Submission 4 Schematic Design - Biennale of Sydney Pavilions Summer Studio 2010 with Nicole Balestro 3129565

Schematic Design Base and Ground Floor Plan illustrating the structural system of supports for the 'container's and sequence of movement from lawn area, entry, gallery spaces and up to contemplation/viewing area. We sought to investigate the relationship between light (open) areas for contemplation and display of 'perforated' artwork screens and darks (dense) areas for viewing of video/sound art, to create a modulation as the viewer moves through the pavilion. A timber floor to the entry and 'bridge' area references the piers on the island and allows a view to the reflection pool beneath.

First Floor Plan and Eastern Elevation. The first floor area is cut back to wash sunlight down the double-height wall to the western side of the pavilion, referencing the cliff beyond. A contemplation area to the stair landing provides an area to sit and look south towards the factory buildings. Low slot windows in the 'contemplation' area allow  linear views across the foreshore and harbour whilst the viewer is seated, which contrast the dramatic view from the double height container that cantilevers from the pavilion. A deck area accessed from the first floor provides another aspect from which to view and experience the island.

1:100 Study Model - the artwork integrated into the 'bridge' container over reflection pool is backlit by natural lighting.

1:100 Study Model - the formal entry sequence creates a transition from outside to inside via the ramp through the container 'frame'. The low wall to the lawn area provides another place for the viewer to sit, rest and wait.

1:100 Study Model - an exit provided to the ground floor creates alternative path through and out of the pavilion. The stairs need to be addressed to this area to allow the viewer to sit and wait at the platform whilst also allowing the addition of containers for future Biennales.

1:50 Materiality Study Model - rather than using the materials of containers literally, we want to play on permanence and ephemerality by using and combining materials in different ways. For example, as well as using Trimdek metal sheet, we could use it also to form the concrete walls so that they have the same profile (or the negative imprint) but instead of being a temporary structure it conveys a sense of permanence and monumentality. We will use subtle changes in surface finish to imply the grid based on the container module rather than using it literally. Materials will reference the buildings on the island - sandstone supports, polycarbonate to the stairwell, concrete, timber and metal.

Submission 3 Concept Design - Biennale of Sydney Pavilions Summer Studio 2010 with Nicole Balestro 3129565

 

The pavilion is located to the eastern foreshore area which was once almost entirely covered with large factories and workshops.

 

This open area, now devoid of buildings, is covered with the traces of these removed buildings. Our proposed design seeks to fit in with these traces and become another layer of the island's history. Its verticality provides a link between the lower island and upper plateau, as well as a visual connection to the factories to the southeast corner of the island (which are also existing exhibition areas).

 

The pavilion is sited in front of the cliff on a a visual and pedestrian axis from the ferry wharf and main entry buildings. Acting as a node along this axis, the pavilion allows the viewer to sit and wait on the grass, enter the pavilion, or move through to the tunnel or the other factory spaces beyond. The lawn area and fig tree introduced to the area provides a much needed shaded area to soften the site and make it a little more habitable in the same way as the northern side of the island has been, without detracting from its existing character.

Drawing on the idea of 'Wunderkammer' or a 'Cabinet of Curiosities' which is part of the manifesto of the 2010 Biennale, our pavilion aims to be a 'container of ideas' drawing on the form of the shipping container as a reference to the site's nautical past and as a symbol of distance, trade and the movement of people, technology, commodities and ideas around the world. 

 

To illustrate our concept, we created our own 'Wunderkammer' containing our central ideas built as three dimensional models.

 

Site Transcript - the pavilion location in relation to entry sequence from the ferry wharf and buildings. Tree and lawn acting as an area for waiting, meeting and contemplation at junction between axes of movement to camp area, tunnel or other factory buildings. 

Open Sequence - the creation of a pavilion that has the ability to expand and reduce the display area for future Biennales through the addition of 'containers' in limitless configurations. As its most basic configuration, the pavilion is a series of structural supports and structures, or 'traces', that appears to be another post-industrial curiosity on the island. 

Rather than creating a space in which the artwork is only displayed on walls, we have designed our spaces where the work of artist Lily Kelly Napangardi is integrated into the containers themselves. Her paintings, which have references to sand hills and water, could be created as perforated metals screens which act as walls, ceilings or however the artist proposes for the Biennale. They screens can be viewed backlit from afar as an entire composition or can be viewed up close from inside as 'peepholes' out to the island. 

Submission 2 Precedent Study - Biennale of Sydney Pavilions Summer Studio 2010 with Nicole Balestro 3129565

Located in the garden of the late Baroque Palazzo Zenobio by architect Antonio Gaspari, Callum Morton's 'Valhalla' is a 3/4 scale replica of the suburban family home designed by his father, an architect whom he is cited as not reaching his full potential, as a bombed-out ruin. The pavilion was created in Australia from materials such as wood, polystyrene and epoxy, flat packed and then re-erected in Venice. The original home, although out of place amongst the surrounding homes with its Brutalist exterior, is full of fond memories of growing up with his family. Morton describes that although the exterior was oppressive, the interior was warm and light-filled.  It seems the choice of sites is intentional, as the Palazzo, despite its monumental facade, houses lavish rooms, a mirrored ball room and gardens within the U-shaped building.

 The image of the ruinous building seems to stem from numerous sources. Firstly, the artist recalls visiting the home recently only to discover that, after being sold and renovated, had eventually been demolished. Secondly, Morton suggests that it came to him after seeing images of destroyed buildings in war torn Afghanistan and it could be said that it explores the idea that the selective destruction of buildings is a twentieth century development as a means to divide, conquer and terrorize an enemy. Critic Herbert Muschamp states that 'exploding buildings are replacing landmarks' post September 11th. Morton seems to be playing on the building that existed, its memory and the contradiction to what exists now.  

