winter when the sun is low and shines underneath the archway.

During the winter sunlight will reflect off walls brightening the inner courtyard

The underpass provides shelter for the traders from rain and direct sun rays.

Cold air will rise from the basement of the enclosed garden through the centre of the courtyard

Sunlight will only be able to reach the ablution area during the summer

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The thermal envelope stops at the enclosed garden, stone work is used as the only structural system instead of steel.

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The structural plans indicate where the steel columns have been placed highlighted in red. The structural columns were the most suitable structural supporting system due to the height of this scheme.

Steel beams span from each of the columns. Steel decking floors are used through out the building. The tertiary structural supporting system is stone indicated on the plans in grey.

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1 : 2 0 WA L L S E C T I O N

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F O U N DAT I O N TO WA L L

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1 Insulation 160mm 2 Stone block 200mm 3 Base plate and thread roads w 4 Retaining wall with 1.2m by 2m footing 5 Steel vertical support element 6 Steel column fixed onto retainng wall

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WA L L TO R O O F

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1 Steel I beam spanning between columns 2 Stone veneer 100mm in depth 3 160mm Insulation 4 Load bearing stone wall 5 Steel decking for floor 6 Arched steel Frame for dome 7 Thinner stone veneer 50mm

1 Stone veneer 100mm 2 Air barrier 30mm 3 5mm bolt 4 Facade supporting metal structure 5 10mm between stone 6 Window double laminated glass 7 Insulation 160mm 8 Steel Anchor

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WA L L TO R O O F 1 Timber column 2 Timber balcony 3 Steel post 4 Adustable pedestals 25-30mm 5 Insulation with a slight gradiant 250mm including insulation in decking 6 Stone Paver 25mm with 6mm gaps for water to drain through 7 METSEC Purlins used to hold Stone veneer 8 Water proof membrane

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STRIP SECTION

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ELEMENT

ELEMENT I chose to study the arches on the east facade of the Enclosed Garden. I creating a 3D mould and plaster casted the element to replicate the stone texture.

I created a model of the section of my element shown in the iso in the next page. I did this to see at what angle and how much light would cast into the cloister gallery space through the narrow openings.

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MO RNI NG- 7AM

NOON - 12 A M

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TO WER PROJEC T The tower project was one method of helping generate initial ideas.

At the time I designed the tower I thought it necessary to keep the clock tower due to its significance in Wednesbury History. Being that it is a clock tower and I was studying time, I did initially try to incorporate it within my design.

My perspective on this changed after reading The parasite’s complaint from Aulus Gellius. I wanted my building to become more of an experience of time rendering the clock tower useless.

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