Brighton AKV|St. JooSt excurSie Go3 5-9 NoVemBer 2012
RALF, KAVIKA, YIANNIS, SHARIFAH AND MIRIAM
Silent Spot in Brighton What is faded glory 1 ? And what utopia 2 really is? Can we really describe the full meaning of them; or is it too complicated and subjective? Faded glory is oftenly seen in the nowaday world, as society, people and generally the world changes, great things and elements of the past (even buildings and monuments) lose their glory, sometimes get abandoned and gradually lost and only kept in the memorys of older people; that once lived with or in them.
On the other hand utopia, a perfect place that cant exist cause of its perfection is always alive in all humans lives and minds. From the ancient times people dreamed and created their own utopia, however they knew what they had created couldn’t exist.
What we did for our Faded Glory-Utopia project in the past few days is that we decided to use the old Classic red telephone boxes 3 that have obviously been abandoned. These red “sculptures” used to be the centre of communication for most of the people inside the UK or UK colonies. They are also considered as symbols for UK and communication in general. As the years went by and with the development first of mobile phones and then of the in-
ternet, people stoped using the traditional red phone boxes. The ones that were situated in central-touristic places were lucky and are still kept in good condition. Their “brothers” though weren’t so lucky! Most of them have been abandoned, destroyed or moved.
We have taken photographs of many of the existing-surviving telephone boxes in Brighton. Most of them are destroyed and extremenly dirty having a “charming” smell. We decided to trasform them into public relaxing quite spaces; where everyone could go in for some minutes, forget all their problems and communicate with theirself or their spirit. After all, red telephone kiosks have to do with communica-
RALF, KAVIKA, YIANNIS, SHARIFAH AND MIRIAM
tion. People could be able to create their own utopia inside these tranquil boxes where silence would enable their minds to travel and discover places of calmeness and wonder. In addition, these boxes would be placed (the new non existing ones) in the most crowded places and streets of Brighton and Hove. This would happen in order to help citizens escape from their everyday polluted by noise routine and transform these red telephone boxes to a place where they could express their feelings and personal thoughts without anxiety or other disturbing factors. These boxes would have colorfull windows like Cathedrals in order to keep the outside world out of the relaxing-isolated area. The feeling someone would have and experience would be similar with the feeling someone has inside a church. Though our telephone boxes would be situated near big streets and would be constructed for personal use; as only one person can fit inside each time.
RALF, KAVIKA, YIANNIS, SHARIFAH AND MIRIAM
In this way we would transform the old “useless” telephone boxes whose glory had obviously faded, in order to create small tranquil “utopias” everywhere and for everyone and give new life to these old great symbols of communication.
1
Faided Glory
In recent decades designers, artists, photographers and architects have become increasingly intrested in history and especialley in heroes, splendor and magnificence, but in the fading of heroes, splendor and magnificence. They are intrested in past gloryso-called ‘faded glory’. A glory that due te economic trends, political, social and cultural changes underwent a a decline, has been forgotten or neglected. This long forgotten history is being dusted, preserved, documented, captured and exposed.
Utopia
2
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. The word was coined in Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in literature. It has spawned other concepts, most prominently dystopia.
Phonebox
3
The red telephone box, a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, red boxes can still be seen in many places and in current or former British colonies around the world. The colour red was chosen to make them easy to spot.
RALF, KAVIKA, YIANNIS, SHARIFAH AND MIRIAM
Utopia is about your perfect place Dystopia is the polar opposite of this. Hence why we have the same images, looked at though different points of view. The pier was built in the glory of the British Empire for wholesome family fun and enjoyment. The pier is now our subject of utopia and dystopia. It is split into two levels the top is utopia for children and family. Below has become known for homeless people, drunks and drug users. These utopias don’t marry up. However the comparison is paramount due to an individuals view point on the concept of utopia.
When you wander through the centre of Brighton there’s a lot that meets the eye, yet there’s a lack of character, but when you search the skies the surroundings teach you tradition and identity. We stand up against the giant contrast between traditional and modern surroundings and want to fuse them into a new harmonious whole.
Projectteam Maria Miranda Mara Thomas Floris
The fading Glory of the Brighton Dome The Brighton dome was built in 1805 and since has been used for many different reasons. It was originally built as a stables and a riding school but was converted to a temporary hospital during the first world war. After which it was a roller rink and finally what it is today, an arts centre. The arts centre holds the Corn Exchange, the Pavilion theatre and the Concert Hall. Since being an arts centre the success of the building has been inconsistent. Currently the business of the dome is bad, suggesting that the building that once was a thing of glory is now beginning to fade. What we can see to be the main reason for this is the domes’ exposure to the passing public.
