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contents
glimpses
emancipation
equality
Placemaking & City Mapping 3 The Site 5 Site Observation and Landscape 7 Asking, Looking, Playing, Making 13 Muff on a Huff Puff 25 Who is the Community? 33 Development by Playing 35 Diving into the Matrix 39 Detail Crafting 45 Fortress vs Urban Matrix 57 Interim Critique 67 Environmental Exploration 68 Journey to Emancipation 69
Idea 89 Building in Context 91 Site Plan 93 Plan 1F 95 Plan 2F 96 Plan 4F 97 Sectional Perspective 99 Section Short 101 Section Long 103 Journey 105 Emancipation through Light 117 Exploded Isometric 119 Structural Approach 121 Environmental Approach 123 Studio Unit Exploration 125 Community Stories 129
Personal Reflection Framework for Growth
133 135
augmentation Threshold 139 Beauty Presentation 141 Rhino Exercise 143 Precedent Presentation 145 Group Book Report 147 Munich Masterplanning 149
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glimpses Look closely, and you will find a small window; a subtle beacon inviting you to take the next step of your journey.
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Placemaking & city mapping Group Analysis Exercise in Bristol, United Kingdom As a group, we were given a section through the City of Bristol, and areas lying outside its immediate urban borders. Our section took us on a journey from the natural outskirts of the city, into the noise and built-up nature of the suburbs. The most obvious conditions we noticed were the changes in noise levels, colours and vegetation as we passed away from the natural areas and into the city. This contrast was what we chose to explore and map to identify the pivotal nature of Spike Island lying in-between.
Views of aspects of man appear briefly, scattered in a natural context.
The colour of the city, hidden away. Trapped on the borderlands between nature and man.
Nature always finds a way, even in the dominion of humans.
Left: Images of natural twisted forms contouring the small interventions of humans. Below: Section of the city, showing the slow progression from a natural to human context.
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Final pin-up, drawing on a wide range of natural and man-made focusses. Including boundaries, details, colours, scale, and sounds encountered throughout the city, and how quickly they change when passing over the boundary of Spike Island. 4
The site Spike Island and B-Bond: Unique Challenges
The Warehouse The bonded warehouse highlighted, commonly referred to as B-Bond, was built in 1908 and is one of 3 bonded warehouses in the immediate context, all with a very similar aesthetic. While A-Bond is currently serving the local council, and C-Bond is used for a storage business, B-Bond is currently lying disused, along with the site surrounding it. This warehouse is arguably the most critical warehouse in relation to Bristol, as it is the closest to the edge of the city; due to its current state, this is isolating the areas on the other side of the New Cut (the adjacent waterway), from the city. The biggest challenges facing the warehouse and its adoption into the community are its imposing form, the state of ruin on its immediate site, and its accessibility for the community. Addressing the warehouse could be the best way to help break the boundary between Bristol’s main city and the areas over the New Cut. But how?
Above: An aerial snapshot of the warehouse in the early 20th Century Below: The warehouse today
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Site observation and landscape Searching for a Future in the Context
Drawing Out a Focus When visiting the site, it was difficult to find a way to penetrate the seemingly closed-off solid walls. Through sketching and photography, it became possible to spot small glimpses into the warehouse and the little secrets it holds. Pigeons on windowsills, light shining through the roof and window and the upper stories, holes in the concrete of the train sheds. These were the first clues about the identity of the site, and more importantly, how to begin to use these elements to open-up its form to the community.
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Glimpse Hunting
A collage of glimpses, small windows into the future of the site.
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Landscape Options: Reveal, Revel and Reflect
In order to fully explore what a glimpse could be, I began to explore different ways glimpses could be encountered on the site, and began to understand the 3 stages that were present: Reveal: Show a preview of what is to come, and entice exploration. Revel: Focus fully on the subject presented by the glimpse. Reflect: Notice the impact of the glimpse on the wider-context and how it can feed back to the community. My exploration of landscape then turned into 3 design alternatives which embodied fully these elements on the site that could begin to play off one another.
Reveal: Where can you see the glimpses
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Revel: What nature can you find in a man-made place?
Reflect: How can you use the glimpse for the site? 10
Drawing connections between the glimpses to produce a grander notion of the glimpse. All nodes are either physical notions of space to address each aspect, or images of the site with the existing characteristics.
Reveal: Creating opportunities to glimpse
Revel: Highlight zones that promote nature on the site.
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Reflect: Use water and glass to bring the context into the site.
Landscape Combined: Reveal, Revel and Reflect
My landscape scheme culminated in a combination of the 3 approaches to glimpse, combining to form a sequence that defined “glimpse� for the site. This was the process of Revelation, Revelling and Reflection. The Scheme created a series of perforated walls, natural spots, views in and out, and areas of water and glass for reflection. By bringing the community on a journey of glimpses of nature in the city, the landscape strategy aimed to act as a device to draw in people without them having to confront the sheer scale of the adjacent warehouse instantaneously. The community centre could then emerge at the heart of the scheme.
A glimpse as a sequence of Revelation, Revelling and Reflection
Attempted to draw strategy in pin-up to develop presentation skills.
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asking, looking, playing, making Inspiration through Abstraction
Glimpse My first exploration in the Asking, Looking, Playing, Making exercise was the Glimpse, embodied in the previous landscape scheme. This broke down to be into the hidden nature of the focus behind a glimpse, and the revelation of community that occurs afterwards. There is always more under the surface.
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Hidden
Revelation
Hidden
Revelation
This site analysis shows a series of glimpses in and out of the site, and highlight the best position to do something pivotal relating to the notion of Hidden and Revelation on site.
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The first exercise culminated in a building with wedges which project out into the site, and present views to the surrounding areas, providing glimpses into the building for any outside simultaneously. This wasn’t particularity successful however, and having taller wings and a short centre with a courtyard on the roof would have been more effective as it would have embodied hidden revelation on a much deeper level in the building.
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Evocation The bonded warehouse certainly evokes something, weather curiosity or discomfort. It is however this drawing out of feeling that could help open up the site. Wandering was used as a notion for exploring something lost, and spotlight highlighting the existing imperfections to break down the scale of the building.
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Wandering
Spotlight
Wandering
Spotlight
The spotlight is embodied in the way light does (or doesn’t) penetrate the warehouse, and changes throughout the day. Wandering can be seen in all the options of movement for pedestrians across the site around key buildings.
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I was first tempted into the warehouse through this notion, and how I could play with the building through light and volume, turning the space into something else. The resulting form would turn out to be rather helpful in the development of my scheme, exploring how the character of the warehouse could be changed without compromising other aspects of its identity.
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Singularity Despite being one of 3 warehouses, the bonded warehouse feels so a-contextual given its proximity to the city. Trying to understand this experience lead me to Contextual and Surreal as opposing notions that could help bring the building back into the community.
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Contextual
Surreal
Contextual
Surreal
The Isolated Scale diagram highlights how the building’s proximity to the city results in the disparity of scale becoming particularly pronounced. The City vs. Un-City highlights how the roads act as natural barriers between the warehouse and residential buildings.
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The result of the exploration was a surreal form sitting next to the warehouse, aiming to bridge the gap between the diverse and complex city, and the authoritarian bond building. The boxes began as an idea of the contents of the warehouse being taken from inside and dumped in a pile outside the building. By being more surreal and a-contextual, but for the opposite reason the warehouse, it begins to break down the isolated experience quickly noticed on the site.
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Muff on a huff puff A Pass the Parcel Design Development Exercise
A - Conceptual Diagram (Own) The Muff on a Huff Puff exercise encouraged the development of ideas through passing previous work to another, and allowing them to develop an initial proposal for the next step. This quickfire process helped progress the proposal, until it evolved into the first integrated characteristics that formed the foundation for my continued design development.
CONTEXTUAL
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SURREAL
I started with my endpoint for Asking, Looking, Playing, Making, as I found the mountain of boxes an interesting idea that was abstract enough to leave room for interpretation going forwards.
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B - Typological Diagram (Calvin)
Calvin’s proposal was an interesting exploration of the complex spaces presented by a monolithic pile of boxes. This proposal highlighted to me however that in order to truly tackle the warehouse, the boxes could be more effective swarming the monolith. 26
C - Typological Diagram (Own)
I produced a proposal combining two of my previous ideas from ALPM, and used a scale of box components to begin to tackle and open-up the warehouse and make it a more interesting space to use.
