Jordan  Blagaich541      

This is a project of three themes. It proposes a new reading of Perth, a reading that recognises the density that has been established north of the train line/lakes, it brings water to bear, recognising the affect water has had in creating Perth as we know it, and it prompts a refection on the current beliefs as to what laneways can become.

Perth sits within the boundaries of the freeway to the west and the edge of land to the east. The current reading of Perth is an east-west direction with a tale of two cities once you pass what can be described as a ‘West Proper Perth’ ‘East Proper Perth’ boundary at Barrack street.

density allowing the north-south armatures of William, Beaufort etc1. The argument that I propose is if the Perth-Northbridge boundary is blurred, if Beaufort street is considered just as much of a part of Perth as Barrack street for instance, the city becomes a much bigger place shaking the mentality that Perth is a small town. A north-south reading also acknowledges the shifting stage, the ground we walk on, in a greater way than traversing over it in a East-West direction, recognising

2,3.

The roads and their footpaths that lead from outer Perth into Proper Perth continue to the Swan River, allowing for the romantic ideals and instinctive bearing of heading to water, the edge of land, these are the water roads of Perth, they provide the structure for armatures to become dense and whole4.

5, and recognising the Great Lakes of Perth and their impact in the planning of Perth and the shifting grid of Northbridge.

6

suburbs and urban areas.

the grittiness of laneways7

allowing laneways to become the corridors and spaces of the learnt and those willing to learn, the laneways become the universal spaces for the creatures that choose to territorialise them.8

This proposition places precedent on north-south streets, ie: -Milligan -William -Barrack -Pier

-Bennett, and -Plain

Rather than the ‘traditional’ Perthian streets of -Riverside -Saint Georges

-Murray, and -Wellington

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2. _catwalk city_ [rule]

5. The Swamp Stealers: Topography, Settlement and the Evolution of Northbridge an Inner Urban Area in Perth, Western Australia, Using Geographic Information Systems. Morel 20066. _bringing water to bear_ [rule]

8. _corridors of universal space aka anti-banksy rule_ [rule]

Lebbeus Woods, Lower Manhattan, 1999

_’bringing water to bear’_

V1:all new proposals must consider water, in any of its states, and it will inform the design proposal

V2:water WILL be a very apparent element within the build program. it will be considered in the form of; -liquid element -steam -ice -subterranean -cloud

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V3

perth and northbridge have both been planed because of the existing swamp land this is evident in the shift in grid alignment and foreshore per-pendicular grid.

The history of water affecting the planning of the city will be apparent in a very clear way within the new built program of perth. water will affect built and possibly unbuilt [doing (almost) nothing] program.each form of water will be evident in within what is designed. ie: -liquid -steam -ice -subterranean -cloud

note: it does not need to be obvious; complexity is seduction

_corridors of universal space aka anti-banksy rule_

Charles Sheeler: Seams unadorned sides & partial appearances of buildings as the important and heroic images of the contemporary city. the acknowledgement of artificial architectural conventions.

Raimund Abraham: artist discovering lofts in new york created completely new ways of living because they had universal space. compare this with an apartment where your life is dictated by the nature of rooms. architecture to change habitarchitecture shouldn’t be oppressive or too influential

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V1 laneways should not become the places of tourist brochures, they are to be only tamed by experience. they must remain undefined (ie r. abraham)

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V2.2

laneways are corridors for those who are learnt or willing to learn. they provide shelter from the hustle on the streets and the people who occupy them. they become places for personalization and experiment by those who choose to inhabit them, places of freedom.

laneways will not fall victim to the beautification epidemic they will remain and continue to develop as corridors and pauses of universal space. they will be shaped by those that inhabit them not be the designers that plan them. this rule plans to stop the deterritorialisation1 of laneways.

note: wolf lane will/has become the sacrificial lamb and new insertions can be designed there as it is already has the beautification epidemic virus

--------------------------- 1deterritorlialisation: noun

1. the severance of social, political, or cultural practices from their native places and population.

_catwalk city_

City is a theatre; “[the city] in its very opportunities for social dis-harmony and conflict, the city creates drama; the suburb lacks it.” Lewis Mumford

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V1

Perth is flat but its not flat

the buildings of perth have created a catwalk that allows you to travel over the shifting stage of the city that moves with the topography.

Topography and undulations are to be recognized within design proposals. the figure ground image will not create dogmas that define the reading of the city nor will it determine the replies that propositions will provide.

_public squares_

a city without squares and public edifices isn’t worth of its name.public squares are the theatres for the principal scenes of public life.perspective closed squares are the goal. camillo site

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V1perth edge is defined by its ‘figure in ground not ground between figure’ typology.

public squares can be created by amputating blocks of building and transplant-ing them with ‘ground’ from the perth ‘doormat’. greater appreciation of ‘ground’ is the outcome that must be achieved for the public square, if it does not occur it will be deemed a failure.‘ground’ theatres that will be added into the city proper will not be empty grassed areas but stages for architecture and its actors to perform.

