Site
Upon encountering an elderly gentleman, he discussed how the marina in the 1950’s was the site of many teenagers loitering, fishing and hanging out. In such a desolate and lonely site, where were these areas that teenagers would willingly choose to stay? A site survey mapping out the location of cigarette butts was undertaken in order to locate the areas of “loitering.” In an urban environment where smoking is restricted, most smokers tend to migrate towards any location where it is legal to smoke. However at Bayswater Marina, recreational smokers are in a position where they can seek out a “nice” place to enjoy their cigarette.
There is a reason smokers enjoy these areas more than others, and it is these areas that will be points of interest on the site. One thing that every area has in common is the illusion of privacy. The site is very open and exposed – your average smoker prefers to smoke in a place unobserved. Of the areas surveyed, the most common characteristic is that they face out into the body of water, with a stunning view of the Auckland CBD and beyond, whilst having something solid, be it a wall or tree shielding the smoker from the public.
The setup of a view to the harbour and a barrier against the rest of the site is a fascinating model. Even though the site itself is large, this model creates a feeling of intimacy and calm, the illusion of isolation.
There is only you and the far reaching view to the other side of the harbour. It is a pocket of space where you can begin to relax and appreciate the site. This physical set up is appreciated by smokers (as seen in the mapping), but also rings true for most everyday people visiting the site.
Oneoneroa
We are not addressing whether smoking is right or wrong, we are using information from the movements of smokers on site – as they are the few using the site in a nontransitional way - to inform how we should design Bayswater marina for all visitors to pause and thus appreciate the site. A recreational smoker will look for a place where they can pause and suspend time.
Matarae
Nga Awarua
Public space Private space
These pockets of space on the site are still, isolated and most importantly private, allowing the user to sit at their leisure for any amount of time. These pockets of space create a clear distinction between what is public and what is private.
The site currently is desolate, a transitory space that does not invite visitors to stay. It is a means to an end to most and nothing more, despite its unique position in the Auckland isthmus. Since the site is very transitory, with people using it as a means to an end and a thoroughfare, it is vital to create a pause. Without the pause - the moment of time suspended where the user can stop and appreciate the beautiful surroundings of the Auckland Isthmus - there can be no true appreciation of this unique site and thus no other design can proceed.
10 second drawings of your impression of the site, Fast, initial sketches that are an image equivalent of a bullet point. In this way, all small details and points of interest can be distilled into their primary form or idea, no added ornament, just what you see as it truely is. Once sketching 30 different aspects of site, it became obvious that on a minute scale the site shows a conflict between nature and manmade devices. The metalwork and wharf structure are in direct opposition to the barnicles growing over the edges of the site.
Reclamation, from the French reclamation or Latin reclamatio, from reclamare, means to get back (something that was lost or taken away) or to make land available for use by changing its condition. The site of Bayswater features a plethora of reclamation in many shapes and forms. The physical site itself is reclaimed, being constructed using volcanic rock from surrounding areas. The name Bayswater itself has the potential to be reclaimed and renamed to its original Maori name, Matarae, the headland. On a smaller scale, nature can be seen passively reclaiming its role as the original inhabitant on site.
The moves are slow – moss growing along the footpath, a passive and subtle reclamation on site. Others, whilst still being slow moving are more violent in behaviour – rust is literally eating away the metal work on site, laying siege and changing the very condition of these manmade objects to weaken them – assert the dominance of nature’s reclamation. Fungus is crawling along the weatherboard of the original buildings on site, rendering them dirty and undesirable.
Manmade objects are not reclaiming nature so much as they are destroying it, there is nothing for the sleek yacht to get back from nature. Can the manmade take back from nature without destroying it? Can a weathered oyster shell become a luxury yacht? In the skirmish between manmade object and natural erosion there is a moment when these two forces are at equilibrium. In this moment we will pause and observe – is this still a passive reclamation or does it have the potential to be a power and force to change the entire condition of the site?
In the midst of this unrelenting erosion of the marine environment and need for isolated space, we must create shelter. The condition of the site must be changed to one of safety, comfort and enjoyment, by taking advantage of the binary of public and private space we can create a safe harbour. Utilizing the aforementioned model of the illusion of privacy – facing out to sea whilst protected on all sides will allow a shelter not only physical but emotional and mental. This shelter will be a pause in the life of the visitor to Bayswater marina and a pause in the reclamation skirmish between manmade and nature uniquely observed on site.
Sheltered zones