I spent time this week exploring different design intervention ideas. I didn’t think about it too much and just sketched ideas to allow a creative flow and also to help with keeping track of my though process. Below are each of my design iterations and brief explanations.
I decided on the last design. It takes the aspects from my other designs that best articulate my purpose of the project and site. The blue is just an indicator to where the coloured light will be showing. I’m going to spend some time working on specifics like the colour of the lighting, how the design is attached and what materials I am going to use.
After I received some feedback on my positioning statement last week, I wanted to go back to it and refine it. My last iteration of my positioning statement wasn’t clear on how I was going to achieve my concept. I didn’t cover what methods/materials I was going to use or what the physicality of the concept was. I have been stuck for quite a while now on the conceptual side of my work which has resulted in me not putting more thought into how I will execute this on a physical level. I rewrote my positioning statement to guide me and give me direction. Below are my notes and my latest positioning statement.
DRAFT NOTES Main points/key words of what I am focusing on Why I am focusing on this What type of space I’m going to explore How I want to explore it and why
POSITIONING STATEMENT Reconnecting two separate worlds separated by structure and a social concept.
This project is focused on the reconnection of plant life on the inside and outside of the Wintergarden walls on both a physical and conceptual level. The inspiration of this concept derives from my fascination with the way the plants in the Wintergarden space, specifically the glasshouses, expressed a sense of entrapment and displacement through their testing and challenging of the physical constraints of the structure. This led me to investigate how humans placing these plants in a particular structure gives them another context and it projects human social concepts onto plant life. Ultimately, we subconsciously view the plants inside the glasshouses to be superior or of higher importance than those that grow outside the walls just because of their physical context.
My project will focus on an exhibition experience with educational qualities that reconnects these two separate worlds of plant life and creates a shift of subconscious perception. The project will articulate how a plant’s importance is not defined by the structure it is homed in and will shift viewers’ thinking to an understanding that the plant life is, and will always be, regardless of human intervention, connected through a larger system.
My aim is to explore this concept through the lighting qualities of reflection and transparency. Something that articulated the dark undertone of the plant life inside the glasshouses being trapped and trying to escape was the exterior of the east wall of the Tropical House. The way the plants pressed against the weathered frosted glass with the morning sun beaming through behind them, casting softly dark shadows, gave this soft horror effect, almost like a cry for help. The lighting quality with the level of transparency in the glass was very intriguing in the way it told this story of entrapment and was the physical quality of the site I was most drawn to. Along with some research, I found the reflective and transparency effects of surfaces to be the most intriguing and will help me in articulating my concept through physical design.
This positioning statement gives me more direction in terms of how I am going to execute my concept. Rewriting this has not only allowed me to regroup and refine my ideas, it has also given mee an opening to exploring intervention ideas.
This week I spent organizing my ideas and concept. I’ve still been feeling a little lost in a sea of ideas and I want to gain more direction for my project at this point. After reviewing my main ideas and interests I wanted to rewrite my positioning statement so it had more of a focus. Below are my notes and second iteration of my positioning statement.
DRAFT NOTES: Hierarchy resists Work together/combine. Support not restrict Social concepts projected onto plants Break down weathered/aged ideas of hierarchy in terms of the plants to reconnect Tarnished tainted
POSITIONING STATEMENT This project will be focused on the reconnection of plant life in a social sense.
Brick walls and glass barriers not only create two separate worlds, but they also give us a sense that there is something to protect from another; something with a higher value being kept inside.
Historically, curated gardens, and glasshouses specifically, were a symbol of wealth and status. This was equally a result of the structures themselves as well as the exotic plant life that existed within them. Although glasshouses are not viewed the same way they once were, the social concept of hierarchy continues to be projected onto the plant life as a result of what the structures used to represent.
The glasshouses at the Auckland Wintergardens are the physical embodiment of social concepts encapsulating and disrupting organic order. Not only do the glasshouses separate plant life physically from the outside and in, but they also separate them on a social level and consequently the way we view and experience them. With this project I want to explore how I can remove the status associated with the plants within and around the Wintergardens to reconnect these hierarchal levels while examining how manmade interventions can support rather than restrict plant life.*
I aim to explore these concepts and ideas through a combination of exhibition and educational space. My aim is to create an experience for visitors that shifts their perspective, challenges their ideas, and makes them look at garden and glasshouse spaces in a different way. I aim to change the social narrative of the Wintergarden space, and as a result, create reflection of our default and preconceived ideas of what a garden space is and what it means to exist within one.
*When writing this I wasn’t sure if this idea flowed well with the rest of my statement. I didn’t want to overthink when I was writing because I knew it would shut down my flow and motivation so I just wrote what I thought. I wanted to make a note for myself to keep in mind when developing my work.
Rewriting my positioning statement made my concept a little more clear but I still felt a little lost in my multitude of ideas. I pinned up my explorative research and ideas as well as my positioning statement to allow me to visualize my ideas better. This helped me to see how strong the idea of plants escaping was and I did some conceptual sketches with some of the construction drawings from the Wintergardens (see below).
