This thesis introduces the public Condenser, Spaces of Familiarity in the ultramodern district as a counter-reaction against the changing patterns of public, cultural and social practices, associated with the societal change taking place recently. Spaces of familiarity are the spaces where different patterns of social and cultural practices are stimulated in order to reinforce pluralism, social interaction, sense of belonging, and dialogue between the culturally, ethnically and religiously different people. The paper examines the notion of Heidegger’s familiarity using its apparatuses “involvement” and “understanding” within the milieu of the modernist context and its relevance for designing a contemporary public condenser which represents the changing patterns of public, social and cultural practices of the society.
The project, thus, explores the potential of familiarity by transforming the anonymous public space, into familiar and known public condenser for the diverse residents of the district. Architecture as the art of mediation and reconciliation between different elements, it will try to evoke public sense of belonging to the community and to its built environment, through being a mediator between the mono-functional modernist district and the diverse people of South-West district.