03 The Park - 100 Chairs on the Rooftop 04 Weissenhof One 05 Black Sea Encounters 06 Re-imagining E-87
Photography
CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY
Project Type: Academic; Final Design Project
Site: Sofia, Bulgaria
Date: October 2023 - June 2024
Role: Individual research and design proposal Hard skills: ArchiCad, Photoshop, AutoCAD, InDesign, Rhino
Brief Citizens’ Assembly is a visionary project set in the heart of Sofia, Bulgaria, beside the ancient ruins of the Serdica amphitheatre. This project reimagines historical ruins as a dynamic platform for civic engagement and emotional reflection amid contemporary crises. Inspired by ancient amphitheatres - once centres of communal purification - this project offers a modern-day equivalent, where diverse voices can converge to foster unity and drive societal change within a fragmented society.
Project Summary The site features two new buildings and various re-use interventions within existing structures. The entry point, Everyone’s Cafe, serves as a welcoming hub and orientation gallery, offering a pause from the city’s bustle. A walking bridge from the café leads to a reflective pathway along the ruins, ending at the People’s Wall, where visitors share their visions for the future. On the right side of the site is the People’s Assembly building, a space that embodies both physical and metaphorical transition. This building blends historical and contemporary elements, using sustainable materials like timber and rammed earth. It also serves as a centre for shaping a sustainable future. The word “assembly” here reflects the gathering of ideas, visions, and collaborative spirit.
Citizens’ Assembly is not just a place but a living framework that invites community participation in shaping the environment and future, embodying the principles of sustainable architecture and social equity.
“Building places where all kinds of people can gather is the best way to repair the fractured societies we live in today.” - Palaces for the People
Site and Context
The site is located in the city centre of Sofia, Bulgaria, next to the ruins of the ancient amphitheatre of Serdika. This page explores the site context and design approach, including all existing buildings and archaeological remains. The developed landscape strategy presents both the new build and the existing elements, alongside any landscape interventions illustrated in small diagrams.
Site boundary and existing archaeology
network
Sun diagram and site orientation + Passive Solar
Existing buildings and programmes
Design zoning using the existing and the new
Site Maps - Bulgaria within EU, and Sofia.
A Nolli Plan of the Site within the City
A Concept Sketch - The Ruins
General Arrangement - Plans and Sections
Basement Plan Site Section B-B at 1:100 scale
Key:
Foundations (Limecrete)
Glulam posts
Rammed earth walls
Glulam beams
I-joists
Retaining walls (existing)
Green roof
Focused building in the study
Axonometric Drawing and Build-Up
Among the Ruins - Under the Bridge
Everyone’s Cafе
-O2THE 50TH PAVILION
Project Type: Academic
Site: Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales
Date: May - July, 2023
Role: Individual and group work
Hard skills used: SketchUp, Archicad, Excel, Building skills
Brief The Build module requires students to explore the design, construction and processes of delivery of innovative structures, and working with pre-existing structures that celebrate environmental design, while informing users of sustainability, ethics, and our place in society and in relation to nature and the planet.
Project Summary The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) has changed dramatically over its 50-year lifetime. This project is an architectural intervention that celebrates different aspects of its history. By talking with CAT alumni, it was highlighted that CAT’s community used to all eat together, with one person cooking for everyone else and food enjoyed around a large dining table – something that has been lost over the years. The design brings this back and combines it with architectural features from around CAT’s site. This is a group project, to reflect the collaborative nature of the profession.
A Rendered View of the 50th Pavilion
Realised Work
Preparation work
Timber Delivery and Sorting
Groundwork
Constructing frames A&B
Erecting frames A&B
Bamboo Pergola Work
Roofing and Scaffolding
Table and seating making
Planter work
Additional Frames Constructing and Installing
The Park - 100 Chairs on the Rooftop
Project Type: Professional Category: Urban scale, Culture, Public space
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Date: June 2023
Role: Lead Designer, Research & Community Engagement, Concept + Execution
Brief In 2023, people do not want to spend their time in the office, but prefer to be outdoors, surrounded by nature. The project “100 chairs: on the rooftop” is part of “The Park” project - a long-term initiative for transforming Business Park Sofia. It highlights the natural surroundings in one of the largest office complexes in the Balkans through art, high-quality design and sustainable lifestyle. “100 chairs: on the rooftop” is located on the highest level of a parking building within the complex, with unique views of Vitosha, Lyulin mountain and the turtle-filled lake below. The intervention unlocks the hidden potential of a location, which until now, was only used by cars.
