Week 6...

There was no lecture this week as the time had come to present our first assignment. As a group we printed our panels in the morning and then mounted them before heading into university to present our future vision to the tutors. We placed our four panels on our assigned table and waited for our turn to present. These were the panels....

Overall I think a lot of work was done for the amount of time taken and an overall story can be read through the panels.

Individual Project One Statement

The overall concept of our vision is that the introduction of a congestion charge to Brisbane CBD in 2020 led to a series of events which caused the densification and centralisation of Brisbane city. With more people moving into the city suburbs for easier access to work and entertainment, the city begins to thrive on economic activity and social abundance. However, the population increase on such a small area began to put a strain on the available resources, and as such, sustainable solutions have been put in place to balance the line between a population boom and resource depletion. It was determined that over time, more people would move into the city centre to live and that eventually the city region would expand to include the inner-city suburbs therefore creating an expanded city region.

Generally speaking the new urban sprawl is strictly mixed use, however certain areas, such as Southbank and New Farm continue to have their own individual characteristics which continue to a play a part in Brisbane's identity. A new entertainment belt is set up between west end and fortitude valley which connects the current high streets of Queen Street, Melbourne Street and Wickham Street, while green fingers are placed throughout the CBD and along the river to reduce alienation to nature and to create more comfortable and climatically balanced environments.

As an alternative to personal transport, Brisbane city council starts construction of a high speed automated pod system which would service the new expansion. This new public transport is environmentally sustainable and conducive to modern life, with minimal waiting time and minimal transfer points. As this system is elevated, the ground plain is freed up to become used as social meeting points as well as food production areas and green space. The elevated platforms servicing this transport system create a second high street within the city, allowing for more retail space, commercial space and residential connections, which are the main building typologies found within the site.

These buildings are used to create a vertical suburbia which support high density living. The sharing of services and building materials means this form of living is more sustainable, and the inclusion of rooftop gardens and urban farms produce food to be sold at the market or by restaurants. These buildings are primarily mixed use community blocks which promote social interaction, the ability to work at home and convenient living expected by future generations.

Architectural Possibilities

The tutorial this week was intended to explore the architectural possibilities which arose from our future scenario. As the future vision we were exploring incorporated many multi-use zones, the possibilities for an architectural installation or typology were limitless. A few ideas were quickly brainstormed during a mind-mapping session on a large piece of paper. This was the result.

As can be seen, many typologies presented themselves for the future vision. Many remained general ideas, such as business or offices, while others such as schools, urban farms and entertainment buildings exhibited more exciting proposals for a future building, as the way in which they are used would be drastically different in the future.

The idea of concentrating the city and making it more dense presented the idea and challenge of housing in the future. With more people living in the city, more housing is going to be needed, but housing cannot take up most of the room as the city still needs to function as a city both socially, economically and environmentally. The idea of community blocks was explored, creating spatial differences between housing, working and green space, within a connection of roads and public access paths.

The resultant buildings on these community blocks were conceived to become multi-use buildings, incorporating housing, green-space, commerce and retail areas all within one building skin. Rooftop areas are to be heavily utilised in order to maximise food production areas and reduce alienation from nature for the inhabitants. Retail is to remain on the ground floor as usual, keeping the usual high street feel to Queen street. while commerce is to be above this area.

Inspired by modular buildings, the group began to experiment with movable structures which could accommodate 24 hr usage. The main idea was to be flexible and provide flexible space which could be used for both working and living, socialising and relaxing. A basic idea of half level pod systems were explored which could move with respect to the users need.

The idea of a new transport system was already discussed within the sustainable future section, however this is the first time an idea of a pod rail system was given any form or thought. The idea is that these pods would run throughout the new city centre and could carry relatively few people at once so that they can come and go quicker. It was decided that a pod should accommodate 10-20 passengers.

The basic interior of these pod systems were explored including how the pods are powered, how they move and the amount of space each user would have. The way in which the pods operated were also considered and involved an automated system which controlled the whole network and allowed the pods to move more frequently, at high speeds, stopping at every station. Payment revolved around the already existing go-card system, however they would be used through the portable identification panel each occupant would have which recorded their lifestyle and community standing.

In order for these pods to work, new access points were devised incorporating the construction of new levels which would run above Queen street. This worked in two ways, first it allowed easier access to the pod system meaning the network would be more functional. Secondly it freed up the ground plain for more food production and social activities such as performances and markets. It also allowed more integrated connections to the multi-use buildings as a second street level was created, the retail strip along the ground floor and the residential strip higher up.

This was the final "master image" of what we expect the pod system, elevated walkways, freed ground plain and existing buildings would look like. Obviously this is an idealised version and the actuality of it would involve much more structure, detail and people, therefore making the image appear less clean and utopian.

Week 5...

The lecture this week was taken by Phil Crowther, who was my lecturer for Architectural Design 1 at the start of my university education.

I found this lecture to be very interesting, and it reaffirmed my confidence in how my project was going, with many similar ideas being present in both my project and this lecture.

