Πέμπτη 2 Φεβρουαρίου 2012

Students "build" the new museum!


Innovative architectural proposals by students of the University of Cyprus

The construction of the new archaeological museum in Nicosia may be delayed due to economic scarcity, but this did not stop the students of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Cyprus to be inspired and create a living cell culture at the old Nicosia general hospital.

Their own innovative architectural proposals for a major project celebrating the culture and history of our island lodge - through two remarkable works - students of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Cyprus The work was overseen by academics Peter Fotiadis and Alexandra Chronaki and visiting professors from institutions abroad, are results of the last course in architectural design issues in the wider city. The exercise involved the formation of a dual strategy. The first responded to a realistic plan to extend the activities of the Archaeological Museum and the connection to the city of Nicosia. The second was to accommodate a second collection of exhibits that each student was asked to choose. The correlation of these two reports formed the basis for theoretical reflection on the political significance of the museum and memory management in Nicosia. The siting of the new museum at the old general hospital manipulative modern collective memory of the city, exploring the possibilities and the importance of maintaining or demolition of the central and other buildings of the former hospital.

Wonder of our blog: The old museum will be extended in the new museum exhibit or wait for excavations in the area;

Buffer memory in the city

The work of students Mary Gabriel and Andrie Ruiss - Harissios faced the new museum as an overall management plan of the Memorandum of stock of the city. The aim of the group was to develop a second collection of the elements that make up the recent traumatic memory of the city and crystallized in statues, lists of dead, the National Struggle museums on both sides of Nicosia, as the buffer zone. The proposed museum housed the archaeological collection at a new elevated building volume over the retained traces of the old hospital, while organizing the existing open and closed spaces of the old fairgrounds complex on the second collection. Contributing to the future management of the political problem in a discharged city, the urban terrain and architecture of the new museum were used as negotiating tools of urban trauma.

The students said about their work: "The old Nicosia General Hospital has a number of important building for both the city and to Cyprus in general, which is associated with important events in our history. Want, therefore, to stress the particular importance of using the same layout of the hospital as a key element in designing the new museum. This is done in various ways, such as the maintenance of existing buildings, redefining their use, maintenance of the first track of a modern building with the original form: the pilotis, stairs and visual access to the foundation of the building as a form of "archaeological excavation".

The new museum is placed on the trail of dead old hospital. Furthermore, the building reflected the cross-chors morgue with existing objects, which is directly linked to the dead city. The burners of the hospital and the area of ​​laundry items are clearance, which aimed to eliminate the traumatic memory of the city.


The story is written in the oblivion of the past and the space filled with the desire of "representation". Thus, the presentation of the archaeological museum in such a manner showing the gaps of history. Through the linear narrative, which is divided into three zones move, questions appear in versions of the story and the visitor realizes it will never be complete, with various gaps encountered in its path in the report. "
Restoration and reuse of building
In the work of Elena Yennari, design for the new museum was both strategic enhancement and integration of elements of the wider urban area. Through a mild morfologisi new building blocks and placing some of them below ground, attempted to link the exhibition space to the main building of the old hospital, the flood plan area, the city garden and the city. The proposal addressed the rehabilitation of the main building of the old hospital in original form 1940 and re-use as a scientific center, library and spaces for staff and administration of the museum. The main building that housed the archaeological collection was treated as linear threshold Chilonos Street, forming an urban front and the entrance to the complex. The museum has also been suggested as a reservoir of everyday memory and private citizens, recording and preserving personal items. The proposal addresses the concept of a dynamic museum collection and the creation of the visitors, creating a separate institution - file, which retains its historic - collective memory in a dialogue with the everyday personal memory of the citizens.
As a student explains, "the site of the old Nicosia hospital is a hub of the city. This is a privileged position, as it is very near the Venetian walls of Nicosia. Alongside adjoining buildings and spaces of a public nature, including the Archaeological Museum, the Municipal Theatre, the Supreme Court and the Municipal Gardens. Important also are the boundaries that define the plot, the roads Chilonos and Nehru and Pediaios River.
These three levels, namely the Pediaios River, the recognition of two levels of the city, the lack of connectivity and integration of the river and the land in the city as an active part of it formed the main part of the surgery.
The proposal is based on making two lines starting from the museum and end up in the river, where there are public uses. The areas adjacent to the river have been able to operate and the hours the museum is closed, thereby promoting activation and supra-use of the river. Moreover, a third axis crosses the land, the previous two slits, forming points nodes. This area serves as a path, a path of the city, starting with the attitude of Bus Street Chilonos or proposed parking and end the Public Garden opposite the museum. "
Department of Architecture
The Department of Architecture admitted its first students in September 2005, who graduated with a Diploma in Architecture in June 2010. It offers comprehensive undergraduate and postgraduate doctoral studies. At this stage of studying approximately 110 undergraduate students and four Ph.D. students
As we informed the head of the department, Marios C. Phocas, in the context of teaching and research activities, the Department of Architecture maintains close relationships with a number of universities in Europe and America. Housed at Ledra Street in the historic center of the walled city, a few meters before the buffer zone.
This Article is owned by Sylvia Karakatsanis and is reprinted from the first publication on "Protevoussa" magazine, issue November 2010.

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