Week 6 - Exhibition and Crit

Exhibition:
Walking around the exhibition it was great to see each group's take on what would be the realistic scenario for the future, with regards to Paddington Central. Without reading other concepts, it appeared as though the future will very sustainably based with large focus on green energy and technology and a keen interest to turn the site into an urban farm. Although this is a good idea, it only is to a certain extent as they have not catered for all societal issues ranging from cultural, political, education, etc. They have made it too specific and I feel that more awareness of the economic and social sustainability factors would contribute to a greater concept and architectural solution. I believe that our proposal exemplifies this.

Crit:
Over the last few weeks we have been discussing and pitching our ideas about the future scenario for Paddington Central with each of the three tutors. They have been very helpful and positive about our progress and idea generation and have inspired us to continually improve and evolve the idea.

This continued through to the presentation today with all three tutors very pleased with our final presentation. The main points of value that I think I can take from the tutors is that,

• The idea is very original 
• Very community based and believeable
• It resonates within all facets of society (e.g. culture, technology, etc) 
• It actually improves the well being of human life through the functions which we have proposed for the Paddington Central site.   
• Sets a footprint for what the future could be.

These are all strong points to take away from the assignment and I am very pleased as a result. Hopefully this will inspire me to challenge myself for the next assignment.

Week 6 - Individual Project One Statement

We as a society have begun to emerge through the hardships of recession and have grown to relinquish the luxuries and material things that once used to own our lives. Major cultural changes have occurred due to the fact that the alignment of community values have been shifted. We no longer hold onto selfish traits, as society has reverted back to the ways of the past where we as a group embrace more humble and modest lifestyles. The community mindset is now underpinned by only the original  principles and needs of unity, nourishment and love. Today, success is no longer measured by what we have but in fact what each of us can contribute to society.

In 2017, Paddington is transformed on a whole due to the presence of an open sourced market place which is underpinned by community interactions through the exchange of skills, goods, space and time. It now exists as a community, based on the generation of collaborative living. Specifically, Paddington Central has formed as the hub and heart to all collaborative activities. It has evolved through changes in space and function, uniting four key services for the wellness of the community. These include; a market place, edutainment hub, co-creation centre and a wellfit institute. Together these services feed the community by defining qualitiesand providing a site to which collaborative interaction leads to aflourishing culture of prosperity and generosity.

Week 6 - Final Presentation

This week the group has worked effectively together to establish the final presentation for the first assignment. Like what was said within last weeks tutorial the best result would be achieved if we divided the work evenly between the four of us. This needed to occur  because of our conflicting schedules and various other assessment pieces due this week. This seemed to work well with each member of the group effectively working towards our desired goal.

Specifically, we split the roles into:

• Future Scenario: Samantha
• Sustainable Future: Annie and I
• People and Lifestyles: Sophie
• Architectural Opportunities: All
• Panoramic Shot: Sophie

The only problem which arose throughout this process, was the collaboration of the work when compiling the panels. Due to one person completing this at home it was hard to develop effective communication as to what had to go where and as such some of the information was misplaced on the panels. Also file sharing caused an issue as the files became very large to operate with (long upload time).


The final four panels were:

Future Scenario
This panel showcases the patterns, principles and drivers which all impact on the new future scenario that we have developed for the Paddington Central Site. 

  

Sustainable Future
The sustainable society of our future scenario has been mapped out within this panel showcases sustainability strategies and principles within the local Paddington community, Paddington central and Brisbane. We have also delved deeper in that we have realised the impact this scenario will have on other cities around Queensland and then Australia. 

Architectural Opportunities
This panel defines the four architectural opportunities which we have created for the new Paddington site. Although it is simple it clearly showcases the functions and its relationship within the site context.

 

People and Lifestyles
The new scenario we have developed has impacted on the people and the new lifestyles in which they live. This panel records the experiences of a new "typical family" within the Paddington Central community. 

 

Week 6 - Project Development

From the last post I made I have definitely advanced my images for the final presentation. After discussing with the group about each of them they felt that only a couple of slight changes needed to be made in order for them to present well on the panel.

We completed this as a group in at uni, where we all sat around and assessed each of the images. This allowed us to be honest and truthful as a group, which in turn I feel will help to create a more effective and evolved presentation.

