Yara Younan Architectural Portfolio

SELECTED

WORKS

YA R A YO U N A N

Architecture Portfolio | Yara Younan | Seleted works (2013 - 2019)

AC A D E M I C W O R K

FORM IS DETERMINED

BY BEHAVIOUR

FORM IS GENERIC AND FUNCTIONLESS

Deconstruction, 1990s

ELASTIC

The Generic White T-Shirt

FUNCTIONLESS

The Modern Kimono, 1930s

FLEXIBLE

The Little Black Dress, 1920s

COMPRESSED

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

FORM AND FUNCTION ARE DISTORTED

(A)

- Breaking the conventional modern stratification in commercial office buildings -

Form foll

Perfect

01 Redressing Architecture (A) Thesis I (B) Thesis II Beirut, 2019 University Project

Historically, timelessness in architecture gave buildings presence and persistence. However today, with the help of new technologies, architecture is struggling to keep up with our rapidly changing lifestyles and living conditions. My personal interest in fashion design started because of the strong relationship that it has with time. I intended to think about an architecture that is more ephemeral and that can adapt to people’s changing needs and concerns. I chose to work on an existing business center in Beirut Gefinor. Gefinor is an extreme case of marriage between form and funtion. Just like Coco Chanel's Little Black Dress, this modernist building was tailor-made to a specific function (luxurious office building) that worked in a specific context (Beirut in the 60s during its economic boom) and that is today stuck in its time. The building itself survived the civil war but its purpose did not; and today half of its spaces are left unoccupied.

- Dissecting the building -

01 Redressing Architecture (A) Thesis I (B) Thesis II Beirut, 2019 University Project

How can architecture be manipulated to give the form the liberty to be independent from the function? I intended to revive the building by breaking its spatial boundaries, so that it can house multiple independent programs that respond to the current needs of the area. One of the main reasons why the modernist building was not able to adapt to change was because of its physically rigid systems: electro-mechanical systems, circulation, fire codes, structural systems, façade systems‌ So the main challenge was to deconstruct the core and heart of this architecture -its embedded systems- to allow for more flexibility. This will free the building and allow the user to go off track in what previously was a strict compressed grid building. The main design strategy was to disect the building, providing each chunk with its own service core and its own ambiguous zone around the core, so that it has room to expand, shrink, or change configurations according to its own assigned function.

- Decentralizing the circulation by linking the independent programs with an outdoor accessible platform -

02 A University Playground Beirut, 2015 University Project part of a Competition Awarded 1st Place

Today's schools are about exchange. Students walking to class, sitting in the shade, bumping into each other on the staircase, taking a cigarette or a coffee break; these daily activities don't happen in the classroom, but in unprogrammed residual spaces.

These secondary spaces are generators of exchange or activators: they control and modify the spaces around them. In the new School of Architecture and Design at the American University of Beirut, the assigned functions are used to create a free and unprogrammed space withing the building. The life happening in this ÂŤfree zoneÂť will activate the spaces which are definied by the regularity of the adjacent wings. Like a school playground.

PERSONAL WORK

01 Roots Offices Beirut, 2017 Under Construction Role: Interior Design and execution

Roots Group is an engineering and contracting company based in Beirut.

I took on the task of designing their new offices which are currently under construction. The largest area in the center which had access to a balcony, became the main open working area. To create some privacy, I proposed a porous ÂŤwallÂť between the main entrance and the working area. This wall is formed by linear wooden strips that curve along the center to form a wider reception area. On the back wall of the formed corridor is a wall unit, that activates the space with its several niches used as seating areas and a coffee nook.This linear reception directs the users to two opposite wings (the management wing, and the employees wing).

The central working area becomes a buffer zone between the two wings.

02 Serpentine Lamp Lebanon, 2016 Completed Role: Design and Execution

The light fixture is designed to span across a room. It parametrically changes according to both the amount of light needed (i.e the area of the room), as well as the direction of the light. The polygons used to create the lamp increase or decrease in size according to an attractor curve, which indicates the amount of light desired. A different attractor curve is used to dictate the direction of light by affecting the size of the perforations; increasing the size to direct the light to one side.

03 Flying Deck

Lebanon, 2019 Completed Role: Design and Execution

The family of four live in a 3 story villa in the mountains of Lebanon. Their backyard is open and spacious, but they wanted a more cozy defined space to sit in. My suggestion was to leave the garden intact for the large parties and dinners they regularly throw, and to extend a 4x4 m ÂŤflyingÂť deck towards the sea. The land under the deck was used for planting fruits and vegetables, and had beautiful high pine trees. The deck extends into the shade of the trees, creating a cozy sheltered space, yet it is very light and has an open view to the mountains and the sea. The balustrade is only 55 cm high from the ground which leaves the eyesight of a person sitting on a couch open and undisturbed. The low top of the balustrade is considered safe because of its 60 cm depth, which also allowed for less vertical elements in the balustrade.

