Densification

Densification of the built environment should underpin future decisions. Stopping the spread of cities has benefits on numerous levels. It stops the expansion of systems established to collect and distribute resources and can stop the depletion of valuable biodiversity around cities.

Building engagement with their context and surrounds is minimal when looking at tall buildings with small sites. Maximising GFA of a site is the clients interest in projects which is why most buildings in the city are square rectangular prisms with little engagement to the street. I often look at the city from a distance, impressed with the density and scale of the built environment. However, when actually within the city, rarely do I ever look up and actually engage with the buildings.

The ground level is basically the scope of most users of the city which is quite superficial and insulting to the rest of the building. Whether this is the architects fault, or just the reality of cities, I think that this needs to be addressed.

Tutorial Week 7

Talked to tutor Davor about submitted project and what direction to take for this project.

Discussed the importance of mixed-use in diversifying regions. Other than exploring mixed-use in the CBD site, have not really decided on a concept to persue.

The rest of this blog involves looking at what cities around the world are doing in terms of built environment systems and operation which makes them successful in some regard.

New York City Skyline

 New York City is one of the most environmentally efficient cities on the surface of the planet because of its density. Suburban sprawl is more of an issue for cities as precious land continually succumbs to the built environment. (Massive Change - Bruce Mau 2004)

'We need to draw lines in the group and say, "The concrete stops here." That forces people to build in and up, rather than out - and there's othing wrong with high, dense urban environments as long as they're planned correctly. They can be extremely livable. They tend to require less transportation, fewer sewer lines, fewer power lines, fewer roads, and more tightly packed structures, which in and of themselves are more energy efficient'. - Patrick Moore, Greenpeace cofounder and environmental consultant.

Curitiba, Brazil

Transport system in Curitiba is one of the best in the world. The efficient bus system for its time was a revolutionary 'surface based network'. Land based transport systems allows for more frequency and faster connections.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Almost a third of residences in Copenhagen use bicycle transportation  to get to and from work and other places. Designated road infrastructure allows for a safe journey for cyclists. Bikes are popular because the climate and landscape encourages bike use. Copenhagen is flat and is not an overly hot climate (well for most of the year at least) which means people can ride to and from work without working up a furious sweat. 

You could say that bike riding is a more accepted and popular activity because of the culture, history, environment and climate. But really, because bike infastructure is so convenient and supportive of bikes in the CBD that it is literally a 'better way or equivalent' to travel.

Week 7 lecture

Lecture on Architecture fiction by Yasu.

'A fictitious story to place our architectural entity in.....'
We are to tell a visual story to explain our building.

The entity is to be set around 2025 in the future. 13 years is not a significant amount of time - however will be a crucial time for architects. This time frame allows for predictions about the course of human advancement.

While this assignment is about 'architectural fiction', it has to have some degree of realism according to Yasu. It is difficult to gauge what is real and what is not in the future. Realism could be intepreted as a comfortable prediction of the future, following some sort of linear progression of what is established in the present. But from what we have seen in the past, reality is never a guarenteed or linear progression. Reality could be anything. Future reality should transcend present reality. 'Realistic' predictions in my opinion are stagnate predictions of the present.
 

Why should the future challenge normal?
On a basic human level, it is important to continually learn and develop. This is partly the reason to human existance. So why shouldn't the built environment reflect the evolution and continual development of natural organisms on earth. Humans are faced with current issues which are a result of the past. By addressing these issues, it enables humans to learn and progress on an issue with the world. It is impossible to predict whether the world will ever be in a equiquibrium or 'utopian', which makes the future so exciting and devestating. 

What am I interested in the future?
I am interested in experiences, innovation/ primal development, comfort/ uncomfortable built environments and preservation/adaptability of 'this' all with the interests of natural beings, creatures and organisms. I am interested in dynamic and stimulating environments which engage the senses, exercising our brain.