Within the devastated facade, the viewer is transported into a stark anonymous office foyer with fluorescent lighting, three lifts and continuous 'muzak'.  A continuing theme in Morton's work is the failure of Modernism and more widely, the dysfunction of buildings to how the architect may have intending them to have been used, often caused by the building's occupants in their daily lives. Here again, Morton picks up on the idea of the building's intention, existence and memory, and the contradiction to what may exist now. Just as his father designed a building that was loved (though not appearing to be lovable) but was eventually unvalued and demolished, the ideals of the Modern 'machine for living' has created buildings that are cold and impersonal, despite the promise of a positive impact on society.

In my study model, I have tried to convey the deceitfulness of the building and the contrast to what really lies within. Only a facade, the building is a contemporary 'folly', a fake ruin within the Palazzo's garden. By overlaying it onto his father's original floorplan, I wanted to establish how the building is intrinsically connected to his father's work and the memory of it. The pavilion has a central entry point and the viewer is taken into the centre of the pavilion where the interior is revealed to them, much in the same way as a Baroque building such as the Palazzo Zenobio.

At night, light emanates from the pavilion in a ominous way which could refer to the use of light in buildings like churches to indicate the presence of God or the notion of 'heaven' as an ideal place that one should strive for. This could be the ideal of modern architecture, at odds with the bombed out pavilion in the garden.

This pavilion was useful to study through the way in which it discusses the memory of buildings. I want to play on the use of forms and materials in my design to allude to the buildings which were there before and evoke the sense that the pavilion itself could be a remnant of a building that is now beyond use.  In doing this I am attempting to reveal layers of the history of the site to the viewer and give an insight to what was there and how the site has changed. The building itself can be changed over time - it can be modified in the same way as the island has been modified, added to and adapted to its use over time.

Submission 1 Site Analysis Model - Biennale of Sydney Pavilions Summer Studio 2010 with Nicole Balestro 3129565

The Submission 1 model illustrates a number of issues, both physical and cultural, of the Cockatoo Island site. 

The images represent the current and past functions of different areas of the island whilst also alluding to the material qualities of these areas - industrial to east and south (grey - steel, glass, concrete), parkland and recreation to the north (green - grass) and historically habitation/incarceration to the plateau (brown - sandstone, timber, glass) .  
The model expresses the disconnection between the upper and lower levels of the island at the eastern end created by the cliff face and the large open area resulting from the removal of the industrial buildings to this area despite potential for a dramatic sense of arrival and approach from the ferry wharf and main entry.

Submission 1 Site Analysis - Biennale of Sydney Pavilions Summer Studio 2010 with Nicole Balestro 3129565

Grid and Connection

Connection and Distance - Visual/Physical

Figure Ground - 1857

Figure Ground - 1978 and 2000 Onwards

Longitudinal Cross Section - Density/Use

Materiality and Use

Surface and Texture

Shape Line and Form

Light and View

Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Assessment 4 Final Presentation

Project statement and final floorplans.

Here I revisited my earlier exploration of the underlying themes of the project but to the proposed design.

The perspective sketches are of areas of the design that I particularly like - the external cafe area and the circulation zone between floors.

Final elevations & cross-sections.

Coogee Community Centre Design Studio 4 2008 - Assessment 3 Design Development

This presentation demonstrates the development and refinement of the Community Centre design from the previous assessment. I have attempted to create a more modulated building form (less 'blocky') that responds more to the site whilst still reflecting the planning solution created in the previous assessment. I have altered the design so that natural sunlight is now brought into the building from a series of clerestory windows, not through the corridor along the Brook St. facade that is now enclosed. The two halves of the building form are now linked by a covered walkway which serves as a viewing platform over Coogee and Coogee Oval.


Issues to be addressed are:

1. The layout of the walls to the toilets/changeroom - reconsider the entry to these areas through a possible airlock that echoes the design of the walls to the other side of the central axis.
2. Vehicle entry to be from the centre to the oval. New pedestrian access from Brook St. to the southern end of the building that responds to the landscape of the site and the building.
3. Address how the building links to the existing grand stand.
4. Landscape to the front of the grandstand - this area seems unresolved



The elevations and cross-sections above illustrate the re-designed roof form. I am somewhat happier with the eastern facade but may attempt to refine the composition of the glazing mullions further. The external louvres to the facade provide sun control to the east and also create a sense of dynamacy to the facade as they change as the various areas are used/unused.



Issues to be addressed are:


1. The western facade needs further refinement - explore the possibility of it not being rectilinear in shape and not as one dimensional. Could it follow the new roof form?
2. How the western boundary fence addresses the grandstand and site.
3. Develop the idea of glass insertion to the western facade.





1:500 Study Model and Site Model - Plan
This illustrates that I need to consider how the design address access approach to the site from Brook St. from both the north and south. This can possibly be improved from a new access point to the southern end of the building.



1:500 Study Model - Aerial View South
The new tiered seating following the form of the eastern facade and emphasises the connection through the site to the oval and beachfront.



1:500 Study Model - North West Elevation



1:500 Study Model - South West Elevation
Approach and access from this area to be improved.




1:500 Study Model - East Elevation
The negative space to the cafe successfully breaks up the bulk of the building and utilises the orientation of this area in relation to its use.