A very Jean Nouvel apartment/ Lee Tower project
The Lee towers (previously known as Marconi Towers), overlook the west part of Rotterdam. Ever-present, they embody the Rotterdam science tower. For this project, I delved into a very specific scenario - what if you had to design for a specific person? One of a specific age group? One who has a strange hobby? And on top of that, demanded a design after a world-famous architect? How would all this affect your design?
Mimicking a world class architect is one thing but designing after his principles is a challenge of a different caliber. First, you need to know the architect, his work, his principles, speculative theories, preferred design methods and - of course - signature elements. For me, this meant nosediving deep into the French architect Jean Nouvel's work, or I'd rather say, his mind. I found out that, as he says it himself, he is "an architect with no particular style" and it is true because everything he has built is different from his other works as it is solely based on the context - the site, the function, the history embedded within the culture of the land. This meant that I had to work out the context found here in Rotterdam.
Mimicking a world class architect is one thing but designing after his principles is a challenge of a different caliber.
This has resulted in an apartment for a working lady, a space meant for relaxation for a constructive, organized mind. Quickly I have discovered that routing was everything within this scenario - every day as the sun descended, she had to ascend back into the workflow. Thus, the whole design was meant to mimic a waterfall, a waterfall made up of greenery and vertical gardens as Nouvel calls them. Just as the waterfall flows from the top of a cliff, so is the person to make her way down to the front door every day, to follow a route to descent into her daily life.
