Alexander Liew by Lex Liew

BA (HONS) ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO 2013-2015

Alexander Liew BA (Hons) Architecture (RIBA Pt 1)

Canterbury School Of Architecture (University for the Creative Arts)

64 Woodside, Gillingham, kent, ME8 0PN lexliew93@aol.com

07507580504

EDUCATION

BA (Hons) Architecture - First

2013-2015

RIBA Part 1

Canterbury School Of Architecture

Foundation Diploma - Distinction In Art and Design (UCA Rochester)

2012-2013

St John Fisher Sixth Form

2010-2012

-3 A s Levels

St John Fisher Secondary School -10 GCSEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

EMPLOYMENT

SKILLS Good working knowledge of:

2015-2015

THEIS AND KHAN ARCHITECTS Tunbridge Wells, Kent. -Architectural Assistant (RIBA STUDENT MENTORING SCHEME)

2012-2013

2010

CLAGUE ARCHITECTS Canterbury, UK -Architectural Assistant

UBERSCHAR. KNOLL ARCHITEKEN, BDA Rochlitz, Germany -Architectural Assistant

-Auto CAD -Adobe Photoshop -InDesign -Illustrator - Rhino Basic working knowledge of:

-Grasshopper -Revit 2009-2010

ROCHESTER AIRPORT PLC Kent, UK -Duty Crew

REFEREES

ATTRIBUTES

Ms Lucy Jones UCA CSA Canterbury UK

Mr Pat Mills RIBA Clague Architects Burgate Rd Canterbury UK

Mr Falk Uberschar BDA U.K Architeken Burgstra Rochlitz Germany

2015

Stage Three Highest Achievement in Final Project Award.

2015

RIBA Student mentoring scheme.

2014

Mark Richards Travelling Scholarship

2013

CPRE KENT Part 1 Sketchbook Award 1st Prize

2013

Stage 1 Drawing Competition Runner up

2013

futureplusdesign.com “Lead Flow”

- Alto Saxophone -Fishing -Cooking -Travel -Cycling -Rowing -Full UK Driving Licence

[CONTENTS] [PROJECT COLOUR]

OWNING SPIRE-SPACE HAMBURG

GUESS WORK LONDON

STEALING AIRSPACE LONDON

PROVOKE / EXTRACT / RECORD SABAH / KENT

THE ILLEGAL FISHERMAN KENT

YEAR ONE KENT

Pt A

Brief - Dust and Chlorophyll The tenfold increase in housing values in London over twenty years has made any property that might be ‘bought to let’ highly attractive to wealthy UK and international investors pricing young(er) people out of the housing market and leading to schemes such as housing association shared ownership and ever more precarious (to the national debt) mortgage arrangements. With a basic shortage of housing in the South East these, well intended, schemes have enabled prices to continue to rise. We contested the London Mayors desire to raise space and quality of life standards by rethinking these such that they might be afforded by a ‘reasonably successful couple’, without substantial family financial backing, seeking to buy a property in 2014. Does the Mayors strategy ultimately price parts of the population at risk of needing (costly) social support out of the city? Our formula of area, accommodation and price could be introduced at a series of similar sites to the Brownfield Estate across London. Discussing the outcomes of the project it was intriguing to contrast the ways that the search for some form of ‘authenticity’ in architectural complexity and virtuosity competed with the socioeconomic context of the project. Establishing realisable social models that demonstrate the ability to re-think usage in manners that can reveal, representable, architectural imagination is a demanding task that requires ongoing interrogation through both imagination and the disciplined development of relative values. Re-situating our studies to Hamburg this spring will enable us to draw comparisons between British and German approaches to similar city development issues and to compare the relative approaches to ‘massive change’, communities and the voices of individuals. We are also in a position to progress from our research and the contacts established last year in the city.

Hamburg : The name Hamburg comes from the first permanent building on the site, a castle which the Emperor Charlemagne ordered constructed in AD 808. It rose on rocky terrain in a marsh between the River Alster and the River Elbe as a defence against Slavic incursion, and acquired the name Hammaburg, burg meaning castle or fort. In 1189, by imperial charter, Frederick I “Barbarossa” granted Hamburg the status of an Imperial Free City and tax-free access along the Lower Elbe into the North Sea. In 1265 a letter was presented to the Rath of Hamburg. This charter, along with Hamburg’s proximity to the main trade routes of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, quickly made it a major port in Northern Europe. Its trade alliance with Lübeck in 1241 marks the origin and core of the powerful Hanseatic League of trading cities. On 8 November 1266, a contract between Henry III and Hamburg’s traders allowed them to establish a ‘hanse’ in London. Situated on the river Elbe, Hamburg is today the third largest port in Europe by cargo tonnage. London is seventeenth. Hamburg has a GDP (gross domestic product, $bn) of 157 and London of 731. London is, incidentally, third in the world for billionaires, 54. New York 70, Moscow 64. (and Dubai, 18th, 11). Hamburg 1150 Hamburg 1943 Hamburg is on the confluence of the Elbe with the Rivers Alster and Bille. The city centre is around the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) and Außenalster (Outer Alster) both formed by damming the River Alster to create lakes. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land (old land) region, the largest contiguous fruit-producing region in Central Europe. What is the most popular neighbourhood to live in Hamburg at this moment? Hamburg has 104 districts, quite different districts and faces. Most popular is since few years the so called Schanze, with many cafés and small designer shops it’s one of the coolest neighbourhoods (drink galao- coffee, see and wanna be seen, don’t forget big sunglasses). Sankt Pauli – of course – famous for nightclubs, red light district, harbour (24/7 hours of sin and fun). Karolinenviertel is peppered with small artist shops, young fashion designers, print shops. Ottensen is very fancy, familiar and re- minds me always on Denmark – maybe because it was once – (drink an expensive coffee). Altona in between that all: calm, mixed and not really seen (see a real Hamburger pub). Far away, close to the main train station is Sankt Georg: gay, beautiful and peppered with loads of oriental bazaars (spice shopping). Wilhelmsburg known for many Turkish people and young, alternative students (alternative concerts).

Young Greens’ German Electoral Exchange - 24 September 2013: In August 2013, the German Young Greens organised a summer of electoral exchanges with Young Greens from other countries to show that we are “young, Green, European and borderless”. As part of this scheme, Kleine Pause the Young Greens of England and Wales were invited to Luneberg for a week which was amazing fun and one of many reasons you should join the Green Party. Tuesday: We spent the day sight-seeing in Hamburg where we saw a political squatted community centre which the authorities have been unable to shut down due to it’s popularity in the neighbourhood. We enjoyed hearing how people in the St. Pauli area of Hamburg are resisting the gentrification of their area with protests focussing on an upmarket Movenpick hotel and how last year a march in Hamburg of 100 Nazis was blocked by over 20,000 anti-fascists. More depressing was seeing the former dock area of Hamburg being turned into a residential area for the elite, with obvious parallels to London’s docklands. Also interesting was Hamburg’s fancy opera building which should have been built two years ago but is still under construction. Funded by the taxpayer it is also way over budget. Maybe German efficiency is a myth. ‘A’ people: Poor (“Arm”), out-of-work (“Arbeitslos”) and immigrants (“Ausländer”). There is a discussion going on about hunger in Germany. Reverend Bernd Siggelkow, founder of the Berlin-based soup kitchen “Die Arche”, claimed that a number of German children go hungry each day. He blamed the lack of jobs, low welfare payments, and parents who were drug-addicted or mentally ill. Siggelkow has been criticized by a number of people who said there was no hunger in Germany. SPD politician and board member of the German central bank Thilo Sarrazin said it was possible to live on welfare without going hungry if one did not buy fast food, but was able to cook from scratch. He was criticized by The Left politician Heidi Knake-Werner, who said it was not right that “well-off people told poor people how to shop”. Anon. Wiki.

Hamburg’s answer to climate change: Welcome to Hamburg, an environmental pioneer in the mould of its regional neighbour Copenhagen. Its planned green network will cover 40% of the city’s area. “It will connect parks, recreational areas, playgrounds, gardens and cemeteries through green paths”, Angelika Fritsch, a spokeswoman for the city’s department of urban planning and the environment, tells Guardian Sustainable Business. “Other cities, including London, have green rings, but the green network will be unique in covering an area from the outskirts to the city centre. In 15 to 20 years you’ll be able to explore the city exclusively on bike and foot.” The green network will even connect animal habitats, enabling critters to crisscross the city without risk of being run over. Perhaps more importantly, the network will absorb CO2 emissions and help prevent floods when inevitable superstorms strike. Currently some 30 city staff are developing the green network, aided by personnel in the city’s seven districts. When politicians make the green web a priority, it will be an extensive network indeed, covering some 7,000 hectares. And Fritsch’s team envisions a network that doesn’t just help residents get from point A to point B in a sustainable fashion. “It will offer people opportunities to hike, swim, do water sports, enjoy picnics and restaurants, experience calm and watch nature and wildlife right in the city”, she explains. “That reduces the need to take the car for weekend outings outside the city, which further reduces the damage to the environment.” Climate change is already affecting the port city’s water level as well. “Compared to 60 years ago, the sea level here has risen by 20 centimetres”, explains Meinke. “As a large city, Hamburg is truly at risk. Storm surges could rise by another 30 to 110 centimetres by 2100.” Hamburg, in other words, needs its green network because it will help limit the effects of floods. Elisabeth Braw, Guardian Professional, Thursday 31 October 2013 EVOL, inhabiting nature, architecture as vase? Hamburg at forefront of global drive to reverse privatisation of city services How to build a fairer city: German municipality to buy back utility grids after referendum vote to end private ownership of gas and electricity networks In December 2009, a dozen people scrambled up the trees in a small neighbourhood park in Hamburg, Germany’s northern port city. Determined to block the construction of a new 12km energy pipeline, which they said threatened three parks and hundreds of trees, the protesters built treehouses and small forts, occupying the park for three months in the dead of winter. Today, Gählerpark is a quiet patch of green surrounded by blocks of flats. But during the occupation it was a hub of activity: banners were strung from branches reading: “This park belongs to us all!” and “Save the trees!” – and a steady stream of visitors came trundling down the park’s slippery paths and through the snow, bringing food and supplies to the occupiers. “It was wonderful!” exclaims Astrid Matthiae, a long-term local resident and activist in the Moorburgtrasse Stoppen! campaign against the pipeline, as she retraces her steps through the park, pointing out trees that were once scheduled to be cut down, and shivering theatrically at memories of that winter’s cold, damp and freezing winds. The Gählerpark occupation was about much more than protecting local green space, however: the pipeline at the centre of the dispute would have connected Hamburg to an already controversial coal-fired power plant, under construction by Swedish energy giant Vattenfall across the river Elbe. Activists said the entire project was unacceptable because of climate change, and had to be stopped. The protesters came down from the trees in March 2010, after a court ruled to temporarily suspend the pipeline approval. But a spark had been lit: anger continued to grow over the prospect of a new coal plant in one of Europe’s “greenest cities” and demands for greater local control over Hamburg’s energy system became increasingly mainstream. consumer and religious groups culminated in a September 2013 referendum. And with a narrow majority, Germany’s second-largest city voted to take all available steps to completely take over the electricity, gas, and district heating networks that it had sold to Vattenfall and German energy company E.On only decades earlier. In the process, Hamburg joined a growing number of cities worldwide deciding to end their experiments with privatisation. Since 2007, 170 municipalities in Germany alone have brought energy services back into public hands. Globally, at least 100 cities have done the same with privatised water services over the past 15 years, including dozens of municipalities in France – once seen as a growing focus for water privatisation. Vote for Renationalisation October 2013 Three years later, a mass campaign by dozens of environmental, Claire Provost and Matt Kennard in Hamburg, Wednesday 12 November 2014

Pt B Response - Owning Spirespace

The project started with thorough investigations on the skyline of Hamburg which were prompted by the observations when in the city. Hamburg is a city that has maintained a clear skyline with only church spires rising above a thirteen story cap, however during research on Hafen city developments it has become apparent that their development will soon rise above the thirteen story cap and into the territory of the church spires, dwarfing their importance in the city. Many cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s have created either view frameworks or sky line hight caps, with prime examples being New York with its rocketing skyline, and London which has created protected view vistas which prevent further development breaching any of the twenty seven views between certain important sites in the city. Simply my project stems from two programmes which subtly reach into the skyline preserving and protecting its stance from future development, but the projects long term plan is to inject the true German sense of ownership back into its city skyline, with colour and pride. The first programme zones into the space between the seven church spires in the city, situated in the airspace wind energy is harvested and channelled back to the site, both providing an exchange for energy at a human scale and physically occupying the not yet developed space between the church spires. The second programme zones into the space within and immediately around the church spires, a mock spire is inserted into the buildings test bed, which acts as a training facility when learning from the church spires in the city. The programmes intention is to create a relationship to the seven spires but locally, all under one roof. When ready the municipal workers can rein-act the training on the real spire. The underlying essence of this programme is to harvest the dust from the inside of the existing church spires and to reinsert it back once mixed with the pigment from the flowers grown below the site. Re inserting a colourful dust plume from each of the seven spires periodically, occupying the skyline with a light touch, again with a human scale.

1 7

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

1:200

DUST PLATFORM

MOCK SPIRE IN TEST BED

STEEL FIN END TO POLYCARBONATE FACADE

CIRCULATIUON SPACE FROM STAIR CORE TO DUST PLATFORM

STAIR CORE

ESCAPE DISTANCE TO STAIR

STEEL BEAM BETWEEN STRUCTURAL FINS

ACCESS TO STAIR CORE AND WORKING SPACES

PUBLIC ACCESS TO GROUND LEVEL

SITE PLAN ELEVATION

1:1000

1:500

3 4 9

THIRD FLOOR PLAN

1:200

FORTH FLOOR PLAN

1:200

COMMUNAL GARTHERING/SOCIAL WORKERS SPACE

EATING SPACE

CANTEEN

EQUIPMENT STORE

CORRIDOR TO AND FROM WORK AND COMMUNAL SPACES

TOP OF SPIRE REPAIR SPACE

DUST DOOR WAY/SEPERATING DUST AND NON DUST SPACES

DUST FREE ZONE

STAIR CORE

ESCAPE DISTANCE TO STAIR

WORKING FLOOR AND CLADDING HANGING SPACE

WEATHER VANE DOCKING SPACE

MEZZANINE FLOOR TO INSERT CLADDING TO THE TOP OF THE SPIRE

MEZZANINE FLOOR TO WORK ON THE TOP OF THE SPIRE

SPACE TO ACCESS SPIRE FROM THE SIDE

POLYCARBONATE FACADE

SITE PLAN ELEVATION

1:500

1:1000

SITE PLAN ELEVATION

1:1000

1:500

HAMBURG, GERMANY

Pt A Brief - State,less “I write to you from a far off land... Two film makers arrive in the post industrial wasteland known as Hackney Wick. Their aim to document this “Isle of Wonder” as it falls under the shadow of the Olympic behemoth.” The Wick

Accretion, Allusion, In astrophysics accretion is the coming together of bodies by collection of material through gravity. Around the Olympic Park in East London individuals with strongly held views debate a range of local issues and ‘accrete’ as their interests coincide. Such individuals, as we all are, pair networks of related thinking and networks of relevant physical locations in personal mental maps. These maps inform both use and experience. We curate personal collections of ‘interest maps’ prioritising one over another depending upon our circumstances and purpose. Progressing a thought on air pollution might, or might not, take priority over hunting down a medium-rare steak for example – different maps will apply and we constantly shuffle them to more relevant prioritisations. We recognise and befriend others that have curated similar collections of maps. Beyond our personal maps, and those of others that we relate closely to, there are more tenuous connections to groups with fewer common interests. There is no agreeable ‘overall identity’ to a place - only the sum of all possible interests – we calculate and measure identity on a personal basis combining personal preference and chance encounters with a wider, but incomplete, collection of ‘other groups’. So, whilst the physical territory remains constant, experience and evaluation of experience differs from user to user. An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or a representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. A map can be regarded as a visual ‘allusion’ to other non-physical realities whose meanings supplement the physical reality that the map apparently sets out to re-present. We also make allusions and corrective allusions to other maps that we know and other realities to which they relate as we assimilate a maps contents. A map is thus a quotation of prior maps as well as being ‘a map’. It reassures or distances us from the version of physical reality that it represents, depending on our preferences, as a consequence of these allusions. When we feel that we have ‘grasped’ a place or a topic unusually clearly it becomes tempting to share our accreted experiences on the ground and allusions to other sources and we become enthusiasts.

Enthusiast Your task is to work with an ‘enthusiast’, that you are assigned through lottery, to create a sophisticated tool that can inform and augment their enthusiasm, to investigate and to speculate about the consequences of utilising ‘the tool’ to the create a map, and to house this map, or maps, the mapping tool and the ‘enthusiast‘ in a highly specific cabin.

Enthusiasms bird migration, mobile signals and masts, long views, local radio, aromas, wifi, cloud conditions, sun path shadow lines, airborne pollution, sheltered locations for sleeping rough. fish, fishing locations, UFO’s (unidentified floating objects), nest sites, water edge vegetation, waterborne pollution, water movement, reflection, depth + perceived depth, canal dwelling - mobile / static. bugs & beetles, dog walkers, bench occupants, runners, cyclists, bird watchers, fishermen, chuggers, flyerers, film makers, fashion shooters, novelists, photographers, journalists, artists. shared housing entrances, transport (bus stops, stations, water bus stops), galleries, shops cafes, work places, bridges - under and over, grass vs pavement. grass, window boxes, self seeded flowers and weeds, guerilla gardening, allot- ments, temporary vegetation. bottles,cans, sizable – matrasses, shopping trolleys, dead bikes and bike parts. road surfaces and markings, fences, edges (including kerbs, bollards and fittings), redundant devices. mapping infrastructure usage / abuse: pathway surfaces, graffiti, benches, street lighting, signage, waste bins, barriers, symbols / marks painted on things, barriers. road names, informal, redundant. Your ‘enthusiasm’ is the issue base to your project. Your approach to it will gain traction through very careful micro-observation and full immersion in the topic. Your cabin has multiple functions. what is necessary? device housing and map exhibition + super-minimal living. weather proofing - rain, snow, hail, sun, wind? stability - rigid, semi-rigid, elastic? collapsibility - compactness, self folding, speed of deployment, ease of transit? access - door, flap, zippers, press seal, security, post? permeability - view out, ventilation, sound and light transmission, insulating qualities? more specialised possibilities - signalling, storage, morphogenesis, expansion / contraction, heat generation, algae growth? how does the enclosure connect and integrate with elements of the manifest, below, and how does it support your hub unit? hub manifest the hub manifest comprises items that require services what is necessary? consider lighting, general and task lighting. how much is required, necessary, desired? the wiring will come from a power supply, what is this supply? can you minimise the lengths of cable? consider heat, what supplies this? how is it distributed? consider food storage, do you need a refrigerated space? beer, cheese and salami in a ‘fridge’; how many kinds of cheese? consider cooking, do you require a microwave? will a deep fat fryer do for everything? consider hygine, do you require a wc? what type? what services are needed? will there be shampoo, paracetamol and dental floss in a ‘bathroom cupboard’; a shower? hot tub? services for your hub elements should be logically grouped and co-ordinated. dispersal manifest equipment for living that does not require services what is necessary? consider the content of your own home as a set of collections of tools and consumables and their related cabinets. for example: knives, forks and spoons in a ‘cutlery drawer’; trousers, shirts and jumpers, in a ‘wardrobe’. how do you determine that each of your collections is complete? how many socks? how many cleaning fluids? each collection embodies a set of societal values and behavioural outcomes that you more or less conform to or subvert. when you travel you make selections from, change your prioritisation of, these collections - the more essential / task specific items, which are then re-housed in suitcases, bags and briefcases and in a space for short term occupation - boat, caravan, tent, hotel room or cardboard box. reconsider these collections from first principles. what is the smallest range of items that is required for reasonably comfortable, occasional, living? and what values underlie your selections? how might they be re-defined, co-ordinated and combined differently to reprioritise or lighten the complexities of existence and potentially to reduce the consumption of resources? most importantly how do the objectives of your curious user inform the selection of your dispersal manifest? which items will help your enthusiast to make contact with fellow enthusiasts, friends, visitors and the wider public? and can these contact making facilities be shut down? consider sharing mapping data and technlogies, chatting about chance encounters in the area, discussing media interest and activation, finding ways of combining data. generally which everyday possessions best evoke the identity of your curious user and/or represent their purpose? how might the prioritisation of locations and relationships make best use of these objects? every item that you consider desirable and necessary will be drawn at 1:10 and 1:5

Pt B Response - Guess Work

Fishing is one of the most participated sports in the world, not as exposed as football but nonetheless a very large sport. Fishing is broken down into many sub categories, depending on species and location. These range from Salmon fishing in the Scottish lochs to light pole fishing on a river. Which ever you choose you become immersed in that specific skill set, becoming a master of your technique and location. The fishing locations hold what can only be described by anglers as a prime spot, a great swim etc. Yet to the untrained eye most stretches of water appear similar, sometimes cold, windy and in the most part muddy. So why do anglers take such pride in discovering the perfect fishing swim?

GUESS

Fishing is one of the most participated sports in the world, not as exposed as football but nonetheless a very large sport. Fishing is broken down into many sub categories, depending on species and location. These range from Salmon fishing in the Scottish lochs to light pole fishing on a river. Which ever you choose you become immersed in that specific skill set, becoming a master of your technique and location. The fishing locations hold what can only be described by anglers as a prime spot, a great swim etc. Yet to the untrained eye most stretches of water appear similar, sometimes cold, windy and in the most part muddy. So why do anglers take such pride in discovering the perfect fishing swim? My Device directly unearths the prime location to catch fish, using equipment that can help determine the best depth and feeding patterns in a swim, providing invaluable knowledge to the angler. The Pike is the predetor of the fresh water and typically the deep canals, more oftern than not the canal boasts the best pike fishing of its kind. Both cabin and the Pike are at a great distance apart from each other, they contrast in conditions, texture and the way in which they exist. The project aims to bring the conditions as close together as possible until one begins to learn from another, in terms of the patterns of movement above and below the surface of the water.

My Device directly unearths the prime location to catch fish, using equipment that can help determine the best depth and feeding patterns in a swim, providing invaluable knowledge to the angler. The Pike is the predetor of the fresh water and typically the deep canals, more oftern than not the canal boasts the best pike fishing of its kind. Both cabin and the Pike are at a great distance apart from each other, they contrast in conditions, texture and the way in which they exist. The project aims to bring the conditions as close together as possible until one begins to learn from another, in terms of the patterns of movement above and below the surface of the water.

10 The keel helps the device and cabin to move with the slight flow in the canal, it can be raised within the cabin from the seating position. Timber Clad fins. The scale like clad is a fixing point for the contour poles. Contour pads in various positions. Steel beams. Support for whole cabin held underneth aluminum structure. Ladder to accend to street level. Back of seat, connected to device. Back of seat, connected to device. Floor drops by 894mm Table of tackle. Two Chub outcast 2.15lb Test curve predetor fishing rods. Close up of tackle on table

GUESS Canal bank Rotation Point. Structural arms Roof plan In site perspective Direction of movement

TOTAL POPULATION OF STRATFORD OLYMPIC VILLAGE

POPULATION WITH ENTHUSIASM / HOBBY

STRATFORD-UPON-AVON CANAL

WATERSPORTS

2.4

FISHING

6.1

7.2

m 7.0

7.1

10 Exisiting brick wall exposed at points along through inside of cabin. Timber joists End of contour poles. Water line. Opening to acess canal from behind the cabin. Contour poles form a line against wall to ack as a marking point. Marks drawn against the brick wall at each stage the cabin moves down stream.

PERSPECTIVE

The ordinary angler starts their search on the bank for the best fishing swim, using traditional methods for finding the depth and more importantly the pike.

What is actually under the surface of the water? Without guess work youre able to find out exatly what the conditions are under water in turn increasing the the chances of catching the pike.

The express angler adopts his position in the water, facing in towards the bank. Using sophisticated scientific measuring equipment, the devices take the guess work out of fishing.

Mapping the change of perspective between the angler and express angler.

Just like most anglers they have a starting position and work their way up or down stream, the device covers a range of water, undertaking the experiments at each stage.

These diagrams demonstrate how the perception of the regular angler and the express angler differ from swim to swim, a true account for how many fish are in the water (without having to drain the canal) and the contour of the canal bed.

Each angler was faced with the same stretch of water and the same conditions.

10 Contour pole attached to the exterior to confuse other local anglers. Timber cladding, opens and closes on a pivoting point. The keel helps the device and cabin to move with the slight flow in the canal, it can be raised within the cabin from the seating position. Chum bag, fish parts to attract the pike into the swim. Device arm

Light slits in aluminium sheeting.

Timber caldding panels . Timber framework seen through the canvas skin. Opening around ladder to access cabin. contour pads Steel beams run onto bank to support cabin in place againist the bank. Also to hold cabin when moving around the corner of the bank. Rear opening to access water.

Pt A Brief - State,less 2 In this next part of the project, weeks 5>11, the strategic: rethinking the ways that living together could interface with the city and the ways that this might change society more generally, it is important that you do not immediately forget the successful focussed design thinking achieved in the first part. By it’s conclusion this second part should operate seamlessly from the scale of the city through to the immediate tactile experience of the individual. The location is the air space above part of the Brownfield Estate adjoining the Balfron Tower, that you have already visited, in London. You will develop and deploy a dense array of affordable micro apartments and a ‘performance’ space above Carradale House. Balfron Tower was designed by architect Ernő Goldfinger and, like the nearby Robin Hood Gardens and Goldfinger’s later similar but more famous Trellick Tower in west London, is associated with the Brutalist style of 1960s architecture. Goldfinger himself was pleased with the design and moved in to flat 130, on the 26th floor, for two months in 1968 to find out what the residents liked and disliked about his design. What he learnt was applied to the design of Trellick Tower. Goldfinger also designed Carradale House and Glenkerry House, part of the same estate and complementing Balfron Tower in style. These buildings are now all part of the Balfron Tower Conservation Area, designated in 1998. The building was given Grade II listed status in March 1996, followed by Carradale House in 2000. Carradale and Glenkerry Houses were also included in the Balfron Tower Conservation Area, designated in 1998. The listing continues to attract comment, especially in view of the failure of another nearby Brutalist estate, Robin Hood Gardens, to obtain the same protection. In December 2007, following a ballot of residents in 2006, Tower Hamlets Council transferred its ownership of Balfron Tower, Carradale House and the surrounding Brownfield Estate to Poplar HARCA, a housing association. The association is legally committed to carry out a full refurbishment of the buildings. Pending these works, some flats in Balfron and Carradale are temporarily occupied by artists, who contribute to the community and put on displays in “heritage flat” number 123 Balfron Tower. In October 2010 the residents of both blocks were sent notice that the refurbishment would require all residents to move out, with no undertaking on whether they could return. http://architectuul.com (useful, type: ‘balfron’) London proudly promotes itself worldwide as one of the most important cultural capitals. Today East London boasts the largest number of artists and arts organisations living and working together in any capital city in the world! London’s Artist Quarter web site is here to support and help promote this collective voice and to introduce the east end of London as officially London’s Artist Quarter. London’s Artist Quarter is a valuable brand for an important community that is engaged and supporting the massive regeneration programme of this historic gateway to London. Situated between the Olympic park and Canary Wharf, London’s Artist Quarter is literally Europe’s gateway to London. Together we can make it work, together we can literally put art on the map and make it part of East London’s success and future. So if you are a creative practitioner or an arts organisation or just interested in the arts and culture, this site is designed for you! Sign up, promote yourself and your activities or the activities of your organisation. It is all about activity and being loud and proud about it. Post your events, find out what’s going on, invite friends, tell people about the cool things to do and places to go in our area. londonsartistquarter.org (apply for a flat in the Balfron, or similar, by December 31st!) Many of the same ideals and planning criteria informed housing blocks of this period. But the problems with the details inhabitation quite quickly began to outweigh the advantages of bathroom ownership and a good view. Novels such as ‘High-Rise‘ by J G Ballard, published in the UK in 1975, drew on the emerging ‘horrors’ of high-rise living. ‘the high-rise was a huge machine designed to serve, not the collective body of tenants, but the individual resident in isolation. its staff of air conditioning conduits, elevators, garbage- disposal chutes and electrical switching systems provided a never failing supply of care and attention that a century earlier would have needed an army of tireless servants’ J G Ballard: High-Rise From the beginning of ‘High-Rise’ the society supported by these systems starts to fail, and the systems then start to fail also combining to create a social and physical disaster. The novel is full of the minor details that in real life combined to bring about the failure of many blocks and the subsequent loss of belief in the building type by public and planners alike. Uncertainties still abound. In France H99, a new tower project in Marseille, is the first residential tower to be constructed in the whole country for many years. For twenty years, very few multi-storey estates were built in Britain. Between 1979 and 1998, only six buildings above 35 metres were built. Why? Because the government-mandated post- war experiment in high-rise living was a disaster. Summoned into existence by the 1956 Housing Subsidy Act (which offered higher public subsidies the higher the building), the 4,500 tower blocks built by 1979 quickly descended into a frightening dystopia. Communities resisted moving. The new multi-storey housing become ‘hard-to-let’. Families and households refused to move in. The Thamesmead Estate, completed in 1968, was 40 percent full by 1974. 55 per cent were refusing to move into the Broadwater Farm Estate within five years of completion. And Ernö Goldfinger’s iconic Trellick Tower (known locally as the ‘Tower of Terror’ due to the risk of rape) was ‘hard-to-let’ within months. In 1971 A Clockwork Orange used tower blocks to symbolise a savage future with the film’s teenage protagonist (and ‘ultra-violence’ practitioner) living in ‘Municipal Flatblock 18A.’ Town planners lost confidence. Subsidies to build high were reduced. In 1977, an apostle of monolithic slab-blocks, Peter Smithson, admitted that he had ‘made a big mistake’ in his monumental designs. Margaret Thatcher supported studies that showed how disastrous the high-rise experiment was proving. High-rise building stopped. Many post-war blocks were demolished. Most of the remaining ones will be destroyed over the next twenty years. However, with a curious lack of public debate the multi-storey phoenix has risen from the cinders. The last government changed the planning rules and mandated super-high density developments which all but demanded high-rise. Ken Livingstone supported this actively. In the last decade there has therefore been a ‘resurgence’ of high-rise building. By 2004, 24 buildings above 35 metres were being built per year. In 2003, there were only 1,800 high-density flat developments in England. But by 2007. there were 5,600 with 3,800 under construction and 5,600 more with planning permission. This is a 740 percent increase. No amount of sensitive design can compensate for houses and flats that are too small. The new minimum space standards at the heart of this guidance will improve residents’ quality of life and ensure that our homes are accessible and able to accommodate changing personal circumstances and growing families. Extra space will enable homes to be more than mere dormitories, encouraging sociable rooms within homes, and giving family members private space when they need it. 4.0 Dwelling Space Standards London Housing Design Guide, Mayor of London £875,000 4 bedroom flat for sale: Lauderdale Tower, Barbican, London EC2Y Service Charge £5,500 per annum This first floor four bedroomed flat offers generous living space and stylish décor in a highly sought-after location with the added benefit of a private balcony and 24-hour porterage. Unfortunately, the housing debate is muddled with non-explanations that have been advanced because they suit a pre-conceived political agenda. None of these explanations can explain more than a trivial fraction, at best, of the housing cost increase. It is not explained by a lack of developable land, nor by a lack of social housing or a lack of spending on cash benefits. It is not driven by speculation or a lack of regulation and taxation. It is not a distributional issue either. Rather, the empirical evidence from around the world shows, as conclusively as econometric papers get, that planning restrictions are a key determinant of housing costs. A good deal of the literature, though not all of it, suggests that this is by far the most important determinant. In particular for the UK, where there are few insurmountable topographic obstacles to speak of, it is reasonable to assume that other factors can be almost ignored. iea - instutute of economic affairs

