DomestiCITY by Chee Yung Siau

DomestiCITY Design Strategy and Statement

Chee Yung Siau

S3643460

CONTENT TEAM STATEMENT

4-9

Introduction Design Strategy Conclusion Reflection & Documentation of teamwork

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Introduction Site Location & Site Analysis Design proposal Space Planning & Human Circulation Spatial Experience Material use and selection Conclusion

REFERENCE

10 - 16

TEAM STATEMENT Introduction DomestiCITY is a proposed urban interiority that is an extension of the home. We aim to enhance three key qualities of the domestic realm namely- familiarity or a feeling of being at home, culture and play- that we believe will add value to the lives of the urban population and encourage more people to interact with the city in a post COVID world.

The pandemic has changed our routine way of life, introducing new and complicated

rules that need to be followed. It has been the cause for many individuals to feel increasingly isolated and apprehensive about the changes that the pandemic may have caused. For many, these anxieties may naturally ease over time; however, this may not be the case for all, and it may take time and support for others to return to normal. Some may even feel fearful of socialising and even becoming overwhelmed and, therefore, would feel far more comfortable at home. To encourage individuals to come back to the City of Melbourne, we must find ways to slowly ease individuals back into how things were before the pandemic. To allow for a smoother transition back into “normal,” we need to bring the familiarity of our homes, which turned into safe havens during the lockdowns, into the urban context to mitigate anxiety and reduce stress for individuals. This will make people feel more at ease in urban environments and public settings, allowing them to take smaller and more manageable steps into COVID-19 normal.

Design Strategy - Set Our Own Boundary After multiple derives throughout the city, we noticed how evident the Hoddle Grid was when walking through Melbourne’s CBD. Although we first started the derive by following this structured city, we noticed ourselves wandering off into laneways and quiet streets as they had different qualities that could not be found in the grided structure of the city. We decided to divide the Hoddle Grid into ‘houses’ that spanned a network of 2 by 2 blocks, thereby turning the CBD into a ‘neighborhood’ of sorts. We explored these houses to identify the location of various ‘rooms’ such as the living room, kitchen, and backyard. Having a network of these spaces interspersed throughout the city will make them more accessible to the entire urban population, and by dividing the Hoddle Grid in this manner, it also effectively allows citizens at any of the ‘houses’ to access one of these spaces by foot in under 15 minutes. Inspired by the idea of the 20-minute city, this is where all a resident’s needs are fulfilled within a 20-minute distance of where they live. By creating a network of these ‘houses’ and ‘rooms’ within the city and connecting these spaces through ‘corridors,’ we can build a lattice of memorable spaces which make it easy to move through the city and act as anchoring points. This can promote feelings of familiarity and ease any anxieties around not knowing where one is. 5

Design Strategy - Site Selection We decided to design our preliminary ‘house’ at the area around Lonsdale Street and Exhibition Street in Melbourne’s CBD. We chose this space as we found no significant activities in this area as it is located on edge on the Hoddle Grid. It typically comprises official spaces such as the Titles Office and Registry Office and high-rise living spaces. There is also a park beside this space. However, it is out of the Hoddle grid area. Parliament Station is also close by; however, the main traffic interchange is located at Flinders Station or Southern Cross station. Tourist attractions are hardly found in this area also, and supermarkets are also limited compared to the city center. Although we have chosen this section as an experiment, we hope that our interventions can be replicated throughout the city at different ‘houses’ in the future. Following our derive, we chose three locations in the northern part of the city that would serve as an urban living room, kitchen, and backyard, respectively. Each location will fulfill the function of or evoke the experience of these spaces typically found within the home and attempt to replicate a sensory experience typical of the ‘home’ typology through the materials, textures, objects, and smells of the space. These spaces will also embody and showcase local culture and help create a platform for communal and cultural events.

Design Strategy - Wayfinding We used wayfinding to promote ease of anchoring, feelings of familiarity, and a sense of orientation across the city. Since our chosen sites function as ‘rooms’ within the urban environment, we decided to treat the connecting urban fabric such as streets and laneways as ‘corridors’ connecting these rooms and allow individuals to journey through the rooms. We decided that our anchor points would be marked by unexpected domestic objects, elements, installations, or found object sculptures that evoke a domestic feeling and extend into the surroundings within the urban context outside of these rooms. Following Suzie Attiwill’s provocation, the repurposed interior object ‘invites other possibilities for thinking and designing interiors – and the practice of interior design – and brings the sensibility and techniques of interior design to the urban environment.’ In this context, these design activations operate by introducing domestic material objects and artifacts into the urban field of perception to extend the private realm into the city and, ultimately, occupy space differently.