Many people pass the dome everyday and it goes completely un noticed. It sits amongst the gardens of the Pavilion over crowded by trees restricting the view of the dome from the gardens and vice versa. The only facade that is completely exposed is the north one and on it sits an extremely unwelcoming entrance.
“Researching the culture of Brighton we found it was a place that embraced music. Music was huge” We thought that the dome should be an integrated part of Brighton, a building that is commonly used and regularly seen. For this to be the case we had to think of ways in which we could re discover the relationship between the building and the public. The relationship between the building and the public was something we was keen on improving. Right now the building stands alone, its not an every day part of “Brighton life” as it should be. We started to think about how we could re discover this relationship, we came up with ideas about how to expose more of the building to the passing public. For example adjusting the layout of the pavilion gardens so that you can see the dome would be a simple thing that would make a huge difference. We was restricted by the guidelines of the project though in that we had to create an installation that would have the same purpose. With this in mind we started to see how a collage could do the same purpose.
reminded people of the bands and artists that played in the dome and present this information in an interesting way, we could potentially attract people back to the dome. Therefore we used music legends to bridge the gap between the history of the building and the current society that’s getting faster and faster. The dome at its prime was a place of vitality and excitement, being one of the main venues in Brighton for bands to play it was not only the place to see but the place to be seen. this time line shows one very small part of brighton dome’s long and diverse musical history. The building played host to many artists and bands including nina simone, pink floyd, the cure even the eurovision song contest in 1974 was set there. this fame the building once held has faded. This is an attempt to remind passing visitors or residents of brighton what the dome once was and how it has the potential to return to its previous glory days.
To build the relationship between the building and the public again we had to find a common ground between the usage of the building and the interest of the public.
This project was executed in a collaboration between the University of Brighton, England and AKV St. Joost, The Netherlands.
Researching the culture of Brighton we found it was a place that embraced music. Music was huge, from the countless record shops to the buskers in the street Brighton was surrounded by music. This became the focus of our collage. If we could create a collage that
Ben Spong - University of Brighton Tom Tornthon - University of Brighton Ezer Han - University of Brighton Samrita Mudher - University of Brighton Maxime Alink - AKV St. Joost Rob van Berkel - AKV St. Joost
World wide worship A few hundred years ago the church was the most powerful institute of the country. Any country. Its leaders controlled everything, even the King. Nowadays the church doesn’t control anything anymore. Christianity is no longer the number one religion in the country. More and more religions start to find their place in our Western society and everyday life. All of these religions have their own buildings. Churches, synagogs, mosques, temples, etc. What would happen if you put all these buildings together? If they merged, could they become the religion again that has all the power? That is the centre of our society. And what would that building look like?
‘Brainstorming with a group is very interesting. You don’t just stick to your own ideas. You inspire each other to keep looking for new ones.’ -students-
experiences Eric Gomes de Sausa Having worked with Dutch students throughout the week, I have observed how they organize their ideas and thoughts to produce a project. I found it rather fascinating to explore the different approaches to create our design as a group. Experimenting with random ideas helped produce something solid. I hope to work in a similar way again. Thanks.
Tommy Hills Over the course of this project I learnt to make a collage while working in a group. Researching and compiling images that differ so much was interesting and I enjoyed the test on my creativity. Working with the 3rd and 4th year students from Holland was a great learning experience as they had done similar tasks in the past and were a great help.
Daniel Hamilton The project was very enjoyable, giving me chance to have a second look at Brighton and the beautiful buildings that are in it. The two Dutch chicks, MJ and Chantal, were really friendly and were clear in what we needed to do, very nice to work with. Hopefully they felt the same.
Chantal and Marjolein (MJ) Working with these young students was a great learning experience for us. There are so many things in the process that come so natural to us, that in the beginning we forgot there was a time we also had to learn them. Once we realised they weren’t just slow, they just hadn’t done all the things yet that we had done it was a lot of fun, and a great challenge, to figure out how to teach these students how you can approach a project. And once you see that what you say actually begins to make sense in their heads, that’s just awesome. They kept surprising us with their ideas during the project and the way they worked together to make their collage was great to look at. We gave them a few tips in the beginning and they just went for it. We are really proud of our British boys. They did an awesome job!
Find your utopia in Brighton
We walked through the city and we found as an inspiration the west pier. The fade of glory that people had beautiful memories on it before it was burned down. By walking past the west pier people would imagine what they would like it to be than the old burned remains. So we decided to make three frames with transparent sheets with what we imagine the west pier would be ''our own utopia''. So when you see through these transparent sheets you can view our vision but still at the back you can see the burned pier. When people walk past the three frames and try to see through them they would try to decide if our vision of the 'new' pier is what they wanted it to be, and that triggers their imagination to fantasize how they would like to turn the west pier into new.
