Folie: Final Concepts

Concept

The final concept for the Folie centres around the idea of a physical representation of sound waves, using natural materials to create a rhythmic and structured, though also organic, form.

‘Sound waves may be visualised in many ways; each of which is poetic and expresses differing qualities of sound. When one regards the change in population over time, these numbers may be expressed as a graph. Graphs and sound wave visualisation have much in common, even if the graph is a column graph or the expression of a mathematical function.

The Articulate City’s representation of the city is two fold: it expresses the city as a sound wave but also as a population wave. The ebb and flow of the wooden slats mirrors the ebb and flow of city life, whether it be people commuting in and out of the city on a daily basis or people moving in and out of the city permanently. With this it represents the increase and decrease in volume and frequency of sound within the city.’

The above is a section of our written statement. Of particular importance is the fact that the form of the building directly relates to the sound of the city and vice versa.

Above: A 3d View showing the waves from underneath

Context

Much of the context part of the presentation needed to be completed before the design, and has been discussed at length in the previous posts. Of particular relevance to the final design is he use of natural materials and the choice to have the Folie envelop the existing bike path. Natural materials mean that the Folie blends in with the existing vegetation and cliff face. Leaving the bike path clear means that new infrastructure is not required.

Tectonic

The final structure comprises timber and concrete. In the top section, three different ‘sound waves’ are represented: one reasonably smooth and regular pattern, one less regular and one chaotic pattern. These also meld into one another to create an intriguing space underneath. These different waves also reflect the sound of the city during a normal day, smooth and regular during the middle of the night, less regular during the middle of the day and chaotic during the peak hours. It could also be said that they mirror the progression of increased car ownership in Brisbane.

Above: Section Views showing the different 'wave' patterns

Function and Experience

‘The Folie’s proximity to the path allows for it to function as a true activator of the space, turning a menial transitional space into a meaningful destination.’ This is the true purpose of the Folie; to be an installation that coaxes people into spending time lingering above the River and the Howard Smith Wharves, a place to relax from the busy outside world. The final design does not detract from the existing infrastructure, people are still able to use the space as a transitional one. The hope for our Folie would be that users  would perhaps enjoy the walk through there more, and take time to contemplate their lives. To slow down and take time for themselves. When using the seating area of the Folie, it is our hope that users might enjoy the glimpses of the city through the undulating railings, or the intriguing patterning of the slats as they hang down and diffuse the sounds of the city from the Bridge above.

More Indepth Discussion of the Folie

It is important to look at the Folie in terms of the stated criteria: this is how we are looking at presenting our Folie.

Concept

As discussed in the previous post, our Folie takes its inspiration from the noise of the traffic under the bridge. We discussed at length how much this inspiration would impact upon the Folie’s design, and we are looking at creating a form that reflects soundwaves. Something else that we took into consideration was the idea that the sound pattern of the city might have changed over time, particularly from an increase in residents in the city. This prompted me to investigate the facts and figures in relation to Brisbane’s population, and I uncovered some interesting results, as below.

This is the change in the estimated resident population of Brisbane over time. It looks interesting similar to a small area of the spectrum graph…

There is a remarkable similarity between sound wave visualisation and column graphs, and it was this was an interesting point of inspiration for the Folie. I also decided to look at the base line population figures, as well as the level of car registration. Although these aren’t particularly relevant to the Folie concept per se, they did yield some interesting results. In particular, the vehicle registration graph (see below).



I think the graph shows quite clearly where the Global Financial Crisis occurred. Car registration has moved towards a plateau since 2008, after quite significant increases beforehand. The sound of the city might stay consistent for a while…?

Context

A portion of the project allocated to me is the site analysis section, as mentioned last post. I have produced some flow diagrams showing the flow through our intended site as well as flood and view considerations. The flow diagrams show that during peak hours, traffic through the site is quite heavy, meaning that an installation in that location would have to fit well with its surrounds and not interrupt the thoroughfare.

It is quite obvious that the height of the cliffs mean that the installation is completely safe from flooding from the river. In fact, the bridge means that the installation would be quite well protected from all the elements.

 

Also, the view from the top of the cliff is quite enjoyable, although this is by no means our first consideration it is still an important one.

 

Function

Developing the function of the Folie has been a contested point. What do we want the Folie to do? We have discussed the possibility of it turning the thoroughfare into destination; somewhere that people might want to relax and think about the sound of the city. What we are not certain on, however, is whether or not the Folie should be interactive. We toyed with the idea of having an installation that was changeable, mirroring the change in the sound of the city over time, or the increase in the population etc. We dismissed this idea on the grounds that the location of the Folie was too difficult to accommodate this sort of installation, and would require an intense amount of infrastructure to make it work.

Tectonic

The chosen site lends itself to a use of simple, natural materials. We decided at the very beginning that we should use timber for the installation, in conjunction with concrete and possibly metal of some description. We decided on the use of timber to mirror sound waves, as it is versatile and could be used in many different ways. We decided on a system of thousands of wooden slats, used to geometrically represent sound waves. Concrete would be used to blend the installation in with the existing bike path. Also, concrete would be integral to create a sound structure on the top of the cliffs, considering the significant and steep slope.

