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Nicole Larkin is a Sydney based designer, artist and architectural graduate. This portfolio is the summation of her graduating project 'Sublime Australia, Collective Conscious'. It looks at the relationship between Australian culture and the coastal landscape which bounds our nation. This is explored through a proposed re-imagination of the Pavilion on Bondi Beach, Sydney Australia. The formal moves and architectural techniques employed to resolve this built form are a manifestation Australia's love affair with its sublime coastline and place in our cultural psyche.
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MARC5001 Graduation Studio S2, 2013Sublime Australia, Collective Conscious Nicole Larkin SID 30815287533.8913S + 151.2752E: Beach Cities, Bondi Beach Sydney - Dagmar Rhienhardt
INTRODUCTION ABSTRACTSublime Australia, Collective Conscious
This project is the culmination of a Masters of Architecture
graduation studio from the University of Sydney. It examines the
nature of architecture, a personal stance in the discipline and ex-
perimentation of various thematic frameworks and concepts. As
such it is not only the exploration and design of a complex archi-
tectural proposal but also the formation of an individual approach
in the profession. Alain de Botton, architectural writer and histo-
rian quotes John Ruskin as to the purpose of this;
Part of what a building should do is to reflect its locality, there is a lovely
quote from John Ruskin, he says a good building must do two things,
firstly it must shelter us, secondly it must speak to us and he says it must
speak to us of all the things that we think are most important, that we
need reminding of today. One of the things we need to be reminded of is
where we are.
Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness
The focus of this studio and proposal is Bondi Beach - in a global
context, as a precinct and of Bondi Pavilion itself. Globally and
nationally, Bondi Beach is both an icon of Australia and of the
Australian lifestyle. In this sense the site speaks of our social
fabric and of the connection we have with the beach.
Consequently the departure point of this project has been to
research the relationship between Australian culture and our
coastal landscape. This has been conducted through contextual
analysis, historical time lines, thesis readings and a study of
Australian art, literature, film and architecture. Together these
elements reveal underlying aspects of the Australian psyche.
We live by the sea not simply because it is more pleasant to be a lazy na-
tion, but because of the two mysteries the sea is more forthcoming; its mir-
acles and wonders are occasionally more palpable, however inexplicable
they be. There is more bounty, more possibility for us in a vista that moves,
rolls, surges, twists, rears up and changes from minute to minute. The in-
nate human feeling from the veranda is that if you look out to sea long
enough, something will turn up... The beach, in Australia, is the landscape
equivalent of the veranda, a veranda at the edge of the continent.
Tim Winton A Coastal Memoir
The project title, Sublime Australia, Collective Concious, de-
scribes the architectural ambitions for this studio. It aspires to
frame the collective memories, experiences and associations that
paint a picture of the Australian soul and its sublime affair with
our coastal landscape.
01 Line of Enquiry Studio and Site Themes Conceptual Reading Thematic Framework
Coastal DwellersSand in Our Souls The Sublime in Modern Architecture
02 Context & Site Historical Time line Urban Analysis Built Context Analysis Topographical Analysis Existing Built Fabric Architectural Precedents
Therme ValsChurch of LightHavana ProjectThe Sydney Opera House
03 Architectural Ambitions The Australian Soul Collective Conscious The Sublime
PORTFOLIO Contents
04 Design Strategy Topographical Radius Intervention Scales Retention of Existing Fabric Solid - Void Massing Programmatic Approach Delineation of Sectional Space Form and Composition Construction System Detailing Rock Platform Intervention
05 Proposed Scheme Plans Sections Details Sketch Renders Conceptual Models
06 Design Phases Mapping Preliminary Design Interim Final Presentation
07 Bibliography
01 Studio and site themesCultural and Social Reading
Australian population densities - Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012 Census Data
The World Ranked Armelle Carron
The allure of the edge in an Australian psyche
For Australians and foreigners alike, Bondi is an icon of the Aus-
tralian lifestyle both domestically and abroad. Its a symbol of our
culture and our love of the coast.
