11 : Exemplar : Macro-Micro

Macro Micro isn’t a master plan, but a network of open spaces at macro scale, intensified by micro interventions at particular places. We propose a coherent network based on existing morphology, open spaces structure and landscape qualities. To boost various initiatives we propose to intervene at specific points in the city and the surrounding landscape to stimulate the revitalization process.

We perceive the railway not longer as a rupture in the tissue but exploit it as a landscape continuity: a new generator of urbanity. The different existing open spaces along the railway are connected and form a continuous landscape park. This new continuity intercepts the different transversal corridors and makes it possible to traverse the railway. It becomes an important buffer zone between the city centre and the railway infrastructure. The interventions various from a complete restructuration.

Their structure in wood permit to built it with little technical resources The corten steel, covering the exterior, is coherent with the industrial atmosphere, particular to the site. When the box is closed, it becomes a sculpture in its environment. When it is opened, the box becomes alive and invites

10 : Development : Possible Route

Using the existing infrastructure maps, with overlays of the low socio-economic areas, I have shown very simply the answers to my questions:

• Where do the people who rely to public transport live?
• Where are these people going?
• Other places of interest / extensions of the line.

Maybe this is just the architect in me, but I the shades of grey are much nicer and less harsh then all that colour from earlier today.

I will attempt to settle on a distinctive route tomorrow so that I can begin developing the light rail in more detail.  I still need a solid brief and imagery by Friday!!

Also, I need to reminding myself than just providing a light rail is not enough... it is only one form of mobility, and it is not a architectural entity either. Perhaps I will refer back to my 'visual thesaurus' I created a few weeks ago for inspiration on how the contents of my light rail can also reinforce the 'mobile' idea.

10 : Research : Existing Public Transport

Below is a couple of map overlays with the existing key bus routes and bicycle pathways, that the light rail will possibly 'support' and then maybe eventually (one day) replace.  This will be used towards my justification as to where my light rail system should be situation.

10 : Development : Maps

Using the data in the research article (which was originally complied in SEIFA) I have developed mappings which show the suburbs which are considered to be generally deprived.

These maps illustrate that the most deprived areas are Acton and Charnwood which are both located North of Lake Burley Griffin.  Acton is covered mostly by the Australian National University which may explain is low rating.  Charnwood is located in the Belconnen district, and was designed using the Radburn town planning principle (houses face a common parkland) which failed due to residents building fences

There is also high density of the band 3 deprivation in the southern district of Tuggeranong.  It is the second largest district outside of Canberra, and is considered a 'growth area' in terms of its new facilities such as the large Tuggeranong Shopping Centre, Arts Centre and the Town Centre.

I will use this information to develop a possible route from the Northern Districts, to the Southern Districts... of course, keeping in mind the existing infrastructure in each area.

10 : Research : Existing Infrastructure

I found a great website today which displays the current bike and walk routes in Canberra and in the outer suburbs, might come in useful when trying to link existing infrastructure to the new.

08 : Reflection

Last weekend I traveled to Melbourne to visit some good friends of mine.  They happen to be architecture students also, so were actually interested to talk about the types of projects I'm working on.  They mentioned how the light rail system in Bilbao (see post below), but also Melbourne itself has a great infrastructure, particularly in the inner city regions.

Flink Labs used a data visualisation system which maps Melbourne's Public Transport and shows all the areas (blue) which are within reasonable walking distance (5 mins) of 25,000 train, tram or bus stop within Melbourne.


Flink Labs also developed and interactive data visualisation created for the Victorian Government's App My State competition. Live Where? takes data from many Victorian Government departments and combines them into a compelling and engaging visualisation that helps people quickly explore and find potential suburbs to live.

It would be great to develop a similar maps or resources for Canberra and for the A.C.T.

08 : Research : Canberra Events

I trawlled through as many websites as I could find with different events and put together a table like this:

I then converted this into a map to see if there was some sort of distinctive movement pattern over months.

One random thing I discovered was that Canberra has special events just for people who have arrived in Canberra in the last twelves months.  Here is advertisement below:

05 : Interim : Mapping

The nolli of existing Canberra is to be situated in the bottom right hand corner.  I played around with different layers, in order to illustrate how vast the area is:

01 - base map from nearmap.com

02 - green areas

03 - water areas

04 - built areas

05 - combined maps

06 - final map. the green was too strong on the panel, and not effective.

04 : Research : Canberra

I also looked into comparing it to other Australia cities, in terms of the scale of the blocks etc, if it turns out that this is an important part, I might pretty this up for the presentation.  When you see it like this, I actually had to check to make sure I had it all at the same scale.

Canberra, Australia.

Brisbane, Australia.

Vienna, Austria.

London, England.

Melbourne, Australia.

04 : Progress : Site Analysis

We finally got a chance to meet and discuss everything today:

-- new rail to increase mobility around Canberra.
-- increase density to allow smaller, self-sustainable areas to thrive.
-- make it an example for other Australian cities... a "gateway" into the country.

What's worrying me, is trying to figure out how the parliamentary system will work in the future within this new 'example' city.

After the meeting I printed a base map of Canberra and did some site analysis overlays to assist us in the location of these new stations:

Road Network

Green Spaces

River Network

Places of Interest

Existing Precincts

04 : Research : Canberra

I was chatting with a good friend of mine, who happens to be an amazing urban design/landscape architect in Melbourne, and he recommended a few things to me which were I think will be some great references for this project....  I'll be sure to share this information with the group when we try and meet for another progress meeting tomorrow.

One important factor that I didn't realise was that Walter Burley Griffins vision for Canberra, wasn't fully realised... there were lots of changes made by the government at the time to the original plan.. perhaps if they had stuck to the original plan, the development over time would have been better?

This is fully discussed in the "Canberra following Griffin" by Paul Reid.
 

"The history of Canberra mirrors the progress of city design in the twentieth century.  All the urban design theories from the City Beautiful and Garden City movements, through Modernism and New Urban-ism to Environmental Design can be identified in the Australian capital city.  The story of Canberra is not simply the story of the erosion of a brilliant city design; it describes the gradual replacement of one set of ideas with another." (page 1).

"The Mitchell Giurgola Thorp hilltop Parliament House is the only building that recognises the splendor of Griffin's setting.  With its outstretched arms, it receives the many axes simply and directly, resolving them into an nonthreatening democratic monument." (page 7)

 

"The exact geometric location of these star legs is far more than simple pattern-making on a plan.  It is the device which nites the city with the site.  Journeys along avenues head straight for the significant hills and may routes approach a centre with a significant hill lined up behind.  The overall result is continually to remind the citizen of the integration of the man-made world with its natural setting." (page 64).

The diagram below shows the idea of the government triangle, and the attempt to restore 'Russel' to make it more of a gateway into the city.

Reid, P. (2002). Canberra Following Griffin: Design History of Australia's Capital. Canberra: National Archives of Australia.