YES, IT’S A WALL
……"Fractured landscapes open a space in the landscapes that opens a space within us for memory". James E. Young, University Of Massachusetts.
While working for UPA Architects I have had the opportunity to work on a whole variety of design projects. Some of them are very complex projects that are characterized by its apparent simplicity. This might sound like a paradox but in Arch. Fernando Romero’s words I would call this “Simplexity”. In this occasion I want to share a project that is located in the area of Barbican Village in Jamaica. Based on our first meeting with the client he expressed his desire to build a touristic complex called Barbican Village. As we were filled in with all the details it was established that the project would have to be built in two phases. The first stage consists of a running fence and a gate house. With these two elements we pretend to create great expectations of what the final stage would be. Since the project is still in the Design Development phase I am going to lay down our “Parti” and what we think is a good approach to this simple but interesting project.
Usually when people think about a wall they immediately picture a solid structure that defines, separates or divides two or more areas. Areas that are conceived as a single entities created by the power of the line and the plane. And is this fracture in the landscapes what characterizes the modern city. Cities that are plagued by walls that not just segregate spaces but also the society. With this exercise UPA pretend to create a strategy where the Wall plays a role of integration more than segregation.
The first step was to identify a protocol that would lead us to develop certain language. In this specific case elements like water, wind and earth gave us the starting point to create a sequence of planes that like origami pieces are fluent and continuous. This element mimics the nature blending itself with its context allowing a dynamic interaction with the user.