The outline of our nation is what defines us. Its one of the most
discernible continents on a map of the world. Historically white
Australia has developed as an extro-spective nation, an edge
dwelling colony that looked out across the ocean to the mother
country. Today 85% of our population lives within 50km of the
coastline. Geotag mapping from social networking sites in Syd-
ney (see adjacent page) depict concentrations of photographic
activity within the CBD and along the Coogee-Bondi walk. This
reflects our attraction to the coast as an edge and a fault line, it is
a plane of transition that fascinates us.
We can divine the importance of the beach in Australian culture
through its reflection and representation in art, film, photography
and literature. These depictions of the landscape are grounded in
the sublime, which was introduced by the likes of Joseph Addi-
son, an early explorer in the 18th century. The sublime celebrates
the beauty and majesty of nature but also the insignificance of
man in the face of its raw power and vastness
Sydney Geotag data drawn from social media images -Eric Fisher, Flickr Donald Gregor Grant, Coast at Ben Buckler, Bondi 1889 Julian Ashton Tamarama Beach, summer morning 1899 Casper David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog 1818
01 contextual ReadingThe Beach in Australian Culture
Representation Through the Arts
The Beach Scape and Infinite Horizons series by
Australian artist Fred Williams portrays landscapes
at different times of the day. It is exemplary for
the way it captures changes in the tide, colour,
light, sky, and the movement of people around the
edge. Williams work focuses on these subtle ele-
ments which define our collective impression of
the beach at a fundamental level.
The Australian beach has been depicted in popular
culture through film productions such as Home
and Away and Puberty Blues. To the right is argu-
ably the most famous poster from the Australian
National Travel Association, Percy Trompfs Bon-
di: The Playground of the Pacific.
Trompf noticeably pushes the beach to the back-
ground and places it within the scope of a veranda.
This introduces the significance of the veranda as
a frame of reference for the landscape and an ar-
chitecture of the sublime, Australias timber eye
socket.
Beach Scape and Infinite Horizons, Fred Williams 1971
Bondi - the Playground of the Pacific Percy Trompf (ANTA)Puberty Blues Bruce Beresford Home and Away Alan Bateman
Departure Point
Bondi beach is an icon of the Australian lifestyle both national-
ly and abroad. Despite this, the surrounding built environment
doesnt reflect any of these cultural sub tones. Yet it has become
a poster beach in the collective conscious of Australian culture
and of a relationship with our coastline. How is does this play out
along the beach? What are the physical manifestations of this and
how can the Australian psyche begin to be explored and imple-
mented on site?
When people attempt to explain the appeal of the beach it is in terms of
a retreat, a means of getting away from the stresses of work and city life.
At the beach we draw closer to our inner selves. It offers a special form of
privacy, a chance to commune with nature, a quiet place characterized by
sets of simple pleasures talking around the barbeque, walking, fishing,
surfing elemental experiences that draw us back to a more primitive,
simpler, less complex type of existence. The eschewing of form, reducing
everything to all but the most basic conveniences, its openness and lack of
internal barriers is almost a physiological model of our own nakedness, an
admission of vulnerability and smallness before nature. In this way the ar-
chitecture of our coastal landscapes can paint a picture of the Australian
soul - Philip Drew Coastal dwellers
Line of Enquiry
Its from this reading of the site and Australian culture that
the ambitions of the project come forward. The proposal for
this site seeks to create a pallet that captures the experiences,
memories and elements which colour our collective concious,
and, through architecture, cast it into the landscape.
This will touch on the following themes and concepts which
support this conceptual approach;
Architectural manifestations of the Australian Soul in re-lation to Bondi, as an icon of Australian culture
Rights of passage
Representation and memory of beach culture in the arts
The sublime and escapism into the landscape
Elemental experiences
The horizon, a flat continuous country, the infinite
Humility and extrospection
Temporality and materiality
Collective conscious and the Australian psyche
Reclusion and attrition
01 Thematic FRAMEWORKLine of enquiry and project ambitions
01 principal readingsReferenced literature and theses
Coastal Dwellers - Philip Drew
Drews thesis investigates Australian culture through the archi-
tectural lens of a verandah. He argues that Australians are a fringe
dwelling people who identify with the continental boundary be-
tween land and sea that defines our country. The thesis outlines
the reasons and ways in which we look out wards to gain a sense
of self and to understand our place in the world. Through this the
significance of the coastal landscape and its influence in shaping
the Australian identity is explored in detail through the arts and
architecture.
