Architecture, Fame and Fashion

Books: 
An Architects Guide to Fame, Paul Davies and Torsten Schmiedeknecht, 2005
Fame and Architecture, Julia Chance and Torsten Schmiedeknecht, 2001

Taking the opportunity to work in the studio in peace now that the rest of the course has swanned off on the field trip to Copenhagen. Money has grounded me in blighty, although I will be going on a trip at some point in the next 2 weeks to a city in the UK, probably Manchester, because the field trip is part of the brief. No doubt that will be posted in due course; Salford can be a really useful case study in terms of what I'm doing here.

Getting back to the Fashion driver, I've been reading up on the relationship between architecture and fame. This has to do with fashion, because there have been umpteen examples of a building becoming famous and its 'style' or ideology then becoming fashionable. For example, the Guggenheim at Bilbao sparked a whole regeneration effect on it's own: all of a sudden everyone was talking about the power of 'critical regionalism' to jump-start cities back into life.

With that in mind I've put together a series of quick studies (and I do mean quick) where I've collaged well-known buildings into the gas works site to the west of New Basford. These buildings have been inserted along with aspects of their native contexts. The notes include basic physical conditions that would have to change to accommodate them, but there would be cultural implications as well. 

Guggenheim Bilbao:
Originally a Modern Art Museum, how would the building adapt in this context? A venue for fashion shows, perhaps? 

Two Christian religious buildings would, given the local demographics, probably have to be Mosques...

Dissertation in!

As the dissertation goes in for marking, the Design Thesis remains my one module left to complete the M/Arch. Scary? Not a bit of it. The work has had to take a back seat since last week with the technology and dissertation submissions, looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and really sinking my teeth into this now. 

For anyone's who's interested in reading the dissertation (which is partly related to the thesis, in that it highlights an aspect of the importance of public space) there is a link below:

The Role of the Built Environment In A Contemporary Public Sphere

Check back for more work on the thesis soon, feel free to comment on the dissertation.

Some Considerations and Sketches - Fashion and Disjunction

I'm getting into the fashion research now, which is interesting to say the least, but I'm also trying to draw some parallels between architectural theory I've been reading and fashion as a whole (without really knowing too much about it, it has to be said).

The book I've just finished reading, Architecture and Disjunction by Bernard Tschumi, repeatedly highlights the paradox that exists between form and function. Basically, the argument goes something like this (very dumbed down version):

Some architecture is conceived with no regard to anything other than itself. It is a spatial configuration of light and forms that has no other purpose than being architecture, just as art has no other purpose than being art. However, once such a work is constructed and exists within built reality, it cannot be separated from its function. It cannot just be architecture, because there is no architecture without human events activating the building. There is no architecture without program. There is the paradox.

What struck me reading that (and again, this book has nothing to do with fashion in any sense) is that the same thing could be said of fashion. Clothes have to be worn, there is no fashion without the human body. And yet some fashion is wildly uncomfortable, inconvenient, or just plain silly, such as Lady Gaga's meat dress. Some fashion designs make it impossible to see, walk etc (see below). Is this, then, still fashion? Is it designed for no purpose other than to be fashion? Just as architectural projects can reside forever in the realms of drawing or digital representation, so fashion could rest perpetually on the mannequin, neither are dependent on their explicit manifestations. Just as, also, architecture has an extremely large number of programs or building types that can be explored, so does fashion have any number of items of clothing/accessories. There are definitely similarities and a relationship to be explored here.

Below are some links to the kind of 'pure fashion' I'm talking about, fashion that is mighty inconvient even if it hasn't been explicitly designed for its own sake:

http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/F2013RTW-STMARTINS

http://www.londoncollections.co.uk/men/designer/2051/Craig-Green 

And some sketched interpretations of Craig Greens work:

On a more pragmatic architectural note, I've begun to think how the project might be organised etc. At the moment this is still initial ideas, not even 'planning' (eurgh), but such as it is...

The project will probably (everything is open for discussion, but almost definitely in this case) use the tram depot and huge brownfield site to the west of New Basford as it's anchor. This provides the opportunity to create a fantastic link with NTU through the tram and immediately provides a lot of space for any large-scale intervention. These two elements will then feed back into the suburb, re-igniting some of the old industrial buildings/re-vamping public spaces etc. I'm thinking of the arteries/movement metaphor here (Flesh and Stone).

Here's a diagram:

Holographic Catwalk

Example of augmented reality in fashion shows - my supervisor is all over the technology. Fashion is officially go as an idea!

Fashion Research

I may know nothing about fashion, but I know a funny jumper when I see one.

