WEEK 06 - Individual Project One Statement

 

The flow of people moving to the city has been common for many centuries, however the rate in which we are currently doing it has made urbanisation one of the most visible forces on earth. In 2008 we observed the first year that over 50% of the worlds population resided in urban areas. By the year 2050 we will observe a shifting of the guard where humans finally begin to recognise that our current way of living is unsustainable and a more fulfilling life can be achieved through the ability to share.

 

 This day of awakening sees the break down of society to its simplest form free from the financial burdens that are placed on us today. People around the world begin to understand that we are all here with a common goal, which is to live a fulfilling life full of new and exciting experiences. At this point everyone’s attitudes shift from the current capitalist society view, which predominantly aims to ensure the financial security of individuals, to one where everyone works together for the enrichment of human existence.

 

The basic principle of sharing is one of the first things our parents try to teach us, yet when it comes to being an adult many of us have lost this skill. The development at Woodfordia will provide an exemplar community for the rest of the world, where a large community can exist in a self-sustaining manner totally removed from public utilities (off the grid) where people share all available resources to achieve an equality of life.

 

The woodford Folk Festival will become a celebration of this community and the effect it has on the rest of the world. 

WEEK 06 - Interim Presentation

WEEK 05 - Architectural Possibilities

 

 

 

Plan: Showing basic outline of the structure.

 

 

Plan: With the addition of the cropping and recreational spaces wrapped over the top of the super structure of the building.

 

Perspective View of the Structure

Perspective showing the way the structure pulls occupants into the center core, this area will be made up of market and meeting places for the community.

WEEK 05 - Blur Building

 

 

 

Blur Building - Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R)

Image available a http://www.flickr.com/photos/risknfun/1418868831/

This weeks reading, "Architecture as a Dissident Practice An Interview with Diller Scofidio + Renfro" was particularly relevant to the 'what if' method of think required of the future scenario theme. A building that fails in every traditional sense of a building, it lacks permanency and protection, yet it has an ability to alter your perception of space and containment through the artificial creation of permanency through water.


Kazi, O., 2009. Architecture as a Dissident Practice: An Interview with Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Architectural Design, 79(1), pp.56–59.

WEEK 05 - Panel Images and Inspiration

HOLM ARCHITECTURAL OFFICE (HOA)

A recent competition entry  for the Pulsen Community Center in Balling, Denmark. The proposal was for community center that combined many fitness services in a single location. The design proposal focused on a central orientated design that has many similarities with what we are trying to achieve through our design. 

A central meeting and gathering space. Our design centers itself around the central meeting spaces everything feeds in and out of this space and is the heart and soul of the development.

The central meeting space is also a highly flexible space the facilitates many uses such as food produce markets, large community function, informal restaurants where people share their cooking skills.

Sporting Facilities, which we can relate to our project for the fitness and sport benefits. Playing sports places individuals in a more relaxed environment were Strong connections and bonds are formed. The team environment achieved in sport is the mindset that if achieved for the community would be very powerful.

What if the community felt as if they were a team working towards a common goal???

This image reminded me of the northern elevation of our petal shapes structure, with a grass / vegetable crop face. These areas would be used for recreational place, where people could be as active or inactive as they like.

These Images and further details can be found at the link below

http://www.archdaily.com/148501/pulsen-community-center-competition-entry-hao-with-niklas-thormark-will-kempler-and-tobias-lindqvist-ottosson/

Communal food halls will be a thing of the future with increasing pressures for human civilisation to reduces its footprint on the earth. These areas will not be viewed as something that people do not want in the future. These spaces give people in the community an opportunity to communicate and built supportive relationships to increase occupants place attachment.

http://ineffectualeffigy.blogspot.com.au/2010/10/may-i-be-obsessed-with-cafeteria-design.html#!/2010/10/may-i-be-obsessed-with-cafeteria-design.html