I had got some feedback on my positioning statement and what it was lacking/missing. By the end of the week I pinned up some visual research, drawing explorations, my positioning statement and some notes.
I found having my work on the board allowed me to keep track of where my mind was at and where my ideas had originated from especially when my mind has been very much erratic lately trying to pin point a concept and develop on it.
During the break I made a series of mini models and drawings to help me explore my conceptual ideas. I used this exercise to try and help me explore ideas in a physical sense to help give me more direction for next steps.
I also created the first iteration of my positioning statement to help me organize my thoughts and ideas and give me direction. I’ve been feeling like I have such a wide range of ideas and I have been struggling to find the main concept in which I can explore this array of ideas while still being clear with want I want to achieve.
Below are my ideas and my first positioning statement.
DRAFT IDEAS Gentrification Disregard to surroundings Encapsulating and trapping Created two separate worlds Social climate and purpose change Loss of value and status in a traditional sense Highlighting the disregard n terms of the design and construction of the wintergardens so there needs to be consideration to the gardens history popping the bubble and reconnecting the the two worlds One entity
Encapsulated Trapped Escaping Reclaiming Questioning limitations of Thresholds
Disregard Result of disregard
Wider system Reconnecting
Contrast Pop the bubble Lost value and status
time
POSITIONING STATEMENT This project is focused on reflection, reconnection and the idea of one being.
When the Wintergardens were built there was little consideration to its surroundings. It was created as a bubble of curated nature, separating it, using physical thresholds to create two worlds of the same contents, meters apart, one socially viewed as more elite. The glasshouses specifically are a means of encapsulating, trapping and preserving; an unnatural way of controlling a component of nature.
In this project my ideas of nature are heavily influenced by John Dixon Hunt’s theory of First, Second and Third Nature. The gardens are an example of third nature and its surroundings an example of second nature, both are viewed and experienced as two separate entities. My aim with this project is to reconnect the common denominator, nature.
In my view, nature is part of one large systematic entity which has been continually disrupted, displaced and controlled by humans over time. This project is a way of reflecting and reconnecting and highlighting the idea of one being by stripping away the social views and hierarchy placed on nature. The aim is to take the power and control people took for themselves and give it back to its rightful owner, nature.
Because my concepts have grown from the disregard taken in the design and construction of the Wintergardens it is important that I consider the history of the establishment when reconnecting the inside with the out in order not to repeat the point I am highlighting. My project is just a dot in the timeline of growth of the site, and you can’t grow without reflection.
As I continued researching I started to come across elements of different designs that interested me. One was a Visitor Centre in the Cairns Botanic Gardens.
The aspect of this design that interests me is its reflective exterior. The architects have said that this design choice was to create a camouflage by reflecting the garden onto the exterior surface and was inspired by the visual effects of the alien hunter suit in the original Predator film. I like this reflective effect not in terms of camouflage, but in terms of relation and connection to surroundings. I have talked about how there was disregard to the surrounding area ecologically when the Auckland Wintergardens was designed and built. Purpose built gardens and glasshouses also have disregard to true nature as they are often curated and articulated versions of nature that will attract people. I like the idea of recognizing and highlighting surroundings and not looking at the gardens as the curated bubble they were made to be with little influence of the land beyond its walls. I think this idea of using a reflective surface would help in creating this effect and highlight this point.
Another idea that has interested me throughout the last few weeks is this idea and relationship between interior and exterior. While doing some visual research on glasshouses, I came across some images of the structures that had been abandoned. I really like the visual quality that the glass creates. The missing glass panels and the way the light reflects off the remaining panels creates a delicate visual that connects the inside and outside of the structure together.
What I like about these images is the challenging of thresholds on the plants’ behalf. Like I mentioned in my site analysis, something that really intrigued me about the site was the way the plats inside the glasshouse pushed and challenged the physical constraints of the structure in an attempt of escaping. These images of these unmaintained glasshouses not only show the plants challenging the manmade structure, but also the results of this.
After the second site visit I decided to produce some drawings and sketches of anything that came to mind to help me get a better grasp on how I want to move forward. I often really struggle to move forward and develop ideas when I start to get stressed and start thinking ahead too much about what my next five steps are going to be. It makes me shut down and I really struggle to get back moving again. I find that I work well and am able to find my feet again if I can clear my head and forget about what process and steps need to be taken in order to achieve an end goal. So I decided to do some sketches that related to some of my ideas.
While I was at the gardens I picked up a fallen flower and pressed it in my visual diary. Here are some of the photos I took of it to get some ideas flowing.
OPACITY
DETAIL
COLOUR
OVERLAP
LINES
TRANSPARENCY
After that I began to explore some ideas through drawings. I really liked the print the flower had left in my book from when it was pressed so I explored the veins and lines it left with coloured pencils.
This week we visited the Wintergardens again to look at the space in terms of our positioning and our project. I was still feeling a bit lost about a specific concept I wanted to explore. I have so many ideas and there are so many aspects of the site that intrigue me, but I am finding it difficult to pull these ideas together to create a strong concept and context and a stable positioning in the site.
