project05:Frontpage
Nick van Dorp
THEME: SMART-Environments
LOCATION: EUROPOINT-Towers, Rotterdam (formerly known as Marconitorens)
ABSTRACT
The concept is to design a living environment, a habitat, for refugees, who are granted asylum. This habitat is meant to be a stepping stone in their integration process, in which they learn about Dutch culture, language and prepare to be fully adopted in Dutch society. The location of this centre is in the Europoint-towers in Rotterdam. The open floor plan and good connectivity make it a great location. The towers, which are now partially occupied to house offices, also have a growing amount of vacant space. This vacant space is believed to increase significantly in the near future, possibly resulting in the towers to be completely unused. The goal is to give a new purpose to these towers. The main purpose of the habitat is to help refugees integrate into Dutch society. The programme will therefore include, study/meeting spaces, lecture halls and an information centre. To bring the refugees in contact with Dutch citizens, a market, inspired by an Islamic ‘Souk’, will give the opportunity to sell vegetables, fruit, herbs and other food which they can harvest in an integrated (urban) farm. Because the refugees only live in the habitat for a short time (up to a year), the amounts of people living in it will constantly change. Combined with the many compositions of families, like single people or families with kids, these factors will ask for an environment that is able to adapt to the changes. Dwellings should be custom configurated to fit the spatial and functional needs of each family, while providing the right amount of privacy. Also the dwellings should be able to fit the different grades of western and Islamic customs, and all combinations of those.
GOAL:
DESIGN AN INTEGRATION CENTER THAT PROVIDES HIGH DENSITY DWELLING AND COMMUNAL FACILITIES FOR FAMILIES IN A RECONFIGURABLE SPACE
Parametric design and D2RP could streamline the design- and production-process to be more fitting to the needs of refugees, by rapidly generating and producing custom made living units and organizing them in a suiting formation in relation to their neighbours and the communal space.
SPATIAL CONCEPT
1. Dwellings have furniture that can fold in and out, to minimize the needed floor area.
Like in other multi-modal dwellings, occupied space can be minimized by combining functionality. The dwellings will be tailor made for the habitants. This is the first step to reduce the floor area.
2. Dwellings have different layers of privacy. These layers can be opened up. Doing so will result in more communal space.
The second step, to minimize the needed floor area, is to add any space that is not in use, or is given free by the inhabitants, to the communal space. Also, this is a way to promote transparency, collaboration and communication, which can improve the integration process.
3. Communal space is formed from the counter-form of dwellings. It will provide space for social activities, like:
- Working - Meeting - Learning language - Workshops - Eating or feast - Playing
