POINT OF INTERSECTION

The education currently demands interaction between various fields of study what means an interaction between various groups of people. The project is an architectural point of intersection in a city and building scale. The idea is to create a meeting space where studying interacts working.

The basis of the project is the potential of university community in the city. The idea is to create an open-access meeting space where studying interacts working. This kind of space can be used by many different groups of people: students, professionals and citizens. It is a chance for creating lifeful places in the city- a kind of points of intersections. The conception of this project gives a possibility to reuse existing empty buildings in city centres and spread educational functions in the city fabric. For my thesis presentation I chose an existing object in Poznan (Poland)- old "Alfa" department store in the city centre. After many years of prosperity, now the building is in a very bad technical condition and is getting more and more empty with every year. "Alfa" is located at one of the main streets in Poznan and is surrounded by many academic building so I found it ideal to redesign it for a hybrid- building. The detailed project comprise ground floor, first floor and the roof. The rest of the building space (5 towers) is left in idea stage. The project focuses on changing the space mainly inside the building and converting the roof into usable city space. Across two floors (ground and first) learning and working spaces permeate with urban functions. The library is situated next to start-up's space, cafeteria next to multi-function stairs, conference room and hotel entrance. Some of existing functions I found very useful, e.g. a few shops and a restaurant so they remain in the functional programme. The roof is transformed into urban space with small gastronomy points, green areas and a swimming pool next to the hotel. The vertical communication plays a significant role in the project. It is designed not only as a kind of bridge between different spaces but also as a common space of meeting.