Week 5/6: Core Concepts and Site Analysis

Having found it difficult to produce core concepts in tutorial, I decided to try the exercise at home. Below is my brainstorm map:

The core concept for our Folie was the sound of the city. We were heavily inspired by the sound of the traffic over the Story Bridge when we walked underneath it. This influenced both the Folie's location and form. It got me thinking that the sound of the city is different depending on where you are. How does this relate to the site? Directly under the bridge = definitive, constant and clear traffic sounds, and at the base of the cliff the sound is more dispersed, more like 'noise'; background stuff. Is the sound of the city only traffic related? Well, it could be argued that it is the sound of traffic that makes up the most of the sounds, but there are other factors, like human noise (talking, laughing), construction noise and the sounds of animals.

Not only is the sound of the city dependent upon where you are, it is something that changes over time. It changes over the course of a day: in the morning and evening peak our the sound of the city is loud as people move around. At midday it is loud, but not to the level of the peak periods. At midnight, the sound of the city is relatively quiet. The sound of the city also changes by year, particularly with the increase in population. Increase in population = increase in car ownership, especially with the lack of public transport infrastructure in the city.

From here I came up with the concept of concentrated vs. dispersed.

Then I decided to analyse the function of our Folie. Primarily, it was just supposed to be a space where people could come and relax, listening to the sounds of the city.

A Folie was to act as an ESCAPE, an interruption to a journey or a DESTINATION. A DESTINATION =ESCAPE.

Could my learning experience be about physical barriers and boundaries, and trying to escape?

What about a giant maze...

These concepts then informed my specific site analysis. As I did the site analysis for the Folie project, I already had a good idea about the site, specifically the areas under the bridge. But I decided to look at the site as a whole, considering the boundaries/barriers, where the sound would come from and the access points.

 This first image shows the boundaries of the site, and the fact that there are existing structures of historical significance. I believe these have to stay.

 This second image shows where the sound comes from. The Story Bridge produces concentrated sound. The River and the rest of the city produces dispersed sound.

 The River provides ample entry opportunities. Cut off this image is the Boundary Street entry point. The River is both a boundary and an entry point... this is an interesting point.