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Showing posts with label Urban Implant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urban Implant. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Narrative - A Possible Journey of a Wanderer Through the Docklands
I was wandering through the Melbourne Docklands, bored and a little cold. What a desolate and empty place! Maybe it's time to get out of here - back to the city. Turning up the Harbour Esplanade towards the tram, gin was the only thing that could save this day for me.
As I approached the bar, I noticed a strange, slatted grey box, seemingly waving in the wind. This wasn't here last time! Coming from behind I could hear music and crashing as well as what seemed to be the rhythmic whirr of an exercise bike! Curiosity overcomes me and I walk around the corner, and creep nervously down the dark glossy black corridor, noticing a nice warm volume to my right - maybe I can hunker down here to warm up? But curiosity draws me further past a dimly lit, dusty chandelier.
I enter a bustling space, full of people talking and brushing past me. A very strange man in a turquoise suit greets me warmly and asks me to take a seat while he arranges my consultation.
Consultation? I want a gin, not therapy!
But before I can explain I am swept off and seated in a giant black, ominously suggestive leather throne. Here my consultation begins. "Yes, it's a severe case... I'm the resident specialist and you have a severe case of Docklands Development Disorder - symptoms being boredom, loneliness, spatial disorientation, anxiety and the desire for a stiff drink.
He runs through a series of questions asking me about spaces I love, and how the Docklands makes me feel. From there I'm asked to jump on a modified trampoline, ride a rather dog-like exercise bike, crawl into a box before I finally approach the 'operating table', which seems to be a hub of activity.
People draw, people drink, people sit, people stand, people talk, people listen, people watch, lie, lean, run, jump, kiss, slide, yell.
I walk up the crimson ramp next to the table. This table seems tall at one end, and is gradually swallowed by the ramps towards the end. It's a table for all heights. I'm handed an "arse chuck" - a strange thing which a lovely blonde girl hands me - I am confused until she gestures - I take the wedge and find a spot, sitting on the ramp at the table.
My seat tilts me to my neighbour - a clean cut guy wearing a channel seven name-badge. He chats to me about his experience about this very strange place. What a hoot! Finally a little bit of life, surprise and unpredictability in the Docklands!
I had thought for a long time that the Docklands had no reason for me to stay - but perhaps this thing is what is needed! A place where we can rethink urban space and what the city means to us. A place where we can construct and deconstruct and enables us to choose how we would like to inhabit our urban landscapes. I really feel like the bigwigs are watching and listening to this.
Later on, I'm standing at the top of the ramp looking over the restless harbour. Maybe I'll give the Docklands another chance!
Sitting in the Consultation Chair:
Decontaminating:
Riding the bike into the forest:
Sitting on the arse chocks at the Operating Table:
As I approached the bar, I noticed a strange, slatted grey box, seemingly waving in the wind. This wasn't here last time! Coming from behind I could hear music and crashing as well as what seemed to be the rhythmic whirr of an exercise bike! Curiosity overcomes me and I walk around the corner, and creep nervously down the dark glossy black corridor, noticing a nice warm volume to my right - maybe I can hunker down here to warm up? But curiosity draws me further past a dimly lit, dusty chandelier.
I enter a bustling space, full of people talking and brushing past me. A very strange man in a turquoise suit greets me warmly and asks me to take a seat while he arranges my consultation.
Consultation? I want a gin, not therapy!
But before I can explain I am swept off and seated in a giant black, ominously suggestive leather throne. Here my consultation begins. "Yes, it's a severe case... I'm the resident specialist and you have a severe case of Docklands Development Disorder - symptoms being boredom, loneliness, spatial disorientation, anxiety and the desire for a stiff drink.
He runs through a series of questions asking me about spaces I love, and how the Docklands makes me feel. From there I'm asked to jump on a modified trampoline, ride a rather dog-like exercise bike, crawl into a box before I finally approach the 'operating table', which seems to be a hub of activity.
People draw, people drink, people sit, people stand, people talk, people listen, people watch, lie, lean, run, jump, kiss, slide, yell.
I walk up the crimson ramp next to the table. This table seems tall at one end, and is gradually swallowed by the ramps towards the end. It's a table for all heights. I'm handed an "arse chuck" - a strange thing which a lovely blonde girl hands me - I am confused until she gestures - I take the wedge and find a spot, sitting on the ramp at the table.
My seat tilts me to my neighbour - a clean cut guy wearing a channel seven name-badge. He chats to me about his experience about this very strange place. What a hoot! Finally a little bit of life, surprise and unpredictability in the Docklands!
