'squares'

schooling by design

or an architectural stimulus by way of a series of unique projects (SOUP), was an Advanced Design 2 design paper run with Judy Cockeram for the School of Architecture and Planning at The University of Auckland.

Excerpts from the paper description:

You know you’re in CHCH when         a blue box has landed outside your house and you don’t think the Doctor has arrived in his Tardis.

Using a Superhero for the city, a new School, and a reinvigorated Square as generative work, students will propose something that is not a school as we currently know it but something that allows people of all ages to engage with wisdom, commitment and passion in a vibrant city centre that is all it was before and more.

You know you’re in CHCH when           high-vis is the new black.

After such a serious event we felt that the city of Christchurch could benefit from a superheroes intervention.  

'Serious design should be fun not solemn' - Paula Scher

 Initial 'superhero' briefing paper to the students.

 Another briefing paper during the semester: public spaces precedents.

Some of the student's work: 


Kai Qin and his 'Oliver Mute' looked to reinvigorate the city through a school for the deaf.

Wade Southgate aka 'the Social Butterfly' designed a bold structure that redefined the cruciform of the square and provided social space to occur between the fabric of the form and the existing buildings.

Further background on the paper was published in Avenues magazine.

considering christchurch

The following article was written for BLOCK in July 2011.

CONVERSATIONS TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES
For some it dawns immediately. For others, they need to experience and feel it before an event becomes a reality.
In the last few months I’ve had three trips to Christchurch.  The following discussions and visceral experiences have led me to an understanding of where Christchurch is now.

‘YOU KNOW YOU’RE FROM CHRISTCHURCH WHEN... GEONET IS SAVED AS YOUR HOMEPAGE.’
My visits to Christchurch have all had ‘after shocks’.  I find them thrilling.  Adrenaline coursing through your veins will do that.  However I have not been there for the big three; for those who have, Chinese water torture would be more pleasant.  People can only take so much ‘flight or fight’ readiness; their bodies and minds are weary.

PROJECT MANAGER – DEMOLITIONS:
MR – It’s process, we need to get demolition consents and then need to contact every person who has a vested interest in that building to notify them of their half hour access.

MH – Half an hour… doesn’t seem very long to clear out… 
MR – We can’t guarantee safety, no one can.  We simply don’t know when the next shock will hit.  We’re not too keen on having people just wandering around…
 

‘YUK, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WATER?’
As high school chemistry students setting experiments we were advised that the water flowing from conventional plumbing was most likely to be purer than any distillate that we could ever produce.  The natural filtration process occurring as the underground water made its way from the Southern Alps down to the sea really did a great job. Opening a tap let forth water that had the fresh crisp taste of a mountain stream.  Now it tastes like any other large city.  ‘Tainted water’ is a massive blow to the identity of those living in Christchurch.

ARCHITECT:

MH – You busy?


NF – Not more than usual, not yet.  It’s very strange.  There is an obvious need but the projects are yet to take form.  The traditional project drivers are considerably different right now.  It seems to be a waiting game.


MH – Yet we have competitions for ‘temporary homes’ that no architect is invited to.


NF – Hmmm temporary.  Likely to be there for a while

Walking around the western edge of city I am struck by how strangely deserted it is.  There are many signs of population, drinks half full at outdoor cafe tables, awnings at full stretch above, gas heaters poised.  No one there, a movie set on a break.

My parents moved into the city for the concentrated amenity that cities provide.  Friends, food, the arts, goods and services all in close proximity.  One trip ‘to town’ could tick off the whole list.  The list is now achieved in fits and spurts.  Supporting the same shops, services and people requires multiple trips, often to separate suburbs.  A one-hour trip now takes three.  Why stay?  They’re not.  The city will take many years to rebuild, years they would prefer to spend elsewhere.

ENGINEER A – TRIP INTO THE ‘RED ZONE’
JR – Yeah g’day.  I’ve got a couple of Auckland Architects here.  I want to show them my building.

Check point Charlie – We can show you photos.

JR – Na, they need to see it.

So after a completing the formalities we were admitted to the ‘Red Zone’ but only after we had been told to keep an eye out for fence jumpers.  There had been five that morning.  In two hours all we saw were three police cars.

MH – The destruction is quite incredible, it looks as if they all need to come down.  How come there wasn’t more after the first one?


JR – February, while being less on the Richter scale, measured the highest ever recorded in terms of acceleration, 2G.  Pretty much straight up.  Carnage.

CARRION IS IN THE AIR
The smell is incredible, memories of farm offal pits scream forward, though apparently this is due to thousands of abandoned lunches.  We walk past a McDonalds, the stench is ripe.  We thought they lasted forever…

ENGINEER B
AW – The Insurance Companies hold many of the cards at the moment.
MH – Do we really want insurance companies setting the project frameworks for rebuilding a city?

WHERE TO FROM HERE?
The destruction is overwhelming.  The latent potential to re-envision the city has been exposed.  The possibilities to resolve public spaces are alluring.  Who knows, ‘the square’ might even become a place worth inhabiting rather than just passing through.

What are the catalysts for the regeneration and regrouping of a dispersed city?  I suspect there is huge potential for architecturally seeded projects forming the basis for a reconsidered city.

a little story about architecture... and dragons

The above images, display panels and the dragon itself received a commended award in the 2011 AAA Cavalier Bremworth Unbuilt Architecture awards.