My project is an alternative communal settlement for a group of freestyle wrestlers in Dagestan. The project will act as a summer camp where this community can train, learn and live together. By using the extreme conditions of the mountains, my project produces a sound which acts as a way of reclaiming territory.
The project raises questions of communal cohabitation. Through the architecture conceived in the project, the extreme past conditions of life in settlements are applied to contemporary needs of an emerging community.
This alternative settlement acts as a way of reclaiming a territory, in this case, the vast mountains of the Caucasian region.
Defense towers were habitually built in extreme scenarios, on cliffs, on mountain ridges, inside of valleys. While these extreme conditions had a purpose of defending in the past, they gain a different meaning for the community of wrestlers. These conditions help the wrestlers focus on their training activity and push them further physically. The project becomes a representation of the challenges that wrestlers face in the society. The severity of their daily activities and their hard work is seen in the pit. It is interesting to ask oneself if this wrestling path is intentional or if it is imposed by society.
In my project, women are also wrestling alongside men. As opposed to serving food and cooking, they are seen equal in my scenario. The song playing in the project unites these men and women in their act of settlement. Inhabiting the wall of the towers pushes the notion of reclaiming even further.
A particular cult for wrestling started emerging in the society after the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially amongst the younger men. The fall of the communist order brought economic and social havoc, dismantling established role models and career paths. The decade of lawlessness and military conflict that followed incentivized younger males to engage in combat sports. Freestyle wrestling proved to be the most popular choice at the time, and with years transitioned from being the means of self-defense to the means of acquiring social status. As a result of this trend, the region housed many olympic and world champions and in the modern day is often referred to as the Mecca of Wrestling. Since 1996, Dagestani wrestlers claimed at least one gold medal at every Summer Olympic Games held.
Not only is it a great way to earn money professionally, but it is also deeply intertwined with the ideas of pride, honor, strength of the male role model.
During summers many wrestlers attend a wrestling camp, secluded in the mountains.
There they train extensively and create new acquaintances with men and boys that have the same ambitions as them.
The summer camp measures around 20000 square meters. It is isolated in the mountains with the closest village being 15 km away. The presence of the landscape is important in the context of wrestling activity. The wrestlers use the surrounding nature as a tool to train (using mountain stones as weight, running uphill). The remoteness and isolation of the camp help them focus on wrestling entirely. The mountainy landscape creates a mental connection with the ancestral past.
Wrestlers stay in minimalistic cabins south of the camp, that provide 4-6 beds and also sports equipment, which signals to the efficiency and determination of the wrestlers to train. There are two main spaces to train communally: a football court and a covered outside area for sparring (fighting). Much of the population is Muslim: they have a tiny prayer room next to the entrance of the area, where traditionally they pray five times a day, together as a communal activity. On Fridays, they dress in their best clothes and go into the village to pray in the mosque.
The eating happens outside in nature, where the gender separation is visible, the food is served by women, who do not sit at the same table as the men.
Extreme conditions of life in the mountains called for communal activities to assure survival and efficiency. One example of a communal typology is the Defense tower.
The project would be composed by two elements: first, a submerged outdoor area, which will accommodate communal activities of the wrestlers and second, the stone towers, where the wrestlers will be living. The towers are organized in clusters, each cluster can accommodate 10 people.
The cluster on the lower left would also include a Mosque, oriented to the Mecca. On the carpets in front of it, the praying would occur communally. In Islamic religion praying outside is allowed, as long as the space has a clear boundary.
The platform for the praying would be surrounded by a retention wall. On the upper left side of the project, the training would happen. The heavy stones and the slopes would help the wrestlers with their training.
The wrestling will happen in central niches where the ground has been leveled and densified. A retention wall would be supporting the wall of the wrestling ring. The Platforms adjacent to the towers will be used for communal activities such as cooking, eating and gathering at the Godekan. The Godekan will also be a place from where the wrestling activity can be observed.
While all of these activities are communal, they would be performed individually, or in pairs (wrestling). The designated spaces used by the wrestlers are scattered across the pit, which separates them during daily activities. The song playing throughout the landscape would unite their experiences.
The clusters are composed by 3-4 inclined stone towers, which occasionally merge together and create larger spaces. The towers range from 25 to 35 meters high and their footprint is approximately 7 by 7 meters. In between the towers a wood structure is there for the circulation. The top part of the tower acts as an instrument. The openings in the tower are smaller on the outside and bigger on the inside which acts as a protection from strong wind. The narrow spaces of the towers are adapted to the use of the wrestlers by digging into walls to “inhabitate” them. This similar concept of the inhabitable wall was seen in references, such as the Kor and the Defense Tower.