I had thought for a long time that the Docklands had no reason for me to stay - but perhaps this thing is what is needed! A place where we can rethink urban space and what the city means to us. A place where we can construct and deconstruct and enables us to choose how we would like to inhabit our urban landscapes. I really feel like the bigwigs are watching and listening to this.
Later on, I'm standing at the top of the ramp looking over the restless harbour. Maybe I'll give the Docklands another chance!
Sitting in the Consultation Chair:
Decontaminating:
Riding the bike into the forest:
Sitting on the arse chocks at the Operating Table:
The Urban Disorders Clinic Consultation Session
Our intervention has evolved into the Urban Disorders Clinic under the supervision of Dr Vic Cabal, a specialist in the treatment of the urban epidemic known as the Docklands Development Disorder (DDD). The clinic has been temporarily "implanted" at Site 7 and will be open for consultations from 2pm today. Visitors are encouraged to have a one-on-one consultation with one of our specialists, where they will be diagnosed for the condition of DDD. A range of treatments is available at the clinic. After receiving immediate, short-term treatments, they go into "community re-integration", before being released back into the public realm. Community re-integration takes place at the "Operating Table" - here they can socialise with other visitors (patients), have a drink, warm their hands at the fire, draw on the table with chalk and reflect on their treatment and the long-term rehabilitation of their particular strand of DDD. The treatments available at the clinic include Decontamination Shower, Walking the Dog, Isolation Cell, Nail It, Joy Jump and more. There is also an Intensive Care unit for patients in the Ultrawanker tax bracket.
Below is a simple chart of the Consultation and Treatment session, known as our Diagnostic Tool. This will be drawn on the top of the Operating Table, for reference by our specialists during consultations. Visitors can also annotate the chart and leave their thoughts on the table.
The specialists use the Diagnosis Form to structure the consultation and gather information from patients. The patient takes this form away with them - but before they leave, we will take a photo of it for our records.
Our team will take on the roles of urban disorder specialists/physicians, reception (triage), intensive care and rehabilitation carers.
The whole system is a disruption to the normal conditions on site and in everyday living, playing with the familiar to get people thinking about the possibilities at Docklands. We see it as an apparatus for engaging with the public, simultaneously offering them playful and reflective activities, and enabling us to find out how they feel about the Docklands and its future.
Below is a simple chart of the Consultation and Treatment session, known as our Diagnostic Tool. This will be drawn on the top of the Operating Table, for reference by our specialists during consultations. Visitors can also annotate the chart and leave their thoughts on the table.
The specialists use the Diagnosis Form to structure the consultation and gather information from patients. The patient takes this form away with them - but before they leave, we will take a photo of it for our records.
Our team will take on the roles of urban disorder specialists/physicians, reception (triage), intensive care and rehabilitation carers.The whole system is a disruption to the normal conditions on site and in everyday living, playing with the familiar to get people thinking about the possibilities at Docklands. We see it as an apparatus for engaging with the public, simultaneously offering them playful and reflective activities, and enabling us to find out how they feel about the Docklands and its future.
SITE DRAWINGS + RATIONALE
Here are some more formalised drawings of our architectural moves:
SITE PLAN
We have constructed a 2.6m x 10m x 2.5m grey box - an echo of both the past era of shipping containers as well as camouflaging in with the bleak concrete windswept environment that it inhabits. From angles - in particularly towards the city, this box opens to reveal its surreal interior. The contrast between mundane and the hyper experiential acts as a draw card - curiosity and the drive to play drives us towards, into, through and eventually onto our intervention.
The bold, brash and strong move of creating a volume to shield from wind as well as the destructive presence of the penetrating gaze - a presence created by a wing of a nearby bar - enables the space in between the box and the road to be used for anything - you are only limited by your imagination!
To this end we have inhabited the remainder of our site with a collections of 'deployable objects' - the intention being that they can continue to inhabit the site, or they can drift around the docklands, to be eventually replaced with other objects. These objects reflect our individual desires of what we would like to see on in the docklands.
To fulfil our desires, we have managed to collect:
- ply boxes
- gym bike
- reclining chair with footwash basin
- emergency shower
- trampoline
- chandeliers
and other bits and pieces.
In order to imbue the entire scheme with a sense of a past narrative (something we called out as important earlier on in the process) we will ourselves inhabit this space - creating an Urban Disorders Clinic, a space where we can discuss with the public their individual perceived problems with the Docklands. We act as specialists and consult with the public, as well as provide 'treatments' to enable them to alter their perceptions of the Docklands. We also create a space to demonstrate to the Docklands alternate urbanisms which people might desire. Conversations are opened by the strangeness and the sense of play that our intervention creates.
