week 11 summary

This week I had my mid-year crit... this involved:

-layout

-what to say

-interior drawing

-1:200 scale plaster model

-1:200 scale site models

-plans of houses

-1:20 scale model of view in and out

-starting to re-write my thesis

REFLECTION ON MID-YEAR PRESENTATION

At mid-year presentation I was able to present a clear, cohesive exploration of my research and investigation so far into whether architecture can re-orientate (through mnemonic devices) the people of Christchurch to their city. I presented my sites, and two current strategies which I have discovered through analysing precedent architects, artists and my own work. These strategies incorporate many of the devices I had initially planned to investigate, and have become a language that I have started to test out. The current design of the houses on Sherborne Street is a test, mainly using layering which reveals thinness, edges and space.

The critics liked the casting device used in my first strategy, and the layering and archetypal devices used in both the two strategies. They felt that reading the ground as layers should be a larger focus in my design, and that the earthquake as a piece of history should be thematized. The issue of using pre-existing, or remaining, materials on site was brought up, although I explained that this wasn’t what I was interested in, as I am dealing with the reality of only the ground being left, authenticity of any other material left on demolished building sites is questionable for most sites in Christchurch. It is a test because I am moving away from traditional ideas of memory being preserved through tangible materials and using other devices.

I have a strong foundation now in terms of testing devices through model-making and developing a particular language. In order to progress I need to test out strategy 1 on the exterior of my houses on Sherborne Street, and strategy 2 on the interior, to further integrate and study their relationship. I intend to emphasize the ground and layering idea to develop moments which may be applied to my other sites. Application to the other two sites (commercial and community) will be studied in the second half of the year. This will require adaption to different contexts with different uses and issues. Although the Sherborne Street site doesn’t have any strong link to specific Maori history, the Durham Street church site does. The Caxton Press is a well-known business, dating back 77 years, with connections to the esteemed Christchurch poet Dennis Glover and so carries with it local history and memory. Consideration of these issues, as well as the commercial and community functions will be important in convincingly developing a language which could be used to anchor memory to multiple sites throughout Christchurch.

As well as this design exploration I will continue to extend my literature base, books such as The Collage City by Colin Rowe, and texts by Edmund Husserl in the field of phenomenology will be studied to strengthen and further integrate my theory as researching my design.