Monumental Pissoir is a design proposal for public toilets for men in the Medina of Marrakech. The structure functioning as an inhabitable column or as a free standing object.

The proposal is a response to the Seven Towers of Seven Saints square in Marrakech. The square built in 2005 was since neglected – currently and predominantly used by locals as a public dump. Squatting, peeing and even glue-sniffing Morocans can be seen there at any time of day. The picture gallery below deomonstrates the square in its current state.

The ‘monumentality’ of the pissoir is inspired by Moroccan culture – colours, ceramics and vernacular living. The architecture of the pissoir is composed of handmade interlocking ceramic components. The pictured model / sculpture below is scale 1:5:

The ceramic components were hand made using a laser-cut mould and then fired in a self made raku kiln:

The interlocking components have a simple yet flexible geometry, which allows to create various interlocking patterns:

The same typography that I developed for the ‘here comes everybody‘ ceramic piece was applied to create this woven DS15 sign.

]]> http://whycgi.com/Ricardas/?feed=rss2&p=844 0 http://whycgi.com/Ricardas/?p=829&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=here-comes-everybody http://whycgi.com/Ricardas/?p=829#comments Fri, 19 Sep 2014 11:59:10 +0000 http://whycgi.com/Ricardas/?p=829 This ceramic typography sign was a design I did for Design Studio 15 End of Year Exhibition at Westminster University in July 2014.

The typography of the sign as well as its aesthetic quality was designed using chance techniques. The letters are assembled out of small hand-pressed interconnecting clay components. Raku method of firing ceramics was used as a generator of chance in producing the unexpected aesthetic of glazes. The result of the experiment is typography with fascinating variety of colours and textures.

Thanks to Tim Waines and Piotr Garstecki for their huge contribution on this piece.

This is my final MArch Architecture project portfolio.

Design Studio 15, Westminster University, 2014.

The Ceramics Quarter project design is inspired by Moroccan arts & crafts, architect’s own explorations of chance through ceramic firing experiments and then directed by answers given by the I Ching.

The new neighbourhood in the medina of Marrakech will provide living and working spaces for local ceramics craftsmen and potters. Ceramic architecture components fired on the site will create an outstanding typology inviting tourists to the north east part of the medina. The proposal also responds to the current urban fabric of Marrakech medina, where poor and rich are often next door neighbours.

University of Westminster Admission 2012

Memories
Growing up in a concrete jungle of social estate blocks in Vilnius (the capital city of post communist Lithuania) seemed natural back then. Being raised in a Lithuanian musical family, attending a Polish school and growing up amongst Russian friends has enabled me to adapt to living in multi-cultural society. I remember days at school as cold; snow was rushing into classrooms through blow holes in walls, students wearing coats and big scarfs around their necks to keep themselves warm. At music school – a teacher always complemented a piano piece with a tissue for a students’ running nose! In contrast, summers were hot in many ways; some of the neighborhood kids kept themselves busy earning money working at construction sites, and some looking for easy targets on the streets… I find these memories extraordinary; it is the reality of what architects should consider for better or for worse when designing spaces, places and cities…

Inspiration
My childhood experience has helped me to successfully design a Youth Centre for Art & Dance in Dalston, Hackney during my final year of architecture degree at University of East London. Coming from a multi-cultural community with similar issues has helped me to understand the needs of Dalston’s youth. When I visited a New Horizon Youth Centre in Camden I met young people from deprived backgrounds who have expressed their appreciation of being able to call the Centre their home. Theirs and my own childhood memories inspired me; I experimented with how those memories could possibly become translated into architectural language and have developed them into the main theme of the design featuring ‘hiding spaces’. At the end of year exhibition I was given the opportunity to produce a mural on 3m x 8m wall, which reflected another of my Youth Centre’s proposed spaces – a very uncommon mural studio. I spent a total of four great years at the University of East London. The challenge of combining independent life, work and studies has been a great motivation towards graduating with a first class degree.

Career
Today, I enjoy working at BDP, a multi-disciplinary practice that fosters socialist ethos of ‘places for people’. I have contributed to a winning submission for a Government Funded Grant for the City College Norwich Creative Arts Hub, which is due to be completed in early 2013. Designed in a new age of austerity, the hub will provide a rich mix of activities for young people in today’s culture of low expectations. In future, I see myself as an architect taking up challenging ideas perhaps through similarly inspiring educational briefs.

