Thursday, 1 September 2011
Project 1 - Key Points
With the understanding that flexible also means adaptive, our group
embraces the fact that the term in itself is a little ambiguous.
It can therefore embody multiple forms & typologies throughout
the theme of design.
Almost like a sprout, these entities will rise or fall from the external skin
like a parasite would from it’s host body.
Essentially providing additional spaces to any sector of the parliament building.
We are considering that the internal space be undetermined
& for the “skin” to also retain similar attributes.
We envisage an almost instalation-like entity that is able to
physically reflect the spatial requirements of the user at the given time.
embraces the fact that the term in itself is a little ambiguous.
It can therefore embody multiple forms & typologies throughout
the theme of design.
Almost like a sprout, these entities will rise or fall from the external skin
like a parasite would from it’s host body.
Essentially providing additional spaces to any sector of the parliament building.
We are considering that the internal space be undetermined
& for the “skin” to also retain similar attributes.
We envisage an almost instalation-like entity that is able to
physically reflect the spatial requirements of the user at the given time.
Our proposal for the adaptation of parliament house must keep with
the strong iconic nature of the building whilst addressing
the requirement for a more flexible program.
And hence giving new life to the already established
architecture.
the strong iconic nature of the building whilst addressing
the requirement for a more flexible program.
And hence giving new life to the already established
architecture.
Project 1 Outline
- Vision for Australian Capital
- Capital Strategy (25%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
- Your chosen strategy (flexible, mobile, distributed or virtual) was well investigated.
- Your idea creatively identified problems and issues associated with ways capital city / parliament worked today in Australia and a speculation was made to suggest your idea could lead to an innovative solution.
- You summarised your investigation well and communicated all necessary information clearly and creatively with images and diagrams in your panel.
- Your blog communicated your idea development well.
- Capital Infrastructure and Presence (25%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
- Your investigation to identify how your strategy could make use of the existing and/or new infrastructural support was good, unique and innovative.
- You made a good effort to identify how your chosen strategy could have its own unique presence and identity for people to identify that it constituted Australian Capital.
- You summarised your investigation well and communicated all necessary Information clearly and creatively with images and diagrams in your panel.
- Your blog communicated your idea development well.
- Capital Strategy (25%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
- Architectural Investigation
- Architectural Types & Purposes (20%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
- Based on your investigation of Australian Capital Vision, you came up with an innovative suggestion to (partially) replace current Australian Parliament.
- Excellent investigation and speculation are made to propose a range of services that your architectural entity is to provide.
- You summarised your investigation well and communicated all necessary Information clearly and creatively with images and diagrams in your panel.
- Your blog communicated your idea development well.
- Architectural Presence & Identity (20%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
- You conducted a unique and creative investigation into how your architectural entitiy can be identified and perceived as the capital of Australia by residents and visitors.
- You summarised your investigation well and communicated all necessary Information clearly and creatively with images and diagrams in your panel.
- Your blog communicates your idea development well.
- Written Project Statement (10%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
- The statement was creative and imaginative.
- The statement was well written.
- Ideas leading to the statement was documented well in your blog.
Outcome: one A4 (portrait) sheet with up to 400 words text prepared by team and blog posts documenting development of individual thoughts.
- Architectural Types & Purposes (20%) : The panel presented and blog posted satisfies the following descriptions.
W3 INVESTIGATION
INFRASTRUCTURE, STRATEGY & PRESENCE
Support Structure
Below is an example of digital mapping.
http://www.ff3300.com/wordpress/input/infographic-of-the-day-the-tweet-that-broke-news-of-osamas-killing/
Support Structure
- for movement etc.
- for constructability
- established services, foundation/core or shell.
- how does "it" actually move around
- what mechanisms are required
- delivery of materials - is it locally sourced for example
- ease of transport
- ever present (without realising) & readily available
- huge affect on evolution
- digital mapping - ties to all 4 theme topics
- wifi is now too mainstream
- something iconic or symbolic
- involves all senses - see, hear, taste, touch, smell
- unites things, wherever they exist
- sense of connectedness
Below is an example of digital mapping.
http://www.ff3300.com/wordpress/input/infographic-of-the-day-the-tweet-that-broke-news-of-osamas-killing/
EXEMPLARS/LINKS etc.
