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Nexus

Part 1 Project 2022
Anita Luburic
Manchester School of Architecture Manchester | UK
Nexus forms a link between Manchester's scattered university campus, branching out to incorporate the areas which are furthest away for people to get to by foot, offering an alternative mode of transport for a healthier lifestyle. Its architectural form provokes physical engagement in users as its numerous 'muscle strands and blood vessels’ serve the wider community with a functional multidisciplinary route system.

Shaped through notions of Zero Carbon, Futures Thinking and Human-Centred-Design, Nexus challenges static design methods and theories resulting in a complex adaptive system. The routes form flows in between the floors, walls and ceilings, undulating throughout the building which metaphorically reflect the complexity of our human anatomy.

The free-flowing anatomical superstructure is comprised of a structurally optimised geometrical form which reduces the amount of material needed to construct it by almost half, ensuring that the recycled concrete endoskeleton performs to sustainable needs. Along with ETFE cushions which enclose parts of the façade to give them the muscle fibre appearance, the interior spaces are passively ventilated by the constriction and dilation of the plastic, allowing for cross ventilation through the spaces depending on external temperatures and the number of people using it.


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2022
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