Externalism or outwardness is an abiding characteristic of Australian
culture as it is of Australian life. When we venture up or down the coast
we temporarily turn our backs on society and all of its constraints and
mores. We escape, and the beach becomes a sanctuary.
This reading has been the back bone of many theoretical and
conceptual ideas that are explored through this architectural pro-
posal. It has given an extremely detailed insight into an aspect of
our culture that Bondi beach represents in the hearts and minds
of many Australians.
Philip Drew, The coastal dwellers : Australians living on the edge
Penguin Books Australia, 1994
Sand in Our Souls - Leone Huntsman
This thesis traces the relationship between society and the beach
in Australia and strives to pinpoint the influence of the beach on
the Australian psyche. Huntsman argues that the beach represents
a spectrum of shared qualities and experiences which are a defin-
ing factor of our cultural identity. Her analysis of this details the
evolution of the Australian beach, its representations in the Twen-
tieth Century and influences of the beach in Australian culture.
The beaches of our coastline define Australias margin: an apparently
clear cut edge, a tangible boundary, but also an in between space, a site
where disparity is accommodated and where creative potential resides.
Appropriate to this studio focus, the thesis heavily concentrates
on examples originating from Sydney where beach culture is ar-
guably most prominent in our social fabric. While this can be seen
as a weakness of the thesis, it acts to reinforce the relevance of
beach culture to the subject site of this project.
Leone Huntsman, Sand in our Souls: The Beach in Australian History
Melbourne University Press, 2001
The Sublime & Modern Architecture - Kate Nesbitt
The sublime has been traced by Nesbitt in her thesis as an art
movement and architectural typology through history. She ex-
plores its theoretical background and manifestations in depth to
give a rich understanding of the wide-reaching and depth of this
thematic framework.
The significance of the sublime as an aesthetic subject of art and archi-
tecture seems to lie in its conceptual reach, or in the case of the religious
sublime, in its spiritual dimension.
Nesbitt argues that the discourse of the sublime and the beautiful seems
to have gone underground in architecture in the twentieth century.
This is an argument which resonates not only with my individual
stance in the profession, but with my reading of Australian cul-
ture. Through a detailed analysis of the sublime in this reading
I have been able to apply it to the design process and proposed
intervention.
Nesbitt, Kate The Sublime & Modern Architecture Unmasking (An Aesthetic of)
Source: New Literary History, Vol. 26, No. 1, Narratives of Literature, the Arts, and Memory
(Winter, 1995), pp. 95-110Published
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02 urban analysisDemographics and Urban Analysis
Urban AnalysisBondi as a precinct presents a complex and dense built environment. The demograph-ics of the area are diverse bring comprised of long standing residents, financially pro-ficient young professionals and transient backpackers. Yet the most defining influ-ence on the built environment of Bondi is the natural environment and topography towards which most of the urban fabric is oriented or affected by. Cultural influences have reinforced this with an attitude of con-servation towards our beaches, with Bondi Beach classed as a national treasure.
The beach is a place of equality in Austra-lia, an open space in the public domain. The built structure which do infringe on this open space are landmarks including Ice Bergs, the skate ramp, the Pavilion, the surf club, the ocean baths and fishing club. All of these structures have been given a sig-nificance and have programs which begin to paint a picture of the Australian soul. They also surrender to the natural radius of the bay which has been carved out by centuries of erosion in submission to the forces of na-ture at play.
Significant Landmarks along Bondi foreshore
Density of surrounding lots Public Green Space Extent of proposal scope
Suburb extents Mean high water mark Coogee-Bondi Coastal walk
Figure ground ordered by size
02 built context ANALYSISFigure Ground Study
Figure ground study
Bondi precinct allotmentsBondi precinct site plan
Tout Bien Range Armelle Caron
Berlin
New York
Montpelier
Tamarac
Istanbul
Paris
02 topographical analysisNatural topography and datums
Design Process - Definition of the natural topographic radius of the bay
North Bondi Rock Platform and Ben Bucklers Head - Elevation
North Bondi Rock Platform Memory Scape cast bronze interventions
North Bondi Rock Platform and Ben Bucklers Head - Plan
Movement of body through space - navigation of the rock platform relative to elevation from the horizon
02 Existing built fabricAnalysis and deconstruction of Bondi Pavilion
Existing Bondi Pavilion Floor Plan
Column Grid System
Analysis of significant historical religious structures - deconstruction of solid-void massing in plan and section
Sagrada Familia, Spain St Peters Basilica, Vatican City Alhumbra, Spain Edinburgh Cathedral, UK
02 architectural PrecedentsExemplary projects referenced in the proposal
Therme Vals 2009 - Peter Zumthor
Therme Vals in the Graubnden canton, Switzerland exhib-its an exemplary use of architecture to create a dialogue between occupant and landscape. This highly detailed, con-trolled design uses water and light through materiality to create a visceral connection with the land on which it is built. Notions of the sublime are deeply embedded in its conceptual groundings which has been drawn on for key architectural moves in the subject proposal.
