nest and branch a manual for play amidst rapid change
AMRA ALAGIC, LARA KUROSKY and LEA DYKSTRA
Proposal: Inspired by the work of Claude Cormier et Associés, Nest and Branch uses a tool-kit of public installations to help invigorate the neighbourhood. We propose dividing the site into four sections: the Transit Market, the Park and Plaza, the Living Meadow, and Upper Commons. These zones use the spaces inbetween construction and housing.
In proposing a tactical design scheme for a neighbourhood in Tirana, Albania, we purposely kept it simple. For us, it is not a design project in the sense of creating a final product, but rather a blueprint to strengthen an already self-sufficient community dealing with displacement and urban change. We have called our project Nest and Branch , because the proposal starts in Njësia Bashkiake Nr. 9 and reaches out to other parts of the city. The name recognises the main building blocks of our tool-kit: eggs and poles. Working with a 73-acre site, we want to have identifiable forms which visually connect all its different parts. Our inflatable forms, eggs, are used for seating and makeshift shapes for play, while the poles provide structure for demountable installations. Other materials in our toolkit are found around the site. All these forms and materials are part of a design manual aimed at fostering collective action within the community of Njësia Bashkiake Nr. 9. The toolkit shows residents how to combine objects such as poles, inflatable forms, crates, fabric and pallets to make play bars, installations and even impermanent shelters. The Nest and Branch scheme considers social and political structures at play within the site. The national government plans to completely redesign Njësia Bashkiake Nr. 9 under the Tirana 2030 masterplan, led by Stefano Boeri Architetti. The designs released to the public so far have conflicting values. Some highlight the transformation of the land to a forest while others only include mid-rise block neighbourhoods. The only thing they all have in common is keeping the community uninformed, and softening their voices to implement projects. Demolitions are occurring throughout the city to make way for the idealistic masterplan. The conflicting nature of the designs shown to the public paired with significant demolitions, such as the removal of the Albanian National Theatre, has triggered protests advocating for conservation. Our approach is rooted in community-led initiatives as a way to counteract the top-down changes taking place in the city. Playfulness and childlike enjoyment is at the forefront of the Nest and Branch project, offering residents a retreat from the political intensity of the city. Problem: The boulevard adjacent to Njësia Bashkiake Nr. 9, running north-south from the city’s centre, is one of the first redesigns to take place within the city for Tirana 2030. A useful network of streets and housing has already been demolished, breaking links within the community. The boulevard, unfinished and leading to nowhere in particular, is partially used. The construction of new luxury apartment buildings within the housing district has also begun. This construction has encroached onto public space bringing dust, noise and unaffordable replacements to the existing housing supply.
The site is open and next to the boulevard. Zones from north to south: Upper Commons, Living Meadow, Park and Plaza, community garden, fruit farm, maker’s space, and the market.
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on site review 44 : play ©
Alagic Dykstra Kurosky
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