Our utopies Icecream The shape of the remains of the west pier reminds us of an icecream.. A Dream come true.
Stairs Stairs that connect Brighton together and they pass through the west pier.
Floating Island It's like a floating island with streets for me. Even it was burned, I hope it can return vitalized. Kind of Alice in Wonderland. A girls dream of a wired world.
Interpretation of a frame near the west pier, on the boulevard
Nora Baremans - Jeroen Jegerings - Maria Mavrikou Nicole Polycarpou - Nikki Stavrou - Wu Zhemin
the memory box Thinking of England I see red phone boxes Lonely, on street corners Fading away.
People passing Their thoughts to themselves Their minds in the future And mobiles at hand A memory Printed in bold And put on display Reminded of the past But beginning to fray Inside the box; Museum of thoughts He adds on his own Talks of his grandma, Granddad and sons. His words are Shown His thoughts are out They wait for a stranger To hear them out. someone comes in he picks up the phone he learns of the grandma, granddad and sons
We started with a nice drink and a conversation about our thoughts on what utopia meant to use as inderviduals. We arranged a list of places we decided we would like to visit. Whilst talking about faded glory the topic of heritage came up, and from that we thought of British icons like the telephone box, those of us from britain had stopped noticing them, because we walk past them so often. As a result we thought this was a perfect example of faded glory, because the telephone box itself has become redundent. This is because of the smartphone, which kills personal interaction. Our utopia is reflected in the way we spent our tuesday.; group of people, who had never met before shared expierences, thoughts and memories.
Wednesday; the Dutch had a creative writing workshop in which they were asked to think of five different variations of the design. From this we decided to only use the space that already existed within the telephonebox, but still creates interaction between people.
First, we had the idea of a telephonebox as an entry to our utopia. The telephonebox would become a lift which would take you into an underground space almost like a common room. In this space there would be no phone signal or wifi, this would force people to interact. In creased face to face communication is our utopian idea.
To do this we decided to work around the idea of memorys. The way this would work is that a memory is projected on the outside of the telephonebox. If you want to react on the memory or leave your own, you go inside, pick up the phone and listen to the whole memory. After that you can leave your response, and if you pay 10p you can leave your own memory. When you leave your own memory you get a code so you can return to listen to the reactions of other people.
Tessa Kuipers J elle Z weegers Eve McKen zi e Sco tso n Mi sbah Mah m o o d Jo e Ran dau
Fleur Baker mans
R oy van de B o el
Deri n F adi n a
Harri so n L an g
Jack
SAVE THE LANES For this project, we are focusing on the decline in the patronage of the local independent stores that occupy the lanes. This is due to various reasons, the paramount of which is the increase in the large chain stores occupying the main town centre and high street. The lanes have a long, rich history dating back to the 18th century; being part of the original settlement known as Brighthelmstone, a utopia which was originally occupied by old fisherman’s cottages. Now the lanes contain a diverse collection of small, mostly antique stores (including coffee houses, jewellery and clothing shops), which in many ways pay respect to what would seem like the faded glory of the area. These shops are
run by unique, hardworking individuals offering quality goods and customer service. However, attention is being diverted away from these areas by the larger stores occupied by faceless corporations, with a complete disregard for the ‘small man’. These companies appeal to the consumerist nature of the masses by bombarding us with large volumes of products at cheap prices. This is something the smaller businesses cannot afford to do, due to the aforementioned issues with demand. We have explored various avenues to tackle this problem. We created a board game cover which was initially, intended as a medium to communicate the battle between chain and independent stores. However, this idea did not convey the gravity of the issue and was therefore discarded. Afterward a protest campaign was conceived. Stickers, banners and other merchandise were at the forefront of this idea, using illustrations and simple slogans to get across our point about stopping the takeover and ruin of business of the independent stores by the larger chains.
