Form Follows Food: An examination of architecture's role in urban farming

<p>With rising global urban populations, existing food infrastructure systems are rapidly becoming unsustainable. Increasing distances between rural food production and urban residents extends to a conceptual divide and misguided understanding of what activities ought to be classed as ‘rural’ versus ‘urban’. Some of those looking for alternative solutions note food’s potential to act as an organiser of urban systems and catalyst for sustainable living. However the concept of sustainability is often sidelined in photorealistic renders where designs are decorated with organic matter, designs that are unlikely to be viable. Tapping into food’s potential and with the readily available space of urban rooftops, the thesis explores rooftop urban farming to speculate the opportunities it presents in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. In relation to this important social, economic and ecological infrastructure, the thesis investigates how the potential for urban farming, from production to trading and consumption contributes to a sense of place through architectural interpretation. While widening the discussions of food and the city, architecture provides the built accommodation for both plants and people, so that the ‘urban future’ can be reevaluated.</p>

Form Follows Food: An examination of architecture's role in urban farming

<p>With rising global urban populations, existing food infrastructure systems are rapidly becoming unsustainable. Increasing distances between rural food production and urban residents extends to a conceptual divide and misguided understanding of what activities ought to be classed as ‘rural’ versus ‘urban’. Some of those looking for alternative solutions note food’s potential to act as an organiser of urban systems and catalyst for sustainable living. However the concept of sustainability is often sidelined in photorealistic renders where designs are decorated with organic matter, designs that are unlikely to be viable. Tapping into food’s potential and with the readily available space of urban rooftops, the thesis explores rooftop urban farming to speculate the opportunities it presents in the city of Wellington, New Zealand. In relation to this important social, economic and ecological infrastructure, the thesis investigates how the potential for urban farming, from production to trading and consumption contributes to a sense of place through architectural interpretation. While widening the discussions of food and the city, architecture provides the built accommodation for both plants and people, so that the ‘urban future’ can be reevaluated.</p>

Projection: Architecture of Intimacy

<p>This thesis unravels ties between the individual and architecture. Offering an architectural demonstration of and for the body. The primary goal is to challenge the conventional relationship of architecture as a form of housing for the body, exploring the possibility of the body's dynamism in respect to movement, transformation, and reaction, informing an intimate architecture of the individual and highlighting the importance of a personalised architectural condition. The boundary between the individual and architecture is explored through the idea of intimacy. Intimacy becomes the goal of a relationship that is intrinsic to the body. Through intimacy this provides security and comfort for the individual. The individual is projected upon architecture to create an intimate environment. The research is grounded by three main themes: Firstly 'proximity', the degree to which the interface between the body and architecture can become intrinsically tied. Secondly 'speed', the movement of the body in relation to architecture as a static form. And lastly 'duration', the flexibility and adaptability of possible architectural solutions. Each of these themes is developed in the research chapters and explored from both a written and visual narrative. The 'Chair' is adopted as a familiar object which allows for discussion and development of ideas. The chair becomes a means of developing the argument, and demonstrating these ideas through imagery and text. A train carriage is the apparatus which will be used as a vehicle for the design exploration. A train carriage has been identified as being a transitory zone for the individual, and therefore, employed as the point of departure for further design experiments, tying the three themes of proximity, speed, and duration together. The train carriage acts as a conceit; a way of describing and demonstrating ideas through extended metaphors. The design is revealed through diagrams of components used within the housing of the individual, then further presented with varying scenes exploring the dynamic possibilities of an architectural interpretation. This research informs and demonstrates a design initiative which emphasises the poetic form of individuals and their bodies within the architectural discipline. Bringing to light the importance and possibility of the fluctuations of the body, in constant movement and evolution to the discipline of architecture. Allowing for intimacy of the body to be defined in unison with architecture, a growing spatial relationship with the individual.</p>

Projection: Architecture of Intimacy

<p>This thesis unravels ties between the individual and architecture. Offering an architectural demonstration of and for the body. The primary goal is to challenge the conventional relationship of architecture as a form of housing for the body, exploring the possibility of the body's dynamism in respect to movement, transformation, and reaction, informing an intimate architecture of the individual and highlighting the importance of a personalised architectural condition. The boundary between the individual and architecture is explored through the idea of intimacy. Intimacy becomes the goal of a relationship that is intrinsic to the body. Through intimacy this provides security and comfort for the individual. The individual is projected upon architecture to create an intimate environment. The research is grounded by three main themes: Firstly 'proximity', the degree to which the interface between the body and architecture can become intrinsically tied. Secondly 'speed', the movement of the body in relation to architecture as a static form. And lastly 'duration', the flexibility and adaptability of possible architectural solutions. Each of these themes is developed in the research chapters and explored from both a written and visual narrative. The 'Chair' is adopted as a familiar object which allows for discussion and development of ideas. The chair becomes a means of developing the argument, and demonstrating these ideas through imagery and text. A train carriage is the apparatus which will be used as a vehicle for the design exploration. A train carriage has been identified as being a transitory zone for the individual, and therefore, employed as the point of departure for further design experiments, tying the three themes of proximity, speed, and duration together. The train carriage acts as a conceit; a way of describing and demonstrating ideas through extended metaphors. The design is revealed through diagrams of components used within the housing of the individual, then further presented with varying scenes exploring the dynamic possibilities of an architectural interpretation. This research informs and demonstrates a design initiative which emphasises the poetic form of individuals and their bodies within the architectural discipline. Bringing to light the importance and possibility of the fluctuations of the body, in constant movement and evolution to the discipline of architecture. Allowing for intimacy of the body to be defined in unison with architecture, a growing spatial relationship with the individual.</p>

