[Micro] The House of Nations

An architectural piece born out of the geology of Harrissons Workshop (ii)

Tutors : Adrian Hawker, Victoria Bernie and Tiago Campos Torres

The Ramp: Spiralling up the Clasp and Cluster of Houses the ramp takes a person from the city into this framed landscape within which fragments of Pangaea are held.

The Houses of Nations: In a market like configuration, the houses from various countries do what embassies do not. They open their doors to the public inviting them in to share in their culture

The Houses of Nations

As one continues their journey on from the market, a spiralling ramp revolves around the houses of nations,

providing glimpses into the myriad of world cultures. The ramp rises the citizen up to the level of the clasp where

this vestibule introduces the curious to the world ahead. Extensions of the clasp seem to hold the houses of

nations in place, these bridges transport the viewer to the higher level of the houses.

View into the House of Greece where the Parthenon marbles are exhibited

View from the terrace of the Clasp

A view inside the Clasp. Various contested objects on exhibition

A view inside the Clasp

A view from the Clasp out to the City

Within the House of Canada where the Totem Pole is exhibited.

Market Level Plan | Domestic agency

The Market facing second avenue generates a active landscape at the entry of Pangaea. Citizens make their first interaction at the food market with recently arrived migrants.

Market Render at the West entrance of Pangaea

A view of Pangaea's floating crust and the market stalls

Ramping from the city into and under Pangaea

House of Greece Delaminated | The house comprises of a [private] concrete husk and a [public] glass vitrine

The Clasp | The Ring | The Cluster

The Configuration

The Cluster is an entity seen to rise from the earth. An architecture that is grounded and robust to communicate

the importance to safeguard the most precious of contested artefacts. The Clasp helps frame this cluster of houses

providing a vestibule, a space that offers an introduction to this vast array of country representations. Finally, the

Ring, provides the route through this space, a gradual rise of the levels allowing space and time to stop and indulge.

Set into the landscape of Pangaea, the clasp keeps the steel surface of Pangaea at bay, revealing the cavern where the houses of Nations remain. Shallower scars set into the thickness of the crust, reveal wooden walkways where one can cross Pangaea and access the remaining architecture.

The architecture ‘embraces’ the cluster. Assuming an anthropomorphic character, the clasp holds dear these contested and highly valuable objects within the safety of their individual houses of Nations.

House of Canada | Section Cut

House of Greece Plans

Oblique drawing of the House of Canada

House of Canada Plans

Benin Bronzes

Colossal red granite statue of Amenhotep III Terracotta

The Hoa Hakananai’a statue

Parthenon Marbles

Kayung Totem Pole

The Contested Objects

National treasures such as the Parthenon marbles of Greece, the Benin Bronzes of Nigeria or the Kohinoor Diamond of India have been a heavily contested subject in the realm of objects that were once stolen by colonial powers of the past. In an effort to bring this conversation on the table under an international light, the project proposes exhibiting these contested objects on a neutral ground, that of Harrisson's Workshop (ii) where discussions can begin on what would be the right steps for international reparations.

Project Awards: RIBA Silver Medal Nomiee | AJ Student Award (Sustainability Award)