Stateless

With the need for more affordable housing continuing to make the news daily, London the location of highest demand, and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of wealthy purchasers snapping up anything basic at high prices, the demand = supply chain appears broken to even those on good incomes. The Mayors call for more space is understandable, even admirable, but does this not tend to make the limited land available more likely to be used for homes of even higher build cost and therefore value and therefore even less affordable? If more space for construction is not to be made available either density needs to be raised or subsidy has to be increased to generate affordable homes. Subsidy is a shared cost not a saving. Logically higher density = lower cost per occupant. Can an energetic quantity of ‘sensitivity’ and ‘rethinking of living practices’ generate affordable higher density coupled with new kinds of comfort&? Are any sites sacrosanct? The location for your project is the airspace above Carradale House. The London Housing Design Guide considers 50m2 the correct size for one bedroom and two people. Your cabin provided approximately 6m2 for one person and their device. The roof area of the larger portion of the building is 40,260mm x 13,420mm. Say 520m2. room for ten one bed apartments or eighty cabins. Twenty people or eighty. Your first challenge is to produce twenty x one bed 25m2 apartments for two people per floor. Forty people per floor not twenty people per floor. In addition four bedrooms and five people over two floors is considered to be 100m2 so ten of these would fit in the 520m2 over two floors. Your second challenge is to produce twenty x four bed 50m2 apartments per two floors. One hundred people per two floors not fifty people per two floors. You may use 50% of the area that you save to create a shared community and performance space. (are you reproducing familiar comforts in miniature, re-casting living as a post-apocalypse activity - salvaging a living on the periphery, using technical innovation to reframe activites in a more compact way - no need for a TV lounge / camera / piano - with a smartphone, evolving life around a specific local interest, rethinking the consumption of all kinds of resources, all of the above? Delivering a critical warning about life in the city?) develop a lightweight modular support structure to sit above Carradale House. the structure will spring from the structural grid of the existing building. (your housing and shared space will be lodged within this structure) develop shared social spaces that facilitate alternative modes of social exchange and consider the utilities that you might include also. Residents of affordable areas around the Olympic Park fear that they may soon be priced out of their homes, or priced out of the possibility of moving from small apartments to houses in the future. People that are sensitive to the life, use and quirky history of the place, such as your cabin dwellers, are the very people that will find themselves being moved further east - their airspace occupied by city workers populating nice new apartments and conversions close to Canary Wharf and adding steam rooms, aquariums, charcoal grills and subscriptions to horse and hounds. include a deck: a lightweight external hard or landscaped space. (setting up a dialogue with other such spaces close by) access arrangements will need to be carefully considered and integrated from (how will your residents get up to the site? how will they travel between facilities? will they get wet? will your circulation be as compact, elegant, affordable and sustainable as 28your housing?)

