SAM
S T A L K E R
77065051
L E I S U R E C I T Y
AD2.2
Layering Newcastle is layered with a great depth of history. Since the initial settlement by Roman conquest waves of societies have imposed themselves onto the fabric of the city, from the dominant bridge and road structures to the exploitation of the local trade and resource; wool, shipbuilding, coal. In order to gain an understanding of what gives a place its definition, a starting point of looking back to the origins of the city has been used by studying maps through a chronological order. With this an idea as to priorities the city has been subjected to was intended to be highlighted.
1600 Location Newcastle is located in the North East region of England, just below the border with Scotland. The area of Quayside that is to be looked at with particular interest in this project sits just south-east of the city centre.
1723
North East England
The History The earliest map that was able to be gathered was dated at 1600. From here onwards, maps were collated at regular intervals to the most recent version of Google Maps which was used dated at 2010.
1808
Newcastle
Quayside
1840
1890
1940
1970
2010
Built Forms From forming figure-ground drawings of each map it allows for particular points of interest to be gathered and analysed in isolation. In this instance the built forms have been picked out and overlaid on top of one another to highlight the dominant forms which have persisted through time. By slightly increasing the transparency with each layer, it allows for the areas which have remained the same across the maps stand out as they will be of a whiter tone, prevalent around the centre where the city was first settled. The area that starts to bring interest is the area just outside of the bright white centre where development has had a degree of movement to it. Grey areas become apparent which is the result of the forms only occurring on one or two of the maps, meaning it will have only been around for a decade or so. As well as this the darkest areas show the areas which have avoided development, which near the centre tend to be small irregular shapes bounded by an array of separate development.
Transport Routes An alternate piece of information which can be extracted from the maps along with the built forms is the transport routes that have merged over time. As with the previous diagram the brightest routes represent the roads with the most established lifespan, evident with the main routes of the town centre. Again with this diagram the grey highlights the routes which have either been made in the last decade or so or have been and gone across a short period of time. A contrast can be seen across these grey and white routes with the grey juxtaposing the grid and main direction of the initial settlement layout put in place. This change in direction shows that an outside set of factors dictate the development of the roads, and that priority is given to the direction needed over pertaining to the city’s traditional grid layout.
The Loss of the Performance Newcastle has a strong presence of the performing arts within and surrounding the centre. However due to the national cuts which are currently being undergone the Arts Council England (ACE) funding that each of the studios has been reliant on receiving has come to an end. The shift means that despite this affluence of art remaining the resources and service that allows the medium to survive has been gravely wounded, meaning that at alternate approach is to be realised in order for the show to go on.
The Cuts Alongside the various spots of Newcastle that have been at the brunt of the funding cuts, Newcastle’s most prestigious beacon of performing arts, Theatre Royal, has to undergo refurbishment work. This therefore means that it will be closed to the general public and results in another closed door onto Newcastle’s stage set.
Sightlines Initiative
Early years charity for creative education Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £32334 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £30103 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Intercultural Arts
Agency for culturally diverse arts Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £39800 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £37054 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Arcadea
Agency for art, culture and disability equality Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £74475 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £69336 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Theatre Royal Newcastle
National Theatre based in Newcastle Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £46805 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £43575 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Flambard Press Limited
Isis Arts Limited
Small independant press
Visual and media arts organisation
Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £21556 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £20068 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £77892 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £72517 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Design & Made Limited
Audiences North East Limited
Designer studios
Agency aimed at generating audiences to the area
Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £54725 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £50949 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £119400 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £111161 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Side Gallery
Photography gallery Total ACE funding in 2010 - 2011: £62511 Total ACE funding in 2011 - 2012: £58198 Total ACE funding in 2012 - 2013: £0
Total funding cut to the area: £492961
Travelling Theatre, Quayside There are a few last remaining pockets of air lying between the borders of different generations of developments in Newcastle representing the threshold the city is reaching. They display an honest depiction of history, where Victorian roads have been able to charge through at height alongside the mass overspill of storage for the transportation that dominates them. It’s these impressions that are a true stage for Newcastle; they represent ‘who’ the city is. The performing arts of Newcastle are currently having to respond to a blow to one of its main resources; Arts Council England Funding. During this distress the beacon of culture and performing arts will mingle its way through the streets and crevices of Newcastle’s subdued quarter, the inner area to Quayside, anchoring a presence to what is typically regarded as overlooked ground.
The book has been used here to represent the idea of a story embedding itself amongst the city.
Timeline of the Performance The story and theatrics will have to engage with the cityscape itself, imprinting a memory onto locations and scenes in the forefront of the spectators’ minds. This nostalgia to place allows for the people who engaged with the experience to re-evaluate the location and it instils a new emotion and feeling towards the setting.
