Architectural Design Studio II Portfolio Spring 2022

Architectural Design Studio II (ARCH 3553 - 01) The American University in Cairo Department of Architectural Engineering

Dr. Magda Mostafa

Spring 2022

Monica Magdy 900191413

Table of Contents 1.

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Readings Assignments Research Phase Site Analysis Design Process Pre-final Poster ADA Compliance Final Submission

Course Outline

01. Readings

Reading 1 The skin can remember colors and textures; when I was a child I associated math with blue and english with red due to the color of the notebooks we used at school, despite all the notebooks being fundamentally the same

Reading 2 My critique was that houses should be built with the intention of them having a lifetime of up to 50-100 years. Houses in Japan only have a lifetime of 30 years. It wouldn’t be economic to demolish them so frequently

Reading 3 The sense of taste can be stimulated indirectly through the stimulation of auditory and visual senses.

Reading 4 There is still a huge under representation of mental health issues and disabilities as they are not treated as physical disabilities. Diseases of the mind can easily affect the body.

Reading 5 After visiting the site chosen for my project, my perspective on this point changed. Materiality does affect how sound reverberates through space.

This can affect the ease of navigation for a deaf person.

Reflection

The readings helped me understand that architecture can be learned about in many different forms. As an architect, I should spend more time reading and absorbing information than designing. That way my designs can be more purposeful and helpful to the user.

02. Assignments

Assignment 1 : Sensory Space In this assignment, we were asked to visually represent a space which made us feel safe.

I represented this through an isometric illustration of my mother’s dressing room which made me feel safe due to its acoustic qualities.

03. Research Phase

Architect Research Week 1

In this phase we researched the different techniques used by different architects to create sensory moments within their buildings. The architect I researched was David Adjaye.

Feedback: Our work was too text reliant and had little to no annotations or visual analysis although the choice of imagery was good.

Architect Research Week 1

Feedback: some more massing analysis was required in the form of sketches and diagrams rather than images

Architect Research Week 2

In this phase we researched the different techniques used by different architects to create sensory moments within their buildings. The architect I researched was David Adjaye

Architect Research Week 2

My part required more graphical annotations instead of text and images

Architect Research Week 3

Our research methods in this submission became more graphical, using sketches and diagrams to present the different concepts and techniques used by different architects who use sensory moments in their buildings.

Architect Research Week 3

In this phase, I tried to focus on building form and mass, and other sensory aspects of the design like light, temperature and smell

04. Site Analysis

Digital Analysis Street Network We learned that our site is very culturally rich and takes the form of a dense network of streets and buildings

Digital Analysis Environmental Analysis We analysed the weather patterns of the site to help us better design a passively cooled and shaded building

Digital Analysis Solid and Void We learned that our site is very culturally rich and takes the form of a dense network of streets and buildings

Real Life Images

Digital Analysis Sensory video We created a video recording the Sensory moments we experienced in the site

*Scan the QR code to watch the video

Site Mapping Main Map We created a map highlighting the most important experiences we had on our journey. Some of the aspects we recorded were noises and sounds, greenery percentage, people density and stray animal density.

Real Life Images

Process Routes We started out with three scenarios for our journey through the site. There were 3 routes in total that we took to get to different locations. Those routes led us to : a local cafe, The Sultan Hassan Mosque-Madrasa and the building site itself.

Local cafe

The Mosque

The Site

Process Concept We color coded each of the three paths we took on our journey, which helped us to map the different experiences in our site.

End Product Concept We color coded each of the three paths we took on our journey, which helped us to map the different experiences in our site.

Residential

Historical

The Site

End Product Path 1: through the residential streets We documented things like distinct foods/snacks of the place such as the coffee, and tried to create interactive pop-ups which can reveal the deeper layers within the community

Residential The people in our mapping project represented characters in the storyline of the site, which greatly helped us learn information which can only be obtained through word of mouth

We incorporated elements like newspapers and real emptied coffee cups from the site.

