Thresholds of
(Un)certainty
“Everyone leaves, if they need to, if they can, or if they have to.” Luiselli, 2019




Movement is intrinsic to life, often involving leaving behind the familiar and venturing into the unknown. Throughout history, migrations have marked significant changes. Recently, political conflicts and natural disasters have forced massive displacements, compelling people to abandon their routines and adapt to unfamiliar environments for survival and care.

‘Thresholds of (Un)certainty’  approaches  uncertainty of migrations as a nature that creates gaps, spaces in which profound chance and opportunities for transformation emerge. This potential arises with the certainty of dignity and human rights, leaving uncertainty to meaning. The question is no longer if I am going to live, but how.
The design aims to serve as an open archive of narratives and architectural elements addressing the dynamics of living and working in uncertainty. It focuses on enhancing interactions for displaced communities at old Alt-Tegel Airport site in Berlin, Germany.




List of figures












Group work


Master’s Design Studio I
TU Berlin
Fall 20/21

Team
Ossi Kunnas
Vani Monjaraz 
Emina Kocan 

Instructors
Prof. Dr. Rainer Hehl
Tobias Schrammek


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1
Axonometric view of the proposal 
No scale, created by the author



2
Main square enclosed by the bio-digestion tower, collective kitchen, the ceramic workshop, and the library
No scale, created by the author
3
A re-study of the sample refugee document as represented widely through mass media
Created by the author

4
Components of the production core: Axonometric views
No scale

5
Components of the social core: Axonometric views
No scale
6
Tools for adaptation : Axonometric views
No scale

7
Place for worship exploded axonometry
No scale
8
Renewable energy hub exploded axonometry
No scale
9
Information tower exploded axonometry
No scale
10
Ground floor plan of the complex
See the scale bar, revised by the author
Production Core: 
(10.1) Collective Kitchen, (10.2) Renewable Energy Hub, (10.3) Metal Workshop, (10.4) Bike Workshop, (10.5) Ceramic Workshop, (10.6) Soap Workshop, (10.7) Carpet Workshop, (10.8) Plantation
Education Core: 
(10.9) People‘s Library/Archive, (10.10) Educational Space, (10.11) Learning Playscape, (10.12) Gallery Pavillion
Living Core: 
(10.13) Living+Working Unit, (10.14) Living Unit 
Social Core: 
(10.15) Place For Worship, (10.16) Collective Workspace, (10.17) Seed Vault, (10.18) Open Cinema, (10.19) Coffee Shop
11
From top to bottom:
Basic slime mold growth pattern.
The juxtaposition of fixed and non-fixed programs by tracing the layout of interrelated networks of a sample pattern derived from the growth of slime molds.
No scale, revised by the author


12
A zoomed-in section through the bio-digestion tower
No scale, created by the author
13
Longitudinal section
See the scale bar, revised by the author




14
Section cutting through the space for worship
See the scale bar, revised by the author




15
Possible configurations of living+working modules
No scale


16
Living+ working units’ section perspective, a collective workspace established  at the inner communal courtyard by the residents of multiple living units
No scale, created by the author


17
Component narrative derivations
No scale
From top to bottom:
(17.1) Tempelhof (appropriating living space), (17.2) Za’atari camp
(adapting spaces for market use), (17.3) Kakuma camp
(creating communal working spaces), (17.4) component performance sample  


18
Living+ working units’ section perspective, a collective workspace established  at the inner communal courtyard by the residents of multiple living units
No scale
19
An axonometric view to the market place’s  northern entrance
No scale, created by the author


20
Top: Collective kitchen axonometric view 
No scale,created by the author
Bottom: Component narrative derivations 
No scale, created by the author
(left) The tent: Tents are used for multiple purposes; they can be of different sizes, according to assigned function or use
(right) ‘The house with riwaq, domes and a courtyard’: The lifestyle evolving around agriculture and livestock farming, calls for a courtyard attached to the house, a dome to gather under and a riwaq to define the threshold in between private and public  
21
From left to right:
21.1 Tower section
See the scale bar, revised by the author
21.2 The existing 22m-long white firewall elevation
See the scale bar, created by the author
21.3 System section of the tower 
No scale, revised by the author

22
Collective kitchen exploded axonometry 
No scale, created by the author
23
Physical model of  the collective kitchen’s ventilation section and its plug-in cooking hubs  






24
Section perspective of the collective kitchen cutting through the main square
No scale
25
Inner perspective of the kitchen, ovens, cooking pits and chimneys



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