Conflict Resolution Table

The truth of the surface; a medium for delivering information. The structure; a conjurer of innate knowledge, an architecture that educates

Experimental Individual Project 2018

Location: Benghazi, Libya

Prepared By: Razan F. Elmrayed

At the time that the influence of foreign ideals was fully ejected from Libya, the decorated surface was eliminated as well, bringing forth a forty two year course of stationary detached development, a period of meeting generic standards of living, of reforming an authoritative environment that passively imposes a way of existing, of surfaces that serve to continuously remind society of who’s in charge, of architecture engulfed and degraded with large prints that express the literal aspect of the term “heads of authority”, suggesting the notion of being constantly subject to surveillance. Following the 2011 revolution is a period of resilience, of continuous stretching towards the direction of extremities, the deformities that resulted from such conditions served to uncover the absolutes that society would partake to deal with momentums of threat over the course of unpredictable time. Resorting to the strength and concealing properties of walls to protect against the dynamics of speed, impact and destabilization they were driven to the notion of improvisation.

A land inhabited by men of primordial ideals, Libya’s society is of limited awareness in terms of architecture, and have inadvertently conceived the aesthetics of Tripoli’s architecture, forming an architectural unity through means of de facto standardization, the built environment have become the image of improvised construction for security, the makeshift bare surface have become a permanent measure, lack of economy have ceased to be the cause for such measures, it has become an authentic embodiment of needs for safety and security, house fortifications define Tripoli’s streets, Iron palisades reinforce every gap and void, the visible vertical mass have become a defense mechanism against both physical and visual infiltration.

The potential for a design to initiate a dialogue with the user is strongly depended on the nature of the user’s individual connection to the characteristics of the design, because the line that separates a design from being irrelevant to the user, to thought provoking is in fact found in the methods that design solutions are communicated through, the manner of which can only be delivered with a thorough sense of familiarity.

A design that is able to summon the user’s existing knowledge in the subconscious mind and evidently connect it to the perceived structure, is the initiator of the dialogue, whereas to fully install that knowledge within the user’s mind, physical interaction between the design and the user must be encouraged and performed in alignment with the nature of information being communicated between the design and the user. This connection is achieved through the identity and individuality of the user, through embracing the problem, and finally through the clarity and directness of the solution and the way in which it is conveyed through a known and familiar mediums.

The ability for a design to educate is in fact relative to the identity of the user, in other words an only English speaking person will not learn much from information communicated in Chinese, and on that account and amidst choosing Libya and its locals as an example, a country that suffers from economic and safety issues which have resulted in partially built and exposed skeletal structures. The use of the concrete slab, columns and block-work walls is dominant, these will be the familiar elements relevant to the identity of the spectator, equally we move to the elements relevant to individuality, the ones that will encourage physical interaction, the concrete slab carried up on four columns is a structural assembly that most clearly strikes up an image of a table with four legs carrying the tabletop, through these aspects the design reaches for the subconscious mind of the user suggesting three elements;

1. The Primary Element horizontal concrete slab/Table top a design solution used to meet the demands of sitting, carrying, coverage.

2. The Secondary Element vertical block-work wall/chair-back a design solution used to support or as an auxiliary to the primary element. 3. The Tertiary Element the columns/Table legs a design solution used to raise the primary element at different levels.

The design process thus administers the function of a table and chair through the use of the structural elements that make up a building’s skeleton.

Ultimately, this process results in a reciprocal space that invites the conduct of intellectual activities, within an enclosure that prompts the remembrance of the past and its ongoing affect, and by creating different assemblies of the familiar structure, clearly presenting its functional purpose, the users are able to physically interact with it and ultimately absorb the design process that went through their surroundings, comprehending the reasoning behind each element, and influencing similar actions.

The design is a public, semi-outdoor working space that provides individual and group seating areas for reading and working, inspired from the table surrounded by chairs, the space is enclosed by the backs of the outdoor and indoor seats, allowing entrance to the inner space through the distances between each seat, the structure provides working areas at different levels and locations, starting from the bottom containing the main working spaces, and going up the steps that which deviate into working desks as they rise up, reaching the top the seating spaces are located in an inspiring outdoor and elevated plain providing panoramic view of the problem and solution as a whole, and as a reflection to the table surrounded by a multitude of seats, similar to the manner of meetings to solve conflicts, the center of the space contains a movable large table top that rises up emerging as a composition of book shelves and when lowered