Making spaces
Design Brief
In this mini-project, we needed to produce a new urban public space individually with the concept of a connected society. As a class, we will build and exhibit a future ‘social’ city by adding each individual model. By either thinking about getting people ‘active’ or ‘calm’ where people can stop, reflect and contemplate.
We needed to research the trends of the urban area for the change in the landscape, so from there we can then explore the side of social connectivity, community connectivity and digital connectivity. we need to think about the people who I am designing for and where my product will be located in the city of Dundee.
The scale model will be located on a plank of 105mm x150mm.
Research
For research, as a group when to a multi-story parking facility located in the centre of Dundee. The place was very worn down, as you can see from the images on the right, the facility is relatively old. The parking lot used a circular spiral ramp for the cars to go up. Most of the floors were quite empty, so the area was quiet, there were also empty spaces around the car park that are just not being used.
To consider that in a city with the population up to 148,000 people but only filled the first floor of the parking space, and it’s in the centre of the city, that’s quite extraordinary. I guess it’s good that not many cars being parked here mean that the traffic count is low, that implies there is no traffic jam, and as a city the CO2 emission is low. However, the sheer waste of space is a waste of resources, maintenance and money.
Initial thoughts and Ideas
The first idea I had in mind while I was at the car park was that since the top floor wasn’t used, could it be used for a rooftop fair or have a rooftop bar? Same could apply to the centre area for the parking ramp and space next to the parking lot. Set up things where the whole community can participate in and make use of the lonely run down areas. My other thought was what if the parking lines on the floor was interactive, would that make parking fun for many that dread it?
Initial Drawing
On the left, I have my initial drawing of some of the ideas. My theme is revolved around nature, I want to create a peaceful place that you can be surrounded by nature and calm down from the business of a city. My first thought was a birds nest, also i thought it would be nice to have a spider web-like hammock so people can go and lay down. People can go in and become nestlings, where you can feel safe and protected from the world. My second idea is a dome that is made out of trees, the same basic idea as the nest but the dome is fully enclosed and the branches of the dome make a bench that people can sit around. My third idea was a giant basket again made from living tree branch but wived in the shaped of a basket. Furthermore, I designed egg-shaped capsules for people to sit and relax in, there is also a version of it where it’s a bed.
Tree Shaping
I did some research on tree shaping where there are three main ways of tree shaping. Framing, Grafting and Pruning. Framing is where you put a frame as a jig for the tree to grow in and eventually grow into the shape of the jig. Grafting is when you cut a brunch off the plant and attach a piece of another plant to the cut surface. Finally, there is pruning, which means by cutting at the leaf nodes you can direct and control the direction of the growth.
For the following ideas, I think framing may be the best idea as it’s much simpler and relatively less maintenance.
First development
My first development was the dome idea where I thought that being a dome enclosed entirely with tree branch will be very dark inside, so I thought by creating some opening on all around the dome will be more suitable as that would let some natural lighting in, and on the inside, there will be the egg-shaped beds in a nest so it will add more atmosphere to be in the bed. Furthermore, I have also put a plant pot inside the dome so there will be additional greenery to improve the internal aesthetics. I made a model of the design showing the part of the model shows the tree being covering the dome the other side you have the skeleton of the dome where the tree can grow around.
(Gallery on the right contains sketch and model)
Second Development
This is my second development idea. The idea is that instead of a dome there is a high bush where people can’t see inside and when you get in you are cut off from the world. So my first development for this idea is for mainly the Dundee flower and food festival. You walk into the garden and you will find your self in a flower exhibition. There is a guided path for the visitors but at a certain point they have the freedom to choose where they go but ultimately the path will guild them out. The flower beds are at different hight so the exhibition will seem more dynamic. My second thought was to put a spider web structure on top and the gaps are covered by the glass, so the exhibition can be a greenhouse during other seasons. The last image shows a model I made to represent the spider web idea.
Third Development
This is my third idea; it was inspired by the ‘High Way’ path in New York City. I thought that in the busy city centre there could be a sight of nature. My audiences are those who are always busy working and don’t have the time to appreciate nature. The design is that there is a grass path down the middle of the high street where there are plant pots down the two sides of the road. Furthermore, there are some array of LED lights sitting under pressure plates will light up when people step on it, so the calmness of the greenery and the interactive of the LED lights.
Final Idea
My final idea is to create this ‘secret garden’ in the city centre so people can go in and expoler the wonder of naterue
(see gallery)
(see gallery)
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