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Danube Delta Settlements: Conservation Potential and Revitalization Scenarios

Part 2 Project 2023
Alina Gabriela Dinu
University of Liechtenstein | Liechtenstein
The proposal entails the production of two mid-rise social housing blocks situated within the De Beauvoir Estate, Hackney. Bordering Regent’s Canal, the site consists of a single-storey podium; currently planned for total demolition.

The notion of ‘subsistence’ is frequently linked with productivity, yet its principles remain transferable to all stages - from design to final occupancy.

Through careful demolition and retention, existing site infrastructure is adapted and re-used forming a plinth for the proposed superstructure. Remaining structural elements and materials are employed to form a new porous public realm, cloister garden and canal-side allotments.

Striking a balance between lean, practical, and economical construction techniques, the scheme adopts a systematic and sustainable methodology regarding material use. A natural material palette is implemented within prefabricated elements, advancing the speed and ease of construction whilst acknowledging material lifecycles through demountability.

The forms express a tectonic founded upon repetition and regularity, utilising integrated strategies for water collection, servicing and growing. The project develops compact multifunctional cells for living which address productive, material, and spatial forms of subsistence permitting inhabitation in a multitude of ways by all - facilitating a way of life beyond subsistence.


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2023
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