Farrokh Aman_Portfolio

Cambridge WorksOn this exercise, the unit travelled to Cambridge and studied a number of courtyards from the campus University of Cambridge with the aim of surveying and producing a set of

orthographic drawings.

Whewell’s College, an extension of Trinity, consists of a sequence of three courtyards. This drawing looks at the thresholds between them and the different spatial quality of each courtyard.

Original scale_1:50

Albergue de San LourenzoThe project proposes an albergue, a type of accommodation for pilgrims, in an oak grove in Santiago de Compostela at the point where the only pilgrimage route that leaves from

Santiago exits the city.

Several caminos enter Santiago, coming together at the main square in front of the cathedral. From there camino de Fisterra originates and leaves the city. The only camino that leaves Santiago with San Lourenzo being its point of exit. San Lourenzo is an oak grove and the second large public space of Santiago after the square.

The proposal is an abstract timber volume with a small footprint rising from in between the oak trees placed alongside the camino.

Learning from BathAs the first exercise of the year, several buildings in the campus of the University of Bath by Alison and Peter Smithson were visited and their tectonic composition analysed in order to produce three pieces of work such as the following that look at the 2nd Arts building located on the fringe of

the campus.

Civic Bath at Bagno VignoniThe project explores the possibility of proposing a new civic bath and a new gate at Bagno Vignoni; a Tuscan settlement formed around a thermal pool of Roman origins that until recently was used as a public bath.

Bagno Vignoni is a settlement of Roman origins built around a man-made thermal pool within close proximity of river Orcia where the water from the pool leads to after passing through the length of the settlement and several natural pools.

The settlement is accessed through a number of paths that come together around the pool after exploring the Vignoni landscape.

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This drawing looks at Bagno Vignoni volumetrically at the scale of 1:750 and studies the entrance to the pool at 1:100 and 1:200 in terms of their scale and point of entry.

This entrance is the one used the most as it is the closest to one of Bagno Vignoni’s two carparks.

Original scale_1:750(axo) 1:200/1:100(elevations)84x38cm

The settlement is shaped to the geometry of the pool creating a square which is the main public space of Bagno Vignoni that until recently was still used for bathing by the public. It is ac-cessed by entrances located on its corners formed by the placement of the pool’s surrounding build-ings which define this space.

The elevation drawing studies the possibility of intervening in the sequence of the facades of these buildings and dealing with entry or one of the entrances to the site by proposing a new civic thermal bath.

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This section through the pool and the chapel looks at the scale of this building as a civic presence around the square in relation to the pool and Loggia of Santa Caterina. Another point is the method used to draw the water from the pool and lead it down the site which keeps water in constant circulation and movement in Bagno Vignoni.

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The proposal sits on the north western corner of the square. Being the highest point around the pool, it is highly visible when entering Bagno Vignoni through its most often used entrance; an important quality for a civic building.

The building creates a gap with the neighbouring palazzo through which a promenade stretches across the site and along the proposal and meets an under-used path at the top of the settlement extending the settlement into the landscape. Plus, the gardens the proposal sits on is linked with the main square by the promenade thus expanding the public realm of Bagno Vignoni.

The point where the path and the promenade join is very close to a large parking lot used by tourists and visitors creating an opportunity for the promenade to be used as a new entrance to Bagno Vignoni.

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Above: The promenade shaped by several flights of stairs links a path at the top of Bagno Vignoni to the pool creating a gate to the square at the moment of entry.

The front elevation shows the gate and its scale in relation to the palazzo as well as the civic face of the building.

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Right: Collage showing the proposal in context.

Plan of the upper floor of the bath housing the entrance, changing rooms and services.

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Plan of the lower floor of the bath housing the bathing facilities.

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The bathhouse is made up of a sequence of spaces spatially defined by vaults and a subtle level change that gradually leads bathers to the pool which has the same water level as the pool of Bagno Vignoni thus dictating the distribution of spaces within the two floors and moving the entrance and changing spaces as well the services to the upper floor.

The sequence of the bathing spaces in the bath leads to this semi external pool with a perforated wall, the same wall that faces the square. This space relates back to the idea of outdoors bathing which took place in Bagno Vignoni and is very common in the area.

The perforated wall distorts the barrier between the bath and the square and links public bathing back to the life in the square.

The building is a load bearing double leaf masonry construction spatially defined by brick vaults which at the start and end point of their arches rest on concrete cross beams which rest on structural latitudinal brick walls.

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This section is through an excavated part of the building more specifically the hot room showing the green roof which joins the gardens, the staircase, the internal structural brick wall and the rest of the constructing components.

Original scale_1:50

The bigger portion of the pool in the project is semi external and un-insulated creating the need for a thermal break with the insulated areas which is done through the introduction of an expansion joint. This section explores the tectonic of this part of the building.

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