#architecture workshop

We're very excited to announce that we’ve gotten together with ABARI to offer a 11 day summer school workshop all interested professionals as well as students this coming May. Organised through CEPT University, the workshop will focus on sustainable building materials and techniques, specifically mud, lime, bamboo and rammed earth.

A poster I did some years ago for an exhibition between my architecture school and the Galerie Nomades from Art-Cade art gallery.

Finding Stories :: the role of immaterial culture in city planning

Join AAmatters , the City of Amsterdam, Government of Zanzibar and Stadsherstel Amsterdam on 30 January 2016 for  ‘Finding Stories :: the role of immaterial culture in city planning’ at Amstelkerk, Amsterdam.

“It seems obvious that culture and immaterial heritage are important components for regeneration plans in cities. However, it remains a challenge to find the often hidden stories representing the culture of the existing communities and to then incorporate them in planning and design.The Municipality of Amsterdam and the Government of Zanzibar – both managing UNESCO World Heritage Sites - are working on the development of strategies for heritage-based urban regeneration in Zanzibar. This developed from a particular interest from Zanzibar in the collaboration between the private and public sector in Amsterdam when it comes to using heritage as driver for development. This already led to the establishment of Hifadhi Zanzibar, a company following the model of Stadsherstel Amsterdam NV.  Now the focus is on the heritage based regeneration of Ng’ambo, a less known area just outside of the world famous Stone Town, but equally interesting in historic sense. Next to mapping of the tangible component, it is essential to uncover the cultural and socio-economic framework in the area.  This integral approach is the key principle of the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape approach, for which Ng’ambo is an important pilot project in East Africa.The mapping of the intangible heritage of the area – based upon intensive community involvement - is about to start. This is the reason to organise the symposium Finding Stories as part of a workshop with colleagues from Zanzibar and Amsterdam.”

More informations about the workshop and its programme at AAmatters

THE MYTHICAL TOWER OF BARA KAMAN

The over ambitious tower that Adil Shah ll wanted to construct would have placed Bara (12) Kaman (arches) among the rarest monuments in the world. But, since it has remained far from completion it has generated a lot of myths around it, some possible and some really impossible ones. The murderous conspiracies, mysteries and ambitions make the case of Bara Kaman even more curious.

Taking these myths, mysteries, legends and conspiracies as departure points the students explored the idea of developing design through narrative structures. Students worked in a total of eleven groups. As already one floor of Bara Kaman stands completed, each of the eleven groups were given one floor, of the remaining eleven floors, of Bara Kaman to propose their design intervention. 

Through the workshop students explored ways to develop new narrative structures for their stories and myths and how they can be expressed through architecture. In the end all the models were be stacked on top of each other to form an installation (of approximately 2.7 meters) and complete the idea of the Bara Kaman.