Working as a FreeLancer has brought me very rewarding experiences as well as a sum of experience, the fact of being able to exchange services with clients from different parts of the world, has served as a bridge for cpingenieria to be part of an event of great importance in architecture and design such as the Dubai design week.
DUBAI DESIGN WEEK is an annual event held to celebrate and promote design and creativity in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The first Dubai Design Week took place in 2015, and is held annually at venues across the city, with the Dubai Design District being the main hub.
In 2017 I was fortunate enough to be contacted by @takbirfatima the director of @designaware, an architect of Indian origin who runs her own architecture practice in Hyderabad, by that time a structural calculation project required for a foundation that would support an electrical transformer was done, after that we continued communicating and getting to know each other. Personally I found his way of working and his architectural proposals very interesting, and his trajectory has been widely recognised in his locality.
Then in 2018 he contacted me again and I received a great invitation to work with the proposal of some very particular designs, there were 3 works of hyperbolic geometry from there we focused on one of them, as it was WeaveX.
The Arish or palm architecture, which dominated the deserts of the Emirates until the late 70s, is proposed. This building craft uses locally sourced biodegradable materials, and is not only a relic of our history and rich cultural heritage, but also addresses pressing issues of environmental concern and sustainability with a technology that is passed down from generation to generation.
Following the introduction of new technologies and lifestyles, the Arish has become relegated and obsolete. Knowledge of the methods of Arish architecture is now concentrated among Bedouin craftsmen and is limited to art, craftsmanship and domestic accessories.
On this occasion, in addition to working with Takbir Fatima, the team was also joined by the architect @asna.moazzam who was in charge of presenting the project and the structural calculations to the event organisers to obtain approval to participate in the event, thanks to her the response was affirmative and then the next steps were to build the model, where, according to the calculations, it had to be very stable.
The architectural proposal of the WeaveX shows its geometry, its dimensions, its support points and the weave that forms a mesh with the unconventional material in this case.
The simulation of the structural model was carried out with staad pro, indicating the density of the material, locating the most similar to the wood of that type of palm.
An important parameter was the wind magnitude in the area, where the stability of the structure in all directions was to be determined.
The anchoring or fixing of the foundations was also designed, taking into consideration that no foundations or excavations could be made, so the structure had to be movable.
During the construction process it was very gratifying to be able to appreciate the progress through constant interaction via social networks, as the workshop work was being shared at every moment following the specifications of the structure.
After the work had been moved to the exhibition site, the local community and tourists praised the effort and dedication put into the art.
It was really gratifying to have been part of this group of professionals, where teamwork prevailed, all working towards the same goal.
Thanks for reading me! I hope you enjoyed it.
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