ELEVATIONS
The 'urban camouflage' is constructed of stained timber planks, which are allowed to sway in the wind. The brief gaps in-between give glimpses of the exciting interior. The east face - which opens to the city, displays the black painted horizontal plane of our communal table - painted with chalkboard paint to take the suggestions of the neighbourhood, as well as to tempt engagement.
SECTIONS
Also visible are the two red painted raked planes - these become our landscape to be inhabited, as well as our deployment of things, which aid us in the inhabitation of this landscape, as well as the greater landscape.
SITE PLAN
We have constructed a 2.6m x 10m x 2.5m grey box - an echo of both the past era of shipping containers as well as camouflaging in with the bleak concrete windswept environment that it inhabits. From angles - in particularly towards the city, this box opens to reveal its surreal interior. The contrast between mundane and the hyper experiential acts as a draw card - curiosity and the drive to play drives us towards, into, through and eventually onto our intervention.
The bold, brash and strong move of creating a volume to shield from wind as well as the destructive presence of the penetrating gaze - a presence created by a wing of a nearby bar - enables the space in between the box and the road to be used for anything - you are only limited by your imagination!
To this end we have inhabited the remainder of our site with a collections of 'deployable objects' - the intention being that they can continue to inhabit the site, or they can drift around the docklands, to be eventually replaced with other objects. These objects reflect our individual desires of what we would like to see on in the docklands.
To fulfil our desires, we have managed to collect:
- ply boxes
- gym bike
- reclining chair with footwash basin
- emergency shower
- trampoline
- chandeliers
and other bits and pieces.
In order to imbue the entire scheme with a sense of a past narrative (something we called out as important earlier on in the process) we will ourselves inhabit this space - creating an Urban Disorders Clinic, a space where we can discuss with the public their individual perceived problems with the Docklands. We act as specialists and consult with the public, as well as provide 'treatments' to enable them to alter their perceptions of the Docklands. We also create a space to demonstrate to the Docklands alternate urbanisms which people might desire. Conversations are opened by the strangeness and the sense of play that our intervention creates.
ELEVATIONS
The 'urban camouflage' is constructed of stained timber planks, which are allowed to sway in the wind. The brief gaps in-between give glimpses of the exciting interior. The east face - which opens to the city, displays the black painted horizontal plane of our communal table - painted with chalkboard paint to take the suggestions of the neighbourhood, as well as to tempt engagement.
SECTIONS
Also visible are the two red painted raked planes - these become our landscape to be inhabited, as well as our deployment of things, which aid us in the inhabitation of this landscape, as well as the greater landscape.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Public Consultations at Site 7
You are invited to a public one-on-one consultation with specialists from the Vic Cabal Urban Disorders Clinic. We are interested in your experiences at the Docklands. We prescribe a variety of treatments for the Docklands Development Disorder (DDD). Drop by the site today from 6pm and you will be well looked after by our team of highly experienced professionals.
SITE 7: INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
INTERVENTION REQUIRES OCCUPATION
Team 4 Friday
We split into two teams: one back on site continuing to build the table and ramp structures. The other discussing performance strategies for how to bring the entire system to life.
Photos from site mid-morning:
And later in the day ...
Tom in the midst of a consultation, informing a tour group about the work done by Dr Vic Cabal at the Urban Disorders Clinic (the new name for our intervention).
The final touches to the structure. Tomorrow morning we will install the pieces of apparatus that form the "treatment zones" in the Urban Disorders Clinic.
Timelapse of the day's work:
Photos from site mid-morning:
And later in the day ...
Tom in the midst of a consultation, informing a tour group about the work done by Dr Vic Cabal at the Urban Disorders Clinic (the new name for our intervention).
The final touches to the structure. Tomorrow morning we will install the pieces of apparatus that form the "treatment zones" in the Urban Disorders Clinic.
Timelapse of the day's work:Thursday, July 28, 2011
Team 4 Transformation and reassemblage of the old
An odd assortment of old equipment and props was purchased today. Some cleaning and loving application of paint in tones of pink and black has transformed these items in preparation for their incorporation into various "treatments". The pink suggests the inside of a body, referring back to the concept of organs and internal spaces. There will be an outer "skin" wrapping around the structure, made of long quivering blades, again painted black and pink.
Team 4 What is happening around our site
We are slowly collecting observations of the activities surrounding our site - a pedestrian/cycle path and the road lie on the eastern border. We took some photos and short video footage from various viewpoints. Some interesting company has arrived in the form of a pop-up mobile van serving Japanese food - looks cool and is already drawing a crowd!
Looking east from behind our site, a long carpark:
Looking west towards the end of the pier, another carpark:
The establishments behind our site westward, the Woolshed Pub and Va Bene Pizzeria serving food/drink, a hospitality group, a photographic agency:
Channel 7 across the road:
Video footage of footpath traffic (1 minute) at 5.35pm:
The latest news is that an AFL match is on at the stadium across the road this Friday night, 7.30pm. A large crowd is expected to gather at the Woolshed Pub.
