Upcycling Systems Design, Developing a Methodology through Design

Design has an important role in shaping the modes of production, consumption and disposal. Decisions made early in the product, service and system development influence the majority of the environmental impact and social consequences. With sustainability emerging as the major challenge of our times, the creation of novel methodologies, economic models and innovative materials is critical. In this paper, we put forward a new methodology that aims to bridge the ecomodernist business-focused circular economy models with the expressive material driven design (MDD) approach. The ‘design out waste methodology’ (DOWM) bridges existing concepts, methods and practices, creating an innovative design and production process that redefines waste and sets it up as a subject of creative study. The purpose of this process is to help designers understand the importance of evaluating the entire life cycle of a product; it also enables local ‘degrowth’ by shifting our modes of production towards a human scale with local makers exchanging knowledge and expressing themselves through upcycled materials, while simultaneously eradicating the very concept of waste. The methodology has been developed in an iterative research-through-design process that combines experiential and tacit knowledge from local case studies with desk research of emerging case studies in MDD.

From Back-yards to Stacked-yards: An Alternative High-Rise Housing Model

<p>Current intensified housing is not perceived by New Zealanders as desirable... Critiques are extensive and the loss of quality, private, outdoor space is decidedly felt. Densification is one of the solutions to our housing shortage and the needs of our increasingly diverse population. Densification has already been set in motion by local councils, but consumer uptake is too slow. Public perception is tarnished by stigma which is reinforced by the repeated failures of the developer-driven apartment market. This calls for new typologies of high-density housing to increase diversity and compatibility. Back-yards to Stack-yards investigates how to improve the design of dense, urban housing typologies for the New Zealand context. This thesis aims to address the most common local critique of apartment living: the lack the failure to provide and support an inviting sense of the outdoors. Outdoor space of all ownership types contributes positively to the dwelling environment. The backyard is identified as a benchmark for enriching the dwelling, providing an array of beneficial affordances. Key are the notions of the quiet sanctuary and the outdoor room that can be completely personalised. This thesis primarily follows a design-led, research method where major learnings are extracted through critical reflections. A strong understanding of resident experience is required and is deduced through an ongoing, in-depth literature review and critical case study analyses. Understanding the resident experience provides key insights into what is lacking from common apartments at a human scale, as well as strategies for improvement. The focus is on the relations, effects and affordances of the amenities and spaces, rather than the typical, simplistic itemisation, allowing for a better breakdown and reconfiguration of factors. Possible solutions and strategies were tested on a central-city fringe site in Wellington. This is a zone where dense, residential development and re-development is already taking place due to population growth. The design outcome is a high-rise multi-unit development. It demonstrates the rich possibilities of a high-rise design with a range of outdoor and shared spaces as well as improved opportunities for personalisation and flexibility.</p>

From Back-yards to Stacked-yards: An Alternative High-Rise Housing Model

<p>Current intensified housing is not perceived by New Zealanders as desirable... Critiques are extensive and the loss of quality, private, outdoor space is decidedly felt. Densification is one of the solutions to our housing shortage and the needs of our increasingly diverse population. Densification has already been set in motion by local councils, but consumer uptake is too slow. Public perception is tarnished by stigma which is reinforced by the repeated failures of the developer-driven apartment market. This calls for new typologies of high-density housing to increase diversity and compatibility. Back-yards to Stack-yards investigates how to improve the design of dense, urban housing typologies for the New Zealand context. This thesis aims to address the most common local critique of apartment living: the lack the failure to provide and support an inviting sense of the outdoors. Outdoor space of all ownership types contributes positively to the dwelling environment. The backyard is identified as a benchmark for enriching the dwelling, providing an array of beneficial affordances. Key are the notions of the quiet sanctuary and the outdoor room that can be completely personalised. This thesis primarily follows a design-led, research method where major learnings are extracted through critical reflections. A strong understanding of resident experience is required and is deduced through an ongoing, in-depth literature review and critical case study analyses. Understanding the resident experience provides key insights into what is lacking from common apartments at a human scale, as well as strategies for improvement. The focus is on the relations, effects and affordances of the amenities and spaces, rather than the typical, simplistic itemisation, allowing for a better breakdown and reconfiguration of factors. Possible solutions and strategies were tested on a central-city fringe site in Wellington. This is a zone where dense, residential development and re-development is already taking place due to population growth. The design outcome is a high-rise multi-unit development. It demonstrates the rich possibilities of a high-rise design with a range of outdoor and shared spaces as well as improved opportunities for personalisation and flexibility.</p>

