This was a very progressive week for the project where we visited the site, met our design groups and had our first studio session. Our initial site visit was very fast due to time and weather constraints but we gained a sufficient insight to begin brainstorming using the themes ‘abstraction, metaphor and scaling’. We have not chosen a specific point on the site for our folie, but instead we are waiting to see what the design turns out to be to enable to place the folie in the most appropriate place. During our first studio session, we brainstormed about elements in and around the site that we could use as inspiration for the form of the folie. Many ideas came up such as the Story Bridge, Brisbane River, the history of the site, the surrounding nature, scale of the city, Kangaroo Point and the surrounding architecture on both sides of the river. We eventually decided to focus on the Brisbane River as a constant element and how within it, there are many changing elements such as the tides, floods, boats (both commercial and recreational) and the natural elements such the marine life and mangroves.
After deciding on our theme, we began to brainstorm how we could relate this into a structure. The structure has to reflect a constant element that has a variety of variables. In terms of the learning factory of the folie, because of the changing elements, we thought the user could learn through discovery. Using tactics such as movement, interactive sections and screening, we could open certain parts of the folie up to inspire people to take information away and further their learning. We got inspiration from Steven Holl’s ‘Art and Architecture’ Project in 1993, where the facade of the wall has sections which swivel and move to enable people to pass through which can be seen below.
Shftoptplus. 2011. "Steven Holl's Art and Architecture" Accessed March 3rd, 2012 http://shftoptplus-uts-2010s1.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/steven-holl-vito-acconci-storefront-for.html
As this is our first team design project, we thought it would be practical to continue from this point individually to gain as many ideas as possible before next week. So using ‘Art and Architecture’ as inspiration, I have been brainstorming ways to create and interactive folie that reflects the Brisbane River. I began by thinking about how to divide and create spaces within a larger area. Some of which can be seen below.
Using shapes to create spaces is on original idea, but I thought it may be possible to have a collection of shapes, connected together that can be moved by the user to open and divide spaces. The theory of screening can be achieved by using these shapes and certain angles. I did not find this was giving me the results that I wanted and I was finding it difficult to relate these ideas to the site and the river. I began to research into kinetic art and installations to find inspiration from the creations of others. I discovered an artist named Steven Weis who creates environmental installations from recycled materials. He created a piece last year for “Floating Land”, an annual exhibition held on the Sunshine Coast (Shorthouse 2011). The project called “Water Wall” is a kinetic installation that is based on acoustics and reflects the movement of water around the world (Shorthouse 2011). The piece works by a viewer pulling on a section of rope which starts off a stream of water flowing through the artwork, creating sounds as it travels. Below is a picture of the artist in front of Water Wall and a video can be found by following the reference link.
Shorthouse, Janel. 2011. “Water Wall activates at Floating Land”. Accessed March 3rd, 2012. http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2011/05/30/3230904.htm
Steven Weis’s idea of flowing water over objects to create sound inspired me to incorporate this into my ideas. Not only can water be used to reference the Brisbane River, but also to create screens of falling water to hide and releve views and also to create an interactive section by having users change the course of the flowing water by changing the layout of the folie. Below are some of the ideas that I have generated after viewing Steven Weis’s work.
I am meeting with the rest of my group on Tuesday where we will swap ideas and try to incorporate everything into a cohesive and successful design.
