Alternativ

Location : Charentsaven, Armenia
Team project with Ekin Bilal & Josue Perez Campos
Advised by Aleksandr Mergold

Soviet sanatoria, places of compulsory wellness — in contrast with the current concept of wellness and leisure — is based around the neoliberalist idea of hyper-individualism where communities and local places are pushed aside in favor of capital. Alternativ takes into consideration these two extremes, and the context of Charentsavan, a city that has an infrastructure in place but appears to be disconnected. Drawing inspiration from the connectivity of the industrial past of Charentsavan and the partially ruinous state of its factories, we have reinterpreted different objects and placed them as screens and frames that create different spaces, transparencies, and atmospheres.

The program utilizes the screens to interlock and create different layers of privacy. It is divided as a way to provide safe spaces to those who need it, such as clinics and therapy spaces. Alternativ proposes spaces where those who lack a support network in society can find wellness. Intermediate areas where people from Charentsavan and the people in the safe spaces can interact, such as galleries, gardens, gyms, etc. The different spaces are tied together and at times disconnected from a meandering elevated walkway. As a way to add to the sense of layering, the machinery is left on the ground floor, the walkway is elevated as to not interfere with the frames which at times are reused parts of the contents in the factory, and at times are newly proposed objects, reminiscent of the factory.