Work Sample

George BoueriArchitectLEED AP

M.S. Urban Environmental Systems ManagementB. Architecture

c: 646.287.4010gboueri@pratt.edu

The Rooftop Design & Construction, Lounge

2010

2009

2008

2010

Villa AZR Preliminary proposal, House

The Urban Sofa Student project, Infrastructural

Beirut Opera House Student project, Cultural

The client wanted to create a summer nighttime venue for their Japanese restaurant existing in the same building located in Tabar-ja, Lebanon. The locale has a fantastic panoramic view on the south side which was the main attraction of the lounge. In or-der to enhance the exposure to this view, the project relied on pushing all service areas to the back in order to increase the useful fl oor area. The main guideline to the design was to prevent the obstruction of the continuous horizon line by any solid object.

The Rooftop LoungeCompleted 2010

Main Floor Plan Autocad

25.0

cm

15.0 cm5.4 cm10.0 cm

15.0

cm

5.0 cm

6.0

cm

3.5

cm

2.0

cm1.0

cm

5.0 cm

Tile

Grout

Sand

Gravel

Asphalt Membrane

Concrete

3.0

cm

Metal Cap Flashing

Stainless Steel Nail

Rubber Sealant

Metal Cap Falshing

8.8.4 Clear Tempered Laminated Glass

16.0

cm

Ashalt Membrane

Galvanized Steel Casing

Concrete

The work entailed continuous engagement with manufactures, builders, hospitality consultants, and light and acous-tic technicians in order to negotiate the feasibility of their needs with their required specifi cations. This overlapped with the cli-ent’s need to maximise customer fl oor space and limit the budget. Construction contracting and daily supervision were also part of the task. Due to the limited time frame, regular on site decisions and modifi cations were implemented.

Glass Balustrade Detail Autocad - Illustrator

Located in the town of Roumieh, Lebanon, the initial concept was to capture the magnifi cent view beyond the pine trees and into the Mediter-ranean. The main entrance is a physical frame that engulfs the visitor into the surrounding landscape. Through a bridge and over water the experience is rendered even more dramatic. An interplay of vertical walls suspend the living spaces above while bracing the mass through the void. The program is distributed to provide every space, being public or private, with an equal opportunity to the view. Elevating the main living spaces above the 5m high entrance enhances a sense of security nestled in this forest of pine having to resort to no obstructions in the landscape.

Villa AZR

East Elevation - Main Entrance Vray - Photoshop

Preliminary Proposal - under study

With the nature of the site being a steep hillside, the main objective was to reduce the effect of the long and steep slope leading to the villa through an interplay of levels where a visitor would have a sense of having arrived once one goes through the wooden gates, under the building, yet has to continue a further fl oor up to reach the main entrance. This protruding, wood embraced mass holds three fl oors of private space: 2 bedrooms and family room on the fi rst fl oor, a guest bedroom and offi ce space on the second and the master bedroom on the third. Perpendicular to it, the fl oor to ceiling glazed public living rooms receives the guests fl ooded with light and summer breezes.

General Perspective Vray - Photoshop

The Urban Sofa is a concept aiming to provide an infrastructural revival for the coastal city of Jounieh, Lebanon, while anchoring its ever ex-panding sprawl back to its coastline which has been long abused by private infi lls all along its edge. The main drive of the project is to reignite activity in a forgotten fi sherman seaport and revitalise it into a hub of public activity. The site itself refl ects a contrasting duality expressed in its massive rock backdrop which used to limit the edge of the water and this relatively new reality of an infi lled, perpendicular, concrete sea-port. This paradox instigated two formal languages in the proposed intervention; a fragmentation of the port’s edge that intersects with playful

The Urban Sofa

General Perspective Sketchup - Photoshop

Final Year Project

Urban Agenda Autocad - Sketchup - Photoshop

organic ramps of circulation. The project itself also proposes a solution for two major urban problems. The fi rst one regarding vehicu-lar circulation by rerouting the existing congested coastal highway away from the pedestrian fl ow of the old city souks and connect-ing it to another, wider network of highways. Secondly, the proposal opens up a large window of breathing space and public access to the waterfront, one that is no longer available throughout the entire city’s coastal front. A series of ramps form a background of prom-enades on the site, maximizing pedestrian route, lifting the citizens above the walls of privatized land, and re-linking them to the horizon.

The site faced challenges that disconnected the main plot of land from its extension in the port and from reaching the sea. The ob-stacle was a 2-way, 4-lane road that crossed in between the site and the port and which fed into a one way road thus obstructing the traffi c fl ow an the pedestrian crossing. The idea was to relink the lower road to a much larger upper road that feeds into the main highway by creating a link on site. This would then free the site

and unify it into one larger plot with a wider access to the sea.

A duality of languages respond to the dualities of the site. One, and extension of the corniche , now barricaded by the walls of private institutions , into a series of vertically stretched promenades that take you up and above the walls to re-link the user to the hori-zon. The second, moving perpendicular to the frst, a step back from the rigidity the port has reached. A fragmentation of its orthogaonality to create smaller scale areas, relating to the human scale on one hand but primarily hinting to the artifi ciality of this ladfi lled zone.

Noth Sectional Elevation

The Ground fl oor plan shows a dynamic exposure of pedestrian circulation to proposed program. Flowing tangentially to the program, passersby are enticed to overlook the activities going on without being forced to enter and participate. The notion behind such an intent of distribution is on one hand to have the excuse of visiting and being in this public arena constantly available to the users, yet, on the other hand, holding the idiom of “public” place strict and as a foremost thought of personal freedom of choice. Here the subliminal intent would be to entice the passers-by through a visual foreplay of the activities with the hope, as for any public project, to entice participation and thus enhance communal spirit.

Ground Floor Plan Autocad - Illustrator

The program is dispersed in such a way to allow pedestrian activity to fl ow through and around it with no obstructions. The glass walls that enclose the different programs entice curiosity in the pas-

sersby to observe with no prior engagement. There is no specifi c destination; there is exploration!

Program

LIbrary 600m2

Indoor Stage 400m2Multipupose 200m2Fish Market 400m2Harbor Bath 700m2Restaurants 200m2Coastguard Sta-tion 100m2Fishermen Cabins 200m2Outdoor Theater u/dHarbor 300m2Parking 200cars

Visual connectivity is maintained throughout as the outer circulation ramps run tangent to the glazed programs and connect at different instances with the inner levels. This visual connection proves to be important in providing a sense of being part of both space and people around as well as maintaining a sense of personal security in such a large scale, open project. The choice of rigorous and methodical structural elements holding the ramps projects the artifi ciality of the mounds of ramps as a reminder of the artifi caility of the infi lled site itself at the feet of the monumental rock behind it.

Longitudinal Section Autocad - IIllustrator

S t a g e L i b r a r y

Pedestrian Access

Vehicular Access

Transversal Section - through vehicular entrance and market Autocad

Transversal Section - Through Library Autocad - Photoshop

The Beirut Opera House is a landmark in the city capital, Beirut, meant to stand as a void among the rapidly growing vertical masses of the urban downtown. With the bulk of its mass underground, a light cube projects itself onto the city, acting as a guiding light and a refl ection of culture. Under the vaulted canopy of an urban plaza, it entices memories of a shelter and refuge for the once war devastated capital.

Beirut Opera House

North Elevation / Longitudinal Section Autocad - Photoshop

Fourth Year Project