As much as I hate the idea of 'brainstorming', 'mind-maps' and writing anything on butchers paper, the tutorial activity was a great way of investigating and extrapolating on the provided 'what if..?' scenarios announced in the lecture.
Urban
Suburban
Shopping centres and online shopping are at constant war with one another at the moment, which to me seems ridiculous as they both have so much to learn from one another:
As a shopper, you need to experience the products before you buy them, interact with them, feel them. There's also the idea of instant gratification, walking away with your purchase and knowing it is yours. There is also the social element of being with friends, people watching, and just interacting with sales staff. However, online shopping hits the nail on the head with respect to competitive pricing and ease of accessibility. But what about security? What happens if a product never arrives, or is damaged? What about returns and exchanges? What will happen to the young casual staff working in the retail industry? And this is where the suburban theme will have to work, so that the online and physical retail environments can work together, rather than against one another.
Rural
When asked to brainstorm ideas on how the site of the Woodford Folk Festival (and former site of Splendour in the Grass) could become self-sufficient, our group played with the traditional 'categories' of self-sufficiency, such as funding, food consumption, energy usage, etc.
But after going back and investigating what Woodford is, we found it was all about the music. So how could they become musically self-sufficient?The Woodford site has the opportunity to become musically self-sustaining, offering musical education, production, camps, festivals, performances, and even creating their own instruments!
Virtual
To be honest (and I may have already said this in an earlier post), but the concept of Virtual architecture frightens me, and my group and I could barely get past the movies The Matrix and Surrogates when trying to come up with ideas in this category. We fluffed around and talked in circles, never really solving any of the 3 scenarios. The closest we got was in trying to help Woodford become self-sufficient through the idea of sharing; sharing information, knowledge, technology, resources, etc. Then we came to realise that for Woodford to be self-sufficient they would have to rely in some way on the outside world, especially to gain knowledge. We then realised that self-sufficiency is an oxymoron, because you cannot rely solely on yourself as an individual, or indeed as a closed community. Rather we should aim for harmonious co-sufficiency - swapping and sharing information to enhance and advance our percieved 'self-sufficiency'.
After ALL of that though, our group realised that all of our brainstorming centred around the idea of sharing, and social interaction. As soon as we'd come up with a possible solution/scenario, the ones that were immediately shut down were those that alienated people or came at the sacrifice of 'community'. So I guess that that is a fair indicator of the direction any of my projects will head in.
Urban
After the ‘what if..?’scenarios were announced in the lecture, I think I’m now more excited about the Urban context, as I see now that it’s moving away from the issue of populationdensity (yawn – not again!), and to one of accessibility and retrofitting. Introducing the notion of a congestion charge in Brisbane would definitely becontroversial, but I’ve always imagined Brisbane would be better off as apedestrian-orientated city. Our one-way grid structure just isn’t designed for suchan extreme amount of vehicular traffic, and would probably benefit from a ring-roadsystem, leaving the city-centre free for cycling and walking. However, this would then require us to do something with the abundant space left vacant by roads and car parks. Exciting! So many possibilities and so much space!
Should we invest in urban farming to further reduce our need for importation into the city? Providemore accommodation to reduce commuter traffic? Supply more green space tocreate an outdoor lifestyle shift for inner-city workers? Sprawlingmarketplaces? Roller derbies and underground raves? All of the above? Ponder ponder.
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| I'm saving money...but gosh I'm lonely http://melvinbroaddus.blogspot.com.au/ |
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| I'm having so much fun...but now I'm poor and have sore feet http://www.informationcentres.com.au/information/sydney/ sydney-shopping/sydney-factory-outlets.html |
Shopping centres and online shopping are at constant war with one another at the moment, which to me seems ridiculous as they both have so much to learn from one another:
As a shopper, you need to experience the products before you buy them, interact with them, feel them. There's also the idea of instant gratification, walking away with your purchase and knowing it is yours. There is also the social element of being with friends, people watching, and just interacting with sales staff. However, online shopping hits the nail on the head with respect to competitive pricing and ease of accessibility. But what about security? What happens if a product never arrives, or is damaged? What about returns and exchanges? What will happen to the young casual staff working in the retail industry? And this is where the suburban theme will have to work, so that the online and physical retail environments can work together, rather than against one another.
vs.
When asked to brainstorm ideas on how the site of the Woodford Folk Festival (and former site of Splendour in the Grass) could become self-sufficient, our group played with the traditional 'categories' of self-sufficiency, such as funding, food consumption, energy usage, etc.
 |
| Splendour in the Grass at Woodford |
Virtual
To be honest (and I may have already said this in an earlier post), but the concept of Virtual architecture frightens me, and my group and I could barely get past the movies The Matrix and Surrogates when trying to come up with ideas in this category. We fluffed around and talked in circles, never really solving any of the 3 scenarios. The closest we got was in trying to help Woodford become self-sufficient through the idea of sharing; sharing information, knowledge, technology, resources, etc. Then we came to realise that for Woodford to be self-sufficient they would have to rely in some way on the outside world, especially to gain knowledge. We then realised that self-sufficiency is an oxymoron, because you cannot rely solely on yourself as an individual, or indeed as a closed community. Rather we should aim for harmonious co-sufficiency - swapping and sharing information to enhance and advance our percieved 'self-sufficiency'.
After ALL of that though, our group realised that all of our brainstorming centred around the idea of sharing, and social interaction. As soon as we'd come up with a possible solution/scenario, the ones that were immediately shut down were those that alienated people or came at the sacrifice of 'community'. So I guess that that is a fair indicator of the direction any of my projects will head in.
However I may have to abandon my zombie-fortress ideas now though.
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