atom06:12-9-11
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
Status Quo | Status Quo | ||
The site, as it exists now, contains four basic types of space: paths, lawns, bushes and entrances. Existing since 1915, it is clear that the site was designed in a manner as to let the nature take over. The effect of this design is a powerful one. Visitors get a sense of wilderness when walking the paths; on a sunny day butterflies abound, and sweet odours fill the air. Such a space is an asset to the surrounding community. The bushes act as a buffer, blocking out sounds of the passing cars, busses and scooters. They also serve as a barrier, blocking out all sorts of possible activities, potentially informative or intimate in nature. Who knows how this inaccessible space could better interact with the surrounding atmosphere? At the moment, the site succeeds in being a private, closed and sometimes hidden locale. Such an environment encapsulates a certain intimacy, delicate in nature, that depends on a maximum of only a very few users in the site at any moment. | The site, as it exists now, contains four basic types of space: paths, lawns, bushes and entrances. Existing since 1915, it is clear that the site was designed in a manner as to let the nature take over. The effect of this design is a powerful one. Visitors get a sense of wilderness when walking the paths; on a sunny day butterflies abound, and sweet odours fill the air. Such a space is an asset to the surrounding community. The bushes act as a buffer, blocking out sounds of the passing cars, busses and scooters. They also serve as a barrier, blocking out all sorts of possible activities, potentially informative or intimate in nature. Who knows how this inaccessible space could better interact with the surrounding atmosphere? At the moment, the site succeeds in being a private, closed and sometimes hidden locale. Such an environment encapsulates a certain intimacy, delicate in nature, that depends on a maximum of only a very few users in the site at any moment. | ||
| − | + | Explorations | |
| − | + | ||
One of our connections during this exploration was in the form of an old man, sitting on a bench and relaxing. | One of our connections during this exploration was in the form of an old man, sitting on a bench and relaxing. | ||
He claimed to have been using the site for a long time; he couldn't remember when he first came to the site. | He claimed to have been using the site for a long time; he couldn't remember when he first came to the site. | ||
Revision as of 16:05, 12 September 2011
Status Quo
The site, as it exists now, contains four basic types of space: paths, lawns, bushes and entrances. Existing since 1915, it is clear that the site was designed in a manner as to let the nature take over. The effect of this design is a powerful one. Visitors get a sense of wilderness when walking the paths; on a sunny day butterflies abound, and sweet odours fill the air. Such a space is an asset to the surrounding community. The bushes act as a buffer, blocking out sounds of the passing cars, busses and scooters. They also serve as a barrier, blocking out all sorts of possible activities, potentially informative or intimate in nature. Who knows how this inaccessible space could better interact with the surrounding atmosphere? At the moment, the site succeeds in being a private, closed and sometimes hidden locale. Such an environment encapsulates a certain intimacy, delicate in nature, that depends on a maximum of only a very few users in the site at any moment.
Explorations
One of our connections during this exploration was in the form of an old man, sitting on a bench and relaxing. He claimed to have been using the site for a long time; he couldn't remember when he first came to the site. He is happy with the site the way it is currently, and cannot imagine anything which will make the site better. What he does not know is that in the next year, students will take over his precious park, and whether he likes it or not, change is on the way.
The concept is about connecting the ideas of discovery and intimacy. The intimacy of discovery, and the discovering of intimacy.
As we understand our brief, our intervention will provide various spheres which can accommodate user loads of varied amounts. Currently this is not an issue because so few people actually use the site. With the addition of the DUWO housing in the next year, the users of the site will drastically change. Currently the site is seldom used, which renders it a kind of garden of peace and tranquility. The buzz of the traffic is always present, yet the plant life serves as a buffer to block out some of the sound. With the addition of a large student resident adjacent to the site, this environment will come under the influence of many new inputs and uses. These new elements can be viewed as threats to the park’s status quo. Currently, the park harbors a certain type of intimate behaviour. The lack of use of the site creates a certain intimacy that one experiences while alone in the site.
Please find below some explorations of how we have attempted to describe the intimacy of the site.
The watercolors that follow describe potential uses of space, each united with a device of some sort,
here represented by an undulating plane that performs various functions based on the needs of users.
