STUDIO 5.1 intimate cities Saidatul S. Shazri 13146646
table of
contents
1.0 Key Text 2.0 Text Extraction 3.0 Define Pleasure 4.0 Site Analysis 5.0 Site Conclusion 6.0 List of pleasure 7.0 Workshop 8.0 Proposition 9.0 Strategy 10.0 RSA Competition 11.0 List of Pleasure 12.0 Montage Workshop 13.0 Reference & Appendix - Competition Submission - Human Archiving 14.0 Integrated Technologies
STREET CULTURE
key TEXT
sense of time
CLOSED SYSTEM
zoning regulation
unregulated urban low-rise density
building adaptability growth & evolution social displacement
EQUILIBRIUM
closed system
limited commitment
INTEGRATION prominence rejection ruled enclosed space static
predictable legitimate RE PR reality ESENT morality likehood
PL assuring culturally legimated
comfortable culturally sanctioned
frigid
operation
discipline
OPEN CITY
INCOMPLETE FORM
DEMOCRATIC SPACE informal mixing connection among people strangers interaction sense of relatedness
deviousness
movable / flexible
125th STREET P. E. BIRMINGHAM
sensual
tactile
RESIDUAL SPACE VS
interval stimulator
CITY SPACE REALITY VS FALSENESS full frontage exposure
PLEASURES & INTIMACY
recessed space
democratic engagement
DEVELOPMENT NARRATIVES elements & sequences rigid in form & static in programme equilibrium & disequilibrium state capitalism & state socialism
resistance
level of excitement
mutation - social. natural, visual
R. SENNETT
conflict with cultural norms
visual attraction & variation
addition to existing
PASSAGE TERRITORIES distinction of outside & inside wall as membrane porosity & resistancy breachable
opaque void excessive VS IR FIG subversive voided centre VS fissured migratory UR JO UISS ATION dynamic open disruptive ANCE disjointed shocking disruptive
unsettle
encouragement
transform - absorb, participate, adapt
regulation
AT ION
AIS
comforting
OPEN CITY
extreme void
secrets
STRIPPED BARE
taboo
N. AGUINALDO strange & awkward
close proximity
small pockets of enclosure
thematic alleyways
loose organization extreme emptiness intriguing
unimaginable impossibility uncomfortable
the in-between intense & small openings
text EXTRACTION In defining and understanding the meaning of pleasures and intimacy, three key texts were given in introducing the essence. The three texts do have overlapping yet diverse views on what pleasures are therefore giving richness and variations in perception. VISUAL PENETRATION JOUISSANCE
INFORMAL MIXING
PLAISIR 125th street: Refiguring the feminine in the city by Peg Elizabeth Birmingham, relating feminine embodiment by interpreting the idea of pleasure in the terms ‘plaisir’ and ‘jouissance’. Compared to bounded pleasures of ‘plaisir’, she looks at ‘jouissance’ as the climax, intriguing, perhaps even perverse elements of the city life, at the edge of condition, the boundary the ‘disruptive edge of the feminine’. Activating the figurative jouissance is, as she explains, what will re-animate the city again.
OBJECT
FORCED INTERACTION
Open City by Richard Sennett describes the cherished cities as clean, safe and secured life elements whereas all the unregulated life was get rid of the visual norms, making the true meaning of the city lose its essence and sense of time. He explained how the adaptability of modern buildings are becoming more challenging due to mountain of rules. The concept of Open City allow natural, social, and visual form mutation. He also discussed about the porosity and resistancy of walls; recessed space as a stimulant for democratic ENGAGEMENT; exploration and INTERACTION among organisms with different functions; and relatedness of strangers in informal mixing.
HUMAN
Stripped Bare, an anti-globalisation study into the ‘real’ city, express concern that modernity has detached us from genuine spatial experiences. She categorized the normal hectic cityscape as city while the services, back and hidden area of the city as the leftover and residual spaces. The intimacy of her proposals are designed to ‘push the envelope of social interaction’ and she uses the alleyway as a medium for development. The objective is to find SPACE for the individual within the city through a discovery and exploration of existing programs, inter-relationships between them and possibilities for architectural intervention and unimaginable impossibilities.
human object space
SPACE
object
activities
space TRANSFORMABLE SPACE
human
VARIATION OF SCALE
FRONT - BACK SPACE
Through the key texts, I’ve found that objects, spaces and human are correlate in creating a vigorous environment. Legitimate adaptation within the space could affect human activities especially in term of intimacy and pleasure thorugh introduction of new urban spatial experience. Based on ‘structuration’ method by Linda Donley-Reid, my friends and I had decided to analyse the site based on human-object, object-space, and human-space relationship. From there, we are to find range of pleasant activities which can lead to possible potential programmes.
