Culture as a Collage

WIZO

Project idea

Understanding a culture in general and a specific one in particular can be done by exploring all the layers that lay the foundation of the specific community to avoid generalization as much as we can so we wont make it superficial.

Each individual's culture is designed by many layers; history, geography, politics, our family, environment and much more.
Therefor this project tries to understand the history and the different characteristics through the Czech Republic culture and history which make it what it is today.

Project description

The project takes 5 main periods in the Czech history and implies it on different areas in the Embassy.
Each era is defined by a different interpretation of the historical period and gets a different architectural characterization; in color, in design, usage of light, and even feelings.

-The Kingdom of Bohemia is reflected at the main Embassy building.
using Gothic architecture as inspiration, using linear lines, tall and narrow windows with a dramatic yet welcoming space.
-The Austro-Hungarian Empire is reflected at the ambassador residence, using strict and militaristic order as a representation of the era.
-the communist period is represented at the Visa building and the gathering area, using natural feeling with stones and rocks yet making elements which feel heavy to represent the first grounded idea of the communism like equality yet the burden and heavy period of those many years.
-The Dissolution of the Soviet Union brought Czechoslovakia back to a democratic state and so it is represented at the workers area in different concrete coating, the design shows how everyone has their own place and privacy yet we all are a part of a social array.
-Finally the dissolution of Czechoslovakia which made the Czech Republic a total free country is represented at the recreational area in pink, which is also the color that represents social democratic parties.

Technical information

the main embassy is built with concrete and covered in marble, using tall and narrow curtain walls, the building has a patio and surrounded by water reservoirs.

the visa building is built with gabio walls and the gathering area has 2 kinds of pergola, the one is a cube with glass floor which uses as a water reservoir and protects fro the rain, right beside it another pergola made out of poly-carbonate in a vertical form which does the job of giving shadow yet is connected to the concept. the residence of the ambassador has metal columns that are a modern interpretation of order and the classical and symmetrical columns in Neoclassical architecture. the recreational area has a half Olympic pool, an organic pool that uses plants as sterilization, 2 tennis courts, climbing wall and outdoor gym equipment.
the residence are made out of concrete and have a different texture covering,
each space between buildings has a small garden.
The water in every stripe have gotten a different treatment.