REGROWTH POD
The following design was produced directly as a result of the Victorian bushfires of 2010.
It is a house pod constrcuted of predominantly concrete.
Acting as a temporary home for those that have been victim to the natural disaster these pods are small, relatively light & inexpensive.
AT&T PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
This revolutionary centre design holds flexibility in highest esteem.
Spaces are planned & deliberated on like any other centre however with the bonus feature of being able to slightly or greatly modify the environment inside.
It almost seems to have a mind of its own like a robot does. With little ease spaces in this building shapeshift into completely different & versatile forms.
NEXT 21, OSAKA (JAPAN)
This is one of the best examples of designing for change. In this case the core & services remain fixed with the external elements (walls, rooms, facade) far less rigid with the thought that they can be adapted depending on the user.
BMW G.I.N.A
Although not a form of architecture, this concept car reflects equal principles of flexibility.
Most cars do not change form in the slightest. This prototype with its revolutionary design does.
The "skin" is merely a device that allows the user the greatest flexibility. The external element will adapt & manipulate itself depending on the task at hand.
PARLIAMENT INFO
AUSTRALIA'S PARLIAMENT
The building that houses the Australian parliament must meet specific needs of parliamentarians as well as the requirements of the Australian Constitution. This Closer Look explores how parliamentarians use the building they work in, the history of Australia’s houses of parliament and facts about the current building.
Secondary students and others will understand that Australia’s Parliament House was purpose built in 1988 to meet the requirements of federal parliamentarians for the next 200 years.
This paper contains the following areas of content:
• Main points
• The special needs of Parliament House
• The Constitution and the Parliament of Australia
• Why build a new house?
• How the Parliament uses the building
• Design and decoration
• Facts about the building
• Conclusion
•
The special needs of Parliament House
Each year, about one million people visit the building which houses the Parliament of Australia. This large structure sits at the apex of Capital Hill in the centre of Canberra—Australia’s national capital. The building was designed by architects Mitchell, Giurgola and Thorp and opened in 1988. The flagpole that straddles the building has become a symbol of the Parliament and of Canberra.
Parliaments are unique. They are not like office blocks or law courts or convention centres. A parliament must do four basic things and the building must be designed to allow these four things to happen. The members of a parliament must be able to:
1. represent people
2. make laws
3. scrutinise the government
4. form a government from among the elected parliamentarians.
Australia’s modern Parliament House was planned to facilitate these functions. All four functions of parliament take place in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers as well as other rooms.
There are many other activities that take place in the federal Parliament such as radio and television broadcasting and printing reports and other documents.
The Constitution and the Parliament of Australia
The Australian Constitution has in part influenced the building of Australia’s Parliament House. The Constitution defines the Parliament in the following way:
Legislative power
1. The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall
consist of the Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives ...
Constitution of the House of Representatives
24. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members directly chosen by the people of
the Commonwealth, and the number of such members shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the
number of the senators.
This means that the Australian Parliament should have two chambers, one larger than the other and with enough office accommodation for all members, senators, staff and related services.
Ministers of State
64. The Governor-General may appoint officers to administer such departments of State of the
Commonwealth as the Governor-General in Council may establish.
Such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General. They shall be members of the Federal Executive Council, and shall be the Queen’s Minister of State for the Commonwealth.
This section refers to the ministers who make up executive government (often referred to as the Cabinet; although the term Cabinet is not mentioned in the Constitution). Consequently, the Cabinet Room and ministers’ offices are located in Parliament House. This gives the ministers quick access to the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Seat of Government
125. The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.
This section demonstrates that the position of Canberra, the seat of Australian governance was determined not by the development of a population centre but by the Parliament of Australia.
Why build a new house?
The Parliament of Australia has resided in three buildings:
• Victorian Parliament House, Melbourne
• Provisional Parliament House (PPH), Canberra
• new Parliament House, Canberra.
Victorian Parliament House, Melbourne
When the federation was formed in 1901, there was no federal capital city so the federal Parliament met in the Victorian state parliament.
Provisional Parliament House, Canberra
In 1927, when the provisional Parliament House was
opened, the Parliament moved to Canberra. Provisional
Parliament House was designed and built in the new
national capital of Canberra as a small, temporary building.