Particularly, Zumthors execution of a spatial continuum to achieves a sense of vastness has been studied in depth. The composition of solid-void in plan and section and how they dictate circulation and vistas for the occupant were key ar-chitectural moves used to achieve this. These formal moves have been observed and reinterpreted in the proposed work convey a similar sense of nakedness in the face of nature.
Tadao Ando 1989 - Chuch of Light
Similarly, Ando has carefully crafted fantastic moments of light and dark, introspection and extrospection in his Church of Light. This project was commisioned by the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church as their main chapel in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture. The stark material palette almost exclu-sively comprises of exposed pre-cast concrete. This unfin-ished, unassuming finish is a hallmark of Andos underlying concepts.
Highly evident in this example Andos concept of a space where one can with draw and centre themselves with earth, life and god. This is an environment, in which Ando would argue, facilitates spirituality. When analysed in tandem with his project Church of Water one can the projects as an in-version of one another and gain a sense of the careful way the landscape, interior and exterior have been addressed.
Image: Tadao AndoImages: Peter Zumthor,
Havana Project Sea Wall 1994 - Lebbeus Woods
This proposal is the design for a new, continuous terrace along the entire
six kilometers of the Malecon, the wide boulevard along the Carribean.
The terrace, cantilevered over the sea, serves as a public terrace during
good weather. During hurricanes, the force of the tide tilts the terrace up
to form a seawall against potentially damaging flood tides.
Woods unrealised project along the Malecon in Havana has been used as a precedent for the way it interacted and cel-ebrated the sublime forces of nature while also facilitating a spectacular public space.
His use of a single steadfast gesture which elegantly resolved a complex issue in the built environment inspired the canti-levered roof forms from the proposed works. This bold yet unassuming response resonates with notions of the humility in the face of sublime nature and unpretentious Australian values.
Images: Lebbeus Woods
Sydney Opera House 1958 - Jorn Utzon
The Opera House has been chosen as a precedent for this project as an iconic piece of architecture and an Australian landmark. In addition to this, it bears many parallels to the context, cultural importance and physical landscape of the subject site, being situated on a significant piece of land by the water.
In this, Uztons treatment and use of concrete to create soar-ing roof structures has been closely observed. The material palette established throughout the Opera House is domi-nated by exposed concrete that expresses the form work from which it was cast. This honest and raw detailing has been adopted to mirror the robust language which is now associated with the iconic structure. Referencing this archi-tectural language seeks to create a continuation of Sydneys iconic material pallet and tie these culturally
Images: Max Dupain, Dragi Markovic, Emerald City
Introduction
Cohesively, the following architectural proposal echoes unique experiences, memories and qualities which reflect the coastal landscape and its significance to the Australian psyche. The scheme for this site seeks to create a pallet that captures the experiences, memories and elements which colour our collective conscious, and, through architecture, cast it into the landscape.
The elements which make up this pallet have been informed by the historical research, cultural critique, readings and analysis of how Australian culture is depicted in the arts. The following themes are the conceptual framework and design strategies which inform these architectural moves in the final proposal.
