[Academic use only]
[Academic use only]
1.2 Project Visions, Ambitions and Future Scale My interests this year are mainly focused on creating a new town square and social interaction space, a prototype typology that can be picked up and implemented in other similar sites across the country and beyond. To bring back the historical significance of the market within our cities, accessibility and creating a new typology that breaks the mould of the current high end, high value one off markets. To create an individual building that can be implemented across a wide range of environments, a sustainable strategy of cyclical processes have to be established These RULES will influence and determine the aesthetics of the building, this in fact, becoming secondary to the process. Capture and Recycle Rainwater The capturing of rainwater within the building, and the use of this water throughout the building and its processes, including the watering of the germinating crop, as well as the cleaning of the floor plates and the use of grey water throughout the building. Water usage and distribution should become a visible measurement of consuming. The Use of Organic Waste for Light The collection and storage of organic waste within the building to allow the community to dispose of waste easily, as well as allowing them to see the process of this waste disposal in creating light for the building throughout the hours of darkness. Anaerobic respiration produces methane, which can be passed across plants to produce light in the form of bioluminescence. Recycling should be used to create spectacle. Encourage Awareness/ Education Encourage people to take part in the processes that happen within the building, the processes determining the presence of the building itself. Growing should be at close proximity and connect us to nature. To strengthen the relationship between the community and the growth of food Due to the dense urban environment and the increase of commercialization, society is becoming removed from the production of the food they eat and the processes that take place in order to produce it. My building aims to educate community in these matters. Growing should be a joy. Self Sufficiency Due to the abundance of commercial goods, and 24 hour convenience society, my project aims to break down these monopolies, and tempt people back into self production and the happiness of growing, to allow for a new opening in the market, for a community run co operative. Growing should be a commercial venture.
Collage of scheme
1.4 – Brief and Agenda
Permanent Market and New Town Square A Manifesto for a Local Consumerism Movement I propose a permanent market, functional, to some capacity, 24 hours a day. On site permanently, this building will house a permanent market space that is flexible and can be used as an informal performance space, a tram distribution stop for the transference of trading to a wider area, germination towers, for the initial growth of crop to distribute to the local community, as well as providing a public landscape for social interaction. The building is located on a lost and forgotten space in East London. A space where historically a market took place, along the convergence lines of transports, here, the edges between industrial, residential and the over-‐ground train line. The workers will be the community, the functions happen around their daily schedules, the cultivation of the germinating crops tended to by those who invest in the co-‐operative: Co-‐operative Scheme; ‘an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily, to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise’. It may also be defined as a business that is owned and controlled completely by those people who use it and work there. The building and scheme, with its many functions and interwoven programs, has three main objectives in its ideas and construction: 1 – In response to and in order to take advantage of, the Government’s Revolution on growth and society. 2 – To create awareness between consumption, the user and growth and to educate. 3 – To form a cyclical building where waste creates beauty, and function allows participation.
Funding
Funding to build this sort of a building; a large and open public space for trade and growth, will require government and public support in order to produce a society that accepts this building not only as an ‘object’, or stand alone construction in this location, but as a strategy and typology that can be seen as a prototype on my site. There are many different strategies that can aid this type of construction, for example the Conservative Government and it’s ‘Big Society’, as well as many more organizations that focus their time and effort on promoting community and the growth of food in the city. For example: -‐ Government’s Grow Your Own Revolution This aims to give support to reduce our dependency on imports, by reforming the EU’s common agricultural and fishing policies. Cross-‐departmental policy report (Food 2030) aims to support further farmers and community markets to boost consumption of local produce. This is also driven by the FFLP, a community driven body that aims to promote awareness. (Food For Life Partnership) -‐ The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens A charity that supports and promotes community managed farms, gardens, allotments and other green spaces, creating opportunities for local communities to grow. It also tries to empower local people, across the age spectrum, from different backgrounds and abilities, to build better communities, usually in developed areas, and to provide decision makers, funders and the media. -‐ SHAPE East A London based program, supported by the Government, to promote a positive influence on the quality of urban design and the built environment, through supporting the professional community, engaging the public and facilitating debate and understanding between the two. It supporters (among others) are: The Architect Centre Network CABE English Heritage Private Trustees
Collage (relationship between growth and health)
1.5 -‐ Building Program
Permanent Market and New Town Square A Manifesto for a Local Consumerism Movement The creation of the new town square at this convergence point in Tower Hamlets is attempting to re awaken community spirit in a ‘forgotten’ area, produce growth in inner city and highly built up areas, improve mental health, and educate about growth and self production. This building is a starting point for the ‘germination’ of the building over the years, so its growth spreads across the community and local area, ‘making green’ the industrial looking area. For smooth and successful operation of the building, the following facilities will be included:
1.
Reception and visitor entrance The reception and visitors entrance should be easily accessible from the outside open community space around the foot of the building. A natural flow will be created from outside to inside space, with the building gently enticing the visitor in with sloped ramps and ease of boundary crossing. In this sense, some of the outside materiality could be bought in, with a green floor leading the way into the building. All the functions of the building must be visible to the visitor, (the movement of the roof, the selling in the market and the growth of the towers). At a certain point, this exterior materiality will trail off, leaving the visitor with the feeling of leaving the outside and entering the main body of the machine (the market).
