The Phoenix – Final Entry

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Here is my final entry for “The Phoenix”. This challenge was ofcourse one of the most different and interesting ones I have taken up since it involves designing and visualizing both the old and the new converted structure. The new design revolves around not stripping the ruins of its historic image but at the same time breathing new life into it. The journey that the Smiths are going to step into here on has been depicted in few of the design elements used. To create an interest to the subject, I leave it to the viewer’s imagination to find the connection between the old and the new. Hope you all like it!

Neo Ark Animation

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I’ve long thought that re-proposing things is sometimes better than recycling. Ship-breaking yards kill hundreds of desperate workers each year in South-East Asia, just to recycle the steal. As the wages are the lowest in these countries and health and safety, and environmental regulations are pretty much non existent, companies take their ships to be retired and recycled there.

What if we didn’t put finances first, but considered people and the natural environment before profit.
I’ve chosen the ULCC hull type to demonstrate this concept as these ships are amongst the largest ever constructed. One ULCC in particular, the Seawise Giant will be the ship I convert. Although it has already been dismantled there are many such ships that are approaching their end and have the potential of being repurposed. The ship will sail under the new name Covenant, the first of the NeoArk ships.

Here I’ve preserved the ship’s hull structure almost completely constructing the housing units into where the cargo hold compartments used to be. The center cargo area I have cleared and converted into a green space filled with fruiting trees and edible herb gardens. This area also contains multiple play and exercise areas. Each cargo hold segment of the ship will contain a “neighborhood” with a total of 14 such areas. Within the livable spaces there are two special use floors that house amongst other things, schools, a library, gyms and function spaces. Some of these will be local to the neighborhood block while others will be a shared service. The community blocks will be book ended by two further special use areas that may include entertainment and science spaces. Two of the neighborhood blocks will be smaller than the others as they will accommodate view decks that will open up to the outside. These areas can be closed off to create a water tight internal space in case of rough weather.

On the outside the Covenant will have a new bridge and crew quarters with a new more powerful hybrid engine. Power will be generated mostly using solar panels that run across almost the entire length of the ship above the service deck. Around the bridge will be a land area for VTOL craft as well as 4 small hangers that can take helicopters to a below deck service and parking bay.

The Covenant will be equipped with 44 large lifeboats, 6 patrol/scout boats, 6 SH-60 Seahawk helicopters and 1 V-22 Osprey.

I have created 1 animation at the moment with a lengthier one planned that will explain the NeoArk project in a documentary style short film.

The Main Animation can be viewed at the below link
https://we.tl/t-CTsUqxyDGk

Red Barn

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Red Barn is a converted utility shed elevated above a lake inspired by Central Otago in the lower half of the South Island, New Zealand. The area is dominated by ranges and basins. Central Otago is a massive block of schist, part of the 85-million-year-old Zealandia continent. I was inspired by the rugged beautiful landscape and the rich history when I visited the area a few years ago. From whaling to farming to fruit to gold the area has had a very diverse past. There are lots of historic buildings that helped serve these industries – some beautiful and some not so, but most are very functional.

In designing Red Barn, I took the quintessential kiwi “shed” you see scattered throughout rural New Zealand and reimagined it as a holiday home. Sheds by nature are simple structures designed for maximum function at minimum cost. I created a piece of vernacular architecture that honours the essence of the shed, without looking out of place nestled into the rural landscape.

Red Barn from the outside is simple in form clad entirely in corrugated iron finished in red oxide paint containing a mix of locally sourced iron ore and oil. The barns roof and central doors both front and rear slide open simultaneously when in use. When unoccupied the barn closes to protect itself from the harsh weather. When in its closed configuration only four windows are visible limiting the amount of change in material showcasing a more monolithic silhouette. In its open configuration a central glass atrium is revealed, and the roof creates wings that cantilever high above the ground.
The Interior is finished with locally sourced raw materials that complement the surrounding landscape that are rugged and beautiful and rich in texture. Timber lined walls, floors and ceilings on the upper level and concrete floors on the lower level. Schist feature walls and Pounamu (greenstone) inspired mosaics in the kitchen and bathrooms. The plan is simple with 2 bedrooms and a shared bathroom wing on either side of the upper-level split by a bridge that spans the atrium. A spiral staircase takes you down to the lower level with open plan living. The entry door leads you directly into the atrium, but the barn can also be access through a utility room that flanks the kitchen. There is a small bathroom/laundry/wet room located behind the living room too.

