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The Inhabitable Archive

Part 1 Project 2014
Dougal Sadler
Oxford Brookes University Oxford | UK
The Inhabitable Archive seeks to reinstate the Public in Library, to reveal the hidden processes of the archive, through exhibition, and ultimately celebrate the book’s current and historical importance as a means to disseminate knowledge. Sited in Fes el Bali, Morocco, the Medina’s disorientating arterial streets lead my research to a convoluted, community based architecture.

The Inhabitable Archive is carved into the city’s landscape, escaping the ceaseless African sun. The soaring domed roofscape filters the light through layers of horizontal planes, reflecting off the channels of water running deep within the building, thus creating a shimmering landscape buried beneath the city of Fes.

‘Up, Down, Old, New’ culminates the refinement of a playful, conceptual process defining The Inhabitable Archive. We exist in between what is above (celestial) and below (terrestrial); we are inspired by the past and excited by the future. The Inhabitable Archive seeks to engage its participants in the present.

The present is formed through a playful manipulation of the ‘Up, Down, Old, New’ taking advantage of Architectures ability to manipulate and re-iterate natural and artificial phenomena, creating, on the one hand, sensational spatial experiences, and on the other, intimate more private moments.


Tutor(s)


2014
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