04- THE ANCIENT

Mathematical and physical transformation of natural organisms

Project time: Dec. 2021

Site: Wādī al-Ḥītān Faiyum Governorate, Egypt

The aim of the project is to mathematically transfer the word "ancient" into the language of current spatial form. For us, "ancient" is solitary: the site is located in a desert two hours outside of the modern city, surrounded by fossilized whales and rocks, with no architecture around. The whale's skeleton is also lonely in a symbolic sense, as it comes from a history that does not belong to us and carries it into the present in the shape of bones.

From the inspiration of the whale skeleton, the design creates a museum for the site, seeking to highlight the sense of history of the site via architectural form and function and to provide direction for the land's future development and environmental conservation. The project consider space as a processual experience, Through the temporal transformation of materiality linked audience to the site and the "ancient."

The site is located in the middle of the desert, a two-hour drive from the nearest city. Visitors are used to driving or hiking to complete their touring programme. The buildings and heritage are preserved in the hollows, the overall terrain is fat and there are many weathered stones. The path created by people's feet passes through the north side of the building, and similarly there is an entrance to the south side, articulated by a platform.

The perimeter of the site is dotted with deserts and oases, dilapidated cities and streets, houses made of clay. It is as if all the material is related to the sand and the unique climate of the area. The houses here have narrow windows, oases are scarce and the streets are flled with sand. In history, this was originally a riverbed at the bottom of the sea, and after millions of years of evolution, the waters faded away, leaving the skeletons of whales here for people to admire.

//SURROUNDINGS AND HISTORY

Over tens of millions of years of evolution, this barren desert has taken on rich historical connotations and environmental and ecological problems. All this points to an urgent need: how to present the past and indicate the future of the development with an architecture. Environmental protection, architectural form and building function are all important considerations.

//MATERIAL ANALYSIS //VISUAL FIELD ANALYSIS

There are many boulders in the site and the preserved skeletons ofthe whales are set against them. The building is a semi-open space.with no enclosed maintenance structures around it. The aim is toexpose the new building material to the sand and to allow it toundergo a transformation over time into a material similar to thewhale's skeleton.

The structure's timber frame and concrete foundation will deteriorate with time.

- The degradation of wood has the ability to provide protection against insects and to purify the air, and the progressive degradation process will gradually lower the entire structure to the sand level over time, exactly as the square grass lattice on the Dunhuang ground helps to prevent the fow of sand.

- The concrete foundation of the structure will not totally deteriorate with weathering and time, but the texture and material left behind will remain on the site forever as a monument for people to remember and recall the site's past.

The points of force selected here are those of whale movement, focusing on the curvature of the vertebrae and the change in shape of the bone profle during the gradual change here.

A strong structural skeleton of the building has been designed in the transverse profile. The asymptote of the skeleton is modelled in the longitudinal profle as a curve parameter during the movement of the whale.

The bridge extending from the front of the building joins the sand dunes in the site and the building itself.

Inside the building the platforms and structural skeleton together form an enveloping structure with many gaps for people to walk through and communicate.

Some vertical structures protrude to act as a shield from the sun and also to increase the diffuse effect of the interior. People play and play on the terrace.

The platform's ground floor is elevated to create a cavity in the hot desert conditions. Providing shade and rest, it serves as a shelter from the desert.

The building is located in a sunken flat area of the desert, surrounded by sand dunes. People enter the site mainly from the south. The design of the site includes a terrace where people enter the building via an aisle and follow the decorative structure. At the same time, these exquisite structures respond semantically to the motif of the 'whale'.

The staggered platforms at the end touch each other and channel visitors from the south onto the frst foor platform. This is the starting point of the narrative, where one first sees the huge translucent canopy.

To the north of the building is a pathway for people to exit, which serves as a gathering square for the building. There are many boulders in the site and the preserved skeletons of the whales are set against them.

//UNDERGROUND PLAN & ROOF PLAN

//DESIGN DETAILS //RENDERING

The outdoor space is derived from a tribute to the desert's parent theme. have tried to respond to the softness of the gravel and the hardness of the rock with hard borders. These narrow spaces are shaped by the wind and sand, and at any moment the passage of time takes on the atmosphere of whale skeletons.

the change in spatial density from north to south weaves a broken history into a story

In the underground plan and the roof plan, we can clearly observe the interaction between structure and space. The sense of contrast is deliberately enhanced in the design to metaphorically represent the great disconnect between modern technology and history and to provoke visitors to think about it. The dismantled axonometric drawings reflect the alignment of the individual structures and spaces. This is also expressed as a graphic narrative in the Longitudinal Section.

//LONGITUDINAL SECTION

Various fragmented spaces with historical origins are combined by a translucent roof. These dense, narrow spaces interact with people's bodies, handing the visitor the variations of a whale's skeleton through a metamorphosis of movement. The progressive collapse of the structure pays homage to history, while its primary objective is to respond to the temporality of the site, standing alongside with the whale fossils and rocks. Creating an atmosphere of "bones" that is both mathematical and emotional.

//BIRDS AND CITIES

Due to the impact of climate change, we are seeing systematic homelessness of animals, plants, and humans, Fortunately, people have noticed this problem in some fields. The media advocate for more attention whichhuman beings should pay to reduce carbon emissions; scientists have alsostarted investigations to plant more trees on the earth.