define PLEASURE
happiness ecstacy enjoyment entertainment exercise hygiene eating
art dancing music BOOTLE STREET AXIS
pleasure
accomplishment curiosity adventure
Issue of intimacy and pleasure are to be explored within the city context. Different demographic position diversify on people perception towards what pleasure means to them. By listing pleasurable places and supported by site analysis of the two proposed axis, potential programmes are to be determined.
solitude
Central library Cafe Hotel Tram station Pub Church Eateries Grocery shop Bakery Theatres Flower shop Stationery shop Outdoor clothing Cinema Art gallery Convention complex Police station Friend meeting house Bicycle shop Museum
BRIDGE STREET AXIS Cafe Lawn Bank Court Grocery shop Bar Library Bakery Eateries Town hall Church Charity shop Bookshop Urban residential Tanning shop Travel agency Tailor Newsagent Gym Boutique Betting shop
Manchester City site location
Eleven thousand people live in Manchester City Center permanently. Thousands of tourists enter the city every year, whereby the population almost doubles every day simply because of tourists. There is obviously a huge market for tourism, and this is apparent almost everywhere along the main arterial routes through the city. It is not until you step away from the mainstream and visit areas where the unregulated live, that the true beauty of the city emerges. It is hard to find areas that are not touched by tourism. Guido Martinotti, in the conference at the Venice Biennale 2010, remarked that ‘tourists never really see the city’ referring to the superficial experienced, saw and went inside it. But this is not the case. To really experience something it must be touched, seen, entered, exited, traversed, climbed, smelt and heard. Its physical form is not the only trace of its history, there are layers of the city that are not discoverable at first glance, and time must be spent there to truly understand it.
city layout
Manchester is a traversable city, clearly due to the completely different infrastructure. The city center is still relatively impermeable as a free, situationist thinker – strong boundary condition exists between areas of the city, there is little permeation between zones and social groups. The alleys of Manchester are its arteries, directing the flow of people around the city and channelling their movement. These ‘avenues’ of movement lead you round the city on an apparent tour and continually open up into squares and public spaces full of vendors and shops.
building blocks
vegetation
The diagram (right) shows the ‘elements’ that forms the city from the building blocks to the streets which acts as arteries to the cities, supplying economies into the heart of the city. river
streets
human - object - space ARCHIVING
Every space has different requirements of scale and proportion. Provision of objects in term of quantity and size within the space influence proximity of human interaction and activities in the space,hence human preferences and pleasures are affected in term of intimacy. Although the scale of spaces and number of objects within the spaces are similar, the configuration of the objects could create different impact on the usage of the spaces. Thus, provision of objects and scale of the spaces are correlated in contributing towards efficient usage of the space with the addition of strategic layout planning.
site conclusion
After synthesizing all the archives, I found that Bridge Street Axis have apparent differences between the Lincoln Square zones and the Spinningfield whether in term of its architectural environment or the intensity of pleasurable activities. Through all the archiving Bridge Street Axis have more intimate spaces to be explored compared to the more regulated Bootle Street Axis. Unintentional segregation of demographic activities and culture provoke an invisible boundary between Bridge Street Area ans Spinningfield. Therefore, I decided to implement my design within the Bridge Street Axis to break the barrier between both area. From here, I need to trace on human pleasures based on their preferences - social or personal, forced or will.
list of PLEASURES
We are needed to list 10 pleasurable activities for us to become the basis of our proposed programmatic activities or thematic scheme to be injected into the site. By relating the site analysis and the activities, the pleasures need to be situated within a contextual spaces. Montages were produce to give an idea on what the alleyways will be and what is the potential of the site.
montage of pleasures
1) Watching people move from high place 2) Waiting under a shelter during rain 3) Reading a book while listening to music 4) Walking under the rain with an umbrella 5) Enjoying street food 6) Enjoying music and noise of the street 7) Chatting with friends in private place 8) Smoking in back alley where people rarely use 9) Thinking under a tree with fragments of light 10) Browsing shops from outside - through it glass windows
site STRATEGY
In connecting the pleasure, I want to intertwine the nature of structured and impromptu pleasures to create a bit chaoic environment where different group of people could interact or segregated themselves towards social. To tackle that, I looked at the site as a possible exchange site where structured and impromptu will mixed and exchange idea, culture, and even social economy.
spontaneous
planned
MANCHESTER CULTURE
exchange
MALAYSIAN CULTURE EXCHANGE
social gathering personal thinking theatre
‘warung’
EXCHANGE
chatting
eating
music
energy ideas culture reading
watching
relax
wood str
eet
bridg
e stre
et
cavity within the block
Studying the block as locale, I’ve picked the characteristics of cavity within the block. I try to implement small and narrow concept in creating spaces of pleasure for personal and social. What I lack of is the scrutinization of how impromptu and structured pleasures connect with the site strategy which I’ll be exploring more to create more solid programmes relevant to the theme of exchange.
