Professional Portfolio

Professional PORTFOLIO [ selected projects ]

Leyla el Sayed Hussein 2017-2021

[01] MEROS with the Bpro Show, London

[02] HorseShoe bldg Renovation with Damj Design+Craft, Beirut

[03] Wathba Wetland Center with Damj Design+Craft, Abu Dhabi

[04] Friction Bridge with Damj Design+Craft, Beirut

[05] Sin el Fil Factory with Extraground, Beirut

[06] Anatomy Table with Extraground, Beirut

[01] MEROS with the Bpro Show, London

Meros explores possibilities of formal aggregation based on parts to parts interaction. Meros is based on the notion of thingness developed by Heidegger and on the notion of mereological parthood conditions developed by Husserl. The project functions at the intersection of theory, design and fabrication. These have a symbiotic relation where they all feed into eachother from the start till the end of the project.

Meros is a field of fields. Each field is made of groups, and each group is made of distinctive parts taken as architectural elements.

The relation of these elements, walls, doors, openings, rooms is re-iterated to form multiple clusters. Each cluster explores different parthood conditions. Meros proposes a design methodology where the architect and the part are compliant in the design process

[01] MEROS with the Bpro Show, London

Meros, 6 x 2 meters, CNC milling on Compressed Foam

[01] MEROS with the Bpro Show, London

After extracting the parthood conditions of an existing architectural project, a detailed analysis took place on the level of the wall fragments. The wall fragments are the base of all parthood conditions, the reading is more complex, and more faithful to the complex spatial qualities of the actual project. Thus, after collecting these data attributes, that is the arrangement of the walls, I begin to describe the house in terms of its wall figurations. While reconfiguring and learning from these wall parts which were extracted and redesigned to digitally create a whole alphabet of wall figures. The process of creating these wall alphabets, generates countless wall figures that are then processed to remove the outliers to help develop an advanced set of wall interactions.

Furthermore, aiming to form objective figurations, automatic derivation is used to allow specific behaviors among the figures. As well as, observing more about the influence of a single multiplied basic figure within a whole and various types of figures on one whole figuration.

Catalogue of Wall Figurations

[02] HorseShoe bldg Renovation with Damj Design+Craft, Beirut

The project involve the renovation of the lobby entrance of the HorseShoe historical building designed by Karol Schayer, Bahij Makdissi and Wassek Adib in circa 1960.

The design was based on the existing linearity of the travertine and brass wall cladding that was kept according to the original design

[02] HorseShoe bldg Renovation with Damj Design+Craft, Beirut

Suspended double light, based on terrazzo floor plan

Linear Walnut furniture

Terrazzo and brass pouring

[03] Wathba Wetland Center with Damj Design+Craft, Abu Dhabi

When approaching the design for the Wathba Wetland Reserve visitor center, the first step involved gaining a deeper understanding of the creation of the wetland itself and the ecosystem that come to exist in a location that was previously unsuitable for wildlife to survive. Born from a set of human interventions upon the existing ‘sabkha’ soil, conditions were created that encouraged natural responses from birds, insects and organisms living together in symbiosis. The design methodology followed a comparable “petri dish” strategy to grow a set of programmatic nodes suspending a canopy with subsequent adaptive responses including: structure, natural lighting and passive ventilation. The result is a structure that intrigues and incites the visitor to explore and understand the foundation upon which the wetland exists.

[03] Wathba Wetland Center with Damj Design+Craft, Abu Dhabi

Using the formation of the wetlands as a basis for inspiration, the design is rooted in a methodology of iterative growth utilizing the ‘seeding’ of the base field by a set of programmatic nodes. Each node contains a specific function and degree of influence which operates on the initial field through an iterative algorithm that allows them to grow to a point of spatial equilibrium.

[04] Friction Bridge with Damj Design+Craft, Abu Dhabi

The large tent structure at Azarieh square in Downtown Beirut houses several discussion groups. The design came after the outbreak of the protests of 17 October 2019.

The design is based on Davnci’s Friction Bridge analysis and was adjusted according to the site’s conditions and the protestors needs.

The tent was put on site by the people who were divided into a set of groups.

[04] Friction Bridge with Damj Design+Craft, Abu Dhabi

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[05] Sin el Fil Factory with Extraground, Beirut

The project is production facility for Crown Flour Mills, a seven-decade old company and mill. The glass-fiber-reinforced concrete skin, is entirely customized and creates variety while using only four panels. Shifted components in the seemingly orthogonal panel design break the grid and introduce movement in an otherwise static composition.

[05] Sin el Fil Factory with Extraground, Beirut

The facade studies were done through a series of experimentations involving different shapes and sizes for GRC pannels, the design process was constantly moving between digital simulations and physical experimentations.

Facade versus Function

Facade versus Sunlight and Ventilation

Facade versus Fabrication

Facade versus Fabrication

[05] Anatomy Table with Extraground, Beirut

Anatomy Table is generated through the casts of different body parts combined. The experiment was jumping back and forth between computer generated modeling and materials’ testing through physical modeling.

Multiple iterations on both, the physical and the digital level, were done to achieve the final result.

[05] Anatomy Table with Extraground, Beirut

Generating Cast 1 digitally

Nurb Optimization

Weight Increase

Generating Cast 2 digitally

Nurb Optimization

[05] Anatomy Table with Extraground, Beirut

The fabrication process involved an exchange between physical and digital fabrication. A series of physical casts was done with different material in order to optimize the massing for the cast.

The massing was then digitally designed. The cast was milled through a CNC machine. The table was then poured in GRC (glass reinforced concrete).