Pre - Interim Update

So with the first interim tomorrow, here's where I am:

Even though the urban study is not yet finished, time is short and I've had to work very quickly in narrowing down just where exactly I'm going to work. I've chosen New Basford as the suburb to focus on, the main reasons being:

• Of all the areas I've been looking at, Basford was a genuine industrial town separated from Nottingham. Other areas, such as Mapperley park, were built as an 'escape from the city' - purpose built places to escape the industry.
• It has since failed to reinvent itself, lacks a centre or identity and has problems with crime
• I identified the most sites during the 'Neglected space' study in New Basford - there is plenty to work with
• Although Nottingham City Council had a 'South side' and 'East side' regeneration plan, there was never any scheme for the north of the city. This may be because it was too disconnected or that the council fealt it was not needed in Sherwood or Mapperley, but Basford would definitely benefit.

With the above in mind, I have identified two 'zones' within the suburb that could potentially define the areas of my intervention. 

Option one:

Based around a western 'anchor' with a large intervention on the disused gas works site, the zone would penetrates through the middle of New Basford, making the most of existing green spaces and creating an effective centre:

Option two:

Focusing on industrial neglect, this zone runs along the southern edge of New Basford. The interventions would be based on re-appropriating some of the derelict factories identified in the neglected space study, rather than car park or newer industrial buildings. Definitely richer in heritage but perhaps not as advantageous a location.  

Models in the Making...

Working on a few little models in preparation for the site 'Intervention'. These are based around things I've picked up from one of the sites I identified in New Basford. Edited site maps with identified sites etc are being worked on, as is historical analysis and umpteen other things. 

Site Imprints:
These are simple imprints of objects taken using modelling clay (which I've now run out of, must buy more...). It's an easy little exercise and I've yet to decide if it'll take me any further, but they can be nice little models anyway. The idea is to find something representative of the site and investigate what that can tell you once it's been inverted. Here they are:

Brick Imprint

Interesting thing with text, can be quite telling. Not sure about this though.

Factory Floor tile

The other model is based around a map of Nottingham and associated timeline:

Again, the model utilises elements found on site. The glass represents the city centre, with the brick above the northern suburbs I'm studying. Wire is the River Trent. The bits of brick below and the metal element are the beginnings of the timeline: starts with disparate pieces, like the city and associated outlying towns that used to be separated. They then grow, get closer together and eventually join to become one working unit. I plan to have one more iteration on the far right, indicating the broken down relationship between city centre and suburb. 

Sketches:

Model Sketch Plan

Sketch for Individual Brick Piece

Crime Stats

It's a bit dry, but research often is. Been looking up crime stats for the various areas this morning. Rather than just repeat numbers, I'll try and draw a few conclusions from this. Data was provided by www.police.uk/crime and all stats are for December 2012 (most recent available). The data, being for so small a time period, is intended as indicative rather than concrete evidence of any long-term trends.

• Bobbers Hill - Total crime count: 12
• Not much to go on here. Biggest issue was anti-social behaviour but that's a fairly common theme throughout all areas. In fact, anti-social behaviour was the highest scorer in every area, so I won't bother repeating it for every entry.
• New Basford - Total crime count: 59
• Anti-social behaviour biggest scorer. Other issues include theft and burglary, vehicle crime and violent crime. Most of these could be opportunistic, may be indicative of poorer population
• Old Basford - TCC: 32
• Again, anti-social behaviour (you get the idea with this). Other high scorer was criminal damage and arson.
• Sherwood - TCC: 89
• Fairly even spread, and the only area to have at least one count in every category. Shoplifting, vehicle and violent crime were all high scorers, with burglary and criminal damage not far behind.
• Mapperley Park - TCC: 127
• High count is partly related to larger area covered.
• Burglary, shoplifting and other theft high scorers - indicates richer area being targeted perhaps? Vehicle crime also high.
• Mapperley - TCC 86
• Criminal damage and arson scored highly, as did burglary. And anti-social behaviour.

Sketch: Radiations & City As HeartRadiation

Radiations

City As Heart

Seeking sites: neglected spaces

So, while the urban study is ongoing, it's worth mentioning that I do, actually, have my first deadline, which is Thursday 28th February. The piece of work to be submitted here is an 'Intervention' on my chosen site, which should aim to explore the nature of the site through a non-architectural medium (such as artistic installation or film).

The obvious pitfall in this is that so far, I do not have a site, so I've had to get out there and have a bit of a hunt. Today I walked around Basford (New and Old) and Bobbers Hill and Whitemoor. I'm not sure what the total distance was but it took me around 3 hours, and I managed to determine some possible sites in all three areas.

Obviously the urban study and research will inform which site I should be using. Today, then, my criteria was to find possible sites that show evidence of being neglected and could therefore be easily appropriated for intervention. After identifying all these possibilities, I can then use the conclusions drawn from my research to narrow the choice down and make a final decision. That's the plan.

