11: Metaphor defrag

With my program sorted, I need to now take a step back and see how my design can respond to its scenario. Ruwan suggested that I look at the practices of the Big 5 companies, and break them down to their simplest forms. For example, McDonalds works on a conveyor belt system (their food is prepared in this way, and their business models are all about efficiency and reducing waste); IKEA are about breaking down simplicity (their products are cheap, elegant and broken down into their simplest forms for ease of construction and reduction of materials); Google work on collation (gathering information from numerous sources, sorting them and relaying them on); P&G are about mass production (they dominate two whole aisles in most grocery stores); and GE are just so diverse it is impossible to nail them down.

So where does this lead me? While breaking these companies down, I noticed that most of them deal in efficiencies and production of some sort, whether its producing products or information. They have all also started small (simple ideas/business models) that have grown exponentially into multi-faceted businesses. 

So how can Brisbane (and my design) benefit from the experiences of these 5 companies? Again, Ruwan came forward and (unknowingly) provided me with the perfect metaphor - the companies need to defrag Brisbane. Due to its economic and social downfall, Brisbane's 'system' needs extreme maintenance. In the future scenario, Brisbane will be divided, with most people feeling isolated and the sense of community shattered. This fragmentation must be reduced, with 'smaller files' organised back together again. This will help increase the city's sense of freedom (a.k.a free space), whether it be financially, socially or politically. This will ultimately lead to Brisbane's 'system' speeding up and becoming a more efficient device.

This metaphor can then be carried on and combined with the companies' ethos - in their business plans of growth and expansion, defragging is already in their programming. Especially Google, who work with the distribution and filtering of data to this effect. This metaphor gave rise to the below image which has formed the basis for my design response.

As well as implementing a 'fragmented' style with an exponential curve, I also want to adopt another metaphor: Brisbane's new sponsors don't want to destroy the old Brisbane, they just want to bring it back to it's former glory and inspire its people to be innovative once more. To respond to this through design, it wouldn't be appropriate to build from scratch, or demolish something for this project; rather a piece of iconic Brisbane architecture should be transformed - a new skin and lease of life attached as a metaphor for the hope and prosperity in Brisbane's future.