Experience

We wished the Folie to be something that could be experienced in passing as well as for a period of time. It was for this reason that we decided that it should incorporated the existing bike way. Those who needed to use the bike way as a transitional space to get to/from work could still do with ease, but now they would have an installation to look at. Those using the path for pleasure could linger in the space, with a pleasant atmosphere to rest and contemplate, enjoy the view, listen to the sound of the city, and just… be.

In many respects, one might be able to learn about themselves in the space, taking time to contemplate their own life. The Folie could be a place to consider one’s direction in life, or take some time out for one’s self.

References:

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011. ‘Motor Vehicle Census – Registered Motor Vehicles at 31^st March’. National Regional Profile: Brisbane (Statistical Division).

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@nrp.nsf/Latestproducts/305Industry12006-2010?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=305&issue=2006-2010 (Accessed 16.03.12)

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2000 ‘Population of Queensland. 3235.3 Population By Age and Sex QLD, June 2000.

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyTopic/6B9FE55503A650FDCA25690D00835F84?OpenDocument  (Accessed 16.03.12)

Brisbane City Council. 2012. ‘Change in Estimated Resident Population, Brisbane City.’ Brisbane Community Profiles.

http://profile.id.com.au/Default.aspx?id=327&pg=210&gid=10&type=enum (Accessed 15.03.12)

Site Analysis and Folie Design

This week we went back to the Howard Smith Wharves site to gather some more insight into the location of our Folie. We had decided that we would use the area under the bridge for multiple reasons, some of these being the fact that it was high enough to resist flooding and had a great view! But more than that, the site has a unique sound quality to it – something we recognised on our first visit and something we investigated more on our second.

I took multiple sound recordings at the site, and from here produced visualisations to match the sound patterns (using VLC media player).

This is the ‘Goom’ visualisation pattern. It looks like a load of colour and is quite hard to make sense of.

This is the ‘Scope’ pattern. This is perhaps the most recognisable form of sound wave visualisation.

The second last pattern is the ‘Spectrometer’. This pattern reminds me of ripples in a pond, although the sound that produced it does not sound anything like a pond!!!

This is the ‘spectrum’ visualisation pattern. This is reasonably self-explanatory: it looks like a blocky wave form, and reminds me of sound as visualised on an old music player my dad had. Perhaps inspiration for the Folie?

From these sound visualisations, I decided to make a few rough sketches of how sound waves could translate into a Folie. Would the sound waves inform the form, or the way in which people interact with the space, or both?

I also decided to search for inspiration on the web. The following are some results of ‘sound architecture’ and ‘sound art’.



http://www.designsoak.com/modern-artist-jean-shin/

http://www.everydaylistening.com/articles/tag/architecture

http://betalevel.com/2008/02/03/architecture-in-the-dark/

Along with the visualisation of sound, I also produced some of my own site analysis and looked into the context of the area.

 Flow through the site: 11 am

Flow through the site: 6 pm

 Site selection: flood proof

Site selection: views

Walkshop - 05/03/12

Although the official Walkshop was cancelled, we thought it wise to undertake it anyway. We decided to go as a group (the group for Project 1, for consistency). Considering the rain, the route we took to the Howard Smith Wharves was via the Citycat. Not only did this allow for a faster route to the site, it also allowed us to view the site from river level; something which we can no longer do from the Riverwalk.

QUT Gardens Point Ferry Terminal

Considering the speed of the Citycat, it was difficult to gain a good look at the site, however being at river level allowed me to observed the scale of the Story Bridge and the cliffs behind. It also allowed for the observation of the existing structures on the site, some images of which may be seen below.

This image shows the Bridge with the Howard Smith Wharves underneath. By comparison to the Bridge's pier, the buildings look tiny.

Some of the existing context.

Another image that gives an indicator of the scale of the buildings in relation to the Bridge's supporting pier. It is clear that our 5m x 5m x 5m Folie will be difficult to spot in the site unless it is visually striking.

Another glimpse of the existing buildings in relation to the cliffs behind.

An image of the Bridge showing the Howard Smith Wharves and the city behind.

As mentioned above, the site can no longer be accessed via the Riverwalk, due to last year's flood. As a result, it was necessary to approach the site from above, by walking through the suburbs. Although this was less than ideal for a comprehensive site analysis, it did provide some rather artistic views of the Story Bridge and the CBD that were ideal for DAB525!!!

A nice glimpse of the Story Bridge!

From above, it can be seen that there is a reasonable amount of land at the foot of the cliffs where the Wharves once stood. The remnants of the bike path that ran through the site prior to the flood are evident (paved surfaces), as well as the old warehouses. The area appears to be level. There is not traffic flow currently, as the site is not open to anyone.







Old warehouse, at the old bike path running along side.

As we continued, we followed a path under the bridge, and found some interesting spatial and auditory qualities there which provided food for thought about our Folie project.