It was required to contain two chambers as well as some
offices for the Parliament House staff. Members and
senators did not have their own offices and the Cabinet
room was located in another building to reflect the
separation of powers between the legislature and executive
government. By 1947 this temporary building was too
small and major additions were made to accommodate the
increasing number of members and senators while several
parliamentary offices spilled into adjacent buildings.
New Parliament House, Canberra
During the 1960s and 1970s, the provisional building
became seriously over-crowded, and the Parliament
examined many ideas for its new permanent home. In
1978, the Prime Minister, Mr Malcolm Fraser announced
a competition to design and then build a new house ready
for the celebration of Australia‘s bicentennial year in
1988.
In 1979, the Parliament House Construction Authority
announced the competition for a new building. There
were 329 entries from 28 countries. The winning design
was announced on 26 June 1980 and was submitted by
architects Mitchell/Giurgola and Thorp. The building was
constructed in seven years and was opened on 9 May
1988 by Queen Elizabeth II.
How the Parliament uses the building
The diagram below of Australia’s Parliament House shows its scale and the relationship between the parliamentary, executive, ceremonial and public areas. The building is 300 metres wide, 300 metres long and covers a gross floor area of 250,000m
component parts. The House of Representatives wing is on the eastern side with the Senate chamber and offices to the west. The executive wing is at the southern end of the structure, behind the ceremonial and The chambers
PARLIAMENT STRUCTURE
The dominant spaces across the whole building belong to the House of Representatives and Senate chambers where members and senators meet to debate bills and represent the people from their electorates and states. The Australian Government is formed in the House of Representatives by determining the party or coalition of parties that hold the majority of seats and which therefore has the largest number of members. Opposition parties in both chambers scrutinise the work of the government especially during regular Question Time sessions.
The House of Representatives currently seats 150 members and there are enough unused seats
to accommodate future increases. The Senate currently seats 76 senators, and like the House of
Representatives, has vacant seats to accommodate future needs.
In both chambers:
Members of the government sit to the right of the Speaker or President (as the case may be) while
members of the opposition sit to the left
Members of minor parties (such as the Australian Greens and the Family First Party) and Independents sit on the benches at the curve of the chamber. This group is known as the crossbench in the Senate; in the House this distinction is not made—there are only government and non-government members.
The press gallery views chamber proceedings from above the Speaker’s Chair in the House and from above the President’s chair in the Senate.
Members of the public watch chamber proceedings from either side of the chamber in designated
seating areas.
Committee rooms
Parliament House contains 19 committee rooms.
Although these rooms are formal parliamentary
spaces, they are not used for debating or voting on
legislation. A parliamentary committee is comprised
of a small number of parliamentarians with a specific
task; generally to gather information (on behalf of the
Parliament) related to a current legislative proposal or
an issue of community concern. Both chambers employ
a range of committees. The photograph to the left,
illustrates a Senate committee in action. The senators
are sitting in the background; members of the public
observing the proceedings are in the foreground and
one man at the centre of the scene is giving evidence to the committee. Technicians sitting In the glassedin control room switch on microphones and record the discussions. Note also, the television cameras which are installed in spaces in the walls of the committee room.
Cabinet Room
Cabinet usually meets in the Cabinet Room in
Parliament House. The Cabinet is the centre of executive
government. It is responsible for managing the policy
directions and business of the government. Cabinet is
chaired by the Prime Minister and operates as a subcommittee
of the ministry.
The Cabinet Room is located on the ground floor
in Parliament House opposite the Prime Minister’s
office and close to the offices of the other ministers.
Marquetry panels of eucalypt leaves designed by
artists Tony Bishop and Michael Retter adorn the room.
Hidden among the leaves is a cicada, a dragonfly and a blowfly. Despite these ‘bugs’ the room is highly secure and is regularly swept electronically because the Cabinet discusses confidential and secret matters that affect the life and well-being of the nation.
Design and decoration
The interior design, the art works and furniture of Parliament House are designed to display the rich variety and quality of life in Australia. Visitors to the building are surrounded by a vision of Australia as a reminder that the building is owned by the people and that its purpose is to serve the entire Australian community.
