TEAM X: Site 8 - Making

Team X met early in the 44th hour of the 72 hour Landscape Urbanism design challenge. In a small room in Urban Central we sit on bunk beds and sprawl on the floor and review our progress and discuss as a group the overarching theoretical elements informing our incision into Site 8 @ Docklands. We talk about our individual interpretations of our work and discuss how we feel about the design. The shared con

versationat the beginning of the day ensures we are all in agreement with the direction of our project and are committed to the demanding task of continuing the construction process. Our team departs from room 324 of our shared accommodation and we fragment into smaller groups - moving to the site, to source material and to Shed 4.

At Site 8 the structural form of our design is weaved & wired & glued & tied into shape. A skeleton for the synthetic skin of our design rises up from the cold expanse of concrete upon which Site 8 is situated, the organic structure Team X is creating captures the attention of passing residents and visitors throughout the day - as we work we are all invited to discuss our design and the project. We are pleased and somewhat suprised by the extent of community engagement and the level of curiosity the public are demonstrating, instigating questions to the 10 of us as we construct the design in our white plastic overalls.

"What are you doing..."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING.."(yelled to us from a 3rd floor balcony)

"Is it a whale you're building..?

'Mate, Is that a model of an enlarged prostate?"(we decided to interpret this as a weirdly flattering question).

"What's going on here..?

and on and on the questions came. The curiosity and comments were entirely positive - not one derisive comment on the project or the design was expressed. We felt this spoke of an underlying desire from the public that they WANTED to see creative activity happening in the site. Team X is asking one another what will groups from the 40,000 strong football crowd make of the project as they head to the bars and restaurants surrounding Site 8 after the game. Hmm....

Some members are considering camping out all night to protect our baby from any possible attack - while others of us think our project needs to defend itself and prove it can survive in the world without our constant care. My God, being a parent is hard work because we can't help but love and want to protect our baby from the destructive elements in the real world!

In the 50th hours of the competition you would have seen Team X filling & tieing sandbags. Who would have thought tieing sandbags would prove to be such an unpleasant task? You would have seen Team X drilling & cable tieing bamboo and fitting netting over the form. The construction process proved a need to be responsive to the materials and to let the nature of the bamboo guide us as we constructed the form throughout the day.