Workshop With Amira Osman

Interrogation Of Space

Model Building & Drawing Exercises 

Unit 2 Leader, Amira Osman, gave the students a series of design development tasks to investigate for five days which all dealt with an analysis indoor and outdoor spatial form(s) in their thesis projects. On the first day, the students sketched out a series of quick sections to interrogate what kind of spaces their built form(s) would possess. Which spaces would be seen as communal meeting spaces and which areas would be less public? Where do the users enter the space(s); what is the most valuable space in the design and where do the entry and exit points lie within the chosen site? How does natural light and air enter these spaces?

From the second to the fifth day, students were asked to begin formulating and visually presenting these spatial forms with the use of quick models but they needed to create initial sketches to understand how they would initially build them. Students then needed to photograph these models and sketch over them to indicate the spaces formulated by the indoor and outdoor architectural programs.

With my initial sketches, I was entirely focused on the spatial forms and activities within Old Park Station but after analysing the site as a whole, the typography as well as taking into consideration the view from Nelson Mandela bridge to the north east as one enters Newtown, it was decided that new built forms needed to be designed towards the north and south western edges.

There is a new housing development taking place towards the south eastern edge on the site, which is an extension of the existing Brickfields housing development located towards the south across Carr Street. The north western edge of the housing development was chamfered at a 45 degree angle and a plaza/piazza was also proposed next to the development in order for Old Park Station to be a focal point when entering the site from Carr Street. The new built form located to the west of this development has to respond to Old Park Station as well as the new extension of the Brickfields development. It also has to act as a holding space and pull factor into the site, moving individuals up towards the Old Park Station structure.

The new built form proposed towards the north of Old Park Station was placed towards the north western side of the site so that individuals, who travelled from the north end of Nelson Mandela bridge, would have an unobstructed view of Old Park Station’s iconic landmark where they could observe the various social and cultural activities taking place to the north end of the site. This view point would act as a catalyst, having Old Park Station as a landmark to refer to, in order to invite young adults into the area through the various activities pertaining to youth culture. The north western built form would have a link towards Old Park Station from the existing vertical circulation point located to the west of the concrete platform. 

Once all built forms have been established, the site would be entirely activated with a variety of social and cultural activities occurring during the day and at night allowing for some days to have 24 hour public passive surveillance.

South Western Built Form – First Attempt:

Bearing in mind the main concept of disassemble and assemble, I wanted to explore that notion through the spatial experience when one enters and exits the buildings on site. The building appears to dissipate or dematerialize at the building’s entrance and develops into a solid form towards the Old Park Station structure. This building needed to be positioned at a 45 degree angle towards Old Park Station, keeping the heritage structure as a focal point from Carr Street. An outdoor seating area, softened by a green landscape, has a view towards the proposed plaza/piazza, which I transformed into a public park with two large water features. This decision was made as the existing Brickfields development across from Carr Street has an absence of a water facility. The proposed park would drive those residents into the site to utilize this feature.

North Western Built Form – First Attempt:

During the design process of the facade, I took into consideration the ramp facilities that skateboarders and BMXers use within a skate/BMX park. I also considered which spaces would have a light weight structure and which spaces would have a hard interface with elements that parkour sportsmen would utilize. The building had to be kept as a single story at the entrance from Old Park Station’s concrete platform and increase in height towards the back in order to not impede on the view of the steel structure and there would also be a transition in height and spatial forms as one moves through the building.

North Western Built Form – Second Attempt

The curved built forms were created at different platforms bearing in mind of different materials and areas where natural light would enter the buildings. The positioning of the buildings celebrate the outdoor activities happening on this level bearing in mind the viewpoint of Old Park Station from Nelson Mandela Bridge. Parts of the proposed built forms have open elements and treated edges for parkour sportsmen to utilize as training grounds on site, with a grand entrance into the proposed education facility that will house a library, studio and classroom spaces for photography, fashion design and the culinary arts. The southern block will act as a link from the northern part of the site to Old Park Station’s plinth into the existing vertical access point that will form a connection towards the proposed south western block on the site.

North Western Built Form – Third Attempt

The second attempt of designing the built forms were unsuccessful as it did not correspond with the proposed built form located to the front of the site due to its curved appearance. These two forms therefore need to read as one element bearing in mind the concept of assemble and disassemble. Taking the building concept from the front, the same type of structure was introduced towards the back. The building elements that were proposed were too great and need to be broken up more so that the programs and experiences related to each building read differently when visiting the space. The forms also need to be investigated more in a spatial way and which areas need to be highlighted and treated differently with built form and landscape. To many axial lines were introduced into this scheme which made it difficult to read on what I was trying to achieve with the proposed buildings and therefore need to be simplified.