Spatial Diagram:

• The colours of the spatial diagram have been purposely changed to match the sketchup mass model colours below. This will help for an ease of understanding between the relationship of the two images. 
• The font has also been changed to match the universal font that we are using across all four panels
• Additional information about the specific functions of the spaces have been added into each of the bubbles. This will allow the viewer to understand the relationship of spaces by to also understand what happens within the spaces, easily and quickly.

Mass Model

• The colours of the mass model have changed to match Samanthas colour layuout for the future scenario panel. By changing the colours it will make the diagrams look uniform across the four panels.
• From Annie's note, I have added in a bit of site context for the building so the viewer can comprehend its relationship with neighbouring buildings and street. It also helps to define the orientation of the building.
• Scale has been factored into this image as well as a result. I have added people in so that one can understand the sizing of each architectural opportunity as well as the size of Paddington Central overall.

 

Mass Model Explosion

• The colours of the mass model have changed to match Samanthas colour layout for the future scenario panel. By changing the colours it will make the diagrams look uniform across the four panels.
• From Annie's note, I have added in a bit of site context for the building so the viewer can comprehend its relationship with neighbouring buildings and street. It also helps to define the orientation of the building.
• I have also decided to add in the dotted lines which helps the viewer to realise where each function spaces fits amongst the entire building. With the addition of a colour key each space is also easily identifiable.

WellFIT Centre Diagram:

As a group we decided to make each of our Architectural Opportunities into a small visual diagram which would be about a quarter of a A2 page in size, when factoring in the panoramic shot. 

As to these instructions my defined diagram can be seen above. This idea/diagram has developed since the last tutorial and through the use of strong colours and simple illustration it is clear what functions are inclusive within the WellFit Centre. I have tried to make this as easily readable as possible so the viewers obtain an understanding about its function almost instantly. The diagram is purposely split into two parts including a basic bubble diagram defining the spaces, with a coordinating colour symbol and explanation on the right (below).

Sustainable Future Diagram:

After presenting my developed sustainability diagram to Annie the other day her idea of the poster had changed due to new research diagrams that she had found on the internet. As we were looking through we found that they were DEFINITELY more informative and easier to read overall. As such we began to develop a new overall diagram. The final image can be seen above.  This will be placed as the main image on the Sustainable Future poster.

Our main aim was to capture sustainability on a number of levels including;

• Community
• Site (Paddington Central)
• City
• State
• And nation.

By doing this it would allow for the diagram to explain in more depth the sustainable strategies and implementations at each level and how they work together to create an overall sustainable society.

This week Annie and I have brainstormed ideas as to what strategies would exist at each level and therefore created a representative symbol within the diagram. By doing so we have mocked up a created image of each of the levels.

The sustainable strategies which will exist at each level include:

Community

• Urban Infil - families will share spaces between houses
• Extenderd family - sees grandparents move into houses to respond to higher costs of living
• Conservation - conserving water and energy within the home (water tanks)
• Urban Farming - growing food at home.

Site

•  Community Preservation - typical green practices
• Market Place - source of economic revenue
• Re-Purpose - retrofit of Paddington Central to create a more sustainable development
• Community connections - fostering fulfillment and collaboration between people through the functional spaces.

City

•  Community Networking - new source of income
• Electrical innovation - greener forms of electricity and power
• Education - new cirriculum development
• Government - new laws and regulations and guidelines

State

Shows the impacts Brisbane city has on the surrounding cities in Queensland. It defines the new sustainable living lifestyle. 

Australia 

Showcases how the Queensland state can impact on all of Australia.

Week 5 - Project Development

After the tutorial I began to work on a couple of the diagrams which were delegated to me for completion for next weeks final presentation. These included;

• A diagram which defined the sustainable society we had created from our future scenario. This will be used as the main image for our Sustainable Future panel.
• A massing model of the new Paddington Central development
• A massing model explosion of the new Paddington Central development
• A diagram of my architectural opportunity; the WellFIT CENTRE.

 

Sustainable Diagram:

I have begun to construct our sustainable diagram this weekend. It is developing really well. I am trying to establish the core values of the sustainable community which revolve around;

• The Market Place
• Community
• Workplace
• Environment.

 At the moment my idea is to have representative features of each one of the above elements surround the diagram. You can already begin to see that I am developing the workplace, community and environment areas. More detail will need to be established within each quarter but I am going to await Annie's approval and see where we can go from here. 