Project Summary The main goal of the project is to create an active urban space accessible to all, meeting the needs of BPS employees, local Mladost”4 neighborhood residents and visitors alike. A series of surveys, interviews and workgroups conducted with the local community highlighted the need for outdoor work spaces, a stage for culture, sports and play areas, within the territory of the complex. These preliminary findings became the starting point for the design brief and the strategy for the rooftop’s functional program.
“A
good city is like a good party - people stay longer than really necessary because they are enjoying themselves.” - Jan Gehl
Concrete to Culture — Winner of the New European Bauhaus Award
Phase 1 - Community Engagement Workshops and Site Observations
Phase 2 - Design Thinking and 3D Testing
3 - Building and Testing on ground
Phase 4 - Community Belonging and Active Use
Phase
-O4RE-IMAGINING WEISSENHOF
Project Type: Work
Site: Weissenhofsiedlung, Stuttgart
Date: April - May, 2022
Role: Individual and group work
Brief Weissenhof is a symbol of innovation in architecture, materials, technology, space organization and lifestyle in the dawn of Modernism. A century later, the territory has a chance to be again an example of innovative development, meeting the need for renewal and functional saturation of the built environment and enrichment of public spaces in cities. IBA’27 allows this experience to be transferred to other cities and countries, which will increase the impact of the implemented projects.
Project Summary The main goal of our proposal is to preserve the heritage of Weisenhof and its development over the last 100 years, while contributing to meet current and future needs and challenges to be an example and inspiration for the next 100 years.
Our solution reflects the focus of IBA’27 - Mixed-use productive city & productive city region in which the housing – leisure – work trinity co-exists in liveable and sustainable spaces.
A rendered view of the concept for the new reception building within the estate, developed through group collaboration.
The site plan explores the Weissenhof Estate within the main site, including the campus buildings, public areas, streets, road transitions, pedestrian and vehicle traffic, vegetation, and the surrounding context.
Masterplan Image by RK and MR
Axonometric Drawings and Diagrams
Axonometric drawing accounting for site context
Urban planning concept
Our concept is based on the idea of spatially and functionally uniting the Weissenhofsiedlung and the Academy of Fine Arts. The two areas have evolved in parallel over time, but there is now a sense of isolation and independent functioning. For this reason, we see the added value of the competition in the possibility of spatial transformation that reflects the ideas of coexistence, multifunctionality, sustainability, quality of life and productivity.
Mobility Axonometric Drawing
Mobility concept and accessibility
Our concept aims to introduce bicycle streets in large parts of the area by reducing car traffic in Weissenhof. Therefore, more traffic-calmed areas will be created. The main focus is on transforming “Am Weissenhof” into a “shared space” street and reducing the number of parking spaces on it, organizing more space for comfortable and safe movement of pedestrians and cyclists. In redesigning the road, we are keeping the asphalt pavement typical of modernity, but bringing sustainability and innovative technologies - replacing it with permeable asphalt to meet the challenges of climate change.
Sustainability diagram
Sustainability concept
This drawing explores the green corridors on and around the site, the existing and new vegetation, the green roofs, and the overall concept of the proposal which aims for a more sustainable future as a way of living. Through greener ways of commuting which are also explained and shown on the left diagram, through engaging students from the campus with the surrounding communities and enriching the habitats of both humans and other species.
Public areas diagram
Open space concept and public space
We see great potential to enrich the public open spaces in the Weissenhofsiedlung and on the Academy campus and thus improve the recreational and leisure qualities in the quarter. Increasing the green area will help drain rainwater better and reduce heating of the sealed areas during the summer months. Reducing car traffic in the area helps create quality and friendly public spaces that encourage people to stay and spend time outdoors longer.
BLACK SEA ENCOUNTERS
Project Type: Academic
Site: Burgas, Bulgaria
Date: Jan 2021 - May 2021
Role: Individual work
Academic Year: 3.2 | Final Design Project
Tutors: L. Rossi, R. Marini
Brief The principal design objective is to investigate and propose architecture that activates and sustains a state of change for a time frame of 50+ years.
The project envisions a new Visitor Centre that includes an exhibition space, a café, and an observation water room, fostering a dynamic interaction between visitors and the surrounding wetlands.
Project Summary: Located in the heart of the Burgas Wetlands, the project features a Visitor Centre with exhibition spaces, an observation tower, and an indoor cafeteria. It invites people to reconnect with nature by immersing themselves in its beauty while raising awareness o the threats it faces.
