Parasite Centre
Oxford Brookes 2013-2014
The Parasite Centre for Waterborne Diseases is a proposed project based in the Gibraltar, inspired by the discovery of a history of Cholera on the peninsula and the lack of natural drinking water available. Situated above an abandoned well, the project creates a mixed use, educational and research based facilities focused on water and the prevention of further incidents of contamination. The design appears as a parasite, raising from the old well and standing as a monument to the turbulent past, with a continuous flow of water through the project changing as it is 'contaminated' by the architecture in front of visitors.
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The site is an old abandoned well at the southern tip of the Gibraltar peninsula. Located next to the Grand Mosque of Gibraltar the site is in an open area providing good access for the cultural programs of the building. As a location far from the centre with very few amenities. The area has little attraction requiring new programs to be introduced brining the various communities together. One of the proposal's programs act as a free educational centre on water and the proper handling of this fundamental resource.
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The design process was heavily inspired by the forms and geometries of viruses, discovered through model making and experimentation. Starting with a shrine proposal for an incident of a cholera outbreak, the proposal developed its educational and research program in parallel to the formal and material exploration. Applied onto the site, the detail of the proposal emerged from the site constraints and orientation. Finally, water as both a contaminant and contaminated is used to illustrated the troubled history of water on the peninsula.
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