Large communities such as the one we are proposing will exist in a manor where money is not the individuals but the communities, although this sounds bad all it takes is a shift in individuals perspective. For people to move from a capitalist society to one that works together for the improvement of the larger group will take a couple of decades, however it is a necessary step in the long term viability and sustainability for the planet. This will allow for a larger pool of capital to invest in future development and technology. That will see the humans day to day roles change. Robotic technology human life change to a more relaxed pace, with fruit and vegetables being completely managed by automated robots.

http://www.thenewecologist.com/2010/08/green-cities-of-the-future-the-principles-and-the-facts/

Streets in the future will have a different appearance in the future, in a community such as the one we are proposing, bicycles will have right of way over cars and the need for cars will dramatically decrease as all of the amenities you require are located within your community. In the future the only time people will use cars will be to travel to other parts of the country.

http://www.glhowe.com/weblocate/GreenCitybytheBay.jpeg

http://www.specialtycinema.com/bean-bag-cinema-seating

Both of these images depict the future scenario, where individual families no longer have T.V. due to the increasing volume of waste created by out dated T.Vs. The community will have large cinema facilities where large groups of people will gather to watch their favourite shows.

http://blog.quickflix.com.au/2010/12/15/outdoor-cinema-and-you-a-guide/

WEEK 04 - Panel Planning

Here is the base template, which was the starting point for alll of our panels.

 

 

 

 

The Sketch below shows the planning we discussed during our tutorial to ensure we finished with four visually consistent panels that connect to each other.

 

 

WEEK 04 - Woodfordia Precincts

WEEK 04 - Sketch Design

The begining of the design has strated to take place in my mind following the creation of this quick massing sketch. The intention is to create a form that  provide maximum surface area exposed to the sun for the purpose of crop production. With all spaces directed back towards the center of the structure.

WEEK 04 - People and Lifestyle

 

This week began with a few diagrams to map out future possibilities for the people of Woodfordia. below is a diagram that depicts the possibility of a sharing model where the current example shows and individual house with a car and a shed with its own tools that sit there for week or months without anyone using them. These resources could be used more regularly if the system allowed for others to borrow them. The solution to this is the future scenario where multiple household share their resources such as one car or shed for a set number of households.

 

Images showing natural light and ventilation for the structure with cropping areas on the roof, top image depicts the priority given to more sustainable modes of transport such as bikes and walking, while the car only received a single lane. 

 

 

 

 Time line, which is the commencement of stepping out our time scale for this project. Moving through the time line from rural living to mass urbanisation resulting in concrete jungles and the people realising that this is no longer the way they want to leave and moving towards a self sustaining way of living based on sharing resources.

 

 

 

 

This diagram is attempting to depict the dispersion of culture through a multi cultural society. Where the cross circles and square represent different cultures. The discussions surrounds weather or not it is a good thing to have separate cultures or if more harmony could be achieved by the dispersion of cultures.

 

Questions from the tutorial were why to some cultures stay true and string to their beliefs while others are far more relaxed in the way they approach culture? 

 

 

 

 

Sketches of potential basic form of the community. Playing around with the potential of the building becoming a natural land form type shape that is utilised as recreational space, possible stage areas for the festival and areas to grow fruit / vegetables. Possible scenario would be to grow vegetables throughout the year harvest prior to the festival and then use the spaces for the festival.  

 

 

 

 

Very quick sketches getting some ideas down on paper.

Lower left image: Is working through an idea where people living in this community may no longer own tv, instead there a multiple large format screens (like a cinema) that play television and become a living room for the community as appose to a living room for a single family.

Right hand image: Is showing a similar thing where individual dwellings come together to form one structure, in these situations some of the living spaces become common to multiple sets of people.

 

WEEK 03 - Shearing Layers

Brand (1997) in his Chapter Shearing Layers defines six S's that relate directly to the time and scale of a building. These 6 S's are:

SITE: The geographical setting, the urban location and the length defined lot, whose boundaries and context outlast generations of ephemeral buildings. "Site is eternal"

STRUCTURE; The foundation and load-bearing elements are perilous and expensive to change, so people don't. These are the buildings. Structural life ranges from 30 to 300 years.

