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Excavated Sanctuaries: Building Beneath a Protected Valley in Jordan

10 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

underground-architecture

Preserving the natural beauty of a UNESCO-protected valley in the Jordanian desert, this underground architectural complex is designed burrow and branch out beneath the surface.

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This conceptual proposal by Rasem Kamal of Oppenheim Architecture features nearly 2,000,000-square-foot network of spaces containing a train station, museum and hotel. The idea aims to bring services to the area with minimal disruption to the natural beauty of the sand and sandstone of the Wadi Rum. In turn, these additions would set the stage for a residential development.

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underground-skylight

The so-called Excavated Sanctuaries bring in natural light from above via limited openings while using the thermal mass of the desert to regulate interior temperatures below ground. Inspired by the nests and warrens of ants and other subsurface creatures, the layouts are at once complex but organized, buildings semi-autonomous but interconnected. The renderings have a Dali-esque quality, highlighting the surreal as well as the serene beauty of simple architecture in a desert setting.

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Aside from its contextual response, there is a deeper thesis here as well: good architecture does not have to stand out – at times, it is called upon to blend in or be invisible.

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“Lately, a great many prominent architectural practices have been focusing on developing dynamic forms, new building materials, sophisticated details and tectonics as well, while only the minority of these contribute to their internal spaces,” explains Kamal.

underground-buildings

“Consequently, this thesis aimed to flip the relationship between the explicit and implicit, by diminishing the power of external form along with exploiting all the previous efforts that were used for it to subtract spaces where we will live, experience and enjoy.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Sunken Central Park: ‘Sidescraper’ Wraps Excavated Landscape

28 Mar

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

excavated central park skyscraper

Conceived of as a hybrid, multi-functional work of landscape architecture, this award-winning design proposes digging down to the bedrock beneath Central Park and erecting a reflective “horizontal skyscraper” around its perimeter, providing 7 square miles of peripheral housing with views out over the park.

excavated park design

Designed by Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu, the concept received first place in eVolo’s annual skyscraper competition. The proposal includes a continguous 1,000-foot-tall (and 100-foot-deep) structure, creating a looping horizontal-and-vertical skyscraper (or perhaps: sidescraper).

excavated landscape architecture nyc

By carving into the ground, new inhabitable areas are created, while mega-structure winds along the freshly-exposed cliff faces. The designers see this move as an inversion of the typical relationship between landscapes and buildings, with architecture forming a framework around outdoor space (versus a plaza surrounding a traditional skyscraper).

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They also maintain that the project would democratize access to the park by providing more people with greater proximity. On the one hand, it would indeed create more housing units with direct access to and views of the park, decreasing distance for many residents. On the other hand, the resulting residential units would no doubt still remain expensive real estate, and, in most regards, the park is already quite open and accessible.

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The displaced dirt and rocks from the excavation would be used to create additional three-dimensional topographies around the city, added to parks and open spaces and creating greater variety within the urban park system of Manhattan.