Insofar as buildings speak to us, they also do so through quotation that
is, by referring to, and triggering memories of, the contexts in which we
have previously seen them, their counterparts or their models. They com-municate by prompting associations
- Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness
The sea draws it to us for rest and relaxation. Its a place where we can
empty our minds and restore our spirits. Perhaps the endlessness of the
horizon is what rejuvenates us, or the enormous reserve of restless energy
that is the sea. As Tim Winton says, looking out at sea is as close to infin-ity as well ever get. Its vastness puts human existence and concerns into
perspective. - Philip Drew, Coastal Dwellers
The Australian Soul
Extro-spection
Temporality
A Horizontal Country
Irreverence/Classless Paradigm/Eternity
The Horizon
The Collective Conscious
Elemental Experiences
Rights of passage
Collective memories
The Sublime, Romanticism and Escapism
Relevance to context (Australian Culture)
Relevance to site (Coastal Landscapes)
The Edge, a plane of transition
Vastness - Spatial Continuum
Vastness - Intimate Encounters
03 architectural ambitionsThematic Grounding & Design Approach
04 Design strategyExecution of Architectural Ambitions
Introduction
The following formal architectural moves seeks to captures the experiences, memories and elements which colour our collective concious, and cast them into the landscape.
Topographic Radius
The crafting of these ambitions is proposed firstly in consideration of Bondis vast foreshore and topography. This looks at how the natural formation of the beach subtly determines the location and orientation of built form.
The contours and shape of the bay define a natural radius that the foreshore structures each observe. Within this radius are signifi-cant landmarks such as Ice Bergs, the surf club, skate ramp, coastal walk, northern baths, fishing club and Marks Park. All programs which begin to paint a picture of the Australian soul.
At the centre of this, a bronze prism has been sunk to the ocean floor becoming a place marker to the topographic geometry and of our extro-spection to the horizon.
Intervention Scales
The proposed works are grounded in the pavilion for this proposal however small interventions are also dotted along the north Bondi rock platform. This creates a tension between anchor point and sprawl, vast landscapes and intimate encounters.
North Bondi Rock Platform memory scape
Bronze Prism sunk at the centre point of the bay
Retention of Existing Fabric
Philip Drew speaks of the coastal experience as a return to simplicity and honesty of self. He describes the beach house typology to explain this in architectural terms;
The eschewing of form, reducing everything to all but the most basic con-veniences, its openness and lack of internal barriers or compartments is
almost a psychological model of our own nakedness, an admission of vul-nerability and smallness before nature.
This ideological approach has been applied to the Bondi Pa-vilion. All but its structural skeleton has been stripped in a process of attrition, leaving behind a column grid system that yields to the topographic axis of the bay. This establishes a fine grain solid-void ratio and therefore an openness to the landscape. It also remains as an echoing memory of the Pavil-ions iconic form and its cultural and historical significance.
Solid-Void Massing
Reinforced concrete supports have then been introduced among the grid, contrasting the fine grain domestic columns with super scale solid forms. The scale of these supports al-lows them to define circulation and vistas through the site, as well impress a sense of the monolithic upon the occupant. The form and location of each support has been used to cre-ate a spatial continuum. In this the occupant gains a sugges-tion of the beach and horizon beyond, although there is no direct visual connection.
Solid masonry supports
Stripped and appropriated existing column grid
Existing Bondi Pavilion floor plan
Proposed Level 01 Plan - Beach Level
Proposed Roof Plan
Fine grain column grid : monolithic masonry supports
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01
06
05
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04 Design strategyExecution of Architectural Ambitions
Programmatic Approach
The program of the Pavilion has been reimagined for greater fa-cilitation of the arts, through which the importance of the beach is represented and remembered in our culture.
Artists in residence quarters have been expanded in the south cor-ner of the pavilion, with the addition of studio or workshop space and outdoor exhibition areas. Occupying the northern half of the Pavilion are stalls and facilities as a new space to accommodate the Bondi Markets. Artist in residence quarters, outdoor exhibition areas and the markets are transparent spaces open to the public. The ebb and flow of their use is fleeting. The outdoor exhibition areas reflect this as sculptural pieces take shape, are exhibited and then sold or transported on. The lightweight, open structure en-casing these spaces and their transient occupation touches on the temporality of our presence in the landscape.
The existing theatre has also been expanded and then dropped to the level of the beach. Seating is cut and carved into the concrete podium of the Pavilion, stepping out and down to below sand lev-el. Spectators are seated directly on the concrete slab where they come into contact with its robust, tactile and unassuming surface.