The building serves as a transition point between the main road E-87 and the existing Birdwatching centre Poda, This allows visitors to take a slower, more mindful approach to the city and observe the patterns of nature. Time spent here aims to improve well-being and foster a deeper understanding of other species.
Designed with sustainability in mind, the construction embraces a long-lasting building cycle, utilising materials known for their durability and upcycling potential.
“No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced” (Attenborough,
SEA ENCOUNTERS
Academic Work / May 2021
Conservation Centre Poda, Burgas, Bulgaria
https://goo.gl/maps/bwK82pTUsEpGpsGJ8
Educational / Recreational / Urban realmobservatory tower and exhibiton spaces
design objective is to investigate and propose arand sustains a state of change for a time frame
D.)
An Axonometric Drawing
A Visitor Centre bridging the city and the existing Birdwatching Centre, offering an immersive observation experience of the surroundings, along with a gallery and a cafeteria.
The Visitor Centre within the landscape
Interior and Exterior Views
Experiencing the Visitor Centre
The Water Exploration Room
The building within the landscape, where the salt waters of the Black Sea merge with the fresh waters of Mandra Dam
1:20 Section drawing of the Water Exploration Room, created using hand-drawing and Photoshop
Buildability Studies Precedent
Structural strategy and material selection
Official source: Archinect
Rendered view of the Visitor Centre entrance and the existing main road, created using Lumion and SketchUp.
- O6 -
RE-IMAGINING E-87
Project Type: Academic
Site: Burgas, Bulgaria
Date: Oct 2020 - Feb 2021
Role: Individual work
Academic Year: 3 - Studio 3.1
Tutors: L. Rossi, R. Marini
Brief The design objective is to explore and develop a strategy for the E-87 Road as a whole, proposing a series of temporary interventions. In contemporary cities, the public realm must be re-imagined to prioritise human interaction and everyday life rather than solely accommodating vehicular movement. This project seeks to redefine urban space, creating a more inclusive and dynamic environment for people.
Project Summary The project seeks to reimagine a main road in the city of Burgas and reconnect the divided areas along its path by rethinking urban traffic and prioritising the human scale. Three key interventions – a Floating Walkway, a Lake-Sea Sidewalk, and improved access to a Birdwatching Centre – address the environmental challenges we face today. These interventions make natural sites more enjoyable, accessible, and safe for people, aiming to enhance well-being during the pandemic while raising vital questions about the protection of nature.
“Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.” - Jane Jacobs
The City within the Larger Context
Mapping
The Bird Migratory Route ‘Via Pontica’ within a wider context, highlighting its significance in the migration patterns of birds.
Hand-drawn masterplan of the city of Burgas, showcasing key urban features and design elements.
‘Via Pontica’ passing through Burgas, Bulgaria Neighbourhoods European road e-87 Industrial areas Educational buildings and hospitals Greenery Water areas
Lake Vaya
Mandra Dam
The Black Sea
A master plan showcasing three temporary interventions along the E-87 road in the city of Burgas. These interventions provide spaces for people to reconnect with and observe nature in a safe and inclusive environment. Work produced using Google Earth and Photoshop.
The Floating Walkway
A quick sketch illustrating the initial concept for Intervention 1.
An isometric drawing exploring the build-up of the floating walkway device
The collage, created using site photography and Photoshop, draws inspiration from the art installations of Christo & Jean-Claude.
What is the quality of the area that people use for fishing or walking?
Exploring the movement, free flow, senses, and uniqueness of nature through water. It represents the vitality and life of the site, which serves as a home to birds and aquatic species.
The materials on the site included wooden decking, through the boards of which rusty steel pipes were visible. They evoked a sense of forgotten, off-the-beaten-path places.
Apart from the water, wood, and steel, what also captured my attention through the boards were the piles of plastic waste and the extent of pollution they have caused.
These photos are part of the water exploration during one of my site visits to Lake Vaya. Spending several hours around the lake gave me a sense of the activities of people visiting the site, the species inhabiting the area, the flow of water, the construction materials, and even the plastic pollution affecting these spaces.
Flow
Sign of TImes
An Archive of Traces
Intervention 3
Is the city area accessible for non car-users?
According to the ‘Average walking speed by age’ data, it is nearly impossible for both humans and non-humans to safely cross a road where cars travel at speeds over 90 km/h. Therefore, the aim of the third intervention is to provide a safer crossing and highlight the daily challenges faced by non-drivers.
Intervention 3 transforms an existing walkway under the bridge. However, what I would do differently is focus on creating a safer and more efficient way for people to cross the road by reconfiguring the traffic lanes.
