Exemplar Archetype

Housing Complex by BIG Architecture  

This complex creates a steeped typology by arranging basement parking accordingly. While enhancing views it encourages connection with other tenants and creates community in the outside environment. While this development uses the car parks to create form.  A development like this is easily made possible by the natural contours of Woodfordia.

Yokohama Terminal

The utilisation of contours to create a interesting urban space provides inspiration towards the circulation within my urban spaces.

Public Proscenium 

This concept of stairs creating public domain for voice is highly intriguing, it also serve as a window into this domain.

Structured VS Organic Planning

With an economic structure that can be seen as organic i cant help but feel that planning would would develop organically. Organic planing has its positives but also has certain flaws. After looking at Dharavi in Mumbai it is evident that the slums that developed organically has suffered in infrastructure leading to extremely poor sanitation but has also developed to allow for a high employment rate, strong sense of community and a high percentage of people with shelter. While there is a laot of improvement to be made to living standards certain essence to how they should not be overlooked.

"Dharavi, a Mumbai slum where 600,000 residents are crammed into 520 acres, contains the attributes for environmentally and socially sustainable settlements for the world's increasingly urban population, he said. The district's use of local materials, its walkable neighbourhoods, and mix of employment and housing add up to "an underlying intuitive grammar of design that is totally absent from the faceless slab blocks that are still being built around the world to 'warehouse' the poor". (Robert Booth The Guardian, 2009)

If Woodfordia developed organically with critical infrastructure what will it look like?

Distillation Of Script

At this stage in the design process i can say i coming to a stage where i can satisfy the criteria of  the script and am comfortable to move to the next phase. While the script is not compleate at this stage there is enough information to synthesise the stage. At the bottom of this post is the Brief for this stage.


So here is the script:

"Disillusioned by current goverments in the midse of global finacial turmoil a group of people seek like minded individuals to establish a self governed community in Woodfordia. Inspired by the success of Auroville in India, they acquire rights to self govern under "The Woodfordia Act" by the Australian and Queensland Government. Core beliefs are set in place that form the framework of Woodfordia, they are listed below.

Priority to nation – priority to planet
Individualism – communitarianism
Independence – Interdependence
Autocracy – Democracy
Humanity against nature – Humanity part of nature (permaculture?)
Unsustainable production, consumption, development, lifestyles –Sustainable production, consumption, development, lifestyles
Patriarchy – Gender equality
Intercultural and inter religious intolerance/hostility – Intercultural and inter religious tolerance/harmony
Conflict resolution through confrontation/combat – Conflict resolution through cooperation/negotiation
Safekeeping through defense – Safekeeping through security

Governance is set in place that adheres to three key ideals, Transparency, Choice and Accountability. Leadership is given to the most able person rather than an elected official, it is his or her duty is to work in consultation with the community who all have a voice. Their Voice is delivered and heard through new age technology where transparency, choice and accountability is easily achieved. Woodfordia's Economy is made up of three components.

A Collective Economy - Mutual economy where the wealth is shared

Commercial Economy- Economy of the trade of goods and service

A Kind Economy - Economy that provides every citizens basic needs 

All three models of economy are of equal importance, and freedom is given to each individual achieve their fulfilment knowing that their basic needs are met every day. The result in 2050 is a thriving community with economic stability and happiness knowing that their voice is heard."

SCRIPT
Following criteria are to evaluate your ability to strategically communicate an architectural proposal through a creative as well as logically and realistically constructed series of events in the form of a factitious story


REALITY (12.5%): Have relevant contexts you can observe today been studied and well incorporated into your Architecture Fiction? Has the development been documented appropriately in your blog and outcomes been presented well in the final presentation/submission?

Description: It is important that your story is based on contexts that we are in today and assumptions you make are realistic and believable based on what you can observe today. Imagine yourself in your scenario and how you would be living in your version of the future. Please remember that you are to develop and present Architecture fiction, not Science fiction.


CREATIVITY (12.5%): Have background contexts extracted from your team's scenario developed in Project One been refined and developed into a unique and imaginative plot for your Architecture Fiction? Have the development been documented appropriately in your Blog and outcomes been communicated well in your presentation/submission?

