WK SIX // reading: Erasing Architecture into the System

The unorthodoxy of Cedric Price and his futuristic ideas for Fun Palace have together inundated the world with a visionary and technological outlook on architecture. The kind of research he did into the technologies was very advanced and revolutionary. Whilst he strongly imposed these concepts to be very much a part of everyday life, unfortunately many of these concepts where never built. Although, in saying that, many refer to the Pompidou Centre in Paris as a Cedric Price sketch, this exhibits that he was just a little in front of time in terms of technological advancements. It also acknowledges his importance, as an architect, in the progression of industry.

Fun Palace (1961), Cedric Price

http://www.thingsmagazine.net

Arata Isozaki expresses his beliefs on Price's dismantling of architecture. I believe that every decade has to exhibit a 'non-designer' architect in order to continue to create and impose brilliant ideas to the community. Without these kind of designers, architecture begins to become stagnant and lifeless and unable to develop and progress.

// tutorial thoughts wk6: pin-up future scenario

Free energy has given light to many new and previously expensive technologies. The shift has caused people not to be conscious of energy consumption but of materials consumption. The way people are entertained by their favourite bands will change. Festivals will be holographically projected instead of setting up numerous wasteful festival sites around the country. This will save materials by only setting up one festival that can be broadcasted all over Australia and even around the world. Travel time is limited and rubbish waste produced at the festivals is drastically reduced.

the focus has switched

road hierachy

the prediction in use of transport

road interactions

people and there life styles

final boards

Energy is a vital part of modern society.

It fuels our everyday needs and wants. In a world where energy is free everything is possible. The way retailers sell and people shop has changed immensely in the last 30 years. Retailers in Queens Street Mall and elsewhere around the city no longer hold masses of stock, instead shops have turned in to interactive exhibitions of clothing and products. The shopper can test try on and apply for the product to be delivered to their homes almost instantly. Customers are enticed by the highly interactive and personalised experience of these spaces. Large lots such as where the Myer Centre is situated, become undesirable. Small lots in the city become more desirable as they allow for quick location shifts between stores to keep the city vibrant.  

WK FIVE // reading: Urban Form and Locality

Why should we green the cities? Because man needs beauty: needs nature, trees, greenery, birds, squirrels, the changing seasons, the soil. Because we need space for leisure, to recreate mind and soul, to run, play, fish, cycle, relax and socialize ... Because the green can be productive of food, of timber, of energy, of pure water; of benign microclimates.' Michael Dower (1984). 

I find it interesting that we are going back to the basic human needs in terms of what we need in a city. The last century has witnessed rapid growth in cities all over the world. Although, during this time the needs and desires of humans was somewhat blurred and the focus was densifying and urban sprawl. Even if we have noticed this need to go back to the basic human needs, nature and cities seem to be a long way off re-combining. In our cities we have sparse green spaces, if your looking at he ratio of green to built. What about a new kind of relationship with nature in our cities? Our cities do portray nature in other ways for example through art, design and architecture. 

I like to dream of these future cities where green spaces become mandatory spaces amongst everyday life; work and play. Where certain guideline about nature within the city are laid out to ensure the implementation. 

// tutorial thoughts wk5: architectural possibilities

what are the architectural possibilities of the site/scenario that we are creating?
hybrid/multi-use buildings are a big focus in our future scenario which has a huge effect on peoples lives. one of these benefits is that there is less congestion and traffic going to and from destinations. the retail experience has also changed so that the stores hold no inventory, this allows for a more virtual experience whilst shopping. it also allows for the stores to be continually changed around the city as moving shop is much easier without stock.

even though energy is free, there is a shift in values and what is important to preserve, this just so happens to be MATERIALS...Materials being finite is key...

an interesting architectural possibility is this idea of a multi-functional building, where people eat, sleep, play and work. there would be a heavy focus on bringing the outside into these types of buildings to enhance productivity and relaxability.

below are the scenarios, which once represented, will help us explain what it means if energy was FREE

Transport

-       - Little cars around the city

-        -Trains for longer distances

-        -different levels of transport

-        -perspective of streets, showing shared space with pedestrians, green space etc

-        -transport stops on sensors to avoid accidents

-        -by building cars smaller and shared we use less materials

Festivals

-        -holgraphic festivals that broadcasts from one city

-        -anyone can access the festival experience, not just major cities

-        -This saves on material and expense as the bands only have to play one show and the materials needed -don’t need to be moved all over Australia

-        -Sensor and feeling of being in a festival can now be experienced

Retail Experience

-        -virtual shopping experience

-        -high end shops fit you and produce products for the individual person as materials and handmade -products become more expensive

-        -low end mass produced products become very cheap but material are still limitation

-        -Image showing the retail experience with holographic clothes to try on and designer their to help you create the perfect outfit

-        -Diagrams showing a view of the city showing the retail chunks being taken out and replaced with green space

-         

Work/Living Balance

-        -depending on your socio economic status determines your hours of work

-        -Schools run 24hrs a day, richer families attend day school and poorer families at night

-        -families lose time together depending on their schedules

-        -Relationships change around work and time off

-        -Diagrams of family relationships now and in the future.

