2.1 John Krenshaw Clayson, Y2 ‘Figures of the Picturesque’. This project is a versatile market area that facilitates both formal and informal market vendors as well as aiding urban mobility in Amman. It uses convolutional neural networks to replicate drawn figures of nature and begin an exploration into a translation between analogue and digital tools. The scheme acts as a criticism of the way nature manifests in modern cities, especially in the West, where plants are often experienced as objects or as the picturesque. This is emphasised in Western planning through its concentration on vista; a characteristic not present in Arabic planning and perhaps evidential in arguing for the inherent biophilic qualities of Arabic planning. 2.2–2.3 Heather Black, Y3 ‘Arab League Headquarters’. The project explores notions of security architecture and its conservative approach to public interface. It challenges the traditions of secure spaces using the context of a new headquarters for the Arab League in Amman, Jordan. The design strategy of the site is focused on ‘sand flooding’ which changes the accessibility and security of the building. During events, the landscape is flooded and it is subsequently drained when the event has finished, returning the space to public use. 2.4, 2.6, 2.19 Hazel Balogun, Y3 ‘A System for Urban Flow’. Amman’s rapid expansion, topography and urban grid have contributed to poor pedestrian conditions. With the agenda of improving urban mobility in the city, the project provides an accessible route across one of the city’s hillside topographies. Influenced by modern and vernacular hydraulic technologies, the landscape captures seasonal stormwater to reduce the intensity of local flash-flooding. 2.5 Ocian Hamel-Smith, Y3 ‘Amman Marketplace’. The market, and its square, serves the most vulnerable demographics of Amman’s population, especially those whose right to work formally is not permitted due to various tiers of citizenship. This project aims to solidify an existing market, located on a floodplain, as a democratic space, with added commercial facilities to allow the local skilled tradesmen a space to feel safe and fulfilled. 2.7–2.8 Evelyn Jesuraj, Y3 ‘A Workplace for Women’. This project aims to address issues surrounding the high unemployment rates among female university graduates in Jordan. In order to bypass the law, many employers do not hire women as it triggers a policy where childcare facilities would have to be provided onsite. The design for an engineer’s office tackles this head-on by proposing a building where the workspace and creche are integrated in a novel construction system. 2.9 Luke Topping, Y3 ‘A New Direction for Ornament’. This project is a theatre in Downtown Amman positioned above the locally famous Jafra Café. The architectural investigation was inspired by a fascination with 21stcentury ornamentation in the Middle East, positioned from a contemporary digital discourse. The building is composed of geometries that tessellate between the scale of the building and the scale of the ornamental. The geometry provides directions North, South, East and West through large architectural gestures and the composition of its facades. 2.10 Yeree Kim, Y3 ‘Amman Building Centre’. This project investigates how contemporary design and fabrication tools could recreate the aesthetic qualities and passive environmental strategies found at Petra, Jordan. These topics are explored in a centre for the built environment in downtown Amman. The building acts as exhibition space and construction laboratory where the public can navigate and experience the spatial conditions of Jordan’s ancient architecture. 2.11 Jina Gheini, Y2 ‘Nature Play’. This project is an after-school activity centre. It focuses on creating outdoor and indoor playgrounds for children, increasing their 50
physical activity, as there is currently a lack of play areas in Amman. The design aims to provide spaces in which children can experience nature that is overgrown and wild, which has been shown to be beneficial for both their mental and physical health. 2.12–2.13 Alisa Baraboshkina, Y3 ‘Wedding by the Water’. This proposal is a wedding and events venue that endeavours to create a building system that alleviates its water demands within the context of Amman’s water-shortage crisis. This is investigated through a collection system of fine mesh panels, drawing moisture from the air in the mornings and providing solar shading in the daytime. 2.14 Crina (Bianca) Croitoriu, Y2 ‘Bedouin Heritage Centre’. This project provides the nomadic Bedouins with a space in the city to temporarily inhabit. It is also a place in which they can educate others about their culture and traditions aiding to the preservation of a culture which is predominantly transferred through speech. 2.15–2.16 Sahba Akbar, Y2 ‘Civic Mobility’. This project explores the challenges of urban mobility in Amman which are a product of its challenging topography and rapid expansion over the last 50 years. A cable-car system which terminates in downtown Amman is designed for the city. The building proposal is focused on this terminus, which also integrates space for an informal market and eating spaces. As a strategy to collect pollutants from the air and form a new spatial identity for the network, the work explores bioplastic as a disposal building skin. 2.17 Yushen (Harry) Jia, Y2 ‘The Saltwater Hammam’. This building is a bathhouse that uses filtered grey water to raise awareness of recycling water, an ever-dwindling natural resource in Amman. The building focuses on a journey of intensification. As visitors descend the spiral staircase, the concentration of space, light, vegetation, steam, and salt becomes denser. 2.18 Meg Irwin, Y2 ‘Alternative Health Centre’. The project for a healthcare centre in downtown Amman is inspired by the ancient architecture of Petra and how the Nabateans mastered their environment to provide passive thermal comfort. The project studies and implements these strategies, including the integration of water; working with hybrid construction and rock-cut spaces; and retreating behind the natural rock formations onsite which provide shade. The result is a building that opens a dialogue between natural and made, in the creation of a biophilic building. 2.20 Serim Hur, Y2 ‘Urban Cliff Techtonics’. This project explores the urban cliff hypothesis that states that our cities are akin to the habitat templates of cliffs. From observing the historic structures in Amman, the plant growth occurs where the stone blocks decreased in size, creating more gaps for water retention. Inspired by the iconic Hashem restaurant in downtown Amman, the building develops the ‘backstreet’ as a public space culture of the city in the creation of a kitchen and café. 2.21 Victoria Blackburn, Y3 ‘Al-Lweibdeh Preschool and Shelter’. The Al-Lweibdeh Preschool is an adaptable building, which delivers education for the local community and can transform to provide shelter and relief during times of crisis. The building both embraces and mitigates the increasing intensity of sandstorms in the Middle East, to raise local consciousness about the impact of global warming on the Jordanian environment.