You can still smell the coffee if you are close to the model so people who cannot see can experience the site through their other senses

End Product Path 2: The Site Here we documented the sayings of different people on the site and the different textures and materials that were there such as stone, dust and paper

The Site The people in our mapping project represented characters in the storyline of the site, which greatly helped us learn information which can only be obtained through word of mouth

We incorporated elements like newspapers and real emptied coffee cups from the site.

You can still smell the coffee if you are close to the model so people who cannot see can experience the site through their other senses

End Product Path 3: the Mosque This part focuses on the history of the place and Islamic architecture language present within the nearby museum and many of the present buildings

Historical

Some pictures in this mapping show the history of the site and how the area looked like years ago versus the present day

We also added textures of some common plants in the location and some of the most prominent historical figures of that era and in the area

Sensory Video Sensory video We created a video recording the Sensory moments we experienced in the site

*Scan the QR code to watch the video

05. Design Process

Behavioral Choreography Draft 1 The initial building statement was “How can the sense of community be enhanced among the people of Sultan Hassan?”

This was too broad of a statement in the beginning and could be interpreted in many different ways, so my goal for my next draft was to make my statement more precise.

Behavioral Choreography Draft 2 The new building statement was “How can my building be a sensory refuge for the user?”

With these concept sketches, I started to visualize the different experiences I wanted to have in my building. This was what I tried to focus on with my upcoming project.

Physical Models The purpose was to use a system of ramps to maximize vertical circulation and lift the users from the underground and up towards sunlight

Model 1: a rectilinear approach

Here, the most prominent element was the large angular roof, meant to shelter the users from harsh sun and rain by having a slight tilt.

Model 2: an angular approach

The form became much more organic trying to mimic the surrounding land as if peeking out from the ground. The multilayered roof is meant to improve ventilation

Model 3: an organic approach

In this phase, we used the surrounding context and site mapping to visualize our buildings volumetrically

Physical Site Model

Physical Models

This is how my building looks on site

Physical Models The next approach was a suggestion to mix all three models together, creating a form which combined all the aforementioned ideas

As seen in the image below, an extended roofed entrance creates a visual impact on the user and looks like it is reaching out towards the user to invite them in

The form became much more organic trying to mimic the surrounding land as if peeking out from the ground. The multilayered roof is meant to improve ventilation

Mixing the three forms could help to create a more interesting experience throughout the building.

However, organic forms seemed not to fit within the surrounding context, so I resolved this issue by sticking with geometric forms.

Physical Models Development I tried to use arches which were inspired from the islamic context surrounding the site

I lifted the upper levels of the building off the ground creating a void at the ground level which could let sunlight in

I used different materials for the topmost floor signifying its importance as I was planning to program it as a prayer area

The form became much more organic trying to mimic the surrounding land as if peeking out from the ground. The multilayered roof is meant to improve ventilation

Initial Design Sketches

The main entrance mimics the Magaaz in the sultan hassan mosque, aiming to achieve a transitional effect similar to the Mosque

Initial Design Sketches

Threshold Review

Development 1

Level 0

Level 1

Level 2

Development 1

Section A-A

Side Elevation

Section B-B

Front Elevation

Development 1

Section A-A

Some of the structure still needed to be resolved and the alignment of the building with the architectural grid had to be fixed

Development 2

Level 1

Level 2

Some of th grid alignment issues were resolved

06. Pre-final Poster

Line weights needed to be fixed so that the drawings are more clear, Floors should be defined, and a clear structure system should be shown

Structure for the arches needed to be resolved and and axon blow ups were needed

07. ADA Compliance

Occupancy must be calculated for the prayer area

Building Type: Assembly Group : A-5 Area Per occupant : 5ft2 Area = 47.99 * 25.664 = 1231.62 ft2 Occupancy Load = 1231.62/ 5 = 246 people

08. Final Submission

Recommendations from the juror: Add more diagrams to show my ideas

Recommendations from the juror: Add a bit of color to axon blow ups to make them clearer