My Undefeated Architecture Portfolio 2020

MOHAMAD ALAMIN YOUNIS ARCHITECT

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO 2020

Like digital data, garbage landfills could be seen as a flow of physical data that keeps on changing across time.

As Tripoli’s saturated dump is of no exception, urban strategies must address the transformation of waterfronts to prevent a potential collapse of garbage into the Mediterranean Sea (Bachelor Thesis).

MOHAMAD ALAMIN YOUNIS ARCHITECT

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO 2020

Portfolio 2020

By Mohamad Alamin Younis (46 pages) (Cover and end page are not inclusive in page numbering)

Bachelor of Architecture Total of 183 Credits Faculty of ARCHIDES AZM University Issued in November 2020 Best 5 Academic Projects Some visuals could be found on my Instagram @Archi.Collage

Collage 237: The End of the World The world temporarly hides so many beautiful things in the shadow of the worst moments because that’s how hope works. Across my architectural studies, making architecture collages has opened my eyes to various design conceptualization. Today, I nearly hit 300 Collages and continue to inspire others.

PREFACE Besides not being fully understood, time is of the essence.

As a child, I remember being a problem-solver without me knowing what it really means. The only thing I remember was that I invested so much time to finish whatever I had passion for.

I remember going through all of the manual to build my first T-Rex Dinosaur from legos. Only by reading and reading again that I was able to reach meticulous features such as the small head, toothless beak, shorter front legs, longer back legs, stiff tail, the spikes on its back, and sharp nails: A road to details.

Developing my reading skills for a faster understanding of any given problem is what I believe has most improved over the last 5 years of study. Mastering the tools of architectural communication - be it via technical or artistic visualizations has given me the opportunity to respond to needs of illustrating the generative strategy in the context of interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary projects. The use of collages is and will always be my favorite medium of communication with the viewer.

At times, a balance between artistic and technical illustrations should be maintained.

I learned that it is essential in some areas of the project to unite all disciplines into one decisive “illustration” to merge them together. Another area of improvement, besides the significant urge to narrate a comprehensive storyline using collages, is testing and prototyping using physical and digital models. I learn by trying, and by trying I strengthen my design statement in order to validate my proposal. Overall, these years at the faculty of ARCHIDES have put me under the pressure of working to multiple scales, especially the scale of the city.

I must say that working on such scales taught me how to work on a range of projects and dive into urban studies very early.

My latest interest - that of my Bachelor thesis - is directed towards the intersection between urban design strategies and problems of Waste Management in the context of providing better sustainable living for the generations to come.

Mohamad A. Younis

Diagram showing map of Tripoli (Lebanon), where the train station is emphasized in red in order to showcase how -histori city had a vein around vacant and populated areas that connected the North with the South and Turkey with Syria.

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CONTENTS 5 SELECTED WORKS 2015- 2020 0- About Mohamad Alamin Younis /Curriculum Vitae 5- The Fall of Wall House 2 History + Design Intervention 6,000 m2

1- CTBUH Competition Sustainability + Design Idea 60,000 m2

3- Thesis Project Design Research + History + Urban Planning Strategies + Sustainability 340,000 m2

2- Between History and Memory History + Architectural Expression 39,000 m2

4- Office Building Design: Lebanese Order of Physicians Client Challenge + Parametric Design 450 m2

ically speaking- the

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CV. Mohamad Alamin Younis Architect //ENTJ - (X) Nationality: Lebanese Date of Birth: 7/7/1997 Location: Tripoli, Lebanon Tel: 00-961-76745111 Mohamedxyounes@gmail.com Mohamad.younes.st@azmuniversity.edu.lb

Profile and Methodology

I’m obsessed about the complex relationship between psychology and space. Regardless of people’s differences, why do people feel different things when facing the same element ?

I often question the power of materials to influence people’s perception. But maybe it’s more. Maybe it’s the architectural expression. As I try to blend art with architecture to make architecture collages, I spend so much time experimenting with images. The technical side of any work of architecture should not limit nor restrain the existence of the idea in its full vision, but on the contrary prove that any idea could come true.

It’s probably because of real life ecological disasters that I saw my passion growing for “ill defined/ wicked” problems. Sometimes it takes more than an architect and an engineer to give the project a sustainable resolution. It takes so much from a designer to envision a solution when given a complex problem. This has taught me that a good design is lead by a good understanding of the problem at hand, where in some cases, I had to intersect different disciplines together where one disciplines has informed the other.

It’s around graduation that I learned that working with an interdisciplinary mindset is great way of looking at the world around me because we are all part of a large cybernetic network.