WHAT:

WHERE:

THEME:

bell tower

tower, water, transect

barrack square, riverside drive, perth

WHAT:

WHERE:

THEME:

town hall

barrack st, perth

tower building typology, weighty, transect

WHAT:

WHERE:

THEME:

government building

111 wellington st, perth

weighty, bad ass

WHAT:

WHERE:

THEME:

clock tower and shops

beaufort st,

building tower typology,

WHAT:

WHERE:

THEME:

lincoln street ventilation stack perth metropolitan water supply, sewerage and drainage department 1941

66 lincoln st (off beaufort st), highgate

tower, water, weighty, transect

note: _ventilation towers were to be built along the central mainline sewer at 4.8 kilometre intervals _ Lincoln Street Ventilation Stack opened in late 1941 and ran for only four weeks before being shut down _ 1949 low room of tower converted into lab for research into waste water _ Inter-War Art Deco style or Moderne style _ vertical lines on the ventilation stack were designed to visually increase the apparent height of the structure, while the tapering of the tower structure towards the top further emphasises this illusion.

http://register.heritage.wa.gov.au/PDF_Files/K-L%20-%20A-D/3137%20Lincoln%20St%20Vent%20(I-AD).PDF

WHAT:

WHERE:

THEME:

commonwealth bank

saint georges terrace

weighty, tower, macro horizontal micro vertical, bad ass

The proposal is the accumulation of three themes; establishing a north-south reading of the city and the armatures that feed into it as a way of perceiving

The notion of belonging is evident in many facets of this proposition, it is a building that belongs to the Beaufort street situation as well as the Barrack street situation, it is a tower that belongs to water, it belongs to the grand lane, laneway that this tower positions itself in, and it belongs to the earth as well as the sky1

The proposal, positions its self with the intention to enhance the legibility of the north-south transect, in this case the Barrack-Beaufort street armature.

of Perth the city will be read as a much larger and diverse urban centre. The siting of this building recognises the visual links that are generated when on the armature viewing the city, when looking towards the river, the topography allows for a privileged position of looking over a valley towards the ridge of land that runs centrally along the east-west length of Perth. The proposal sits to the north of the ridge allowing the tower to become a marker when perceived from the Barrack-Beaufort armature.

Sited on the boundary of ‘proper Perth’, the foreshore of the Great Lakes, the proposal is a tower that marks the connection between the two situations, one of Barrack street and the other of Beaufort. The building becomes a part of the Beaufort situation through the boundary that the western face sits against, the extended Beaufort street axis and also a part of the Barrack street situation with the eastern face. In time it will become a marker of the north boundary of 2012 Perth.

The siting of the tower within a laneway is in no way inconsequential. The tower by providing low brow apartments and co working spaces serves to provide

laneways allows for them to be territorilised due to the laneways become the backyards/front verandah for those that claim ownership over them.

that follow water routes, ventilation stacks used to be evident along major sewer lines in Perth at 4.8 km intervals and the Lincoln street ventilation stack, off Beaufort st, become one of the buildings that my proposal begins to share a relationship with. There is a precedent for these water towers to conform to a weighty typology which begins to feed in a strangely familiar way into my proposal. The notion of a Perthian tower that deals with water is not a new thing nor is the notion of weighty towers and buildings within Perth, these became study areas for this project with the intention to create a building that belongs to Perth.

water table, the cloud scraping room that sits on the roof of the tower while still being deep within concrete walls exposes the ever changing cloud states, the verticality of the ribbed concrete walls expresses liquid water running down the faces and on the western face, the weathered face, the liquid water fall into the cut from the earth giving back to the water table.

The notion of belonging is evident in many facets of this proposition, it is a building that belongs to the Beaufort street situation as well as the Barrack street situation, it is a tower that belongs to water, it belongs to the grand lane, laneway that this tower positions itself in, it belongs to the earth as well as the sky1

The connection of building to earth, sky, water and laneway becomes the catalyst for a new reading of our city and its future possibilities.

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READING GUIDE

1. Metro area water and water road map. Including Perth Great Lakes1

extension

building height and density, and of the ground plane.

5&6. Plan, photomontage and section of the Barrack and Beaufort street situation. Water table is shown in section2.

10. North and south elevations.

12. Two point perspective.

13a,b,c. Two point perspective. Projected from Grand Lane

13b2. Sectional two point perspective. Projected from Grand Lane

---------------------------------1. The Swamp Stealers: Topography, Settlement and the Evolution of Northbridge an Inner Urban Area in Perth, Western Australia, Using Geographic Information Systems. Morel 20062. Perth Groundwater Atlas. Department of Water. Information current as of May 2003

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13b2

12

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13b

13a

13c

2012