Plug-Inn
Mohamed’s project proposal Plug-Inn investigates the traditional and digital fabrication of timber houses. The reed houses of the Mesopotamian marshes and the wooden churches of northern Europe are the parameters of Mohamed’s research. He explores their potential and implications, so as to develop a concept and structure for prefabricated timber housing suitable for urban and industrial environments.
“Seismic shifts in society, technology and the economy mean that today’s architecture operates within a fundamentally different context and extremely little has been done to investigate the causes of this situation.“
Marsheland reed housing culture evolved in co-existence with a specific environment. The slender, vertical lean structures interconnect, forming a pattern similar to the natural landscape. The name “stave church” derives from the buildings’ distinctive load-bearing structure, which consists of vertical masts, or staves, on which the entire roof structure rests. Generally, timber houses are environmentally friendly buildings which possess high architectural, technical and permanent functional qualities. Mohamed’s interdisciplinary, practice-based research encompasses designing a model and prototype, then producing timber joints and full-scale buildings for testing and exploration. His installation work combines an architectural task with functional and artistic elements, transgressing the boundaries between architecture, design and fine art.
Mohamed describes his way of working as a “strategy of constantly shifting strategy“. Working on interventions and site-specific projects, he pursues a performative approach intent on examining the cultural, social, political and economical landscape around him. He has a particular interest in everyday or conventional objects and in finding new and unusual ways to re-interprete them.
Mohamed is an artist living in Baghdad.
Photos: Mohamed