Temporary vs Permanence

Another area of interest when looking at how squatters inhabit spaces is the amalgamation of temporary and permanent architecture. Many have temporary structures which can be taken down and moved quickly if they had to vacate the premisses.

Heres an example I found of a car park top cafe called 'Franks Cafe' which was erected in London by two ex cambridge architecture students.

http://www.davidcarrsmith.co.uk/_D-WW_TMP-ARC_CAF1.htm

This project uses simple construction methods and materials to transform an unused space and can be easily disassembled for transportation and storage; it could even then be re-erected elsewhere.

I hope to utilise the roof space of the mill in a similar way using the chimney and the windows of the top floor as anchor points.

Sketch Models for Squatters

Having completed the conceptual side of my project it is time to focus on the 'real' architecture. After thinking about the mill building and its current state I started to think what it is/could be used for...the answer at the moment is that it is home to squatters.

Many people view squatters negatively however they often bring use to unused buildings, are self sufficient and en-capture a sense of community urban planners could only dream off. For my first series of Sketch models I focused on temporary changes that could be made internally with minimal change to the exterior to transform the space into a livable area.

The structure of the existing mill interior is divided in the middle by a series of parallel columns. This model begins to look at how to temporarily divide the large floor plates of the mills by attaching instillations to existing structure.

Concept Modelling

Making concept models is supposed to be an initial design stage allowing you to put pen to paper, or card to glue without having to think too specifically about buildings particulars. Whether they help in the long run, is definitely a matter of opinion.

After completing the study of unpredictable outcomes from a predictable system i set about trying to carry this idea into a building design. My initial concept models look at the idea of permanent vs temporary; investigating how a building could adapt and respond to a change in demand. Whether that be from a client, more space wanted at a certain time or from external factors such as changing weather conditions.

Nottingham's rich, industrial past: Unearthed and Unused

Without its industrial background, which started at Factories such as Forest Mills, Nottingham would never have been able to establish itself as the influential and prosperous city that we think of it as today.

Unfortunately many sites encrusted with rich histories have been consciously neglected in the evolution of urban planning and design; often resulting in derelict voids in the city. Not only can these be a major eyesore and scar on the urban fabric, more often than not they are dangerous environments attracting undesirables and miscreants.

In the 'real world' the future of Brownfield sites like these lies in the hands of councils and developers and unfortunately (in their opinion) the cost of developing these sites much outweighs the perquisites they (and questionably society as a whole) will gain it return.

As for university, architecture world and the future of Forest Mills... It's in my hands. This is my site.

Site Section: CAD and Photoshop

The audacity to create something so crude yet so beautiful.

So This is it. The solution as to how to create an unpredictable set of outcomes from a predictable system. After many adjustments and different prototypes the masterpiece is unveiled. Although it may look like fairly hasty, much thought has gone into this and although it has been described as 'crude' beautiful images have been produced.

The device was inspired by the movement of a double pendulum but rather than being hung vertically and being powered by gravity, here a similar system is supported horizontally on a pivot and operated by the force with which the door in opened.

It consists of three arms that move randomly and independently from one another with the use of bolted pivots. The other end of the contraption is counterbalanced to ensure as smooth a motion as possible.

Recording the trace of the movement proved to be more challenging than initially expected. I originally intended to attach a paint brush dipped in ink to the end of each arm and then to place a large piece of paper under the door.

Unfortunately the paint brushes created too much friction with the floor and the motion of the device was severely impaired. Instead the paint brushes were replaced with small LED torches and there results were a pleasant surprise.

These Images were taken with bulbs on two arms only with the door being opened and shut only once; in reality I carried out numerous experiments with different amounts of torches and door openings. For my pinup i edited the colour of the images to make them more readable as print outs and my panels looked like this.

The image above shows 5 individual door traces for Two light and one system oscillation. The image below shows what traces would be left if the door was opened 5 consecutive times and each varying path was recorded within the same frame. Because of time limits of my cameras shutter speed I had to layer the image on photoshop.

It's all Architecture...Honest.

I've decided to start a blog to document the development of my design ideas, whilst in my second year of an Architecture degree at the University of Nottingham.

The project I'm working on at the moment is called 'Illustrious industrious'. Its eventual aim is to propose redevelopment ideas for the old Forest Mills site in Radford, but before that there's alot of background work to be done...Let me briefly explain.

We were asked to research a past or present industry of Nottingham - I choose to look at clocks and the way in which the movement of one part of the system lead to the movement of the next in a continuous, infinite (almost) cycle. As a result of this I moved on to look at Rube Goldberg Machines, whose movement follow a similar chain reaction idea.

It was pointed out to me that the interesting link between the two systems was that the clock has a predictable, timeless and repetitive movement whereas the Goldberg machines had a definite beginning and end, as well as a sense of unpredictability - although painstakingly and meticulously planned. Will that pin pop the Ballon? Will the Cog roll and Power the Fan which will blow the boat across the water?

Eventually (and yes some what tediously) this led to a 1 - 1 study in an urban context investigating repetitive systems with unpredictable out comes. Yes, you guessed it, I'm talking about doors!

The thing with doors is that they only perform one task; one predictable, repetitive movement. They open. And they Close. This is all. But what if you were to trace the path of the activity of the door each time someone opened it. What if the initial forced exerted on the door

governed the subsequent mark left by it?

Something to Ponder. I think I'll leave it there as that is a good synopsis of where I am at at the moment. But, rest assured, answers will some come.