North African Transgression | Children's Refuge (Thesis Review)

  

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North African Transgression | Children's Refuge (Studio Review)

My thesis project is a refuge for the street children of Marrakech in the Atlas Mountains. The architecture facilitates children to dwell poetically, encompassing opportunities to eat, bathe, sleep, and of course, play.

Three primary coloured courtyards - the altar, the vessel and the womb dedicated solely to the acts of eating, bathing and sleeping - terrace up the mountainside, containing gardens, fire and water.

The courtyards are connected by a central hearth where the adult carers dwell; the secondary coloured blocks metaphorically protecting and providing for the children whilst giving them enough independence to explore and rediscover their lost childhoods.

Thesis Synopsis

North African Transgression | Precedents (Colour)

The architecture of Louis Barragan

North African Transgression | Precedents (Form)

The architecture of Alberto Campo Baeza, Josh Schweizer & John Pawson

North African Transgression | Prototyping Week Day 5

Prototype to explore vertical application, wall-floor/ceiling junction, internal and external corners

Process and product

1. Coarse primer / 2. Lime wall finish

3. Tadelakt (two layers) / 4. Dry polish

5. Wet polish with Moroccan black soap 

North African Transgression | Prototyping Week Day 4

Applying Moroccan black (olive oil) soap to tadelakt

Wet polishing of soaped tadelakt

North African Transgression | Prototyping Week Day 3

Prototype to explore vertical application, wall-floor/ceiling junction, internal and external corners

First coat of tadelkat dry

Applying second coat of tadelakt

Dry polishing of second coat of tadelakt with polishing stone

North African Transgression | Prototyping Week Day 2

Mixing tadelkat (ultramarine blue pigment) with water

Applying first coat of tadelkat to lime wall finish

North African Transgressions | Prototyping Week Introduction and Day 1

Introduction

Prototyping week is an opportunity for the Emergent Studio to actively learn about materials by producing a series of prototypes - as opposed to merely representative models - at 1:1 scale. I am exploring the tadelakt which a traditional Moroccan polished plaster, unique to the area of Marrakech owing to the unique lime found there. Tadelakt can be used internally or externally, horizontally or vertically and is completely waterproof. Over the next 5 days I will be experimenting with tadelakt in preparation for a presentation on Friday; in process of doing so it is hoped that my architecture will develop tectonically as a direct response to the very particular characteristics of this ancient technique.

Applying coarse primer

Mixing lime wall finish with water

Applying lime wall finish to coarse primer

North African Transgression | Children's Refuge Sketch Scheme

For my Major Thesis Project, I will be designing a Spiritual Retreat for the street children of Marrakech in the Atlas Mountains providing residential accommodation as well as education and healthcare facilities.

My sketch scheme is derived from the concept of the earlier Children's Cachette project, which provided a secret world for children. From the outside the retreat appears as an assortment of agricultural outbuildings; the only hint at the function being the coloured window reveals. The roof forms are derived from the surrounding mountains, effectively shrinking the adult world down to a child's scale, they also aid in natural ventilation through stack effect. The spaces for education, healthcare, eating and bathing are organised around a semi-circular courtyard orientated in relation to the path of the sun; whilst the bedrooms are buried deep in the hillside, maintaining a comfortable temperature in both the hot summers and cold winters. A colonnade runs around the perimeter of the courtyard to provide solar shading to the south-facing facades, whilst those to the north have small openings to minimise heat transfer. The plan is divided by the access stairs into accommodation for pre-pubescent children and staff, and that for pubescent children. The older children are able to dwell independently from the younger children whilst ensuring that adults are nearby if needs be.

I am currently looking at using colour extensively for this project, in particular applied to the walls in the form of a traditional Moroccan plaster called Tadelakt which I will be exploring in Prototyping week commencing Monday, 14 March 2011.

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