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Education (1999-2015) Baccalauréat Français (Scientifique) - Graduated from Lycée Français de Koweït ( High School Degree specialized in Science) (2015-2020) Bachelor of Architecture - AZM University - Faculty of ARCHIDES (Department of Architecture and Design)

Experience (2016) Lecture Series : Attended a Series of 4 lectures under the theme: “Creative Processes.”by Marwan Basmaji, Maxime Julian, Karim Nader, Nadim Karam, Celia Arbeed, & Iyad Kanaan.

(2016) 2 Months Community Service : Available report. Helping the community by assissting to the various proposed renovation strategies.

(2017) Designing an office building proposal for Tripoli’s Order of Physicians (Real Client) : One of our design studio projects was about a public building; we have been givrn the chance to design the Lebanese Order of Physicians in Tripoli.

(2017) Designing a house proposal for Mr. Jamal Ramadan, M1 Group, Beirut (Real Client) : Our design studio was commissioned again to design this time a residential building for Mr. Jamal Ramdan and his familly in Beirut.

(2017) 2 Days Worshop : “Reviving Tripoli’s Historical City”. Design proposals which aim to improve the quality living and solve the question of traffic.

(2018) Design Intensive Week (Design Praxis) : This is a design ritual in at our university between all students of the faculty of ARCHIDES. The theme was about: Design Praxis Bab Al-Ramel.

(2018) 2 Days Workshop : Placemaking training and urban design + Community participation in Bab al-Tebbaneh, Tripoli. Project report is available.

(2018) 4 Days Worshop : Train-Train NGo about understaning train station design + Lecture + Working with Juan Palomar (Luiz Baragan Architect).

(2019) 2 Days Worshop : Beirut Urban Charette. We had to revitalize Beirut Digital District in the town of Bachoura. The workshop was devided into site visit, lectures, design, and coming with a proposal.

(2019) Venice Biennale : Design proposal. This year’s biennale was about the following topic: “How will we live together?”

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Attended Competitions (2018) CTBUH Competition Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Competition: My friend and I have participated in this competition, and submistted a proposal entitled: “Ecological Tower”. However, the proposal did not make to the top 15. This proposal is part of this portfolio.

Generative Strategy diagram, MAK House, drawn during my internship at Built by Associative Data (BAD Architects).

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(2019) AUF Business Competition: Our business proposal was chosen to represent the university, but didn’t make it to the victory (the competion was sponsored by Berytech and AUF).

(2020) International Drawing Competition by Archue: My proposal did not make it to the top shortlisted 15, but it was posted with 5 other proposals on their Instagram page. This proposal is part of this portfolio.

(2020) The 8th Undergraduate Research Competition (Abu-Dahbi): The proposal was submitted, but unfortunately, the competition was cancelled due to Covid-19. This proposal is part of this portfolio.

Internships (local & International) (2016) Internship (3 Months): Internship report. Materials and usage. Observing and understanding the skill.

(2017) Internship in Building Construction (3 Months): Internship report. Studying building construction sites. Understading how building technology works in the local market (technical knowledge).

(2018) Internship at Nabil Gholam Architects, Beirut (6 Weeks): Worked on 4 Residential Projects (Schematic plans, Execution drawing, Beirut design week proposal, and preparing the final plan for the client).

(2018) Internship at Built by Associative Data / BAD Architects, Beirut (6 Weeks): Worked on diagramming the generative strategies of both MAK House and EuroFind comerical projects.

(2019) Intership at Palmyra Engineering Consultants, Kuwait (5 weeks). Worked on 7 residentials projects.

Languages

Software Skills

Arabic (Native) English Fluent French Fluent Spanish A1

Drafting (2d) and Modelling (3d) : AutoCad, Revit, Rhinoceros & Grasshopper, and Sketchup Pro. Rendering Engines: Vray, Enscape, Lumion, and Keyshot.

Final Presentation/ Media: Prezi, Microsoft Offices, and Adobe (Indesign, illustartor, Photoshop, Premiere Pro).

Hobbies Making collages, improving my architectural drawing techniques, making physical models from concrete material, and building my personal library.

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01.

CTBUH Competition

Ecological Tower: We could build with Waste Paper (Team of 2)

Our tall building concept had to tackle the city of Tripoli, where poor provision of electricity and air cleanliness echoed global health crisis.

Garbage stratification is a major health disaster in Lebanon which is expected to persist and affect the citizens more and more in the coming decades. Our Ecological Tower aims at dealing with the biggest of such threats: the saturated garbage dump (located in the left side industrial part of Tripoli near the Mediterranean Sea).

