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Home | Architectural Research & Practice | The Ring City: A Parametric Housing Study from the INJ Archive

The Ring City: A Parametric Housing Study from the INJ Archive

Architectural Research & Practice
ByINJ Executive Office Team

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Seen from above, the rings trace a single curve. Rotate the model and gaps open between them; the levels shift and the space beneath the raised rings comes into view. That movement between plan and perspective frames the study: what changes in housing when design begins with the relationships between repeated units?

The Ring City is a conceptual housing study from the archive of Ibrahim Nawaf Joharji and INJ Architects. This record brings together 34 models, variants and working screenshots. Some files carried the working title Ciudad Vertical, or Vertical City. Joharji recalls that the idea began more than five years before publication, during a period of intensive competition work, and developed as studio research. The date on a saved image records a different event from the origin of the idea.

The ring as a unit of adjacency

In plan, each ring retains an open centre while the cluster reads as a sequence of neighbouring edges. One edge faces the surrounding cluster; another faces the opening. This raises practical questions about entrances, daylight and the spaces residents might share. Vegetation shown inside some of the rings formed part of that spatial exploration.

Overhead view of the curving cluster and its planted centres
Overhead view of the curving cluster and its planted centres.
Oblique view of the white ring cluster at several heights with planted centres
Oblique view of the white ring cluster at several heights with planted centres.
Close view of white ring edges and planting behind horizontal bands
Close view of white ring edges and planting behind horizontal bands.
Experimental model with pink and green rings arranged in a curve
Experimental model with pink and green rings arranged in a curve.
Detailed plan view of white ring edges and their open centres
Detailed plan view of white ring edges and their open centres.
Overhead detail of overlapping white rings and radial elements inside one opening
Overhead detail of overlapping white rings and radial elements inside one opening.
White study model from above, showing the curve and adjacency of the rings
White study model from above, showing the curve and adjacency of the rings.
Low perspective of the white model showing changes of level and closely spaced edges
Low perspective of the white model showing changes of level and closely spaced edges.

What the section reveals

The side views show layers approaching and receding across the section. In the early white model, edges and openings can be read without relying on colour. Where two rings occupy different levels, the space between them becomes a question of access, daylight and privacy. Their proximity matters especially if that space is to serve a shared purpose.

Side view of the white model with planting between horizontal bands
Side view of the white model with planting between horizontal bands.
White side view of the prototype, showing offsets, openings and vertical elements
White side view of the prototype, showing offsets, openings and vertical elements.
Four blue horizontal bands at different heights within the white cluster
Four blue horizontal bands at different heights within the white cluster.
Side perspective of stacked blue rings between adjacent white rings
Side perspective of stacked blue rings between adjacent white rings.

Building the model in Rhino and Grasshopper

The working screenshots preserve the model window alongside the definition in Grasshopper. Its visual components establish geometric relationships within Rhino. The images show changes in ring diameter, centre position, level and proximity. Reading the plan and perspective together clarifies the result of those changes. The resolution of the screenshots limits what can be established about individual components.

Grasshopper definition with plan, section and perspective views of the rings
Grasshopper definition with plan, section and perspective views of the rings.
Alternative Grasshopper definition beside a red and green model at several levels
Alternative Grasshopper definition beside a red and green model at several levels.
Ring layout on a point grid beside a coloured perspective of the cluster
Ring layout on a point grid beside a coloured perspective of the cluster.
Plan and side view of the ring arrangement in the modelling interface
Plan and side view of the ring arrangement in the modelling interface.

Testing the envelope

Blue first appears as spaced panels, then as horizontal bands and finally as surfaces wrapping several rings. Keeping the surrounding rings white makes comparisons easier. The circular markings and surface grids record envelope studies conducted before a material or detailed function had been assigned.

Close view of a ring with blue panels separated by light-coloured divisions
Close view of a ring with blue panels separated by light-coloured divisions.
Front view of blue panels set within long horizontal bands
Front view of blue panels set within long horizontal bands.
Blue and white panels wrapping around the curved edge of a ring
Blue and white panels wrapping around the curved edge of a ring.
Striped upper ring above a lower level with spaced blue panels
Striped upper ring above a lower level with spaced blue panels.
Front comparison of horizontal stripes and spaced blue panels at different levels
Front comparison of horizontal stripes and spaced blue panels at different levels.
Striped upper ring seen between white rings at several levels
Striped upper ring seen between white rings at several levels.
Extended elevation showing the striped ring and lower blue panels
Extended elevation showing the striped ring and lower blue panels.
Close view of a patterned blue envelope with pale circular markings
Close view of a patterned blue envelope with pale circular markings.
Blue envelope above translucent green and red layers in the working model
Blue envelope above translucent green and red layers in the working model.
Oblique view of stacked blue rings with green elements rising through one opening
Oblique view of stacked blue rings with green elements rising through one opening.
View across the blue ring group towards surrounding white rings
View across the blue ring group towards surrounding white rings.

Vertical elements and the question of support

Wireframe views make the vertical elements and their positions relative to the ring edges easier to trace. One research question follows: would the rings stand independently or share a supporting structure? Answering it requires defined connections and an analysis of load paths. Colours identify parts of the working model, while structural verification remains a later stage of development.

Front view of blue bands arranged around green vertical elements
Front view of blue bands arranged around green vertical elements.
Perspective of yellow and green vertical elements in front of two blue rings
Perspective of yellow and green vertical elements in front of two blue rings.
Wireframe of the ring outlines and a group of green vertical elements
Wireframe of the ring outlines and a group of green vertical elements.
Grey elevation with green vertical elements and small yellow markings
Grey elevation with green vertical elements and small yellow markings.
Alternative grey elevation showing staggered volumes around green elements
Alternative grey elevation showing staggered volumes around green elements.
Blue wireframe mesh wrapping stacked ring units
Blue wireframe mesh wrapping stacked ring units.
Side-by-side model representations in wireframe and solid blue
Side-by-side model representations in wireframe and solid blue.

From Mecca Future Tower to the Beirut waterfront

In the 2012 Mecca Future Tower study, the homes are arranged around a common centre and shared services interrupt the residential stack. The Ring City distributes several centres across a cluster, carrying the question of where to place shared services and space from one building to a larger grouping.

At the scale of a city, the Beirut Reconstruction proposal asks how the port, public space and surrounding urban fabric might be brought back into relation. The connection is methodological. One study examines disrupted links across a waterfront; the other asks what holds a residential cluster together as its boundaries and levels change.

The comparison extends to the 2010 Container Villa, which begins with an existing industrial unit; Deyar Al Assayla, which explores adjacency around courtyards in Makkah; and Cannelloni, which brings villa-scale homes into a vertical arrangement in Jeddah. Across those projects, one question recurs: how can a home maintain its independence and still offer access to a shared life?

What would we test next?

A next study could begin with two rings, a section through their closest approach, and a plan that tests access, services and furniture. That would show which details can be repeated and which require a different response. Joharji also recalls speculative housing beyond Earth as one way to think about the minimum dwelling and what it could share. The archive follows the work as it stands: an open architectural study documented through models and alternatives.

Models and working images from the INJ Architects archive. Open an image to see the original at full size.

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