Interlocking: The Phenomenological Apartment

<p>New Zealand faces the need for more housing over the coming decades due to increasing population and a decreasing household size. An existing response is a trend of higher density apartment buildings within our inner cities. However these small standardized apartments have created a negative view toward urban apartments, commonly being described as ‘shoe-boxes’. Can urban inner-city higher density housing be better designed? This becomes the focus of this research in regards to quality of space in small apartments. A critique of existing ‘shoe-box’ apartments is developed, proving they lack spatial quality, have lost a crucial connection with the dweller and are largely irrelevant to their site. The research seeks to remedy the ‘shoe-box’ apartment by applying principles from the theory of phenomenology and an interlocking typology. Phenomenology is introduced as a key theory to help develop a grounding in specificity and re-instill the notion of bodily experience in space. This theoretical position, based on Steven Holl’s architectural interpretation of phenomenology, with a bodily emphasis, is applied through four strategies to integrate a spatial experience. Typologically, interlocking apartments provide a precedent, where by their very nature, the interlocking produces an interesting relationship between spaces. This precedent analysis provides seven techniques which are coupled with the strategies from Holl, and applied to the design. The resulting design is a successful mixed-use urban solution, with a focus on the outcome of interlocking apartments.</p>

Interlocking: The Phenomenological Apartment

<p>New Zealand faces the need for more housing over the coming decades due to increasing population and a decreasing household size. An existing response is a trend of higher density apartment buildings within our inner cities. However these small standardized apartments have created a negative view toward urban apartments, commonly being described as ‘shoe-boxes’. Can urban inner-city higher density housing be better designed? This becomes the focus of this research in regards to quality of space in small apartments. A critique of existing ‘shoe-box’ apartments is developed, proving they lack spatial quality, have lost a crucial connection with the dweller and are largely irrelevant to their site. The research seeks to remedy the ‘shoe-box’ apartment by applying principles from the theory of phenomenology and an interlocking typology. Phenomenology is introduced as a key theory to help develop a grounding in specificity and re-instill the notion of bodily experience in space. This theoretical position, based on Steven Holl’s architectural interpretation of phenomenology, with a bodily emphasis, is applied through four strategies to integrate a spatial experience. Typologically, interlocking apartments provide a precedent, where by their very nature, the interlocking produces an interesting relationship between spaces. This precedent analysis provides seven techniques which are coupled with the strategies from Holl, and applied to the design. The resulting design is a successful mixed-use urban solution, with a focus on the outcome of interlocking apartments.</p>

Glitch architecture

Architectural designs are visualised on computer screens through arrays of pixels and vectors. These representations differ from the reality of buildings, which over time will unavoidably age and decay. How, then, do digital designs age over time? Do we interpret glitching as a sudden malfunction or fault in the computation of the design’s underlying data, or as digital decay resulting not from the wear and tear of tangible materials but from the decomposition of the binary code, or from system changes that cannot appropriately interpret the data? By exploring a series of experimental design practices for deployments and understandings that are the consequence of malfunctions during computational processing, glitches are reinterpreted. Advancing from two-dimensional glitch art techniques into three-dimensional interpretations, the research employs a methodology of systematic iterative processes to explore design emergence based on glitches. The study presents digital architectural form existing solely in the digital realm, as an architectural interpretation of computational glitches through both its design process and aesthetic outcome. Thus, this research intends to bring a level of authenticity to the field through three-dimensional interpretations of glitch in an architectural form.

Glitch architecture

Architectural designs are visualised on computer screens through arrays of pixels and vectors. These representations differ from the reality of buildings, which over time will unavoidably age and decay. How, then, do digital designs age over time? Do we interpret glitching as a sudden malfunction or fault in the computation of the design’s underlying data, or as digital decay resulting not from the wear and tear of tangible materials but from the decomposition of the binary code, or from system changes that cannot appropriately interpret the data? By exploring a series of experimental design practices for deployments and understandings that are the consequence of malfunctions during computational processing, glitches are reinterpreted. Advancing from two-dimensional glitch art techniques into three-dimensional interpretations, the research employs a methodology of systematic iterative processes to explore design emergence based on glitches. The study presents digital architectural form existing solely in the digital realm, as an architectural interpretation of computational glitches through both its design process and aesthetic outcome. Thus, this research intends to bring a level of authenticity to the field through three-dimensional interpretations of glitch in an architectural form.

Documentation and Architectural Interpretation of the Panishail Temple Complex, Maulvibazar, Bangladesh

This article represents survey data of historical and architectural documentation of Sri Radha Binod Ashrama locally known as the Panishail temple. Temple architecture is a common feature of traditional religious architecture practice in Bangladesh. This article is a historical and architectural investigation of a less known and mixed type of Hindu temple style in the Bengal region. The Panishail temple complex has a collection of structures that include tomb, temples, and residences aged between fifty to two hundred years. Over the ages, these heritage buildings have displayed a unique architectural style of ancient Bengal and still serving as a living sacred landscape heritage. However, like most of the ancient monuments of Bangladesh, Panishail structures inside this complex stand against the threat of decay and anthropogenic destruction with no effort to conserve them. There is a need for immediate action of research, exploration and preservation to save this historic landmark. This research aims to investigate historic and physical features of the temple complex through a systematic survey and documentation effort. This research will lay a foundation for future conservation intervention on this site. Moreover, this work will significantly contribute to historic temple architecture study in Bangladesh.