When we got to the Wintergardens we broke off into our study groups. It was really good to see where everyone was at and see how their ideas may work in the space. It was also really good to be able to give my peers a fresh set of eyes and help them explore their concepts in a way that they may not have considered before.
I presented my multitude of interests in the site and mentioned how I was struggling to get a rasp on a main idea that I could focus on and explore further. I got some really good suggestions on how I could explore these ideas at the site. I explained my interest in the social purpose of the site and how that has changed over time and there were some key phrases that were mentioned that really intrigued me; time has weathered the concept of the glasshouse, and the significance has shifted. I also explained this idea of curated nature and being encapsulated as well as the trapping of plant life and them escaping contraints. The visual quality from the outside of the glasshouse with the plants pressing against the glass was something I found very intriguing from the begining of this project. My group suggested looking into the transparency and lighting quality as a way of exploring this idea or exploring the idea of reclaiming space and testing/pushing limitations and thresholds.
I mentioned that I had this initial idea of a educational/exhibition space where people can come to study or work around plants and there would be an emphasis on how the plants can benefit us on a psychological level. It would be a raised are/platform in the glasshouses where people could sit nd work and their would be a selection of seed with descriptions of the benefits of said plant that people could take home and grow these plants to create a healthier at-home workspace as these are now more important than ever in today’s climate. This idea was established on the concept of how although the structure has stayed the same, the social purpose for it has changed significantly since the Wintergardens were built. It is a way of looking at how social views have changed over time and specifically in terms of plants. Although I like this idea, I feel as though it isn’t established enough on a concept or context and feels very surface level. I was given some really good ideas to explore and develop this idea by my group. They mentioned different ways to look at the plant life. One suggestion I really liked was the idea of creating a sensorial space that includes light, sound and the idea of transparency (previously discussed) and also looking at the relationship between music and plants. There was also a point highlighted about the idea of giving taking between humans and plants and how this can be explored or looked into. Then there was a suggestion to look at the plants and this idea of encapsulating and trapping in a different light. I could explore a these ideas in a darker way rather than bringing to light the positive side of things. There was the idea of using the plants and treating the glasshouses as a plant zoo that enslave plants for our benefit. I had never really looked at it in that way. I could also explore a sensorial space but in darker manner.
There were so many good suggestions that helped develop my preexisting ideas about the space and it has given me a lot to think about in terms of what hunch I want to follow and what oath I want to take my project down.
This week we also got to do some work in the workshops upstairs. It was good to have set times to go up with a group because I often feel very out of place in the workshops, especially the wood workshop. It was good to go in and get my confidence up in using equipment and working in the workshops.
I designed a couple of grid patterns inspired by my research at the Wintergardens.
I quite liked the first grid because it explores my ideas about the site better whereas the second one explores lighting qualities in the space. I like how the first sketch intertwines two grids I found prominent in the space whereas the second sketch is more of a replication of overlapping grids I found in the space. I also just decided to draw the second grid to allow me to explore different ideas and hopefully gain something from it.
On the Monday we went to the wood workshop where we explored some of the different tools that were available. After drawing a more simplified version of the grid on my piece of plywood that they supplied us, I used the bandsaw and a range of drill pieces to create and explore my grid.
On the Wednesday we went to the laser cutting lab and got to learn how to create something with the laser cutting machine. Prior to this visit I drew a simplified version of my original grid on Rhino and differentiated what lines I wanted cut and what lines I wanted engraved on the piece of wood with different colours in the Rhino file.
It was really interesting to learn how the machines work and see what I am able to do with them. I had never been to the laser cutting room before this workshop but I have always wanted to go up and use the laser cutter so this really helped me take that first step.
This week I developed my mind map. The visit to the Wintergardens helped me expand and gain ideas that I had begun to think about through my research. The mind map has allowed me to organise my ideas and consider the importance of each in my positioning on the site.
Mind Map
My main ideas I want to explore further are the headings that are circled. There is quite a few of them and some of them are quite varied but I think this will give me a good opportunity to explore a multitude of ideas before I narrow in on one particular concept.
This week we finally got the chance to visit the Wintergardens. This was the first time I had been to the gardens and it was nice to be able to see it in person. I find it difficult to work with and fully grasp the essence of a space from a series of image and videos; it is so important for me to immerse myself into the space to gain a better understanding of the experience of the space. Also, the simple things such as the way the site sits on the land and how its surroundings fit in to context were hard to get a real sense of while being in lockdown.
Below are some photos I took while on site.
I also did some sketches of some aspects I found intriguing on the site.
The main aspect of the site I found most intriguing was the contrast between plant life and manmade structure. I have a fascination with how these two exist and resist together. My initial encounter with this was the West side of the gardens on the outside of the Tropical House. There was a certain narrative being told by the way the glass and plants were colliding; it was an interesting combination of calmness and desperation.
I’m still not sure how I’m going to implement these ideas in generating a concept for my project but visiting the site has given me a really good opportunity to see the site in a different light and allowed me to grasp some initial ideas that will help guide me through the project.
Spatial Design by Ciara 