SEMESTER REFLECTION:

So overall I am fairly happy with how the semester turned out. After the mid-semester group submission I was really struggling with coming up with a concept so I'm glad I eventually got there in the end. At the start I had a lot of trouble trying to link an exhibition space to parliamentary functions, but in the end I think the whole concept would work really well for the parliament in the future. To create a space that is common ground for everyone, and create a more sustainable, flexible and interesting space, a new form of parliamentary activity is created and one that can be forever changing to suit future needs of Australia. By using something like the travelling exhibition for things like public forums, debates, Q and A sessions and information and education sessions, the general public will be more likely to want to take part in parliamentary events. As Canberra is the capital of Australia, the city should act as a cultural hub and show off what Australia has to offer. The pavilion will draw people into Canberra and become an icon of the city, as well as create an interesting perspective for politicians to take part in when visiting the city. The light rail is a fundamental part of the design, as it is used to carry the pavilion from place to place. This will also attract more people to the light rail, as they will feel as they can almost ‘follow’ the pavilion from location to location. In conclusion, the entity will maximise mobility of the people within Canberra and encourage people to visit the city, as well as creating a unique alternative to current parliamentary spaces that will act a starting point to future changes.

POST- PRESENTATION REFLECTION:

Looking back at my panels now, I am reasonably happy with the overall outcome. I am quite happy with the mini storyboard I created using SAM as an example user that used the whole design from start to finish. SAM started on the light rail, then got off at to the station, and then went to the pavilion. This created imagery that allowed the entity to come together and gain a view from the user perspective. I wasn't so happy however with the context example of using the CIVIC as different site with a different use. I created a scenario where the pavilion was used for an art exhibition, but maybe I could have done some kind of photo montage of this site to show how it would actually fit into this site. This flexibility of the design and how it travels around Canberra is a main attribute to the design so in looking back, I should have tried to present this better. Today I tried to attempt this is a more realistic way. The following are some images of the civic position and the pavilion in that location being used as a political forum, as well as an art exhibition:

CIVIC SITE IN CANBERRA

PAVILION LOCATION, PLATFORM LOCATION AND LIGHT RAIL PATH

PAVILION AND PLATFORM IN CIVIC SITE

PAVILION AND PLATFORM IN CIVIC SITE

PAVILION AND PLATFORM IN CIVIC SITE

PAVILION USED FOR ART SHOW

PAVILION USED FOR ART SHOW



Looking back, i'm also not sure that I thoroughly explained some of the parts to my design like the user-moveable seating, the moveable stage and the moveable stairs. The moveable seating are item of furniture which are on wheels and in different forms so the user can change it to suit the requirements- like if there was a large group of friends they could join some together to make a big lounge. The moveable stage means that the stage is really 4 seperate parts on wheels which can be joined together for a big performance or meeting, or broken up as seperate platforms around the pavilion for an exhibition or market type scenario. The moveable stairs are plywood platforms which sit on top of each other to connect the ground to the floor of the exhibition and can be arranged as necessary depending on the site. Here are some diagrams and perspectives to show how these work:

INFORMAL SEATING

INFORMAL SEATING

 

STAGE- FULL STAGE POSITION

STAGE- SEPERATE PART POSITIONS

SECTION OF STAGE

STEPS UPTO PAVILION

SECTION OF STAIRS

FINAL PANELS:

The following are my final panels for the presentation. Sadly I got really sick on the morning of the presentation from lack of sleep which pushed my printing back, so I wasn't able to pick up my project to late afteroon on Tuesday. I got to uni just in time to hand in my work, but was really upset that I didn't get a chance to present to the class. The text on the summary panel to sum up my proposal reads:

