055 Development: Type of Construction

I was mulling over the type of construction that my form will best express the architectural intent and presence.

Strawbale Construction
Strawbale construction came up a few times as I was researching the idea on the basis of "hay" and/or "mimosa" as my concept. This website - http://www.strawbalearchitecture.com/ - gave a pretty good summary of understanding as to how the construction may suit the environment. However, at this point, I am still open to other types of construction. If I am proceeding with a SUPERSTRUCTURE form as an architectural presence, I doubt that using strawbale construction will fit into my design.

Concrete Construction
I definitely won't rule out the possibility of using the age-old popular concrete construction, as concrete is one of the most efficient material to work with. It can give my SUPERSTRUCTURE a sense of malleability and "movement" that I want to convey through my architectural presence. One of the exemplars I have blogged about before provides a very strong influence to my inclination to this method of construction - 040 Exemplar.

~ H

054 Week 9 Tutorial & Development: Sketch Idea

~ H

053 Week 9 Tutorial: Concept Form & Context

~ H

052 Development: Textures of Southern Downs

(sorry for the bad quality of the video. blogger seemed to have greatly compressed it.)

The three of us (Alice, Lara & myself), organised a drive out of Brisbane city to check out the rural parts of Southeast Queensland. We ended up going towards the Southwest (check out the map below), bypassing Ipswich and Logan as well as the Scenic Rim, to get to the Southern Downs Region. Notice the environment and textures that came out of this drive. It’s just dry, dry Australia…

Copyrights of video
All content of video belongs to Hana.
Background music is Colbie Calliat's Brighter than the Sun

~ H

051 Development: Structure

I want a structure that can move either in its entirety, or parts & components of it "left behind". What if, instead of creating a presence on the peri-urban areas, as have mentioned in entry 048, I create that presence on a lake, pond, river or coastal shores? Can there be a move-able (mobile) "form" that docks into a permanent structure? I'm thinking... ships. 
OR.
Something that opens up, or closes like a flower... mimosa.

~ H

050 Development: Conceptual Study Form

~ H

049 Development: Textures & Materials

Good quality hay is green and not too coarse, and includes plant heads and leaves as well as stems. This is fresh grass/alfalfa hay, newly baled. Wikipedia

Fertile agricultural land in rural areas gives inspiration to the sort of textures and materials.

~ H

048 Development: Context & Location

As a continuum development from Entry 045...


Community - "Farming & Agricultural Communities"

Preserving the rural landscape to safeguard local agricultural production for the producers (= farmers) and subsequently address economic development initiatives, provision of infrastrcture, community engagement, communication and importantly, education.

Location - "Peri-Urban Regions"

Localised urban fringes with favourable and productive agricultural land.

Social Response - "Australia Centre for Agricultural Education"
A national "activity center" in every state's urban fringe - A.C.A.E.

~ Hana

047 Week 8 Tutorial: Directions & Regurgitations

ENTRY BOOKMARKED FOR FURTHER UPDATES

[tutorial discussions to be scanned]

~ H

046 Exemplar: Peripheral Cultural Context

I  found this from reading an architecture atlas, which I can't recall the name now, the context on "peripheral culture complex" comparing Australia's architecture to Sicily's (Italy)  architecture. Architecture by Glen Murcutt for housing in Australia is another mobile interpretation of encouraging and "exciting" nature that triggers interest from students as far away as in Italy.

~ H

045 Development: Context & Environment

Ministry - "Department of Regional Australia"
An architectural presence to support the initiative of Regional Development Australia http://www.rda.gov.au.

Objective - "Managing Reputation"

A "shell" that's symbolic of Australia, creating a renewed/revitalised national branding.

A national "activity center" as a projection to the rest of the world representing what Australia stands for.
A "shell" and community "identity" for the border of country-meets-city, safeguarding Australia's finite natural resources.

Goal - "Reaching out to Australia's Isolated Communities"
A central structure of  architectural presence + mobility curated for Australians and curated by Australians.

~ H

044 Development: Superstructures & Overheads

[bookmark for sketch ideas]

043 Reading: [Personal] Architecture & Mobility

Part 1.2 Scenario - Outside the Centre, pg 95.

