SMETHWICK COMMUNITY FACTORY THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY
TOM COOPER-COCKS M.ARCH 2015
S e arch in g for ide n tity in 21s t ce n tu r y Smet hwi c k us i ng a v ehi c l e of Wy re oa k . T his thesis sets out to inte rrog a te the i ng red i ents of i d enti ty. J us t a s the rings of a tree act as a rec ord of i ts l i f e, thi s thes i s ex p l ores wha t the rings of a place might rev ea l . Sub s eq uentl y, i t s eek s to a d d res s how this barcode of identi ty c a n b e l oc a ted wi thi n a n a rc hi tec tura l f ra mework . T he proposal is sit ed i n Smethwi c k , a town on the outs k i rts of Birmingham that played a n i nteg ra l rol e i n the I nd us tri a l R ev ol uti on. T he area has since seen a n i nf l ux of i mmi g ra nts throug hout the 20th century and as a result the town s ta nd s a s a c ol l a g e of c ul tures , ea c h having an impact on the id enti ty of the town a s i t s ta nd s tod a y. Thi s thesis aims to propose an a rc hi tec tura l s ol uti on tha t i s rep res enta ti v e of this collective identity. U l ti ma tel y s eek i ng to s treng then the s ens e of place in the area an d to f os ter a s ens e of c ol l ec ti v e b el ong i ng . T hesis objectives w ere rea l i s ed throug h the c ons truc ti on of a n architectural vehicle; a mova b l e oa k ma c hi ne tha t a s s i s ted i n ma p p i ng the contour lines of place wi thi n the town. The ma c hi ne enc oura g ed interaction with the peop l e of Smethwi c k , who i n turn d i c ta ted the p a th b etween k ey nod a l p oi nts of p l a c e. One of the f indings f rom t hi s i nv es ti g a ti on wa s the l a c k of a c ommon destination. T here was a f ra g menta ti on wi thi n Smethwi c k ’s c ol l ec ti v e identity. T he communi ty wa s c omp os ed of d i ff erent g roup s a nd individuals each with thei r own a tl a s of p l a c e b ut l a c k i ng a uni f y i ng element. T he proposed archi tec ture s eek s to p rov i d e a d es ti na ti on tha t is shared between diff erent c ul tures . The a rc hi tec ture i s i ntend ed to manif est itself as a greenhous e of huma ni ty. A theory es ta b l i s hed b y Peter Sloterdijk, with the ‘g reenhous e’ p rov i d i ng a c l i ma te f or c ul tures to c oex i s t, c ommuni c a te a nd c ol l a b ora te.
AXONOMETRIC
MATERIAL INVESTIGATIONS
DENDROCHRONOLOGY
2014
2004
1930 - This tree began to grow
1994
1932 - Scientist’s split the atom 1939 - World War II begins
1984
1940 - Battle of Britain - Atomic bomb invented 1945 - World War II ends - Queen Elizabeth II coronated
1974
1952 - The Great Smog 1953 - Discovery of DNA
1964
1958 - LEGO invented 1961 - Construction of Berlin Wall 1963 - Assassination of JFK
1954
1969 - First man on the moon 1971 - Decimal currency introduced in the UK 1978 - First test-tube baby born 1981 - Introduction of the Personal Computer
1944
1985 - Titanic wreckage discovered 1986 - Chernobyl nuclear meltdown - Tiananmen Square massacre
1934
1989 - Fall of Berlin Wall
1934 1930
Sun Rain
- World Wide Web invented 1990 - Launch of the Hubble telescope 1991 - Collapse of Soviet Union 1995 - Channel Tunnel opened 1997 - Death of Princess Diana 1999 - Launch of Euro 2000 - Human Genome Project - Launch of Wikipedia 2001 - World Trade Centre terrorist attack 2004 - Madrid train bombings 2005 - London terrorist attack 2009 - Barrack Obama elected 2010 - Haiti Earthquake 2011 - Japanese Tsunami 2012 - London Olympics 2014 - This tree is chopped down
5
CONTOURS OF TIME AND PLACE
6
AMPLIFYING THE HIDDEN RECORD
52.387218째
-2.354775째
7
THE TOWN AS A TREE
1980
1900
1980
1960 1960
1880
1940
1940
1830 1920
1920
1770
1900
1880
1830
1770
8
RINGS OF PLACE 1770
2014
9
AXONOMETRIC
MAPPING PLACE
GENIUS LOCI-O-MATIC
11
MAPPING COMMON GROUND
12
ATLAS OF PLACE
Ankush's Smethwick
Terry's Smethwick
John's Smethwick
Sunny's Smethwick
Sab's Smethwick
13
SMETHWICK ENGINE I
14
SMETHWICK ENGINE II
15
GREENHOUSE OF HUMANITY
16
ARCHITECTURE AS A MACHINE
17
AXONOMETRIC
SITE CONTEXT
WYRE LINE
1:75 000
19
SMETHWICK
1:75 00
SITE PLAN
1:15 00
AXONOMETRIC
PROGRAMME
HETEROGENEOUS INHABITATION
23
A HOUSE FOR A COMMUNITY
24
AN ADAPTABLE TIME-BASED ARCHITECTURE
25
AXONOMETRIC
DESIGN PROPOSAL
1810
1830
1840
3600mm
3800mm
REVEALING HISTORIC LAYERS
5000mm
1900
9000mm
1920
7500mm
27
WALKWAY PERSPECTIVE
28
GREAT HALL PERSPECTIVE
29
TECHNICAL SECTION
30
SECTION I
Se c t i o n 0 1 - 1 : 1 0 0
31
SECTION II
Secti on 0 2 - 1:2 50
32
ELEVATION
E L E VA T I ON 0 1 - 1 : 2 5 0
33
EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVES
AXONOMETRIC
35
PLAN
36
WALKWAY SECTION
AXONOMETRIC Uni t: Tectonics, Form & Place Uni t Leader: Kate Darby