HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 6

So after 3 very late nights and almost an all nighter... I have something which may be suitable for the presentation.

In the very early hours of Tuesday morning after a receiving a certain email, I am fed up with a certain person's whole approach to the assignment.  I send an email which firmly reminds him that it is a team assignment and it is too late to be having arguments about which model is better and changing the entire form of the folie.  If he had of been involved earlier on and attended the meetings, he may have felt a bit more involved in the decision making of the group.

Anyway all that aside, Tope and I managed to meet up again on Wedneday and thoroughly went through the posters and checked the content and layout as best we could.

Some of the final images include:

3d view of facade facing Story Bridge (giving a good impression of the fixed glazing and shutters which open and close depending on which part of the Story Bridge is to be viewed).

Section showing how the structure cantilevers off the cliff.  Also giving an indication of the floor structure and the two platforms used to create an experience within the folie.

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 5

So it is the Monday before our folie is due and unfortunately we have a certain team member who seems to not agree with what the majority (who attended team meetings) has agreed upon.  Josh would like to change the final outcome and unfortunately Tope and I think it is way too late in the peice to be changing the whole concept.  At this stage there has been no input by the fourth member.

So with the due date coming quickly, Tope and I continue to steam ahead so that we have a unified well thought out assignment for presentation on Wednesday.

I am continuing to develop the structure, interior and exterior views, the section and also working out materials.

Tope has been in charge of pulling together the overall layout of posters, sketches and additional images for posters. 

We arrange to meet again on Wednesday.

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 4

Well the Saturday meeting did not eventuate.  I had tried to email all group members, however as the morning went on, no one was contactable. 

I decided that something had to be started so I spent quite a few hours on Saturday putting down into text what I believed was the summary of what we had all discussed at last tutorial.  I managed to finish the 300 word text component of the assignment and forwarded it onto the other team members for comment along with some extra information I had found on the Story bridge. 

Mainly I was quite interested in the materials - where and by who they were fabricated by.

http://www.ctc.qld.edu.au/history.htm

There were quite a few images that I found also, regarding an insight into the workers experience:

Source:

http://bishop.slq.qld.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1331946480822~110&locale=en_GB&metadata_object_ratio=7&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

Source:

http://bishop.slq.qld.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1331946950510~595&locale=en_GB&metadata_object_ratio=7&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

Source:
http://bishop.slq.qld.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1331947411958~60&locale=en_GB&metadata_object_ratio=7&show_metadata=true&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true

In response to the info I sent, Tope replied with the idea that maybe our floor could be construted out of glass with and that experience that the user of the folie would have would be related to learning about the experience of the workers.  In the sense that the workers had to walk across steel beams, high up in the air without safety equipment.  Possibly the experience or learning would be to do with learning about that experience of the workers who built the bridge with their own hands.

After not hearing from other members I contacted Tope and mentioned that it was probably too late in the day and that we should re-schedule to Sunday.  I originally had changed my weekend to fit in with the Saturday meeting but then found myself working the whole weekend on the project.

Tope and I managed to meet on Sunday at uni and we discussed a draft form that Josh had emailed through, and decided that we needed something a bit more substantial than his 5 min sketchup model to be able to communicate our ideas.  We decided that the text I had compiled was to used on final panels and I would model something up in Revit.  We agreed that the views of the bridge and the experience within (glass floor, visible steel floor structure and some kind of platforms for the user to physically walk on) were going to be the basis of our concept. 

Josh had also responded with a suggestion for the background of the poster, however both Tope and I agreed that it was way too dark, in fact his whole concept was becoming a little dark and didn't really link in with the ideas that we had discussed.   

My Sunday and sunday night were spent modelling up final form and trying to work out the structure of the floor.

We would need bearers and joists.

So what we woud end up with is a few very large steel I beams and on top of that would be PFCs (Paralell flange channels) spaced around 450mm.  In addition there would be a perimeter PFC to finish it all off.

Possible ideas:

Possible layout of floor

Trying to work out overall form and how the floor structure would work.  Also thinking of possible cladding materials.

Working out how a glass floor works.

Materials, Fixed window Glazing and Final Panel layout.

final detail for roof?  unfortuntely didn't get timeto implement this though.

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 3

Ok so we now have 4 members, apparently Josh and Ronald will be joining our team.

Tope and I had tried to get in touch to arrange a meeting prior to the lecture, however there was little response.

We attended the week 3 lecture and were bocoming a little anxious when we arrived at the tute and there was no sign of the new members.  I contacted Ronald by phone and he mentioned that they (Josh and Ronald) were just finding a park.  When they eventually arrived, we summarised what stage Tope and I were at with the project and we thought we better have a discussion about where everyones strengths were and how we were going to try and divide the tasks.  On questioning the boys about their attendance to lectures - they both mentioned that they had not attended any to date and that Josh had attempeted this subject last year.