The Australian chambers exhibit the colours of Westminster parliaments with a red upper house and a green lower house, however these traditionally rich colours are modified to more Australian colours. The greens of the House of Representatives are based on the colours of Australian acacias and eucalypts while the reds of the Senate reflect the rocks, dust and clays of inland Australia.
The Parliament House Art Collection includes more than 5,000 works that reflect Australia’s past and present. Australian paintings and sculpture by past and present Australians decorate the walls of offices and public spaces. The collection includes paintings by Fred Williams and Arthur Boyd and the Red Ochre Cove by Mandy Marti, which is the largest commissioned painting in Australia. Perhaps the most famous painting in the building is the Tom Roberts depiction of the opening of the first federal Parliament in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne in 1901.
Wherever possible, natural light pours into the building through skylights over both chambers and large windows open into courtyards planted with lawns and trees. Views from the building look out across Australian bush gardens to the Brindabella Ranges to the west and the hills beyond Queanbeyan to the east. The bush environment is reflected in an enormous tapestry in the Great Hall, created by the Victorian Tapestry Workshop after Arthur Boyd’s
Facts about the building
Untitled painting. • The Parliament House site covers 32
hectares of Capital Hill; one of the hills
around which Walter Burley Griffin
designed Canberra in 1912. The building
occupies 15 percent of this site.
• The building is 300 metres long and 300
metres wide. It is one of the largest
buildings in the southern hemisphere.
• Parliament House was built to last at least
200 years.
• There are 4,500 rooms in the building, and
2,700 clocks.
• Australian materials are used throughout 90 percent of the building.
• The building cost approximately 1.1 billion dollars.
• The underground car parks hold up to 2,000 cars.
• A multi-channel television and radio station broadcasts proceedings of the Parliament from both
chambers and committee rooms.
• The building has two libraries; one a reading library, the other a research library for the benefit of
answering questions on most topics from members and senators.
• The Parliamentary Education Office runs a parliamentary role-play program for visiting students and teachers to learn how the Parliament works.
Conclusion
Houses to accommodate the Australian Parliament since 1901 have differed in style, size and location. The Australian Constitution and the functions of the Australian Parliament place specific requirements on the building that operates as Australia’s Parliament House. Parliament House opened on 9 May 1988 and was designed specifically to meet the needs of the Parliament for at least 200 years.
PARLIAMENT STRUCTURE
It is a well established fact that from humble beginnings canberra was designed specifically
to be a utopian city.
walter burley griffin, the architect of canberra was a designer who believed
in thorough planning in its highest order.
No one can deny the complex nature of his achievement.
It is a town founded on priciples of dense structure and order the precise nature of
the creation of this town means that the parliament building itself must then also
reflect those attributes so engrained in the town in which it exists.
one major point that came out of parliament house’s initiation was that the original creaters believed that the building would be current in an architectural sense forat least 200 years.
to be a utopian city.
walter burley griffin, the architect of canberra was a designer who believed
in thorough planning in its highest order.
No one can deny the complex nature of his achievement.
It is a town founded on priciples of dense structure and order the precise nature of
the creation of this town means that the parliament building itself must then also
reflect those attributes so engrained in the town in which it exists.
one major point that came out of parliament house’s initiation was that the original creaters believed that the building would be current in an architectural sense forat least 200 years.
Australia’s Parliament House is designed to help members of parliament carry out their responsibilities with the support of hundreds of people who work in the building.
The Australian Parliament has been housed in three buildings since 1901.
The Australian Constitution specifies certain requirements regarding the location of the Parliament.
Parliament House has a distinctly Australian character.
W4 & 5 INVESTIGATION
Ad.ap.ta.tion is the specific theme group I was placed into along with 2 people I'd been working with for the last few weeks in the tutorials. It made sense to again come together to form the group for Project 1. We were still a little iffy about what we had to ultimately produce for the final project.
The following points were outlined in the W3 lecture as to how to approach the task:
- We are NOT to replace or rebuild Parliament as a whole
- nor Parliament's internal functions
- However we may re-design or add to existing aspects of the building. The task is more or less to contribute to the building by designing a nessessary layer.
The blackboard page for this theme group explains the word Ad.ap.ta.tion to mean "an alteration in the structure of function of an organism to any of it's parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in it's environment".
This group was specifically assigned the following brief.