Faded Glory Utopia Brighton University Students
Katarzyna Sołtysiak Tatjana Acar Hanne Barritean Siiri akv | St.Joost Students
Selina van den Berg Tim Zwiep
Introduction We’ve started our project walking through the city, taking photo’s of nothing in particular, when we noticed that there are a lot of empty, buildings to let. In every street they make the positive atmosphere negative, and since there are more and more empty buildings, the atmosphere doesn’t improve. So we went on searching for a solution for that. What could we do to make the image of the street positive again? The basic idea is that an empty building once was a happy place, someone had a dream and for some reason it did not succeed. So now it’s deserted, trashy; a faded glory. Where once was a positive atmosphere, now it’s only negative and nobody even looks at the building anymore. It took a while for us to form the final idea. First, we wanted an empty building to fullfill temporary social/charity purposes, like a flower market or a clothing exchange. That seemed more of a communication sollution instead of a design, so next step was to make temporary art exhibitions for art students. But that also is not a design solution and this would mean way to much arrangement for the owner of the building. To simplify the idea and get back to the main purpose (turning a negative atmosphere into a positive) we thought of making simple wallpapers which could be placed in the shop display. The wallpaper could contain a message or a utopia image. However, the architecture students figured that’s to flat for them, they want to do something more spatial. Then finally the idea came into our minds of letting nature to interfere the empty buildings. Trying to find the best way to that, with some feedback and letting go the idea that it must be realistic (it’s utopia, so no realism is required) we decided to design a park inside a building. Buildings are manufactured by humans and they interrupt nature. In our utopia it’s nature that interrupts human-manufactured places (empty buildings). They take back their place in the street view of a city and form the calmest and most relaxing point in a busy and crowded street, overgrown by advertisements. An utopia inside an empty, faded glory.
Here are some picture’s of empty shops that we found in the city of Brighton. They were the starting point for our inspiration.
DESIGNS DETERIORATE. A UTOPIAN DE S I G N A PPROAC H. By Elnord Bukuso, Angharad Webber, Onye Ezirim, Meron Kiros, Sadek Ahmed, Jurian Srik, Ben Prins
The best day of a product’s lifecycle is the day you open the box. The best day of a poster is the day it is printed. The best day of a building is the day it opens. Think about a car’s first scratch or the first patch of filth on your sneakers. Materials decay and trends pass. These are all elements and signs that represent faded glory, as observed through Brighton’s many buildings, posters, and even its burned pier. Utopia. A place where perfection is everlasting and every persons’ needs are met, a paradise unknown and not creatable by humans. Where products, buildings and sneakers do not decay, get dirty or grow out of fashion. That is why it is non existent- especially not in Brighton.
Through our investigations, we saw how designers all try to create a place or product that will not only meet users’ needs but is also durable.Yet unwantedly, most materials decay, products deteriorate and fashions move on as explained previously; hence never creating a product or a space that is forever perfect, therefore never reaching a utopia. We proposed the question: ‘could a design become more glorious as time passed?’. Our intension was then to investigate if there is a way in which a product could keep or even improve its quality as time passed despite of the effect of the surrounding environment on the product.
D E S I G N T H AT L O S E S A P P R E C I AT I O N I N T I M E
D E S I G N T H AT F I R S T L O S E S A N D L AT E R G A I N S A P P R E C I AT I O N , L I K E V I N TA G E D E S I G N S .
D E S I G N T H AT G E T S M O R E A P P R E C I AT I O N A S T I M E PA S S E S .
Whilst in Brighton, we noticed how boards were filled with the remains of different posters which had been layered and ripped continuously. This created an effect whereby only a section of each poster could be seen, creating a collage of all the different posters. This not only created a sense of faded glory, but the fact that overtime the number of posters added also meant the addition of a new layer along with a bigger variety of colours and shapes; hence creating a new collage on top of the original one. In a sense, the idea that new colours and images were added as time went by, reflected our idea of utopia and our aim of showing how through time, an invention can improve aesthetically. To show this as a product, we decided to make a stand similar to those placed outside shops and cafes in order for it to be placed in Brighton to show a small example of utopia in a place that reflects faded glory. We placed different posters in different layers on the stand, representing a utopian world. We ripped them to get the same effect as seen on the poster stand seen previously. This product was later placed on the pier of Brighton to try and solve the problem of eliminating faded glory and introducing utopia.
T H E P R I N C I P L E w O R K S P E R F E C T Ly A S A C O L L A G E
A S T H E D E S T RU C T I O N O F E AC H O L D P O S T E R M A K E S T H E I M A G E M O R E B E AU T I F U L L
From tower blocks to
Eleven Fest Carlton Hill is stuck in a vicious cycle, a slum town that underwent periods of regeneration through the 20’s, 50’s and 70’s. Each attempt to revitalise the area quickly fades, by knocking down the old and replacing with new no permanent progress is made. We hope to bring new life in the area by utilising what is already there.
Brighton Brighton Brighton Brighton Pauline Scheel,Vincent Bogers || Avans Hogeschool Breda & ‘s Hertogenbosch Eve Olsen, Oliver Carter, Beth Rodway, Rosie, Freya Laing || University of Brighton
An amazing view and visibility from many areas around Brighton including from Mithras House, the sea front, the station, The Downs and through out the city. This gives our site a unique opportunity to stand as a symbol of Brighton. The 11 tower blocks can form a new center to enrich the lives of locals and the experience of visitors.
