“Let us recall what we said were human needs section by section and determine if the proximity of our site encompasses these factors. We must also debate if these factors are needed on site or not, even if a similar site exists with a similar experience.”
“If were are talking about substances, or the fundamentals of what the human needs to survive, we would be talking about food, water, clothing, shelter and human interaction.”
“Food. The city undoubtedly is made of a collection of restaurants that manifest their own ideals of food into each dish. Their existence on Queen Street is no less insignificant than the avenue itself. Food is abundant and Auckland loves to consume. But specifically we need to find out where this food is located in relation to our site.”
“Answer one question for me then. What is happening to the population of Auckland from your observations over the past years?”
“Very well.”
“Yes of course.”
“There are infinite places in Auckland in which food is available. As a matter of fact, there is an eatery on every corner of Auckland. And this is why, my friend, I do believe that we do not in the slightest bit need to discuss the possibility of food on the location. It is ultimately not indispensable.”
“It is growing, predicted to reach nearly 2 million by 2031.”
“Hence, because of this, for some subjects such as food will never fail to be a true demand in a city such as Auckland. I concur that the city of Auckland no doubt contains many shops that have a significant amount of food for the consumption of the inhabitant. However in a city such as Auckland, a city that will keep expanding, it will not be harmed with the addition of the food and restaurants.”
“The beauty of Auckland is that it works as a network of food spaces. Auckland is not just a central business district but also a food district, which expresses the culture of the city through its multiplicity of restaurants. Food in downtown would only connect the different parts of Auckland that allows food to attract the people. It is the nexus and extension of Wynyard quarter, Britomart and Queen Street. The power of these parts will combine to work as one. This can be a food centre. The idea of creating restaurants in a location where there is no demand is merely moronic, however this part of Auckland is the location with the most demand from consumers. Countless people with ample amounts of money to spend. Each day each of them come in wanting and craving. And tell me this; what will be the obvious difference on this site once development begins?”
“What about the endless restaurants in Britomart, Wynyard quarter, queen street, all within a one hundred to five hundred metre radius?”
“The difference will be there will be no more shopping centre.”
“And hence, no more horrendous food court. But there will be a reduction of availability of food for the large number of commercial workers who occupy the areas around the site. When busy with work, people admire the ability to barely walk out of their zone to get food. People prefer to have the food delivered to them or be inside their building. In a productive city such as Auckland, it is uncommon for many workers and students to bring food from home but rather choose form the stores surrounding their buildings. Hence do you not agree that each block on each street within a major city should host at least a series of restaurants that allow for the ease of the occupants?”
“Ultimately food will not reduce demand for restaurants but rather revitalize the city further.”
“I am assuming that you agree that the factor of water goes in the same category of food.”
“What do you think about shelter?”
“I see you opinion clearly now.”
“It is now obvious.”
“Of course.”
“It is very hard to state that shelter is not present in a city, as the city is a humans sheltering from the natural disturbances of Mother Nature.”
“And I too would agree with you. Then we shall move on to clothing.”
“Do not be afraid to speak your mind, my wise man, for it is you that is the challenger of my argument and I need your profound reasoning to contest my philosophies.”
“But this time I do agree with you partially. Clothing is not as a big factor in this part of the city as food. However as I argued for the food in terms of demands increasing, clothing would not be unsuited for our location.”
“If we move onto the titles under protection - social security and care is redundant in reference to our discussion methinks as it is in the field of politics and governance. Am I correct?”
“Affection is the next need. Affection in the city is varied.”
“Well here I also think there is an abundance of clothing shops in Auckland city. There is the abundance of shops of Queen Street and Britomart, catering for the young and old, the rich and the poor. Karan Walker, Federation, Farmers, Topshop and an infinite more. But I am afraid that you will disagree with me and tell me I am wrong about that also.”
“Very well, I shall do so.”
“Agreed.”
“You are correct and I would agree with you. It is merely not in control of the visionary of the cityscape.”
“Why do you say this?”
“Then I am assuming you think there are enough of these places in Auckland?”
“But this is important in a city. It is what a city is. It is part of our DNA. Do we not find thrill in these place? But of course we do. We like to celebrate. From ancient times, it has been a hallmark of humanity. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and all other great civilisations that have existed. The youth come to experience its legendary nightlife and colloquial mystery. There is an endless tradition that must continue and will always have demand. “And the problem with the city now is not that it has too many of these places but too little places which correlate to the ideas of friendship, family, humour, generosity and sensuality. For tell me, friend, which places in Auckland city would you define as a places for friendship, family, generosity and humour?”
“There seems to be more places for careless affection and meaningless sex and intimacy in Auckland than spaces for friendship and family, humour, generosity and sensuality. The romance of the city is diluted.”
