Unearthed Vessel
All images property of Polypod
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The Science Lecture Hall is one of the largest at AUB and had not been renovated in years. The driving force behind design of the SLH developed to become an elaborate weave of storytelling that allowed through various tools to make the most of the opportunity of improving and developing the lecture hall as well as enhancing the learning experience and expanding the possibilities and its role as one of the largest lecture halls on campus.
We started the project knowing that possessing a strong concept was necessary for the success of the project since the set of regulations and requirements were very strict. The idea was to bring in “science” into the space and use that as one of the driving forces. The lecture hall sits crouched underground between two faculty building the first intuition was to transform the space into a sci-fi space ship. What began as a visual impulse continued and translated into a tool for the formal design of the space. The process began with the introduction of the set of elements, or characters that made up the spaceship; the shield, the observatory, the access tunnel, the bridge, the entry platform and the operation decks. And these elements all translated to spatial programming of the lecture hall; the ceiling, the garden museum, the threshold into the hall, the entrance from the exterior, the lobby and the seating and stage. With the concept becoming grounded visually, formally and programmatically, it was important next to translate it spatially for the design of the space to grow naturally and develop seamlessly. The aim was to advance onto the next step with all the threads being tightly knot ted and to be able to nurture the development to allow to become what it needs to be harmoniously instead of forced and unbalanced and to avoid any randomness or haphazardness. The strength of the concept could turn into weakness if it could not explain every large gesture and detail. Every decision that was to be taken had to stem from the same set of givens and that urgency and sensitivity prompted the writing of the story of how the spaceship came to be on the campus. It was at this point that the path the design is following became clear and the reasoning behind every pen stroke became justified. The story that was told was that of an alien spaceship landing in the outskirts of Beirut circa 1860. The spaceship crashed among the uninhibited grounds of mulberry plantations and eventually got buried under the undergrowth. Years later, a campus had been built on and around and it still sat silently and innocuously until it was discovered and dug up by an inquisitive few. With the story being set, the next chapter was simulating the events of the crash in order to understand what happened to the structure when it crashed, and with this simulation, all the pieces started to fit into place and come together. When these parameters were set in place, it became clear what the space need and wants to be, The materiality, colors, textures, light, ventilation etc… all became clear as to what they are and how they work together. Project designed by Polypod. I worked on this project while at Polypod in 2008. |