RSA COMPETITION : KEEP CALM
issue STATEMENT
We were required to design a new standing or concept to break the generic system of workspace particularly open plan office. After studying generic office plan system, we have identified issues and dis-comfortness and what are needed in office politics. From the monotony, rigidity and publicness of generic office planning, we decided to break the regularity of the generic through new system planning by injecting irregularities in typology of activities, arrangement of space, flexibility of space operation and individual preferences of workspace. In defining pleasures in workspace, workers’ needs and office activities are being listed to draw out vital spaces for the new system.
RELAX ZONE
PERSONAL WORKSPACE
SMALL MEETING AREA
MEET AREA
system CONCEPT The system was derived from an L-shaped workspace which give the semi-enclosed quality which give the pleasure of personal privacy yet allow certain social interaction penetration. Each of the workspace was tied by storage spaces which act as the spine holding and shaping the office plan. Each position of the workspace are customizable allowing different type of activities - small meeting, quick meeting, relax area, private workspace, formal meeting, war room. Level of privacy also can be cotrolled by vertical elements which as partition barrier - display, partition wall, cabinet storage. However, we had redefine our main issue due to the ambigousity of the issue that we want to tackle.
material STUDY
Due to the flexibility of the system, we studied on cardboard sheets as the possible contruction material due to its lightweight and durability. The weight of the material was one of major factor that being considered in choosing material due the transformable nature of the system. The pivotal system of the desk/ workspace also allowing a light and easy installment material to be used for the system.
redefining ISSUE
After re-analysing the office activities, we pick out the problem of dozing off at the workspace due to the distance of break out area from the workspace.
[embed] SYSTEM current situation
We decided to bring the break out area nearer, within the workspace to give rest spaces for Aworkers hence increase their productivity and social interactivity.
[Modular Generation] solid storage
work
[embed] was design to fit in any situation within the office space to create an imediate personal break out space. Other than that, expansion of office also affect the needs for storage space which also being included in the design.
rest
addition
subtract work
unplanned 'nap'
solution diminishing the distance between break out area to workspace by embedding em[bed]2
storage
storage
storage
storage
seating area
breakout
[General Office Layout]
sit situate quick
[embed] components consist of three types of configuration which were based on level of pleasure needed private, semi-private, public resulted in the production of SIT, SLEEP, STORAGE.
breakout
static
space sleep seclude private
system VARIATION SIT, SLEEP, AND STORAGE can be arranged in many variation and possibilities hence creating different quality of spaces and volume. SIT represent the public component which allow social interaction and public break out. SLEEP is more private component which hide the user from public visual and interaction during break out session. STORAGE is the passive part and become support to the SIT and SLEEP component.
material STUDY
CORK was studied as another possible construction material. DUe to its sustainability and recyclability qualities, it’s highly considered in this project. Its strength and durability also were the factor. Cork is flexible and can be produced in many form - blocks, sheets, fabrics . It can allow air to pass through its particles. It also suitable for the project due to its ‘memory foam’ characteristic which will be an added value to the SLEEP components. However, due to un-economical price value, cork was replaced which honeycomb cardboard sheets.
[Carbon Bank] lowest energy consumption and known as carbon negative [Impermeability] cork is considered impermeable yet breathable, with interconnected pockets of air
[CORK ECOLOGY]
[Design Flexibility] can be cut in numerous ways enable veneers with different aesthetics
[Give] pockets of air compress and expands, never collapsing, giving the cork resilience and memory
modular CONSTRUCTION
In achieving economical sustainability, modular system was used to fabricate the system. The components can be mass produced and install on site with ease due to its lightweight and uncomplicated assembly.
references
1) Stripped Bare by Nathalie Aguinaldo 2) 125th Street: Refiguring the Feminine in the City by Peg Elizabeth Birmingham 3) The Open City by Richard Sennett 4) Cities for People by Jan Gehl
appendix
RSA Competition Submission Human Archiving
RSA Competition Submission
Human Archiving
Integrated Technology