ADS9: Aura - A Call for An Open Architecture
Eleni Varnavides
Eleni completed her BSc in Architecture at the University of Cardiff in 2017 after which she worked on a number of restoration projects and competitions in Cyprus which focused on the development of new rituals by re-activating structures within marginalised areas of the country. In 2020 she graduated from the Royal College of Art, where her research was heavily based upon bridging the divide between geopolitically charged zones. Eleni deeply enjoys design work which revolves around conflict zones and wishes to continue working around the ways in which architecture can become a spatial mediator for cultural exchange.
The Border As An Instrument Of Division
Differential Land Typologies Within The Buffer Zone — The appropriation of territory as a tool used to create a sense of belonging, utilises land as a medium for division, prompting a false sense of security and ownership.
Colour Abstraction Of Daily Scenes
Growth Of The Inhabitable Landscape Over Time
The Lens as Inhabitational Elements — In their multiplicity the lenses become large scale solariums with the capacity to blur what lies underneath them and magnify that which lies hidden ahead.
Colour As a Derivative of The Surrounding Environment
The Elements Which Compose The New Flag
Building In a Communal Spirit; The Construction Details
Composition Of Interventions
Framing The Simple Moments Encapsulated In The Everyday
Commonage as the highlight of daily life
Internal Perspective Depicting the Formation of a New Porous Territory Bridging The Once Believed Unreachable
Nothing-in-between is a proposal for a new inhabitable landscape spread across the Cypriot buffer zone; a 346km2 area of currently empty territory drawn to avoid any further conflict between the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities living within the island of Cyprus. The project attempts to reactivate the buffer zone within the physical realm of the common, putting forward a new territory of togetherness. A territory designated simply for the banality of everyday life.
The aim of the proposal is to treat the border as an architectural space forming a new zone where the edge is articulated as a shared element of change rather than a predefined irreversible destiny. The project uses the lens as an opportunity and the typology of the solarium as the spatial means to form an endless living space across the entire buffer zone, creating new opportunities for bi-communal interactions within the island.
The scheme uses the phenomena of blurring and magnification to create a coloured landscape which acts as a new flag for the island. Multiple lenses form large scale solariums which blur what lies underneath them and magnify that which lies hidden ahead. Through various visual trajectories that look to the surrounding areas, the inside of the buffer zone becomes an area of observation of that which remains hidden from across the border, ever so subtly amending the relationships which were once considered impaired. As one starts to zoom out, the moments which are being blurred and magnified form an image of much greater significance. Moments of resting, eating, praying and playing, coincidentally become abstracted into a field of colour points which viewed from afar form a new coloured landscape in the form of a flag, a stance the proposal takes against the usage of national symbols to create a sense of belonging.
The proposal puts forward a new culture of contemporary spaces based on the vernacular typology of the solarium; the informal living room within the Cypriot dwelling. These form a common space for people to come together as the ultimate form of reconciliation, creating an endless room which invites people from both sides to meet and interact as equals. These interventions have no direct entry but are rather arranged freely onto the site allowing for different types of commonage to become the highlight of daily life and liberating the buffer zone from its stigma.
The project forms a new zone which sits beyond the tension of the backdrop it is placed within, where the commonalities can be observed in the simple activities of the everyday. A land of no boundaries, that adapts and changes with the culture of the people rather than enforcing the border to dominate it. A territory with no barriers, no national ownership, and thus, in essence a territory with nothing-in-between.
The aim of the proposal is to treat the border as an architectural space forming a new zone where the edge is articulated as a shared element of change rather than a predefined irreversible destiny. The project uses the lens as an opportunity and the typology of the solarium as the spatial means to form an endless living space across the entire buffer zone, creating new opportunities for bi-communal interactions within the island.
The scheme uses the phenomena of blurring and magnification to create a coloured landscape which acts as a new flag for the island. Multiple lenses form large scale solariums which blur what lies underneath them and magnify that which lies hidden ahead. Through various visual trajectories that look to the surrounding areas, the inside of the buffer zone becomes an area of observation of that which remains hidden from across the border, ever so subtly amending the relationships which were once considered impaired. As one starts to zoom out, the moments which are being blurred and magnified form an image of much greater significance. Moments of resting, eating, praying and playing, coincidentally become abstracted into a field of colour points which viewed from afar form a new coloured landscape in the form of a flag, a stance the proposal takes against the usage of national symbols to create a sense of belonging.
The proposal puts forward a new culture of contemporary spaces based on the vernacular typology of the solarium; the informal living room within the Cypriot dwelling. These form a common space for people to come together as the ultimate form of reconciliation, creating an endless room which invites people from both sides to meet and interact as equals. These interventions have no direct entry but are rather arranged freely onto the site allowing for different types of commonage to become the highlight of daily life and liberating the buffer zone from its stigma.
The project forms a new zone which sits beyond the tension of the backdrop it is placed within, where the commonalities can be observed in the simple activities of the everyday. A land of no boundaries, that adapts and changes with the culture of the people rather than enforcing the border to dominate it. A territory with no barriers, no national ownership, and thus, in essence a territory with nothing-in-between.
Medium:
High Resolution Line Drawings
A View From The Troodos Mountain Range
Nothing*in*between forms a new zone, where territorial symbols of division such as the Turkish flag start to fade away in the background as one starts to observe the vastness of space, creating a multiplicity of thresholds between the tangible and the intangible.