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D - Plans & Sections (Yan)
Yan picked up and ran with my proposal, and began exploring how each unit could feel, and how they could all work as individual spaces which helped inform my thermal and formal approach later on.
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E - Plans & Sections (Own)
My plan and section began to explore how the warehouse could interact with water from the river to create a truly surreal space. The geometric idea began evolving well, however the language of the residential units felt disconnected from the rest of the scheme. The plan demolished the lower of the two roads bordering the site and expanded to this location, opting for a shared-space approach to landscaping while creating a larger plaza space in-front of the warehouse. 29
F - Model (Siyu)
Siyu’s model uses colour effectively to highlight the locations of boxes in the building, and emphasize their locations floating in space. The walkways that span from floor to floor helped inform my further development of the interior later on.
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G - Detail Brief (Own)
In my detail brief, while hinting at materiality, I wanted to invoke the idea of a struggle and a strong intersection, but leave it open to interpretation to allow more freedom for exploration.
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H - Detail (Mark)
While Mark did guess that my detail brief was mentioning gabions, I wasn’t sure about the rest of the image. While nicely drawn, I didn’t find it as helpful in the development of my scheme.
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Who is the community? What does Bristol Need?
Changes to the Brief Bristol is home to a wide range of ages, cultures and income groups, making it a very vibrant and exciting city. Scenes of wide disparity can be experienced within close proximity and add to the life and character of the city. The current site however caters for nobody. One of the challenges facing cities today is the spreading out of communal areas and residences from commercial areas. In order to address this, I believe there should be a change in attitudes towards multiple aspects of both the community and live-work typologies: - Community centres should be housed near co-working to allow a mixing of age-groups and prevent the fringes of society from feeling excluded. This also helps physically, allowing all functions to share the same resources. - Live-Work units should be compact where possible to allow for cheaper costs for those who need their own space without sacrificing spatial quality or functionality. This is more efficient for manufacture and energy use while also providing spaces for those who can’t afford traditional housing. For this reason, the schedule of areas opposite suggests significant changes to the original brief to factor in these ideas, and provide a vibrant mixed-use development that can sustain a high-enough proportion of the community to help transform the site into an integral part of the city.
Bristol comprises of a wide demographic, popular both with young and old as a permanent home, with a wide range of both wealth and cultures. A successful community space in Bristol is challenging as it has to appeal to seemingly opposite sides of all coins.
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development by playing A Dive into Design
Exploration of Alternatives By this point I felt comfortable that I had touched upon the foundation of my project, however I felt the expression was weak and needed fresh inspiration to drive it forward. I began to look at the site again with typologies in mind, and used these in model, then drawing form to measure their effect on the site. While these moves were less refined as complete notions, they helped discover important possibilities for the coming design.
Crescent and the Cloud: Inspired by the crescent across the road, and the others which help define the style of the region, this approach explored how completing the crescent would affect the site. While interesting, it feels somewhat forced, however the feeling that the smaller units help address the site and give it its own identity was a big help moving forward.
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Canons and the Fortress: This idea of the fortress was critical in informing the way I treated the warehouse in future designs, however the cannons punching openings in the facade felt too basic and forced.
Castle and the Town: This idea helped significantly in the treatment of the landscape and site plan, as it gave a notion and purpose to the boxes beyond their requirement. The walkways, topography and complex matrix of buildings went a long way towards crafting my future proposal.
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(04/03/2019) - Singularity – Glimpses into the Un-City: Providing those wandering to and around the hidden site with a glimpse into its unique contextual identity, and beginning the revelation of a new and surreal community centre experience by shining a spotlight on the context's individual nature as the user advances.
(06/03/2019) – Detail Brief for MOAHP: The shadow of a titan, imposing and tall.
The fortress becomes a communal zone with light elements suspended in a heavy form. Resonating with this, Clash with a cluster, cages of stone. the live and work becomes light elements within the heavy matrix of the street. All elements are unified within the language of the “double cube” to reflect the proportions of the warehouse. The cluster is light, and sun shines through,
By this point, the idea of the Fortress vs. Urbanthe Matrix had it formed, and to began looking closely at how the boxes but through titan is able move. would help open up the warehouse and create an integrated community space. Piercing a way for the people to go, Into the storage hall of old.
Following Muff on a Huff Puff: Castle: Deterrent – Redundancy – Ruin – Attraction Fortress vs Urban Matrix
Story of A-Bond: “I was a warehouse with a purpose. The community didn’t include me, pushed me aside, but that was fine. I was young and career focussed; my two colleagues and I were both happy. But when things changed they made me redundant. My colleagues managed to find work elsewhere but I wasn’t as lucky… “Now I am old. Lonely. I have my history, but realise now it means nothing if I have nobody to share it with. All I want now is company.”
Current Agenda 1. Re-activate the warehouse, to turn it from a hidden ruin, into a fortress revealed for the community. 2. Provide a new identity for the site as an urban matrix, with a strong hierarchy of routes to make the surreal scale of the context both communally and singularly experiences comfortable.
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Left: The landscape is now expressed as a combination of filled concrete cubes, each growing plants or housing water features. This is to encourage biodiversity on the site and create an interesting combination of the natural and man-made. Above and Right: The floating boxes in the warehouse were initially explored here in timber, and how to use the double-cube language was considered primarily.
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Diving into the matrix Seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Exploration of Cities and Built-Forms As the warehouse and its surroundings feel like more of an urban situation than an isolated architectural one, I spent most of my time looking at organic forms that evolve in cities. By exploring situations where the urban space grows without an architect, gained a sense of the density and randomness that can be found, that only give way significantly to paths of resistance. In contrast with the fort, this language becomes powerful enough to regain control and identity in a space. On a smaller scale, I looked at modern forms using concrete that crafted boxlike forms which resolve into smaller personal spaces which fit seamlessly back into the whole. This ability to experience the details on a personal scale while allowing the full matrix to read as a whole emerged consciously as the key to resolve personal connection with the warehouse and creating comfortable spaces simultaneously.
I furthered the working idea of the Fortress and the Urban Matrix, and explored the proto-city of Catal Huyuk. The surreal experience of exploring the settlement through the rooves is an enticing concept to develop and use to break down the elements surround the warehouse.
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Re-Looking - Fortress vs. Urban Matrix
Modern Buildings as a Matrix
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Thinking Inside the Box In order to further utilize the language of the double, cube I bean exploring how the boxes could express their identity. I explored how these might be expressed. This exercise proved less successful however as it didn’t draw strongly from a developed language in the project. As a result, the identity of the boxes forming the matrix on site remained fluid for an extended period.
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Right: Initial notions of a flood-proof city were developed as boxes that would use their structural frames as an anchor, allowing them to float when flood-water came. This complexity however would make them unsuitable for the site’s future evolution.
Adjacency diagrams, helping clarify important spaces on the site and their relationships for further development. 42
Interim Model Photos This model was used to explore the 3D relationships between the units, the warehouse and the context, and explore how the scale would be read by the users.
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Detail Crafting Design through Making
Fabric Formwork Experimentation The task for the week was to experiment with fabric formwork in order to understand how the material behaves. As my design to this point relied very heavily on rectilinear forms, I decided to experiment with how the fabric would behave when interrupted by solid rectilinear objects. I manufactured a timber box, and screwed timber batons to the base, allowing all screws to be removed from the outside. I then stapled the fabric to allow enough give to from around the batons, but not too much. The mould was rather tricky to remove due to the folds in the fabric at the corners of the box, however the way the interruptions caused the fabric to crease was interesting, even more so when these areas caught the light, and a hint of the rectilinear pattern can be seen in the soft-looking piece.
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Below: Sketch of the mould used in its design, and the support pieces propping up the work as would be seen inside the box. Right: The completed mould before pouring the plaster.
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The most interesting effect was realised when the timber supports were re-inserted into the new form but in the opposite order of height, this produced a level of complexity to compliment the plaster cast. The large image to the right of a timber element sitting in the piece helped develop the matrix of the main design into a heavy landscape mass, raising all the units off the ground to protect them from flooding. 47
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Timber Detail Exploration At this stage in the process, I decided to craft both details in timber, and develop a shared language between the two different scales. Using the idea of Hidden Revelation, I wanted to invoke the experience of a communal version a drawbridge, combining a series of moving elements into one dynamic piece. When a community space was required, the drawbridge could be lowered by a handle of similar style, softening the touch, and producing the same sensation for the hand that gravity exerts on the drawbridge. The wall would slowly transition down and seamlessly become the floor of the bridge into the space, revealing an all-timber lined space that leads with its grain to the community spaces.
