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Karosta Monuments

Part 2 Project 2014
Moksud Khan
 University of East London London | UK
Karosta is an ex-soviet occupied neighbourhood in Latvia, home to abandoned buildings and structures that stand like monuments of war.

This project introduces a new monument that contains vehicle workshops, as well as wood and metal workshops, and a canteen for the workers and local people. The building sits at the centre of Karosta, between a garage complex and three apartment blocks.

The mass is inspired by the sculptural nature of soviet monuments and the fluid and edgy qualities of sculptures by artist David Quayola. The mass began as a simple monumental structure. Then a fluid subtraction was performed out of a solid mass. Sculpting a fluid subtraction produces a void between the mass that does not resemble the tool it has been subtracted with, or the mass that it has been subtracted from.

The void becomes an entity in itself. The void becomes a timber bridge that forms the circulation within the building. The timber develops its own design logic where it starts to take over the concrete elements and become internal surfaces defining space within the building.

Three different objects form the building. Each object has its own material system and function.

1) An external concrete shell, inspired by bunkers found on the coast of Karosta.

2) A timber material system that has a more fluid character, which is like exploding shrapnel that penetrates the concrete shells and defines internal volumes within the building.

3) A steel staircase that acts as the secondary structure. The staircase is supported by exposed steel members that sometimes become ornamental parts of the building facade.

These three multi-object objects are designed by taking clues from buildings, materials and construction techniques found in Karosta.

The overall mass of the building consists of two low polygon volumes connected by a high resolution timber bridge. The timber grows through the building and forms a large and lightweight cantilever which is supported by the steel staircase. Steel tension cables emerge from the staircase, through the rear of the building to provide counter balance. Interaction between these three objects produces the spaces and volumes within the building.

Moksud Khan
Tutor(s)
Isaie Bloch
Gilles Retsin
2014
A new monument in Karosta (Latvia), inspired by abandoned soviet mounuments and the military history of Karosta.
Karosta. war port, was constructed from 1890 - 1906 as a military port for the tsar empire. Later is was used as a naval base by the soviet ships and submarines. During this time families of military personnel lived in Karosta. Nowadays we see remnants
Karosta is a dual natured place. It is an ex military town with artists and poets as enhabitants and it's buildings include a soviet prison and an orthodox cathedral. This mass reflects the dual nature inherent in karosta. The mass has two distinct design
These objects were found in Karosta. They have been studied and analysed to gain a deeper understanding of the place. On the left there is a wall which is constructed from bricks, concrete and submarine batteries. An example of unrelated objects being uni
The site is at the centre of karosta, surrounded by Soviet era apartment blocks. At the centre of the site there are a block of garages used by Karosta locals. The landscape is vast and flat. Wide roads separate the apartment blocks in an orderly grid, th
Enclosed spaces within the garage complex encouraged a community atmosphere. Karosta used the spaces to repair bikes and vehicles, to produce furniture for sale at the local market, and they used their garages as storage spaces for their farmed vegetables
The above artifact has been been designed to reflect the material charachterisitcs of Karosta. A single object contains multiple charachteristics just like karosta. The object was designed to inspire spaces and material qualities to articulate the interna
Three different objects form the building. Each object has its own material system and function. 1) An external concrete shell that is inspired by bunkers found on the coast of Karosta. 2) A timber material system that has a more fluid character, which
The building sits between the garage complex and 3 residential blocks therefore creating an enclosed space both with the garages and the apartment buildings. Strategically designed paths emerge from the building and strech across the site connecting key p
The southern section of the building is composef of concrete precast concrete panels, whilst the large northern cantilever is timber panels on a lightweigh steel structure.
Upon entering the building, visitors are greeted with the activites taking place withion the double height wood and metal workshop. They then walk up a staircase that orbits the workshop and leads into the timber bridge.
The timber bridge exists as a volume and entity within the building. The timber grows outwards into both halves of the mass. It defines space and also becomes a lightweight external cladding.
Internal spaces within the building have large cascading walls that draw inspiration from the experience of being inside a soviet era bunker. Both workshop spaces have a more industrial atmosphere with exposed steel structures that sometime become ornamen
The fenestration emerges from the voids left from removing timber panels. Tall slender steel columns stretch from floor to ceiling. The columns are covered in a reflective chrome. Timber handrails follow a similar design logic to the steel columns and som
The building stands as a monument and inherits its form and characteristics from the place it sits in. Amongst the large low polygon forms, pavillion like moments start to appear. The journey through the building is an experience. As one approaches the bu
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