-        -Silhouttes different colours depending on the activity

-        -The rich family is all together

-        Poor family are broken up with school, work and play

-        Fusion energy in basement

// tutorial thoughts wk4: people and their lifestyles

people and their lifestyles in the future of free energy, the possibilities...

less people working, but people would be working 24/7

time would change, it would not longer be a 5 day week and 2 day weekend
more buildings would become hybrids/multi-functional

how do people sleep in a 24hr city/noise problems? free energy would allow the use of previously expensive building technologies to fix noise issues.

3 days in 1 day, 8hrs, 8hrs, 8hrs

how FREE ENERGY changes the way these characters use the future city

          characters                                 what                                                                  scenario

- group of uni students:     3 days in 1 day                                                            hanging out somewhere

- mother and child:            doctors appointment                                                   in the new form of transport

- tourists:                             what makes brisbane desirable, cheap, nature     natural environment - park   

- music festival goers:      cheaper/little over heads/no noise restrictions       in mall   

 the new day program

2012/2047

the diagram above describes the possibilities of a 24 hour day

WK FOUR // reading: Shearing Layers

I find it interesting how Brand deconstructs the layers of architecture. He tells how some components are fast changing, some slow, and the fast are ever changing depending on current trends and technologies. He deconstructs the layers of architecture to the extent that they become comparable to the rate of change and hierarchy of ecosystems. The structure, shell (the architect) and even down to that last detail of joinery (interior designer) are all as important as each other. It is important to note that all Brands’ ‘layers of architecture’ intrinsically affect the seventh layer – “human souls, the last layer of architecture”.

Without having much thought on the matter before, this reading has brought to my attention the sincere lack of integration between the profession of interior design and architecture. I further wonder, why the degrees at university are not more closely integrated. All the big name architects that we learn about in the bachelor degree such as; Le Corbusier, Frank Llyod Wright and Antonio Gaudi never got interior designers to fit out the interiors of their buildings, as they were taught all layers of architecture as one set. Today, I don’t believe there is enough emphases placed on the interior aspects; how it actually feels to be in the spaces we are designing as architecture students. Creating atmospheric spaces that vary depending on the function is very important when I am designing a building. Like I said, it all comes down to the last layer, ‘human souls’, and having a human scale so we can relate and understand the building before us. 

// tutorial thoughts wk3 - sustainable future + what if scenario for urban

'what if' SCENARIOS

what if.....
                all energy was free?
                energy prices became too expensive for the average person?
                the ozone layer didn't exist?

Above are the three main what if scenarios that our group came up with in the tutorial on friday.The scenario that we developed and talked about the most was, what if all energy was free? This brought us to think, what would happen to the world if energy was free? Would the world be better or worse off, how would the people react, and how would this free energy be used to create a more sustainable future and, what would it do to our economy? All these questions, that we asked each other in the tutorial, became a bit too much to think about.

So we began to think...if energy was free, almost all physical goods would become dramatically cheaper as material and transportation costs would become not applicable. Further, if the costs of our material goods decreases dramatically then everyone would have to work less as basic needs to be satisfied much more readily. What would people do with all their extra spare time? Reducing working hours would would result in less stress placed on public transportation. Which could result in more public spaces and less roads, and possible changes to urban fabric.

FREE ENERGY + sustainability
we discussed the idea that free energy would come from fusion energy, therefore the energy source would never deplete. transport would run off this energy instead of burning up all of our natural resources from fuel.

WK THREE // reading: A History of Green Washing

Throughout this article Jim Motavalli talks on how 'green' has somewhat lost its intended meaning and is being boycotted by major hotel company's. It is interesting that Jim tells how Jay Westerveld, the so called founder of the term 'greenwashing', says the term 'green' originally came from the Green Party in Germany. What do I think of the word green today? I believe that Jay Westerveld is completely correct in claiming that the word 'green' is being completely abused, and largely by people who just want to make money when claiming that they are 'green'. It seems today that many company's are claiming to be green, although the problems with carbon emissions etc. are worse than ever before. I think some clarification needs to done in order to regulation these false declarations.  

// tutorial thoughts wk2 - what if scenarios

This weeks tutorial got us to think outside the square in terms of how far the projects could possible be taken. As a group of 4 we came up with some interesting ideas which helped me to decide which topics I was more interested in, or rather which one I wanted to leave out of my selection. The Woodford Folk Festival site and topic interested me the most as it is something quite different to any project we have done before, and also quite challenging. In a way to preserve the site for seasonal crops but still get the most out of the land we started thinking of elevating the land and creating green roof stages where certain activities could take place underneath. 

// future scenarios

future scenarios...?

It is all about building a sustainable future. Below is an example in Tianjin, China.

China'a eco cities (retrieved 02/08, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120503-sustainable-cities-on-the-rise)

China is proposing to build an eco city on land that was once the grounds for dumping toxic waste. This site was chosen in order to clean-up a heavily polluted area of the China, rather than building an eco city on a perfectly clean land. 

This is just an example of a future scenario, which really isn't 'beyond architecture' at all as eco cities are already part of the future.