Floating Community Activity Spaces Focus: Floor, Wall and Door - Drawbridge to Tunnel Left: Floating timber module housing the detail being designed.
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Right: A series of sketches exploring how the timber drawbridge and handle would be resolved, and enhance the use of the space.
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Drawbridge lowers as a catenary before merging with the tunnel to form an all-timber lined space.
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Drawbridge Detail Result @ 1:10
The timber drawbridge corresponded relatively well with the intended outcome. The string allowed the bridge to rise and fall as a catinary, shifting the drawbridge from an aggressive architectural element to a communal one. The key difference between the model and a full-scale equivalent would be the weight of the members, which would allow the catinary to fall more smoothly at full-scale. This design however would use a large quantity of material and would add a considerable amount of weight to the proposal, especially for boxes cantilevered in the warehouse.
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Handle Detail Result @ 1:1 The handle for me, while only modelled as a quarter of the component, was very successful regarding its ergonomics. The soft give experienced when applying force helped with the notion of the drawbridge becoming more of a community element than a fortress one. It was easy to imaging the push of the fingers corresponding to the same action in the drawbridge at a significantly larger scale. The full-handle design however didn’t feel successful as a mechanism, as in order to exert the correct force, the handle would need to engage a dynamo to activate a motor to lower the drawbridge, reducing the natural feeling that is gained by timber in the first place.
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fortress vs urban matrix Fortifying the Concept
Development before Review In the run-up to the review, I began to consolidate my ideas about the Fortress vs Urban Matrix. One significant point which helped in identifying the warehouse further was its association with the life of a castle: starts as a deterrent, becomes redundant through technology, falls into ruin, and finally becomes an attraction due to its new nature. This angle means the warehouse should be seen as transitioning from a state of ruin (abandonment) to an attraction for the community. I personified the warehouse’s isolation through the life of B-Bond as a tool to identify its position within the community. Finally, I developed updated spatial adjacency diagrams to highlight new spaces in the building.
Fortress and the Urban Matrix Fortress and the Urban Matrix
Re-activating the Singularity as a mixed-use community centre by linking to its context with a localised urban matrix, while still acting as a fortress for the hidden members of society, revealing itself to any member of the community. Re-activating the Singularity as a mixed-use community centre by linking to its context with a localised urban matrix, while still acting as a fortress for the hidden members of society, revealing itself to any member of the community.
Fortress
Urban Matrix
Protect the Vulnerable
Pathways between Fortress Districts
City Network Urban Matrix
Protect the Hidden
Pathways between Revelation
Hidden
Revelation
Vulnerable
Unique Element
Contextual City Network
Singularity Unique Element
Life of a Castle Contextual
Singularity
Districts
Life of a Castle
Deterrent
Redundancy
Ruin
Attraction
Deterrent
Redundancy
Ruin
Attraction
Life Life of of B-Bond A-Bond
Life of A-Bond
“I was a warehouse with a purpose. The community “Now I am old. Lonely. I have my history, but realise didn’t include me, pushed me aside, but that was now it means nothing if I have nobody to share it fine. I was young and career focussed; my two with. All I want now is company.” colleagues and I were happy. But when things “I was a warehouse with a purpose. The community “Now I am old. Lonely. I have my history, but realise changed they made me redundant. didn’t include me, pushed me aside,My butcolleagues that was now it means nothing if I have nobody to share it managed find work but I wasn’t so fine. I wastoyoung and elsewhere career focussed; my two with. All I want now is company.” lucky… colleagues and I were happy. But when things changed they made me redundant. My colleagues managed to find work elsewhere but I could wasn’t help so those with nowhere to go? What if A-Bond lucky… 57
What if A-Bond could help those with nowhere to go?
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Components of the Matrix
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Caption
Caption
Conditioned spaces isolated in the Matrix
Introduction of the Fortress Boundary
Pathways linking the Matrix
Landscape of the Matrix
Completed Matrix
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Features of the Matrix
Plaza spaces created at original ground level for public use at key access points.
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All units are raised off ground, and concrete landscape allows the site and warehouse to flood without consequences operationally.
Live-Work functions are found on the outside of the crescent, with commercial and office spaces towards the centre, and community zones floating centrally in the heart of the warehouse.
The urban matrix exists as a language both inside and outside the warehouse.
The Live-Work units respond to the existing crescent nearby, while transitioning into the urban matrix which defines the site.
Complex walkways above ground level act as raised city streets, and help tackle the formality of the warehouse, while simultaneously providing access during flooding.
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A view of the external portion of the matrix, with raised streets, units sharing a common language, a shared-space street and planted landscape safe from flooding. Unfortunately the angle chosen was poorly considered and makes it appear like a gigantic timber box was fixed to the corner of the warehouse.
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The matrix viewed from inside the warehouse shows a surreal and unexpected space, with lots of glass and a series of boxes rising into the sky. The water on the floor show the space in use during a flood.
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interim critique A New Dimension
The interim critique was extremely helpful in isolating the areas for immediate attention. It helped that I displayed all work up to the point, as it allowed a detective-style exploration. The main points highlighted for development were: - Finding a language for the facade which is coherent with the landscape a matrix. - Tackling the social discomfort relating to the warehouse from its implied connection to the slave trade. - Taking a full facade-retention approach to the warehouse rather then retaining part of the floor create a more open and flexible internal space.
Caption
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environmental exploration Early Energy Exploration
Since early on in the project, it became clear that the best approach for a building housing a large number of modules, would be to have those spaces thermally lightweight and highly insulated. This was carried forward in more detail. The facade of the warehouse acts as an atmospheric buffer and allows the pods with wider occupation variation to be properly sheltered against additional heat losses while supplying high volumes of fresh air. The units inside the facade contain small MVHR units along with solar water heating and windows to help control the fluctuating temperatures based on variation in activities throughout the day. The units gain natural light from the north-facing glazed roof of the warehouse and all the unobstructed windows of the facade. The air in the warehouse is continuously ventilated due to the openings that run around the perimeter of the roof; the roof still protects the warehouse interior from rain. The units outside the warehouse use a combination of MVHR and Air Source Heat Pumps powered by PV panels on the warehouse roof to attain over 100% heat recovery. The MVHR system is a specialised unit allowing the office space and residential spaces to be simultaneously conditioned without the cross contamination of air. All units are pre-fabricated timber units with straw bale insulation based on the new mod-cell innovations which allow the system to be prefabricated without the use of metal. The units therefore act as a carbon sink, and can be easily recycled and replaced at the end of their life. The internal brick floors of the warehouse would be demolished and used to back-fill the GGBS concrete landscape skin, helping to support the units outside the warehouse. The steel from the structure meanwhile would be re-used where possible in the new structural walkways and facade retention structure inside the warehouse. This large new frame would be a permanent feature, and act as a framework for future evolution. The existing saw-tooth roof of the warehouse would be retained with all the north-facing glazing maintained. The south-facing portion of the roof would be fitted with solar-water and PV panels to provide free energy to the community centre and surrounding units without affecting the aesthetic amenity of the warehouse or its roof.
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journey to emancipation Bonded by the Past
Bristol’s Slave Trade Bristol is now a city of great tolerance and cultural understanding, this was however far from the case between the 17th and 20th centuries with it being one of the “world capitals of the slave trade”. Bristol was instrumental in the manufacturing of slaver ships which transported millions from their native homes to a cruel and fatal existence as slaves. Many of the city’s most prominent figures gained their money directly through this industry, and the pioneering evolution of photography locally was managed through the use of money acquired from the trade. More locally to the site, the New Cut was built in 1804 as part of a project to build the floating harbour. While a marvel of engineering, one of its key features was allowing boats to be ready to depart for slave hunting when the few hightide periods arrived. Finally, the warehouse, while built long after slavery was abolished, was built to house tobacco specifically, an industry which infamously still used slave labour to harvest the product in their native countries and abroad. With all of this in mind, one of the most important actions to liberate the warehouse from its isolation from the community it to “break its chains”, and emancipate it from its previous associations with a dark period of history. By liberating the inside of the warehouse from its physical constraints, creating new intrusive openings, and challenging the dominance of the warehouse on the site, the matrix attempts to give the community the voice to craft a new chapter in the history of the site.
