The following project is a proposal that took place during the GSAPP Advanced Architectural Studio, on Spring ‘14, Critic: Mark Wasiuta.
The research focuses on the 2008 conflict in Beirut, where after a long political instability, the country was heading towards a civil war. The conflict was solved when the Emir of Qatar invited all Lebanese political parties to the Sheraton Hotel in Doha to seek an agreement in order to end the ongoing political crisis.
The project focuses on the design of a hotel / “negotiation machine” in Beirut, that promotes neutrality and where the negotiation process of 2008 could be restaged. The territory of the institution is defined at two scales: geopolitical and bodily. The institution is a mediatic machine that though its architectural form creates specific environments and protocols, enabling behaviors that could lead to political conciliation.
The first form of interaction is between the city and the building; the second one is the interaction between different rooms. The protocol of room relationships is a series of mediating spaces with different levels of secrecy, proximity and connection. The hotel enables different forms of exposure: at times it acts as a “curtain” covering the political processes, and at times as a window that reveals the spectacle of the mediation process. The taxonomy of negotiation rooms is based on body formation in relation to circulation, doors, seats and the room shape.
PROJECT CREDITS
Proposal by Emily Koustae, Architect
Press : The project was part of the exhibition GRE ► NYC at the Consulate General of Greece in New York that featured the architectural work by young Greek architects practicing in New York.
BIO : Emily Koustae
Emily Koustae (Cyprus, 1990) studied architecture at Columbia University, at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design, 2014) as a Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) scholar and was a recipient of the William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize.
Prior to this she received her Professional Diploma in Architecture at University of Patras, Greece (Diploma of Architecture, Highest Honors Graduate 2012) as a Cypriot State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) scholar. She was a member of one of the teams awarded with Honorable Mention for New York Theater City International Student Competition (2011) organized by ArchMedium for her project “Performance Esplanade Park”.
Her work has been published in ABSTRACT 2013-2014 (Publication of student work from Columbia University GSAPP), in a2610 (Journal of the Department of Architecture, University of Patras) and in WA magazine is.09/2012 (Wettbewerbe Aktuell magazine) and exhibited at the Consulate General of Greece in New York (2015). She has collaborated with Yannis Patronis Architects in Athens and 26500 Architects in Patras for a number of professional competitions. Currently she is a Junior Architect at GF55 partners, working mainly on residential and mixed use projects.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
THE BRIEFING ROOM
THE CORRIDOR
HANDSHAKE BOOTH
NO EYE CONTACT ROOM
TAXONOMY OF ROOMS
SECTION
SECTION
HOTEL
HOTEL
THE CITY AND THE ROOMS
BODY POLITICS AND MEDIA
THE TABLEREAD ALSO: NEST PROJECT / ARTEMIS MERKOUREA, IOANNA BOUDOUVA & MARIA PACHI / HONORABLE MENTION AT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION