To position the experiments I have done is quite an interesting exercise.
Experiment 1- I am still locating in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and LeCorbusier in the work of the hearth. In coming together around the central node it is examining the idea of community and focus and centre of the being, then at whether this creates further connection.
Experiment 2 and 3- This is where my passion is.
This work is heavily influenceed in the body of work done by people all over the earth who take the Word of the Bible and actually act on what it says, lifting the poor out of the ash heap, seating them with princes-Ps 113, or restoring sight to the blind, hope to the hopeless.
In this body of work people would commonly acnowledge people like Mother Theresa, organisations like the Salvation Army, Churches across the world which help the homeless, the widows, the lonely.
I want to make it clear that I am not saying this work is done exclusively by Christians, in fact often it is others that push this much further. However the area that I am influenced by is this area, particularly the movement beginning called the I Heart Revolution, out of Hillsong United.
It is in this that my focus and view is shaped and the experiments have been moulded, looking at the values and opinions that lay in the heart of people.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
500 Word Position Statement
Experiment 1- Alive or dead
Hypothesis- after the process of discovering that the journey that one person is on depends on a second person, having arrived in the same point will continue the journey together.
Result- 3 tests went the same direction together at the end of the process, 1 separated and went to opposite ends of the path.
Conclusion- The people that went separate ways were the most confident (in UT3) and independent people used in the test making it less surprising that they went opposite directions. It was surprising to have such an introductory consistency of people leaving together, in one instance so strongly that the lead person turned, went the other direction and the second changed direction and followed. This process of joint imposition upon the other could become a key driver or the middle space as the key to the success is the need to create a mutual relationship between the two different groups of people. For the space to come alive it requires the interdependence and vibrancy of relationships.
Note: This experiment will continue over the rest of the period of the studio to enable a larger sample and there will be updated blogs on the results and conclusion
Experiment 2- Cavernous/Alluring (inside Cavernous, outside Alluring)
Hypothesis- That people looking from the inside out will have different views of themselves than people looking from the outside in.
Result- all creatures were quite different, open to alternate interpretations, there could be rough groupings but to do so would result in both generalizations and assumptions that could take the experiment outside the realm of credibility.
Conclusion- That it is a multiplicity of creations that in the end makes up the final portrait. A person is simply too complex to represent in a single creation. To take this further into the realm of continuing assumption, there may be an argument that it is only through this multiplicity of revelations of oneself from the inside and outside (and in my experience, from knowing Jesus) that one can build the accurate picture of a person. Hence inverting that theory, to isolate a person takes away the multiplicity of character stimuli and leaves a person with a singular, internal view of oneself. Taking this even further, could this be contributory to the strong stereotype that is associated with the homeless until one enters into discussion and discovers more detail on the particular circumstances and life story?
Experiment 3- Delicate/Stinging (In reality any one of the descriptors as it lends itself to the nature of the person who participates in the experiment)
Hypothesis- People would hold a general level of apprehension that their inner life would be presented in a form that would end up becoming public and be concerned that negative views would be portrayed.
Result- People in the sample group when surveyed stated a general level of excitement in regards to the portrait of themselves created by others. However taken on the dialogue before the creation of the characters, there was a certain degree of apprehension over the manner in which they may be portrayed and more particularly how others may portray them.
Conclusion- The people in the sample group held a general level of interest in engaging with the group in a more in-depth manner than would usually be taken. There was a certain level of dialogue that the group held with one another which could be taken as creating a conducive environment to participate in such an exercise. Speculating on the results found one may take the furthest position in looking at the possibility that the level of ability to participate in such an experiment could be linked into the knowledge that there would be a positive, building experience in the greater dialogue of vulnerability within the group. To look at this element would suggest the need for the creation of an environment wherein one would know that it is not merely the negative aspects of a personality that need ‘fixing’ that would be focused on, but also an environment where one would find the strengths of the person emphasized and built upon.
Hypothesis- after the process of discovering that the journey that one person is on depends on a second person, having arrived in the same point will continue the journey together.
Result- 3 tests went the same direction together at the end of the process, 1 separated and went to opposite ends of the path.
Conclusion- The people that went separate ways were the most confident (in UT3) and independent people used in the test making it less surprising that they went opposite directions. It was surprising to have such an introductory consistency of people leaving together, in one instance so strongly that the lead person turned, went the other direction and the second changed direction and followed. This process of joint imposition upon the other could become a key driver or the middle space as the key to the success is the need to create a mutual relationship between the two different groups of people. For the space to come alive it requires the interdependence and vibrancy of relationships.
Note: This experiment will continue over the rest of the period of the studio to enable a larger sample and there will be updated blogs on the results and conclusion
Experiment 2- Cavernous/Alluring (inside Cavernous, outside Alluring)
Hypothesis- That people looking from the inside out will have different views of themselves than people looking from the outside in.
Result- all creatures were quite different, open to alternate interpretations, there could be rough groupings but to do so would result in both generalizations and assumptions that could take the experiment outside the realm of credibility.
Conclusion- That it is a multiplicity of creations that in the end makes up the final portrait. A person is simply too complex to represent in a single creation. To take this further into the realm of continuing assumption, there may be an argument that it is only through this multiplicity of revelations of oneself from the inside and outside (and in my experience, from knowing Jesus) that one can build the accurate picture of a person. Hence inverting that theory, to isolate a person takes away the multiplicity of character stimuli and leaves a person with a singular, internal view of oneself. Taking this even further, could this be contributory to the strong stereotype that is associated with the homeless until one enters into discussion and discovers more detail on the particular circumstances and life story?
Experiment 3- Delicate/Stinging (In reality any one of the descriptors as it lends itself to the nature of the person who participates in the experiment)
Hypothesis- People would hold a general level of apprehension that their inner life would be presented in a form that would end up becoming public and be concerned that negative views would be portrayed.
Result- People in the sample group when surveyed stated a general level of excitement in regards to the portrait of themselves created by others. However taken on the dialogue before the creation of the characters, there was a certain degree of apprehension over the manner in which they may be portrayed and more particularly how others may portray them.
Conclusion- The people in the sample group held a general level of interest in engaging with the group in a more in-depth manner than would usually be taken. There was a certain level of dialogue that the group held with one another which could be taken as creating a conducive environment to participate in such an exercise. Speculating on the results found one may take the furthest position in looking at the possibility that the level of ability to participate in such an experiment could be linked into the knowledge that there would be a positive, building experience in the greater dialogue of vulnerability within the group. To look at this element would suggest the need for the creation of an environment wherein one would know that it is not merely the negative aspects of a personality that need ‘fixing’ that would be focused on, but also an environment where one would find the strengths of the person emphasized and built upon.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Beginnings of experiment 1 explination
Experiment 1
Alive or dead (Cavernous, alluring, throbbing)
Exp 1 derives around the experience created in the hub itself. It is a test of the atmosphere and appealing nature of the seating in combination with the fire. There will be a series of configurations of the room tested with each measuring the approach that is taken toward the hearth, whether the hearth, the heart in that moment is alive or dead. Is it enough to draw people or will it find itself a dead space. The hypothesis is that in certain configurations people will gather toward the middle, around the communal moment, the space will then become alive, alive with conversation, alive with interaction, alive with the conjoining of people’s lives. Conversely in other configurations people will end up scattered, disconnected, and maybe confined to isolated groups. The benefit of this control becomes social monitoring and behavioural conditioning. When people need to be drawn in there is a configuration to draw people off the street, to connect people in the living organism of a society. On the other hand, there is a need to isolate each case, so to provide individual contact in individual need one can highlight the disconnectedness through spatial arrangements.
This hypothesis belongs within the body of architectural work discussed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and others who have focussed theory around the power of the hearth as the heart of the building. This experiment seeks to validate or otherwise add to this body of knowledge by providing an avenue to turn the hearth off and on through differing arrangements and measure the effectiveness of this method.
Experiment 2
Alluring/ brutal
The central theme to the middle section is the analogy to the muscle, the tension that arises from the connexion and relationship between two separate individual bones connected together. For the relationship between the two disparate sides of the building to work there must be a strong connexion that lives and moves. In this respect there must be movement from the ‘Hearth’ toward ‘The Organisation’, there must be an allurement from one toward the other. It must throb with the activity that it is used for as it is used, built upon, exercised. In this experiment the muscle will respond to the combinations of activity from the group from the hearth. The premise is that the floor of the ‘muscle’ is made of blocks that are all separate and yet stackable. It is through the arrangement and creation of rooms, stairs, and furniture from these basic forms that interface and force interaction between the two groups. The people involved in the experiment will be divided into two groups, with those from the office reliant on those from the hearth to activate the blocks in a way that will enable the two groups to mingle. The activity from then will be to form rooms from the blocks. The experiment will then be to see the divisions between the two groups. Whether they were maintained or whether the two groups then were inclined to mingle.
This experimental methodology can be positioned within the work done by Clive Wilkinson Architects with blocks, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Experiment 3
Throbbing
How will the office space work? Through high density planning, bureaucracy style with people living on top of people. Does this work for information transfer, communication, finding people, meetings and other relevant office activity? Through medium density, setting up the obvious hierarchy, combinations of open plan and individual office? Through complete open plan, the idea that everyone shares the one workspace, that all ideas and cases are transferable? How does this work for individual tasks, surveillance, office culture, identity, unity and other issues?
This work fits into the category of office space design as promoted by architects such as Foster, Piano, Koolhaas, Leibskind.
Alive or dead (Cavernous, alluring, throbbing)
Exp 1 derives around the experience created in the hub itself. It is a test of the atmosphere and appealing nature of the seating in combination with the fire. There will be a series of configurations of the room tested with each measuring the approach that is taken toward the hearth, whether the hearth, the heart in that moment is alive or dead. Is it enough to draw people or will it find itself a dead space. The hypothesis is that in certain configurations people will gather toward the middle, around the communal moment, the space will then become alive, alive with conversation, alive with interaction, alive with the conjoining of people’s lives. Conversely in other configurations people will end up scattered, disconnected, and maybe confined to isolated groups. The benefit of this control becomes social monitoring and behavioural conditioning. When people need to be drawn in there is a configuration to draw people off the street, to connect people in the living organism of a society. On the other hand, there is a need to isolate each case, so to provide individual contact in individual need one can highlight the disconnectedness through spatial arrangements.
This hypothesis belongs within the body of architectural work discussed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and others who have focussed theory around the power of the hearth as the heart of the building. This experiment seeks to validate or otherwise add to this body of knowledge by providing an avenue to turn the hearth off and on through differing arrangements and measure the effectiveness of this method.
Experiment 2
Alluring/ brutal
The central theme to the middle section is the analogy to the muscle, the tension that arises from the connexion and relationship between two separate individual bones connected together. For the relationship between the two disparate sides of the building to work there must be a strong connexion that lives and moves. In this respect there must be movement from the ‘Hearth’ toward ‘The Organisation’, there must be an allurement from one toward the other. It must throb with the activity that it is used for as it is used, built upon, exercised. In this experiment the muscle will respond to the combinations of activity from the group from the hearth. The premise is that the floor of the ‘muscle’ is made of blocks that are all separate and yet stackable. It is through the arrangement and creation of rooms, stairs, and furniture from these basic forms that interface and force interaction between the two groups. The people involved in the experiment will be divided into two groups, with those from the office reliant on those from the hearth to activate the blocks in a way that will enable the two groups to mingle. The activity from then will be to form rooms from the blocks. The experiment will then be to see the divisions between the two groups. Whether they were maintained or whether the two groups then were inclined to mingle.
This experimental methodology can be positioned within the work done by Clive Wilkinson Architects with blocks, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Experiment 3
Throbbing
How will the office space work? Through high density planning, bureaucracy style with people living on top of people. Does this work for information transfer, communication, finding people, meetings and other relevant office activity? Through medium density, setting up the obvious hierarchy, combinations of open plan and individual office? Through complete open plan, the idea that everyone shares the one workspace, that all ideas and cases are transferable? How does this work for individual tasks, surveillance, office culture, identity, unity and other issues?
This work fits into the category of office space design as promoted by architects such as Foster, Piano, Koolhaas, Leibskind.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Position Statement
The hearth is revealed.
The dynamic, active environment that can be sculpted to the needs of the user is opened up. The rest of the superfluous operational aspects can be momentarily discarded to focus on the design of the arena that is specifically formulated for a client that cannot be pinpointed to one idea. The client is transient, more transient than perhaps understandable, yet this is not strictly the case. One who is so fleeting, one whose entire life possessions can be contained within a shopping trolley is does not necessarily desire that lifestyle. One does not choose the street in every instance. Maybe the one who is so flexible would rather the fixed sculpted life but cannot yet adapt to it. These questions are revealed in the section. These questions are revealed in the warmth of the flame, casting the ephemeral shadows on the wall to form the dim outline of the life less solid while they have the moment to be answered.
Operations and flow are opened up.
The living breathing nature of the built form can be found once again through the sinuous relationship between the hearth, the homeless and the office, the organisation. Ones rigidity meets the others ephemerality in the muscular space that lies between. Through this space the communication of the waste of each other is gleaned into a valuable commodity. The smoke and pollution that is gathered into the ceiling space of the hearth then becomes the screen, the privacy which is so valued in the corporate environment. The paper which is the pollution of the office is gathered together into a mass and compacted to form the literal fuel of the hearth. Each through its excess then can serve the other. In this exchange the continuance of this flow can be continued as the people from one side come to facilitate the other. Gradually the borders of each sphere become permeable forming the symbiotic relationship, two bones, integral structures, connected by living muscle.
As one removes from the built form and lets the skin once again hide the internal fluidity, it once again sits within its site and expresses itself, allowing those from the street to approach and discover what it contains. Addressing itself naturally to the street and to the alley it defines itself by both limbs in the one form. To the two clients in the one form. It becomes the meeting place, the heart, the hearth.
The hUB
The dynamic, active environment that can be sculpted to the needs of the user is opened up. The rest of the superfluous operational aspects can be momentarily discarded to focus on the design of the arena that is specifically formulated for a client that cannot be pinpointed to one idea. The client is transient, more transient than perhaps understandable, yet this is not strictly the case. One who is so fleeting, one whose entire life possessions can be contained within a shopping trolley is does not necessarily desire that lifestyle. One does not choose the street in every instance. Maybe the one who is so flexible would rather the fixed sculpted life but cannot yet adapt to it. These questions are revealed in the section. These questions are revealed in the warmth of the flame, casting the ephemeral shadows on the wall to form the dim outline of the life less solid while they have the moment to be answered.
Operations and flow are opened up.
The living breathing nature of the built form can be found once again through the sinuous relationship between the hearth, the homeless and the office, the organisation. Ones rigidity meets the others ephemerality in the muscular space that lies between. Through this space the communication of the waste of each other is gleaned into a valuable commodity. The smoke and pollution that is gathered into the ceiling space of the hearth then becomes the screen, the privacy which is so valued in the corporate environment. The paper which is the pollution of the office is gathered together into a mass and compacted to form the literal fuel of the hearth. Each through its excess then can serve the other. In this exchange the continuance of this flow can be continued as the people from one side come to facilitate the other. Gradually the borders of each sphere become permeable forming the symbiotic relationship, two bones, integral structures, connected by living muscle.
As one removes from the built form and lets the skin once again hide the internal fluidity, it once again sits within its site and expresses itself, allowing those from the street to approach and discover what it contains. Addressing itself naturally to the street and to the alley it defines itself by both limbs in the one form. To the two clients in the one form. It becomes the meeting place, the heart, the hearth.
The hUB
Monday, August 18, 2008
Compressed Paper Log Maker
So, one way of recycling to get the most for the fire in the hUB is to use the waste from the office component to burn. It is also a great way of employing the time of some of the homeless in a productive but not too intensive manner!
Check this out!
Check this out!
First Draft musings
Looking at other posts around there is a trend towards innovation and new technologies. What I propose seems to be rather an evolution rather than a revolution. Rather than streak into the future with great abandon, I find myself stuck in an office block trying to solve the problems of the man who happened to find himself in the back lane, loitering suspiciously by my car...
While this may sound like a gripe, I actually relish this chance. I would rather be here than anywhere else. I want to find myself in the normal, have people able to recognise the work while still freaked out by the way it wraps itself to the needs of the client like they have not seen before.
Walk around it, touch it, it is recognisable, you have worked with this before. Yet... then again, I did not realise that that switch over there would control that. What, your smoke is my screen? It feels right and it is. And yes, you will have to help the man over there. You will be involved with your neighbour
While this may sound like a gripe, I actually relish this chance. I would rather be here than anywhere else. I want to find myself in the normal, have people able to recognise the work while still freaked out by the way it wraps itself to the needs of the client like they have not seen before.
Walk around it, touch it, it is recognisable, you have worked with this before. Yet... then again, I did not realise that that switch over there would control that. What, your smoke is my screen? It feels right and it is. And yes, you will have to help the man over there. You will be involved with your neighbour
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Now it is all done :)
Hullo there, now that the semester is done, I recommend having a serious tilt at this
 Table Tennis Tournament Amazingly realistic table tennis game! |
| Play this free game now!! |
Noa's Final Level
Here is the linlk to the final published file for my UT3 level if anyone is interested
UT3noapublished
UT3noapublished
EXPERIMENT 4 Final Video
Well, here it is!
tHE hUB
http://files.filefront.com/EXP4NoaVidSubmission/;10716800;/fileinfo.html
(note: Please download and view at full screen so the text is legible, otherwise I would have just posted a youtube link)
tHE hUB
http://files.filefront.com/EXP4NoaVidSubmission/;10716800;/fileinfo.html
(note: Please download and view at full screen so the text is legible, otherwise I would have just posted a youtube link)
POSITION STATEMENT
The Hub
Who should our client be? Should they always be the select few who can afford the service? Should access to great design for those who have nothing to spend be limited to the inhabitation of the public realm of architecture? Or in the case of the homeless, sheltered under the wings of the built environment designed by those who ‘have’ with no space of warmth for those who ‘have not’?
Who should our client be? Should they always be the select few who can afford the service? Should access to great design for those who have nothing to spend be limited to the inhabitation of the public realm of architecture? Or in the case of the homeless, sheltered under the wings of the built environment designed by those who ‘have’ with no space of warmth for those who ‘have not’?
Can the client become the homeless, the lady who just last night had the last dollar fifty of her welfare cheque stolen from her as she slept under someone else’s awning? Her friend, who slept 50 metres away, the next closest shelter? The man who pushes his life’s possessions down the back alleys in a shopping trolley?
In this we form a new type of architecture. It becomes a cross between pro-bono architecture and welfare architecture, something specific to the individual needs and inhabitable by the corporate whole. A place of warmth and comfort, hope and restoration, peace and dignity; a ‘family home’.
LeCorbusier writes, ‘the home = the hearth = the flame that heats their food and warms their bodies. The hearth has become, by extension, the symbol of an almost inevitable social group: the family ‘[1] Design now becomes that of the hearth or ‘focus’ [2] which can then draw together those who are without house or family. This hearth becomes a place of healing and warmth to those abandoned on the street. A place where people are drawn to, given to, listened to, taught and above all, valued.
To abstract the four realms of value and empowerment [3] you find, ‘dignity surrounded by empowerment, restoration, fun and connection'.
People become dislocated through many circumstances where a disjuncture appears between abilities and circumstances [4]. Empowerment locates itself around the hearth, becoming a place of story, of discussion; through community people can empower each other as they find their place again. Restoration allows for the reconnection into community and part revolves around health and hygiene. Fun strengthens confidence and allows for people to realise value as team and individual [5] and connection is the hub, the centre, the focus on the site. The hub locates the homeless in the same place as the help.
This is not a health institution per-se, rather it is a place of connection, the place of value and the place of resource. Our people become more than ‘them’, ‘they’, ‘the marginalised’ or any other lable, they have a face, they have a name now they have a home.
[1] LeCorbusier, The Nursery Schools, trans. By Eleanor Levieux (New York: Orion, (1968), p. 9. Quoted from Todd Wilmert, The ‘ancient fire, the hearth of tradition’: combustion and creation in Le Corbusier’s studio residences, ARQ, (2006) Vol 10, issue 1, p58
[2] Online Encyclopedia, http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/FLA_FRA/FOCUS_Latin_for_hearth_or_firep.html [Accessed: June 2008]
[3] http://n05ey.blogspot.com/2008/06/digging-deeper-on-each.html, lists 4 critical realms of empowerment in the creation of dignity and describes some of their fundamental underpinning.
[ 4] Flatau, Martin, Zaretzky, Haigh, Brady, Cooper, Edwards and Goulding, The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of homelessness prevention and assistance programs,(2006) AHURI, p24 “homelessness in later life was the result of subjects’ lack of skills and resources to cope with changes and stresses in later life.”
[5] Recreation as Empowerment for Homeless People Living in Shelters Maureen Harrington and Don Dawson, http://adp.lin.ca/resource//html/Vol24/v24n1a4.htm [Accessed: May 2008]
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
musak for Exp 4
Dear reader
The music used on exp 4 is a cover of a peice called Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971) (Wiki) by Gavin Bryars. It is a peice which took an improvised hymn sung by a homeless person which was recorded and played in the background as the band slowly built up melody over it to form a beautiful rising sound before fading out into the background again. The poignency is recognised in this extract from the gavin bryars webpage http://www.gavinbryars.com/Pages/jesus_blood_never_failed_m.html
"The door of the recording room opened on to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man's singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the tramp's nobility and simple faith. Although he died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism."
The peice I have used is a later cover by the band Jars of Clay
The music used on exp 4 is a cover of a peice called Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971) (Wiki) by Gavin Bryars. It is a peice which took an improvised hymn sung by a homeless person which was recorded and played in the background as the band slowly built up melody over it to form a beautiful rising sound before fading out into the background again. The poignency is recognised in this extract from the gavin bryars webpage http://www.gavinbryars.com/Pages/jesus_blood_never_failed_m.html
"The door of the recording room opened on to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man's singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the tramp's nobility and simple faith. Although he died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism."
The peice I have used is a later cover by the band Jars of Clay
Monday, June 16, 2008
Great Quote on the Hearth
Comment and writing from the ultimate man, Le Corb on the subject of the hearth
In this way an
architectural element associated with fire is aligned
with his painting career. In fact, pipes and objects
forged by fire, like bottles, plates and glasses, are key
components in many of his paintings.
Writings additionally illustrate an appreciation of
the hearth’s importance. Le Corbusier wrote that ‘the
home = the hearth = the flame that heats their food
and warms their bodies. The hearth has become, by
extension, the symbol of an almost inevitable social
group: the family’.
Todd Wilmert, The ‘ancient fire, the hearth of tradition’: combustion and creation in Le Corbusier’s studio residences, ARQ, (2006) Vol 10, issue 1, p58 (emphasys added)
What better to gather in the dislocated, the isolated than the family heart... People can become dislocated through illness, through financial difficulty, through a traumatic event. What better then to draw all together than the family atmosphere, one of inclusion, one of comfort and acceptance (apologies to readers who may not have the same experience of family as the author, intent is to show the inclusive, the accepting regardless atmosphere that a family can provide)
There is indicated in the research previously posted and accessable via the links that in reaching the socially disadvantaged there is a need to 'outreach' to the community. What if the 'outreach' could be founded at a home base, where the organisation(s) that can assist in providing care can co-exist in the same area and social space. We could envisage a place which draws people to warmth, provides an atmosphere of inclusion and connects people with specific people who can help with fundimental needs. We can provide a blanket for someone on the street, now can we provide a roof, a warmth, value, fun, room for laughter? Can someone leave different to the way they entered? Can someone with no ability to see their way out now sit around the hearth, the focus point, something of current value to them and meet a person who can not only see the source of their issues but can help find a lasting solution?
Or does this then become mere puff, mere illusion of help, more politics, a new way that people can 'help' and yet do no real good... is there still something fundimentally lacking?
Can it become 'the hub' ?
In this way an
architectural element associated with fire is aligned
with his painting career. In fact, pipes and objects
forged by fire, like bottles, plates and glasses, are key
components in many of his paintings.
Writings additionally illustrate an appreciation of
the hearth’s importance. Le Corbusier wrote that ‘the
home = the hearth = the flame that heats their food
and warms their bodies. The hearth has become, by
extension, the symbol of an almost inevitable social
group: the family’.
Todd Wilmert, The ‘ancient fire, the hearth of tradition’: combustion and creation in Le Corbusier’s studio residences, ARQ, (2006) Vol 10, issue 1, p58 (emphasys added)
What better to gather in the dislocated, the isolated than the family heart... People can become dislocated through illness, through financial difficulty, through a traumatic event. What better then to draw all together than the family atmosphere, one of inclusion, one of comfort and acceptance (apologies to readers who may not have the same experience of family as the author, intent is to show the inclusive, the accepting regardless atmosphere that a family can provide)
There is indicated in the research previously posted and accessable via the links that in reaching the socially disadvantaged there is a need to 'outreach' to the community. What if the 'outreach' could be founded at a home base, where the organisation(s) that can assist in providing care can co-exist in the same area and social space. We could envisage a place which draws people to warmth, provides an atmosphere of inclusion and connects people with specific people who can help with fundimental needs. We can provide a blanket for someone on the street, now can we provide a roof, a warmth, value, fun, room for laughter? Can someone leave different to the way they entered? Can someone with no ability to see their way out now sit around the hearth, the focus point, something of current value to them and meet a person who can not only see the source of their issues but can help find a lasting solution?
Or does this then become mere puff, mere illusion of help, more politics, a new way that people can 'help' and yet do no real good... is there still something fundimentally lacking?
Can it become 'the hub' ?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Schema and circulation
Central is the fireplace, the hearth, the focus, bringing dignity, hope.
Then there are the four realms,1. education/empowerment 2. health/sanitary conditions 3. fun/recreation 4. access to facilities.
To Abstract it is 'dignity surrounded by empowerment, restoration, fun and connection'
To circulate, all of the main functions stem from the fireplace, (empowerment- osmosis around the fire, restoration-sterilisation from the fire, fun-ghost stories around the fire, connection-people around the fire) then branch off into increasing privacy (empowerment- believing in yourself, restoration- cleaning yourself, fun- joy from within, connection- comfortable to be alone)
All bring into the focus and all branch out from the focus...
Then there are the four realms,1. education/empowerment 2. health/sanitary conditions 3. fun/recreation 4. access to facilities.
To Abstract it is 'dignity surrounded by empowerment, restoration, fun and connection'
To circulate, all of the main functions stem from the fireplace, (empowerment- osmosis around the fire, restoration-sterilisation from the fire, fun-ghost stories around the fire, connection-people around the fire) then branch off into increasing privacy (empowerment- believing in yourself, restoration- cleaning yourself, fun- joy from within, connection- comfortable to be alone)
All bring into the focus and all branch out from the focus...
Digging deeper on each
1. education/skill development
Health care needs to be an integrated approach, a life change rather than treatment of the syptoms. Financial disparity is one of the critical reasons that homelessness is perpetuated
2. Personal heath and hygiene
Taken from Balancing Act: Clinical Practices That Respond to the Needs of Homeless Peopleby
Marsha McMurray-Avila, M.C.R.P.
Lillian Gelberg, M.D., M.S.P.H.
William R. Breakey, M.D.
"Physical and mental illnesses are implicated as both causes and consequences of homelessness for many individuals. While the shortage of safe, decent, and affordable housing is the most fundamental cause of homelessness, untreated physical and/or mental health problems create vulnerabilities that can lead to loss of income and home. At the same time, those who experience homelessness are subject to conditions that can result in deterioration of health or exacerbate existing chronic or acute illnesses, leading to rates of illness and injury from two to six times higher than for people who are housed (Wright, 1990). Homelessness also severely complicates the delivery of health services (Institute of Medicine, 1988). Without access to appropriate health care, acute and chronic health problems may go untreated, creating medical complications in multiple co-occurring conditions and ultimately impeding the individual’s ability to overcome homelessness. Failing to provide homeless people with health care of a standard that is available to other people, even when they need elaborate or expensive treatments, constitutes a form of discrimination that should be unacceptable in a democratic society (Bangsberg et al., 1997)."
3. fun/recreation
Recreation as Empowerment for Homeless People Living in Shelters
Maureen Harrington and Don Dawson * (http://adp.lin.ca/resource//html/Vol24/v24n1a4.htm)- basic premis resides in the normalisation and integration that recreation can provide for people. There is a development of peoples social interaction.
4. Access to help
There is a need to coordinate peoples needs with people who can help, in this situation there is a need for people to
"1. The importance of outreach to engage clients in treatment.
2. Respect for the individuality of each person.
3. Cultivation of trust and rapport between service provider and client.
4. Flexibility in service provision, including location and hours of service, as well as flexibility in treatment approaches.
5. The need to attend to the basic survival needs of homeless people and to recognize that until those needs are met, health care may not be an individual’s priority.
6. The importance of integrated service provision and case management to coordinate the needed services.
7. Clinical expertise to address complex clinical problems, including access to specialized care.
8. Need for a range of housing options, including programs combining housing with services.
9. A longitudinal perspective that ensures continuing care until the person’s life situation is stabilized."
Balancing Act: Clinical Practices That Respond to the Needs of Homeless People
by
Marsha McMurray-Avila, M.C.R.P.
Lillian Gelberg, M.D., M.S.P.H.
William R. Breakey, M.D. (http://aspe.hhs.gov/homeless/symposium/8-Clinical.htm)
Health care needs to be an integrated approach, a life change rather than treatment of the syptoms. Financial disparity is one of the critical reasons that homelessness is perpetuated
2. Personal heath and hygiene
Taken from Balancing Act: Clinical Practices That Respond to the Needs of Homeless Peopleby
Marsha McMurray-Avila, M.C.R.P.
Lillian Gelberg, M.D., M.S.P.H.
William R. Breakey, M.D.
"Physical and mental illnesses are implicated as both causes and consequences of homelessness for many individuals. While the shortage of safe, decent, and affordable housing is the most fundamental cause of homelessness, untreated physical and/or mental health problems create vulnerabilities that can lead to loss of income and home. At the same time, those who experience homelessness are subject to conditions that can result in deterioration of health or exacerbate existing chronic or acute illnesses, leading to rates of illness and injury from two to six times higher than for people who are housed (Wright, 1990). Homelessness also severely complicates the delivery of health services (Institute of Medicine, 1988). Without access to appropriate health care, acute and chronic health problems may go untreated, creating medical complications in multiple co-occurring conditions and ultimately impeding the individual’s ability to overcome homelessness. Failing to provide homeless people with health care of a standard that is available to other people, even when they need elaborate or expensive treatments, constitutes a form of discrimination that should be unacceptable in a democratic society (Bangsberg et al., 1997)."
3. fun/recreation
Recreation as Empowerment for Homeless People Living in Shelters
Maureen Harrington and Don Dawson * (http://adp.lin.ca/resource//html/Vol24/v24n1a4.htm)- basic premis resides in the normalisation and integration that recreation can provide for people. There is a development of peoples social interaction.
4. Access to help
There is a need to coordinate peoples needs with people who can help, in this situation there is a need for people to
"1. The importance of outreach to engage clients in treatment.
2. Respect for the individuality of each person.
3. Cultivation of trust and rapport between service provider and client.
4. Flexibility in service provision, including location and hours of service, as well as flexibility in treatment approaches.
5. The need to attend to the basic survival needs of homeless people and to recognize that until those needs are met, health care may not be an individual’s priority.
6. The importance of integrated service provision and case management to coordinate the needed services.
7. Clinical expertise to address complex clinical problems, including access to specialized care.
8. Need for a range of housing options, including programs combining housing with services.
9. A longitudinal perspective that ensures continuing care until the person’s life situation is stabilized."
Balancing Act: Clinical Practices That Respond to the Needs of Homeless People
by
Marsha McMurray-Avila, M.C.R.P.
Lillian Gelberg, M.D., M.S.P.H.
William R. Breakey, M.D. (http://aspe.hhs.gov/homeless/symposium/8-Clinical.htm)
Research
Interesting insights into the homeless.
My first attempt is to now establish the hearth, the focus. Then the concentric rings around this are dignity, education/skill development, fun/recreation, personal health and hygiene.
Maybe, to continue this thought then, all these things establish dignity and hope. If one is to find a way back 'inside' they can find dignity and hope, value for their individual life. Maybe ways of establishing this are in providing an avenue for 1. education/skill development which can then lead back to work potentially? 2. Personal heath and hygiene- which can then help remove stigma... 3. fun/recreation- leasure time can be such an important factor. 4. Access to help- all becomes irrelevant if there is no help for the immediate need that they may have.
My first attempt is to now establish the hearth, the focus. Then the concentric rings around this are dignity, education/skill development, fun/recreation, personal health and hygiene.
Maybe, to continue this thought then, all these things establish dignity and hope. If one is to find a way back 'inside' they can find dignity and hope, value for their individual life. Maybe ways of establishing this are in providing an avenue for 1. education/skill development which can then lead back to work potentially? 2. Personal heath and hygiene- which can then help remove stigma... 3. fun/recreation- leasure time can be such an important factor. 4. Access to help- all becomes irrelevant if there is no help for the immediate need that they may have.