This painting, “Broad Key, Bristol” (Philip Vandyke, 1785), highlights the apparent wealth of the dock areas, which were flourishing at the time due in part to the trading of slaves.
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An advert for a Bristol-based gun maker, with the slave trade being targeted as their ideal audience.
An unauthorised heritage plaque in Bristol, highlighting the city’s heavy links to the trade.
Barred windows on the bonded warehouses, protecting the tobacco products inside, grown in the fields by slaves, and shipped by boats made through slave-trade profits.
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Fissures In order to discover a new identity for the units’ façades, I looked for a language of liberation. I began investigating with plasticine models of cubes, and attempting to carve in a language of freedom. The model on the left appeared strong, but didn’t embody the idea of a struggle, and made the appearance of emancipation a slightly over-simplified one. I therefore turned to the model on the right, representing a struggle. This reminded me of the freeze-thaw process that slowly shatters rocks over time, fittingly with water. On the far right, I began drawing these fissure patterns as a form of analysis.
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Using multiple frames, to isolate different fissure patterns, and create a pattern-book of freeze-thaw liberation.
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Carving the fissure pattern into a frame to assess its effect.
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Pattern-book of freeze-thaw liberation.
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Emancipation of the Facade I proceeded to apply the patterns to the facade as a point of departure. Using different selections from the pattern-book, I was able to produce a first unit, which developed subsequently into a unit which embraced both the language of emancipation, and the urban matrix.
Initial iteration of the facade-fissures super-imposed on the unit facade, providing a layer of interest, but without any relation to the language of the urban matrix.
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An abstraction of the fissure patterns on the facade using a rectilinear language. The cladding is closer but the scale seems too small and the layers appear basic.
Final iteration of the facade, with layering to emphasise the effect, along with larger geometric forms, and windows both cut into and between the cracks.
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Free to Enter Even if it was accessible, entering the bonded warehouse currently would be an issue due to its very formal authoritarian arches at ground level. While the scheme would open these up as ground-level entrances, they give way to water in floods and no longer become viable entrances. The raised-street level entrances then become the main route into the warehouse. This requires new openings in the facade. Due to the defensive language of the building, a matrix style opening in the facade helps the language of invasion pass from the outside to the inside of the warehouse, while providing an equal and human-scaled opening to access the community functions of the building.
Above Right: A geometric opening in the warehouse, drowned out by the volume of rectilinear geometry on the building’s facade. Right: Analysis of different patterns of “smashing through” the facade, evoking a powerful human-scaled attempt to fight into the “fortress.” 79
Early impression of an invasive entrance into the warehouse, entering from an unusual angle, and requiring users to move around the core, as if discovering a secret entrance.
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Further exploration of the facade openings in plasticine, highlighting the powerful fragmented feeling attained.
An impression of the “secret entrance� into the community centre, which is revealed to the public on the main street.
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Walkways: Raised to New Heights To match the steel structure acting as facade retention in the building, I designed a steel walkway element which would prevent as little light as possible from being hidden from the users on lower floors. The solution contains perforated steel panels along with castellated I-Beams. The walkways are made rigid enough to walk on by the beams that run beneath the perforated panels, but the intense structural moments in the beams caused by the long spans and twists are managed through the steel rods which suspend the walkways from the roof of the faรงade-retention structure. I originally considered a steel grating as shown in the sketch to the right, however considering this could have serious privacy implications for those walking on the element, I decided metal sheets with frequent but small perforations would be both a safer and more appropriate solution.
Walkways with hanging cable-rods and perforated steel floor panels.
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Perforations in the structure and the steel floor panels allow light to enter through, enhancing the sense of illumination inside the warehouse without compromising on privacy for those walking on the surface.
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Matrix Handle Considering the change of structure and language in the building, I decided to design a new detail which could act as a switch or handle for a wide range of situations in the building. The handle appears similar to the abstract matrix, but is formed to fit the hand. Its various sections allow for its triggering in a number of ways, and each press provides a difference feeling for the hand.
Secret door handle to the scale and proportions of the human hand.
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Raised square to activate the mechanism.
Mechanism unlocked, and fingers instead of palm used to trigger handle.
Handle pressed with whole hand.
Handle pressed with palm.
Handle pressed with fingers.
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emancipation “Freedom is from within.” - Frank Lloyd Wright
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idea United Concept
Emancipation is the goal, Fortress vs. Urban Matrix is the local context, Hidden Revelation is the vehicle for Emancipation, and Contextual Singularity is the language of Emancipation. Once united, these concepts guide all experiences in the building, and helped determine finer placements of units within the space, along with the expression of detail, form and landscape throughout all scales of the proposal. Following the integration of these principles, the final building came together.
EMANCIPATION Fortress vs. Urban Matrix Emancipating the Singularity from history as a mixed-use community centre by linking to its context with a localised urban matrix, while still acting as a fortress for those in need, revealing itself equally to any member of the community.
Protect the Vulnerable
Hidden
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Fortress
Urban Matrix
Pathways between Districts
City Network
Revelation
Contextual
Unique Element
Singularity
Commercial
Multifunction
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Community Live-Work Units
Diagram showing the functions of different units throughout the building.
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building in context Site and the Town
The site is accessed on ground level through underfall yard to the north, from across the bridge to the south-west, and via the chocolate path from the south-east. The raised street access is from the road behind the site.
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Pedestrian routes through the site are increased, providing greater complexity of movement similar to a medieval city.
The site is framed and properly addressed by the crescent in the matrix, helping to extend the urban fabric to the site. There are 3 plaza spaces on the ground floor for communal activities which mark the arrival at the site.
The urban matrix reads as an abstraction of the built forms nearby.
The new raised-streets allow the full development to remain completely usable (minus the exhibition space) when the river breaks its banks by up to 3m, with the potential to raise potential future developments to 7m without building new landscape or loosing use of the raised streets.
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SITE PLAN 93
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Co-Working
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MultiFunction Community Hall
History of Slavery in Bristol Exhibition
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Journey A Path through the Matrix
The following pages show the progression from the site to the community through a series of perspective images, showing glimpses along the journey towards the next stage, and how the proposal breaks down the singularity into a series of steps:
First you see a settlement Then a wall, with glimpses in-between
First you see a settlement
Raised streets unfold with paths converging onward An opportunity is spotted in the corner The matrix unfolds A path of sunlight The weight can be felt below Or the lightness above Or the silt between your toes as you walk in the water
Then a wall, with glimpses in-between
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Raised streets unfold with paths converging onward
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The matrix unfolds
An opportunity is spotted in the corner
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A path of sunlight
The weight can be felt below 110
Or the lightness above
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Or the silt between your toes as you walk in the water
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Model photos showing overviews of the scheme.
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Images of the paths and boxes combining to form the Urban Matrix
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Emancipation through light Glimpses of a Better Future
Light is one of the key glimpses to represent the new-found freedom in the building. In its current state, the warehouse has shallow deep floors and dirty windows, increasing the feeling of isolation. This scheme reverses the situation, and allows all available light to permeate all spaces, and pass through all openings on the facade. The result is a sometimes subtle, but constantly powerful effect of light playing between the interior and the facade, creating a complex canvas of light highlighting the Urban Matrix revitalising the Fortress.
Above: A modified visual demonstrating the complex patterns of light and shade created inside the building. Right: A model photo highlighting the variety of glimpses in the facade when light shines through and interacts with the matrix inside.
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exploded isometric
Boxes all independently conditioned and easily cycled. Faรงades all follow the universal language of the urban matrix through fibrecement cladding.
Circulation through the building via lightweight steel walkways, partially suspended from the roof. Services running exposed down lift cores.
Original Saw-Tooth Factory Roof regenerated, with solar panels on south-facing facade.
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The urban matrix is expressed on site, with mounds of raised earth to protect against flooding constructed from old rubble from the warehouse and site.
Only the facade of the original warehouse is retained, preserving its memory but changing its identity.
The internal structure acts as both facade retention, and as a framework for the community hub.
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Structural approach Steel ‘n’ Services
Considering the building required a facade retention structure, the strategy extended to become a scaffolding to hold up all the lightweight modular boxes and cater for all the circulation running around the perimeter. This framework is a permanent fixture which would allow multiple unit re-configurations to happen over the building’s life cycle. The structure is made primarily of Universal Columns and Square-Castellated Universal Beams (castillations are cut at equal width opening to solid so there is zero wastage when manufacturing the beams). These also allow the structure to let more light through. The steel would be made from metal reclaimed during the demolition of existing internal floors where possible. Between the ground and 2nd floor, the structure uses thick concrete fins connected to pile foundations, this prevents serious corrosion by lifting steel out of flood water. Services are kept ventilated near the roof and allow the movement of fresh air in and out of the building.