Our inspiration came from RECOVER’s photo showing a compacted pile of paper waste in steel straps. The choice of paper as a material is possible because of the availability of paper waste from the garage dump, where 11% of incoming waste is paper waste. Thus, we have decided to pile and compress the paper, (using a compaction machine) after a process that would make it inert (first step of recycling or via a waste washing facility).

[FIGURE 01]: Conceptual sketch showcasing the schematic form of the tower. It follows the escension of the electrical cars by the rail system.

Once the material is ready, we have created our own material for building construction which consists of mixing concrete with paper waste, exactly like in the hollow block slab. The material outcome is a modified concrete where paper represents 30% of the whole building mass. The color scheme inside the tower is very serene and gives a spiritual dimension to the atrium. We want to make the inner experience feel a little more like the building is made piece by piece, where the material decays to mark a history of paper stratification that endured 40 years. The special feature about the tower is that its roof possesses a rail system for electric cars. Dwellers could use their car to access their homes in no time.

Cars are recharged using the dump’s biogas.

[FIGURE 02]: Picture taken by RECOVER (custom-recycling-solution) showing compacted paper waste as a potential material for design .

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Render

[FIGURE 03]: Collage showing the both the interior experience in the atrium at night. We could see how the project is made of 2 inner facades, one which is made of paper, and the other from reinfored concrete.

phyiscal model [FIGURE 02]: Render showing the interior space of the “Ecological Tower”. The scene pictures the moment when a dweller uses the electric car to access his home.

[FIGURE 04]: After showing the gold/ yellowish texture of paper mixed with concrete, the sustainable potential of the tower isn’t limited to construction, but is also about technology and electrical systems.

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02.

Between History and Memory Tripoli Train Station: Succeeding Incarnations

[FIGURE 05]: Collage narrating the collective memory of the people I interviewed: “Technological Advancement, Power, Sound, and Crowdedness”. Because of the clash between the collective memory and the current image of the abandoned train station, memory and history have been brought together but never allow to interfere in each other. Such duality could only be expressed by restoring the MACHINE, in other words, restoring the utilitarian value of the site. Since it is impossible to restore the utilitarian value in the literal way, I saw that by restoring the old train rails I could bring back the mechanism of the machine.

[FIGURE 06]: Diagrams showing how the vision of the project is directed towards following the historic rail (rail gauge) as a rationale for potential urban interventions.

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[FIGURE 07]: Generative Strategy displaying how the rail gauge has become the main regulator for the site, stretching from the Bourj Al-Sibaa till the Northern leftovers of the station. All rails die at Bourj, while on the opposite end, they fload and diverge to many sub-railsa cross the station.

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[FIGURE 08]: When intersecting the rails with their orthogonal lines, a matrix is formed. This matrix has the potential to give birth to many design iterations and determine form, function, and location.

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[FIGURE 09]: Physical model presenting the abstract proposal of how the rail gauge has evolved to become a matrix on its own, therefore shaping the project’s urban fabric based on the existing elements.

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[FIGURE 10]: Ariel Perspective showing the East side of the project in its context and how dynamic it has become due

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e to the diversity of spaces and the presence of natural features such as gardens and terraces.

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LEGEND: 0. Garden 1. Train Carriage Steel Slab 2. Train Wheels 3. Insulation 4. Wooden Deck 20cm x 60 cm 5. Corridor/Walkway

6. Metallic Archs Structures 7. Garden Antrance 8. Courtyard 9. Skylight 10. Double Glazing Window 11. HVAC Duct 12. Train Wind Signage

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[FIGURE 11]: Blueprint showing a detailed section through offices, exhibition spaces and corridor throughout nature. The use of train wagonsa as a structure cuts project’s cost and enhances user’s experience. Ironically, the slabs sits on wheels, which are bolted to the ground for structural purposes. People are free to circulate across these wagons which exactly recalls the experience of getting into the train for a departure.

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[FIGURE 12]: Render showing how the architectural expression inside the project resembles the inside of a moving train where spaces and materials are light and carried in nature.

[FIGURE 13]: Longitudinal section showing the leveling and code color of different functions of the project. The more we get closer to Bourj Al-Sibaa, the closer spaces get to the ground, which sets an inferior tone to project as it touches reaches the end of the site.

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03.

Thesis Project Towards the Metamorphosis of the Landfill: Transforming Tripoli’s Polluting Backyard into a Life Engineered Momentum

[FIGURE 14]: Most cities around the globe follow a linear model in their operation: a flow of input/ supply- be it energy, water, people, food, vehicles, and material - is processed and consumed resulting into an output flow of sewage, garbage, waste, and pollution. Such an unsustainable operation necessitates that every city designates a “backyard” to dispose of its output on a site that is out of its sight! The city of Tripoli is of no exception. Located at the delta of the polluted city river, this backyard is composed of a 60,000 m2 garbage landfill with a volume of 3,000,000 m3, a centralized sewage treatment plant, a wholesale vegetable market, and a municipal slaughterhouse.

