STAIRS OVERDOSE

from Architecture Portfolio - Carmen Chahal

by carmen chahal

TRUSS TOWER

Setting: Spring 2022, Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon

Context: AUB Vertical Studio I - Urban Transformers

Team Member: Reem Ghalayini

Role: The studio aims to explore how particular interventions can transform and better our lives in urban environments.

Its premise is to understand design as a form of activism designated to provide public facilities and spaces that improves the quality of our lives in urban environments. Beirut is a city that has abandoned its citizens, barely offering gathering spaces or parks. Its infrastructure is desolate, and a public transportation is nonexistent.

As the emerging generation of architects in Lebanon we participated in the process of shaping the city and society. We were asked to put the people at the center of their creation and rebel against government policies, corruption, and idleness. With good intentions at heart, we unleashed our creative energy for the public good, even if it illegal.

We interviewed residents living near or next to the public staircase in Mar Mikhael, and decided to opt for an underground construction instead of a conventional above-ground structure. We utilized foamd and then gypsum to produce various iterations.

Casa Concreto

Setting: Spring 2022, CIUDAD LÓPEZ MATEOS, MEXICO

Context: AUB Building Construction II

Role: Construction Drawings and Detailing

The final house design, for which it was necessary to create a complete working drawing file, was based on the existing house Casa Concreto, located in Mexico. Technical drawings and detailing were produced. To determine the materiality and vertical expression of both the opaque and transparent components of the façade and in the inside, a section, an elevation, and two wall sections were produced. Following that, the staircase was planned and designed using the specified height. The drawings and elevations for the kitchen and bathroom were then completed. The schedules for the room finishes, closets, aluminum openings, and wood doors were then finalized.

Making

Setting: Fall 2022, at AUB, Beirut, Lebanon

Context: AUB - New Territories

Team member: Class of 20 people

Role: The course introduces students to digital design and fabrication, through lectures and an applied project, in which they will test and experiment with new digital and fabrication techniques. Digital fabrication, between advancements in

Digital fabrication, between advancements in software, simulation, and machinery, is pushing practice today towards more complexity. The course took us through an overview of projects and approaches in design, construction, and making. Several rapid prototyping techniques were used such as laser cutting, CNC Milling, and 3D printing. the theme we tackled was articulated surfaces in nature, by looking at natural materials, whether organic or inorganic, in order to propose performative prototypes; with the use of natural patterns and behaviors, as inherent examples of operative surfaces, with considerations to issues like functionality, forming logic, light conditions, among others.