Pt B Response - Stealing Airspace We are experiencing an increasingly prevalent housing crisis, whereby there is a shortage of quality, affordable homes within London. Air travel condenses living into a duration of time, with a departure and destination. Life in the air creates its own condition, our detachments from the ground adjusts our perspective on what is below, equivalently to what is above. Scrutinizing the relationships between the ground and the airspace will reveal a dialogue between the balanced and unbalanced, solid and soft, stable and unstable, open and closed, static and dynamic. My project will improve the lives of people who are in need of more space, the project investigates how you can extend into an airspace to increase the space of an apartment once you have moved in. The key to understanding the relationship between the ground and the airspace is sited in identifying ownership and more importantly the implications of stealing airspace, more of- ten than not it can be difficult to underpin who owns an airspace in relation to a temporary state of living, therefore comes an opportunity to relocate a space. Stealing airspace demands sensitivity and the concept boils down to the saying of ‘only taking what you need’, therefore creating a balance of necessity and demand. The apartments have been arranged where by each unit has an equal opportunity to expand out into the airspace to retrieve more space, subsequently all apartments face outwards. Each apartment is allows the occupants to live equally, yet the difference lies in their need to expand outward. In terms of the shared facilities, kitchens and eating spaces weave in and out of the main open core, stretching across from one side of the apartments to the other, the design also allows more space within each apartment. The second shared facility is the air bank, this space is occupied by the residents of the apartments, each resident inputs air manually into the large inflatable air bank, their input is measured and then put back into their own apartment’s pneumatic skin which extends the more air is pumped into the air bank, the system works similarly to the way a bag pipe holds its air and distributes it out of its valves. Keeping account of how much air pressure you contribute deter- mines the amount of air distributed to your apartment, this is controlled using a ‘gas card’ system. Overall the concept of creating your own space through manual operated air pumps will bring together a social space beneath the soffit of the air bank. Structurally the apartments sit within a grid wall, each of the floor plates slot into the upright structural wall providing stability. Derived from the structure of the airship eight curved steel arms pierce through the grid holding the grids upright, these eight structures also house all the apartments services, each bend at an angle allowing services to flow down to the ground. The access to the building consists of a semi concealed stair core, situated between the existing service core and the carradle house apartment building providing private access to the apartments and shared facilities. All escape distances are kept below three meters, every apartment is within three meters of a main stair core leading down to ground level. Likewise the escape routes and circulation spaces are all exposed, fire will not spread through the open circulation space as quickly as it would if it was a dense enclosed space. Another aspect to contain fire is the separation of the apartments on each floor.

AIRCRAFT FLY IN AND OUT OF AIRSPACE EVEN WHEN RESTRICTED.

INFLATE INTO AIRSPACE APARTMENT APARTMENT

STEALING AIRSPACE

APARTMENT

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO STEAL AIRSPACE? THE PRICE TAG ATTACHED TO UNOCCUPIED AIRSPACE IS UNDETERMINED, RELEASING A POSSIBILITY TO INHABIT THE SPACE. ALTHOUGH QUESTIONS OF OWNERSHIP ARISE WHEN BUILDING INHABITED SPACE OUT INTO THE AIRSPACE, CAUSING CONFLICT.

AIRSPACE

EXPANDING FAMILIES AND THE RISING PRICE OF FLOOR SPACE INCREASE THE NEED TO FIND ALTERNATIVES TO LIVING, A SOLUTION THAT ALLOWS FOR EXPANSION WITHOUT NECESSARILY PAYING FOR IT.

AIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

THE FOCUSED AIRSPACE LIES IN THE VOID BETWEEN THE CARRADALE HOUSE AND THE BALFRON TOWER.

AIR IS DISTRIBUTED TO THE APARTMENTS TO INFLATE THE PNEUMATIC STRUCTURE INTO THE AIRSPACE.

PAY FOR YOUR SPACE WE WANT OUR

DON’T RUIN MY VIEW STORAGE OF AIR

INPUT IS RECORDED TO DETERMINE OUTPUT INTO APARTMENT

AIRSPACE

BACK

MANUAL INPUT OF AIR

THE BAG PIPE

ELEVATION 1

1:50

2 3 1

SOUTH FACING APARTMENTS 4

APARTMENT WINDOW

5 STEEL FRAME

CIRCULATION

ELEVATION 1:200 1 2

FIRE ESCAPE/ SEMI EXPOSED/ PLASTIC SHEETING. CARRADALE HOUSE.

STEEL FRAME/ APARTMENT SUPPORT.

GRID FRAME OPENINGS LEADING TO APARTMENTS.

6 7 8 4

12 13

PERSPECTIVE SECTION 1:20 1 2

STRUCTURAL GRID / FRAMING THE SKY. (STEEL) EXPOSED CIRCULATION SPACE.

STEEL FRAME/ APARTMENT SUPPORT.

GRID OPENINGS LEADING TO APARTMENTS.

PNEUMATIC SKIN (PTFE)

FRAMING VIEW BELOW.

COMPACT FLOOR SYSTEM.

FOOT PUMP.

WATER/ELECTRICITY/DRAINAGE RUN THROUGH STEEL FRAME.

COMPACT APARTMENT.

OPEN SPACE UNDER SOFFIT.

LOWER ENTRANCE TO AIR BANK SPACE.

STEPPED SEATING LEADING WINDOW. (PLYWOOD)

AIR BANK.

UPPER ENTRANCE TO COMMUNITY SPACE.

STEEL CABLES.

PIPES LEADING TO APARTMENT VALVES

PNEUMATIC SKIN

SKAFOLDING TO STEAL SPACE

AIRSPACE

20 18 19

SECTION 1:30 1 2

STRUCTURAL GRID / FRAMING THE SKY. (STEEL) EXPOSED CIRCULATION SPACE.

STEEL FRAME/ APARTMENT SUPPORT.

GRID OPENINGS LEADING TO APARTMENTS.

PNEUMATIC SKIN (PTFE)

PUMP NOSEL

SKAFOLDING SUPPORTING EXTENDING FLOOR PLATE

PIPE WORK DISTRIBUTING AIR

WATER/ELECTRICITY/DRAINAGE RUN THROUGH STEEL FRAME.