11 Towers 11 Functions Information Bar Cinema Market Art Gallery Park/Cafe Jungle Gym Amphi Theatre Cafe/Library Club Restaurant We launch the project with “Eleven Fest�, a weekend long festival during which opening nights for 11 different venues in the blocks. A book festival opens the library cafe, offering educational enrichment to students and locals. A large party opens a club, which offers a new experience of 13 stories high up. An art gallery space, bar, information center and park eleven different functions bringing growth to the area.
ElevenFest
ALISYA, DIMITRA, ENCINA, BAS EN LINDA
We chose for het old Pier, the West Pier. We were curious what happened to it and found out that it burnt down but that it isn’t sure why it burnt down. At first the plan was to fill in the story: What could’ve happened? And what would it look like if history was different? For example: what would it look like if it didn’t burn down? We place transparant sheets on the beach. If you stand in the right position you can see the entire picture.
After a brainstormsession we made five plans: 1: Transparent sheets on the beach with imagery 2: Rebuilding the pier with collage-techniques 3: Gauze 4: Interactionbuilding (social event) 5: Irreachable party
THE WEST PIER
The idea of an irreachable party spoke most to our imagination. The idea of inaccessability and an oase was something that we really felt. People always want things they can’t get, so the idea of a party which you can never reach is a very nice example of this desire. We decided to continue with this idea. The next step was to make a plan of approach en continue working on the concept and the elaboration. We had to edit the photo’s we took of the Pier to make it look like a party was going on. Posters had to be made to attract people’s attention and make them want to come to the party. The last step was to do the invitations and entrancebracelets.
LINE UP: EUGENIUS BIRCH
NOBLE TWINS
FIRE’03 DJ MASSIVE RUIN
LOCATION:
THE WEST
PIER
23:00 - 06:00 DAMAGE:
ZERO
NOBLE TWINS
FIRE’03 DJ MASSIVE RUIN
LOCATION:
1975COLLAPSE
EUGENIUS BIRCH
1975COLLAPSE
LINE UP:
THE WEST 23:00 - 06:00 DAMAGE:
ZERO
ENTRANCE
TIME:
24/11
PIER
Links: poster voor het feest Boven: uitnodiging voor het feest Rechts: festivalbandje
24/11/12
faded glory once called utopia Faded glory is usually the product of the once called utopia. Utopia is the definition of perfection itself, which can never be attained. In global history, there are some certain moments when utopia seemed to be really close and some cases tangible. In these times, people used to build monuments and statues, in order to preserve that glory through time.
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However, the contemporary world doesn’t have room for that kind of expression anymore, because our cynical world needs certain forms that express the present or the future, but certainly not the faded past. Under those circumstances, the already existing monuments and statues seem to be really out of space. The only thing left on them is a “smell” of faded glory along with some used chewing gums! A faded glory that once referred to a utopia which now doesn’t even exists. THE LOCATION This was the main idea behind our choice. We chose that specific location because we were attracted by a little detail we saw on a common statue. There was a traffic cone placed on its head, which make the whole statue stand out. It is located right in the heart of Brighton, across the Pavilion and close to St. Peter’s church, so the statue with the traffic cone is clearly making a strong statement. The statue itself is placed in a park, which is highly visited all day long, and which is quit a spacious place where we can organize our exhibition and several other events. REBIRTH Our idea is based on the notion of renaissance or rebirth. We want to bring back to life, all these statues that at this moment are dead. In order to make our idea come true, we’re going to reestablish the statues by transforming them into contemporary works of art. In order to make it possible, we will organize an exhibition in that park and the centrepiece will be our statue. We will place a golden vintage frame, just some meters up to the front of the statue, which will make it stand out when you look through that frame. In this way, we take the statue out of its context and we place it in our utopic world. These golden frame which are normally used in order to encircle old, “serious” and conservative paintings, are now used to juxtapose that notion, with a fresh, revolutionary point of view about the statue with the traffic cone which is normally a product of industrial design and shouldn’t be placed on a classical statue. In that way, the statue becomes automatically part of the contemporary art and breaks the barriers between the past and the present, faded glory and utopia. Furthermore, our intension is to include the statues of the whole city, so the frame will be, in a way, the signature of our project and it will be eventually a symbol of transformation and of a utopic expression of contemporary art.