Orange highlights indicate the ventilated service level, along with the exposed pipes running down the lifts, and solar panels and PV cells for renewable energy.
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Environmental approach Everyone has a Part to Play
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All elements highlighted have an environmental function
The landscape is built up using a retaining GGBS concrete wall, back-filled with rubble reclaimed from the demolition of the lower road and the building’s existing floors.
The retained facade both allows ample natural light through, and acts as a thermal buffer and rainscreen for the whole community centre
The structure acts as a permanent framework for multiple iterations of the units over the building’s life-cycle, and is made from reclaimed steel recovered from the demolished structure where possible.
All units are carbon-sequestered, highly insulated, individually thermally conditioned, allowing accurate thermal responses in each space relative to the activity happening inside.
The existing saw-tooth roof is retained, with north facing glazing providing ample light, while the south-facing panels are used for Solar Water Heating and PV Energy Generation.
The community centre is sheltered from the rain, but open around enough of its lower and upper perimeter to allow fresh air to naturally circulate.
All units are designed to be dry and fully operational when the river is 3m above its banks, and the community centre could be altered in the future to be fully operational at up to 7m above.
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Studio unit Exploration Good things come in Small Packages
Experience and Detail A key criteria of the live-work units I determined early on was the requirement for small and efficient spaces which provided a high-quality of life within a small footprint to help first time buyers or those in need. The units are expressed using the previously mentioned “fissure� facade, but have developed to include hidden break-out facade panels, allowing users to experience a connection with nature, in addition to the sliding doors adjacent. The units provide a full-sized kitchen, bathroom, open plan living, dining and study. The bedroom and wardrobe space is located on a mezzanine level which, including the kitchen and bathroom, have 2.5m floor to ceiling heights. The open plan living area is over 5m tall with an abundance of natural light and break-out spaces. A desk slides under the stairs, there are full height book shelves and cupboard along with under-stair storage. All spaces benefit from rooflights. The working space contains a bathroom with shower, and caters for approximately 4 employees with dedicated spaces, a small kitchenette and meeting table. Due to their small size and variety of opening windows, the units are nearly self-sufficient when combining energy from the PV cells on the warehouse, and their MVHR and Air-Source Heat Pump combination.
Closed matrix studio unit.
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Matrix studio unit with secret breakout facade panels open.
Above: Close-up of the breakout facade panel doors, providing a private indoor-outdoor space overlooking the site. Right: Isometric cut-away of the compact studio unit and office, using microliving principles applied to larger apartments to create comfortable and exciting spaces.
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Modules
3D Printed models of each module included in the proposal highlight the effect of the fissure facade, and the variety of scales provided.
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Community stories A Day in the Life
As mentioned earlier, Bristol has a wide demographic on all counts, and enjoys a diverse range in the population. The site design caters for a range of income groups and allows people, whether career, community or family focussed to enjoy the centre equally. By including as many people as possible throughout all times of the day, the atmosphere is enriched and the community is brought together inside a building which once conspired to keep them out.
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Young Family:
Bachelor:
Retiree:
One parent working in co-working unit, another in the live-work unit. Child visits crèche during the day, and all use the activity spaces inside the building.
Lives and works in the live-work studio. Uses the multifunction spaces as meeting rooms and visits the bike shop frequently.
Reduced mobility so lives in a single-storey family unit but rents out the work floor for additional income. Often enjoys activities in the centre during the day and attending shows in the main hall.
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equality Emancipation is of the body, Freedom is of the mind, Equality is of the soul.
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Personal reflection (Look at the front-cover)
Response to Critique As with my previous review, I was fortunate to have very constructive feedback, helping me identify how I could make my approach and project stronger. Some of these were more down to how my project was presented during the presentation while others were to do with the progression and appearance of the building: - Firstly, during the crit I spent much more time talking about the concept and detail, and less about the community. While considered, I was encouraged to make this clearer, and have clarified these sections in the sketchbook. - While the language of the units was brought into question, I believe their united appearance is required in the first stage of Emancipation of the Fortress, however I came to understand that the language of the units would be free to change once a critical mass of community is reached on the site (see over the page). - During my crit, I stumbled when I forgot to mention the relevance of Emancipation for the main section, so I was encouraged to highlight more carefully how emancipation is relevant to the project, which is present in the sketchbook but wasn’t on the board.
In reflection, I feel like the matrix language I produced feels like there is more to be explored. If I continued, I would want to keep evolving the landscape to demonstrate the matrix being applied on a more human-scale. I would also want to explore the feeling of being inside the units to a greater degree.
I feel very grateful for the help of the tutors throughout the project, in particular Mike Tonkin as my personal tutor for pushing to develop more design alternatives as a way of enriching the design process. I found Asking, Looking, Playing, Making an incredibly helpful process for developing initial ideas to drive the project forward and can see myself using it frequently for future projects.
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Framework for growth Emancipation, Equality, Evolution
What would the Community want? In response to advice from the critique, the units feel currently very uniform in their united mission to free the warehouse from its current constraints. While I believe this would be initially necessary, after a critical mass was reached, these units could become a matrix of individuals. People expressing their ideals and views through faรงades would form an even stronger identity for the community as the years pass, and the language evolves from one of Emancipation, to one of Equality.
Above: all units forming the matrix can be replaced in the future as the community evolves. Right: Once community has claimed the site as their own, it is then up to the community to decide the evolution of the matrix as it moves forward.
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augmentation It’s approaching the end and I can’t think of a subtitle.
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Threshold Getting Soaked
An Intervention on Campus As a group, we were tasked with designing and making an intervention on campus that responded to the theme of “Threshold�. After identifying an underperforming threshold on site, we began to explore how we could either signify the passing of the threshold, or communication across it. Our chosen site was in-front of the campus library, a wide gap between two benches which acted as a gateway for many to get to the library, however people rarely used to rest unless it was particularly sunny. We decided that treating the space as a giant bed would allow those staying to become comfortable, and possibly connect over the distance, while making those trying to reach the library aware they were about to cross another’s threshold. We stitched together 6 blankets, creating one huge 16m x 2.5m blanket that spanned the space. We were hoping for sun so we could lie on the ground and sit comfortably on the bench while explaining the idea. It was so wet and windy however that the blanket kept lashing up and splashing water over others. When it was finally we enough to stay on the ground, we presented. I sat under the blanket, and while it was rather cold and miserable, it definitely stood out, with many people later confused and walking around the threshold to reach the library. Success, to some extent.
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beauty presentation What is Beautiful to You?
Singularity This was a very helpful way to begin to question what a topic really means to you. As well as seeing the variety of perception, it made me understand how people’s perceptions aren’t just different, but sometimes difficult to understand as it reflects their own personal experiences. My topic is something that resonates strongly with me because of my past thoughts, anxieties and experiences but may not resonate with many. I was previously terrified by Artificial Intelligence, but through a couple of years of research and investigation, I began to realise that there is actually the hope of a much better future as a simultaneous path. In order to reach this path, we have to work towards it. This realisation and shift from inaction to action also was a shift from positive to negative. The effect on the world could be so negative, or so great. This duality, when one option is optimism, is to me profoundly beautiful when discovered.
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James A.D. Wright
The singularity is something impossible to fully comprehend, defined as a stunning phenomenon in multiple ways: -
Traditionally, this is just the acknowledgement of an individual entity, potentially a unique form of being.
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In physics this is a point, like a black hole, which takes an infinite value.
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In AI, this either the point where humanity is changed forever, or where the machine becomes conscious.
All of these are fundamentally divine to me, and express something of endless value, and while the singularity itself is impossible to envisage, its observed effects can be huge, profound and complex. The image above is an impression of a black hole – a singularity in space. While to us it is almost impossible to interpret; the way it affects the very fabric of space and time around it are stunning, and to me fundamentally beautiful. 142
Rhino exercise Learning Individually, Improving as a Group
Beginner Task Doing the basic Rhino task took me slightly longer than I expected. There were many simple solutions if the hole was round, but by analysing the shape it is clear that the voids are actually filleted squares, so the difficulty was higher. The page opposite highlight the process that I went through to create the target object. The adjacent page shows the 4 methods, all different, developed by each member of the group to achieve the same task.
