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Urban Stitch

Part 2 Project 2010
Amy L' Estrange
Queensland University of Technology Brisbane | Australia
Research into the development of the Toombul/ Nundah residential area in Brisbane noted that as transport changed, the scales of community amenity became less effective and less directed at a particular locality and its connectivity, creating autonomous units which are primarily reliant upon private transportation.

The gap into local transport objectives appears to be in the densification of the area, coupled with an increasing lack of connectivity between urban places. Additionally, the relationship between transport and the community is a significant problem for a site located in a strategic position for residential growth along the corridor to the airport.

Further, the theory of sprawl as a phenomena arising from the need for human health as opposed to environment determinism, points to a gap in the way inner city regions regard the natural environment and community amenity.

The potential for an infrastructure which enhances connection and enables residents to experience and find its presence beneficial on a local scale is a project which has little precedence but is exacerbated on a global scale.

Car culture has facilitated the de-localisation of community amenity in the project area. The airport corporation’s objectives represent a new stratified commercial zone, autonomous commercial areas such as supermarkets existing despite direct residential access or any pedestrian access for suburbs in its proximity.

By creating a sequence of community amenity to public transport, the infrastructure takes on a vital public use value which enhances objectives for local government (for densification/ night life) and commercial stakeholders of the area.

The project aims to fill the void between infrastructure as regional growth objectives, and local place as a historical construct influenced directly by the changes in transportation since the early settlement.

Urban stitch explores the relationship of transport infrastructure and community. The project focuses upon the implications of imposed infrastructural conditions which has changed the way residents are able to relate to their natural environment.

In the context of the aerotropolis, the project attempts to reinterpret the impact of airport related infrastructure, focusing on local objectives for community growth within regional objectives for city and state development.



Amy L' Estrange


Aerotropolis:



In 2010 this design studio focused on a group of projects associated with the redevelopment of the Brisbane Airport. The 2009 Brisbane Airport Corporation Pty Limited (BAC) Master plan is pursuing proposals for the development of a second runway, which will eventually lead to the development of a range of new facilities as the airport expands to meet the growing demands of South East Queensland. Students were asked to explore and propose one of these facilities to be the topic of their design project.



Pitch report:



The first stage asked students to explore the context, generate and develop ideas for appropriate projects, and prepare a report that explains these explorations and developments, but which also puts forward their own position in respect to their preferred project/brief and preferred thematic exploration. Students used their understanding of the site and context, and their understanding of appropriate exemplars and typologies, to substantiate a choice of project and theme. This was in the form of a ‘Pitch’ to an imagined client group.



Design project:



The second stage asked students to develop design proposals for their project/brief within their allocated thematic group. By the end of the semester students had developed their design to a ‘sketch design’ stage, and to a professional standard of presentation. The sketch design was required to deal with a number of expectations, within a number of design fields.



· Addressing the master plan (or an alternative strategic proposition)

· Addressing building typology

· Addressing the allocated Theme (Global, Sustainable, Fabrication, Urban)

· Addressing the fundamental processes of architectural design



The success of proposals depended to some extent on how willing students were to ‘go out on a limb’ with their thinking and design experimentation. This studio rewarded those who took a risk with their design; those who attempted the complex and difficult. As well as evidence of imagination and creative speculation, the studio also promoted the evidence of testing, evaluation, and discrimination.


Tutor(s)

2010
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