The top of the balustrade which is also used as a table, directs the user's view to the beautiful landscapes around it instead of internally to the villa.

PROFESSIONAL WORK

Restaurants

Courtyard

Offices Hotel

01 Jeddah Rose Saudi Arabia, 2019 Under Construction Project by PARALX. Role: Lead Architect

A mixed-use development consists of offices, a business hotel, a banquet hall & commercial spaces on a prime lot on King Abdul Aziz Road, one of the most important vehicular arteries in Jeddah, with a high daily volume of vehicles. The coutyard typology helps with the sun exposure and privacy issues, two important factors to consider in Saudi Arabia. The first ground floor serves as an entrance to the different functions, and the second elevated ground floor consists of restaurants with extensions to the coutyard. The client wishes to create an architectural landmark in the city, reflecting the image of his business as a visionary in the real estate market.

The Sloped roof allows for his main offices (located on the last two floors) to have the best exposure and views. The roof also provides outdoor terraces for the offices at several levels.

- Section through the Exterior Courtyard -

- Section through the Offices -

02 King Road Master Plan Saudi Arabia, 2019 Design Development Phase Project by PARALX. Role: Lead Architect

The 216 000 sqm. site spans across three zones : Commercial, Residential, and Hospitality. During the last couple of years, the city of Jeddah has been trying to implement their new ÂŤVision 2030Âť for the future of the city. Complying to this vision, the client wanted to have more openness and exposure in his new development, along with many outdoor activities and entertainment functions. The driving force of the project was to have a main boulevard running across the site with smaller piazzas branching out of it.

Along this promenade the three different functions (commercial, residential and hospitality) start to unite around piazzas and entertainment programs. The basic layout of the building blocs was conceived from a halftone grid. Along this grid, some of the buildings are offsetted inwards to create smaller open spaces which gradually start to link to the 3 main piazzas.

03 C9 Strip

Saudi Arabia, 2019 Construction Phase Project by PARALX. Role: Lead Architect

Saudi Arabia, being a socially conservative country, has a lack of public spaces. During the last couple of years, the city of Jeddah, has undertaken a renovation project of its long coast along the Red Sea, turning it into a waterfront park with dedicated areas for small structures to be developed. One of these structures, C9, is dedicated for retail shops. The shops take advantage of the large faรงade on the main road, while the other side overlooks the park and the sea. To avoid any interruption between the sea & the park, the building touches the ground at a low point & creates an access as the park continues on its roof creating an amphitheater seating-like structure. The roof, the only elevated point in the park, acts as a viewing platform as well as a seating area for outdoor performances, which have just been allowed by law, in one of the series of changes that is currently taking place under the new leadership.

Traditional Lebanese House

Abandoned Church

Traditional Lebanese House

04 Beirut Digital District Beirut, 2019 Construction Phase Project by PARALX. Role: Lead Architect

Beirut Digital District, a new business park located in Downtown Beirut, is a in an all-inclusive community, and a center for incubator parks. It is designed to host innovative startups and for commercial parks to accommodate medium and large enterprises. The master plan transforms the area into a hub for the digital and creative industry in Lebanon. The site is located by the green line that once split Beirut into East and West during the civil war. The main vision for the master plan is to reconnect and stitch back the city through green and open spaces. Our strategy was to design the voids rather than the buildings, then to insert the Mass. The project uses old structures found around the site as generators of public space, celebrating them by creating open areas around them.

The house is designed around the living room which has a double orientation that creates a continuity between the front garden and the backyard; with a predominant northern wind, the space is naturally cooled during the summer. The central aspect of the space is emphasized with a double height and a large skylight oriented South to the mountain peak. A wide bridge acting as a reading area breaks the void & connects the kids bedrooms to the parents’ on the upper floor.

05 Y Chalet

Lebanon, 2017 Completed Project by PARALX. Role: Visualizer

The Y Chalet project is a weekend house for a family of four, located in the winter sports village of Faraya. Situated on a plateau in the upper mountains, the lot benefits from open views to the surrounding mountainous landscape. The monolithic shape of the house is generated by projecting the sight lines onto the house's allowable building envelope, slicing & shaping it while creating its openings. The resulting polyhedron is reminiscent of the rocky formations found around the site. This is emphasized by the rough texture cladding, made from vertical stone strips that vary in thickness. Their white color blurs the house with its surrounding in the winter, and makes it stand out in the summer season.

Thank you.