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The Contenders
studio rhino assignment / option 1 - low complexity
Modelling with Rhinoceros Basic Screen Modelling Process
James A.D. Wright
Step 1 - As the requirement isn’t a circle, first step was to lay out curve points on a cube.
Step 2 - Generated the curve and extruded it linearly.
Step 3 - Trimmed the cube using the new surface.
Step 5 - Create a surface from curve network.
Step 6 - Align the new surface with the original solid.
Step 7 - Trim the solid into shape below, and mirror this on all axes for base component.
Step 4 - Copy and rotate the curve to create the net shown below.
Step 8 - Array and Enjoy!
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Precedent presentation Sanjo Hokusei Community Centre Yasunari Tsukada Design; Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan
The Polite Neighbour We were each assigned a precedent and asked to present it to the year following an in-depth investigation. For the Sanjo Hokusei Community Centre, what really stood out about it was its attempts NOT to stand out. The building was broken into two smaller masses to make it appear smaller than the surrounding buildings, and it used a modern interpretation of the surrounding pitched rooves. I found it particularly interesting how the building reversed the timber and white material palette from the surrounding buildings, and used this as the interior, in a subtle gesture that distinguishes the public building from the nearby private dwellings.
The community centre appears residential in its scale, but uses subtle material expression to identify itself.
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Being a little smaller The community centre buildings were designed to be smaller than the houses on the site, to make it feel like more of a local treasure than an attempt to stand out.
The Polite Neighbour James A.D. Wright
Making the most of the path The community building is located roughly centrally within the small village using the roads, alleys and houses as reference.
Making the most of the path 三条北西コミュニティセンター As a result of this design approach, the community centre reveals itself partially from many views around the site.
Sanjo Hokusei Community Centre Yasunari Tsukada Design Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan
Being a little smaller As a result of reducing the building’s size, it becomes a very comfortable human-scaled addition to the community.
Two huts are better than one The meeting hall and ancillary functions were divided into two linked buildings, making them appear more in harmony with their surroundings.
Two huts are better than one The two structures are linked through a glazed passage, further enhancing the feeling of having two buildings on the site.
Who needs a front door? - The split down the centre of the building provides a pleasant entrance experience reminiscent of walking down one of the nearby village alleyways. - The split allows both buildings to receive generous daylight despite the strong overlooking issues around the site edges.
Thank You for visiting this communal hut! Any Questions?
It’s ok to stand out a little bit The centre is faced in a dark grey zinc cladding, which provides a distinct but subtle contrast as a counterpoint to the residential buildings immediately around the site.
Powerpoint presentation generated to present the community centre to the rest of the year.
I haven’t forgotten my neighbours The meeting hall’s interior is light and airy through its material palette, but also reflects the white and timber aesthetic forming the façades of most nearby houses.
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Group book report Spatial Agency: Other ways of doing Architecture; Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Jeremy Till
What does it mean to be a Spatial Agent? Spatial Agency was an interesting read, exploring the preconceptions behind the term “Architect”, and the implication this has on both the built environment and the profession. Jeremy Till argues that the term is limiting the potential of the profession, and turning it into an elitist institution closed to the will of the public. The book begins by breaking down the terms: - Alternative - Architectural - Practice Then defining the following terms and explaining why they are more suitable for today’s climate: - Spatial - Agency With this new definition, the authors present a series of case studies that attempt to demonstrate some measure of Spatial Agency. While I did find the book interesting, I felt it somewhat wanting from a personal perspective regarding justification of the notion. Despite its desire to distance itself from the image of the “alternative”, the book appears to provide solutions only to small-scale community-led endeavours; it doesn’t appear to provide a suitable remedy for other aspects or scales of architecture and therefore forces itself to become an “Alternative to Architectural Practice”. I appreciate the intentions that led to the notion, and understand the values held by the authors, but feel that providing actionable solutions for practices to align more closely with these values would be a better approach than attempting to re-define an entire industry by dismissing the good things it already embodies.
“Spatial Agency is a
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INITIAL MOTIVATION The research project was set off by a frustration with the conservative tendencies of so much architectural practice.
ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE Within the original working title, the authors were uncomfortable with the definition with each word, and how their preconception hinders the exploration of a new approach.
“Spatial Agency is a project that presents a new way of looking
Disassembling the definitions of each word helped develop an understanding of the emerging philosophy.
at how buildings and space can be produced. Moving away
OTHER WAYS OF DOING ARCHITECTURE
from architecture's traditional focus on the look and making of buildings, Spatial Agency proposes a much more expansive field of opportunities in which architects and non-architects can
Post-apocalyptic settlement as part of Year 3000 day-camp on CAA land. Urban voids; Philadelphia. Strategy for the self-reparation of the
New Alchemy Institute. Cape Cod Ark. Courtesy John
$20K House IV construction, Newbern, AL (2009).
urban tissue. Image. Ecosistema Urbano
Todd
Courtesy Rural Studio
operate. It suggests other ways of doing architecture.”
ALTERNATIVE Alternative to what? Defining the alternative requires a definition of what is normal, unfortunately it is often bound by the old frame of reference. As a result, the alternative has a reduced impact on the ‘norm’. Identifying as alternative also risks throwing out the established benefits that are associated with the ‘norm’; in Architecture this would mean technical skills and understanding may be lost.
ARCHITECTURAL Architecture places too much emphasis on individuals who design buildings, potentially limiting architecture by definition to objects. Architectural culture is arguably too focussed on rewarding static aspects of architecture through reviews, awards and publications. There is not enough emphasis on production, occupation and relation to society in the profession. Furthermore, the view of an elite group controlling an object can create fear that loss of control is seen as a threat to credibility, whereas it should be seen as a vehicle for enriching the building with wider society of people.
SPATIAL AGENCY
SPATIAL AGENCY
CHOOSING SPATIAL AGENCY:
INITIAL MOTIVATION
Spatial Agency aims to expand the term beyond architectural rather than simply act as an alternative.
“Agency is described as the ability of an individual to act independently of the constraining structures of society; structure is seen as the way that society is organised.”
Going back to the beginning, it is important to view responses regarding why people want to study architecture:
Acknowledges more than just “empty stuff found between physical objects.” Social space is both a dynamic entity, and a collective enterprise.
Currently architecture is at risk of implying that one individual is associated with having “agency”, and thus control, however this is rarely the case. Spatial Agency highlights that a designer’s “agency” is not limited only to that individual, but to the social context.
The book contains 136 examples of spatial agency, it does however note that the choices are subjective. It judges whether a project is attaining Spatial Agency by assessing three main criteria; to make the publication, studies had to meet at least 2 of the criteria, preferably 3:
“…(social) space is a (social) product.” (Lefebvre, 1974, The Production of Space)
“It is a combination of art and science”
Critical Awareness – need to act in a critical (evaluative) manner, both regarding self and the context.
Furthermore, agency implies the use of mutual knowledge, and the breaking down of barriers created by the imposition of professional hierarchy in many modern situations.
PRACTICE
Using the current understanding of architecture here, this would imply that buildings are therefore a causal link in making the world a better place. It is arguable that this manifests superficially as aesthetics rather than making any meaningful impact.
THE VARIOUS REASONS THAT SPATIAL AGENTS HAVE SET OUT ON THEIR CHOSEN PATH
Mutual Knowledge – willingness of spatial agents to share their knowledge in an open manner, and also to respect the knowledge of others
Agency is neither determined solely by society, nor is a determinant of society. Space is intrinsically political, as one has to be aware of any effects of space on those carrying out their lives there. “Every line on an architectural drawing should be sensed as the anticipation of a future social relationship, and not merely as a harbinger of aesthetics or as an instruction to a contractor.”
“I want to make the world a better place.”
Spatial Judgement – ability to exercise spatial decisions
Nader Khalili’s sandbag building at Cal-Earth Institute. Khalili believes strongly in using “materials of war” in for peaceful purposes.
This invests the hope of architects in the muse of Artistic Genius and Scientific Authority. Spatial Agency aims to add more to these to create a more well-rounded set of factors for engaging with projects.
“They show Architecture’s capacity for transformative action and, even more importantly, how the role of the architect can be extended to take into account the consequences of architecture as much as the objects of architecture.”
The Baupiloten course at the Technical University of Berlin sees 4th and 5th Year students, engage with members of the public on small projects, with no professionals involved to teach students communication skills with community members.
Practice retains connotations of both habit and unreflective action. This perpetuates the utilization of a specific style, or the tendency towards repetition of singular solutions applied to varying problems.
