Week 9: Reflection

1:200 drawing

Photograph of 1:1000 model

**Presentation file was not able to upload on blog, but is uploaded to the MOCOW.

Overall, this was a great piece of assessment, getting us ready for the final. It taught me to understand how buildings can interact together and how a certain amount of space between each building makes a significant difference. In this project I was able to think properly about placing each building where it was best suited, looking at surrounding buildings and others that were needed.

Week 8: One to Two Hundred

At this point in time I am exploring the details of the buildings and how they interact together smoothly. each individual building must link seamlessly to the next one, without confusion for the person walking through - they must complete their story.

I feel this drawing is the focus in the civic plan as it reiterates the town perfectly. The town is divided by the railway that runs through the middle - one of the first things I saw when studying the plan of Pomona. When thinking about how to construct the library area, I thought to reiterate this division as it is a defining part of Pomona’s history. The library is broken into two spaces (this could be used well when sorting the books/audio or museum parts of the library) and is connected by a courtyard surrounding both buildings. The flat ‘stairway’ takes the person through the designed library, then through to the commercial area of the plan. With this reiteration of the division, it not only parts the library to make it more interesting, but also connects the two buildings comfortably, with the thoughtful use of space in between - the perfect civic space.

Under the shallow stairway, under the library, I have added a flood gate (seen on section below) to allow for flooding near the railway area. This is perfect fitting with the slight contour and stairway towards the library.

In the article, ‘Function follows form’, questions were raised, ‘how should a building be used?’ The linkage scheme represent paths linking to each of the specialised spaces, this could be paired with a bubble diagram in the design process, shown in the weeks’ above process. The dual of the linkage scheme uses the bubble diagram to represent form. Outside and inside are independent - make sure this is reflected in your form - nothing too boxy. Make sure all the buildings connect well with the use of thoughtful space in between. A good example of buildings connecting is the amphitheatre, courtyard and foods cape area in my civic place. 

Week 7: One to Thousand

In the tutorial today we cleared up civic architecture, made sure we understood what was asked of us and made sure all our buildings were connecting seamlessly in the design. The civic space must be a fully functional public building that provides an independent architectural entity with programmes. My reasoning and justification of the placing of all my buildings has been covered throughout my blog, presentation, drawings and model. making sure each person has easy access to each area and follows the journey/story throughout the civic space as intended. By using large thick wall structures and curvature of the walls, i am able to make the person want to move in a particular direction and end up in an area that closely relates to the previous one occupied - with the thoughtful use of space in between each building, this journey should be quite smooth and desirable for the locals and visitors visiting pomona.

This railway area chosen could become a little noisy with the train passing through, but it is designed to connect the museum and other art areas together between the two areas divided by the railway line. Coming from the relaxing courtyard, through the foods cape and popping out into the library and amphitheatre large spaced area smoothly connects the civic and social components together. 

In class, we discussed what spaces would be more suited together. One student had the art residents blocks near the school and it was questioned for a number of reasons. my main concern would have been the noisy school children annoying the ambience of the quiet art area - artists need comfortable spaces to work in to get the most out of their desirable pieces - this is why i situated them in the parkland areas, near the museum and towards the end of the journey after the commercial areas. These are the sort of issues that are identified beyond what everyone else would see as obvious facts, such as the safety or geographical parts. 

The lane way connecting the commercial and library areas is a great way to display the artists work as well as giving them a tranquil pathway to walk through into the next ‘journey’ of the civic place.

Locals and visitors are able to arrive from my building at the old railway gallery - which is quite close to the information centre car park, a relaxing walk towards the civic art platform space. Other entrances can be accessed through the main roads or towards the end of the commercial areas 

In one of the readings, ‘Erasing Architecture into the system’, it was said that when designing in large urban contexts, a sensitive treatment of structure and the unique layout that envelopes visitors is vital. With this in mind, with a major connection between the complexities and the potential of question and the physical product, the end products comfortably works well without concern. The person can be guided through the space seamlessly, without confusion, and be able to follow the journey and make their own story. With this in mind, the ideas presented for this civic place must seamlessly interact to create a smooth journey for the person as this design will take on a new form for the town.

Week 6: Theme

As Pomona has many art related areas such as the old railway station gallery, museum and the arts part of the school, there weren’t too many theme related issues as the art parts of pomona have a connection to the platform, making it a great area for a civic art platform. 

In the tutorial we looked at the bridge over the Arno, in Florence -Ponte Vecchio. This was a great way to ‘see’ what would be expected in the project - gave us a new perspective on how to ‘connect’ each building to create an entity, like the bridge. Began to asked myself questions, what does pomona need and how would they walk about town? when looking at pomona in plan, what’s different, what stands out? the division of the town with the railway running through the middle stuck out the most - maybe use this to bring the town ‘together’ and use that use of space either side of the railway. must also think of the layers we referred too - flood areas could be an issue when working in this area - how will you overcome this?