Below are links to my picasa web albums, there are simply too many photos to post them all on here. I've added some observations of each area to accompany the albums:

• New Basford: Picasa album
• Residential buildings predominantly 3 storey red brick terraces, indicative of industrial heritage
• Empty industrial buildings are usually old, and look as if they have been empty for some time
• Industrial estate has plenty of working buildings, a lot of which are relatively knew. There are a lot of garages/vehicle orientated businesses. 
• Overall feeling in the area was not necessarily friendly
• Old Basford: Picasa album
• Residential predominantly red brick semi-detached houses with reasonably sized gardens. Richer and (ironically enough) newer feeling than New Basford
• Small industrial estate of relatively new buildings, has units to let
• Parks generally well used (this was on a sunny Sunday afternoon) especially Vernon Park
• Bobbers Hill/Whitemoor Picasa album
• Area bisected by A610 - major road between Notts city centre and M1
• Very small industrial estate. Some units to let, one derelict building.
• Park behind industrial estate and adjoining some houses fenced and locked up, inaccessible
• Houses on other side of main road relatively large semi-detached dwellings
• Area seems fairly affluent and welcoming, almost stereotypical 'leafy suburbia'

I will be mapping the walk, including my route and identified possible sites, soon. I also need to undertake a similar walk through Carrington, Sherwood and Mapperley, which will have to be early this week so I can get on with figuring out what my Intervention will be. 

P.S, Note to self: bring a teaspoon to the studio.

Update:
Been out walking around Carrington and Sherwood today. Same format as before:

• Carrington Picasa album
• Small industrial estate largely used, but other, older factory buildings empty. 
• Some evidence of disused spaces around Radburn layout housing
• Plenty of 3-storey brick terraces, but there are some larger houses with bigger gardens as well
• Sherwood Picasa album
• Area has a definite 'centre' around Mansfield Rd - first area I've visited to do so. This is based mainly around well-known shops but there are some smaller independent businesses (such as the 'Cookery Workshop') and plenty of pubs as well
• Houses further to north of area are bigger, sometimes gated, with large gardens. Roads are lined with trees. 
• Some evidence of old industry (the Samuel Hall) with associated terraces

Urban Study: Site Plans

I've started by collecting basic OS maps of the identified suburbs and will be producing maps that show some materiality/indicative function. These will be posted as I get them done, New Basford below:

Old Basford:

Bobbers Hills and Whitemoor:

Project Intro

So, as promised, here we go with a bit more information on what this is all about:

As some of you may/may not be aware, the difference between a Design Thesis and a normal design project is that a Thesis starts with a theme for research rather than a brief. Once the theme has been researched and explored and a site chosen (that happens through the research as well) a brief develops. With this in mind, welcome to Nottingham:

The above sketch of the city shows, basically, the city centre (the darker area) and it's relationships with the suburbs, especially to the north. These suburbs were once towns in their own right, distinct and separate from Nottingham City Centre, and were absorbed during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries (the time of the Industrial Revolution) as the city expanded due to manufacturing labour needs. This was a relatively common situation within the UK and can be observed in cities like Manchester, Liverpool and London. Of course, as the Industrial Revolution ended the reasons why these cities grew as quickly as they did disappeared, and the post-industrial cities were left in a state of decline, in need of regeneration. 

This regeneration process is still happening today in city centres throughout the country. However, it is not just the city centres that require it, and many suburbs (which were, let us not forget, once towns with centres of their own) are still in a state of neglect. 

As a starting point, this project will seek to investigate the relationships that the city of Nottingham has with its suburbs, and how developments within the city centre affect these relationships. From there I will develop a position based on my research, which will lead to site selection(s) and subsequent architectural intervention(s). This will obviously begin with quite an intensive urban study of the areas surrounding Nottingham city centre. To save time (of which I do not have much to spare) I will be focussing on the suburbs to the north of the city, which is bound rather effectively to the south by the river Trent and therefore has rather different relationships with it's outer districts in that direction.

The initial investigation will focus on the following areas (west to east):

• Bobbers Hill/Whitemoor
• New Basford
• Old Basford
• Carrington
• Sherwood
• Mapperley
• Mapperley Park

Sketch: Nottingham city centre and it's northern suburbs

More to follow on the investigation and the first piece of work for submission soon.

Kick Off

So... this is my Design Thesis blog! Forming part of an (eventual) submission, the idea of this is to record the project from start to finish. I'll be uploading sketches and drawings as well as writing and rambling my way through this; the target is to post at least twice a week, time permitting. To begin, all I'll say is that the project has been introduced and I'm feeling pretty good about the brief. There'll be a more in-depth entry on the ins and outs of the project and the direction I'm taking soon. 

For now, anyone who's interested can check out my pin-board, where I'll be collecting inspirational drawings/projects from all over the internet and anywhere else I can find them. The idea of the boards is to build up a reference stock-pile of stuff that should hopefully improve my own work. They're still very early stages, but they can be found here.

More on the brief and initial thoughts soon!