hybritopia • seeking an architecture of reconciliation
The rural landscape in the global south has become the subjectivation of ruthless economies and the demand for detachment and independence has been building up since the time of Discovery. As contemporary colonization is slowly reaching a rupture point between the corporation and minorities, governments and locals, urban and rural, developed and developing, architecture can mitigate the impacts as an agent of reconciliation. A space designated for the revitalization of land degradation, not in the sense of making the land fertile again, but from the standpoint of a new foundation of cultures, communities, and traditions, and more importantly, a setting for celebrating rural human existence, from life to death and infinity.
A sacred space, or a rural hybritopia, embodies the epitome of redemption, reconciliation, and renewal for villages, towns, minorities, and displaced communities. This new hybritopia, shaped by the site’s past, by the hauntology of neo-colonialism, as seen in displacement, relocation and the scarring of the land from mining activities, combines dichotomies that might have been seen as estranged, but its union creates a new understanding and view of the world.
Hybritopia allows for the re-structuration of the social fabric, without losing its original values, and for the creation of a space for reconciliation. Seeking an architecture of reconciliation is seeking an architecture of the home, where space becomes place and the profane becomes sacred, and where a new symbiosis is born.
Spiral
The essential elements of Chinese architecture are courtyards and gardens. Complex garden designs deal with symbolisms and relationships between living and non-living entities. Considering how influential gardens are part of Chinese culture, this project embraces it as the core idea for developing the program.
Spiral comes from the idea of the gardens as the backbone of social interaction, life enhancement, and experiences. The traditional Chinese courtyard houses are reinterpreted in two ways: the concrete core as the spinal cord of the cells and connector of the different spaces, and the gardens as the gathering area for anyone. Moreover, the courtyard, as an element of a home, is dedicated to not only living but also working.
Located in the industrial area of Suzhou, Spiral follows the SOHO concept, creating spaces for entrepreneurs, businessmen, and anyone looking for a place to work and live. Additional to the gardens, there are studio spaces, for both living and working, which they were designed with the idea of social interaction among the different tenants in order to create a diverse community, flexible open floor plans it also blurs defined spaces for programs. The flexible and adaptable floor plans os the studios allow for numerous arrangements, as required for a person, group, or company.
Spiral is the reinterpretation of traditional views of living and working, fixed and flexible, and public and private, to contemporary answers.
Davisville
Built at the peak of modernism in Canada, during the mid-1960s, the Davisville Junior Public School is characterized by the innovative thinking of the time. Through rich architectural expressions such as the roof origami-like form, the playfulness of the windows, the rhythm of the bays, the in-betweenness of the stair cores, and the clear geometry. Regardless of all these qualities, the school fell short of student capacity, maintenance budget and general discomfort of the school facilities.
Davisville Junior Public School, undergoing the negative impact of contemporary modernization, began its demolition in the summer of 2018.
As part of a preservation initiative, this project was approached to keep its original characteristics while adapting to future and unforeseeable demands.
In the first part, different components, details and elements were explored. The whimsical expressions of these details uncovered the modernist approach to design. In the second part, a ‘new’ school is proposed as an evolving architecture that responds to the demands of the time, while adjusting the mid-century masterpiece to contemporary requirements.
The school of the future will layer ideas, interests and the overall zeitgeist in which it is evolving.