In search of Newcastle’s Stage . . . The crevices identified through the historic maps, the spaces bounded by several layers of history, act as an imprint as to the moments in time Newcastle has gone through. This drama of the city can form the back drop of the stage set to the theatre.
#1
To take a starting point, a joint between Quayside front hangs an overspill of circulation and hold a tension between the two structures which bound.
#2
The underbelly of the Tyne bridge imposes itself on the city scape with unruly authority and leaves awkward junctions below its path.
#3
In turn with the nature of the bridges presence, the lay of the land makes itself known through the dramatic increase in level felt into the city. What remains are enclosed spaces at unreachable heights.
#4
Development has happened across great periods of time and is represented in the points of contact between contrasting phases, here with two houses of a different age.
#5
The Victorian highway has to work with the landscape it comes across, and as a result a retaining wall of a great height is left. This sits adjacent a car park of a much vaster height, holding the carriages of the said highway.
#6
Across the road another car park sits up against a modern day road that strides through the city; the layers of importance can be read that will of been held at the time of their commission.
#7
Of that same road the supporting structure leaves cavities that have now been cordened off due to their awkward form and unuseability.
#8
The overpass that leads into the city comes across a closed office block, now providing shelter for a homeless lady. Across, hanging over the large open space, is the citys radio and media centre, buzzing with life and connectivity.
#9
As with the initial starting point, a joint is opened between two structures which lay along the bounding run of buildings that hold the city centre.
Identified Spaces These sites with their unique character and individual personality will become the starting destinations for the travelling structure to perform at. The physical parameters of each need to be fully understood to allow for a system to be developed that will have the ability to fully engage with each one of them.
From modelling the volumes of space present at each site, a stronger understanding of the bounding edges and physical make-up of each can be obtained.
Structural System In beginning the development of a working system for the Travelling Theatre it is important to establish strong principles that need to be addressed from the outset. In this instance the main priorities are ensuring that the structure can easily be moved from A to B as and when necessary and that on arrival a level of engagement with the surrounding elements can be achieved.
A box of tools . . . The idea explored here was the intergration of a static element that would be embedded in the landscape, shown here with the squared cluster of drill holes that would be a permanent fixing in the landscape where by a set of component would be able to arrive and attach themselves a required.
. . . or the toolbox itself An alternate method of transport would be for a change in the structure to occur, from a ‘packed/transportable’ state to an ‘erected/static’ structure. The model here shows how the necessities of a theatre, such as the audience seating, could be dragged up to the top of a simple frame, condensing it ready for transport.
Simple Mechanics As the theatre is acting in response to the cuts which are sweeping the Nation, the concept of the structure being its own being, which can arrive to a site, construct itself and impose on the area, with out the need of a construction team, is a much purer way of expressing its reason and purpose. All that would be needed is the performers themselves. Therefore carrying forward the idea of a state-changing structure, I began to model with small scale kinetic structures, exploring possible ways of manipulating a form.
Change in Direction #1
Change in Direction #2
Rising Vertically #1
Rising Vertically #2
Rising Vertically #3
Opening Envelope #1
Shaped to Fit After going through a process of trial and error I began to shape the models to acheive the spacial requirements that were essential to the theatre. The final model at this level of detail (shown above) managed to change from a flat structure to a fully risen structure with a single motion path, with the risen state accomadating for the spacial requirements needed.
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Performance Space
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Audience Space
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Preparation Space
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2 4 Services
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Box Office
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#1 Arrival The truck and trailer arrives to its site to be moved and positioned to a decent spot.
#2 Erection The main axel then contracts with the power from the generators which are housed along the spine of the trailer, causing the structure to unfold itself.
#3
Made Stable
Once fully upright feet are lowered to stablise the newly realised theatre.
#4
Plugged in
For the theatre to become operational it has to be connected to its lifes source, the car battery, powering the sound and lighting.
#5 Populated With its presence firmly established it’s now time for the people of the city to arrive with much curiousity and anticipation.
#6 Performance The performers execute their art, delving themselves and the audience into a landscape far from the traditional stages of theatre.
1:20 Structural Model showing the state change from closed to open
1:20 Structural Model - Closed State
1:20 Structural Model - Open State
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Ground Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
1 Ticket Office 2 Access Ladder 3 Dressing Room/ Make-Up Area 4 Stairs
2 Access Ladder 4 Stairs 5 Audience Seating 6 Private Storage
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Access Ladder Lighting Area
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Long Section 1 Access Ladder 2 Dressing Room / Make-Up Area 3 Stairs 4 Audience Space 5 Private Store 6 Lighting Area
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#2
The underbelly of the Tyne bridge imposes itself on the city scape with unruly authority and leaves awkward junctions below its path.
#4
Development has happened across great periods of time and is represented in the points of contact between contrasting phases, here with two houses of a different age.
#9
As with the initial starting point, a joint is opened between two structures which lay along the bounding run of buildings that hold the city centre.