Anastasia Skorik

Upon closer inspection, our built environments are rarely used for the functions for which they were originally designed. Cities are not straightforward entities but living organisms, where spaces are used and misused, appropriated and given new purpose. This master thesis asserts that these appropriations and subversions make a city alive, and contain a form of spatial intelligence that also renders cities more accessible. A close reading of a stretch of intertwining Shisha-bars in Oerlikon delivers a set of spatial concepts and sensitivities to engage with existing buildings, thresholds and in-betweens encountered at the MFO-site. This leads to five spatial interventions that unlock the potential for userships to step in or take over specific parts of the site. As such, the master thesis proposes an understanding of architecture as a spatial gesture that introduces qualities and opportunities as the start of a multi-temporal, multi-used and multi-authored urbanity.