Hey Team 7 and everyone else!
It was good to meet some of you today, looking forward to meeting the rest of you tomorrow
Bryan and I spent the afternoon in the docklands today and also went to a presentation by urban designer and other people who work at Vic Urban. They talked a bit about the history of the site and what they would like to see the site develop into which was really interesting. You may already know all this but I just thought I'd share some of my notes:
SITE
- Aborigines used the site as a meeting and hunting place - used to be wetlands
- Port was a hive of activity (general port activities, boat building etc.) until it was no longer possible for boats toenter (water became to shallow) and then it was disused and fell into disrepair. In the 80's and 90's some of the warehouses were used for illegal raves.
- 10-12 years ago the council(or aus equivalent) decided to invest in it, divided it into parcels and sold them off to large companies which is why there are now lots of large commercial, sterile buildings on the site.
- As Vic Urban were trying to get developers to buy into it at the start they weren't in a position to negotiate better urban design principles in the design of the buildings and site works, but now that the docklands are starting to become more popular, they are trying to break the large masses up and fill in the smaller spaces and are in more of a position to dictate how and what people build on the site.
- For the next phase of the development they want to encourage: smaller, more human scale buildings and sit works, diversity, mixed use, bike trails, activity, recreation, families and children (the average age of a docklands inhabitant is 30 compared with 38 elsewhere in the city & because the apartments are 1 & 2 bedrooms people move out of the area when they start a family), different ways to engage with the water - there is only one spot in the entire site that you can physically touch the water (although it is pretty polluted so not sure that you'd want to...)
- They said at the moment they have lots of exposed public space, contemporary buildings, large scale developments etc. and they were trying to move to the other end of the spectrum with regard to these things,i.e, enclosed public space, reference to the history of the site, small scale etc.
- They talked a bit about how the wind is an issue
- When asked what they would like to see they said things like: grit and grain, not shiny and new, smaller scale, something surprising and unexpected
- Amanda Roberts mentioned that if another architect showed her a plan of an iconic building or a copy of degraves st, she would scream, so they don't want a copy of what's already in the city or an ego statement
Things that came to mind during all this were: hunting games, paintball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mOS-hP4Ko4, playground, children's installations e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPAMsb9CJ4, wind funnels, wind noise makers, wind+vibrancy+activity+children, grunge, echoing, multiplying and amplifying the user, being sheltered and un-sheltered, war, colour, dirt, decomposing
COMPETITION
A couple of things that they mentioned about the competition were:
- We get basic power tools and equipment as well as a small budget for materials (there will be a material pantry) - they said we would have lots of room to be resourceful, i.e. get sponsored or get things donated, scout around for cheap or free stuff (I made an installation once using the little speakers from inside oldschool phones, it was quite a good way to get low level sound over quite a large area, does anyone know of a place where you can get stuff like that?). My friend Aaron, made quite a cool and effective installation in Auckland out of Makedo clips (an australian company that sponsered him sent him a whole lot) and cardboard: http://aaronmcconchie.com/news/the-world-around/2011/02/27/video-of-the-big-day/
- We'll get a rental car and hopefully a driver but they weren't sure about that one
- We have to remain on site while we have any tools and equipment there. The organiser lady said that, because of the time it takes to pack up all your stuff and take it back to the workshop and then get it out again after a couple of hours sleep, she would recommend shift work so that we don't have to bother with the packing up and unpacking, which makes sense
- Nothing can be properly fixed down to the site at all
- There are going to be noise/power tool restrictions after 10pm
Sorry this is such a long post but I felt like I had to get it all out
See you all tomorrow!