The stage is an undefined and unenclosed area of sand that stretch-es out in front of the seating. In this way, Bondi Beach itself be-comes the stage on which lifes drama are played out, both while a production runs and when it is used as seating to observe the theatrics of beach life.
Delineation of Sectional Space
The sectional experience has been delineated on site where the roof form and void below, cut and carve into the landscape, pairing back terrain and structure to strike a steadfast form on the land. This is achieved through a series of tectonic plates soaring over the beach.
Their shale-like composition resolves complex level changes on site from Campbell parade to the mean high water mark. This spatial continuum allows transient oc-cupants to experience the space as a whole despite be-ing prevented from seeing its full extents, consequently giving way to a sense of vastness in the landscape.
Spatial continuum through the section also orients the occupants body in space. Changes in level heights are constant and cross referenced with vistas of the horizon as one moves through each area. This echoes the naviga-tion of a rock platform which is often regulated by the tides.
The water level and ensuing horizon are a constant da-tum of reference for the body in space. Orientation with the horizon as an infinite line of sight implies boundless-ness and the eternal. Author Tim Winton reiterates this concept commenting that;
Looking out at see is as close to infinity as well ever get. Its vastness
puts human existence and concerns into perspective.Diagrammatic Section 02
Diagrammatic Section 01
Floor Plan 00 - Theatre opening onto beach
Form and Composition
The proposed roof form folds down into ground plane and soars over the sand. Shelves, under crofts, fissures and steps in the form have been created to accommodate multiple design parameters.
This can be seen in areas that require privacy such as the outdoor showers where the roof form turns down. Over the public market space, vast roof planes open and ascend up. These planes, and the reinforced concrete plinths that support them also function to frame vistas and the horizon as visitors circulate through the site.
Similarly the roof planes alternately create spaces which are protected when southerly busters come through or are open to admit winter sunlight.
As a cohesive structure the architecture essentially acts as a large scale veranda. In essence it is an unassuming, protected platform between interior and exterior from which occupants can survey the landscape.
On a sunny day with big swell running from the ocean straight into
Broken Bay, he eventually found the shak he wanted... It was built of
weatherboard and fibro-cement, painted the colour of pale clay, and
it settled on the hillside sheltered from the southerly wind and facing
north along the beach.Robert Drew, The Bodysurfers
Construction Section - Exhibition spaces, artist in residence studios and living quarters
04 Design strategyExecution of Architectural Ambitions
Construction System
The proposed construction system is a continued juxtaposition of solid to void, heavy to light, ro-bust to highly finished elements. Zinc cladding wraps over and under the steel structure, shield-ing it from the brunt of onshore weather.
On the protected side of the structure the fine, tapering, lightweight steel frame is exposed be-low. At the base of the steel members a reinforced concrete plinth anchors each soaring plane to the land.
Detailing
Structurally this gradation of material density and tapering of member size mirrors the language of Australian coastal headlands. Vegetation in these areas must have strong root systems which an-chor it into the rock and fine, tapering branches which are light weight and easily supported in high winds.
The anchor point has been detailed with a 300mm return along the top of the concrete plinth. This gives a sense that the planes are floating and reit-erates their light weight construction.
D03 - Concrete support connection
D02 - Concrete support connection
D01 - Glazing Detail
Rock Platform Interventions
To the north, the wandering rock platform wraps around Ben Buck-lers head, exhibiting a spectrum of moments and experiences played out by beach-goers there. It presents a memory scape of moments that paint a picture of the beach in our national psyche.
Along the platform, points that constitute a rite of passage, form of privacy, chance to commune with nature or an elemental experience have been identified. At these points one of two extruded bronze pro-files are situated on or within the sandstone. The first profile is de-signed as a seat and edge to the water, the second as a depression in the rock platform for sun bathing.
Many rites of passage happen either on the beach, behind the dunes or in the beach house near by. The seafront is where we establish important friendships and become sensual and often also sexual beings. The beach therefore has a special place in our collective consciousness, imbued with all these memories
Robert Drew
Bronze has been selected for its capacity to reveal points of contact with the body over time. The platform interventions become pallets in this way. Through use, Beach goers will collectively and accumula-tively leave a mark of the Australian soul on them over time.
Further to this exposure and weathering of the metal results in oxi-dization, an admission to the forces of nature at play. Its subtle col-oration blends with the natural palate of wet sandstone, dusk light on the water, turquoise rock pools and the glistening skin of surrounding sun bathers.
