Constructing agency 2018-2020

4d park

Studio Shajay Bhooshan

Tutor Alicia Nahmad Vasquez

Team Chen Yu (China), Chenyun Tong (China), Jianbo Lin (China), Jiatong Yang (China)

In the past few decades the city of London, like many global cities, has experienced the sort of urban sprawl and expansion, due to the influx of population, that creates large distances to cover resulting in inconvenient transportation systems and daily commuting, and a decrease in the human interaction between city dwellers. To address this the project proposes the siting of housing in the parks of central London as a means to activate these spaces as a hub for social and physical interaction, thus minimising the distances between work and home.

Our research attempts to expose how these park spaces are under-utilised, highlighting high usage during the weekends and daytime, but less use during the evenings. The aim is to morphologically change the ground plane, providing a multi-height entertainment area and to spatially organise a series of activity spaces for the inhabitants. Therefore, the landscape is changeable based on the time sequences and routines of the occupants as well as areas for special events that promote interaction.

The organisation strategy of the project is supported on a gaming engine that allows for the participation of the user in the design process so that it is adjustable to each household. The modular construction method is reconfigurable and moveable based on the needs and requirements of each household. The material system is controlled by a robotically-driven process of hot wire cutting that constructs the foam formwork, pours the concrete components in a dedicated factory and assembles the structure on site.