The fact is recognised that even in the countryside people tend to live in an urban way and that the city exercises an influence and an attraction on the territory which leads to urban centres being seen as common spaces, shared by the whole population in a broader dimension.

Part 2.1 State of the Art - Tradition and Innovation, pg 149

...the shell is the instrument that establishes new potential relations, even is sometimes only symbolically. 

Part 3.3 Application - Transport Design, Design, pg 286

...technically advanced environments are similar to residences and offices, though remaining intelligent mobile projected forms in harmony with the places that receive them and capable of communicating with each other and with central and peripheral infrastructures. 

Finizio, Gino. 2006. "Architecture and Mobility". Italy: Skira Editore.

~

This book is an exploration based on the work of research on the relationship between architecture and mobility coordinated by Gino Finizio Design Management, on behalf of Fiat Research Centre. It is the prelude to the development of a series of design proposals developed by and interdisciplinary team of designers and researchers. It encompass a series of scenarios that included studies on urban landscape and the road network, followed by a study of issues that can be solved by design through the perspective of tradition and innovation, before coming together with a few proposal of a design presence in the forms of static and dynamic architecture. A lot of the research regurgitate back and forth between the built form (architecture) and a mobile entity (car), which explained how a design can be perceived "mobile" as an outcome.

My take-way from this reading, is how architectural design can address current trends of urban growth, management and, sometimes, cultural forces in the spirit of innovative mobility thoughts. A few of my other readings centralise on the idea of boundaries, periphery and the likes. As has been said in entry 039, I think I am leaning towards the periphery of metropolitan cities of Australia as my context and location.

What this means, is that it will be a design that connects back to the governmental city of Canberra. But for a hypothetical Australian capital, I am moving towards decentralising the education of governmental connections into "friendly" sites that acts like a chameleon into the backdrop of these periphery areas.

This all sounds all over the place, chaotic almost, but I will try to sketch this out!

~ H

042 Exemplar: ACCA in Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne (ACCA), Australia, I feel embodies elements of a structure that;

1. houses a special set of "creativity" (= art) representing the culture of Australia, and

2. reflects the rustic nature of Australia's environment.

It is not exactly a piece of architecture that comes under the banner of "mobile architecture" but it being a centre of ever-changing pieces of art, it can be interpreted that the uses and users within are the "mobile" elements of this architectural design. I think even the siting of the building is apt - conveying a desert-looking persona.

Materiality is definitely a significant aspect of my mobile entity. 

CORTEN STEEL, CLAY, BLACK STONES, BLUE SKIES, BURNT GRASS, GREEN GRASS, BARREN & FERTILE SOIL, are just some materials and colours that instantly pops up.

If I could just "borrow" the analogy ingrained into ACCA, I would recreate pieces of elements to say,

"The Ministers' Step: This place celebrates the remarkable contribution

made by ministers to Australia's contemporary culture."

~ H

ps: Images are my own, and I have been inside & around this building to get a feel of it.

041 Research: Australia

In order to get a better perspective of Australia's rural regions, and isolated communities, I went to the Museum at Southbank on Wednesday afternoon, to get a brief background. I found myself being explained by a museum volunteer briefly on some aspects of Queensland's rich rural history at the 'Discover Queensland' exhibit:-

• Artesian water - blackall 
• Brisbane valley area - research
• Wivenhoe dam
• Wool industry - declining industry
• Strangler fig tree
• "Boxes on stilts" - Queenslander's timber houses

As it was only a brief background, I decided to check out for more information at the State Library of Queensland and was given some books by the librarian at the John Oxley section of the library, at level 4. Here are some brief notes:-

book: australia: an illustrated history

terra australis

maiwar - brisbane rive

walter burley griffin design of Canberra 1913

my comment: restore the faith of Australians for hope of the future

book: the federation mirror: queensland 1901-2001

federation in 1901 and queensland's history

centenary of federation program that moved to a different region of queensland each month celebrated a state of diverse and decentralised queensland

my comment: this a mobile program of events and activities, not necessarily architectural design as a motivator

my question: i think this can work for australia capital city. but what sort of architectural design can encourage a "different face" of australia that the citizens want to project on the global platform?

book: the changing face of rural australia

wambo, local govt shire in darling downs - most fertile region of QLD

"a microcosm of the changing face of rural Australia"

talks about the commitment of wambo's local farmers towards clean, disease free farming or agriculture in the face of evolving challenges that continues to be an obstacle for the locals

my question: how does this relate to the governance of Australia from the stand point of Canberra?

