White City, Pink City
B.Arch Thesis Project, Tel Aviv University
The project proposes the spreading of foreign “public space” objects in the urban space, reclaiming the streets around unattainable housing developments. The objects are of parasitic nature, and receive their structural infrastructure from the city itself. In return they provide the city with inhabitable places, tailored to fill millennial and post-millennial urban inhabitation habits.
Functionally, the project responds to cellphone – generated and laptop – generated functions (such as “texting”, “binge-watching”, “freelancing”, and i.e.). The objects are created from reused textile, in response to the environmental impact of the textile industry.
The project challenges and alters the way of
finding a home whiting the urban tissue.
finding a home whiting the urban tissue.
"All really inhabited space bears the essence of the notion of home"
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, p.5
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, p.5
“A house that has been experienced is not an inert box. Inhabited space
transcends geometrical space.”
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, p.47
The project responds to three burning global issues
1. nomads
The current ability and tendency towards nomadism is shaping countries and cultures today. But it has long gone far beyond simply moving from one country to the next. Nowadays, nomadism is engraved in our everyday lives. We change occupations and jobs more often; we can use the same physical space in a variety of ways with just our mobile phones. Even our attention span is affected.
As a response, the project proposes spaces that support phone and laptop – based functions, such as texting, freelance working, etc. The project creates public and shared places in the urban space that allow short term use for short term functions.
2. revolts
The second issue the project responds to in the current political climate and it’s comparison to the Student Revolt of May ’68. 2018 is characterized by demonstrations and protests worldwide.
France's 1968 uprising, 50 years on: "If theres one thing in common, its
young people's despair"
young people's despair"
Angelique Chrisafis, the guardian, May 1, 2018
The projects focuses on the housing crisis and responds to this particular issue by acting as a revolt itself, occupying the urban space around new, unattainable and thus, mostly empty new Telavivian housing developments. It was discovered that only six to eight apartments on average had permanent residents in the high rises researched. Moreover, the public areas on the ground floor of these building – while legally belonging to the public – were designed to maintain their emptiness and un-attainability.
3. sustainability
The third issue the project responds to is the ecological impact of the textile industry, which has now become the second most polluting industry in the world. In addition, given the two issues presented above, we now consume less – whether by choice, or as a result of economic circumstances.
The material used for the project is textile waste. During a research conducted for several weeks, numerous techniques were tested for their durability and capability to turn textile into a structural material.
Two tensile net membranes construct each “bubblegum”. During the planning process, attention was given to the different sections required for the different types of space occupation suggested. Privacy and exposure levels were monitored by varying the density of the net.
During the structural planning, a parasitic system of construction details was developed. The private and shared bubblegum pods connect to apartment windows and extend them into the residual urban space between and behind residential buildings. The public bubblegum pods connect to the streets and the street – level urban infrastructure using light, temporary fixtures, allowing the pods to be easily transferred from one location to the next.
To fit into the changing conditions of the city, the pods are fully parametric – the required parameters are only the center points and radiuses of each structural ending, and the number of attachment points to the bearing structure, which also determines the density of the net.
