Block (remix)

Second year housing studio.

After years of neglect, Tel Aviv Yaffo’s planning authority is looking to develop its southern area according to a new strategic plan “Tel Aviv 5000”. The plan intends to evacuate the existing workshops and allow construction of buildings as high as 15 floors mainly for residential use with some office and retail programs. The intention is sensible, the city is in dire need for more housing to catch up with high demands. Furthermore, the neighborhood of Florentin and its immediate surroundings is an obvious choice due to its very low density. The problem is that the plan overlooks the neighborhood’s strongest asset, its unique identity as a place for creating things. Florentin is home to many of the city’s last remaining carpentries, upholsteries, car mechanics and many art studios. The coming surge of construction should bolster the site’s unique identity and build upon it, not eradicate it. These conditions form the basis for the planing of a block located at the crossroads between the expansive neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, the historic Eilat st., Florentin and Yaffo.

Typical Floor Plan 1_100 — Typical floor plan 1-32

Utopia

Dictionary of political ideas 2015

General description

Burning Man festival takes place once a year, at the end of august, in the Black Rock desert, Nevada. A week-long event, Burning Man offers an alternate reality that is based on ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decomodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation and immediacy. Burning Man exemplifies the double meaning of the concept Utopia which, on the one hand, always holds promise for a better, more moral future, but at the same time, on the other hand, acknowledges its fragile character once implemented. This is when Utopia is exposed to foreign interests and meddling. “In utopian space the formal-architectural structure is what generates the social process, understood as being static” – Dr. Tali Hatuka in the opening article of Block magazine 03, 2006. Contrary to this, Black Rock City, the city that is built from scratch to host Burning Man and that is completely erased afterwards, is based on the concept of reappearance/reoccurrence that allows for progression due to the ability to draw conclusions and make adjustments. Further more, Burning Man illustrates that utopia is a state that can be sustained for only a short, predetermined period of time.

Ideas

The building, comprised of five parts, regards the future of Burning Man, the prospect that it won’t always exist within a supportive environment.
The building, conceived in five immobile parts, offers the possibility of expansion for Gerlach, the nearest town to Black Rock City. Already Gerlach has its fait linked to Burning Man.
The five parts of the building are situated on five lines extending out each vertex of the pentagram fence surrounding Black Rock City. In this manner, the building allows for Black Rock City’s presence to be constant.
The building’s program derives, in part, from the consumer behavior of Black Rock City’s residents, their possible future needs and the unique natural conditions of the site.
The Building will be added to the Black Rock City community lexicon.

06_Black Rock Desert with Objects smalller — Black Rock Desert

Generic Fantasies

modern things metamorphose

Tokyo Studio summer 2014

The 29th floor

East Tokyo is becoming a fertile ground for residential towers which exceed the normal scale of the city. These consist of a typical floor plan stacked as high as possible. The urban landscape is redefined by these massive repetitive vertical planes taking hold of the sky. Although stacked typical floor plans are not a new concept, the ratio between the floor perimeter to the building’s hight offers a never before seen opulence to the generic facade. Beyond a certain hight, residents sharing the same floor in the city cannot be considered as having a relation to the ground level as they are too far apart. At this point, the floor is characterized by enough common conditions that allow to regard its members as a family. For example, the residents of the 29th floor share the same horizon, same time riding the elevator, confrontation with the strong winds and the specific weather conditions along with the presence of the flickering red lights.
It is with this thought in mind that I decided to create the following documents.
The first contomplates the 29th floor in the city as a “Field”. The second document, the “Metamorphosis” offers a festival organized by the 29th floor members as a way to strengthen their communel ties and to become a visual expresion to their bond.
Finaly, the “Surface” document is a homage to the painting by David Hockney, “Mr. and Mrs. Clark and Percy” (1970-1971).

02_Michael_metamorphosis_8_for web — Metamorphosis