Looking east from behind our site, a long carpark:
Looking west towards the end of the pier, another carpark:
The establishments behind our site westward, the Woolshed Pub and Va Bene Pizzeria serving food/drink, a hospitality group, a photographic agency:
Channel 7 across the road:
Video footage of footpath traffic (1 minute) at 5.35pm:
The latest news is that an AFL match is on at the stadium across the road this Friday night, 7.30pm. A large crowd is expected to gather at the Woolshed Pub.
Team 4 Docklands Development Disorder
As a way of engaging with the local community, we started to think again about the issues of Docklands and how it might be perceived by the local community near our site. We had not seen many people wandering around that area during the day yesterday, who were connected with the local establishments. We need to make more observations, especially at night-time. Who and what happens near our site? Do people congregate at the Woolshed Pub? What are the conditions at site? What do they want to happen at Docklands?
As a first start, the team provided one-word impressions of the Docklands.
- barren
- empty
- alienating
- concrete
- cold
- tension
- extreme
- is developing
- fatiguing distances
- windswept
- manmade
- gibber plain
- open to nothing
The wind appeared today - cold and strong, as people had forewarned.
The next step is to talk to locals. We didn't just want to rock up empty handed, so we have created a flyer to give to people which invites them to visit our site for a consultation.
This consultation is part of our concept for the site which has evolved into one based on a diagnosis-and-treatment system. People at Docklands are suffering from a range of ailments, which we hope to treat and cure with our Healing Apparatus. These ailments fall under the general condition of Docklands Development Disorder. Our treatments or curatives aim to provide a range of social, emotional, physiological and spatial outcomes for greater well-being in the Docklands. The healing system is composed of transformative organs, which diagnose the condition from the symptoms and dispense the treatment. Implantation occurs in a migratory way, from site to persons to community.
Some rough sketches:
The Healing Apparatus system
Ailments
Treatments
This concept picks up on the recurring concerns of the team around therapy, treatment, self-help, exchange. It also provides a system for activating the site and the built structures we are adding. But just as significantly, the system is a means of engaging the locals, conducting community consultation and research, through playful interactions. We can collect data on community frustrations, desires and satisfactions through this apparatus. The system can be extended into the digital realm by embedding sensors and other data collection instruments into the physical structure.
As a first start, the team provided one-word impressions of the Docklands.
- barren
- empty
- alienating
- concrete
- cold
- tension
- extreme
- is developing
- fatiguing distances
- windswept
- manmade
- gibber plain
- open to nothing
The wind appeared today - cold and strong, as people had forewarned.
The next step is to talk to locals. We didn't just want to rock up empty handed, so we have created a flyer to give to people which invites them to visit our site for a consultation.
This consultation is part of our concept for the site which has evolved into one based on a diagnosis-and-treatment system. People at Docklands are suffering from a range of ailments, which we hope to treat and cure with our Healing Apparatus. These ailments fall under the general condition of Docklands Development Disorder. Our treatments or curatives aim to provide a range of social, emotional, physiological and spatial outcomes for greater well-being in the Docklands. The healing system is composed of transformative organs, which diagnose the condition from the symptoms and dispense the treatment. Implantation occurs in a migratory way, from site to persons to community.Some rough sketches:
The Healing Apparatus system
Ailments
Treatments
This concept picks up on the recurring concerns of the team around therapy, treatment, self-help, exchange. It also provides a system for activating the site and the built structures we are adding. But just as significantly, the system is a means of engaging the locals, conducting community consultation and research, through playful interactions. We can collect data on community frustrations, desires and satisfactions through this apparatus. The system can be extended into the digital realm by embedding sensors and other data collection instruments into the physical structure.
Team 4 Building our studio
This morning the team splintered into several groups, tasked with shopping for supplies and props, starting the construction on site, blogging, devising how to engage with the local community and continuing with ideas about the overall design of our intervention (more on this in the next post). As much as possible, we are using recycled materials - lots of preloved timber and quirky equipment from gyms, hospitals, etc.
Progress has been made with the construction of the base structure. Already we are occupying and generating activity on site - an important response to the brief. A bit of planning and some building ...
Mid-afternoon some of the team were unlucky enough to get stranded at the hardware store, as the rental car decided to lock them out, so to speak (no names mentioned :)). This 2 hour delay did affect the construction schedule, but we are still hoping to have the table and ramp built before we finish tonight.
By midnight, we were thankful to have our Table built!
Timelapse video of a day on site:
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