Smethwick Community Factory

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