Week 10/Fitting the Brief

1.     SCRIPT

1.1.     Reality Expected outcomes ·     Discussion on site context. ·     Discussion on needs and social relevance. ·     Discussion on future trends. ·     Diagrams and/or collages to present outcomes of discussions. ·     Sense of reality in your Architecture Fiction. Due to the site, there were many possibilities and thus fitting in with my concept of being cut off a self-sustainable ‘village’ seemed a viable option. The needs of the ‘village’ would be that off crops for food and clothing as well as a water source. The surrounding woodland also provides a great source of building materials and it is suggested that sustainable harvesting be implemented so that certain parts of woodfordia are harvested then cared for while another part is harvested. It is hoped that by using this system the resources on the site are not exhausted rather utilised. It is hoped that as systems are recreated life will go back to a way that has a semblance of normal and eventually when the land has recovered from the nuclear destruction many years later life will go back to how it is at the moment. Due to all the media attention Syria’s biological weapons attack(2013) and Saddam Hussein have had there have been many conspiracy theories about the weapons that each country secretly has. It is possible that these theories as well as issues such as North Korea wanting to attack America and other dramas within the countries eventually leads to war and that the countries are reduced to using nuclear weapons as losing becomes an unbearable option.

1.2.     Creativity Expected Outcomes ·     Exploration of future possibilities. ·     Exploration and identification of possible beneficiaries of your proposal. ·     Snippets of general future scenarios. ·     Creatively narrated and composed Architecture Fiction that includes "STAGE" and "SCENES" outcomes. Some future realistic possibilities include that of self-sustainable communities having to learn to live off of the land. Some benefits of my proposal will include that off being able to confortable support a community that would otherwise struggle to survive after the events leading up the nuclear war. Another scenario could be that off little communities joining forces and certain communities being responsible for different resources and a system of bartering occurring within the communities. The stage becomes woodfordia and the surrounding woods while the scenes involve that of how the community would develop and work over time in a sustainable fashion in order to keep the community going.

2.     STAGE

2.1.     Purpose Expected Outcomes ·     Exploration of appropriate architectural responses, such as scale, spatial requirements, facilities and logistic requirements. ·     Physical models to help your explorations. ·     Diagrams that demonstrate outcomes of your explorations. ·     1:1000 - 1:5000 site plan with your design that shows relationship to adjacent areas. ·     1:100 - 1:500 elevation and section of your proposal in site context. ·     Physical model that shows your proposal in context. A 3D model was created in revit to help visualise and help to demonstrate how the building was to fit into the surroundings as well as how it would fit the clients needs. Residences, storage, a meeting hall as well as spare rooms for classes, functions and meetings were provided in order to fit the residences needs.

2.2.     Navigation Expected Outcomes ·     Exploration of spatial relationships, how they function together, how do people navigate through spaces, etc. ·     Plans, Sections, and/or Diagrams showing how people enter site and first available space(s). ·     Plans, Sections, and/or Diagrams showing how people typically navigate through spaces and use them. ·     Plans, Sections, and/or Diagrams showing how private/semi-private/public spaces are defined in your proposal. The circulation space through the levels is at the end of the building as this space does not feature much natural lighting or ventilation. The plant room was situated beside this space due to reticulation of services as well as the lack of natural lighting and ventilation. The residences are situated on the outside of the building due to the large quantities of natural lighting and ventilation, this was considered to be desirable for the residences. The storage was situated on the inside of the building in the middle of the residences for convenience as well the lack of natural lighting and ventilation as this is not required for this space.

2.3.     Integrity Expected Outcomes ·     Exploration of forms, structures, materials and services for your proposal. ·     Plans, Sections and Elevations (1:100 - 1:200) that demonstrate overall form and structure of your proposal. ·     Plans, Sections and/or 3D drawing (1:10 - 1:50) that shows vignettes/snippets of key architectural details and material uses in your proposal. ·     Physical Models that shows forms, structural integrity and/or material. A number of varying forms were investigated until the initial form emerged and became the proposal.

3.     SCENES

3.1.     Presence & Identity Expected Outcomes ·       Exploration and identification of a unique architectural identity of your proposal. ·       Name (and possibly a nickname) of your building. ·       Three Dimensional renderings and/or collages of your proposal in context. ·       Scenes that communicate how people come to your proposed spaces and why. Casa Segura which is spanish for safe zone was named so due to it becoming one of the few safe zones upon which people are still able to live after the nuclear war.