BRIGHTON TIMELINE
Exposition
The west pier project This landmark is scheduled to be resurrected to former glory in the year of 2016 on the 150th anniversary of its opening, however according to speculation this early date is unlikely. That means that for at least the next 3 years the shell will remain there exactly as it is giving us time to enjoy it, comforted in the knowledge that in a few years life will be brought back to it once again with a new beginning. We do not disagree with the idea of a new renovation as this will bring entertainment for future generation for many years to come; however what we dislike is thought of missing out on the opportunity of creating an interesting and enjoyable experience that will likely be wasted if not taken advantage of in the next few years. Currently the only way to admire the structure is to stand what seems a mile away on the beach gazing out to it longingly, our proposal will allow the public to venture out over the sea and allow them to take a real close up look at what is there before the chance is gone in 2016.
West Pier, Brighton, Once a glorious, vibrant structure that welcomed the public and tourists alike to venture up the promenade to explore the seemingly precarious structure. This off land utopia of fun and games created a great location for participation in social gatherings, interaction and excitement. This is stark contrast to more recent years where it has been left as no more than a dying husk after barely surviving two fires, high winds and some major structure collapses. This location was chosen as it perfectly epitomised the idea of faded glory, a structure that once was something alive, humming with life and energy has in recent years, due to a catalogue of reasons simply been left to deteriorate. While the structure is now a decrepit shell of what it once was, it has become an icon for the community. In late evening as the sun is setting conveniently behind the structure, casting a warm red glow over the dark churning sea, light creeps through the exhausted structure forming a beautiful silhouette. The swarm of starlings then appear, swaying side to side like some concoction of cascading waves but with the vigour and gentleness of the aurora borealis. It is at this point you realise that this supposedly dying landmark is still very much alive and kicking.
process
Design Process Our design process began by exploring the ideas and concepts behind the theme of ‘Faded Glory’. Immediate ideas lead us to abandoned factories, derelict buildings and sites with large character that currently lack the life and lustre where once the building may have been raucous with noise and activity. Armed with this information we began thinking of local locations that promises to fulfil the criteria and realised that venturing into the city may be the best way to go about this. We began by getting off the train and were welcomed by the tall arches of the magnificent Brighton train station; this we thought might be a great space to use for a potential project. Not satisfied though we ventured down through the streets and found many more potential locations such as the Victorian clock tower by Churchill square and the Pavilion, but we finally reached the beach and found ourselves looking over the dying shell of west pier and came to the conclusion that it would be very unlikely to find a better physical metaphor for faded glory. The idea is to create a walkway that allows the user to physically get right up close to the structure in order to create a more personal experience and to allow the user to gain a much better sense of what it is. Many people may immediately retort in horror at this idea as it will ruin the lonesome view of this building against the perfect backdrop. The design incorporates fixed platforms the sit either above or below the water depending on the tide water level, this means that people will only be allowed to investigate it when the tide is low and when the tide is high it returns back to the icon we know it to be now retaining the view. We are also going to keep the platforms just at water height and ban any flash photography as this should be enough to encourage the starlings to stay. The platforms themselves are going to take the form of a timeline and each one will represent an important day in the piers life cycle, from birth when it opened in 1866 to death in 1975 to the rebirth in 2016 when it is scheduled to be repaired.
With this our group retired back to the studio and began exploring some initial ideas. We created a small collage of images and sketched some designs that were presented to an audience later in the day. The day following the presentation we spent time brainstorming ideas and putting the ideas down on paper in the form of mind maps, this became very useful as we then returned back to the studio the following day and used these to explain the ideas to the rest of the group. With the final presentation now approaching it became important to start physically representing our projects in ways that best describe the ideas and best convey the feel of the project. We did this by building a model which is a great way to represent such a design as it allows the user to physically move around it and gain great perspective of the whole product. We also created an A0 size augmentation of our project in action, displaying the differences between high and low tide.
the team: James, Emily, Alex, Rob, Lotte, Freek
Everyone has his own
INVISIBLE PERSONAL SPACE
Hermine Hedreul Sara Säfverström Matthew Holmes Jelle Kok Amber Dijs
WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS VISIBLE
PROCESS We have made a lot of disicions during this project, we tried various ideas. One of them was the contradiction of the pier with the rest of the city. The pier constantly made promises about having the best time or meal of your life. When in fact, it’s really dated and not fun at all. This was the inspiration of putting the sentence: “Fun here all year”. It was a false promis and so are a lot of things in this city. We wanted to put the sentence in various places in the city. For example, put it next to a homeless girl to show that it isn’t always fun.
Credits: George, Nicholas, Nikki, Vincent, Nicole
PRODUCT We wanted to show how outrageous the Brighton pier really is, by taking the style of the pier into Brighton. This way you see the clash of two worlds, a utopian and reality. We made posters for several very serious companies in Brighton. For example we took the exact text from a church sign and gave it the loud style of the pier. By doing it like this, you see how strange it all is.