As the end of the tutorial approached, we thought we better run our ideas past the new tutor and see if were on the right track.  Unfortunately he didn't agree with our ideas and felt we needed to focus on something like the floods that occurred and develop a stronger learning to occur within.

All four of us brainstormed and tried to work out a learning that could occur that fitted in with all the work we had done so far.  Our second idea was disliked by the tutor and we were feeling a little deflated by that time.

We then let the tutor know that we were struggling a little and really need some extra help.

In keeping with the idea I had of framing certain views,  Tope tried to look at the idea of the development of certain buildings over time, which could be seen from the folie location.  This idea was not ruled out entirely however instead of focusing on buildings, we decided to focus on the Story Bridge.

So in keeping with the idea of views toward the Story Bridge, we ended up with the idea of capturing parts of the Story bridge through 3 glazed openings (showing a kind timeline as such of the construction phases).

Tope and I had previously discussed having a glazed structure with vine type elements encasing part of the structure - allowing smaller framed views in addtion to the larger opening.

Below is his initial concept drawing.

Tope's original concept drawing

Prior to week three tute, Tope and I had met up to try and nut out what the learning would be within.

Some key ideas were:

What is the kind of learning?

Structures designed as part of an environment not individual items.

What is the trigger for the learning?

Movement vertically in alignment with and being able to view up close a natural object (cliff face).

How did design process start?

Scale.  We considered the enormity of the cliff and decided that the folie should work with that vertical axis.

Design is generated from nature and relflects te texture of the cliff.  It captures snippets of surrounding area by way of framing and restricting views as well as reflecting some views.

At the end of the tutorial we tried to arrang a meeting to finalise ideas etc.  Ronald claimed to be working most days and seems disinterested in the urgency of getting our project done by the following week.  Josh has some great ideas but it was hard to get him to commit to meetings.  We all agreed on Saturday as the next meeting day.

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 2

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES

ENTRY 2

At week two, Tope and i had found that we were still only half a group.  Unfortunately we had not yet been able to find an additional two group member, so we continued on to get the ball rolling.
After initial brainstorming, we decided that scale was going to be our trigger for ideas in designing  our folie. 
The enormity of the cliffs is a major part of the Howard Smith Warves area.  They tend to almost balance the grandeur of the Story Bridge. 
During our brainstorming session, I put forward the idea that our folie should be located above the warves, fixed to the cliffs high above.  I think that in most previous examples I had seen, most had been located at the foot of the cliffs.  The other concept which I put forward, was possibly reversing the view - maybe having an envronmental influence, by focusing on the cliff face rather than the main being that of the river (something a little unexpected).  Although in addition to the main view of the cliff, we could have smaller framed views of the river.
Tope came up with the idea to make the folie moveable.  So the idea developed that the folie would be on a type of pulley system and would move up and down the cliff face.
We left the second tutorial feeling as though we had made a good start and after talking with one of tutors, we realised we still needed to put some more thought into the actual learning that was going to occur.  I guess I imagined it would be something along the lines of learning something about the environment that most wouldn't get to see up close (the smaller  living things on the cliff face), however the tutor suggested we needed something more to be going on inside rather than just being able to see the cliff through a large glazed opening.

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 1.2

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES

ENTRY 1.2  (post site visit -week 2).



I had never walked under the bridge at this loction and as i approached it along this path, I was overwhelmed and my breath was literally taken away by the experience.

Underneath the Story Bridge, you get a feel for the its actual size.

View from above the cliffs

View from Story Bridge above HSW

The cliff - as I had never seen it before

HSW  - view from the Story Bridge

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES ENTRY 1.1

HOWARD SMITH WHARVES

ENTRY 1.1  (post site visit -week 2). 

This was an individual site visit as I am currently studying part time and DAB525 was completed last year.

From memory - on arriving at the site last year, I didn't take much notice as I wasn't fully aware of what the design subject was about so I discounted looking into the site any further at that stage.  I do remember standing under the bridge and feeling a little uninterested - possibly due to exhaustion and partly due to the swarm of then DAB510 students fighting for a view of the site.

  

This time I visited the site, not as a final destination and completion of a long walkshop but as a focus on a potential site for our team's folie. 

First I drove to the area where the walkshop had come to a holt last year.  Only a few cars were parked outside the fence barriers.  I stopped to contemplate the huge structure that is the Story Bridge, and the shadow it cast over the rivers edge. 

This area seems as though it had been forgotton about, while the rest of the adjacent areas soldiered forward with development. 

residential towers adjacent

I turned to see the old war bunkers and looked further on to see the huge

residential towers that sit adjacent to the site.... it seemed like two very

different worlds coexisted here - all the while sharing a couple of common elements the river and the great Story Bridge.

View of the Brisbane River from ground level.

After taking some pictures I decided that if I was going to get a good view of this site, I would have to either go to higher ground or get onto a city cat. 
I opted to go to higher ground and after taking a wrong turn or two, I found myself  outside stuartholme where I parked and headed under the story bridge by foot.