There were two more books which the librarian had nicely recommended to me, but I had no time to read two books of full written content. However, I will still look it up online, to see if I can get hold on some brief information in relation to the topics covered in the books;

1. book: squatter, selector and storekeeper - a history of the darling downs
2. book: a history of queensland by raymon evans

I think I have a little bit more understanding of the rural landscape of Queensland, and a general history of Australia. The long political spotlight that Queensland came under was an interesting portion, which also highlighted the much critical factor of multilevel governance that continues to exist in Australia. This "characteristic" is a bit unique to contemporary Australia coz I believe it has retained a lot of the traditional methods of planning and design since the World War I. There really is room for Australia to slowly depart itself from the "dipping" hands of this multilevel governance which has actually proven to stagnated some parts of growth for various states and regions, as this is proving to leave some of the society to fall behind within the cracks.

~ H

040 Exemplar: Registry Office of St Vicente by Duarte Caldeira

"Situated on the northwest coast of the island of Madeira, Portugal, in an extensive river valley, it is near the centre of a small coastal rural village, nestled between the region’s natural landscape, which extends towards the area where the building is located...
Instead of demolishing the existing small buildings to make room for the new one, it was decided to use some of them as part of the new building, and also keep the original staircase and lift which gives access to the car park located below...
The design program of this public services’ building is a simple one. It houses an open space office and workspace for the registrar office personnel, an archive area and a main private office, a meetings room and a reception counter for the general public."

http://www.dezeen.com/2011/08/11/registrar-office-of-st-vicente-by-duarte-caldeira/

I believe this design is a Major Addition & Alteration project that retains all of the existing small buildings. What is significant about this design, is not so much about why it was built but the context that it was sited on, and the materials that was selected for it.

Project Name – Registrar Office of St Vicente
Architect: Duarte Caldeira
Location: S.Vicente, Madeira, Portugal
Project Team: Duarte Caldeira, Filipe Clairouin, Roberto Castro
Structural Engineers: Casca Lda
Project Year: 2008
Start and Completion Dates – November 2009 / May 2011
Project Area: building 420m2, site 3360 m²
Reference URL: http://www.dezeen.com/2011/08/11/registrar-office-of-st-vicente-by-duarte-caldeira/

Buzz Words and Phrases

...instead of demolishing
...nestled between the region’s natural landscape
...for the general public

I think what's important - and will be explored - for my design of the "mobile" entity/element/etc. is keeping aspects of the selected site pretty much the way it is, on a route that accessible for both the natural and built environment, and of course, accessible enough for the general public, who are the intended users. Governmental presence, at this stage, I feel will be a slow-but-surely felt element - not immediate. Maybe. Oh, and not forgetting the MATERIALITY aspect of this "mobile" entity/element/etc.

~ H

039 Week 7 Tutorial: Directions & Regurgitations

Some ideas over discussion

As a group, Alice, Lara and myself is set upon an architectural design in the context of isolated communities in the rural landscape of Australia. Alice is possibly looking at exploring the detention centers while Lara is leaning towards exploring mining towns. I am moving in the direction of urban fringes by the end of that tutorial. The above graphic is a summary of some of the possibilities within my pre-conceptual design aspects:-

• focus area - urban fringes
• design theme/purpose - education service
• design direction - static mobility

These possibilities are not restrictive in their own terms and is definitely not limited to the basic idea of JUST urban fringes, education service or static mobility. More research, development and exemplars will explain exactly:-

• the typology of the urban fringes
• the context of educational service
• the structure & idea behind "static" mobility

~ Hana

038 Exemplar: Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

"Inspired by the orchid shape, the master-plan addresses two main themes; plants & peoeple , and plants & planet. both narratives encompass the length of the park and feature special attractions with the help of an intelligent infrastructure that even allows the cultivation of plants which would not otherwise grown in Singapore."

