336 / Samira Chahine: Design Before Decline
Samira Chahine from Lebanon; “I was born in a city in Lebanon called Tyre on May 21, 1997. I was raised in an ordinary family who motivated me to dare to have big dreams and believe in myself. After a few years, I moved to live in the UAE. After I graduated from school, I chose to study architecture since it was my passion. I always imagined architecture as a blend of art and building technology and believed that architecture and research combined with design thinking could strengthen our societies and have a positive effect on our world. I’m a passionate Architect who is willing to be in an environment that pushes the current limits of my abilities and offers me the opportunity to advance my experience in becoming a better designer.”
University: Abu Dhabi University
Professor(s): Mohamed El Kaftangui
Instagram Username: @samira.chahine
Name of Project: Design Before Decline
Project Description: Throughout years, education has always been considered as one of the most crucial stages of human’s life cycle. Good schools and education environment would be the key to the social and economic development of a place through preparing the future human resources. In other words, how can we expand our society and improve it if we cannot dilate our own minds?
The Project is a proposal for a school of design, to improve the existing learning environment to maximize the student’s’ experience at their educational community.
Initially, the concept was derived from the idea of the importance of outdoor green spaces in architectural design to enhance the user’s mood and sociability. Therefore, the primary focus of the initial design process was to create many outdoor spaces and courtyards that are surrounded by the different functions of the program. Also, the main aim of these outdoor spaces was to gather people and to have different activities that students could engage in to enhance their well-being and enjoy the time spent in their school.
One of the strongest forms that are used for architecture is the Cubic form. It’s a type of form that is immediately understandable as space and as an architectural unit that could reach more complex structures. Despite its simplicity, cubic forms could be flexibly maturated into different ideas and shapes in reference to the purpose of the design concept.