Interests 
In preparation for my studies in the UK I spent two years at an art school and a year taking private academic drawing classes of an amazing Lithuanian artist Gediminas Zuklys. At this point I started to think spatially while drawing. I am also a photography enthusiast; my photographs have been exhibited and won prizes! In my spare time I have helped BDP architect director Wayne Head to produce a book ‘Dictionary of Detail’ – a collection of remarkable architectural details to be published by Routledge.

This type of applying texture to ceramics is a great raku method involving a lot of chance and unexpected results.

The ceramic cone was initially bisque fired to cone 04 and then covered in a mixture of chemicals and fired again to 650°C. The firing process took around 60min + time for cooling.

 The glaze recipe used for this cone without any specific amounts is as follows:

ferric chloride
copper sulphate pentahydrate
salt
leaves / vegetation

Step by step explanation is given in the gallery under each photograph.

Wood fired downdraft kiln was only a quick experiment I did to see what temperature can be achieved. I did not fire any objects inside the kiln, because I did not have enough wood to keep the temperature at the maximum for at least a couple of hours.

Downdraft concept for the kiln is simple but effective. As the illustrations explain, the fire box is located at the bottom of the front, whilst the kiln space is above the fire box. The heat rises and travels down into the chimney providing a consistent heat inside the kiln.

The concept appeared to work great creating an extremely high draft on a calm sunny day and achieving up to 900C inside the kiln space.

A self made electric kiln experiment.

This experiment – research and explorations of clay firing techniques was done as part of my MArch Architecture second year architecture portfolio.

After making a couple of sawdust firings I used the same fire bricks to make an electric kiln heated by four 750W electric fire elements, which were inexpensively acquired from a spares shop. Due to limited amount of time available the firing was on for 6 hours and peaked at lower than expected 575 degrees celsius in the middle of the kiln, then left to cool overnight. Judging from the fired objects it can be assumed that the temperature closer to the sides of the kiln was much higher – possibility of +100-150 degrees, since each fire element was tested to reach up to 800 degres celsius. The performance of the kiln could be improved by better insulating the kiln.

The temperature rise was controlled by gradually switching on each of the fire elements.

Two pieces with low fire blue glaze started to gain rich blue colour, whilst a piece with red glaze (cone 04 glaze) did not react to the low heat of the kiln. Two of three pieces made from Scarva PF520 clay completely burst into pieces. The last piece was left unglazed and became a cone 022 bisque ware.

The risk assessment was done prior to constructing a kiln in order to ensure a successful operation of the kiln and safe environment.

Experiment of firing clay in sawdust.

This experiment – research and explorations of clay firing techniques was done as part of my MArch Architecture second year architecture portfolio.

I did two firings of my clay pieces in sawdust, which are shown in two separate picture galleries at the bottom of this post. Each firing lasted around 15-20 hours. The second firing was reaching around 500-600 degrees celsius. I did not have a pyrometer during my first firing leaving me unsure of the correct temperature during that firing.

It was my first attempt to fire clay in a self made kiln. The experiment took place in Worthing, England at the beginning of January 2014.

The kiln was built from 80 firebricks inside a pit. The weather conditions were at my disadvantage, hence the covering from rain can be seen in some of the photos.

Some clay objects were sprayed with salt, some burnished with a spoon to achieve a glossy surface, some pieces were covered with orange peel, leaves and other combustibles, some were fired inside a flower pot filled with combustibles, some were just put in sawdust without any special application.

I believe the best result was achieved during the second firing. The piece which was inside a flower pot filled with combustibles (orange peel, tea and some leaves) achieved a yellowish carbonization in the place where it was covered with orange peel.

After the two firings the kiln was dismantled in order to use the fire bricks for a second experiment – making an electric kiln powered by electric fire elements, which will be described on a separate post.

Firing No. 1

Firing No. 2

Here are some photos from my first go at throwing clay on a wheel in December 2013.

It proved to be a challenging process, but at the end of the day I think I had a nice set of hollow pieces.

The firing of these objects will be shown on the next post.