CONCEPT
The student’s life consists of a mixture of private life, together with the need for individual seclusion for learning and public life, with public interaction and dynamic relations. We tried to find a space that would provide the support for this dynamic way of life, and we found that the model of the agora is the key for solving the complex organization of activities.
The agora has its origins in Ancient Greece, providing an empty support space designed for public interaction, hosting a large range of activities. It is in the broad sense also an informal learning space. The concept of agora as we make use of it in our design has its origins in the ancient Greek public space, without having a direct link with formal and spatial configurations with the historic model, but by providing an urban scene for discussions.
The student’s housing units are designed as a mix of private and public areas, providing spaces for retreat that offer a quiet private space for each student, where they can learn and retreat, in direct link with common facilities areas, spaces for public interaction, entertaining and communication. The mix of private areas and public areas is essential for informal learning, facilitating the interchange of creative ideas in a free and non-academic environment, thereby boosting individual evolution and a free exposure of ideas.
The spatial solution for housing this complex relational network was to provide a large empty living space, the agora, which is both interior and exterior, consisting of common student spaces, interior courts and roof terraces, which becomes the guideline for organizing the entire building. The main outdoor space becomes the support for all common activities, being a shared space that can organize the internal life of the student’s housing and that provides a room for the social interactions of the student’s community. The outdoor space is ambivalent, students having the opportunity to change freely the definition of space by closing or opening the interface of the common living areas that are oriented towards the inner court and therefore choosing to participate or to shut off from the community.