North Western Built Form – Fourth Attempt

Upon the fourth attempt, the building forms with their different programs were further disassembled in plan. The two buildings were modified in their shape and outdoor spaces through the exploration of spatial experience and materiality as shown in the 3d sketch of the north western entrance from the top of the concrete plinth. Taking into consideration the viewpoints towards Old Park Station, the buildings were positioned to not obstruct the main viewpoint from Nelson Mandela Bridge and their building fronts needed to face the outdoor activities proposed on the northern part of the site. The axial lines were also taken into account where three axial lines were integrated into the design proposal. These lines were offset from each other to create a transitional series of open and covered corridors linking the north interventions to the south interventions via Old Park Station’s vertical access point. This plan was still not successful as the main intended pathway was still too complex and did not read well within the site.

North Western Built Form – Fifth Attempt

The intention of the main movement corridor throughout the site was diagrammatically overlaid onto the site where it was interrogated on the basis of how each building program would sit on this pathway throughout the site and how the transition through this access route would differ as one moves through it. The path’s two end points would be at the junction of Nelson Mandela bridge to the north and the piazza/plaza space to the south of the site. This pathway acts as the urban skeleton in the framework, much like a spine that connects the various proposed activities from the northern end of the site right through to the southern end. This pathway needs to act as a buffer with activities spilling out from it and how the pathway meets the building edges in different ways. It was decided that the main pathway would be more fluid in its shape, than that of the rigid build forms, as it is a journey through the transition of activities proposed on the site. The building forms on the site also need to be identified as individual buildings, in their massing and materiality, so that it is easily distinguished by the users when entering the area.

The northern block, which is the education facility, was stepped back from the pathway with an accentuated edge for parkour sportsmen to utilize in their training and this corner is the more prominent assembly point into the building from the pathway. The pathway leading to the north western block, which is the indoor club/bar area and outdoor concert space, was treated with landscaped elements with a seated space that is open to the elements. This area performs as a disassembly point of built form and an assembly point for a landscaped edge.

The north western block was positioned so that the main pathway acted as a mediator between the indoor club/bar area and the outdoor concert space, where the covered podium or stage is located away from the pathway so that it acts as a holding space for the users along this corridor. These two areas, which have been disassembled by the proposed pathway, have the opportunity to spill out onto each other when these two areas are fully activated with music events. If the outdoor concert space is not used for music events, the space could be utilized for outdoor teaching classes, graduation ceremonies or sporting training spaces for parkour and skateboarding sportsmen. The intention of these outdoor elements is to constantly have them activated so that they are not only used for one public social purpose. When moving away from the north western block, the pathway transforms into a semi-sheltered bridge which guides the user towards the concrete plinth of Old Park Station.

Taking the angle of the proposed Brickfields housing development extension, it was mimicked within the Old Park Station steel structure formulating the angled entrance into the pop-up exhibition space which is stepped back exposing the steel skeletal elements of the heritage structure and opening up the view of the outdoor concert space, a further articulation of the main concept assemble and disassemble. The exhibition space is enclosed with glass panels so that when one is inside the exhibition area, the views towards the outside are not obstructed by walled up elements, celebrating the activities occurring outside as well as inside.

The vertical access point on the western edge of the site will be disassembled and assembled with a staircase and elevator which will have a glass interface in order to being in natural light into the concrete podium and celebrate the transition from the top floor to the bottom floor.

South Western Built Form – Second Attempt

Due to the angle of the main pathway, the built form located towards the south western area was rotated in order to follow the path leading into the piazza space. The allocated ground floor parking was relocated underground to give space for a student housing development so that it responded to the proposed housing development by ASA Architects, located to the south eastern edge of the site.

The southern block on the western side of the site will be activated with ground floor public retail that spills out towards the street edge.

The eastern housing developments on the ground floor street edge will be activated with public retail towards the south edge, spilling out onto the streetscape, and public social spaces at ground floor level on the western edge facing the piazza/plaza area. The north eastern block will be activated on ground floor level by introducing public commercial spaces with a landscaped buffer towards the concrete podium of Old Park Station.

Old Park Station’s concrete podium will be disassembled by removing the mezzanine floor so that there is enough head height to introduce formal public retail spaces onto the edge that faces the piazza/plaza area. These spaces will spill out onto the landscaped buffer towards the southern proposed interventions. Due to the placement of the public commercial spaces to the north eastern block, a suggestion would be to introduce an indoor public secure swimming pool within the eastern portion of the concrete podium as the existing Brickfields Housing Development has an absence of a water facility.