The motivations of spatial agency arise with the contested areas of spatial production, and have more explicit aims than to vaguely hope to make the world a better place. There were five issues which have mainly motivated the examples of spatial agency in the book:
Santiago Cirugeda’s Strategies for Subversive Urban Occupation. Cirugeda and his practice Recetas Urbanas challenge practice, by questioning regulations, laws and conventions.
POLITICS
PEDAGOGY
Architecture is intrinsically political because it is part of spatial production, and it clearly influences social reactions. The key political responsibility of the agent lies not in the refinement of the building as static visual commodity, but as a contributor to the creation of empowering spatial, hence social, relationships in the name of others.
Architectural education is under-theorised as an underlying discipline, despite being theorized as a set of surface actions. Teaching structures remain unchanged since early C19, with a continuation of a master tutor and students willing to serve. A change in surface conditions (specifically the progress of student works) suggests that architectural education is progressing but really the core is left unchanged.
A space is defined by a multiplicity of agencies in continual confrontation and negotiation, all in a process that may involve students of architecture, architects, artists, urban planners, policy makers and ordinary citizens - all of who recognise the political implications of their actions.
HUMANITARIAN CRISES
PROFESSIONALISM
In relation to other professions, architects came late to setting up agencies to help in times of humanitarian crises. The provision of shelter is a long drawn-out process. Those that succeed in this aspect are those that do not focus solely on the immediate provision of shelter, but see it as part of a chain of events, consistent with the tenets of spatial agency.
Professions have a split personality in relation to the tenets of spatial agency. All professions are founded with the mission to serve society through the development and deployment of a branch of knowledge - a sense of contributing to the public good. Problem is the self-protectionist nature of all professions. In the 1970’s there were two groups (ARC and NAM) which challenged the RIBA and stood for a revision of the educational system; they regarded this as the starting point for the creation of self referential professional bodies. List of tools for Spatial Agents include interviews, visiting workshops, mind mapping, residency, consultation, scenario testing, collaboration, co-design, business development, stats analysis, design guide, technical investigation, policy writing, prototyping.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
PHYSICAL RELATIONS
Connecting all five motivations is ethical intent.
Ownership of places - Walter Rathenau Privatization of land is the key to understand social dynamics of space. His call can be found in squatting movement or groups inspired by Diggers and Levellers. Abahlali base Mjondolo, protest against the sale of vacant lands promised to those living nearby, in South Africa.
How buildings as spatial objects are conceived, produced and occupied, tending toward multi-use spaces, adaptable structures, projects privileging passage of time.
Often used and abused concept in relation to architecture. Too frequently ethics is associated with aesthetics, as if a beautiful thing will lead to a beautiful life. It should always be a key driver, even if the result is intangible.
ECOLOGY Another motivation of spatial agency is a response to the ecological crisis that faces the planet. Generally there is a perception that environmental issues can addressed through technical fixes, but this sends a false sense of security as it is clear that the environment is tied into much wider and more complex networks.
The way buildings are put together - Atelier-3 and Rural Architecture Studio Simply the construction in order to enable people with no knowledge in the area to be part of the process. Buildings are produces more economically, and can be more easily adapted and added onto their inhabitants.
Those groups share an understanding of connections between social structure and production of spaces. Asiye eTafuleni - ‘Working in Warwick: Including Street Traders in Urban Plans.’
Artist-squat K77, in Berlin. In the “Western World”, squatted neighbourhoods and buildings often develop their own support structures outside of institutionalised settings : social and / or cultural centers, alternative childcare and play groups as well as non-monetary, low-income or informal economies.
Lacaton & Vassal, horticultural greenhouses used to create a winter garden for the 14-unit housing development, in Mulhouse, France.
Enzio Manzini “ Designers have to recognize promising cases of social innovation, to make them more visible and to better understand them [ … ] they have to contribute in making these promising cases more accessible, effective and reproducible.” No discredit of the professional knowledge, but show it can be used in multiple ways
Spatial agency is characterized by its engagement with these networks and in this the environment is not isolated to matters of energy reduction and efficiency, but has to be understood in relation to the social, the global and virtual realms. “Awareness of interdependency of systems that the ecological spatial agent brings to the table”.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
KNOWLEDGE
EXPANDING BRIEFS
THE ECONOMY OF SPATIAL AGENCY
Invisible flows of spatial production by addressing the central issues of how organisations are structured.
Donna Haraway’s advice and allow for “ partial, locatable, critical knowledge sustaining the possibility of webs of connections called solidarity in politics and shared conversation in epistemology. ”
Traditional briefs act against the spirit of agency by setting parameters which tends to close things down and limit options. Spatial agents on the other hand take to brief not as a given set of instructions but as an opportunity to open up possibilities.
Spatial agency is not driven by classical monetary economy in the sense of the management of sheer financial resources but by the managing and administration of means such as labour, time and space. Rather than addressing questions about fees, fee structures, expenditure and the imperatives of unity and return, spatial agency prioritises equity and self management.
INITIATING
APPROPRIATING
For many spatial agents, the project starts even before writing the brief, with architects and others as proactive initiators working though negotiation with others to get the project started. Rather than simply answering a given set of questions, initiation is driven by a desire to inaugurate something new.
In cultural studies, appropriation is linked to anything from borrowing, to theft of a part of a cultural manifestation such as music or prose; in economics, it can refer to the commodification of previously unowned natural resources such as water.
External engagement, the basis for a more equitable production of space Patrick Bouchain, begins a project by bringing together diverse groups of interested people. His projects are always in a specific context, and developed through and by different people. Atelier d’architecture autogérée, work in the area of Paris where they live and established strong connections
Self publishing SLATE ( 1976 - 1980 ) - oppositional voice to the mainstream paper ; Whole Earth Catalog ( 1968 - 1972 ) - ecological trade catalog and hand-book Internet based journal Re-public ; Eurozine ; e-flux
HOW SPATIAL AGENCY CAN BE ENACTED AND HOW SPATIAL AGENTS OPERATE
Educational outlook - Center for Urban Pedagogy Investigate banal questions and produce pedagogical documents. One of the key outlets for spatial agents is the publishing of magazines, both in hard copy form and online. Independent from multi-national publishing houses, these publications push their own agendas and views on the production of the built environment.
Marx “ Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways ; the point is, to change it. ”
Burkina Faso Practice Kéré Architecture use a range of spatial skills to unlock potential on behalf of others, opening up new social, political and economic possibilities. Kéré treat the buildings as a form of social empowerment, using local labour and training people who can neither read nor write to translate his drawings into structures.
Knowledge is concerned with the other, more than the tree other categories of sites. Desire to create a more complete picture of relationships so that architecture might come to be understood as more than just a technical or aesthetical object
Taking the initiative stands for the power of each spatial agent to act on ones capabilities instead of letting others determine the boundaries of architectural potential.
Entrance of the Pheonix Earthship near Taos, New Mexico. Architect, Mike Reynolds, began experimenting with Earthships in the mid-1970s aiming to design self-sufficient dwellings using waste materials. His aim was to appropriate expert knowledge in order to create a building system that could be constructed by the amateur builder.
In the context of spatial agency, appropriation avoids the potentially exploitative aspects of such actions. Appropriating becomes a tool through which private or public space can be questioned and new activities created.
DELIGHTFUL INDETERMINANCY
NETWORKS
TOWARD OTHER WAYS OF DOING ARCHITECTURE
NOERO WOLFF ARCHITECTS
Spatial agency attempts to rescue architecture and the production of space from the clutches of the determinists, the space-syntax-planners, the parametric shapers, the politics-of-the-envelope theorists and the bathetic attempts to save the world through yet another iconic building.
Limitations in individuals can be addressed by conjoining many individuals with limited power to make up a substantial force which can fundamentally alter the direction of course of an event.
Spatial Agency brings up a series of fundamental questions about how and for whom the built environment is produced and probes conventional frameworks or old-established rules and regulations.
Founded in 1985 by Jo Noero in Johannesburg, Noero Wolff Architects is a practice that believes heavily that grass-roots projects have the ability to transform lives. Due to their well-established political stance, they refuse to work with anyone who disagrees with their principles
“Through such networks, individualized pockets of power located around the periphery combine to take on the otherwise elusive centre, which would have presented a substantial barrier for each single actor within the network but not for its combined force.”
For spatial agency to be exercised in its fullest sense, these actions and interventions always take place through negotiation and deliberation and ultimately bring about the empowerment of those involved.
With spatial agency, the principle of indeterminacy, becomes an indicator for pleasure. Leaving unfinished, as well as defending unscripted and unprogrammed space allows others to realise a different idea of space defined through their own desires and wishes.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE MAKING THINGS VISIBLE Exterior view of Bauhausle, taken in 1983. It is a student hall designed and built by students. Responsibility for different parts of the project was split, which resulted in the very different characters of the block. It is a statement against determinacy in architecture, and for a certain type of beauty that comes through an acceptance of making-do.
The space and its occupation - Lacaton & Vassal Their work challenge standards and norms, spatially, economically and ecologically. Work with the building after handing it to the client.
Stand to establish social and political hierarchy - FOPA Feminist organisation created in Berlin in 1981. Women were frequently excluded from planning processes.
THE PRIMARY SITES OF SPATIAL AGENCY, THE LOCATION IN WHICH A PERSON OR GROUPS WORK IS ROOTED
“ The four elements of real alternative practice ” - Tom Wooley A change in the relationship between all architectural workers ; Establishment of new sectors of work with a broader social remit ; Use of new participatory techniques ; Commitment to greater accountability of the entirety of profession.
Meeting of the Eco Neighbourhood by design training course for residents and tenants developed by URBED and glass House.
ETHICS OF SPATIAL AGENCY
One of the key aims of spatial agency is the uncovering and making visible of hidden structures, be political, social or economic.
Khayelitsha informal settlement near Cape Town. SDI, Shack/Slum Dwellers International, is an extensive network of initiatives and organisations from across the Global South. They facilitate exchanges on a community-to-community level, to learn from each other about successful income generating projects or the replanning of an area or settlement.
Spatial knowledge is developed and then shared, first within the academy and then in the outside world. Standard architectural education is inextricably linked with the culture and growth of the profession.
Spatial agency shows how negotiation, tenacity, imagination, participative spatial encounters, and one’s own understanding as a morally responsible actor, might together lead to a different and more ethical understanding of spatial practice. The book contains 136 examples of Spatial Agency with further case studies online: http://www.spatialagency.net/
SELECTED CASE STUDIES
Above: Hall of Columns exhibition inside the Red Location Museum of Struggle Below: Red Location Museum viewed from nearby shack settlement
After being appointed Diocesan Architect near Johannesburg by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Noero began teaching local communities to build their own homes with cheap and abundant materials, alongside a group of black community activists. One example of Spatial Agency undertaken by the group, is the Red Location Museum of Struggle in Port Elizabeth. An advisory group of locals was established to oversee the project. A new kind of museum emerged for those historically denied entering cultural institutions, built near a shack settlement which was formerly a prominent resistance site. The building borrows its language from factories rather than museums, as these were the sites used as organisational hubs in struggle against apartheid. Criteria for Choice: Spatial Judgement - Suitable political space in a sensitive area Mutual Knowledge - Teaching locals how to build their own dwellings Critical Awareness - A deeper understanding of the political heritage of the community
YONA FRIEDMAN GUERRILLA GARDENING The term guerrilla gardening was coined by Liz Christy, an artist living and working in New York in the 1970s. She noticed tomato plants growing out of rubbish, the tiny plants signalling a potential; she began scattering seeds in empty spaces and planting disused tree-pits. This effort eventually culminated in a community garden, on a vacant plot located at the corner of Bowery and Houston streets in Manhattan. What started as an illicit action soon became renowned and the Green Guerrillas. Although the term guerrilla gardening is mainly associated with the US and Europe, it is becoming a world-wide phenomena. Guerrilla gardeners do not necessarily grow food, and for many it is not an act of survival, it is instead about the desire to beautify, to make a healthier environment, a communal space, to express oneself-or to simply garden.
Criteria for Choice: Spatial Judgement - Gardening without boundaries Critical Awareness - Micro-scale actions that shift our perception of the environment
Hungarian-French architect and theorist. Utopian projects dealing with issues of urban planning, infrastructures and empowerments of users. 1858 - Publishing of his manifesto Architecture mobile 1858 - 1962 - Development of his project, Ville Spatiale, a temporary lightweight structure raised above the ground. Would span across existing cities, countrysides, water, creating a continuous landscape which could be appropriated and inhabited by users. Similarities with Constant and the situationists’ New Babylon ( 1956 - 1969 ). Anticipation of abolition of work, scheme raised above ground level, spanning network, same aesthetic of collage. Spatial agency occurs in the valorisation of users over the architect and the builder. His work extends beyond architecture and planning to contemporary art, sociology, economics and information systems, tied with the emphasis of unpredictability, playing and empowerment of the users and non-specialists. Criteria for Choice:
CRITICAL APPRAISAL The term ‘Spatial Agency’ requires a lengthy introduction to fully understand it. Without explanation it is merely a subjective combination of words with no grounded meaning. The case studies presented are often the extremes of ideas. Fewer case studies in more depth relating and identifying specific ideas of spatial agency would perhaps be more powerful. Parts of the book are clearly argued and explored. Ideas are however often lost or sandwiched in a vast array of briefly introduced case studies which sometimes confuses an idea. The book is critically hopeful and recognises the need to address the environmental crisis the world faces. The authors talk largely around the subject and provide a large number of case studies in support of their ideas in how to address this. Some of the ideas however lack a clarity in providing easily adoptable principles that should be considered and taken on board by all architects.
Spatial Judgement - Infinite structure adaptable to its inhabitants Critical Awareness - Answer to his contemporary society
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munich masterplanning City Mapping in the City Centre Masterplanning Exercise in Neuperlach, Munich, Germany
Through a New Lens Observing Munich was a great opportunity to immerse in both a new culture, and architectural context. As the second mapping exercise of the year, it encouraged us to look carefully at the city from a wide variety of viewpoints, noticing as many details with as many senses as possible. I deeply enjoyed exploring the juxtaposition of old and new spaces evident in the heart of the city, and how their implied dialogue created a much richer space. I mapped as much as possible by looking through a paper tube.
New Habit Unable to bring my usual tool for capturing a city (DSLR), I learned to isolate detail like a zoom lens through the rolled-up city map. Contrasting this against pulling it away and comparing the subject to its context, it helps in understanding both the intent of the element and its outcome. It is also really useful when trying to isolate individual people, and track their behaviour in a space... until they spot you.
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City Walk - The Old
City Walk - The New
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Active Video Analysis - Spaces to Rest and Movement in Public Spaces
“There was initially an investigation of the conditions on the site.”
“Observe as members of the public move carefully around the Architect lying in-front of the building.”
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“Take a look at the surrounding scenery as viewed through the eyes of the architects themselves.”
“And look here! Something very interesting happens. As the architects define a zone to sit in the space, other members of the public will join and increase the size of that zone.”
“The designers were laid out in a partially sitting, partially lying-down configuration.”
“What could be more fun in life, than carrying out architectural exercises in the sun?”
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Masterplanning through Rest Resting became the key criteria we began to judge the spaces in Munich as a group. Spaces for talking were relatively easy, spaces for eating were harder, and spaces for resting were the hardest. We first started exploring these notions through sketches, video and photography to try and determine the characteristics the City Centre had that Neuperlach was lacking. We gathered these together and developed the notion of an Urban Living Room. Our masterplan was then devised using this kit, and provided spaces to talk, eat and rest.
Top: Sketches invoking the feeling of rest, and how to find rest in a city. Above: Searching for comfortable places to sit and lie down in the city, and assessing with the senses levels of both comfort and vulnerability. Right: Sketches exploring how different rest zones can be found, characterised and enhanced in a city.
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The urban living room is divided up into nodes and paths, with nodes designed to themes which helped them stand independently as well as together, and paths being places comfortable to stop and travel while linking all the nodes together, running between Neuperlach’s two metro stations. Far Right: A kit of parts was defined for designing an “Urban Living Room�.
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Above: Diagrams indicate the experiences of walking between the nodes and paths. Below: Elements are drawn based on the tool kit, and these are brought together into spatial experiences.
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While we felt the notion was a strong one, we fell short on time before being able to give each node their own individual characteristics in more detail. If we had more time we would have benefited from developing this further.
Left: A plan of one of the nodes. Above: A plan of a section of the paths, interacting with existing buildings. Right: The group’s masterplan containing all nodes and paths
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Page Pin-Up Final Title
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Combined Year Masterplan
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