Individual Project One Statement

Our proposed scenario for Brisbane in 2050, is a carless CBD which has mitigated and improved the issues listed above through mixed-use infrastructure, retrofits and new buildings. We propose that transit oriented developments and current major centres are decentralised nodes around the city which are beginning to be more self-sufficient, sustaining commercial, retail, hospitality and residential viability.

Mixed use serves numerous purposes. Firstly, it has the capability to create a far more diverse and dynamic city. Rather than concerntrating specific building types in regions of the city, we propose to disperse all building typologies throughout the city. Mixed-use also provides more economic viability. Currently, Queen St is a relatively dormant night space. By providing functions which accomodate day and night activities, better social and economic consquences will happen.

I believe that the only way that we can really improve the current conditions of the environment is to provide economic gain for developers. Flourishing social engagement is what will achieve economic gain so designing for the context and what the community actually needs will play a big part. 'Erasing Architecture into the system' by Arata Isozaki mentioned an interesting point - 'Though to do this, his method does not necessarily require utopian or monumental constructs, but rather proposes lightweight recombination’s of disposable components'. For change to happen, the infrastructure to support does not have to be monumental. We already have developed infrastructure over the past, why not use these and provide low impact alternate uses. Part of the challenge for future architects will be to solve issues without monumental change. A lot of change will come in leadership, which hopefully architects play a significant role.

Exhibition

Walking around the exhbition displayed very similar concepts about how to approach the future. Without reading other concepts, it appeared as though the future of sustainability includes a closer relationship with nature. Green washing cities, whilst a very good idea (our concept involved this to a degree), is not at the core of the issue. More awareness of the economic and social sustainability factors which contribute to climate change would enlighten readers that it is not just about 'planting more trees'.

Architectural Possibilities: Queen St Uses

Queen St now is a diverse region - it has mixed use mainly retail and then finance, hospitality, transport and some commercial amongst. Do we want to change that? What about the city? Developing mixed-use typologies which address insuffiencies in the urban region is an interesting study to look at.

There is a trend recently of retail moving towards online shopping. How can this be incorporated into a proposal for 2050? Do we want to move away from human personability? What if regions around retail encouraged more use of retail?

There could be two main possibilities that happen:
1. Trying to retain the experience of shopping in stores and malls.
2. Accepting the fact that online shopping will continue to develop and then potentially reducing or removing retail from a region.

This could be an interesting study for next assignment.

Queen Street currently is a busy public spot during the day, however, at night time seems to be empty which is lacking a lot of potential. By using mixed-use infrastructure, a more diverse CBD could be established which improves economic, social and environmental aspects. The issues raised in the previous tutorials can be addressed also by mixed-use.

Developing a northbank riverside attraction would also benefit the city. Providing a user-friendly riverside walkway/ public space could attract more economic and social function.

High-speed rail link from sunshine coast to brisbane to gold coast expands the social and economic possibilities.

Characters for the Architectural Fiction

Identifying the characters (users) of Brisbane in 2050 is helpful in establishing what we are designing and who it is for. Firstly, our future scenario requires significant change which can only be granted from leadership.

Architects need to be passionate about change in Brisbane. A central protagonis group of architects would make up the leaders for this change. Not only do they foresee issues for future generations, they cannot see the benefit in producing architecture which uninformed, off the shelf and 'useless' to society. They are commissioned by the Government in 2020 to develop a long-term plan for Queensland, Brisbane CBD in particular. The government leadership is interested in change. Not only would some funding come from the government, but help would be required to inform the public and gather support.

The condition of the architect will transfer from starchitect to architect. This will set egos aside and start promoting the potential of a site. By starting to promote architecture as a tool for change, societies opinion of architects will shift from a mere 'designer' to a tool for development.

Other characters in our future scenario would be a politician (vital for change) and a series of typical people from Brisbane. A mother, a student, architect (protagonist), politician, office worker, person who lives inner city and a typical shopper. All characters would need to benefit from the future scenario, highlighting the social and economic benefits which come with the proposal.