Khamsa’s shortlisted proposal for urban park design competition,
Amman, August 2017
Competition entry for urban park design: shortlisted
Competition organized by Amman Design Week and Grater Amman Municipality
Khamsa (five in Arabic) is a collective of 5 designers enriching the conceptual conversation from 5 distinct points of view. We are:
Rand El Haj Hasan – Architect
Lama Natour- Architect
Tina Hakim- Urban designer
Khalid Al-Bashir-Architecture student
Majd Soudi – Architecture student
Landscape consultant:
Agricultural Eng. Jamal Burqan Halaseh
Hydroponics expert:
Agricultural Eng. Mohammed Abu Sido
Hardscape consultant:
Civil Eng. Yazan Khalaf
Calisthenics designer:
Artist Hayan Maani
Viual 1: 3D
Khamsa’s Vision for Samir Rifai Park
A park is a sophisticated place, synthesizing a broad range of disciplines such as landscape, ecology, leisure and social cohesion. It is an opportunity to work on spaces of integration and to start necessary conversations in the design practice. The proposal’s concept and design stem from the community, making way for the most promising suggestions. Therefore we notice that Samir Rifai Park shall be an embodiment of Amman’s civil and socio-economic dynamics that can be repurposed to ensure the success of a diverse, safe and pleasant park. The people have to own the park to guarantee its longevity. An innovative program should include and empower the community.
Inspired by Philadelphia Skateboards’ recent 7Hills Skate Park, in founding a civil initiative to invite the community to join their passion for skateboarding, we know how the civil society in Amman is very active in creating unique dynamics in service of the community. We would like to invite different local initiatives to participate in making this park a community based urban haven. The philanthropist passionate skaters spend a great effort to bring new skaters from all over the city to this park. A park found at a peculiar meeting point between the foot of Jabal Lweibdeh, a residential neighborhood, and the highly commercial down town of Amman. We will follow their approach, inviting local initiatives to participate in maintaining the park and in ensuring its collective community’s wellbeing.
Sculpture featured:
Hayan Maani’s “Salam” following a design intention of creating a unique iconic artwork out of the calisthenics area
Urban artists featured:
Suhaib Attar and Wesam Shadid following a perpetual desire of inviting urban artist to add their signature to this urban haven
Visual 2: Plan
The human scale, the hillside and the smooth climb towards the skate park are the three elements that directed the design. The human comfort is what oriented the spatial and functional dimensions of the experience designed, giving extra attention to people with disabilities and visitors pushing strollers.
As all the paths cover the park, they all converge towards the skate park, the “cherry on the top”. Together, the democratic accessibility and the hillside have produced a base module that repeats itself to create a grid. The hardscape is limited to the pathways and the rail where so much more usually happens, such as causal seating. The void in the grid fills with Ammani vegetation found in residential neighborhoods and backyards.
The site, its proportions and its slope constantly create disruptions in the grid, at times twisting it and at others breaking it, making space for specific programs. As the grid can no longer keep up with the land, the artificial design disappears and wild vegetation appears.
Visual 3: Botanical Palette
Visiting the park with our agricultural engineer consultant, we analyzed three previous landscape design phases of the park Samir Rifai. We adapted our grid placement to the grid of existing vegetation, giving them a new chance. The planters of the grid host vegetation commonly found in neighborhoods of Amman.
We would like to give importance to the richness of the site’s available variety of species and add up to it, creating a botanical garden. Five areas will host the five habitats of Jordan’s plants. Each time the paths of the grid end, there will be a different world of wild and spontaneous-seeming vegetation. Hence, all the pathways lead to the Deciduous Oak Forest, the Pine Forest, the Juniper Forest, the Riparian Freshwater Habitat and the Jordan Valley.
Visual 4: Community Approach and the Use of the Guarantee Tool
The utopian vision is that of an urban family taking care of a vital space of theirs. The social program is designed based on a study of local initiatives that have been contacted and are willing to partner up to fill the program and help protect the park. We will adopt the local guaranty system (daman), on a condition that the guarantee can keep their services as long as they participate in maintaining the park. This legal tool is very common in Jordan and permits innovating unique contracts. The purpose is not to make profit but to create a context where the community is held responsible for the park’s cleanliness and safety. Very specific programs are outlined in advance. People interested will be offered privileged sites and they will be saving themselves rent. This kind of contract permits to maintain competitiveness where any guarantee that does not meet their part of the deal shall be replaced with the next candidate.
We would like to see the park function as a super organism of mutual respect. However, when the park’s protection is a legal condition to its program occupiers, they will probably insist on meeting that demand.
Visual 5: Freeplay
Abstract installations in the park aim to challenge child’s creativity through creating spaces of unstructured play and counter the trends of standardized playgrounds. Through
Abstraction, our intention is to leave room for children to define their essential need to explore and learn through play.
All the newly designed play areas are to be produced from scrap in collaboration with local artisans working with recyclables.
Visual 6: Water system
The water management system is designed to optimize use of rainfall and make the best use of hydroponics’ water saving technology.
A priority is given to designing an eco friendly, low maintenance and economic holistic system.
Visual 7: Energy system
The energy system is designed to generate and store power from solar energy and kinetic energy of play.
A priority is given to designing an eco friendly, low maintenance and economic holistic system.
