This is a “light” building. In the school, privacy is minimally needed. People occupy each other’s space. To open the dense concrete slab hotel to the hot climate, the project eliminates all non structural elements in the existing building. By keeping circulation in the towers, all floors can be opened. Once opened, new, lightweight materials are inserted: cable nets for a structure that operates on the existing concrete, and various weaves of fabric for enclosure systems.
Private spaces, most of which have a need for water, are organized vertically as tubes that run through the building, branching as they reach higher, and the program elements decrease in scale. They also create opportunities for indirect light when punched through the concrete slabs. Horizontal tubes provide cross ventilation and outdoor space. The scale of the tubes, both horizontal and vertical, decreases as one moves up in the building, from more public areas at the ground level and first floor, through the semi-private academic areas, and to the private living quarters.
The school should remain as open as possible, both for the hot, humid climate and the health of the educational system. With minimal input and materials (which would have to be imported), this is an attempt to study the potential of a minimum of material usage for the adaptation of a failed building. |
