Animal Memorial

At Cobblestone park Sarc 112

Jenny (YanXin) Zhu 300 192 123 July/Aug 2010

Process

To Design an Animal Memorial at site of Cobblestone Park.

Brief:

My Interpretation of the Brief:

Situated in the heart of the urban suburb of Te Aro, Cobblestone park does not at once hold any special significance to any one particular animal save us, Arch/Design students who pass through it regularly. Upon closer inspection however, Ive found that Cobblestone Park is a popular haunt to a variety of birds.

Research Qualities of a Memorial

Main Points
Tell a story/ Narrative Use of names and text can be quite personal and powerful in a tactile sense. Quite contemplative space. Smooth reflective surfaces can create an extra sense of depth. Simple and understated.

Source: Lin, Maya. Boundaries. Italy: Simon &Schuster.2000

Research Bird Conservation

Main Points
Equilibrium theory island biogeography by MacArthur & Wilson 1967. (Vinton 1-2) The cities effectively act like the Islands, same isolated fragmented nature effects the bird species diversity. (Vinton 3-8) Birds species are more prolific in high rise than low rise urban densities. (Vinton 111) Birds prefer more established, higher quality of green areas. (Strohbach)

Source: Strohbach, M. W., D. Haase, and N. Kabisch. 2009. Birds and the city: urban biodiversity, land use, and socioeconomics. Ecology and Society 14(2): 31. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art31/ Vinton, Jennifer Glynn. Avian species abundance and richness in a variably urbanised landscape in Wellington City, New Zealand. Diss. Victoria University of Wellington, 2008.

Site Analysis
Site Orientation and Wind Direction.

Location of main trees

Traffic through the site:

Main foot traffic through site (fast) Main foot traffic access into site Slower and Lesser foot traffic through site Main car traffic. Lesser Car Traffic (barely any)

Sounds of the site:

Dominant Sound from the car traffic Bird sounds Basketball Sounds

Viewpoint Analysis
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Park entry from SOAD side.
Interesting shadows projected on to the wall. Clear grassy expanse is quite welcoming and relaxing.

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The entry area of the park.
Lacking any sort of focal area.

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View from SOAD building balcony.
A change vantage point changed the entire experience of the site.

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View through the smaller pathway.
The trees on either side of the path becomes frames of the view.

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The view from site down Marion St.
Not particularly clear and interesting to look at.

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View in the middle of the park.
The long shadows of the trees creates a restful area, quite and contemplative.

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Approaching site from Marion Street.
The view is interesting and clear due to the dramatic red of the SOAD building.

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Approaching site from Knigges Ave.
Knigges Ave. is a quite street. No real drama or focal point needed, just strong lines guiding into the entry point.

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Approaching site from east end of Vivians St.
The path through the site is strong and dramatic, while the footpath itself lacks clarity.

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Proposal

My memorial will: ...be a contemplative environment ...tell an experiential narrative, about loss of native bird species diversity due fragmentation of their habitat on the account of urbanization. ...formally explore the concept of vantage points.

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Exploration

Initial Concept drawings based upon the mood I wanted to convey at the site.

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A concept that plays around with platforms and hollowing into the site to provide the variation in vantage points.

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Reverting back to the original drawing. Playing with vantage points through pillars of varying height. Inspired by the crematorium at Trepstow. The verticality of the pillars are very dramatic which forces you to look upwards These pillars are placed as obstructions causing the visitor to weave and meander through them.

Exploration of site ground possibilities.

For maximum impact of the varying highted pillars, the ground will be prepared flat.

Some shorter pillar could be used as seats.

Access ways into the sites are explored.

The leveled ground of the site would appear as a wedge in land. The original trees of the site will be kept because Cobblestone park is one of those high quality, established green area that birds like to gather at.

Created a small scaled model of the site with pillars within it. Here it is shown in the light of the setting sun which occurs around 45pm.

Discovery of another vantage point of the site is available from the third floor stairs of the SOAD building.

Peter Eisenmans Jewish Memorial Exploration of pillar arrangement. The top right concept was chosen in Berlin. I liked the dramatic clean, because it was random enough to make the journeying through unpreand systematic qualities of the con- dictable, but at the same time it is evenly spaced like a city. crete blocks. Thus I will use concrete for my final design.

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The height and the objects set back from the Knigges Ave. wall were all considered so as to not appear imposing upon the traveler at street level.

The difference between the surfaces of the Knigges St. end of the park surface end SOAD is 60cm. But because of the length of the park, thats only 0.6 degree angle- barely perceptible.

An elevation of the site was drawn to scale of 1:100 to better understand the slope.

The decided height of 2.3m was measured in real life to gain a better perspective of exactly how tall it is in relation to the site.

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Remember the birds that were here before us. Whakamaumahara nga manu kei mua e matou -maori
A phrase is chosen for the wall. Considered having the phrase in maori, but wasnt relevant to the site for most of the users of the site wouldnt be able to read it.

The phrase will be placed near the top of the wall so as to force the observer to look upwards, and subsequently at the site.

Considered where to put the names of the birds gives a more personal connection to the visitor. Decided upon having it on the pillars, sot that the visitor can discover the names for themselves.

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The playground and basketball court programs were removed because they detracted from the contemplative quality of the Memorial.

Considered the scale of the pillars. Was going to use 1.2x1.2m, but found that it was a bit small when physically measured out on site.Thus 1.8 x 2m will be used. This size is comfortable for both a single person or a small group gathering. 28

View from SOAD staircase.

Generally speaking there will be more taller pillars on the street side of the site to shield from the traffic and weather. There will be more shorter pillars for sitting on under the trees.

Vivian St.

Density areas of the pillars were considered. With most of the tall ones within the view range of the SOAD building stairwell. There will be a higher density of pillars at the intersection of Marion St. and Vivian St. so tidy up the view.

Marion St.

Uses grassy patches to discourage circulations and guide the viewer through various areas. This is more efficient than just using pillars alone, which would overcrowd and closein the park, making it seem oppressive and malevolent. The user can choose to meander their way through the site, or they go down the sidewalk if theyre in a real hurry.

Vivian St.

Marion St.

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Considered lighting. Found that lighting from below accentuate the pillars verticality, This is especially effective in a raining situation for the reflection from the ground would double the hight of the pillar.

At sunset, the concrete pillars will be painted in gold. Each casting long blue shadows over one another.

 Jenny Yx Zhu 2010