AIR VALVE

COMMUNAL EATING SPACE

PNEUMATIC STRUCTURE

13 1

10 11

ACCESS STAIR CORE

WINCH TO EXTEND SPACE WHEN INFLATED

UPRIGHT SUPPORT

APARTMENT UNDER CONSTRUCTON

10 7

PLAN 1 2

GROUND FLOOR PLAN 1:100 MORE THAN ONE COMMON STAIR WITHOUT DEAD ENDS. (31.4 m)

FIREFIGHTING STAIR WIDTH (1.40 m)

DISTANCE OF TRAVEL FROM ENTRANCE OF FLAT TO COMMON STAIR. (MAX 4.2 m)

MINIMUM WIDTH OF ESCAPE ROUTE AND EXIT. (2.3m)

OPEN CORRIDORS ON ALL LEVELS

ESCAPE STAIR WIDTH (1.42 m)

SPACED APARTMENTS TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF FIRE.

B1 Means of warning and escape

(A ground floor storey exit serving 250 persons shares a common final exit with a 1.2 m wide stair Required final exit = ((250/2.5) + (1.2 x 60))/80 width (metres) = 2.150 metres.)

PNEUMATIC STRUCTURE INFLATED POSITION. COMMUNAL EATING SPACE.

13 11

AIR BANK

STEALING OF AIRSPACE

1:200 FLOOR ONE

1:200 FLOOR THREE

1:200 FLOOR TWO

1 D

INFLATING SKIN A

STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY

AIR CELLS

HINGED FIXING POINT.

AIR NOSEL.

FLOOR PLATES.

SKAFOLDING EXTEDNING OUT INTO AIRSPACE.

THREE ACCESS STAIRS.

EXPANING IN SIZE AND DISTANCE FROM FRAME.

CARRADALE HOUSE.

WINCH TO CONTROL IN HIGH WIND.

SERVICE CORE CUT THROUGH FRAME

INNER PROTECTIVE LINING.

SERVICES THROUGH FLOOR JOINING FRAME.

STEEL GRID FOR SUPPORT OF FLOOR PLATES. UPRIGHT FRAME CONTAINING SERVICES.

6 8

Provoke / Extract / Record “As this wave from memories flows in, the city soakes it up like a sponge and expends. A description of Zaira as it is should contain all Zaira’s past. The city however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the corners of the streets, the gratings of the windows, the banis- ters of the steps, the antennae of the lighting rods, the poles of the flags, every segment in turn with scratches, indenta- tions, scrolls.” Invisible Cities, Calvino.

This project seeks to uncover the infraordinary in the urban fabric, that holds many stories in its texture. Uncovering these micro elements forms the basis to a larger story, a story that becomes an identification of what an urban community contains. My interest in the invisable stories that are carved into the surface of the urban fabric allowed the project to focus on experimentation, and follow a natural formation through one to one explorations of a static urban character, the street bollard. The bollard is only one example of how these stories can settle, but visually they are the most prolific in their colour and texture. The upright form stands in the way of traffic, pedestrian, road and enviromental conditions. The project aims to exploit the micro and enlarge it through colour, extracting the almost invisable collection of daat and display it through a level of colour and density. The colour comes alive through ink that is released from the bollards when a level of interaction reaches a maximum. Its journey begins through the community then offshore through a pipeline into the water, the ink reaches the ink basin structures. What ever ink is released from the community will soak up into the canvas facade and rise to the top. the colours can be seen form the mainland and act as a visual representation of the triggers and subtle scratches that occur on the mainland. The data retrived layers ontop of one another. The facade contains the layers, its formation is a repository of knowledge.

“As this wave from memories flows in, the city soakes it up like a sponge and expends. A description of Zaira as it is should contain all Zaira’s past. The city however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand, written in the corners of the streets, the gratings of the windows, the banis- ters of the steps, the antennae of the lighting rods, the poles of the flags, every segment in turn with scratches, indenta- tions, scrolls.”

- Invisible Cities, Calvino.

04 01 01

03 03

SEA LEVEL

PULAU GAYA - KOTA KINABALU- MALAYSIA

01 / POD 02 / SCRIBES 03 / INTERVENTION 04 / PULAU GAYA VILLAGE 05 / SOUTH CHINA SEA

INK rising 40%

1 Ink begins to make its way up through the damp canvas. (Approx 20 days)

2 (Approx 60 days) The ink makes contact with the first extractor and bleeds a small amount of ink back down to the ink collector. 3 (Approx 120 days) Both of the extractors are drawing ink out of the canvas and ink makes its way through the pipes down to the collectors on the second floor of the structure.

4 Each fold in the canvas represents a distance and a amount of interaction that occurs on the mainland with the bollard.

5 The extractor makes contact with the ink on the canvas and draws it away from the surface into a drip pipe. 6 Isometric view of ink entering basin and ascending up through the canvas,

The Illegal Fisherman Without clear direction and no previous knowledge of the isle of Sheppey the trip allowed me to find exciting places objects and conditions. Each destination helped me to form an opinion of site. I was able to discover elements of the land- scape, which led me to understand how unique the isle of Sheppey is. Being restricted to one site on the island allowed me to delve deeper into specifics, to find out about the residential and ecological. The thorough investigation was insightful, yet the best way of understanding what is on the island socially was to speak to the local residents. Doing this opened many doors and opportunity to find out more about the individual and their My first site investigation was based on the coal wash. The area sits at the end of a strip of land that looks back onto the creek. Talking to locals helped me to locate the area and find out more about the land use and history. One interesting aspect of the coal wash is that it was the dock for the steel that was brought into Queenborogh, the biggest industrial factory on the island. My passion for fishing became the focus of my investigation, my concept delved deeper and deeper into the fishing in Queenborogh, legal and illegal.

- Upon the chance meeting in a pub of local fisherman I designed a strategy of pop up devices to recharge this local economy.