We believe that even such simple interventions can impact people’s behavior in the urban and produce a new interiority within the city. These anchor points would also spark curiosity and invite further exploration of the immediate surroundings and the city at large. We want to create a situation where people come together to socialize and generate new interactions. Objects and materials that are normally interiorized, when brought outside, can help create a sense of enclosure and proximity; people may move closer to one another, and these objects or materials displaced from their typical interior settings influence relationships and the spaces between people with how they may interact and view the space.

Design Strategy: The concept of the house When considering how one “dwells” in the city, ‘domesticity’ typically only exists within the confines of one’s home- it is not easily found in urban settings typically designed for work. The pitched roof house is a common typology that immediately evokes memories of ‘home’ and the domestic. It is an image that resonates with the child within each of us. Structures designed with such roofs and profiles are effective ways of evoking familiarity and homeliness when people walk past these locations. Moreover, the use of pitched roofs in conjunction with common domestic materials and objects allows for creating a flexible and temporary installation that visually stands out within an urban setting and can adapt to various functions based on the users’ needs.

“

Places are spaces that you can remember, that you can care about and make a part of your life. Much of what is built now is too tepid to be remembered. The spaces with which we are surrounded are so seldom memorable that they mean little to us. Charles W. Moore, Donlyn Lyndon: Chambers for a Memory Palace

“

Conclusion In conclusion, our lives have taken a dramatic turn over the last year. People have been forced to stay indoors and interact with the city less due to the pandemic and have been forced to associate safety and comfort with the home. We believe that creating extensions of the home at various spots within the city would be instrumental in refamiliarizing people with the city. Hence, through our intervention, we intend on creating a network of public spaces that allow people to rest, recharge and socialize across the city of Melbourne. Traversing the network would lead people to different ‘rooms’ in the city and foster a spirit of exploration, curiosity, and playfulness among the citizens. We hope that these spaces cause citizens to see their city in a new way, feel a new sense of connection, and form new, meaningful relationships.

In short, our urban interiority, DomestiCITY aims to: • change the current lifestyle, environment, and function. • create an environment that provides a sense of familiarity and belonging. • design an identity that reflects the story of the city and its citizens. • encourage the notion of play and exploration rather than following routines and rituals. • invite social connections, sharing experiences and gathering.

Reflection & Documentation of teamwork Throughout the whole assignment, the whole team working structure has massive changes due to different ability scarcity. We were at a great start with having different tasks assigned accordingly, weekly group meetings were essential to follow up the assignment process, site analysis was scheduled to develop better understanding. Unfortunately, the group’s production wasn’t as productive as expected, weekly meetings were meaningless due to no new progress compared with the previous week. No ideas implementing or comments and basically I was the only person to share, updating next work progress, assisting with solving an individual’s assignment‘s issue such as design concept, site analysis etc. Our role was changed from group mates into myself as a ‘leader’ and guide them through to complete our final presentation which is fortunate enough to have it completed. Chee Yung Siau: Group Presentation Board, Overall Strategy & intervention, Group Statement, provide individual work guidance and ideas implementation, Individual project Laverne Tiong: Group Statement, Individual project Shrusshti Gadepalli: Group Statement, Individual project

PERSONAL STATEMENT Introduction The design proposal in Punch Lane area will bring the backyard feeling and atmosphere, elevating some greenery elements and implementing some bbq and playfort to attract more crowds since it is off the main road. It creates a platform where more social opportunities are given to the locals, children, and workers from the city keen to gather around. Having a backyard is the essence of familiarity and having play and fun, which easily bonds both adults and children. Besides that, it allows residents who live in the city and around this space to own a temporary backyard, inviting families and friends over for some memories, usually in suburban areas where all the houses have a backyard. This project is pet friendly as the growing global trend to consider the pet as part of the family, a great bonding agent of creating a ‘home’.

Site Location & Site Analysis Punch Lane is an irregular lane as it began as a pedestrian-only access route on an upward slope, opens into a cul-de-sac court, and finish es with both sidewalk and a sideway. This area features an array of wine bars, cafes, and lowrise residential. Rear 53/57 Lonsdale street has been chosen as a ‘backyard’ site location. A tree located in the middle with public seating, the only greenery with listless colours and materials in the surrounding area, such as grey concrete or bluestone paving. Punch Lane is the shortcut from little Bourke Street towards Lonsdale Street. Pedestrians are the primary user, especially restaurant workers in that area, and vehicles are not accessible besides residents returning vehicles to the garage.