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**This collage was featured @Archue_ for the International Drawing Competition

[FIGURE 15]: Collage showing the vision for the dump’s transformation into a green space. As the metamorphosis of waste disposal and flow systems takes 7 years to happen at the waterfront, the design is missioned to anchor people in nature where human meets the machine.

[FIGURE 16]: Drawings showing the evolution of soil condition through modifications in the soil engineering. These main 4 steps lead to a ground where the vegetation could actually grow which also has the capacity to seal any leakage of leachate and biogas release.

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[FIGURE 17]: Exploded diagram showing all the layers of the project’s evolution on a span of 7 years. On the urban level we could see changes in the width of the river and construction/removal of the dump. Then we witness how the proposed program sits according to the existing sorting plant. Last, the visitor center comes and stretches its path along the project reaching to the Mediterranean Sea passing by the slow growing park, and connecting all floors of the program.

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[FIGURE 18]: In order to remove the saturated dump, sort, process and dispose the incoming waste, we need to use many facilities to improve the efficiency of the waste management. Amongst many other facilities, those who occupy the most most of spaces are: Anaerobic Digestors, recycling plant, brick manufacturing plant, LFG treatment plant, powercranes, power plant, vertical farming, composting plant, smoke exhaust, filters, water tanks, waste pit, research center, awareness center, and visitor center.

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[FIGURE 19]: Drawing showing the main regulatory lines of that the masses must follow.

One of which is the Abou Ali river: the closer to the river, the smaller the heights.

[FIGURE 20]: Collage showing how Tripoli’s landfill looks like after the saturated dump is removed. A potential park and stage are the immediate spaces that come to mind.

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[FIGURE 21]: Collage showing the “Environmental Alarming Device” in action. During these 7 years of waste removal, people are exposed sceneries where steam is released by the tensile trucks and sails which fill with air like a balloon. To commemorate this event, the walls of the dump are kept intact and could be reused.

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Compacted Waste is

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made of horizontal lines

and Vertical lines.

[FIGURE 22]: Exploded physical model revealing all the project’s layers in addition to code colors of the different act elements on the right are minimal urban interventions. The model is made of wood, red plexiglass and cardboard (2

When we twist them like garbage

and free the mass

we get the final material.

tors contributing in the formation of the project. The visitor center’s path is highlighted in red, while the red 2,44m x1.22m).

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[FIGURE 23]: Blueprint showing the project’s plan. We could see the entrances, the functional distribution, the expression, natural elements, parking lot, and the green park.

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e facilities used, the circulation system, the flow of cars, the public’s access, the façade’s architectural

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[FIGURE 24]: Section (A-A) showing the inside of the project. The project is made of 4 interconnected floors that over is designed with big spans. The structural systems used are a double layer of steel trusses that are pinned on vertical activities inside and outside the path. Some relevant inside features are green spaces, and seating areas as well as se project. On top of the project lies the upper part of this path, which is the roof promenade. This last overlooks the city

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rlook the inside machinery. In order to free the circulation and facilitate access for trucks and people, the structure l steel columns. The visitor center’s path guides people throughout the project by revealing bit by bit the different ervice areas. The path is made of glass all along the edges to allow people visualize the views inside and outside the y and becomes by itself an important anchor for people wanting to walk distances on an inclined floor.

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LEGEND: 0. Steel Column 1. Steel Braces 2. Foundation 3. Pickup Truck

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4. Double Rigid Insulation 5. Wooden Deck 6. Double Glazing Window 7. Tree/ Path Garden

8. Insulation 9. Primary Trusses 10. HVAC Duct 11. Secondary Trusses 12. Perforated Roof Structure

13. Rooftop Promenade 14. Roof Drainage 15. Maintenace Stairs 16. Recycled Steel Panels 17. Facade Structure

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[FIGURE 25]: Blueprint showing a detailed section (B-B) of the façade system. The façade system is made of a triple layer: the actual façade made of recycled perforated metallic panels, the inner curtain wall, and the space of the inner path which is separated from the inside hall by another curtain wall system. Special details are the sloped roof promenade and the maintenance door leading to last floor.

[FIGURE 26]: Façade details shown on plan in relation to its rendering image. The zigzags seen on the plan are the reflection of the decay and compaction that occur in the waste management sector in order to minimize the disposal space and to increase efficiency of work. The scale of each unit is gigantic, each bend spans 2 to 3 meter long which gives power to the façade and project.