04 Design strategyExecution of Architectural Ambitions
05 Proposed SchemeFinal Presentation Material
The following material is a presentation of the final architectural proposals of this project. It is as reproduction of the technical de-tails and drawings as well as the rendered perspectives which were used to communicate the project ambitions to panel of critics.
Material Produced
PanelsPlansSectionsConstruction SectionDetailsPerspective Renders
ModelSectional ModelConceptual Models
Design Book2 x HardcopyDigital Copy
Bondi Precinct West Elevation
Bondi Precinct Topographic Radius
Site Plan Scale 1:2000
Level 01 Floor Plan - Scale 1:1000 Level 00 Floor Plan - Scale 1:1000
Principal Construction Section, Site Section 01 - Scale 1:200
Site Section 03 - Scale 1:500
Site Section 02 - Scale 1:500
Construction Detail 02 - Scale 1:50Construction Detail 01 - Scale 1:50
Construction Detail 03 - Scale 1:50
North Bondi Rock Platform Memory Scape
Cast Bronze profiles - palettes to paint the Australian soul
Sketch Render 01 - Looking North along promenade
Sketch Render 02 - Promenade Level looking our to Ben Bucklers head
Sketch Render 04 - Diagrammatic Section looking North
Sketch Render 03 - Diagrammatic Section looking South
Sketch Render 05 - Beach Level looking our to Ice Bergs
Conceptual Models embossed on North Bondu Rock Platform
1:500 Construction Section Model
01 Mapping
The mapping process undertaken gauged the aspects which spoke most of the site and context. This included detailed cultural and historical research and substantial mapping of the topography on site. This began to inform what themes and concepts the site presented and could be explored.
02 Theoretical Background
Thematic concepts such as the sublime, collective conscious and Australian culture became apparent through rigorous readings and referencing of key theses. Synthesis of the ar-guments put forward in these publications and critical anal-ysis of them from the perspective of the Australian psyche allowed the project ambitions and line of enquiry to come forth. Precedents of architectural typologies in this vein were de-constructed to gain a sense formal moves, strate-gies and concepts which could be adapted or re-imagined in the context of Australia and Bondi.
03 Preliminary Design
Preliminary design schemes proposed interventions at a range of scales from precinct wide to intimate details of hu-man contact. This evolved into impressing a sense of vast-ness on transient occupants through the site - a manifesta-tion of the sublime. They also looked as resolution and a play between significant datums on site
06 Design phasesProject Processes and Stages
04 Interim
Conceptual models were produced for the interim presentation which became a driving force in the design approach of the final proposal. This pursued the concept of the collective conscious and creation of a memory-scape of Australian culture. The mod-els were a literal rubbing-off of Australian culture. Physical parts of the North Bondi rock platform were embossed at distinctive focal points into metal sheet-ing. Interventions in the final proposal reinterpreted this, seeking to create palettes of bronze. These pal-ettes would expose a literal mark of the Australian soul through repetitive and collective points of con-tact with beach goers.
05 Final Presentation
The final presentation was carefully considered to impress a sense of vastness and therefore the sublime on the critique panel. This was achieved through a deliberate choice to omit representations of the over-all scheme. Much like the circulation through the site of the proposal, the critiques could navigate the scheme and move easily from one aspect to the next but never gain an overall mental image of it. In this it minims the spatial continuum of the design.
Embossing metal sheet into the Noth Bondi rock platform
07 bibliographyResources, Citations and References
Bibliography
Drew, Philip The Coastal Dwellers Penguin Books Australia, 1994.
de Botton, Alain The Architecture of Happiness Vintage, 2008.
Drew, Philip & Ando, Tadao Church on the Water, Church of the Light: Tadao Ando Phaidon,
1996.
Drewe, Robert The Bodysurfers Penguin Australia, 2008.
Huntsman, Leone Sand in Our Souls: The Beach in Australian History Melbourne University
Publish 2001.
Nesbitt, Kate The Sublime and Modern Architecture: Unmasking (An Aesthetic of) The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1995.
Noever, Peter The Havana project: Architecture Again : international conference on architecture,
Havana, Cuba The University of Michigan, 2007.
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