5.23.2012

So a bit of reflection..... Today's lecture was mainly on the assignment and how to respond to the criteria ... Now I had a bit of a sudden realization within this lecture.

I took the mapping I had done earlier to develop my form and in some ways  I feel that this may not have been the best reaction to the overall concept of the site I am trying to convey. Really all the mapping gave me was a place in which I can develop the form and structural intent of this building not the actual form itself, (which in a broad sense was a simple extraction and deformation). Now this form created only a sense of the solid and seemed to lose the transparent/temporal elements, which we so actively chased in our folie and are the instinctive elements when one thinks of a memory driven concept.. I feel now I need to express this idea of solid vs void in a much more dramatic way to create this somewhat ethereal temporality.

5.22.2012

So from here I think it is a vital point to reflect on my current position and define what I am intending to do within this site.

Currently I have a form and some direction of where I want to go yet I still feel it does not respond perfectly to he overall integration of memories from within the site. Howard Smith Wharves is a sensitive area where many people have strong memories which will limit any commercial integration into the area. It would be necessary to look at ways of intergrating commercial, public and private amenities into the site using sensitive design. Recently I saw a lecture at the 2012 National Arch. Conference by Rachel Neeson. She talked about one her recent projects, Prince Alfred Park and Public Pool.


Prince Alfred park is located in central Sydney, therefore it was important to maintain the vital green landscape present in the site. This use of folding plates creates an integrated system that is unobtrusive to the overall rolling landscape. 

What Neeson creates with her project is an "unobtrusive public interaction within a very sensitive site". 

So I use this project as an exemplar for ways to understand how we can still enhance a persons experience within a site where intrusive objects are greatly disregarded by the public (as seen in the canned development for a hotel within the area http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/wharves-decision-awash-with-politics-quirk-20110803-1ib7w.html). 

What I feel is necessary for this site is to incorporate an idea of Hedonistic Sustainability, as Bjarke Ingels refers to it, to enhance the interaction of the people without destroying the purist elements of the site.

So what next then? I feel it is now important for m own development to outlay a set of rules in which I can incorporate throughout my project.

  • The idea must enhance the sites uses
  • The idea must not destroy any previous historical elements.
  • The idea must enhance the users memories, whether personal or site-specific
  • The idea must be unobtrusive.
  • The idea must be a place to develop ideas.


5.07.2012

From here I really want to look at how I can incorporate the integration of the other senses into overall building to enhance the user experience and to create new memories as heightening the old ones.

One Technology i want to look into is the use of sound.

Tom Hall does this well in his video on the Storey Bridge which all the sound is sampled from the Bridge itself.
http://www.tomhall.com.au/Videos/Chassis.mov

He manages to create an ethereal feel completely via the use of sound and simple video, there may be potential here to create a facade which creates a similar sound without taking away from the overall feel of the building.

The other direction I still need to explore is the use of light as it was so prominent in our original folie idea. This video of the valobar tracks an object once it touches, to create something like this which tracks a user though a space and gradually fades over time would be an excellent example of memories being created and fading within the space .


5.06.2012

At this point I want to start further developing my form, so I looked into how memories can alter in object in 3d space not only a users direction of travel.
Below are some the alterations to form which were the result of this thinking.

The first shows how the space allows users to walk up onto the building to bring them closer to the cliffs.

The second image below shows how the form upwards towards the Storey Bridge much like a users attention would when walking through the site.

Below s an image showing the progress of the form so far, more work needs to be done though especially with the progression of the types of differing technologies which would heighten the users experience within the space. I've outlined each area which I would like to progress further on the image below.


At this point though it started to become a bit more difficult to create a building which is entirely experienced in 3 dimensions on a singular plan level, therefore modelling tools were used to extrapolate the key ideas into the generation of form.

General Mass Making was used next to create key forms which could be used within the area to maximize the use space while still maintaining key paths of travel throughout the site.

The next step was to start looking at the space available and locate the areas which would  the most beneficial for each room/space depending on its inter-connectivity levels.
What follows is a general layout of areas spread across the 3 levels.


The next step was to look into the paths in which a user would travel once in this site due to the memories present. It should be noted that a constant memory would draw a user more gradually where as an intimate one would draw the user more dramatically.

Above is the result of these paths. These paths can then be defined as primary, secondary or tertiary paths depending on the amount of users that would use each path. To take further thought it would be essential to break down this area into specific zones. This allows us to start to understand the best use of each specific space depending on the historically sensitive memories already present within the site.


With specific areas defined it starts to layout the planning/footprint of the areas potential for further development. For example the creation of commercial space and an integration between the public and private sectors.

To further understand this idea of creating form from memories I began looking at digital tools for diagramming.

Above is what resulted you can see how there are 2 different types of memories within the site.
A while ago we were asked to find an artifact/totem much like they did in Inception. I hadn't chosen one until after doing this diagramming as I really couldn't find an object that would really help me bring all my ideas back to ground zero. I eventually took a a different perspective on the idea of choosing an actual object. I found the idea while listening to some old music I had.  It brought a new pesrpective on memories as they are something which can be evoked by not only sight but also all the other senses especially sound. I've attached a short video showing the song I chose as an "artifact" as well as the memories it evokes.


5.04.2012

What this led to next was looking at how these memories talked about in the previous assignment can be incorporated into a much larger area. The location chosen as there is much more importance based on the amount of memories present in the area. The new site location is pictured below.


To fully understand this change it was needed to be seen graphically via the use of mapping techniques, I started to overlay different areas to the site which would evoke different memories.

What I noticed is that at nearly all points there were memories influencing peoples decisions and movement throughout the space. What I then wanted to achieve was to understand how the users of the site would be affected and what are the possible paths that they would take. This is the result.

One of the main things our found with this exercise is that there seems to be kinds of memories within the site,
-Constant Memories
-Intimate Memories
Constant memories seem to pull people gradually as they would always be in the back of the inhabitants mind, for example the flooding of the river, and the story bridge. 
Intimate Memories on the other hand would pull a user more dramatically as due to their size they are not recognized until the user is within a certain range. The bunkers are a great example of these.

At this point though I started to become stuck for the next way to develop this idea, an attempt was made to create a 3-dimensional object to gain a better understanding.


This attempt was pretty much a failure... One thing I did get out of it though is that the memories of certain areas will pull in 3-dimensional as well as time therefore it may be used in form-finding at a later date.
After Using Processing for a small amount of time I was able to create a graphical representation as seen above. There were limitations though as it was a very steep learning curve as I had never used a coding program before. Overall though it did help me to start understanding the possibilities of diagramming out such a conceptual idea such as memories.

Attached below is a diagram showing the postcard and the parameters at work within the image.

What this image shows is that although the ideas are very conceptual in a sense it is still possible to create graphical representations of these ideas.