Design proposal This design proposal isn’t aiming to bring a house back to the city, but bringing ‘home’ back to the city, a place people can feel the sense of family and friends. Therefore, I’ve chosen a combination of a few common materials and objects of the house such as cushion, wood, and gardens into the design to create the atmosphere of the backyard. Despite the site being slightly larger than expected, it fits my design concept overall. Creating a threshold for people to slowly immerse into the home atmosphere, having space for families and friends to gather, especially some private space for kids which is necessary for each individual family with newborn babies. This ‘Domesticity’ is to bring people back to the city, a sense of belonging which involves friends and families. The backyard consists of several activities such as a playscape, gardening, gathering, etc. Based on in-depth research of backyard content, materials, and textile to emphasize the homey sense, selected outdoor furniture suits the backyard atmosphere, finished with lighting to ensure warmth and welcoming. To achieve the design outcome, I have chosen the common-use wood pallet as a design component as it is a flexible, low-cost material and one of the sustainable materials for stacking and combining temporarily.

Space Planning & Human Circulation When creating different areas in a backyard, subtle clues should be given that define each space. Using the different materials such as grass, bluestone, and wood pallets placed in 4 different levels such as rooftop, decking, ground, and slope creates a completed vertical circulation and divides the area into sections. These design ideas are used to designate outdoor “rooms” without inhibiting the overall flow and unity of the yard.

Ground Floor

First Floor (rooftop)

Isometric View

Spatial Experience The pedestrian threshold accessing from Lonsdale street is designed into a public space with a backyard garden located on both accessible sides. Besides that, kids’ playfort and some public seats are added between the vertical garden and the pallet deckings to invite more kids to create their fondest memories and where families enjoy quality time. On the other hand, backyard gardens intend to test the effect of the urban environment on the interaction between the urban environment and horticulture. It is made up of local plants obtained from local nurseries, inviting residents or visitors to grow locally and conserve natural resources. It aims to encourage public interest in a sustainable and effective urban environment to bring attention to neglected environments in the city. Decking is the typical design for the backyard. The proposed decking design is integrated within stair seating, playfort, and outdoor living, using the limited space to maximize usage. The decking takes over a designer’s intention of infrastructure’s needs for freedom, nature, and joy. Visitors are encouraged to explore the space and interpret its purpose through their own experiences and needs. In addition, a small space to fit everyone can increase the interaction and socialisation between humans, which develops a different level of community sense. To melt the idea into “Domesticity,” we brought in the typical “Aussie Barbecue” at the rooftop area. Barbecue is not just a cooking style but representing a unique Australian culture and identifying broader and dynamic contexts. Furthermore, this rooftop barbecue and kitchen area that directly connects with vertical gardens may ignite the importance of supporting local produce, developing the idea of ‘farm to fork’ for gastronomy sustainability that creates a direct relationship with the quality and freshness of the product that is being cooked without going through the store or market. Perhaps, this concept may promote a unique Australian culture and foster people’s connection with nature and gardening, making relationships between humans, gastronomy, and spatial. The indoor kids’ entertainment area is designed at ground level to provide a more secure environment that mainly allows kids between 3-6 years old to play safely. Besides that, a small indoor kitchen allows mum and dad to prepare some simple kids’ meals, and it could be used as kids cooking classes at a particular time to increase the parent-child relationship.

Elevation View

Section View

Material use and selection This backyard atmosphere is designed on different levels and paved with different materials. The design is widely used of timber to give a warm and comfortable touch, conveying community and livability. The rooftop timber pergola is able to bring a fantastic sense of ambiance to any space and enhance the enjoyment of gathering. Having a cushion placed at some corners of the seat can provide comfortable textures, be inviting to touch, and smoothen any harsh line in the architecture of a room. Lastly, the artificial grass rug enables the environment to look soft and inviting for bare feet, comfortable and safe for kids to have fun around.

Conclusion Overall, we intended to create a place for people to enjoy comfort, where they can put down their worries and seek the childhood of their hearts. Besides, we hope this ‘backyard’ space and the designated program will enhance the relationship between people, families, and friends with nature and traverse the boundaries of urban life and break down barriers between individuals. A greater connectivity with the society to attract more people’s back to the city, a comfortable and familiar area yet not a fast-paced city where people are unwilling to stay longer.

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