Planting The Art
When I entered college, I got caught up in
university work and I did not have time to
pursue the hobbies I used to have.
This affected me negatively because I used
to do many things in different directions.
However, this problem created a transition
point in my life, as I found a way to let
go of the negative energy inside me.
It was to walk in the streets and keep watching
the city and people.
I was always asking myself how can I return
the life to the city, and if I will have a
role in achieving this dream or see it from
afar?
When I was young, I always heard about global
warming, greenhouse gases and climate change
impacts, and I thought it is dangerous on
the planet but it will not have this negative
effect.
I have asked many times why are there no radical
solutions for the problem, as long as we can
identify it?
Why are we continuing as if we are not in
a crisis?
One of the biggest causes of this problem
is the city and population growth, because
of the evolution that is happening and the
problems we were facing in our last years.
Hence, the architects turned to build new
cities in a smart, sustainable, and eco-friendly
way to achieve a better life and learn from
the problems that occurred to the people who
came before us.
Regarding the existing cities, the architects
create projects to be smart and protect the
environment.
In the past, when I was designing a project,
I was thinking about something that makes
us escape from the reality we live in, and
simulate for people an experience they need
to have.
But why do we escape?
Whatever we run away from, the situation will
be worse.
No matter how far away we go and walk against
the laws of nature and the earth, new problems
will be created.
Why do we leave the heritage and history?
Each of us has a memory in every place or
building in which they live or spent part
of their life.
The existing buildings have a value, whether
historical or moral, each place tells the
story of the thought and the people in a certain
period.
Instead of leaving it, we should develop it
to simulate the changes and difficulties that
we face.
So, I turned to integrate any innovation I
want to make to solve the problem instead
of escaping from it.
I found an international competition in Italy,
which was a great starting point to find a
solution.
The competition was about choosing one of
three sites around the world and transforming
the site and the building in it to be green,
smart, and sustainable and also turn it into
a hub for the city.
This competition was a great opportunity because
when I work on an abandoned factory which
is the worst-case scenario that any architect
can work on, I can return life to any other
place.
I was part of an international multidisciplinary
team.
We won first place on the site worldwide,
and the team won the Young Minds Award in
Italy.
Also, I was awarded by the President of Egypt
at the Arab and African Youth Forum from World
Youth Forum 2019 for my role in shaping the
future.
Furthermore, I was awarded by the President
of Cairo University and Director of the Library
of Alexandria for the best student project
in Egypt.
I was also awarded for the best scientific
research in the Conference on Green Buildings
and Renewable Energy in the Mediterranean,
which was organized by the United Kingdom’s
Global Renewable Energy Network (WREN).
The research has also been selected for publication
in an international book from Springer Nature
in New York and Switzerland.
I succeeded in being part of the dream.
I am going to show you a video and I want
everyone to imagine walking in this place
and how you can live in it, what was the life
there?
This is an abandoned building in Italy on
a land of 165000m2, and there are many places
like that around the world.
We always see abandoned buildings, which no
one uses, or buildings that have functions
until now but are old and do not keep pace
with the problems facing the environment.
This made me think about sites we see on a
daily basis.
I find myself asking.
what was it built on?
How did life here work?
Was it better back then or now?
In the past, there was a life in the place,
there were places for people, nature was in
its true spirit, people would interact with
each other and with the city.
Nowadays, people do all the activities in
homes, in closed buildings.
Even the projects have tended now to create
a life and simulate nature inside for people
to live their daily lives naturally.
As I walk in the city, I do not see nature,
especially in megacities, I just see buildings,
and this is due to the development that takes
place over the years and the increase in population.
The project solves the problem of the presence
of old and abandoned buildings, unhealthy
food and pollution, as well as a lack of agricultural
lands, and re-energizing the community.
It also shows how we are facing the impacts
of climate change and the role of citizen
awareness.
What is activating the place and people without
changing anything or building something?
How do we change our way of life, how do we
make a shift in the habits of society?
And what element should we use to achieve
this transformation and encourage people to
do it to lead the project to self-sufficiency?
How to restore life to this place, and instead
of the city being the problem affecting the
environment, it is the one that will protect
it.
And it is the growth of the city that protects
the environment and brings life back again.
And the city is better, and the buildings
that have been built and are in existence
are the ones that are the source of life for
the place.
5.00 min. – 10.00 min.
This is the idea of the project.
The project aims at achieving economic, environmental
and social sustainability, and achieve sustainable
development goals, mainly depending on the
concept of Urban Farm.
Does anyone know what is the meaning of Urban
Farm?
What do you think about when you hear Urban
Farm?
Urban farming is the practice of cultivating,
processing and distributing food in cities.
It reflects different layers of economic and
community development, and a societal movement
to achieve a sustainable city, and achieve
a connection in the community between people
and farmers through nature.
For people, urban agriculture is the idea
of food security and a new income because
it creates job opportunities.
We began to imagine the beneficiaries what
they want, see and hear.
The experience they need to live every day.
Regardless of age or culture, people always
find nature enjoyable.
I am going to cultivate the city and the buildings
whether outside on its facades and the roofs,
or inside on the floors and walls.
So, I will watch the plants growing around
me while I am doing my daily activities.
The site is the Ex-Zanussi area in Conegliano,
which is the city of Art in Italy and all
the Italian artists came from it as Conegliano
is the heart of inspiration for them.
We use the concept of GILGAMESH, which is
an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia.
This concept is used to underline the human
potential to transform matter in different
fields such as Architecture, Art and Agriculture.
The concept is divided into three parts.