The Hearth
Comments on the Fireplace
Central to this theme are the hearth, the fireplace, the bonfire, the campfire.
The direct results can be burning, heating, cooking.
Less direct would be implications such as, fire can be used for sterilization, for cooking clay pots, for tempering steel.
Social effects from fireplace, gathering, conversation, comfort, warming, relaxing, sleeping around the fire. Campfire learning can occur.
The hearth can be considered a key element of a home (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearth)
Interesting to note that the "Latin name is focus.[1]" (Wiki)
So if the homeless condition can be considered that of wandering the streets, or the man that is stated as having 'no fixed address', can we now find that person a focus?
Central to this theme are the hearth, the fireplace, the bonfire, the campfire.
The direct results can be burning, heating, cooking.
Less direct would be implications such as, fire can be used for sterilization, for cooking clay pots, for tempering steel.
Social effects from fireplace, gathering, conversation, comfort, warming, relaxing, sleeping around the fire. Campfire learning can occur.
The hearth can be considered a key element of a home (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearth)
Interesting to note that the "Latin name is focus.[1]" (Wiki)
So if the homeless condition can be considered that of wandering the streets, or the man that is stated as having 'no fixed address', can we now find that person a focus?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Architecture, health and admittance
At this stage my very abstract
Who should architecture be for? Should it be for the select few who are able from their positions of comfort in a world that knows only warmth and heat in the middle of winter? Should it be for those who by virtue of hard work, inheritance, good fortune even great diligence have more than they need to survive that day, that week, that month or that year?
Should architecture be warmth and fancy, industry and production or could it embody something greater? Could it relate to those who have nothing, give warmth to those who have none? Give shelter to those who had the last cents of their pension cheque for that month stolen last night?
Could those who have give a gift to those who have none. A place of healing and warmth to those abandoned on the street...
A place where people are drawn to, given to, taught, listened to and valued. Surely this would do more for health than any institution. Our people could become more than 'them' 'those' 'the marginalised' but rather 'they' become 'we'...
Who should architecture be for? Should it be for the select few who are able from their positions of comfort in a world that knows only warmth and heat in the middle of winter? Should it be for those who by virtue of hard work, inheritance, good fortune even great diligence have more than they need to survive that day, that week, that month or that year?
Should architecture be warmth and fancy, industry and production or could it embody something greater? Could it relate to those who have nothing, give warmth to those who have none? Give shelter to those who had the last cents of their pension cheque for that month stolen last night?
Could those who have give a gift to those who have none. A place of healing and warmth to those abandoned on the street...
A place where people are drawn to, given to, taught, listened to and valued. Surely this would do more for health than any institution. Our people could become more than 'them' 'those' 'the marginalised' but rather 'they' become 'we'...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Postition statement
The site during the day lives on the boundary between the explorative – the realm of texture, taste, fragrance, sounds – and the peripheral, that of driving past without noticing anything other than the slight chill down the spine as the ominous smoke stack spewing out its filth looms briefly overhead.
While the various scales and movements around the site exhibit a split world still more subtle is the 1disconnect between wildly different pedestrian identities that inhabit the area. There is the drunk who wakes up in the shadow of narrow back lanes, or on the doorstep of a young family’s heritage terrace. There are the groups of subversives who graffiti everywhere and anywhere, in an attempt to extend their sense of ownership over a place already mired by signage posted by the “official” owners of buildings. There is the social shadow cast over every local by the Eastern Distributor ventilation stack, on a site owned by the RTA and distinguished by its inhabitability. Clearly, the site is distinguished by cultural silos.
Far below the surface is a stream of cars, most active in the periods marking sunrise and sunset. The arrival of accompanying smog is the most widely relevant output of the site; it is the opening and closing act of the site’s daytime drama.
Pollution spewed from the site itself sits in watch over the silos of human activity. It broods, watches, infects. The brooding, the space, the melancholy of the activity that occurs is the inhabitant, is the character of the site. One feels that the site, the bricks and mortar, sand and cement may be built on, but the character of the site, the one that exists there at this time will not be shattered, will not change. One feels that it will move, walk down the footpath to the alleys and back lanes of Surrey Hills, stand up the sign of no trespassing once again and continue on uninterrupted with its life.
The work of high power simulations these days is a reconfiguring of player positions, finding ways to enable collaboration of personified identities – teams, organisations, matter. In embodying the perceived meaning of these identities, we hope that such identities can be dealt with rather than overlooked.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Good Tutorial List...
Hey Guys,
If you need a good list by topics on tutorials I would recommend this one, it has reference to all the different areas and sites.
http://www.icecreamyou.com/ut3.html
All the best!
If you need a good list by topics on tutorials I would recommend this one, it has reference to all the different areas and sites.
http://www.icecreamyou.com/ut3.html
All the best!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Experiment 2
Hi all
Here is an email I sent to Russell
"Russell,
As I said on your blog, I am unable to make it today, stuck here in the
office nstead, but I would like some feedback on the images if possible. I
have three rough's at the moment and will probably switch 2 and three in order.
page one and 2 are almost where I want them (minus some text and a few details)
but page 3 at the moment is simply a rough indication of where it is headed, the
idea being that it is the nucleus, the rock that the other two can orbit
around.
A few quick questions too,
1. Are we going to be displaying them simultaniously on three screens or
one at a time?
2. Do the textures need to be embedded in the 3 images, kind of like
popups or rollovers?
3. Will the textures need to able to tile to form seamless surfaces or
can they be standalone?
I would appreciate it if there is any chance of getting feedback by
12ish today so I can look at it and respond before the end of the work day.
Thanks
Noa Tranter"
If anyone has feedback for me I would love it!!