[reference to be updated & added]

This is a (governmental?) initiative which in my opinion shows the deep interest that the government has towards expanding the knowledge of its own citizens towards global biodiversity without having to get out of Singapore. Alternatively, I can also view this as one way to encourage the citizens to be more open to learning about the expansive climate of biodiversity that exists outside the limited shores of Singapore. This encourages Singaporeans to be more mobile by traveling out of Singapore to see for themselves natural environment that can't be found in Singapore. Holistically, I think this sets the Gardens by the Bay as an initiative on a platform acting as a catalyst into triggering interest at both a local and global context.

Impression of Architectural Design by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
http://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/projects/singapore-gardens-by-the-bay.aspx?category=sport-and-leisure

Building upon this idea, a hypothetical Australia can be a the labyrinth of many different initiatives pushed by the government. These initiatives are not strictly designed to be within Canberra or within the governmental state, but to be designed to be found in every state of Australia instead. I am possibly treading towards an idea that will generate a static-mobile structure that can be found on the periphery of every state, using the areas on the fringes of different metropolitan cities as a context.

Illustrative section of Landscape Design by Grants Associate
http://www.grant-associates.uk.com/projects_77_2921.aspx

Environmental design information provided by Atelier Ten
http://blog.emap.com/footprint/2010/12/06/rsa-recognises-sustainable-design

Here are some FAST FACTS about Singapore's Gardens by the Bay  which I have taken from the website itself. It pretty much gives a background overview (or executive summary) of the context, location, brief design and what will be procured for the gardens. I have placed these facts under appropriate headings for a clearer understanding:-

Context & Environment

• Singapore' s geographical location is 1 22 N, 103 48 E. The equator passes 137km south of the island.
• Singapore has a population of 4.6 million (Jul 07 estimate) and a land area of 682.7 sq km or about 3.5 times the size of Washinton DC .  It has a coastline of 193km. 
• Gardens by the Bay comprises three gardens around the Marina Channel in the southern part of Singapore . Once the Marina Barrage is ready, the Marina Channel will, over two years, become a fresh water lake and supply 10 per cent of Singapore' s water needs.  
• The total size of Gardens by the Bay is 101 hectares or 177 football fields.  Bay South is 54 hectares, Bay East is 32 hectares and the Bay Central is 15 hectares. 

Location

• The Gardens will be built on land that was reclaimed from the sea some 30 years ago. The new downtown Marina City is being developed around Marina South. 

Design

• In January 2006, an international master plan design competition for the Gardens was launched.  Some 70 teams comprising 170 firms, from over 24 countries, including 35 from Singapore , participated in the competition.
• An 11-member Jury comprising local and international experts shortlisted eight teams and two winners were announced in September 2006; namely Grant Associates for Bay South and Gustafson Porter for Bay East, both from the UK.  Bay Central will be developed later.
• The site for the Gardens (Bay South and Bay East) was hoarded up in June 2007.
• The first phase of the Gardens - Bay South - is expected to complete by end 2011.

Location of the Gardens by National Parks Board of Singapore
http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg

Community Involvement & Participation

• A public exhibition of the master plan concepts and models of the winning teams was held from 6 - 23 September 2006.  Some 10,000 people visited the exhibition and over 700 gave feedback directly via feedback forms, face-to-face interviews, online feedback and focus groups surveys.
• An overwhelming majority (85%) of those surveyed liked the features in the master plans and over 97% said they would visit the gardens.

Sustainability Aspects

Sustainable design data and description provided by Wilkinson Eyre Architects
http://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/projects/singapore-gardens-by-the-bay.aspx?category=sport-and-leisure

~ Hana

037 Exemplar: UK Pavilion @ Shanghai Expo 2010

UK Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010 by Thomas Heatherwick from Dezeen on Vimeo.

One or more seeds of various plant species, sourced from China’s Kunming Institute of Botany, were encased at the tip of 7.5m long fibre-optic rods. These 60 000 rods was said to be distributed across China and the UK to hundreds of schools as a special legacy to Shanghair Expo 2010.