The idea was that the atrium space could be used for many different functions such as seating over spill for larger gatherings, a play area when the weather was bad, studio/craft area, maybe you could house a large telescope and gaze at the stars when the roof is opened on the northern side of the atrium.

The furniture is simple and minimal to help inform the rawness of the area. I tried where possible to use locally designed furniture and fittings.

Everything is contained within the footprint of the barn to limit its impact on its surroundings and to keep that “shed” like feel. When you are outside you are truly outside!

Animation:

Forsaken (final images)

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Forsaken final images (converted challenge project)
High res images:https://we.tl/t-AhTkZkOarW
While I was trying to think about how I’m going to convert my building to something new, I thought about pretty much everything, and I came up with the idea of an actual agricultural centre, as I mentioned before there is no agricultural centre where I live. So I merged this Idea and the new Idea of vertical farming in my building and I used its huge amount of roofed space for providing sunlight for the plants and crops inside. I removed the roof of the building which was made out of concrete and had no structural role in the building and replaced it with a transparent roof. Since this was going to be a research centre I decided to use the environmental spaces as well and planted as much greenery as I could including tea leaves (you can see them in the first image). And looking at some small researches I made on new technologies in agriculture, I noticed that they use drones to control the farms and even use them to spray all over their crops (you can also see the drone, one on top of the building and one airborne)

Making a water flow through the fields was necessary, so I used some tricks on cinema 4d to replicate whatever was in my mind.
The whole complex has two main buildings, one on the side and the other is the main place of research and farming (I used the building attached to the main structure for a small staff office, for disinfection and lockers) the building on the side is dedicated to offices and study labs)
Coming to interior place other than the platforms I made to hold more plants and crops and gain more space, I also designed rounded stands and scattered some grass and greenery on them, you can also see small pools and water flowing in the interior image. I was talking about technology, also added robotic arms to harvest the beans and crops from both high and ground platforms.
Soft wares and plugins I used: Cinema 4d, corona renderer, speed tree, substance source materials, substance designer, substance painter, Forester and real flow.
That was pretty much everything I did in this project I spent so much time on the idea and what I was going to do with my building, and these are the results, I learned a lot during this process including substance suite and etc. it definitely improved me and was quite challenging for me and the most important I met beautiful designers and people in this community, I will share all my projects here in the future.
Best regards
Erfan

The third Ronda

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The three images are showing how the architecture took place in this initial wild and burned environment. The sequence is backward. The third shot is showing the majesty of the Ronda bridge, alone, surrounded by poor landscaping, rocks and dry vegetation.
The final two shots are describing how the new architecture is integrated with one of the oldest tradition of agriculture in Spain, the production of golden juice of the olive fruit. The olive oil factory kept the old use of the bridge but it changed the environment, creating fields for the growing of olive trees. It converted also the purpose of the land not just the function of the bridge. It is a matter of respect for the connection between OLD and NEW.

Images with better quality:
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/c7c80e2bada296f49f32468fa1a5de0320210621121039/9b8b817bbad5edd861b93c31088a21c220210621121105/6ce20d

Home

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The story for the images is based on the state where people with financial snags end up taking a mine as a shelter.  I wonder if everyone on earth has a place to stay without having to fight the economical battle half of their life maybe could focus more on other issues such as environmental problems, preserving the wildlife which is getting extinct, etc. in a much better way.

Image 0ne 

How far is actually far? Being far is relative as time is, isn’t it? And being far from home makes the distance definitely a lot far. We feel it, we miss that comfort, where we feel protected with our loved ones with the sense of belonging.  With that thought in the first image, I would like to picture a man waiting for his brother to get back home where they live together. For now, it’s their Home

Image Two

Our educational system tells us that we can all be big-ass winners. It hasn’t told us
about the gutters or the suicides. Or the terror of one person aching in one place alone. Those were the lines of Charles Bukowski. Unfortunately, those lines are still facts of our generation. In this image, I would like to show that a family surviving under the mine and how it’s being converted. A small space which has been converted a Bathroom. I wanted to create a feeling that there are children living there also.

Image Three

It’s an idea that if a person’s lifespan is a tree, then the branches of the tree would be its stages and events of his life. Like each tree, society finds its ways to live. It’s my imagination, around those vast coal mines which the settlers have moved into have created a society, an underground ecosystem. I wanted to create a glimpse of the vegetable market, which is situated along the tunnels for the underground communities.

Thank you