BRIGHTON CHUCH COMMUNITY
come p i h s r o w with us young single adults 18 - 30 years old
socials, friendship, service, worship and more....
Credits: George, Nicholas, Nikki, Vincent, Nicole
The meaning of understanding is clear to everyone. Everybody understands what understanding means. In this case understanding means understanding the building and it’s owner. But for us, it has a second, deeper meaning. As an architect, you have to know if the base of the building can
hold the ceiling. You have to stand underneath it all to know if you can build your way up. Understanding. deeper meaning. As an architect, you have to know if the base of the building can hold the ceiling. You have to stand underneath it all to know if you can build your way up. Understanding. I smail, S imone, Alt em, Ni m esh , Kat, An drean i
CIT Y MAP
a guide trough the unconscious glor y of Brighton
RETAIL THERAPY
REST AND RECHARGE PUBS AND CLUBS
THE BRIGTHON’S CIT Y MAP WILL GUIDE YOU TROUGH THE LITTLE ATMOSPHERIC, OLD STREETS OF THE CIT Y / FIND YOUR FAVOURITE COLOURFUL INSPIRING STORE OR PUB THERE / THE OLD FAC ADES SHOULD BE THE PRIDE OF BRIGHTON / THE MAP WILL SHOW YOU THE MUS T SEE PL ACES FOR EVERY VISITOR TO THIS CIT Y / RELIVE THE OLD GLORY!
We want to make people in Brighton aware
the cupcakeshop which you normaly can’t
of the fact that the Pier and Royal Pavillion
find. Brighton’s civilians should be proud of
are not the most important attractions in
those parts of the city.
Brighton, we think the colorfull, happy, well designed facades are much more
To help tourists find these nice places we
inspiring. We see these parts of the city as
turned Brighton into a map. You can find
faded glory, as in invisible glory, people are
the legends at touristic hotspots like the
passing these beautiful places everyday
pier and the royal pavillion. Signs show
without seeing them. We want to make
you the way in the city, we made different
tourists aware of pretty the little lanes,
catagories and each catagory has it’s own
boutiques and sweet little restaurants like
sign.
CIT Y MAP
This is where you’ve found me at the pier!
Mandy Wong Erica Yeung Chir Wey Lim Katie Lam Tim van Leare Stephanie van der Harst
People will find the legends at touristic hotspots that we concider non-inspiring. Tourists are led to places that we think are inspiring, fun or in any other way a true Brightonhotspot.
Vergaande Glorie - Utopia Faded Glory - Utopia
nl
eng
In dit proces verslag lees je de ontwikkeling van ons
In process of the development of our project that
project dat wij samen met studenten van de univer-
we work together with students from the Brighton
sety of Brighton hebben gedaan. Het project ging
University we have done:
over Vergaande Glorie en Utopia gebaseerd op de stad Brighton. thursday 7 november Get the concept
thursday November 7 Get the concept
De eerste dag op de universety of Brighton maakte we al snel contact met een paar studenten. We voelde gelijk een click en besloten een groep te gaan vormen. Na de briefing van de opdracht gingen we Brighton in. We besloten een brainstorm sessie te gaan houden in de Starbucks. Eenmaal voorzien van coffee and muffins gingen we aan de slag. Tijdens de brainstorm sessie pasten we de emotie ratio techniek toe die we tijdens de lessen
The first day at the University or Brighton we quickly made contact with a few students. We felt like a click and decided to form a group. After the briefing of the mission we went to Brighton City Centre. We decided to have coffee at Starbucks after walking around the city and brainstorm our ideas. Once equipped with coffee and muffins we went to work. During the brainstorming session, we applied the emotion ratio technique we learned dur-
Our brainstorm session in starbucks
Writing down the definitely concept
Dirk is making a smal model
Diamant in proces.
Five concept plans writen down so we could decide the best option.
Anna writng down the ideas.
van Ge geleerd kregen. We kregen een positieve reactie van de studenten. Het bracht ons naar de volgende thema’s.
ing the lessons of Ge. We received a positive response from the Brighton students. It brought us to the following themes.
Bij Faded Glory kwamen we op de volgende Ratio/Feel combinaties.
In Faded Glory we arrived at the following ratio / Feel combinations.
- Crumbly - Alienation - Plastic surgery - illusion - Lost - capitalism
- Crumbly - Alienation - Plastic surgery - illusion - Lost - capitalism
We besloten uiteindelijk lost - capitalism als thema uit te gaan werken.