Dictionary meaning of flexible:
1. capable of being bent, usually without breaking.
2. susceptible of modification or adaptation.
3. willing or disposed to yield.
Our proposal aims to:
- give greater voice to the people by
providing a faster link directly with parliament
- provide a multi-use facility for parliament staff
& members of the public
- provide a high level of security &
privacy for the users
- portray an architectural form that is both
sypathetic to the origin design & contemporary.
On the other hand currently parliament house resides
atop capital hill in central cenberra.
When in or around the immediate area it is
undeniable what the focus in the town is truly about.
almost like a beacon it sits upon the hill, loud
and inspirationally proud.
The symbolism that surrounds this building is indisputable.
one word immediately springs to mind, hierarchy.
As a member of the commonwealth we have formed our government
on previous archetypes of it’s past. the model we utilise was taken
from the current british system.
Form based characteristics to represent in our proposed insertion:
- mimic the curvalinear external facade
to create a visual link between old & new
- utilise similar colours as currently exhibited
to again create visual coherency
- create light & almost transparent
installations that portrays an almost
transient feeling
- source & use matching materials
present in the current building
The following points were outlined in the W3 lecture as to how to approach the task:
- We are NOT to replace or rebuild Parliament as a whole
- nor Parliament's internal functions
- However we may re-design or add to existing aspects of the building. The task is more or less to contribute to the building by designing a nessessary layer.
The blackboard page for this theme group explains the word Ad.ap.ta.tion to mean "an alteration in the structure of function of an organism to any of it's parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in it's environment".
This group was specifically assigned the following brief.
- The aim is to look at adaptive skins and roofs to cover (a section of) the parliamentary hill that can change and morph shape, color and transparency to react to reprogramming of the building blocks underneath. The elements under will be like transformer blocks that reposition to respond to new requirements but all sheltered under a prominent outer skin.
Dictionary meaning of flexible:
1. capable of being bent, usually without breaking.
2. susceptible of modification or adaptation.
3. willing or disposed to yield.
Our proposal aims to:
- give greater voice to the people by
providing a faster link directly with parliament
- provide a multi-use facility for parliament staff
& members of the public
- provide a high level of security &
privacy for the users
- portray an architectural form that is both
sypathetic to the origin design & contemporary.
On the other hand currently parliament house resides
atop capital hill in central cenberra.
When in or around the immediate area it is
undeniable what the focus in the town is truly about.
almost like a beacon it sits upon the hill, loud
and inspirationally proud.
The symbolism that surrounds this building is indisputable.
one word immediately springs to mind, hierarchy.
As a member of the commonwealth we have formed our government
on previous archetypes of it’s past. the model we utilise was taken
from the current british system.
Form based characteristics to represent in our proposed insertion:
- mimic the curvalinear external facade
to create a visual link between old & new
- utilise similar colours as currently exhibited
to again create visual coherency
- create light & almost transparent
installations that portrays an almost
transient feeling
- source & use matching materials
present in the current building
W2 INVESTIGATION
Topics of Discussion
1.FLEXIBLE
dictionary meaning "absence of border control" & "not physically existing".
1.FLEXIBLE
- adaptable
- light in weight
- malleable
- versatile
- modular
- curvalinear
- transportable
- light in weight
- small(ish) in size
- scattered
- can span nationally, internationally & through space
- sense of connectivity to one main source
- multipliable
dictionary meaning "absence of border control" & "not physically existing".
- not in physical realm
- technolgically advanced
- ever evolving
- infinite, limitless & borderless
- driven by imagination
- connectivity
As we each considered these topics in more depth we posed the question "How do we (Australia) as a society relate to these subjects"??
At first it wasn't that obvious, however we soon came to the undestanding that each individual topic resonates strongly with what Australia is about!
Being a young country as we are, means that we are still forging an identity on this planet.
1. In this way we are naturally very impressionable & open - 'flexible'.
2. In saying this we want to be known for being current & up to date 'mobile'.
3. Having been formulated from races from all around the world, this makes us inherently 'distributed' as a society. With ties to all corners of the globe.
4. The requirement is now to connect to family/friends everyhere & to do this we access the 'virtual' realm.
In these ways our future is "indeterminate". More so than other countries...
In these ways our future is "indeterminate". More so than other countries...
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