STUDENT HOUSING

Student Housing, Nicosia, Cyprus

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This landscape architecture project reimagines the traditional student housing bar buildings.

Student Housing bends and organizes these bars in a necklace-like sequence around a densely planted courtyard.

This courtyard resembles a forest, as if it were the core of the necklace.

On top of that, all dorms are on the perimeter of the necklace facing the campus.

The location of the dorms considers both the student’s overlapping needs for privacy and socializing.

Living rooms and communal spaces organize themselves on double height platforms.

Thus, they face the courtyard and trigger visual connections between those on the ground and those on the building.

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Now, let’s elaborate on this idea of interaction.

One of the conclusions we came to was that we needed to introduce a recreational and gathering area.

For instance, the public square at the center of the forest hosts public programs.

Here you can also find a cafeteria, an event space and small shops.

The purpose behind them is to foster a sense of community in the complex.

In other words, these facilities reinforce the ties between the tenants of the dorms and the rest of the campus.

As a result, everyone is eager to learn, play, and hang out!

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We imagined this high-end architectural visualization in Nicosia, capital of the island of Cyprus.

To better understand the context, one should bear in mind that the Mediterranean Sea permeates the Cypriot culture.

This means that the island’s inhabitants have an open personality.

They are used to spending time on the street and interact easily with others.

This is favored by the high temperatures almost all year round.

Consequently, there is a great sense of community in Cyprus. We wanted to convey this with the open areas of Student Housing.

Like the island, this student area has a young spirit, open to surprise and discovery, and with a joy for new encounters and friendships.

This hunger for discovery sprouts in Nicosia, as home of the University of Cyprus and three other private universities.

A perpetual sunshine bath all of them.

Moreover, vegetation covers the university campuses like a soft green carpet.

And here, we can see the most prominent indigenous species of Cyprus.

These are the palm tree, the olive tree and the golden oak. This latter one is an endemic tree declared National Tree of Cyprus in 2006.

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If you liked this atmosphere, also check out Saint Louis Park.