C1: CONTEXT - geographical and social relevance of the proposal 

Due to the small space within the town, an entity would suit them better to connect all their well organised recreational activities together - to give the town more of a connection to each project/area throughout the town. visitors also will be able to communicate and understand the town a lot better. their art and cultural areas will be brought out stronger in a civic space due to the interaction with other spaces and flow of traffic around the town.

These reasonings are also inspired by my ‘timeline’ node of pomona in project 1 - the locals and visitors will be able to ‘communicate’ with the town more with a better understanding of their history and how the town comes together as a whole - this is reflected in the civic space designed in this project.

Possibilities and potentials in the chosen site for your design proposal

Use the ‘pathways’ connecting each building as an introduction into the next phase. make the person WANT to go in that particular direction and onto the next building, create them a story, allow them possibilities to take, let them make their own decisions but guide them through the space in the most practical way possible. Refer to week 5’s reading and the ideas explored.

The area on either side of the railway is deserted, so building my civic space there will not only integrate the other service and retail buildings that are on either side of the railway, but bring them together, as a whole.

Development of ideas have been documented with the use of bubble diagrams and arrows referring to the foot traffic. These mind maps have enabled me as a designer to look beyond what the obvious is and really think about how this civic plan can work smoothly and practically. Diagrams are seen below: 

C2: FUNCTION - contributions the proposed structure is expected to make

This civic place allows the residents of Pomona to cross the railway and connect with the other side - so much unused space either side of the railway that won’t disrupt the other shopping/bank areas of the town. This entity will connect the town together smoothly and seamlessly. the museum on factory street seems to be quite separate from the other areas of the arts in the town - the new civic plan will make sure the museum smoothly runs hand in hand with the rest of the social, commercial and civic components of the plan

My design creates desirable spaces for the people of Pomona. The architecture allows them to seamlessly work their way around the art areas of the town without losing the journey. Each social or civic space is thoughtfully set out to allow for an easy flow of traffic and movement throughout the space. See C3 Image.

C3: COMPONENTS - details of how the proposed functions are to be accommodated

This design responds to the changing needs of the people, it circulates them around different areas of activities and each space smoothly interacts with each other.

This diagram below shows the foot traffic and circulation through the civic space. It also shows the thoughtful space between each building - which is the making of a good civic space! 

C4: STRATEGIES - Architectural entity

A great example of this was found in Norway, Havoysund Pathway by Reiulf Ramsted Architects.

This gave me inspiration for the next assessment. The beautifully designed form leads down to the beach and is a place to rest. The concrete structure mimics the winding forms of the mountains behind it as it meanders toward the sea.

Collection of systems and physical entity, needs to work as a single architectural whole - must present identity through physical presence, see model below:

People can experience and utilise sequences of spaces as a whole. Discussion about my architectural entity is above.

C5: DESIGN COMMUNICATION - summary of design outcomes 

Sturcture of the presentation:

1. Show current buildings

2. Show the relationships between the buildings and the thoughtful space. Explain what each building is used for and how it relates to others - also show connection to the museum so it seamlessly interacts with the space.surrounding it

3. Show the foot traffic and circulation between the buildings - emphasise that you have thought about the space in between the buildings to suit a civic architecture proposal

4. Show the sketches/diagrams and drawings of your civic space

The presentation needs to be shown consecutively, so others can view the changes in order. The presentation needs to clearly show how the buildings interact together and comfortable become one architectural entity.

See uploaded presentation in Week 9.

Week 5: Transition from Nodes to Buildings

Positive elements that should be investigated further from your development stages of project 1:

People of Pomona are happy with their close-nit town and are not necessarily in need of anything in particular, more so a place for them to interact with each other, explore the town’s history and continue to admire its growth. the people of pomona would appreciate a civic place that brings them closer together as a community, without losing the ‘Pomona life’ and easy accessibility of their regular places to visit. therefore, this community involvement should be investigated further, with extra thought on HOW it can be brought together with an architectural entity. 

This will be done grouping all recreational activities and areas together with thoughtful treatment of spaces in between them, to keep that community flow alive. Residents still admire the small, isolated town from the city, so I would like to keep it that way but also envision something new, something that can emphasise the town’s family by supporting their lifestyle, not only for the locals, but visitors too. this project is bringing together their town as a whole, but creating a new story for pomona. these investigations made throughout pomona would definitely work well in a civic architecture proposal - this small town can finally connect in a more cultural and familiar way, by networking small recreational areas together so they become one entity.

In the article, ‘Concept of folio,’ it explains how a sequence or a connection of the space can be moved through the walls - they can be combined by intersection, repetition, qualification, distortion and fragmentation. The transport through a space is guided by the way the architecture is designed. System of relations between objects, events and people, it allows the development of a charge, a point of intensity. By reading this, ideas come to mind about connecting the relationships between our desired buildings needed in the art platform. By using forms, the architecture can make the person want to travel in a particular direction, towards a certain event. Do a number of bubble diagrams to work out what buildings work well together and how much space is needed between each to make it comfortable.