Phil showed us a previous project which had been completed by two architectural teams from different countries and the responses and ideas that they generated. Some ideas, such as food production (which we have already discussed) became quite prominent within the schemes and example images were produced such as the one below.


http://assets.inhabitat.com/nyc/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2011/06/Glimpses-2040-w-architecture.jpg

This image to me is very emotive and from the careful composition and stylistic collage, an instantly recognisable idea can be seen. It is from images such as this one and the one below that I begin to understand how such images can become part of a narrative and tell a story.


http://inhabitat.com/nyc/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2011/06/Glimpses-2040-dlandstudio.jpg

These images began to explain to me more about the project then I had previously been able to visualise and from it I began to see a clearer image of what Brisbane's future would look like.

Further lecturing into the highline project in New York taught me how a small change in terms of design can have a larger impact upon the society. It also taught me how to successfully integrate a fairly radical idea into an already existing and firmly established urban sprawl.


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/High_Line_20th_Street_looking_downtown.jpg/272px-High_Line_20th_Street_looking_downtown.jpg

People and Lifestyles

This tutorial was dedicated to exploring the characters within our future vision. For this project it was determined that our characters are going to be the future citizens of Brisbane within our context. So the first issue to arise was just who was going to be using Brisbane in the next century? A mind map was produced to discuss this.

 

So we'd found out who our characters are going to be, but what will people be like in the future? It could be argued that they wouldn't be very different from how they are today, however, a few slight changes could easily be seen. Again a mind map was produced to discuss this further.

Another thing to discover was how people in the future will spend their days as this will determine the function of buildings within this space in the future. Again a mind map was produced and the results were fairly generic, as there is limited insight into how humans will begin to spend their time. These options were chosen because they have been how humans have spent their days for centuries.

However, while the activities partake in may not change, then their social attitudes certainly will, this can be seen from the 1950s to present day and are sure to be altered in another 50 years time too. This ideas were based on existing social patterns seen today, but taken one step further.

Beginning to delve into deeper and more intimate details, the group decided to create a typical family which would live within our future scenario. We then decided to write what hobbies each one had, what job they did, their personality and their connection to other family members.

The result was a futuristic family with new jobs, hobbies and social attitudes. This exercise helped to further understand the types of people to be expected in the future, what their needs were and they way in which their daily activities can change the built environment around them.

Such social issues as rationing and shift work came to the forefront of the vision which had not previously been there, as well as recreational activities which may take place.

On top of this the group came up with the idea that technology will help the social structure of the city in the future, with one pocket device similar to a smart phone which would act as a number of functions as listed below.

Week 4....

The lecture this week spoke about the roles the people can play within the overall designing of spaces. Specifically, it involved looking at the ways in which people live their life everyday, what needs these people generate within their life and how architecture can work to accommodate these needs.

While the lecture itself was fairly simple, with only a few words on each slide, the message became very poignant early on. It became obvious that the key to understanding any future setting or scene was dependent upon the characters that use it. Only then will the surrounding spaces be able to match and accommodate the activities taking place within them.

Ideas such as the factory home http://vimeo.com/45162091 use this idea of first analysing the daily routine of the users and then designing a space to match. Although it was previously argued that human beings themselves aren't going to change much in the future, it WAS argued that technology and other aspects would change quite dramatically. When researching this it became obvious that lots of jobs that are done today didn't even exist 20 years ago, which this video explains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Yt4wxSblc.

Therefore, we need to design spaces for activities which may not even exist at present time, but can be deduced through extrapolating what is happening today. This will be done within the tutorial activity this week.

Sustainable Issues

The tutorial this week was to analyse practices and strategies that can be put in place in our future scenario to ensure sustainability. This was important as a sustainable future would become more successful and therefore more likely to work properly. Not only this but our idea of a self-contained city relies heavily on sustainable issues.

First we began to look at the various aspects which sustainability can entail, attempting to branch out from the already firmly established triple bottom line.

It can be seen that sustainability can be measured across multiple aspects. By looking at the primary ones in more depth, a greater understanding of what they entail was seen.

From here, a few ideas were discussed which aim to meet all of these aspects as once. While they aren't necessarily architectural solutions, they do have architectural implications in regards to their impact on an urban landscape and they way in which they control the scene.

Architecture Fiction

Before getting too ahead of myself, I think that it is important to look back and really understand what this assignment is asking me.

In the lecture we keep being told that this is "Architecture Fiction" not "Sci-fi fiction". It therefore becomes important not to get too carried away with the idea and begin to design something which is set hundreds of years in the future. This would result in absolutely any scenario being possible without the need for any data or reasons to back it up.

First we need to understand what fiction means:


fic·tion

   [fik-shuhn]  Show IPA

noun

1.

the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, especially in prose form.

2.

works of this class, as novels or short stories: detective fiction.

3.

something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story:We've all heard the fiction of her being in delicate health.

