We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer mohamed yasser about their original and creative Housing Units design work. mohamed yasser is an award-winning architectural designer, that makes our world a better place with their original housing units works.
mohamed yasser ("MY") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work The Square Housing Units . Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
MY : The Square Housing Units. The design concept was based on research for the most common problem in developing countries which was how to afford proper housing especially for the poor and needy people. the main objective was to design a small economic and eco-friendly residential unit with the lowest cost possible, this is designed with the flexibility to add and subtract according to what you need and what you wish to design. The idea will use simple tools and materials with the ability of recycling, all of these units can be installed and furnished in the site according to the design. The Main formation of the units is derived from the Tetris game that depends on a specific unit shape which has the features to create different formations from this unit. each unit is like an L shape and they are all fitted together to create a shallow cube with central court-inspired from Islamic and Arab traditional houses architecture which provides privacy and airflow for the units to provide a natural ventilation system
MY : The main focus was to design a small group of housing units in a limited area without being crowded or not achieving privacy for each unit, I wanted to create a cozy housing environment that has its own privacy and design language, and this what I did in this project.
MY : I plan to see this project being established in the future.
MY : It took nearly about two months
MY : The challenge of the design was to create the most efficient residential units with limited areas for the homeless and the poor living in the streets in developing countries, as some of these countries have the problem of slums that deteriorate the cities' architectural context. The Units are designed to be fitted together to create geometrical shapes in shifting positions to benefit from small spaces of land and creating the largest number of units. The Design was an inspirational project based on studies and regulations and planned to be established in the future.
MY : I am planning to deal with companies or sponsors who can adopt my idea and make it come to reality
MY : No, I developed the whole Idea from A to Z
MY : Basically the homeless, street children, and refugees, but also the project can be designed as a modern house for people who love innovation and relaxation
MY : The Square it's driven from many things, The Main formation of the units are derived from the Tetris game that depends on a specific unit shape which has the features to create different formations from this unit. each unit is like an L shape and they are all fitted together to create a shallow cube with central court-inspired from Islamic and Arab traditional houses architecture which provides privacy and airflow for the units to provide a natural ventilation system, and the name means and refers to the inner square court that should bring all the units together, creating a cozy small community.
MY : first I used the hand sketches, then developed the concept on the google Sketchup, then the phase of the rendering I used the Twinmotion Engine to create the photos for the project.
MY : The Optimal use of spaces and units formation and overlapping system
MY : No, I only searched for the specifications of the shipping container unit then how I am going to apply the architectural design principles to make a sustainable design with the help of a number of shipping containers that will be fitted together to create the project.
MY : in this design, I studied the ability to use the nanotechnology applications in architecture to design a sustainable housing unit, this unit is eco-friendly and have a low rate of energy consumption with the help of good design and latest technologies in coatings and finishing materials that are able to keep the units healthy, clean and smart.
MY : The design is influenced by both, as during my master's research that was about the influence of nanotechnology in raising the healthcare buildings' efficiency, I got inspired by an idea that why shouldn't I try to design a small unit to be a house for many of homeless and refugees in different countries and apply what I studied about nanotechnology to be a sustainable house that could stay for years and won't be that expensive and also consider the aesthetics in design.
MY : I decided to submit this project after I read about the A'design award competition and how it's an influential platform that will give me the chance to bring my project to the light and spread my idea about this design.
MY : I learned How to design small spaces well and how to achieve what the user will need with the smallest areas possible, also how to recycle and use products and transfer them into other useful and helpful projects.
MY : No, Thank you