I thought this is another one interesting example of a piece of exposition. It portrays more than just the identity of the people of United Kingdom and the theme set out by the exposition's organizers. More than that, there is a sense of "social regeneration" (I'm not sure if this phrase exist, I think I just made it up) in using an architectural design/piece to build and strengthen the relationship between the British and the Chinese.

~ Hana

036 Research: Shortage of Services & Skills

Australia 2020, Australian Government. 2008. "The Future of Rural and Regional Australia" in Australia 2020 Summit. Accessed August 29, 2011. http://www.australia2020.gov.au/topics/docs/rural.pdf.

A random Google search on "Rural Australia" came up with Australian 2020 Summit. One of the topics discussed was "The Future of Rural and Regional Australia".

Rural areas are clearly facing a shortage in every aspect of skills and services due to the rapid growth of urbanisation, of almost everyone wanting to move and live in the city where access is within close proximity. The above jpeg extract from the summit is one clear example illustrating the level of difficulty our folks living in rural areas are facing in the areas of health services and education.

The year 2020 isn't very far, and the questions asked in this summit were merely questions with no hard proposals [see page 16 of summit paper]. 100 years from now, in 2111, what sort of services, through architectural design can be explored and implemented into the rural areas?

Keeping the outcome and vision from Assessment 1 in mind, more research and exploration  is required to create this "mobile entity" that would be both viable for the future of Australia.

~ Hana

035 Research: Responding to an Innovative Solution

...improved delivery and coordination of social and human services are necessary to reduce social stress, but they cannot by themselves solve underlying problems of unequal access to the primary goods of housing, health, education and welfare. Structural change in the process of reaching decisions about the allocation of urban resources and space is necessary for this to be achieved. Improved citizen participation and community organization are not enough by themselves, but need to be linked with institutional reform that mandates local communities to influence decisions about their own areas. Such organizations have the potential to take on significant roles in the ladder of administration...

Phil Heywood, 1997

After this afternoon's presentation, proposing for an Education and Exhibition Mobile Center [link] to connect the parliament with the population particularly in isolated, rural regions and communities, I found this paragraph to be very relevant. I think it is an important element to keep in mind as the design progresses on this semester.

~ H

Reference
Heywood, Phil. 1997. "The emerging social metropolis : successful planning initiatives in five New World metropolitan regions." Progress in Planning 47 (3):159-250. Oxford : Pergamon Press.

034 Assessment 1 - Interim Exhibition (post-presentation)

Just for fun, I decided to wear a dress that somehow coincides with the colours on our presentation panels - blue & orange! Didn't think Jane nor Julian noticed it :) Nonetheless, the overall presentation by the folks of the MOBILE theme was pretty good, and there was a few things that I could pick up & learn from.

~ H

033 Development: Mind Map

A quick mind map sketched on the iPad before the exhibition. I think my mind was trying to illustrate a simplified version of how the process of "relationship" should happen as it makes the step towards the vision of going into remote communities of rural areas.

~ H

032 Assessment 1 - Interim Exhibition

Project 01 (Week 01-06): Where Is The Place?: Vision and Strategy Panels & Statement 

Location: QUT J212

Time: 1pm to 5pm

Mobile 2 Group 1

Lara Tanswell, Alice Hung, Nur Farhana Mohamed Nordin

  

  

LOSS OF IDENTITY AND POPULATION DENSITY

Rural Australia has helped form Australia’s identity on an international scale. However,  with a smaller population in rural regions, they are often overlooked when national infrastructures are built, creating a lack of support in isolated communities. This jeopardizes the longevity of Australia’s outback and diverse lifestyles as some of the areas are not self-contained and are unable to satisfy their everyday needs. Thus, recognition and representation are the two main factors fuelling the current conflict between parliament and the population of rural Australia. 

We must ask, is this the future of Australia as a nation? 

The nation must embrace the changing conditions and what it means to be mobile through non-permanent structures, limited-time events, and a range of inhabitation patterns.