Massing Model & Explosion

I have completed the massing model and explosion for the new Paddington Central development. Currently it is split into five functions including;

• Market Place - green
• Co Creation Centre - blue
• Edutainment - red
• Wellfit Centre - yellow
• And the fusion/core zone - grey.

As you can see in the image above, I have begun to work on creating the explosion of all of the functions. This will help to separate them and allow the tutors to see what/where the functions exist within the entire Paddington Central precinct. 

It is noted that the colours are a bit primary school looking at the moment but this will be developed throughout the week. Also on Monday I will ask the fellow group members if they think site context is important at this stage? I think it is because it gives a sense of scale, size and orientation.

Architectural Opportunity Diagram:

Due to all my time and effort being placed into the other two diagrams my Wellfit Centre diagram is looking a little bland and boring. At least now I have completed some research and the six provided services coincide with each other to create a place of wellness and health. The variety of services will help to cater all public users from children to the elderly. 

Although it is basic at the moment it shows my idea for the diagram. I want to create a simple and understandable bubble diagram of the spaces as well as provide a little explanation of what will be opportunities will exist in each functional space.  This will be developed over the next couple of days.

Week 5 - Architectural Opportunies

TUTORIAL PART 1 :

During the tutorial Annie and I began searching for inspiration with regards to the Sustainability Future diagram that we were delegated. It was our responsibility to define a new triple bottom line for the future society and have this represented with our finalised diagram. A few inspirations of the sort of diagram were researched and what we want to develop can be seen below.  

  http://www.meppublishers.com/content/index.php/mep-partners-with-piranha-for-full-scale-recycling-programme/

 

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-108906380/stock-vector-ecology-info-graphics-sustainable-concept-charts-symbols-graphic-elements.html

http://www.loveinfographics.com/categories/environment-infographics/sustainable-logistics-infographic-infographic

The image above was agreed upon as our favourite and we want to go ahead with this and use it as our inspiration. Hopefully we can adapt this to our particular needs and produce something which is understandable and provides a clear image of our future sustainable society. As Annie has an exam on Wednesday I am going to take the opportunity to begin to develop the diagram.

TUTORIAL PART 2:

This week we had to present four individual architectural opportunities to the class to explain on an design level, as to how this site will develop according to our futuristic scenario. As we had already explored the notion of architectural opportunities on the Paddington site throughout the weeks it put our group in good sted for this weeks class presentation.

Each of the group members over the previous week had further explored, researched and evolved their ideas and understandings of their function spaces. Therefore, the group was inspired to further develop this fusion of the four functions which  would permeate throughout the local Paddington community.

The dream we have for Paddington Central is for it to act as a structure which will inform close community interactions and collectively shape the community users through engaging and participating in simple, blue collar activities/jobs (which once defined our working society). This structure containing the functions;

• Market place
• Co-Creation Centre
• Edutainment Centre
• Wellfit Centre

will act as a source of collaborative living and will hopefully form as a lead model for the greater Brisbane, Queensland and even Australian community.

We delivered the following powerpoint to the class.

Week 5 - Lecture

Dr Philip Crowther directed the lecture for this week. I found this to be my favourite lecture of the five so far as it was so engaging and inspiring. Additionally, most of the content was about New York which is where I will be traveling after graduating at the end of the year. Although I felt that this lecture was directed more at the Urban theme group I did pick up some elements for my own groups design purposes and inspirations.  His opinions and explanations of communal housing particularly resonated with me as last week the group talked about developing more of a community housing feel where urban infill would begin to set itself as a trend.

Another inspirational feature of the lecture was "The High Line" Project . This project took a major piece of infrastructure which had previously been unused and unwanted and made it relevant to the city by transforming it into an urban park.This definitely caught my attention as I felt that it was a great exemplar of the future projects of Architecture. I think this project was extremely successful in creating a new identity for the meat packing district of New York and providing the area with new opportunities that came with the influx of people wanting to see and use the new attraction. I feel that this sort of project could be established in Brisbane in the near future and could inject some sort of life back into the city. We have many unused spaces which I feel could be revamped and once again become a desired destination rather than just acting as a passing point. 

 The High Line Project

  The High Line Project

  The High Line Project