THE PROPOSAL
Motivation and Context
This research project has been driven with the intention to engage the community and develop their relationship with their local and natural environment. There has been a focus on highlighting and celebrating the features and importance of the natural joinery systems existing within popular built up areas such as a shopping centre.
This has been explored through the concept of urban acupuncture; a series of small interventions that are implemented within the urban environment “demonstrating the possibilities of a space in a way that motivates others to engage with their community”2. This design process produces immersive interiors that are receptive to the interaction of the community with the intervention.
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The natural water system is making geographical connections between suburbs and popular buildings and structures. These interventions use the water to grab the attention of the community and bring the focus back to the natural environment. They aim to remind the community of the existence of the lake, a feature of the area that is overlooked by people walking or passing by.
I would like to push this idea further and begin to see how these natural joinery systems can develop relationships within the community. I would like to focus on two user groups within the community, who perhaps don’t blend together smoothly. This could be user groups differed by age or interests such as the elderly and youth. In doing this the project is situated within a social and environmental context.
2. Lerner, Jamie. 2014. Urban Acupuncture: Celebrating Pinpricks of Chang the Enrich City Life. Washington: Island Press, 4
Practice, Approach and Presentation
Site
I envision that my site will change. It will either be a different natural system such as a coastal beach. Or I will position the project at a different location down the lake. The places I have in mind are Brimbank Park; a popular walking track around the lake, Highpoint Shopping Centre; a much more popular and bigger shopping centre in the Western Suburbs or Flemington Racecourse. The site must have a relation to the natural environment as this is an aspect that has driven my project from the beginning.
Audience and Stakeholders
The space would be aimed at the local community, the people who are living and visiting the area regularly. It would target the community to evolve the existing relationship with the site to appreciate and care for the natural environment. I would also like to explore how the natural environment can facilitate and establish connections between different people within the community. This could be people of different generations such as the elderly and youth as there is often a disconnect between these ages.
The project has already explored how joinery techniques can be applied to aid in developing the relationship between people passing by an overlooked site. Going forward, I am interested in seeing how these joinery techniques and the natural systems can be implemented to provoke connections between people.
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The space would be supported by the local council and they may help in maintaining the space. It is a community driven project and so the users would have a responsibility in facilitating the quality and operation of the space.
As I will continue to work within the natural environment, I am acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, the people of the Wurundjeri and Kulin nation. I do not intend to disrupt or be intrusive on the natural environment but rather use this as an opportunity to bring attention to the natural systems that are overlooked and underappreciated.
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My approach to the project would involve an intensive site analysis as the details and characteristics of the environment are what would be driving my project. The analysis would include materials and texture capture with a focus on small details that are unique to the site. From here, small interventions and explorations would be conducted to further understand how people are currently interacting with the site. Digital models, drawings and collaging will assist in developing the concept and design ideas.
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At this stage I propose my final presentation will involve a site-specific 1:1 installation or intervention possibly supported with a scaled model. The concept would be supported with drawings, diagrams and imagery in the form of film and animation.