Mixed Use Block in Juba

INFO

How may the “imported” co-exist with the “resident”? The program demands working-living environments for international business people, within the turmoil of the new founded republic. The design problem brings along a set of contradictions; security-easy access, monumentality dissolution, paranoia-naivety; which need to coexist in a schizophrenic structure. Our response is a decontextualized utopian box that houses the “imported” life-style of the inhabitants above the ground level, but connects to the ground via a transparent layer containing local commercial functions. The building provides flexible space for living-working, detached from the context but watching it from “safe” elevated terraces. The modular facades offer various combinations to answer safety and privacy needs of the residents.