The Design Driver/Sewing Machine...

From my last tutorial with Benachir (my personal supervisor) before the weekend, it was generally agreed that all the research I've been doing so far is great in terms of local regeneration at a small scale and making this part of the city work. What the project is lacking, though, is a 'driver'; something to give New Basford a new identity of its own that would encourage people who are NOT locals to be there. There are numerous examples of city districts that have reinvented themselves in this way; Canary Wharf in London became a financial district in the 80s/90s while in Paris, the Cite de la Musique opened in 1995 (no prizes for guessing what it was all about). Closer to home, the Lace Market area of Nottingham has tried something similar in terms of culture and new media:

Nottingham Contemporary Art Gellery in the Lace Market, opened 2008

So the question is, what can New Basford use as the driving force for regeneration? What can this old industrial town/run-down residential suburb orientate itself around and use as a spring board?

I have the beginnings of an idea, though I should point out that A) this has not yet been run past a tutor, B) is only in the very early stages of research and C) isn't exactly what you'd call my area of expertise. This idea, in a word, is:

Fashion.

To anyone who knows me, this immediately sounds like a ridiculous idea. I've never owned a copy of Vogue in my life and, in fact, am far more likely to be heard flinging scorn and derision in the direction of models who starve themselves in order to look a bit weird in the name of decadent capitalism than I am to be wondering aloud if my arse looks big in whatever piece of denim happens to be screening it from public view on that particular morning. (For the record, it never does.) 

So how have I arrived at this? The reasons, once you stop to think, are fairly obvious really. For one thing, I have already established that New Basford was, at one point, stiff with lace factories, hosiery warehouses and bleaching works. The lace industry may be long gone, but textiles, and particularly clothing never really left Nottingham, they simply reinvented themselves.  The fashion design courses at Nottingham Trent University are frequently ranked among the best in the country and labels such as Acorn Textiles and Pretty Green (Liam Gallaghers label, which is the frontman from Oasis for anyone reading this outside the UK. You know, Champagne Supernova and all that.) have their design offices based in Nottingham. The idea is rooted both in historical and current context. 

Along with the above, a case can be made for return of textile manufacturing to the city. While fashion manufacturing is, by and large, outsourced to countries with cheap labour costs (China etc), efforts are being made to return to British-made production. A good example of this is the Campaign for British wool, which is sponsored by none other than the Prince of Wales. Ethical issues there, maybe?

In terms of architecture, the driver throws up all sorts of potential buildings. Design spaces, show spaces, manufacturing facilities as well as associated press/magazines and hotels/facilities for large events are all possible responses. In addition, other architectural projects revolving around fashion include:

Tokyo Fashion Museum, design by MUS Architects

Fashion Pavilion, John Lewis and Grimshaw Architects

Amongst others. So, let's give this a go and see where it takes me. Thanks go to Sarah Griffiths for some of the info above.

(By the way, if anyone who reads this has any ideas about things that would be good to look at in terms of research, please do share in the comments. Or if you have any comments in general, actually.)

Towards and Urban Renaissance - Diagrams

Below are some scans of some diagrams I think may be useful from 'Towards and Urban Renaissance'. These are obviously not my work.

Public realm: 'network' of green spaces

Illustration of density issues. Situation in New Basford is more or less option 2

Illustration of effective city districts: must have centres and put functions within walking distance

Some Research Conclusions

In a vain attempt to get some of the multitude of books I seem to have accumulated back in the library where they belong, I've been reading a hell of a lot this last week. Listed below are lists of key sources and conclusions:

Urban Regeneration in Europe, Ed. Chris Couch, Charles Fraser & Susan Perry

• People need to forget about recreating the past, it's gone.
• There has been a general policy theme throughout Europe of sustainability (NB: this does not just mean building environmentally sound cities, although that is part of it. It means building cities and places that are going to LAST A LONG TIME.)

Disadvantaged by where you live? Ed. Ian Smith, Eileen Lepine & Marilyn Taylor

• The meaning of the word 'neighbourhood' is ambiguous and contested. Politicians like to use it when they don't really mean anything.
• Criteria for a 'successful' neighbourhood could include the physical environment (obviously), choicefulness (people wanting to live there) and social interaction
• Government policy can, inadvertently, make problems of deprivation and social segregation worse

Cities for People, Jan Gehl

• Heavy emphasis on design quality and improving the incentives for people to walk in the urban environment, as this increases social interaction: "[...] the wider perspective is that a multitude of valuable social and recreational opportunities naturally emerge when you reinforce life on foot." 
• People gather where things are happening. So create things to happen.
• Technology could encourage people to get out, rather than stay in, by emphasising/advertising what is going on in the urban environment
• Planning principles focus on short distances between people and events, integration of various functions and pedestrian priority

Towards an Urban Renaissance, Urban Task Force (led by Richard Rogers)

• Heavy emphasis on the public realm and design quality
• Commitment to social integration
• Public spaces should form 'network' through city. Cites Barcelona as example
• Highlights problem of density - spreading people out means that things to do are not within easy walking distance. This is particularly true of suburbs.
• Design principles focus on: Respecting the context and using what is already there to inform what should come next, prioritising design excellence in the public realm, mixing uses, easy pedestrian access and building environmentally sound buildings that last.

