Last week we had our final studio projects evaluation and exhibition at the aast in cairo. Our design studio this semester focused on notion of space, and spatial qualities. Students were required to start designing their projetcs from the inside first, focusing on 4 themes, light, color, scale, and texture. More information here.
Most students were able to grasp the power of these qualities in creating specific atmospheres and were successsful in conveying statements such as grandness, seclusion, diversity... etc. Here are some selected images of the finished projects.
Projects by:
Amr Al Awady
Heba Bayoumi
John Mourad
Saeed A. Moneim
Salma Sabry
Shady Mohamed
Hasan Ashraf
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The followwing day the department hosted the semester design studio review and exhibition. An underground memorial in tahrir square, a community center in downtown helipolis, a municipality office building, an auto mall, along our forum building, portrayed the diversity of projects undertaken by different studios, with the multitude of themes they addressed such as context, structure, materiality, sustainability, and space. While a common thread of rationale seemed to be passing through all the projects (see my previous notes on the AUC exhibition here), I was concerned with several issues regarding the processes by which the projects have been achieved. It was clear there was a general lack of diverse opinions within the studio critiques. The one-way discussions that occur inside the studios, are apparently not enough to generate students with critical thinking skills, and who are able to disscuss and question their and others work. This is a very common pedagogical issue in the way egyptian architecture schools are being run, dominated by a clearly outdated tradition of teaching. But that is another story.
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Most students were able to grasp the power of these qualities in creating specific atmospheres and were successsful in conveying statements such as grandness, seclusion, diversity... etc. Here are some selected images of the finished projects.
Projects by:
Amr Al Awady
Heba Bayoumi
John Mourad
Saeed A. Moneim
Salma Sabry
Shady Mohamed
Hasan Ashraf
The followwing day the department hosted the semester design studio review and exhibition. An underground memorial in tahrir square, a community center in downtown helipolis, a municipality office building, an auto mall, along our forum building, portrayed the diversity of projects undertaken by different studios, with the multitude of themes they addressed such as context, structure, materiality, sustainability, and space. While a common thread of rationale seemed to be passing through all the projects (see my previous notes on the AUC exhibition here), I was concerned with several issues regarding the processes by which the projects have been achieved. It was clear there was a general lack of diverse opinions within the studio critiques. The one-way discussions that occur inside the studios, are apparently not enough to generate students with critical thinking skills, and who are able to disscuss and question their and others work. This is a very common pedagogical issue in the way egyptian architecture schools are being run, dominated by a clearly outdated tradition of teaching. But that is another story.
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