In Between The Walls
TU/Delft Design Studio | MSc Final Project [Madrid - 2012]
Cañada Real, as the site of the project, is a 15 km pathway surrounded mainly by housing in both sides, composed of different material, elements, compositions and details. The path is intersected by infrastructures occasionally, but never loses its continuity; the only location that the path becomes detached is where the highway cuts it.
The design concept was to create an in-between condition within two separated spaces; to connect two sides of Cañada by a bridge which is not only a link for the disconnected strip, but also it is a joint between 3 different speeds, the speed of the one experiencing the bridge itself, speed of the passenger through Canada and speed of the highway.
This bridge is made of series of walls and layers; flatness and separation, build spatial relationships between the walls and the surrounding space, and each layer has its own theme and atmosphere. There are openings leading from one layer to another, and one can decide how to experience it. Every one can pick his or her journey on the bridge. The journey can be for reaching a specific area or just wandering around and exploring the random paths and corners. Flexible functions are assigned to this space; a bathing complex serving the inhabitants and users from outside of Cañada, an art complex with various functions such as show rooms, exhibitions, handcrafts market, and also a bar and a restaurant. These public functions have been chosen according to the lack of these facilities in this part of the city.
Series of Physical model was created to try different themes and atmospheres of interior spaces in between the walls and layers of the bridge. So it can be a place, where one can experience path of their own by wandering from a place to another, from a dark room to a bright balcony, from an underground level to a panoramic view on top. The bridge is a pause, a medium from one part to the other. It is a moment of passage; users may define this moment differently, it can take hours or just few seconds and from one to another all the senses are unique.
Interpretation of a space is not only about the form, but also is read by various factors such as light, reflection, smell of the space, temperature, sounds and physical contacts with materials. This video shows how perceiving a space is affected by different elements, such as sound and daylight during different times of the day.