" The travelling EXHIBITION is a mobile pavilion that has been designed to work in conjunction with the proposed LIGHT RAIL network in CANBERRA. The Light Rail is a sustainable system that increases mobility within a city, and works very well for somewhere like Canberra that is spread out and nature-orientated. To support this rail network, the travelling EXHIBITION has been created to cater for the changing influx of people using the light rail throughout the year. As there are many festivals, events and exhibitions that take place in Canberra, a flexible pavilion space is perfect for many functions and is easily ADAPTABLE to any site. The lightweight pavilion can be simply packed up within two days and moved via the Light Rail to another location. These locations have been selected based on the popularity of the area and the need for a support service to help serve Canberra. Light Rail ‘platforms’  have been designed for people getting on and off the train, and form part of the mobile exhibition space. These structures are similar to create a distinct connection, and both use the same kind of construction to allow the concept to be truly portable. A fully containable amenities block and  cafe have also been designed to connect with the pavilion and create a space  FUNCTIONAL for every occasion.

The travelling EXHIBITION  is adaptable to future needs and changing PARLIAMENTARY FUNCTIONS. With the growing want for ‘peoples say’ in political issues, the pavilion is perfect for forums, Q and A sessions, information sessions and community meetings between the general public and politicians. The space will create a ‘common ground’ between both parties where everyone can have a say and make a difference. It’s bringing the PARLIAMENT to the PEOPLE in a more sustainable way.   The unique feature of the travelling exhibition space is its VERSITILITY through MOBILITY and FLEXIBILITY to  create a space that is always in use and forever changing to suit new needs of AUSTRALIA.

The travelling EXHIBITION will be iconic to both CANBERRA and AUSTRALIA because it is something that people will recognise and want to experience. It will be easily accessible and relative to the culture and people of Canberra, tourists coming on holiday to the area, and POLITICIANS interacting with the PUBLIC in a more informal manner".

ARCHITECTURAL ENTITY:

The following images are 3d shots of the whole site with all of the elements together- light rail, pavilion, pavilion facilities, platform:

MODEL DEVELOPMENT 3- LIGHT RAIL PLATFORM:

My initial thought when designing the mobile platform was to make it fully portable like the exhibition space. When I started to work out the construction details though I found that it much harder than originally anticipated.  Because it is a platform in the middle of the road which also extends out to cover the light rail itself, some parts had to be at ground level and built into the ground. Because of this, I designed  the frame structure to be built into the ground, and the roof over the platform to attach to the underside of this. The top member of the frame which attaches to the roof can detach from the vertical members of the structure and be easily transported via the light rail, and only the vertical members would have t o be re-constructed in a new location.  The roof structure is able to break up into 10 metre panels to be transported on the light rail, and  the horizontal members which are connected to this can detach into sections also for easy assembly and disassembly.  Here are some snap shots of the process and parts to the design, as well as some final renders of the model:

MODEL DEVELOPMENT 2 - PAVILION STRUCTURE:

After designing the mobile facilities to support the exhibition pavilion, I started to model up the structure iteslf. This proved to be very time consuming as there is variation in each truss in order to create an organic roof shape. Afer the structure was modelled, the skin on the roof was then created to go over the whole shape, which turned out also to be a long process as the canvas had to stretch over all levels of the panels. Here are some snap shots of the process and final model for the pavilion with the mobile facilities attached, as well as some final renders of the structure:



MODEL DEVELOPMENT 1 - PORTABLE FACILITIES:

So, over the last few days I have been modelling up the transportable cafe/toilets that attaches to the exhibition space and can move from place to place by truck. As I am using recycled shipping container for the frame, I have found it quite hard to fit everything width ways because this dimension is only small. After researching shipping container sizes I have decided to design two different containers- the cafe which will be the standard container size (6m x 2.6m) and the toilets which will be the large container size (12m x 2.6m). This is so public toilets can fit in as well as private toilets/showers for the backstage. These will both join in the same position and look like they are one entity but will be two separate structures.

A few weeks ago I came up with the idea of using some kind of Australian landscape/mural/artwork in some part of my design to create something that really represents Australia and that the exhibition can be recognised for. I think I will try to incorporate this concept into the travelling cafe/toilets, by creating some kind of pattern using different landscapes. I am thinking maybe using the green, blue, yellow colours of a beach landscape, reds and oranges of the desert etc to create block colours and design some kind of tiling over the containers.  Here are a few snap shots of the container forms progress: