STUDENT: TOW JOON HAN STUDENT NUMBER: 942951 TUTOR: JOEL BENICHOU TUTORIAL: TUESDAY 9.00AM - 12.00PM Figure 1. Beneath the Hoddle Bridge
WORD COUNT: 1730
CHANGING MELBOURNE
TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION & AGENDA SITE CONTEXT SITE OBSERVATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES SOCIAL SYSTEMS PRECEDENTS OVERALL CONTEXT & DESIGN BRIEF PLANS DESIGN DEVELOPMENTS DESIGN DETAILS TIME REFERENCES
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Figure 2. Favela (chensiyuan, 2011)
INTRODUCTION
AGENDA
Previously, in Pecha Kucha presentation, the group proposed to supplement the City of Stonnington’s Cultural Diversity Policy 2015 - 2019, aiming to engage residents and visitors in the precinct and promote social interaction by improving on social infrastructure and amenities. It hopes to foster the wellbeing of the community and all people to enhance accessibility to the facilities between Alexandra Avenue and Yarra City Trail.
To explore a new model of social inclusivity and integration via developing the area where the viewing platform is located; proposing a future where homelessness is overcomed together as a community.
In the weekly journal, I have documented and identified a growing social issue about homelessness. I felt that the qualities of the proposal explored previously could be expanded to include tackling the homelessness situation we have in Melbourne. Thus, this project looks into the viability of expanding the proposal’s social inclusivity to include the homeless.
Figure 3. Site (Nearmap, 2017)
SITE The site sits along the Yarra river and is under the juridisction of of the CIty of Stonnington City Council. The prominent axes of the quadrant runs parallel to the Yarra river, namely Alexandra Ave and the Capital City Trail. The boundary of the quadrant is defined by major vehicular/pedestrian arteries; Punt road/Capital City Trail etc, and the area is populated with low level residential housing. One key observation of the site was the lack of large communal space in the area. Most social systems observed onsite are meant for private and personal social activities, and it doesnt promote neighbourhood Event Spaces require ongoing interactions. Major active management to support this use balanced with unstructured recreation and informal use
Melbourne 3004 | South Yarra Forecast in population change = 5,000 people
Melbourne 3004 Residents: • 2011 (1,630) • 2026 (2,064) Workers: • 2011 (23,411) • 2026 (28,000)
South Yarra Residents: • 2011 (4,702) • 2026 (4,724) Workers: • 2011 (1,488) • 2026 (2,700)
Gap Analysis walking distance access to existing open space (gaps shown in white)
Imp con Park The Gar
Precinct summary
This significant system of parklands includes the Alexandra Gardens, Queen Victoria Gardens, Domain Parklands, the Rec Royal Botanic Gardens and Fawkner Park. imp The Yarra River is a unique and central Park natural and cultural feature for Melbourne. spo eve It is highly valued for sporting and Aus cultural events, habitat corridor values, and the linear reserve along it is popular for cycling/walking, informal recreation, picnics, events and festivals. These significant parklands will continue to be Review and improved and managed for their Capital implement the Domain Parklands Con City and Regional function catering to Master Plan for this reta international, national and Victorian series of parklands acc visitors, as well as the local community. spa Increased visitation is forecast forFigure the 4. Site adjacent train to quadrant central city and this will place increasing Contin demands on these spaces. The population the Edmund (City of Retain Melbourne, Tan Tr Herring Memorial Oval Botan living and working in this precinct is not 2012 p.27) existing and future extrem forecast to change substantially, however for recreation use; particularly the w increased use will occur from the central with forecast increase in popul city population. Ongoing open space Left of thepopulation site is another part of South Yarra, which is under Royal Bo in Southbank upgrade works and management will recognise City of Melbourne’s jurisdiction. The development of this area focus on providing for visitors balanced most pop Diagram key Melbourn with maintaining the character and is important to the proposal as this area contains many open (Refer to page 12) facilities for the local and central business Continue t spaces (such as Queen Victoria Gardens and Royal Botanical existing Ma district population.
Fawkner P
Garden.) that serves the region’s population. The open space strategy detailed the development strategy for the whole of Melbourne, including the site as shown above. Although the future developement of the site is moderate, the site is expected to welcome more visitors in the near future. (City of Melbourne, 2017)
(Left) Figure 5. Site Map of Quadrant, social systems as key focus
City of Melbou
SITE OBSERVATIONS
Figure 6. Existing Viewing Platform
Figure 7. The Lawson Grove Shop
The general consensus of the social system in the area it is sparsed and isolated. The area is served by 3 social spaces, namely the viewing platform, the Lawson Grove Shop and the darling Garden. Each space serves the community in different manners, the viewing platform serves as a resting stop for users of the Capital City Trail and pedestrians along Alexandra Ave.
Figure 8. Darling Gardens
The Lawson Grove Shop is located along the cul de sac of Lawson Grove. It provides a communal space for the residents, where residents can interact while buying meals. The Darling Gardens provides a great spot for the residents’ children to play and intereact. Just beside the playground,
there are picnic and barbequeing lots for the residents to enjoy family gathering. Even though the group observed that the social spaces are well ultilised, the spaces do not encourage or promote communal interactions and activities among residents to happen.
OPPORTUNITIES
SOUTH YARRA NETWORK SYSTEM
NATURAL SYSTEM
SOCIAL/ PLACES SYSTEM
DESIGNED/ CONSTRUCTED SYSTEM
Figure 11. Overlapping opportunities
Figure 10. Connection towards Capital City Trail
Figure 9. 4 systems observed in the area. Social system is somewhat lacking
CAPITAL CITY TRAIL
The social systems in the quadrant is lacks a central space for the residents and community to gather; it lacks a space to organize activities and events.
The existing viewing platforms are in a great location for a central public space to happen. They lie between Alexandra Ave’s walkway and the Captial City Trail. The exisiting connection from the former to the latter as shown in Figure 10 is far away from the viewing platform, this makes the viewing platform less ultilised. Hence, there is an opportunity to develop a public space that not only physically link the south yarra region to Capital City Trail, but also to create a new form of social space that serves the locals and the users of the Capital City Trail.
CURRENT SOCIAL SYSTEM To better approach the development, the proposal looks in the the City of Stonnington’s Draft Cultural Diversity Plan for 2015 - 2019. The development hopes to be able to supplement the council’s plan.
Native Language of residents Native Language of Residents
Change of non-english native languages 3000
English
2500
Greek
2000
Mandarin
1500
Cantonese
1000
Italian Others
The native language of City of Stonnington is diverse and changing, where 21.3% of its residents do not speak English natively. Currently, the largest foreign languages of the area are Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese & Italian. However, comparing it to the changes of non native languages, besides mandarin, the next 3 highest increase are not in the the pie chart. This reflects the increasing diversity of the area.
HOSTILITY TOWARDS HOMELESSNESS IN THE CITY
500 0
Mandarin
Gujarati 2006
Spanish
French
2011
Figure 13. Changes of non-english native language (City of Stonnington, 2015) Figure 12. Native languages spoken by the residents in 2011 (City of Stonnington, 2015)
HOMELESSNESS IN MELBOURNE
Financial Difficulties Accommodation Issues Financial Difficulties Domestic Violence Accommodation Issues Health Reasons Domestic Violence Others Health Reasons Others
Figure 15. Reasons for Homelessness in Victoria ( Homeslessness Australia, 2014)
Figure 14. 4 Homeless person in Melbourne ( Burin, 2017)
There has been an increase in the number of homelesson the street in Melbourne. There is 1300 homeless people in Melbourne, with 200 or more sleeping on the street each night. (Homelessness Australia, 2014) The homelessness trend is not unique to Melbourne. According to Charity Mission Australia, there are 44,000 young people who are homeless. It is estimated to cost the Australia economy $626 million per year. (Molley, 2017)
Figure 13 shows the reasons for homelessness in Victoria. The three leading factors causing homelessness in victoria are domestic violence, accommodation issues and financial difficulty, accounting for 33%, 29% & 22% of homelessness respectively. The proposal hopes to mitigate the factors causing homelessness and assist the homeless in rejoining the society.
Figure 16. Homeless camp on Flinders street ( Hancock, 2017)
In Feburary 2017, the city council passed a by- law to further restrict camping in the city. The amendments were made to the existing laws against camping, what was changed was the removal of what constititutes as camping. It was criticised as the broad definition of camping effectively make rough sleeping illegal.(Hancock, 2017) The increase of homelessness in recent years have negative impact on the city. The homeless blocks entrances of business and the lack of understanding of the plight of the homeless scare away some customers. The rise of homelessness on the street have attracted addicts to beg on the street, causing the community to associate addicts with homeless people. The lack of understanding of the situation have resulted in the hostility towards the homeless, thus, it is important for the community to understand the underlying issues and assist the homeless in Melbourne to get back on their feet.
(Left) Figure 17. Freundschaftsinsel Postdam Site Plan (POLA, 2015)
(Right) Figure 18. “Back on Track� Winner of Almost home competition 2012 (Crowley , 2012)
(Below) Figure 18. Steps connecting to the island, also serves as a social space (POLA, 2015)
(Top) Figure 19. Under-ultilised space in the city transformed into housing, reintegrating homeless and creates a mixed community (Crowley , 2012)
This project is located in Potsdam, Germany. The project connects the small island on river Havel to the banks along the river using diffusing social spaces; where the functional staircase is redesigned to serve social activities. The steps are designed to allow for social interactions and has increased the usage of the site and the the small island.
ARCHITECTURAL PRECEDENTS
This project explores a long-term solution to housing and rehabilitation of homeless. The contestant explores to use vacant lands in the cities to reintegrate the homeless. She stated that homeless people congregate in the cities due to the availability of infrastructure and resources. She argued that by creating a new neighbourhood with former homeless residents, it will encourage further integration and develop a sense of community, effectively reintegrating the homeless in the long run.
SOCIAL PRECEDENTS (Left) Figure 21. Grown to go at a mobile farmer’s market (Shalom Farms, 2016) (Right) Figure 22. Mobile Hairdresser for the homeless (Bali, 2017)
(Bottom Left) Figure 23. Friends of the community Market (Lansdown, 2016) Figure 20. Anywhere House (UbaanArchitect, 2012)
This project takes a different approach to reintegrate the homeless by proposing temporary, moveable shelters. The idea is to ultilise empty spaces and create a temporary community. The project argues that by increasing the interaction between the homeless and local community, it encourages reintegration of the homeless back to community.
Two of Brisbanes hairdressers converted a trailer into a mobile make shift salon to provide free haircut for the homeless. They started this project to help make a difference and provide some dignity to the homeless, . They hope to provide 1000 haircuts to the homeless by the end of the year. They also hope to further this project by giving disadvantaged youth a chance to learn hairdressing skills.
Grown to go is a Pro Bono initiative to provide healthy fresh food to the communities that do not have access to it. The project connects the farmers to the the less fortunate communites. The van tours around an area, providing fresh, healthy food to different communities everyday, seven times a week. Friends of the community Market is a small country market that sells craft, plants, hand knitted items, country fare, refreshments, honey, second hand goods from the residents to the community.
OVERALL CONTEXT
DESIGN BRIEF
The project hopes to further the social inclusivity of the area, something that has been the defining character of the area. The post war period saw the return of the soldiers, increasing the demand of housing. Housing in Australia thus took a change. Private houses gave way to apartment housing in the 1960s. The remnants of the changes can be observed today along Alexandra Ave.
The Proposal aims to: 1. Create a layout connecting Alexandra Ave to Capital City Trail 2. Create quality spaces for different events of different scale 3. Account for events of different scale and nature 4. Able to serve the residents and community without events and activities. 5. Temporary sleeping area for homeless 6. Minimise the negative impact the rough sleepers will bring to the community 7. The project is a transitory solution for the homeless while they wait for homeless housing solution from the government.
The lack of diversed social space in the area to meet the changing diversity of the area and the issue of homelessness offers a a potential new model of social inclusivity.
Figure 24. Existing pedestrian walkway along Alexandra Ave
PLANS
Figure 25. Ground Floor Plan
Figure 26. Basement Plan
Figure 27. Section A-A
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - KEY INTERVENTIONS PLAZA This plaza is designed to cater to small scale events. The proximity to food truck parking lot meant that it also serves as a secondary space for food truck events and pop ups.
SEATING STEPS The seating steps provides an informal social space for community. The large, inviting steps connects the two axes together and promote pedestrian flow between. By increasing access to the project, the proposal hopes to allow for more social interactions.
RESTING POD The project includes 27 resting pods. The resting pods are designed to provide temporary shelter for the homeless. The pods are laid out to provide some privacy while allowing some visual connection to the public. This offers some protection to homeless from robberies and violence.
PARKLET The provision of parklet serves to further diffuse the activities of the site. The parklet provides tables and stools for visitors of the events happening on site. It is positioned along alexandra ave to slow and attract users of the road. Parklets have been shown to be magnets of pedestrian activities, being able add buzz of activity to the area. (UCD, 2015)
UNLOADING BAY/ MOBILE HAIRDRESSER LOT A parking lot is set up for mobile hairdressers to provide haircuts to the homeless and the less fortunate. By creating programs that restores dignity to the homeless, it helps to rehabilitate the homeless back to society faster.
HOMELESS PLAZA Homeless plaza is an ambitious space that hopes to engage the public with the homeless. The informal plaza can provide a space for the homeless to sell hand made objects. The homeless plaza also serves as a central public space for the homeless sleeping in the area to come together as a community. The congregation of homeless allows for social workers to provide relevant assistance to those in need.
FOOD TRUCK LOTS The provision of Food truck lots supplements the City council’s Cultural diversity plan. Food trucks providing food from various cultures can bridge residents from various cultures. Also, the proposal hopes that by creating mobile businesses, the businesses may choose to employ the homeless for ad hoc tasks, providing an outlet for the homeless to earn their day’s keep.
LARGE PLAZA The large plaza allows for larger scale events to happen in the area. The provision of the large plaza answers to the lack of large social space in the area, allowing the area to organize events of different scales. Ultimately, the inclusion of the homeless in a public space and by providing platforms for more interactions, the proposal hopes to humanise and bring to light the plight of the homeless, and by changing the public perception of homelessness, it encourage the public to be more proactive in combating homelessness. Figure 28. Key interventions
DESIGN DETAILS - SOCIAL STRATEGIES
ALEXANDRA AVE
PARKLET ALEXANDRA AVE
TRUCK LOT
PARKLET
Figure 30. Ground plan parti diagram (Not to scale) Figure 31. Basement plan parti diagram (Not to scale) CITY CAPITAL LOT TRUCK TRAIL PARTI DIAGRAM OF SOCIAL SPACES
PLAZA
CITY CAPITAL YARRA TRAIL RIVER CONNECTING STEPS ALEXANDRA AVE
LEGENDS
LE 1: 100 1
2
Homeless Spaces
3
4
6
Public Spaces
8m
SECTION A-A
PLAZA
Figure 29. Section A-A with spaces highlighted (Not to scale)
Pedestrian Flow
SMALL SOCIAL
CAPITAL CITY TRAIL
PARKLET
MEDIUM SOCIAL
PARKING
HOMELESS SOCIAL
The parti diagrams show the key spaces and the interactions. The project has several communal spaces of different sizes for activities of different scale. YARRA In the center of the project lies the parking and the parklet spaces. These not only serves as a RIVER spillover space for the spaces beside, they are important to the project. The parking lots allows for mobile businesses and organizers to hold events in the area. The parklets attracts passerbys and diffuses events happening on the site, the blurring of boundary creates an informal entry into the space.
Figure 32. Legend for Parti RESTING PODS SCALE 1: 100divided the area into 2 parts, one that promotes social cohesion while the other space serves The project diagram SECTION A-A Ave & Capital City Trail) also 0 homeless. 1 2 The 3 pedestrian 4 6 that connects 8m the flow the 2 major axes (Alexandra The proposal has identified 5 main concerns in connects the social space to the homeless area. The strong connectivity of the project hopes to create a regards to sheltering the homeless: strong inclusivity of the local community. The distinction between public and homeless space is not to segregate, but rather, to provide privacy and a 1. Elements 2. Privacy sense of dignity to the homeless. 3. Communal 4. Observance 5. Temporary Figure 33. Drawing for Resting Pod 1. Elements - The pods should offer some sheltering from the elements, an enclosed space that offers shelter and back support the user, sitting or laying down. 2. Privacy - While most pods face a pedestrian axis, they are recessed and offer some privacy to the users. By returning the dignity of the homeless, the proposal wants the homeless to return to the site, TYPICAL SECTION FRONT ELEVATION to rebuild their life in a inclusive community. LE 1: 50 3. Communal - The pods are not only in close proximity, they are connected to a central space. It RESTING POD 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.4 3.2m is to foster a sense of community among the homeless and the public. By introducing moral and communal support, the homeless and gather support and assist one another in lifting themselves from homelessness. 4. Observance - While the project hopes to attract the homeless and giving them some sense of privacy, it is also important to ensure that the public and policing enforcers will be able to observe how the pods are being used. This is to deter drug addicts from using the pods, and also protects the homeless from robbery and violence. 5. Temporary - While the project wants to foster a long lasting community, the proposal does not want TYPICAL SECTION FRONT ELEVATION to encourage hogging of the pods. The pods have a smooth concrete finish, and they do not have ways SCALE 1: 50 to attach additional apparatus to make resting in them more personalised. RESTING POD 0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6 2.4 3.2m
DESIGN DETAILS- HOMELESS STRATEGIES
TIME “ We can’t build our way out of this problem if the foundation isn’t ready ” — Rex Hohlbein / BLOCK Architects Figure 34. Protest against police removable of homeless (ABC Radio News, 2017)
Near Future The hostility between the public and the homeless is evident. The notion of homelessness and a public nuisance have to be changed. The proposal hopes to expose the public to the diverse reasons causing homelessness, and hopes that the public will recognise that homeslessness is an issue the community can overcome together. Figure 35. The BLOCK Project Container (Block Architects, 2017)
Reenvisioned Future The project envision the future to be similar to the project from Sarah Crowley. Alexandra Ave, decorated with apartment housing from the past, defining a new form of social living in the 1960s, is reenvisioned to create a new community that is supportive of all the homeless,
CHANGING PERCEPTION Figure 37. Back on Track (Crowley, 2012)
Foreseeable Future The longer term of the proposal wants to humanise and create friendship among between the homeless and the residents. The BLOCK Project encourages the residents to allow the homeless to place the living container in their backyard. Besides the small plot of backyard, the living container is entirely off grid solution. The container is significantly cheaper and it is more easily available comapred to homeless housing.
Figure 36. The BLOCK Project (Block Architects, 2017)
Homelessness is not permanent. The public perception of homelessness has to change. The diversed reasons for homelessness are often beyond the control of the victims. Many of them are trying their best to improve their situation, however they are often hampered by prejudice at their state of homelessness. The least society could do is give them a fair chance at life.
References
REFERENCES
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