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04.

Thesis Research Project Towards the Metamorphosis of the Landfill: Transforming Tripoli’s Polluting Backyard into a Life Engineered Momentum

[FIGURE 27]: Having the LOPT (Lebanese Order of Physicians of Tripoli) was a real design challenge as the LOPT knew exactly what it wants. Different designs proposals have been submitted and none have managed to please the client. The client wanted their 450 m2 parcel to fit in 45 cars in only 2 basements, a strong presence on site which is part of a residential zone, a generous multi-purpose room, and that the project deals with the shift from paper work to digital work.

As the workers are numerous and each wanted his own view to the outside, the project offers different iterations to the outside by designing perforated façade in a way that each view is no like the other. The split in the massing is a gesture for the shift to digital work that is kept minimal and floating on ground by the recessed structure and curtain wall.

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[FIGURE 28]: Phyisical model showing how the project sits in its context. The façade creates a private atmosphere, leaving the multi-purpose visible to the outsiders.

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[FIGURE 29]: The façade has been generated using Grasshopper script. The script consist of creating those playful perforations all along the façade (40cm x 125cm) in such a way to offer different views, daylight shades and shadows.

[FIGURE 30]: Blueprint showing a detailed section of the façade. The structural system as well as the facade components are shown. The catwalk is a hidden feature that could be used by users and maintenance people.

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LEGEND: 1. Technical Slab 2. Steel Support/Joints 3. Tiling 40cm x 40cm 4. Concrete Slab 30cm 5. Beam 6. Metallic Grid 7. False Ceiling Struts 8. HVAC Duct 9. Window Vertical Structure 10. Initial Position of Wall

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11. Double Glazing Window 12. Aluminum Fins 13. Isulation 14. Metallic U Beam 15. Screws 16. Facade Structure 17. Lighting Fixture 18. Catwalk 19. Perforated Aluminum Panels 20. Concrete Column 30cm x 70cm

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[FIGURE 31]: Rendering of the façade in close up. The material of the façade is perforated aluminum panels connected to the slab behind which hides the curtain wall system. The sun casts a game of shade and shadow deep inside the inner spaces.

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05.

The Fall of Wall House 2 Designing a Visitor Center

This design exercise is about studying and understanding modern architecture and modernist architects to learn what architectural features allowed for a change to happen. The case at hand is Wall House 2 designed by John Hejduk in 2012.

Located in the Netherlands, this project as its name says is a wall house, meaning that the whole project roams around a wall that is the structure keeping the spaces intact. The notion of time introduced by John Hejduk focuses on the use of the wall as a medium of transition. When we travels through a wall, we feel that we are moving in time, therefore feeling time. The functions that are shaped like waves makes the whole project appear as a painting, or a cubist collage to be more specific. The visitor center takes the most important essence of the project which is the wall and creates a continuity that empowers the wall. Like Wall House 2, the spaces of the visitor center are brought close to the walls, therefore mimicking Wall House 2.

[FIGURE 31]: Ariel view of John Hejduk’s Wall House 2 project, Netherlands (2012).

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[FIGURE 32]: Plan showing the design intervention of the visitor enter on the Wall House 2

[FIGURE 33]: Physical model of both the Wall House 2 and its visitor center which intervenes on site as falling walls. The farthest we get from the wall., the lower the walls get. Between them lies the exibition spaces.

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[FIGURE 35]: Blueprint showing a detailed section of the inside the visitor center’s space. The wall is inclined and it withholds its equilibrium by having a counter weight facing the wall in the opposite direction (the concrete seatings).

Like Wall House 2, the intervention gives people a view whenever passing through it. In addition, the optical illusion the wall is falling at people or to the opposite side is determined by the construction detail at the opening of each wall. The concrete detail at the puncture is crucial for this optical illusion.

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[FIGURE 3 is falling to walls whic

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34]: Render showing the visitor center at night. When standing in front of the wall, one could feel that the wall owards him. The concrete seating and the pond are key features to distract the public from the scale of the ch breaks the edge between a project and living space. The park is therefore maintained within the walls.

LEGEND:

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1. Natural Grass 2. Drainage/Water Evacuation 3. Stones and Gravel 4. Soil/Ground 5. Concrete Slab 50cm 6. Concrete Seatings 7. Ceramic Tiling 5cm x 5cm 8. Pool/Water Pond 9. Inclined 70cm Concrete Wall 10. Initial Position of Wall 11. Plaster Finishing

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MOHAMAD A. YOUNIS ARCHITECT

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO 2020