Description: You are to develop an unique story to present your architectural entity deeply embedded in near future contexts. Your imagination and creativity therefore is critical to show your proposal is relevant and communicate important aspects of your proposal successfully. The story has to be developed and presented through methods of your choice such as a series of captured scenes, storyboard and/or a movie.

Technologies Role in Governance

The rise of social and new age media means we are all connected more easily and have instant access to information, hence this being called the digital age. What does this mean for a Woodfordia? 

An idea is to take governance on the web so everyone has a say and decisions are made by people with their government. it also ensures that governance is "transparent, gives choice and is accountable"

I like this idea Further exploration required...

Further exploration of Ecconomy

Initial Site Model

During this week i created a site model to help with my site analysis. More to come later...

Auroville

Auroville (City of Dawn) is an "experimental" township in Viluppuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, near Pondicherry inSouth India. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (also known as "The Mother") and designed by architect Roger Anger.^[1][2][3] As stated in Alfassa's first public message about the township, "Auroville is meant to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity."

The Auroville foundation act that gives power to the Auroville community to govern itself
click here > Auroville Foundation Act

This is fascinating concept and finally provides the model for Woodfordia. A community that is run by the Woodfordia Foundation an entity with rights given by "The Woodfordia Foundation Act" Australian Federal Government

Tallinn Town Hall

Transparency is a key theme in this design. It is a contradiction to what we view government, but now as times change we expect a different government.  Of that is offers transparency, choice and is accountable.

Lecture & Tutorial

This quote from the lecture has a lot of relevance to my concept of governance.

"On the one hand, there are bureaucracies, hierarchical structures with conscious goals and overt control mechanisms. On the other, there are peasant and small-town markets, self-organised structures that arise spontaneously out of the activities of may individuals, whose interests only partially overlap."

Manuel De Landa, 1997

This quote highlights the dilemma that i am currently facing. At this stage i am still working out how governance will work at Woodfordia.

Tutorial

In the tutorial our discussion revolved around refining my concept to produce the appropriate architecture.

Possible Things to look at is:

Sociocracy

Exemplar society

-Kabutsus Isreal

-Auroville (India)

Government for the Information Age

“Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”

- Robert F. Kennedy
Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968

Initial Exploration of Governance

Two outlooks of economy Capitalist & Socialist

Economy is a critical element to adress governance as it is there to controll our economy. It manages our funds to create infrastructure.

e·con·o·my

   [ih-kon-uh-mee]  Show IPA noun, plurale·con·o·mies, adjective, adverb

noun

1.

thrifty management; frugality in the expenditure orconsumption of money, materials, etc.

WHAT WILL WOODFORDIA'S ECONOMY BE LIKE???

- At this stage it is hard to grasp an understanding of the right economic/government structure for Woodfordia. Perhaps i should look at future trends

P1 Review, P2 Beginnings & Direction

P1 Review

What i got from our general review of p1 as a theme group...
BLOG!!! BLOG!!! BLOG!!!

I misunderstood the emphasis placed on our blogs moving forward i will renew my focus on the process.

P2 Brief

For P2 We have to create the following... utilising theme from our society


It was recommend we follow the linear pattern of the brief so that means generating the script followed by the stage and finally the scenes

SCRIPT
Following criteria are to evaluate your ability to strategically communicate an architectural proposal through a creative as well as logically and realistically constructed series of events in the form of a factitious story. 

STAGE 
Following criteria are to evaluate your ability to design an architectural entity that works. Your architectural entity can be considered as the main stage for your Architecture Fiction. Your story should be constructed so that it best describes the most important aspects of your proposal as well as your proposal should be a response to the future contexts that you are to communicate in your story. 

SCENES 
Following criteria are to evaluate your ability to communicate the value and relevance of your architectural proposal. They can be best described as specific scenes in your Architecture Fiction. 


Moving Forward


GOVERNANCE 
Of all the aspects of our future vision of Woodfordia, the changing idea of governance was highly intriguing, it will be interesting to develop this idea and see what architectural solution it generates.