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12 week design review: Project 3B

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6 week design review: Project 3B

Will upload individual items once whole project is complete.

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Project 3b started this week, developing our agenda into a potential design, leading up to a final building.

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Project 2: Life on the Fringe | Triptych

[ 3x3 a3’s ]- 2 day Project

Život na okraj: Tam Homogenní okraJ 

The Homogenous Choice:

homogenous

of the same kind; alike.

 choice

an act of choosing between two or more possibilities.

 I started by analyzing the brief with the intent of visiting Prague open minded, this way I would be able to experience it the same way as an average city occupant unaware of the space that had been designed in a way to attack them. I was soon to notice that Prague is a network of beautiful spots. However it did not take me long to realize that between these spots the connections had been enforced with one goal: Marketing. After our guide with Honza H- A local rough sleeper. He enlightened me,

 “Being rich is not about money, money is an Obsession. Happiness, family and experience are what make people rich- rich with life.”

 This was a catalyst for my project, as I then realised that faceless Marketing giants put shopping centres and shops in the city occupants way with one intention: to blur them into buying into their product. For me seeing these large brands attempting to homogenize city occupants ruined my experience of Prague, to go from such beautiful tourist attractions like the Prague Castle only to find a ‘Starbucks’ right outside like any other shopping maul in the world is just a disappointment.

Diorama:

I went on to create the diorama showing my chosen fringe – Metro subway outside of the Palladium. This subway was strategically placed so when exiting you see the large “200 shops”and bright lights attempting to lure you in to the heterotopic maze.  However if you turned right there was a run down church.

 “A trip to the temple of consumption is quite another matter. To go for such a trip is like being transported to another world, rather than witnessing the wondrous transubstantiation of the familiar one.”- Bauman, Zygmunt, Liquid Modernity (p98).

 By exiting the Metro and entering the directed Palladium you are essentially allowing yourself to become homogenous. I argue that if you explore the city deeper ignoring these marketing tactics, you will not only feel at home with Prague but with yourself, as you will gain an individual experience of the land. The diorama shows how people are drawn towards a money lead life over a well experienced life. I conclude that you have a choice to be an individual and gain an individual relationship with any city as long as you avoid marketing tactics. 

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Project 2: Life on the Fringe | Triptych

[ 1x3 a3's ]- 2 day Project

Život na okraj: Tam Homogenní okraJ 

The Homogenous Choice:

On returning from Prague I had to identity a threshold, an edge, a fringe or a periphery that exists between two spaces [social, physical, environmental etc. between two spaces. I choose to explore the fringes in Prague that connect the beautiful attractions between each other. 

Map:

Following project 1 were we looked at 'homeless' as a city occupant being consumed I integrated this idea into a map of Prague from my findings that the connections had been turned into high streets. 

"Home as I understood it, was a place where I would never be lost" - Bell Hooks, City Living; Loves meeting place

This is in attempt to pull the tourists away from the attractions and blur them into spending money and making them homogenous (lost in themselves). I found that these connections were essentiality ruining my own experience of Prague's attractions and if I payed more attention to them I would essentially loose myself.

“Being rich is not about money, money is an Obsession. Happiness, family and experience are what make people rich- rich with life.”- Honza H (a tour guide that showed us the dark truth about Prague- a rough sleeper himself)

The map highlights the Metro subway exit, in which the occupant is placed with a choice. Too choose the Palladium- Shopping centre (rich as money obsessed) or choose the hidden intricate church space (rich as experience).

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The Art of Measuring 

Venice Biennale 2012: Nordic Pavillion

Tech Report 

On our study trip, we had to produce a sketch book with two parts. First diagrams of how the city's spaces work and initially understanding different buildings. The second 6 detailed drawings of how the building actually works in terms of technology. I choose to explore 'The Nordic Pavillion' by Sverre Fehn. 

 “distilled, elegant” version of a Nordic “house”, as it evokes sensations of light, material, structure, space, nature and atmosphere. It embodies what might be called a metaphysical “house of the North”, one of specific primary architectural images, elements and details. The Nordic Pavilion is a physical and metaphorical “common ground” for Finland, Sweden and Norway." -ArchDaily

The transitional space inside is incredible as there is not one point where you feel inside or outside. It makes you feel part of nature; which is why it is possible my favourite building. I went onto use it as a precedent study for my final design project of Year 2.

"Living in Venice for a while, your eyes adjust to a light that is always being reflected and projected, from the glittering canals to the honey-like golden light of the mosaics in San Marco. For a little whole, during the Biennale, one can find a sense of light that is not known elsewhere on the island."