3.2.     First-Person Experience Expected Outcomes ·       Exploration and identification of a set of key spaces that characterises and makes your proposal known by people in your future scenario. ·       A sequence of internal 3D renderings and collages that show how key spaces are used by selected audience in your scenario. ·       A sequence of internal and external renderings, collages, and/or physical models that shows experiential and atmospheric quality of the key spaces. I am working on a number of images demonstrating the interior spaces and how the residents interact with the spaces.

Week 9/Research

I found a lot of natural buildings in existence there were many timber houses and with the surrounding woods timber seems a viable material. Figure 1.1-1.4 show this.

I also came across a house constructed by a family out of hay bales, mud, rock, lime plaster and a timber frame. Figure 1.5 demonstrates this.

From this research I have come to the conclusion that due to the scarcity of resources the majority of the building materials used will consist of timber, concrete, straw and mud.

Beautiful natural structures Amazon Tree Houses. 2009.  The Ashes. Accessed on 10^th October, 2013 from http://cciash.com/beautiful-natural-structures-amazon-tree-houses/

Natural Building. Inspirational Village. Wordpress.com Accessed on 23^rd October, 2013 from http://inspirationalvillage.wordpress.com/natural-building/

Accessed on 10^th October, 2013 from http://www.naturalbuildingblog.com/wholewoods-natural-buildings/

Wholewoods Natural Building. 2013. Geiger, O. NATURAL BUILDING BLOG: Earthbag Building and Other Natural Building Methods. Accessed on 10^th October, 2013 from http://www.naturalbuildingblog.com/wholewoods-natural-buildings/

Fig 1.1

Fig 1.2

Fig 1.3

 Fig 1.4

Fig 1.5

Fig 1.6

Week 8/Site Analysis

Woodfordia is a 500-acre environmental parkland located on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, on Jinibara Country, which is just over 1 hour north of Brisbane. The land is dedicated to the arts and humanities and is underpinned by a strong sense of environmentalism. (Welcome to Woodfordia.com, 2013).

Luckily woodfordia is a large site and can therefore become self sufficient should the need arise. My concept proposes using the land to it’s maximum potential in order to survive a post nuclear war crisis. This involves designing homes for people trapped within the site as well as planning which areas are to be used to grow crops, and trying to make the most of the resources within the site to help life to go on. Figure 1.1 Demonstrates the chosen position of my site as well as some dot points explaining my selection.

Figure 1.2 shows the areas that feature a large expanse of unwooded land that would be suitable for planting crops on the site as well as the areas where water is naturally stored and could be accessed and utilised. This is thus leading in to masterplanning of the site. Using this information Figure 1.3 is developed thus placing the buildings centrally inside the crops and water area.

Welcome to Woodfordia.com, accessed 5^th September, 2013 from http://www.woodfordia.com

Woodfordia Festival Map, QUT blackboard resource accessed 16^th September, 2013 (Fig 1.1 map)

 Fig 1.1

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Fig 1.3

Week 7/ Narrative Selection

nuclear warfare

n.

A war in which nuclear weapons are used by both sides. As generally used, the term assumes major use of nuclear weapons by at least two opposing warring states. As of 1999, no nuclear war has occurred.

 From our group project, one of the themes which I found to be an interesting concept to explore is that off being 'cut off'. We looked at how the people trapped within Woodfordia would react in the situation that they were cut off from the rest of society due to them all being carriers of a contagious virus. 

From this theme, looking into the future around 2020 and 2030, I believe it to be possible that there will be wars between many countries, which may eventually develop into nuclear warfare. With the recent discovery of Syria’s ‘hidden’ weapons many countries are uneasy.  “While the world has focused on Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons, Middle Eastern intelligence agencies have growing concerns about the country's biological arsenal, according to the Washington Post.” (Syria’s neighbours fear biological weapons attack, 2013). Even with the UN and many different treaties in regards to what is unacceptable during war, there is no knowing what the leaders of a country have hidden in order to protect the country. Nuclear warfare will destroy much of Australia, thus leaving little ‘pockets’ of land around Australia, which are habitable. Woodfordia is one of these pockets and therefore will have to become almost completely self-sufficient.

Nuclear war, The Free Dictionary by Farlax. Accessed 4/10/2013 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nuclear+war

Syria’s neighbours fear biological weapons attack, (5^th September, 2013), Sanchez, R. Accessed from The Telegraph on 9/10/2013 from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10289468/Syrias-neighbours-fear-biological-weapons-attack.html

Fig 1.1

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