“On drunken nights the inhabitants of Auckland go to devilish places and bars, hoping to get a moments affection. Clubs, “gentleman’s’ clubs.” A almost a code name. Showgirls, Lenin, anywhere on K Road, countless more. It is a culture of immorality and temporary unity and permanent disunity.”
“Definitely enough! Around our site there is like I said Lenin, showgirls, also, Provedor, Father Ted’s, Fort Street bars, Roxy, Cassette Nine, 1885, Bungalow 8 and that is just a fraction. There are enough darkly frivolous activities happening in this city already.”
“There are the parks around Auckland (although far from our site), Queen Street, Aoetea Square and of course Silo Park.”
“Yes, but you agree that there could always be more of these spaces, better spaces, that could accommodate the said needs?”
“Well now we agree. Let us move on to the need of Understanding.”
“There are a multiple libraries in Auckland city, multiple schools, so let us discuss where each is in relation to our site.”
“This is nowhere near our site. Hence a space to read literature by other people could very well be solution to the unavailability of such activity near our site.”
“But you do think that if one is to investigate further, or to study and to be educated in more depth, our site is not suited and one shall go to the learning quarter of Auckland.”
“Of course. I do believe it will always would and should have more demand in a city than clubs and bars.”
“Yes.”
“Well if we start with libraries, there are barely any in the propinquity of our site. If we map out the reading spaces in Auckland city I could name only three: the universities libraries on Symonds street, the national library in Parnell and the Auckland city library on Wellesley street.”
“Most definitely.”
“Yes, as these facilities already exist and it would be a waste of resources to create another in a central city that is so small.”
“Belonging is our next need. As humans it is a fundamental necessity. However in this city it seems that we only belong the places we work, and there is a feeling on entrapment. We do not belong to anything else.”
“Therefore would you agree with me if I said there is a lot of potential for this kind of architecture on our location?”
“Do we then have spaces to be imaginative, anticipate in games, having fun, celebrating?”
“What about being imaginative and participating in games?”
“And that I would agree with. Then there is Attending intimate spaces and being alone.”
“I would once again agree precisely. The odd queen Elizabeth Square seems to be a place where one can be alone but it is not intimate where one can be by themselves. And therefore I do believe intimate spaces can be a great addition to a busy street in Auckland.”
“I cannot identify many places that one should say they would belong to. No community centres, no activity centres, no religious institutes, no cultural centres.”
“Unquestionably.”
“Well if we start with having fun and celebrating, I do think it falls in the category we talked about earlier. There are plenty of places to celebrate and have fun in the city.”
“Definitely not as many I thought would be there in this great city. I can only think of “the cloud” where there are a minimal number of games persons can participate in. But in the sense of being imaginative there are only a few galleries such as Kura Art galley and ocean galley. However these do not allow the citizen to participate as a part of its process.”
“There are barley any spaces for this sort of activity in Auckland city. It is a rapidly moving city with countless amounts of social interactions and interruptions.”
“Ah creativity. It is needed in every city. For excitement and culture it is no doubt important to the identity of a city. Every human is a designer, a creator, and a maker. But this force of our human nature needs to be activated and continuously tested if we are to allow the creativity and culture of our city to further itself. But I am afraid I do unfortunately have not seen the city accommodate this need very well. There are no places to learn to harness our creative potential.”
“Yes of course. And then in terms of identity which consists of language, or learning a language, religion and getting to know ones body and mind, how does Auckland do on this front?”
“I do believe there are a few language schools that exist in the centre of Auckland but they are formal and for one that wants to fully dedicate oneself fully to learning a language, and most likely English. These facilities by name include Auckland Language Centre, EF international language centre and Language Hub Limited. But these places are almost not part of the character of the city. They do not expose the thrill of language and its beauty. For this I claim it is an opportunity for language to thrive and culture to thrive on out site.”
“The closest religious site to our location is St. Patrick’s cathedral. It is obvious that in the modern day Religion is fading from our cites. But it is important to preserve the ideals of these religions for all religions teach of the fundamentals of the good of the human. And religion often allows one to get to know ones mind and body.”
“Then we shall move on. I believe the next need is creativity.”
“Then this is something we must consider for our location.”
“Not very well at all.”
“What about religion and getting to know ones mind and body?”
“Undoubtedly.”
“I believe that that this is once again redundant.”
“Yes absolutely. But it does seem like there is much potential for our cacoon. There is potential for food, clothing, multiplicities of affection, and education and learning, belonging, leisure, creativity, introverted spaces and identity. But I do believe this list is moreover vague and needs more clarification if we are to determine proposals for our location. If we were to take this list and make programmes out of it, we would be here for a lifetime, as there are too many possibilities yet. Therefore, there needs to be a few factors that are important and controlling of what we create. We need parameters. And I believe I have some that have risen through our conversations.”
“Hence do you believe religion could also be a part of our site?”
“The other need I remember is freedom, in which it contained equal rights and self-autonomy.”
“Well then are we not done?”