DESA1002 'Continuous City' Niki Gango

Abstract

The Continuous City has been the underlying theme throughout the semester and as such requires a little attention when interpreting the conglomeration of projects that encompass not only Tunis but the wider context. Cities such as Dubrovnik, Madrid, Isfahan, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Venice, Paris, Stockholm, New York and Jerusalem all formed part of the Continuous City and each student was given a section of their respective city that would ultimately become the basis of their work throughout the semester. The objective of this project was to realize a design concept based on the site F13 in Tunis. The approach undertaken towards this project was to delve into the local traditional housing of Tunis. Ultimately this would lead to the discovery of the quintessential Tunisian courtyard that played a significant role throughout the design process. When designing for an urban dwelling such as a set of three apartments as was proposed throughout my project the consideration of the courtyard: internal, external, shared or otherwise would became an integral facet to the development of the site. Further investigation into Tunisian housing culture also resulted in the understanding that there exists a strong push in Tunis back towards traditional housing methods. Some of the features that persist in such methods include the limited palette of exterior openings, with the incorporation of mainly interior openings that surround the typical Tunisian courtyard space. Furthermore, access to living areas, bedrooms and kitchen areas designed around such a centralised courtyard in order to facilitate local living traditions became of significance. As well as the adoption of thick exterior walls to ward off the harsh African sun. Thus my approach was to design with Tunisian living in mind. In particular special consideration was given to the appropriation of room sizes very early on in the design process. This became the basis for the apartments in addition to the tweaking of the apartment layout and functionality prior to the later adoption of a shaded public space that would sit below the apartments.