SKIN: Exterior surfaces now change every 20 years or so, to keep up with the fashion or technology, or for wholesale repair. Recent focus on energy costs has led to re-engineered skin that are air tight and better insulated.

SERVICE: These are the working parts of the building - communications, wiring, electrical wiring, plumbing, sprinkler system, HVAC, and moving parts. They wear out or obsolesce every 7 to 15 years.

SPACE PLAN: The interior layout - where walls, ceiling floors and  doors go. Changes to these spaces occur approx. every 3 years in commercial and up to 30 in residential environments.

STUFF: Chairs, desks, phones, pictures, kitchen appliances, lamps ect. These items that change daily to monthly.

 This concept in relation to design to me is very important, when i build things around my own home I am very wary of creating long term issues through quick or spare of the moment fixes. Designers need to be acutely aware of the long term, whole of life design implications that they create when designing for the now. Brand (1997) highlights "As a designer you avoid such classic mistakes as solving a five-minute problem with a fifty-year solution, or vise versa". In my experience in the industry this is a key issue often the most important long term items are hidden within the building and have less time dedicated to them then the glossy, short life finishes that everyone sees. 

 Brand also makes comparisons between architecture and natural ecosystems, in particular observing rates of change of different components within a ecosystem. When viewed with respect to rate of change and in conjunction with the 6 S's a building is very much like an ecosystem, all be it man made.


Brand, S., 1997. Shearing Layers, in How buildings learn : what happens after they’re built, London: Phoenix Illustrated. pp12-23

WEEK 03 - Sustainable Future

This week we investigated patterns and the way they can influence urban form. We came up with a model for a new city, which was inspired by the flower of life. (see below)

The flower is a symbol of thriving life, a plant only flowers when it is healthy enough to do so. With this in mind we would like to think of this model as a community that will thrive in its own right.

The flower shape allows for effective and efficient resource production and also consumption, providing a closed look system that impinges the values of sustainability and self-sufficiency.  

Flower of Life

WEEK 02 - Urban Form and Locality

In Barton's work Urban Form and Locality he raises an interesting topic of debate regarding dispersal versus concentration. This subject I find particularly interesting as both sides of the equation have varying pros and cons. Barton (2000) highlights that at one end of the scale you have dispersal of people moving into hamlets and villages, while others a continue to increase the concentration of individuals in dominant cities.

The Dispersal solution to urbanisation is one which on face value may seem like the most effective and sustainable way to ensure the longevity of the planet, however this type of living often eventuates in people travelling long distances to work and has an increasing effect on urban sprawl. This in turn place higher needs on infrastructure and also places higher pressure on natural ecosystems due to its effect on green field site. The positives to this type of model often comes back to the individuals that reside in such places, they are often more environmentally aware and make a conceded effort to live in a more sustainable way.

Concentration on the other hand is less damaging to the environment, in respect to its overall footprint. However with the densification and urbanisation of areas large amounts of pressure are placed on all of the infrastructure and resources in a localised area which can lead to the deification of an entire ecosystem.

Barton, H., 2000. Urban form and locality. In H. Barton, ed. Sustainable communities: the potential for eco-neighbourhoods. London: Earthscan, pp. 105-122.

Week 02 - Idea Development

Rural Self Sustainability is something of the past; however an increasing interest in the Environment at large is seeing more and more city inhabitants moving to rural areas for a slower paced life. This in the future could see the reestablishment of Self Sustainable Communities where individuals live in a more cooperative way for the bedament of human existence.

Often these regional areas have a community base that provides a support network you may not have in a large city. Jacobson notes for centuries, people have thrived in communities, as living with people with whom you have something in common provides security, quality of life, and emotional connection. Over the last 100 years, these needs have largely been met by corporations that vastly improved our wellbeing and increased our knowledge.

Currently for many people these needs provided by corporations are not being met and people are looking for new ways to make the most of their lives, without being tied to an employer.

Jacobson, R. (2009). Sustainable communities. Leadership Excellence, 26(5), 17-17.