dimanche 12 juin 2011

Maternity clinic for Punch out Poverty - Bubaque Island, Guinea Bissau

We were asked at the last minute to design a maternity ward on a small island within the Bijagós Islands archipelago off the coast of Guinea Bissau. Using local knowledge, local materials and pragmatic design decisions - due the dire nature existing in the absence of such a facility - we produced the design presented in the following images. The last images are of the visit that proceeded the design phase. We plan to be spending a few months working at the site... soon..










Punch Out Poverty signed a cooperative agreement in August 2010 with the Global Clinton Initiative affiliated foundation, Doc to Docks. Through the agreement, Punch Out Poverty purchased and shipped a 40-foot container filled with medical supplies which reached Guinea-Bissau in February 2011

Efforts to rebuild the country have begun.



vendredi 10 juin 2011

PKK pushkinsky Cinema Moscou with Alice Dufourmantelle and Carlo Goncalves

SEE & BE THE SEEN : FACADE FOR MOSCOU CINEMA


general view from above

front view

view from below

inside view

axo

section

elevation

plan masse

Turning over the cinema

Experimenting amidst the human interactions, the prime mover of the cinematic experience,
a living facade augments the new technological advances found within Pushkinsky theater and facilitates a more complete movie-going experience. This experience projects out through the city and illuminates that within the theater, offering both projection and reflection for those who visit.

Bleachers

Growing out of the underbelly of the existent structure, we shelter the visitors of Pushkinsky Cinema under the giant eave jutting from the building, within an active facade, a rambling set of bleachers, a tribune, a place to meet.

The steps comprise a vertical gathering place accessible at any hour. Entered directly from Pushkinsky Plaza people of the city are welcomed to meet, sit, talk, picnic, or merely contemplate the city.

This facade is a way to externalise the social aspect of the cinema.

The new facade will become a transitional space, a buffer between the fictions experienced within the theater and the reality of the city. This facade is exposed to the city as a social scene.

This facade has two faces : the exterior face, more likely to be used in the summer months, the bleachers belonging to the city ; and the interior one, the lobby belonging to the cinema. The linkbetween the two is made by additional programs.

Program

Transitional spaces between the city and Pushkinsky Cinema
Composing different elements, each visually open both to the city and the interior lobby of the cinema, the program as proposed consists of the following:
Book store- dedicated to the world of cinema
Café / restaurant
The stair is used as a measurement unit : Steps individually scaled for circulation, private seating, and group seating

Materials
Varying informal spaces evolve throughout the structure of the bleachers giving access to both the exterior and interior environs, passages merging the two with contrapoised ascending and descending pathways. The facade, constructed of concrete, and steel seamlessly leads visitors from the street to the cinema, to the café, the mezzanine, and of course to the tribune itself. The third material are the visitors, the element of life itself, arriving and moving about upon the steps.