2.
Co-‐operative members entrance The members of the co-‐operative, also being visitors, but more regular visitors that are an influencing part of the building’s performance and function, are of course not excluded from using the visitor entrance when utilizing the building. When, though, the members come to the building to tend their sponsored crops, their entrance will take the form of the ramped germination towers or stairs. In this sense they are not leaving the outside of the building, as this area although enclosed, brings the outside in. Visitors can also access this area to view the co-‐operative members tending their crops.
3.
Goods exchange entrance The goods exchange entrance is purely functional, with home orders being organized from around the building, as well as crops grown by those public members who have bought germinated seeds, grown them on green spaces around the area, and sold the excess of crop back to the co-‐operative, enter the building to be sorted, stored and sold within the market. Located more at the back of the building this is a function that will be visible but not at the forefront, with much of the transportation taking place on bicycles this stream of goods in and out will be visible to those in the open community gardens.
4.
Market floor level The market floor will be a large open market space with ordered stalls on plots that are purchased by the co-‐operative members who sell their germinated crops, or the goods that have been grown off site. These market stalls will be ordered to allow the flow of people, as well as allowing each stallholder to enhance and flaunt their performance, with little restriction on how these stalls look. With the differing rings of production that occur around the area encircling my building (dairy, crop, eggs etc….) due to the space available and goods needed, the public will provide this market with the goods, and in return receive points to spend on these goods or on purchasing some new germinating crops.
5.
Tram station and goods distribution A functional and mechanical area of the building, and only accessed by those who work there, (but not invisible to the visitor), this is where goods are distributed from and sent out to areas that can be accessed (close by) by the tram line integrated into the already existing track infrastructure. A loop of track that runs under the tensile roof and above the market level, the process is intended to be visible and audible to those visiting the market.
6.
Germination towers These towers are not intended to be completely closed off from the exterior conditions of the community landscape, but an intermediate area between the outside and the main market hub of the building. Permeable to the air and views out over the surrounding area, and inversely in from the landscaped area, these towers will be connected from the ground with a continuous slope, leveling off to join with the market floor slab and goods distribution level. These towers house a large water storage tank, with water collected from the rain catchers on the roof, the use and path of the water will be visible to those within, highlighting consumption of the building throughout the day. When the germinating crops need watering, pressurized ‘humidifiers’ will create a mist throughout the towers, falling as rain through the building.
7.
Goods dry storage Within the core of the building darker areas and spaces with ventilation will be provided for the early stags of germination as well as those crops that have been grown, transported to the market and stored ready to be sold. Dark rooms with ventilation allowing air in and out as well as a small amount of light at certain times of the day, as well as separation areas for crops with higher ethylene levels.
8.
Tools and Equipment storage for users Lockers will be provided for the co-‐operative members and users of the growing aspects of the building. Storage of cultivating equipment and personal items located on the flat floors where the towers join the market floor plates join, for ease of access from either area.
9.
Toilets and utility rooms Toilets also located in same area as the storage areas for equipment, for ease of access as well as removing the need to minimize the germination areas in order to fit these in. Grey water and filtered collected rainwater run off will be used to flush these toilets and for hand washing. Same principle for those toilets located within the main concrete core of the market space. Utility rooms are the areas not accessible by the public, where the pipes carrying water, methane, maintenance hatches for the toilets, pressure pumps etc are located for the complete cyclical functioning of the building.
10. Outside public space The outside area, around the foot of the building and covering the remainder of the site (with the ability to spread throughout the local area), will be landscaped to allow for community gathering, seeking shade within the summer months, and viewing the functioning of the building. This outside space is key to the building becoming an established, well-‐used and loved public area.
11. Ability for future development (Gym) Future expansion could include a gym, for use by the people who earn points through growing. Machines could be used to power pumps to pressurize water and gas within the building. Removing the need for any energy consuming machinery. Also, as outlined within the project’s future scale, the ambition is that this building will mould the landscape surrounding it, with its rings of production, the green landscape within the before more industrial and infrastructural aesthetic, will germinate in time. It is also hoped that this will and can be rolled out across similar sites in England as well as over seas.
Month
Day
Activity
March 5 M
DR Lecture
6 T
Print out section and start to work into it by hand. Include details at intersections, user experience, growth across seasons, sun path and found references.
7 W 8 T 9 F 10 S 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S
26 M
Scan in the large document and get stop motion, callender, updated plan and agenda ready to upload onto blog.
Structural Hand in (Upload) Portfolio pages to be put together on: Pest Control and area conditions, Wider scheme 'rings' of production, movement of the sun.
DR Lecture Work on DR - Diagrams and in finishing part 1 for hand in. Continue Continue Continue Aim to get DR Part 1 printed Work on a physical model
DR Part 1 Hand In Work on structure Plans and sections Details
AStudio Visit Work on the Building Environment Continue above (With all DR work, amalgamate along the framework of the contents page as I go‌.)
27 28 29 30 31
T W T F S
Plans and sections
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W
Plans and sections
Work on the Building Form and Systems Continue above
April
Work on construction of the building Continue above Plans and sections
Work on Procurement of the building Continue above
19 T 20 F 21 S
Final check over of DR, amalgamation and printing/binding if possible.
22 S 23 M
Final DR Hand In