All pretty sound stuff. I think I'll probably have to collate all of this reading into a single piece of writing for the end submission though, there's just too much of it. It could be quite a nice intro to the project/explanation of the rationale.

Urban Fabric: Building New York’s Garment District

Just been watching:

And also, from the other week, this ties with the idea of collaging in elements from other cities/schemes:

Urban Acupuncture

Urban Acupuncture Video

Nottingham City publications/plans

Just looking over the masterplans/design guides the city council have been churning out in recent years. A lot of these went south with the recession, but to prove I've done the research:

• East-side development, Hopkins

This was going to be at the top of London Rd, just south of the Lace Market area. It's dated 2008 on Hopkins website. There's a lot of empty land on the site, whether it was cleared in preparation for this I don't know but it was certainly never built.

• Waterside development, ISIS

Again, another one that was in planning stages and never got any further. Skyscraper City has this down in 2007, the development area includes/included all the industrial area on the north bank of the Trent just past Trent Bridge. 

• South-side development area

This area included the part of the city that connects the centre to the Meadows, around the train station and Broadmarsh. The image is a scheme by MAKE for the 'Meadows Gateway', again, this was never built. 

Those 3 schemes sum up the development areas identified by the City Council: East, South and Waterside. There was never any specific plan for the north or west of the city, although as noted the Council did issue briefs for the Basford Gasworks and the Haydn Rd site (in Old Basford, just south of Vernon Park).

Remember to keep checking my pinterest pages, building up a good body of reference material there. The is a link of the 'links' thing up there on the right. 

Feedback from the Interim and general progress...

It's been a bit of an off-weekend as far as Thesis work goes, there are other submissions for other modules in a couple of weeks and I've had to devote some time to them. Here's a summary of what happened at the interim though, in response to what I wrote in the last post:

Feedback was generally positive and there was no argument with any of the rationale behind locating the project in New Basford. That's a good thing because, as anyone who's ever been the subject of an architectural crit will tell you, not mentioning it means they can't find anything wrong with it. 

The feedback therefore, by and large, focussed on the next steps. Design concepts/ideas etc. In terms of this I still wasn't sure of the approach myself, but I've been reading Collage City (Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter) which has helped a lot, as well as a ton of urban design stuff by the likes of Jan Gehl. The particular chapter of Collage City which was discussed at the crit deals with the differences in approach between total, uncompromising design (such as that of Versailles) and allowing things to develop more organically - the basis of the 'collage' approach. There's a great passage in the book which describes the two states of mind as being akin to hedgehogs (always focussed on the one big idea) and foxes (always concerned with anything that crosses it's path, pulling ideas in from anywhere and everywhere and letting them lead it to yet more ideas. I must admit I quite like the idea of being a fox...

Anyway, straight feedback:

• I was told to look at Edmund Bacon
• There is an idea/theme of arteries/movement through the area that could be worked up.This ties with another book I've just finished reading: Flesh and Stone by Richard Sennett
• 'Towards and Urban Renaissance', by the Urban Task Force chaired by Richard Rogers, was suggested as a reference point for elements that could be looked at, for example density.
• A collaging exercise was suggested (and this will be my next step). So, when we look at density (to continue the example) for the chosen area, what is the current state, and what happens when it is altered? To examine this I can collage in existing bits of other cities. So extremely low density examples might come from, say, Pruitt Igoe, which had masses of open space in between the buildings. What would be the ramifications if the scheme were collaged into the chosen area? This technique can be repeated for building types, open spaces, public spaces, building scales/masses (may have to be 3D) etc. Through this I can gain a real sense of what is working and what isn't and can intervene accordingly
• It would also be good to identify how much of the urban fabric is currently used or occupied, and how much is empty.

That's pretty much it. So loads to do, as ever, and I will be starting on the above on Wednesday. There are some photos of the crits below. Please note none of the people in the photos are me, and these have been reproduced with no permission whatsoever from anyone.