We decided eventually dissolves - Capitalism as a theme to work.
Bij Utopia kwamen we op de volgende Ratio/Feel combinaties. Fantasy - Orgasmic Dream - Freedom in mind Paradix - intightment
At Utopia we arrived at the following ratio / Feel combinations. Fantasy - Orgasmic Dream - Freedom in Mind Paradix - inlightment
We besloten uiteindelijk dream- freedom in mind als thema uit te gaan werken. Om deze twee themas uit te gaan werken besloten we ze eerst
We decided eventually dream-freedom in mind the theme to work. To produce final spreads, we decided to go and to summarise
A small selection about the visual research of Lost - capitalism
A small selection about the visual research of Dream Freedom in Mind
te gaan samen vatten in een zin. Het resulteerden in de volgende slagzin.
dream-freedom and dissolved capitalism in one sentence. It resulted in the following slogan.
We dreamt about a utopia of freedom in mind that is failing in a lost capitalistic world.
We dreamt about a utopia of freedom in mind that is failing in a lost capitalistic world.
Wendesday 8 november Making the plan Omdat de studenten een lecture hadden, kregen de nederlandse studenten de taak om vijf uitwerking voorstellen te gaan maken. Dirk en ik hebben vijf plannen gemaakt over hoe we het concept konden gaan uitwerken in de mogelijkheden en tijd die we hadden.
Wendesday November 8 Making the plan Because the students during a lecture, were given the Dutch students the task of drawing five proposals to make. Dirk and I have five plans on how we develop the concept that could go into the possibilities and time we had.
Thursday 9 november Working out the concept
Thursday, November 9 Working out the concept
Tot onze grote spijt waren twee van de vier engelse studenten afgehaakt voor een of ander reden. We waren overgebleven met een groep van vier. Dit betekende dat we extra hard moesten
In the morning, to our great regret, two of the four British students dropped out for some reason. We were left with a group of four. This meant that we had to work extra hard. We were really
gaan werken. We zaten dus echt in de stress stress stress stress! Toch hebben we besloten om er het besten ervan te gaan maken. Met zijn vieren hebben we de 5 voorstellen besproken en besloten om een diamant te gaan maken. Daarop gaan we het gefaalde kapitalisme van brighton op weergeven. Dit wilden we in eerste instantie de beelden die we hadden gemaakt erop videomappen. Maar binnen een week was dit niet haalbaar. Uiteindelijk besloten we een model van een diamant te gaan maken en deze in photo shop te gaan voorzien met beelden van het gefaalde kapitalisme van Brighton. Nadat we dit hadden besproken kwamen Anna en Jhon tot onze grote verassing toch op school. Kort hebben we het idee weer besproken en we hebben taken verdeeld zodat we het project konden laten slagen. Alles komt toch nog goed dachten we bij ons zelf.
in stress stress stress stress! Nevertheless, we decided to make the best of it. With four of the five proposals we have discussed and decided to go make a diamond. Once it done we will display photos of the failed capitalism of Brighton on surface, using Video mapping program. But within a week, this was not feasible. Finally, we chose a model of a diamond to go with and print Photoshop edited images of the failed capitalism of Brighton.Doing so will show the contrast photographs of homeless people with luxurious jewerly.
“if utopia was a place on earth, it would live in a childs mind without the responsibilities of life; a fading glory.�
visual research
process: we started our design process by redefining the asked questions. instead of asking
“what exactly is faded glory and what does it mean?” we asked ourselves “what does faded glory mean to us and in what way does this glory still affects us?”. why would you want to exposure, document and restore something that is long been forgotten? after a quick brainstorm we decided the best place to search for faded and past glory was in a place you best know as your own mind. we chose to address the well-known contradicition between the brain of a child and the mind of an adult and we wanted to give the adult a reason to revisit a place where worries make place for memories and responsibility for fun. in order to achieve and generate a set of impulses in which people relive the utopic ambiance of a childs world, we set up an exhibition in which the borders of the playground become the borders of your own memories. it sets itself apart from the outside world, a world where responsibilities and worries are a full-time job. the playground forms the base/ skeleton for our exhibition in which ordinary fixtures become the artwork for the gallery down your memories. the objects (photographs, toys etc) will evoke unexpected but utopic/ nostalgic memories, feelings or thoughts and will probabely bring back a piece of you that was or has long been forgotten.
erwin vos & mariska ferket
Brighton utopia|faded glory AKV|St. JooSt excurSie Go3 5-9 NoVemBer 2012
KiKo luiJteN JAN ciecierSKi JoKe meStdAGh Ad VAN der Kouwe ANthoNy roBertS