ORI-FOLDS: The Reinhabitation Project

Ori-Folds: The Reinhabitation Project

Providing temporary shelters for returning refugees and aspiring them for permanent housings.

Project Name: Ori-Folds: The Reinhabitation Project
Student Name: Maghi Alkhen

Proposed Location: Jobar Neighborhood, Damascus, Syria.

Function/Activity: Temporary/Permanent Residentials with a Community Center.

Plot: 16,000 sqm.

Project Thesis:

The Middle East has always hosted many uprising conflicts over the years. One of the major ones being the war. Many countries in the area know the heartache and have experienced such a hard time either at first hand or felt it for their bruised neighboring countries. War has always left scars whenever it passes by a host country, leaving traces behind it through the wounded citizens, resources, lands, and architecture.

Countries such as Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, and Egypt are some countries where ruins are what people see in their normal day lives. I am a Syrian student who has experienced the war first hand through the Syrian Civil War. Entire cityscapes, urban lives, and historical sites are in rubbles. I have seen it and the sight of it drowns the heart and soul into ultimate sadness. The place used to be called home now unrecognizable between the piles of fallen concrete structures and steel wires, which still gives out the threat of “danger” even when it’s damaged now and powerless.

The citizens left without homes, the economy going down, the history lost through time, and the spirit chained by memories, these are the motivations that are pushing me to strive for a solution.

Project Proposal:

This project aims to be taken into consideration in any country that have faced war and is aiming on moving forward and build its future again. As a first step, I have taken the country, Syria, as a proposed location.

Reflecting on the situation of the Syrian Civil War and its huge impact on the country, I aim to try and heal the country step by step back to its life filled days. The healing process adapts to the concept of “mitosis” where the healthy cells start to divide itself with the aim to cure a scar on the skin.

The three phases of healing start with the shelter. It is providing a temporary structure that is fast to build, low in cost, and safe for the people who have lost their original homes.

The second phase is focused on the methods of transforming these temporary residentials into permanent ones and creating full residential units.

The third and final phase that coexists with phase two is to conceptually include some Arabic and Islamic inspired elements within the final outcome.

Concept Development:

Construction Development:

The shelters are prefabricated aluminum sheets that are manufactured and then transported to the site. They reach as folded sheets and then they get unfolded on the site by workers or even normal citizens as its easy to unfold.

Site Map:

Site Analysis:

Site Plan:

The Mitosis Concept:

These images below represent the process of how site plots change over time from being equipped with temporary shelters into permanent dwellings.

The process goes step by step, plot by plot, and spreads all around the neighborhood in the aims of reviving the area and filling it with life again. Just like the process of mitosis and cell division, the life is dividing and spreading back into the area.

The Residentials:

The residentials consists of three leveled buildings that have three houses on the ground floor. four at the first floor and two at the second floor. The number of rooms range between 2-3 bedroom apartments.

The finish materiality of the exterior walls and domes is a white render. The mashrabiya panels are made out of aluminum and behind each, a curtain wall is present. Moreover, the curved glass-like material used for the openings of the domes is resin which is durable, flexible, and cheap which makes it the best option to be used.

The aim of the structure is to have most of its elements pre-casted off-site. Precast slabs, walls, beams, and columns are in use; however, the dome, as explained before, will be site casted.

The combination of the mashrabiya-covered walls, the dome, and the Arabic patterns created at the interior side of the domes articulate the permanent residential housing and provides an interesting interior spaces.

Plans:

Sections:

The Community Centre:

The community center is a building that is meant to host exhibitions that shows the history of war that the country has past through throughout these recent years. It is meant to remind the people and raise their awareness. The building hosts other functions such as a lecture hall, retails, and a café.

Exposed concrete is the final finish of the domes and the mesh structure is made out of carbon fibers which are 10x stronger than steel.

Form Development:

The building has a distinguished semi-private outdoor spaces that are created between the dome structure and the mesh walls which are shaded with the patterns of the mesh and creates an interesting space within.

Three workshops are located in the outdoor area of the building which hosts training and instruction lectures for the citizens about the foldable shelters and their operations. They also include storage areas for materials and equipment.