OUR VISION: Infrastructure of activity, place, form and image

Our vision builds upon strengthening existing systems for an agent that aims to empower isolated communities. The way in which we inhabit space is becoming less static and fixed, but more fluid and nomadic instead. These trends have created a politically volatile situations in rural regions, thus, there is a need to provide access to essential services. This is a challenge recognised in the future direction of Australia’s rural identity and economy infrastructure. The existing centralised formats of Parliamentary services are inefficient in responding to these challenges. 

Thus, a non-centralised method of engaging the rural regions  with metropolitan Australia to ensure the relevance of rural Australia continues to be recognised by the parliament.

EDUCATION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE AS AN AGENT OF AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL

Australia is a young nation with diverse subcultures caused by immense distances between populated areas. Our vision, represented in Panel 3, embraces this social condition by developing a mobile space aimed at engaging people of various backgrounds while creating relevant links between government and rural Australia. This entity will be the Agent of Australian Capital which will steward for isolated communities, assuming three main roles: 

1) Facilitate the mobility of education and exhibition services; 

2) Provide a platform for collaboration in isolated areas; and 

3) Encourage a social and behavioural shift.

The Agent represents the links to Parliament as it represents a nationwide program. 

A platform must be created for regional groups to collaborate and provide opportunities to share and strengthen local identities. The proposed mobile entity represents this collaboration and provides an avenue for Politicians to greater understand the identity of rural communities with the potential of instigating secondary functions.

Instead of implementing transportable services, this entity is speculated to allow for the identity and reputation of rural Australia to be organically nurtured. This strategy aims to increase diversity and vitality by creating new local and regional national traditions, subsequently enhancing wider connections though experience and contact with the program.

~ H

031 Exemplar: expo Zaragoza 2008 "Digital Water Pavilion"

Carlo Ratti's DWP Project Website: http://www.carloratti.com/projects/022.htm
PDF of Project: http://www.carloratti.com/projects/pdf/022_DWP.pdf
Digital Water Pavilion: http://www.dwp.qaop.net
Expo Zaragoza 2008: http://www.expozaragoza2008.es/

The MOVEABLE Roof of the Digital Water Pavilion
http://www.dwp.qaop.net/?lang=en#project

This is one of the most intriguing exemplars that have made quite the impression and impact in my perception of future architectural and urban designs. Carlo Ratti's introduction to architecture that senses and responds (when I was in Stuttgart for a workshop) holds a very relevant theme in terms of using "MOBILE" architecture as a strategy and catalyst in designing the VISION that our group have finalised upon - which will be presented during tutorial tomorrow (Friday at 1pm).

You will see the mention of this similar sort of exemplar coming up pretty frequently in my upcoming blog entries, as I am really inspired by the works of Carlo Ratti and the MIT SENSEable City Lab. I feel that Australia, together with most countries all over the world grappling with metropolitan cities within their nation, is looking towards this sort of urban design using architecture as a device and technology to integrate the social shifts that we have begun to observe in current urban contexts, with the built environment.

A Word on Digital Water Pavilion

"At its core, the DWP has been designed to be an open system where its technologies can be improved upon and can evolve with advances over time. The pavilion is also an open system in the sense that the designers do not decide how it reacts, but leave it in the hands of its users."

This pavilion will serve as an example as to the way I will respond to/for my architectural presence and identity.

~ H

030 Exemplar: FREITAG's "Container Architecture"

Freitag's flagship store on Geroldstrasse 17 in Zurich is an experience of shopping, or just being within a confined space of what is now a series of stacked abandoned, unused shipping containers - an example of "static" mobility. Urban mobility in 21st century is a new wave of traveling that has organically found its way into innovative solutions for an architectural space (or even simply, just a space) to house commercial goods. This is just one of many existing exemplars in recent times, showcasing designers inclination towards developing nomadic alternatives infused into their design.

"The FREITAG SHOP ZURICH is completely built from rusty, recycled freight-containers. Lovingly they were gutted, reinforced, piled up and secured. Zurich’s first bonsai-skyscraper: Low enough not to violate the city’s restriction on high-rise buildings. High enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine."

Telstar Logistics 2006

[http://telstarlogistics.typepad.com/telstarlogistics/2006/10/freitags_contai.html]

~ H

ps: Images are my own, and I have been inside these container shopping store.