Delicacy

<p>A new acceptance of aesthetics, technological advancements and current trends of slenderness and lightness have encouraged contemporary society towards the delicate. Delicacy is a notion within the aesthetic concept of beauty. To explore this shift towards the delicate in this portfolio, I explore the potential of delicacy within architecture through shifting scales. The design-led methodological framework pursues an iterative approach of exploration. To aid in generative and reflective discovery this research is structured to address three different scales: a 1:1 installation, mid-scale project and a public-scale project. The three scales increased in architectural complexity whilst testing the proposition. Literary context, projects and design precedents fed into the design process, further refining the proposition as it shifted. Scale, materiality, and colour and whiteness were developed as an evaluative framework throughout the entire research. An installation investigating the ‘vast and the intimate’ highlighted the importance of the human scale and considering materiality and construction techniques. The next experiment tested the proposition at an architectural scale and, through evaluation, refined the proposition to focus on delicacy. The final design investigation considers the perception of delicacy through a seemingly effortless architectural outcome through multiple scales. To conclude, the research considers the overarching typology down to the detail. Structure, materiality and detailing can all positively inform and enrich architectural aesthetic possibilities in favour of the delicate, where complexities are hidden within the appearance of effortlessness.</p>

Gardening Mt Vic

<p>Since Olmstead envisioned Central Park, New York, the study of gardening has slowly become the Staple of landscape historians. Gardening practices can engage the body with aesthetic experience through plants and materiality; landscape architects inform this process through expressive design intention and representations informed by conventions. When a creative drawing convention lacks sensitivity to how one reads the landscape, the intentions behind the expressions created by landscape architects become obscure or unclear. John Ward, a New Zealand Company secretary, stated that Wellington’s town belt was for “the beautiful appearance of the city to be secured.” (Cook, 1992) Over time, urban infrastructural developments have altered the boundaries of town belt parks; This was the case for Mount Victoria Park due to the 1930s development of Alexandra Road. Landscape architects recognise the significance of walking along the ridge of Mount Victoria because of its meaningful history; however, the large scale of the Mount Victoria Park means common planning practices cannot meaningfully engage with important opportunities for how its spatial compositions can dynamically affect the human experience. This is because landscape-planning tendencies typically utilise large-scale mapping to create utilitarian maintenance regimes that regiment spaces, rather than utilising landscape architectural principles in the forming of them. This design research investigation asks: how can landscape architecture establish a meaningful, human-scale experience of the garden at the scale of the large park? This study operates through design-led landscape architectural research. Site study of the Wellington Town Belt revealed that despite the scale of this site its variety of trails and open spaces for experiencing the site as a composed garden. This thesis argues that visual factors that enable composition focussed drawings to be meaningful can also be applied to the design of large-scale garden parks. Reflection on fieldwork was developed in design through crafted explorations of technique and convention resulting in a composition focussed drawing system. These designs were developed through a sensitivity to scale and drawing convention. The creative use of representation and site interpretation challenged utilitarian conceptions about the design of large-scale town belts to also include human-scale iterative visual interpretation. The results of these design experiments unified spaces and formed intense moments of beauty and meaning, during both movement and points of pause, resulting in a garden-like experience that expressed the particular beauty and unique attributes of Matairangi, Mt Victoria.</p>

Delicacy

<p>A new acceptance of aesthetics, technological advancements and current trends of slenderness and lightness have encouraged contemporary society towards the delicate. Delicacy is a notion within the aesthetic concept of beauty. To explore this shift towards the delicate in this portfolio, I explore the potential of delicacy within architecture through shifting scales. The design-led methodological framework pursues an iterative approach of exploration. To aid in generative and reflective discovery this research is structured to address three different scales: a 1:1 installation, mid-scale project and a public-scale project. The three scales increased in architectural complexity whilst testing the proposition. Literary context, projects and design precedents fed into the design process, further refining the proposition as it shifted. Scale, materiality, and colour and whiteness were developed as an evaluative framework throughout the entire research. An installation investigating the ‘vast and the intimate’ highlighted the importance of the human scale and considering materiality and construction techniques. The next experiment tested the proposition at an architectural scale and, through evaluation, refined the proposition to focus on delicacy. The final design investigation considers the perception of delicacy through a seemingly effortless architectural outcome through multiple scales. To conclude, the research considers the overarching typology down to the detail. Structure, materiality and detailing can all positively inform and enrich architectural aesthetic possibilities in favour of the delicate, where complexities are hidden within the appearance of effortlessness.</p>