This drawing is from the project (un)Natural Ecologies : New Natures.

(un)Natural Ecologies : New Natures is a project that stems from the idea that Architecture is essentially an extension of nature into the man-made. Incubation and re-generation of ‘nature’ controlled by ‘man-made’ conditions and micro-climates is the crux of the project while also setting up a stage to exhibit the conflict between the two. The project strives to exaggerate and showcase this tension and ambiguity between the ‘natural’ and ‘man-made’. Performative systems come into play to exaggerate and build further on this concept while also generating a living lichen system in otherwise vapid conditions. We question what constitutes nature today with respect to the Anthropocene.

Programmatically, the aim of the project is to re-design the vertical circulation at We Work, NY. The vertical circulation is designed as a tool for communication that can change the entire identity of the building itself. The intervention is seen as a prototype that acts as a circulation and services core for the building while also creating new spaces. The cassette-like insertion is planned in a way so as to have minimum impact on the existing layout and function of the office building. At its core, the project questions the dialogue between the ‘nature’ and the ‘man-made’ while exploring the tension and ambiguity between the two.

The circulation becomes a social space where people can meet, a place that connects people to one another. The stair becomes a vertical public space, to which many additional programs are interconnected.

The vertical circulation is designed in order to evoke a feeling of compression as one moves through the structure except for some relief spaces or galleries which overlook the wework spaces. The design of the stairs is unique on each floor ranging from stairs carved out from the  rock-like structure to stairs that are formed as the striation texture of the material as wall panels flow down to form steps.

Credits
kaviar:collaborative; Kasturi Wagh & Vineet Hingorani