A Layer Beyond

After the years of both conscious or unconscious mechanization of the human mind as well as environmental colonialism, we now have every motivation to recover the forgotten nature, abandoned justice, and equity in overpopulated and dominant cities. Contemporary cities reflect such weaknesses and the frailties of ourselves.
A layer beyond is a proposal based on a critical re-evaluation of nature capacities, regardless of the built environment. The examination of the relationship between the city and the natural environment is embedded within a secondary type of relation between the city and daily life.
“...if the design is merely an inducement to consume, then we must reject design; if architecture is merely the codifying of a bourgeois model of ownership and society, then we must reject architecture; if architecture and town planning is merely the formalization of present unjust social divisions, then we must reject town planning and its cities...until all design activities are aimed towards meeting primary needs. Until then, the design must disappear. We can live without architecture…”
Superstudio, 1971
Non-Plan
Non-planning provides an assumption for communities to criticize preconditioned urban programs and introduces a new way of human coexistence with nature. This, in turn, attempts to bring human beings back to the possibility of benefiting from the natural environment irrespective of city infrastructure. This is directly rooted in the realm of human existence and social freedom. A layer beyond then tries to criticize this urbanization and totalitarianism.
Dismantling planning, ignoring urban structures, and terminating material possession are intimately connected to the natural environment.
Dismantling Planning
The idea is to dismantle the position ascribed to each of the programs and the implicit meanings imposed upon us by politicization. We live freely in nature.
Ignoring Urban Structures
The motivation in disregarding urban structures is to eliminate cities from the structure forms and social hierarchy. Such elimination aims to reach an equilibrium condition in which everyone can take advantage of natural amenities and freely get involved in outdoor activities.
The Termination of Material Possession
The objective is to terminate power-seeking government occupation and capitalism that has kept individuals separate and disconnected from nature. As a result of this, revolutionized communities shall be born.
Let’s make a journey from the A to B
We shed the city and edifices. (A)
There is no reason for the presence of streets and squares. (A)
We expand the boundaries.
We re-objectify the natural environment. (A layer beyond is born)
We are ready to move toward it. (let’s call it B)
This, therefore, will be a spiritual journey from A (separation from nature) and B (connection to nature).

Ignoring Urban Structures
The motivation in disregarding urban structures is to eliminate cities from the structure forms and social hierarchy. Such elimination aims to reach an equilibrium condition in which everyone can take advantage of natural amenities and freely get involved in outdoor activities.

Ali Nazari
Mohammadsaleh Sorkhei
Maryam Baharvandi
Shaghayegh Bayatmaku
Maryam Azizi Soleyman

Instructor: Farshad MehdiZadeh

A Layer Beyond by ali nazari in Iran won the WA Award Cycle 43. Please find below the WA Award poster for this project.