Firstly, Planting the Art; imagining people
returning from work or students returning
from their schools, and their attention is
drawn to the colours, graffiti, and drawing
on the walls.
They began to ask what was happening in the
place, and they entered to see the transformation
that had happened.
Instead of seeing a normal wall, they saw
colours, everywhere that it is located in
nature and the greenery that is on the earth.
They enter the building and meet people asking
them, “Would you like to plant the art?”,
So they enter and see how art can be planted.
There was a large exhibition with paintings
and artefacts on display.
But what is new is that it is made from crops.
They make Art from plant and rose colours.
They make art alive and growing!
They enter the art centre, they see artists
and farmers work together, speak, listen to
music and understand each other’s language
although they are from different fields.
Also, they pass through a shared space for
people connected to a place that they look
forward to while walking through the nature
that has been created.
Secondly, the dome of imagination; the place
is not just a building and a few green areas
around it.
There is a large farmhouse, a real view, and
colours in the middle with a scattered dome
and a light well inserted into it.
They are not domes, they are ceilings of underground
studios.
As an artist, I want a place that merges with
nature and colours.
So, rentable studios for artists are created
since they need spaces to be inspired, while
they are working.
The rooms are located below the ground level
to keep the artists away from any source of
noise and distraction.
The ceiling is designed to be a dome for a
larger view.
Instead of using glass or plastic, we used
a non-stick material that does not collect
dust and allow natural light and ventilation
to get in.
Thus, reducing electricity consumption, and
it can be recycled after that.
The people working on the project are not
limited to farmers and artists, but rather,
there are people from all walks of life.
How do they learn this?
To arouse people’s curiosity to grow crops
using technology, an educational mobile game
application will turn the process into an
URBAN GAME.
It is about teamwork in levels, where the
application provides each team with the basic
information they need.
It also organizes the process of the plantation
through tips and schedules for irrigation
and fertilization.
The place is open to visitors, who could also
choose to be involved in the plant production
more regularly and drive them into an input-education-output
cycle.
In this way, the user is also seen as the
employer and vice-versa.
After you walk in the middle of the farm,
outside you will enter the art centre, you
will learn how to plant the art and display
your work in the exhibition, and the rest
of the crops will be sold in the market and
the restaurant, and you will have money back.
10.00 min. – 15.37 min.
Ex-Zanussi area becomes the city centre of
Conegliano.
The existing graffiti is exploited to be façade
treatment and strengthen the project instead
of removing it.
Besides the art and agriculture functions,
we created an educational centre that includes
research labs, classes and a hall for hosting
courses and group discussions to provide courses
for the artists and farmers as well as disadvantaged
social categories such as people with disabilities,
ex-cons and refugees.
The interior design of the hall is mainly
groups of concentric stages separated by temporary
partitions that could be assembled by the
users according to their needs.
While people are walking in the place, they
find a good smell of food and find a restaurant,
brewery factory and a market selling food
of agricultural products.
In contrast to the trend of social media,
where the pleasure of food is reduced to only
be attractive in photographs.
Regarding water preservation, we exploited
the rainfall in Conegliano to design rainwater
harvesting treatment on the façade to collect
rainwater.
So, we designed panels on the walls and facades
of the building that collect water either
from rain or from agriculture inside the building.
These panels can change their shape to break
the boredom and be in new forms of the façades
without renewing them.
The water in the project is filtered through
the plants and algae facades.
Also, a pipe water wheel that turns the water
supply into a mini hydroelectric generator
is used to power the light bulbs to reduce
energy consumption.
Thus, the water pipes will be exposed and
used in lighting.
The building has a very flexible space with
movable walls and adaptive furniture to arrange
for any possible use.
The community will participate in urban agriculture
activities and workshops will be held for
them.
Plastic waste is recycled by compressing plastic
into bricks and use it instead of masonry
bricks to divide the partitions to carry various
functions inside the building.
In the shared space, we designed units that
you can combine and make partitions or furniture
out of them according to your need.
The outdoor area surrounding the industrial
building is covered with concrete.
This project aims to form uncovered raised
beds areas where the concrete is already compromised,
maintaining the rest as a walking path that
allows visitors and staff to easily access
the green beds.
And in the indoor instead of adding soil which
is considered a heavy load on the structure,
ZipGrow is used which only needs the water
pipes and led light.
To achieve a circular economy, all the resources
are used, recycled, and made use of architectural
and agricultural technology to solve more
than one problem, to reduce costs and increase
revenues.
The production of mushrooms will be added
in the cycle of input and output established
within the project GILGAMESH.
Indeed, the by-product of the brewery process
will be included inside the substrate for
the mushroom production and the exhausted
substrate will be used as a natural fertilizer
for the orchard in the thematic soilless park.
You will see the redevelopment of the building,
which is around it, by increasing the positive
external factors in the level of lifestyle
in the neighbourhood, once the building is
developed and transformed from just a bad
area in the city, it will be the area of attraction.
The local community will have the opportunity
to enjoy the area as a green area, for walking,
and jogging.
It will preserve the land, health and the
surrounding environment.
You will meet new people; you will see life
from a different perspective and considerations
of many aspects of your life will descend.
You will think about how to use the resources
around you in a new way with a new identity
for the place.
You will be part of a great success.
We cannot do this action on a wide scale without
the community.
We need every single person to be a part of
the solution.
Everyone should think about how to take an
action in every single detail in our life
and how to develop what is surrounding us
and turn what is negative into positive instead
of throwing or leaving it.
As long as it exists, it has an advantage.
Every single person is a part of this dream.