LIGHTNESS AND HEAVINESS

from PORTFOLIO ENGLISH | GHZILI MOHAMMED | ARCHITECTURE | 2023

EMERGING EARTH

The project aims to create a distinctive element that gives it a significant spatial dimension. To achieve this, it is necessary to highlight cubic compositions and the topography of the site. To achieve this goal, I have chosen to focus on lightness and to make this weight fly above the topography through a multitude of simple and aligned blocks. This volume will be supported by a very light structure that will emerge from all the topographical lines of the terrain. The distribution of weight on a grid of points by eliminating the large classic dimensions of supports (such as columns) will allow for this effect of lightness and heaviness.

“Nature’s aNd Creativity’s Jewel Box”

My main objective as an architect is to design a building that meets the needs of the National School of Fine Arts in the city of Asilah, while preserving the site’s vocation as a primary public space for the local population. To do this, I conducted a thorough study of the site to determine the best strategy to adopt.

After this analysis, I decided not to build a building on the site, but rather to create a building that animates the site, while respecting its morphology. Indeed, I wanted to preserve the vocation of the public space while responding to the needs of the School of Fine Arts. To do this, I imagined an ingenious strategy of covering the topographically irregular ground with a flexible material, which takes the form of the topographic lines under the effect of gravity. By stiffening this material, I could preserve the topography of the site while creating a discreet volume that could accommodate the main passage of the building.

This passage, which penetrates the site by hollowing it out, was designed to serve the different spaces for the practice of art, such as drawing, sculpture and painting workshops. I also took into account the needs in terms of openness and brightness, in order to create a pleasant and inspiring work environment for the artists. Finally, I made sure that the building was not too imposing and that it left enough space for the site to remain as open as possible.

Art Passage

The passage connecting the bus station to the main avenue will be transformed into an exhibition space for school works, while preserving its natural rock. This rock will be used as a natural stage to showcase the students’ works. The use of natural materials in public space creates a strong connection between the school and its environment, thereby reinforcing its integration into the city.

School Between Two Natures

The first part of the building will be placed between a roof that will follow the topography of the land and a passage that will preserve its natural rock. The project will thus be integrated into a very natural environment. The shape of the roof, adapting to the site’s topography, will allow for a harmonious integration of the building into its environment, while the natural rock passage will create a visual and physical link with the city.

Timid Building

The building will timidly rise from the ground, letting its light spread on its surroundings. It will mark its presence without imposing itself as an imposing volume. The discreet shape of the building will allow for a dialogue with the public space and not disrupt the visual balance of the city.

“Between taboo and and sacred heritage”

By observing life in the Medina, we notice that its fortifications enclose not only heritage, but also cultures and intramural habits, particularly the consumption of cannabis. This ancient city has a large consumption of this substance, which is a culture and tradition passed down from generation to generation. However, society does not dare to speak of it and prefers to consider it a taboo.

In the context of the legalization of cannabis production, the Ricolé foundation represents a large brand of legal production intended for responsible use, located in the Medina of Fes. This represents a symbol that allows to display this culture and break the taboo that surrounds it.

This project also concerns the problems of heritage classified by UNESCO (such as the Medina of Fes), a city founded in the 8th century that expanded under the rule of several dynasties. The objective is to continue to build the city as a new Fassi generation, while achieving an urban seam with the new city.

Indeed, the building puts the great wall between its two parts, one intramural and the other extramural. The exterior part, a transparent building, allows the visibility of the fortifications, symbolizing the new modern footprint of our generation and showing that heritage is not only to be preserved, but that today’s architecture is also the heritage of tomorrow. The intramural part, on the other hand, is an architecture that evokes the past through facades that integrate into the landscape of the Medina. Between the intramural and extramural is a new passage that enters the building by passing over the wall, symbolizing a new way of entering the city and a new door for the new generation that builds it.

New Gait Urban Seam

The new entrance to the Medina will be built with a bridge that passes over the wall, symbolizing the new modern footprint of the new generation Fassi. This bridge creates a new way of entering the city, and it’s not just preserving the heritage but also building new architecture that will be the heritage of tomorrow.

In order to bring the modern building closer to the wall and show a kind of imprint of the new generation that will take over the expansion of the Medina, The two buildings contrast with each other, they put the fortification and link without touching and the transparent building, dressed in the texture of the wall, reflects it through it.

When it comes to social housing, the trend of building vertically has forced us to respect the factor of the prospect, a way to let everyone get their share of sunlight, a share that lasts 25% of sunshine during the day, that is 3 or 4 hours. The rule says: the distance between two vertical buildings = their height, therefore, the prospect also forces the expansion of cities. This kind of housing puts everyone in a shared wall with at least 2 neighbors, which reduces the appropriation of space and hinders the neighborhood.

In physics, porosity is the set of voids in a solid material, filled by fluids. The concept is to remove floors in a vertical habitat, to allow the passage of sunlight beams brought by the sun to the neighboring building, provided that it is close enough, with the goal that this building receive light several times during a day. Therefore, the distance between two vertical buildings is reduced, which optimizes urban space in terms of expansion of this kind of construction. Moreover, the removal of shared walls increases the quality of life between neighbors, and the appropriation of private space.

Sunlight in social housing = 25% of a day = 4 hrs/day

Sunlight in porous city = 16% x 4 = 64% of a day = 7.6 hrs/day

The building is made up of a lightweight structure. Despite its height, its porosity allows it to be flexible against the wind. A stairwell and elevator are positioned outside of the 4 buildings. Access bridges are located on each floor, allowing for the connection of the entire building. The housing takes the form of an “L” shape on a square, leaving 1/4 of the land as a private garden forming a vegetal well inside the entire building.

The goal is to propose pisé housing in Village Tiourar, housing that blends into the landscape of the Atlas mountains. The search for volumes is primarily based on respect for the construction technique, between load-bearing walls and naturally noble materials such as earth. The volume allows for fully experiencing the mountain spectacle, with its landscapes and conditions.

Lighting projects with BOA Light Studio

Boa Light Studio has entrusted me with the design of several aspects of projects, including the proposal of a light kiosk in public spaces in China, the choice of volumes, color, intensity of lights, is the subject of sensitivity to natural elements present on site.

Design of benches for the National School of Architecture in