Team 8: Final post: Urban Transplant

+ functions of social, interactive and flexible uses we provide through seating and tables
+ small moving spaces, that the hanging plant frame provides in response to wind condition on site
+ the reevaluation of opportunist species from the status of background weed to beautiful colonizing clusters that perform a vital ecological function
+ the dynamics of wind and fertilization are put into play as cultural agents
+ beauty
+ the way it has made our team

in the end this has been about process and for our team. We can confidently say that we have 8 architects who all have now a profound understanding of dynamic systems!

Thank you team SUPER 8!!!

Team 8: Urban Transplant

The notions of the multilayered design we have uncovered in the process of making, designing and working as a team are found in the sensitive idea of transplanting what we find lacking in the site: soul.

The contextual situation of our site, our finding of the site, and the very restriction of not being able to work with the grassy ground have pushed our design. We aim to demonstrate the artificial nature of the site [literally not grounded, and situated above water] by responding with a suspended weed garden. The plants are hanging from a structure that speaks with the pylons in the water on the edge. A clear visual connection is achieved by mimicking their grid and slight tilts as well as the outfit of the white caps.
Urban transplant is aiming to install a dynamic, responsive [and subversive] urban micro ecology.
Over time is is expected that the weeds and the cardboard structure will disintegrate and colonize the space and the surroundings. The colonizing agents will spread through wind and human/ animal interaction. We thereby create a second nature of an unknown future colonization which will generate new form and urban design based on the ideas of sustainable systems.

Team 8: Progress 46 mins to go

Team 8: one hour and one minuinte to go

the clock is racing: team 8 has moved through this with amazing team effort!
transplanting material, working as and effective unit of positive energy, now finish up final clean up and enjoy the weather!

Team 8: collectors and 12.5 hours to go

trans - plant:
> car park weed > plant > personality > urban reality > fragment > compost > seed > weed = transplant

cold > making our design work > fantastic team work!! thanks guys!

Team 8: structure and substrate

transplanting: or response to site/ observation/ desire/
the canopy of the structure is in the process of becoming colonized by our collectors. devices that transform the nature and being of plants we find in the cracks and on the edges. wild and spontaneous vegetation, caught in wire traps that become suspended and operate as ephemeral mementos to what we view as a lacking organ: a soul.
(maybe heart or brain depending on your viewpoint as we are still debating the nature of whether the soul is an organ)

Team 8: fireworks and 17 hours to go

Team 8: after 58 hours

our multilayered site design comes together in structure and form: steel tubing forms a structural framework for the creation of small pockets of space. rested in our response to site (formwork tubing) we are making seats and tables, white capped tubes.
the team is working as a precision machine: leveling, taping edges, sanding, countersinking, raising (steel) bars...

DAY THREE!!

DAY Three… Constant connection.

Today has been a big day. But we have something to show for it!

The day started out with the boys heading off bright and early to pick up our steel armature! This was going to be our main structure so it was important that we got it under way as soon as possible! After arriving on site and making a firm plan of the day ahead we were waved at from our lovely looking cement mixer!

We sprung into action, shoveling and filling the garbage bags that would form our foundation for our steel columns… It was excitement all around as we began to see our creation take form!

As the steel was secured we knew that we had a 12 hour wait until the cement would be rock hard, so we began to further discuss how our structure would take form and what it would say when complete.

The issues we are working with are:

Urban ecological systems invading the polished, pristine Docklands environment. A revolt against the sterility…!

Docklands lacks a lot of the character that ports of a similar age and history possess. Essentially due to decisions in urban development where developers were given a blank slate, a tabula rasa. The current state neglects the finer grain….the grittiness that should reflect the past uses and contribute to the story of the place.

Engagement with the site is restricted to the visual. There is little recognition of the natural systems and complex adaptive ecologies at work, still reflecting historical environmental attitudes that favour the passive, scenic background captured in quotes such as this from Martin Prominski.

Virtual link transplanting existing Docklands wharf piles on to land. Thus dissolving the amphibious grid from water to land.

We’ve observed that even the sloping piece of manicured turf that our site rests upon is a cultural construct, the dock waters penetrating far below us, leaving us deprived of an authentic terra firma. Repetition of what lies below. Our site is artificially suspended, which we have repeated with our own artificial suspension.

As a group we have constantly been aware of the connection to the site and also each other. We have fully constructed our design on site, eaten on site, slept on site (but not really) allowing the site to dictate our moves throughout the day and also our progress. We have spent nearly every waking hour of every day together and our project could not have come to fruition without the encouragement and enthusiasm of everyone.

Hopefully the next 16 hours go to plan…

Super 8 In Action!

Day One: Brainstorming on Site & Shed

This is Sam

YAY for site 3!

Concept Sketches

Day Two: Laying out spatial arrangement

The Family

?

what is a transplant?

trans plant?

life mechanism, rejection, sustenance

Site Moments...

A video from our resident artist...

Day TWO!!

After a long hard day at the office it is now 5:03, and we are taking a moment out to reflect on the day…

Today we made a few steps forward… The arrival of one of our key building materials; cardboard formwork for concrete columns. This will act as the base of our structural work. We chose the cardboard as a material as we needed something that conversed with the pre-existing conditions on site. From our sites front door, the main view is of the d

iscarded pier pylons that have been decorated, as part of an art installation, with white hats. We thought, as these were unique to our site that we would like our work to reference them, almost as if they had started to creep up onto the boardwalk and arrived on our site…

After the excitement of the delivery it was all hands on deck as we began to measure and cut our columns down to size. With the generator as our sound track the site was a-buzz!

Our aim for tonight is to have all of our columns cut down to size and have their positions on site finalised! It will, no doubt, be a late one. But, we will just increase layers and huddle together when it gets cold! We will report in when we are too tired to move…

Colonizing Micro-Ecosystem of Victoria Harbor

We are now defining our alternative perspective for landscape of Victoria Harbor.

These small plants which are dominating the harbor places are trully beautiful and variable.

Our team is going to adopt this wonderful ecosystem into our project.

Video: Team 8 / BGM: Telepopmusik - Breathe

And so it begins...

It has officially begun…

After the initial excitement of finally getting together as a group, and the decision to name ourselves Super 8 (other close contenders were The Mighty Docks, the GO! team, and

The Transformers), we were given our brief! And this is what it read…

Site. 3: Movement or Transfer of something to another situation, with effort.

Consider the site as a body that is lacking a vital organ. Your ch

allenge is to transfer an activity within the site to improve its daily function. You are required to use objects that have a reconceived function to generate a

playful spatial outcome. You must consider the dynamic of time e.g. night, day, site

condition, seasons, etc.

Our site runs along a boardwalk in front of high-rise commercial buildings. It is a grassy patch at the end of a long grass garden bed. Our site is opposite and existing art installation comprised of remnants of dock pylons, condensed into a cluster, wearing white hats. This site-specific work ignited our interest and from then on sparks were flying!

Many ideas were flowing! Ideas about, interaction, relation, excitement, interest, engagement, play, distraction and many more were all starting to grow inside us… From here we decided we also wanted to create something that would be experienced on many sensory levels, in order for it to be able

to be experienced on many levels and also in be able to be viewed across varying scales; near, far, under, over.

At this early stage, we are not wanting to commit to anything to early… And so the adventure begins…

Peace out.t