The 'Emergent Constructions' Pavilion

Mohammed Makki has recently tutored and coordinated the Architectural Association's Kuwait Visiting School. The 10 day workshop explored the effects of public space interaction through a locally resourced and student led pavilion. The structure was built primarily from plywood sheets and fixed mechanically through with wooden fixings. The pavilion was displayed in the 'Promenade Mall' for a period of two months, allowing visitors to interact with the structure without hindrance.

Workshop Brief:

"The installation presented here is the outcome of the Visiting School Kuwait 2016, organized by staff and graduates from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. The Visiting School brought together international and local students and professionals in architecture, and investigated contemporary methodologies for context-specific architectural design. The program introduced digital design seminars and advanced site mapping methodol­ogies to allow participants to engage with the underlying social and cultural mechanisms of public space. The site information gathered was then used to explore and develop a critically informed architectural intervention, enhancing and enriching the site within the Promenade Mall. Throughout the ten-day program, several different design strategies were combined into a single architectural approach which was further refined to incorporate the characteristics of digital fabrication. The pavilion is constructed using 3-axis CNC routed plywood components that were assembled on site without the need for specialist tools or fixings. The resulting pavilion incorporates spaces for social activity of different size and character. It operates at the scale of human experience, acting as a catalyst for the specific users of the site. As an innovative architectural installation, it explores the possibilities of generative design, and its capacity to incorporate dynamic social and environmental performance qualities."