Thanks
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Site info
Here is a useful link... It outlines an existing proposal for our site which documents all the relevant info for you. Might be well worth a read before you start working :)
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/documents/meetings/2005/Planning_141105/14-11-05_PDTC_ITEM5.pdf
Get into it
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/documents/meetings/2005/Planning_141105/14-11-05_PDTC_ITEM5.pdf
Get into it
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Hospitals
hi everyone,
Sorry for the wait on the upload of my vid, it will be up soon I was a little disorganised heading to uni today...
Anyway, I have been having some thoughts on hospitals...
So, thinking about hospitals and their function, they are there in a function to turn sick people into well people, to take the symptoms of sickness and do what they can to ease the pain. It can be considered an extension of the idea of pain and the relative treatment that one might seek because of it. Plastic surgery is pain of the self conscious, dental is pain of the mouth, mental is pain of the mind or of society, prisons are pain of the behaviour (a greater stretch of the definition than I could probably get away with).
So my thoughts continue on the idea of a hospital and the relationships with pain and am wondering if something that is considered a 'treatment facility' or something which could be considered to 'ease' pain could come in this category. Maybe we could stretch the definition of hospitals for my purposes to be an artists studio for people with disabilities or something along those lines. Something like the hospital which used laughter as the best medicine.
How far can we take hospital?
I eagerly await posts...
Sorry for the wait on the upload of my vid, it will be up soon I was a little disorganised heading to uni today...
Anyway, I have been having some thoughts on hospitals...
So, thinking about hospitals and their function, they are there in a function to turn sick people into well people, to take the symptoms of sickness and do what they can to ease the pain. It can be considered an extension of the idea of pain and the relative treatment that one might seek because of it. Plastic surgery is pain of the self conscious, dental is pain of the mouth, mental is pain of the mind or of society, prisons are pain of the behaviour (a greater stretch of the definition than I could probably get away with).
So my thoughts continue on the idea of a hospital and the relationships with pain and am wondering if something that is considered a 'treatment facility' or something which could be considered to 'ease' pain could come in this category. Maybe we could stretch the definition of hospitals for my purposes to be an artists studio for people with disabilities or something along those lines. Something like the hospital which used laughter as the best medicine.
How far can we take hospital?
I eagerly await posts...
Sunday, March 30, 2008
So here goes it
The big vaulnerability test, to post the clip...
well here is the early render, hope it is fun and would appreciate any comments (although I do already know that most of the txt grabs are a little unreadable and the transitions are a little unrefined, oh and the mario stuff needs a lot of work and there is no biblio credits yet...)
well here is the early render, hope it is fun and would appreciate any comments (although I do already know that most of the txt grabs are a little unreadable and the transitions are a little unrefined, oh and the mario stuff needs a lot of work and there is no biblio credits yet...)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Sam n Max
Sam n Max used to be a fav game of mine so I am stoked to find these episodes. this one while it has its usual cartoony feel has some interesting takes on the world of the home. Interesting eh?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Anathema Clip
Hey all,
This is a great atmosphere developer for anyone wanting to use some clips that bring out the 'darker broodier' side of their vids. I thought for a single piece it kept good pace interest through it. Of particular interest to me was the way the whole vid could be seen in smaller sections defined by pace, tone, music and the setting. I think that will be a useful tip for what we will be doing through our presso's.
The use of architecture to define and alter the mood through the clip I thought had reasonable impact, transferring from intimate settings to large vistas and back again. Hope it is useful
This is a great atmosphere developer for anyone wanting to use some clips that bring out the 'darker broodier' side of their vids. I thought for a single piece it kept good pace interest through it. Of particular interest to me was the way the whole vid could be seen in smaller sections defined by pace, tone, music and the setting. I think that will be a useful tip for what we will be doing through our presso's.
The use of architecture to define and alter the mood through the clip I thought had reasonable impact, transferring from intimate settings to large vistas and back again. Hope it is useful
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Architecture and Pain
Architecture and Pain...
Architecture transforming pain/Pain transforming architecture
The statement encapsulates two ideas, the first being the transformation of the pain of the architect, builder, client and whoever else finds themselves in the position of being involved in the creative process being transformed into the resultant physical and emotional environment. The second idea is that of the transformation of architecture when it is then subjected to pain, whether it be in the pain of breaking or demolishing the architecture, the pain of the human inhabitant transforming the emotional response to the architecture or lastly the influence of a being in pain then altering the physical environment to then remove that pain (eg. a person who stubs their toe on a step then being in pain and altering the built environment in order to stop this from happening again)
It can go a lot further, I will continue to look at it and would love any thoughts!
Architecture transforming pain/Pain transforming architecture
The statement encapsulates two ideas, the first being the transformation of the pain of the architect, builder, client and whoever else finds themselves in the position of being involved in the creative process being transformed into the resultant physical and emotional environment. The second idea is that of the transformation of architecture when it is then subjected to pain, whether it be in the pain of breaking or demolishing the architecture, the pain of the human inhabitant transforming the emotional response to the architecture or lastly the influence of a being in pain then altering the physical environment to then remove that pain (eg. a person who stubs their toe on a step then being in pain and altering the built environment in order to stop this from happening again)
It can go a lot further, I will continue to look at it and would love any thoughts!
Back to School
Well I must admit that it is kinda nice to be back at uni and not be facing a session sitting at a drawing board or with little knife wounds from blunt Stanley blades trying to cut ridiculously thick box board at 3am.
I am sure that soon enough I will be looking back at this post wishing for those days of zappagap eyes and pastel smudges everywhere but bring on the compy for now eh!
I am sure that soon enough I will be looking back at this post wishing for those days of zappagap eyes and pastel smudges everywhere but bring on the compy for now eh!
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