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Exhibition Location:   Egyptian Pavilion, Venice Bienniale 2018, Italy
Proposed Location:    Cairo, Egypt
Project Team:              Afaf Ali Badran, Lara Hassan Waked
Status:                           Contributor Published
Catalogue link:            Download catalogue

The concept of a free Do It Yourself commercial place is common in open spaces in old and informal urban places in Egypt and is called “souq”. The DIY souq is a typical tradition with roots in the culture. These open souqs have been part of traditional urbanism for so long that they have become inseparable from its ingredients. Up to this day, they are responsible for the special vibe in many Egyptian streets in old and informal areas.

However, in such areas where vendors and artisans use any free space, shaping it freely, dynamically and spontaneously, everyday urbanism often grows out of control. The number and type of vendors, the area occupied, the dynamism and spontaneity, all need to be regulated.
The necessary supporting infra-structure need to be provided so that these souqs may serve the interest of the people with the least drawbacks. Alternative accessible places need to be allocated. Places which need to be revitalized, constantly visited or sustainably maintained could serve well. Environmental development is one of the aims of Darbellabbana, a non-profit entity working in Darb Al Ahmar and other old districts in Cairo. In this paper, Darbellabbana proposes a practical solution and location for an artisan souq that can take place of the piles of rubble under an old historic aqueduct in Cairo.

Project Location:   Unilever, Blackfriar, London to HQ Burlington Gardens, London, UK
Client:                       Royal Academy of Arts
Project Team:         Lara Waked, Luca Fogliata, Mariana Botero and Joud Malhas
Project Status:       Under construction

The RA is looking for a meaningful change in its workspace our team is required to research  analyze and reconfigure the workspace to better service its users, optimize their performance, increase employee morale and belonging. Some of the employees are beginning to get attracted to more trendy sectors or banks offering competitive benefits. Except there’s a twist, our research and proposal for the project will take place in two different buildings respectively. Our challenge is to achieve these needs by analyzing the currently occupied location and apply our research learnings to their move back to the headquarters at Burlington Gardens. We developed a comprehensive research package to help the Royal Academy identify and develop its work culture to be designed into an enriching office environment upon their return to their HQ at Burlington Gardens.

Project Location: Nava de la Asunción, Spain
Project type: Academic Alternative Landscape Practice at  IE University, Spain
Supervisor: Marta Landazabal Verde
Project Status: Submitted Fall 2014
Team: Lara Waked and Greta Magani

Located along the abandoned rail system, now, a camino connecting Segovia to the city of Olmedo, a minor project is proposed at the Mid way city of Nava de la Asunción. The project is designed to landmark the city along the Caminos path to attract tourism towards the town. By identifying a local potential resource of attraction and leverage, we develop the city’s identity, economy and culture.

Nava de la Asunción is identified as the home to the greatest collection of bird species along the camino as it is situate within several intersections of species’ habitation zones. The development of this resource along with its branding and appropriate integration within and around the city is not only creative but also a scientific task. A research process is executed to identify the different flora and fauna and their relationship to one another and the consequences of their integration within the city. We designed sustainable ecosystems to regulate the species within the different areas of the city’s urban, agricultural, forest and swamp zones, resulting in the design of self-regulating structures for cohabitation and improvement using natural resources to positively complement each zone’s current conditions offered by the flora and fauna.

Project location: Asunción, Paraguay
Project type: Professional Collaboration 2014
Office: Ecosistema Urbano
Project Link: http://ecosistemaurbano.com/portfolio/master-plan-for-the-revitalization-of-the-historic-downtown-of-asuncion/

The development of a suitable holistic approach requires strong research and understanding of the complexity of informal economies and their relationship with formal interventions of integration within the city at multiple scales. The winning proposal is based on an international scale research studying different methods of such integration. Through a combination of exemplary projects and a study of the local conditions and its opportunities, a wide scale collaboration system is designed synergizing both, local bottom up initiatives and top down policies.

At multiple scales proposals and interventions are defined. Firstly by the definition of multiple corridors (The Ecological, Dynamic and Civic). Secondly nodes of community gathering and city development labs. Thirdly global exemplary and local initiatives to inspire possibilities of economic and civic improvement through top down (institutional and governmental) and bottom up (communal and informal) initiatives.

Project Location: Watts, Los Angeles, USA
Project type: Academic Urban Design Studio at Woodbury University, California
Supervisor: Michael Pinto
Project Status: Submitted Spring 2014
Team: Lara Waked, Lauren Amador and Devin Flores

A team project aimed at transforming the city of Watts through the visions of our clients of the WLCAC. In teams of three, we were requested to develop an urban design scheme that responds to the challenging conditions of the city. This by finding what to leverage from these conditions in such a way that creates opportunities for development and organisation of programmes and intervention that would appropriately suit the surrounding community as well as nurture and promote the rich historic background of the district.

The initial process began with the analysis of the different zones and nodes within the district. Our methodology proposes a mediation between residential commercial industrial, public community and educational programmes. Finally the addition of a pedestrian way from the WLCAC to the Museum connects the overall scheme and becomes the centre of a walk-able quarter mile radius plan for the public. The project intends to connect and improve existing zones from residential to public on an urban scale while using methods of ‘everyday urbanism’ to address the needs of the human scale. Personal contributions to the project include collecting data for urban analysis of the surrounding context, documenting and mapping data, concept generation, collaging of vignettes for concept representation, program design and organization.