4.

the act of feigning, inventing, or imagining.

5.

an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation.

From this it can be seen that the idea of assignment is to create a story, or prose, which is invented and imagined to provide some narration. This project is to contain a stage or setting, characters which play a part within the story and a underlying plot which ties all the ideas together.

Some other words which mean Fiction which might inspire are:

A Sustainable Future

With the world increasingly moving at a high rate, it is common knowlege that the current way of living is exceeding the current resources available on the planet. An organism taking part in entrophy can only become unsustainable and eventually lose its place within the social structure.

Therefore a sustainable future is an imperative part of living in harmony with the Earth.

Sustainability is comprised of three sections, Ecological, Social and Economical sustainability, with the combination of all three becoming the most sought after goal in the sustainable world.

Week 3...

This week I found out what group I was put in for my assignment. I was placed within the Urban Theme Group, the group I had chosen as my first preference.

The first things we did were to form groups of either 3 or 4 for the next assignment. As a number of friends were in this theme group, we quickly organised a group of 4 people before working on the scenario presented to the class which was the introduction of a congestion charge, similar to that in london (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge.)

Initial reactions were predictable, including the idea that Brisbane City, as we know it today will quickly become a ghost town with no real reason to visit. However, it was argued by the tutors that anything could potentially happen to create a world around it.


Some ideas were noted down

 

 

 

For example, to keep people within the CBD, public transport could be become more important and widely used, or parking could become cheaper. It turns out that when you need some form of reasoning, there is always the possibility to keep adding scenarios.

 

In a way this becomes like the evolving and increasing plotline of a book.

Future Visions

Future Architecture....

I've begun to look again at future architecture, to see what ideas are currently available about the aesthetic that buildings will take. From our current location in time, it is hard to determine what building "style" will be prominent in the future, as I'm sure many medieval architects couldn't have seen the contemporary style in which we build today. Upon looking at these predictions, it became apparent that most people believe the future will be closer to utopia than it is today.

The overall aesthetic is a smooth exterior, normally white, with some interesting formal play happening. However, the thing that struck me as being the most peculiar is that these buildings are always shown as a single building standing by themselves. However, all data is showing how human population numbers are growing, with an increasing amount of people moving towards the cities and urban areas. Therefore, where are the surrounding buildings and living conditions. I believe that if designs were created with their context in mind, they would appear less utopian than these ideas submit. Surely the cramped conditions, fight over services and the overlap of basic infrastructure would cause any place to become severely dsytopian.

I found a few projects which presented a future setting, which again appeared very utopian. 

Once again, the basic aesthetic is smooth and white. Granted that these buildings look better in their context, but the fact is that these contexts are once again made up, and are not based on any existing infrastructure. Either this is showing that in the future humans begin to build mega cities within what are now rural areas, or that we completely destroy the existing context, and our heritage and culture along with it, to start again.

For example, if this was London, then where is Tower Bridge or the Houses of Parliament? If it were Paris, then where is the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe? 

A more defined idea would be an urban context which can be justified in terms of data to accommodate a future vision, maintaining a utopian ideal (as much as I disagree with them) with a sense of realism. Such as in the next project below.

 

In this project, the basic premise of a satisfactory life is present, however the image also shows industrial transport links, grotty advertising campaigns and the rusty demeanour of service pipes and loading docks.

Some Research...

After doing some research, I found some projects which were visions of the future. This is a project from Archigram entitled "The Walking City". In this concept, these huge structures contain spaces to work, live and play, while all the time being able to move from location to location. This would be beneficial for access to resources and seasonal migration for comfortable weather.

This reminded me of a concept in Doctor Who, where humans are living in compact conditions on a spaceship after the Earth was destroyed by the sun. I wonder if the writers of Dr Who took inspiration from this archigram project, or whether the idea is a prominent one within the human psychology.


When looking at sci-fi architecture, or scenarios, the same patterns of ideas began to emerge. The built environment became bigger and more dense and the idea of a ground plain began to disappear, here are a few images.







These ideas however, are too far into the future for the project at hand, and it can be assumed that humanity would not change that much in the next 50 years. Even though technology might.

In essence, the way in which we live our lives will change, but the idea of a completely different scene isn't going to be apparent for a long time.

Week 2 - Reflections on the Lecture

The lecture this week involved looking at previous examples of what if scenarios and the way in which other people have interpreted the future. Videos such as Metropolis, were interesting to show the way in which previous generations envisaged the future, and then by comparing it to today's world, being able to see how correct they were.

The film "Robots of Brixton" was an interesting idea of how future trends can echo past events. The film was particularly visually appealing and contained a political message within itself about the state of affairs in 50 years time, involving such motives as cultural, technological and social changes.

The final example of ageing populations and life expectancy trends proved to be a good start in imagining possible future scenarios and provided good foundations on which the imagined scenario can be placed. The implications resulting from these facts and raw data could become compounded and manifold within an envisioned future.

Changes which may become apparent...