Z2P9

STAGE 3 ARCHITECTURE PORFOLIO SOPHIE SPOOR 170130615

CONTENTS 1

Charrette

07

2

Studio Introduction

7

Realisation

69

11

8

Synthesis

93

3

Primer

15

9

Cultural Bibliography

115

4

Staging

33

10

Bibliography

127

5

Thinking Through Making

57

11

Appendix

6

Vienna Field Trip

63

N= New Work I= Improved Work

Theory into practice helped to inform my design regarding the open spaces that were suitable to implement and benefit the residents. I developed an understanding of how to commemorate the public social life of the street and how by proposing a courtyard it will help to draw people through these streets into the new space and initiate spatial opportunities for interaction.

Technical aspects and the technology report have informed my design through the layouts of the flats. Fire safety is a big worry for social housing tenants, due to past tragedies such as Grenfell. On the 2-year anniversary of the tragedy there was a message projected onto the 25 storey tower as the fire doors are still ‘unfit’ and they fear for their safety at night. Throughout fire safety analysis this allowed me to ensure that the clusters that I designed went above and beyond to comply with fire safety regulations.

As we are also currently experiencing a climate crisis, sustainability also had an impact on my design throughout the technology report. The current structure utilised on site is concrete, so I wanted a lightweight, sustainable structure to achieve a contrast.

I decided upon Cross-Laminated Timber, and larch cladding. As there is an existing biomass plant on site, using CLT is extremely beneficial for this as offcuts can be utilised for heating supply. With the climate crisis in mind, it also led me to explore pedestrianised streets, and bike storage, to assist in the reduction of cars and encourage healthier, more active lifestyles. With walking being encouraged, it also assists to my scheme as it helps to increase interaction and incidents like unplanned conversations and ‘bumping’ into the neighbours is more likely to frequently occur.

REFLECTIVE REPORT After years of it being deprecated and scrutinised as an option of last resort, the industry of architects and designers are now re-acquainting themselves with the social and public housing sectors. Within the UK, record property rates and an extensive, and a widely publicised housing deficit has forced an emergency in accessibility, somewhat a repercussion of property value being persistently prioritised over supply.

Whilst participating in the studio group Remedial Housing for Architects, it widened my understanding of why the UK is implicated in a housing crisis, and why we are deficient in this area in comparison to other European countries. It is accepted as ‘council housing’ here, which contributes to the continual stigmatisation of its residents and the endured demonisation of the poor. Whereas in France it is know as ‘housing at moderate rent’, in Denmark ‘common housing’, throughout Germany ‘housing promotion’ and in Austria ‘People’s housing’. Research into the wider subject area of housing has allowed me to understand throughout the year numerous controversies within housing and that new ideas should be implemented, as old ones are proving unsuitable.

The site for my design is implanted in these wider societal issues. High rates of crime and a stigmatised demographic result in an unappreciated area. These convoluted social issues within Cruddas Park led to people before profit becoming a huge influence on the design. Throughout Primer the studio created a manifesto, which were slogans we felt addressed the problems that are present in the nation-wide housing crisis. People before profit was one of these statements.

As well as this, the issues with the existing structures on site advised various changes that I intended.

The physical context had a vast area of open space that was dis-used and aiding to encourage antisocial behaviour. I wanted to structure this space with the new housing in order to create routes and outdoor spaces that would encourage the community into this area. The existing material and colour palette used throughout the existing site were municipal and clinical, not helping to establish a convivial atmosphere, which is what I wanted to aim for throughout the design. Thinking through making week led me to analyse how to create a hybrid between the existing and the new structure. To help combat these issues I decided upon community integration and interaction to be at the forefront of my design.

My preconceived ideas from primer to synthesis varied dramatically. Knowing little about social housing, the deeper my understanding and learning developed, the more ideas that followed. From my massing in staging, to my building in synthesis the experimentation has been a long process. Through researching precedents, learning from failed attempts in the architectural industry, to understanding theorists’ ideas has completely changed the outcome of my project. At first, I was aiming to design based on knowledge that I already had from housing and from my own experiences. Now I feel my design showcases homes that are suitable for the local area; a design that encourages interaction, will integrate new and existing communities, mitigate anti-social behaviour through natural surveillance, responds to both the housing and climate crisis with a sustainable and highdensity design all whilst taking into account each manifesto point stated within Primer. It counters the negative experiences that I had at the first site visit, it eradicates the municipal impression and instead encourages presence.

MANIFESTO STRATEGY

Throughout the process I have learnt to respond to other people’s circumstances. Not everyone is privileged to have a house that they are willing to call home, and a home should be a right and not a privilege. I have learnt about the needs of social housing tenants, the needs of different generations and how to provide solutions that are accessible for the needs of many. The focus has been to create a design where the residents love the area and the community, one that they want to care for, one which showcases this in all scenarios; the unplanned conversations, the observation of the area, the opportunities to interact with the community.

STREET ATMOSPHERE

Massing Proposal The basic massing shape shown will include masionettes, apartments and houses as a proposal for intergenrational living. The different housing types will be sutiable to the different needs that are required to be fulfilled such as the elderly having bungalows available and big families having houses. The podium has also been proposed to change into a U shape in order to fraem the boundary of the site and create more central space.

Proposed New Spaces As the site is so close to a school I wanted there to be numerous activities for children. iIncluding a playground/park allows children to play safely whilst still in sight of their homes. The courtyard space will be orientated around shops/cafes, in order to allow outside interaction during warmer periods.

New Road Proposal To be able to create this sense of community I decided to remove ant roads obstructiing the border of the site, in order to encourage walking, therefore resulting in more interaction bewteen the residents and a willingness to use local services.

Original Site The buildings I have chosen to focus on are highlighted in blue- the podium, the tower block, Riverside Dene tower blocks, the sports hall and the schol. These buildings surround the green area in the middle of the site, where I aim to create a sense of community.

NEW VS

EXISTING

5

CHARETTE

1 7

0 1 CHARRETTE

GATHERING

The Charrette considered the significance of the high street at Coatsworth Road in Gateshead , which has minimal commercial worth, but has the potential to execute social functions as meeting points, which have an extensive impact on the social and seminal capacity for the area.

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9

2

REMEDIAL HOUSING

REMEDIAL HOUSING In the studio group remedial housing for architects the aim will be to determine the issues with what is going wrong in today’s current housing climate. Since the industrial revolution there has been a urgent need for housing within our cities.

Taking the stand that housing is not only a indication of power associations within society, but a engine through which an additional social structure can be envisaged, the studio will strive to establish a new housing prospect for Newcastle. We have probed notions about uniformity, appreciation, anonymity and identities and investigate the emulated and docile role that architecture is often seen to have in the fabrication of housing.

Various areas scattered across the UK have expansive, isolated tangential estates which possess an absence of community, tedious spatial qualities, and are openly there for developer’s to make a profit with marginal investment. As well as issues arising around private developments, there will be an investigation into destructing the stigma around social housing and the issues surrounding the current housing crisis. ‘An estimated 8.4 million people in England are living in an unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable home.’

(Housing crisis ‘affects 8.4 million’ in England, 2020) The condemnation of social tenants is an extensive concern, and these estates come with a reputation of crime, ‘scroungers’, and the segregating of the poor is only incrementing. While the early planners, architects and local authorities had pleasant perspectives of appealing residences where working people could bring up their families securely, many estates have not been well preserved.

Run-down, unappreciated, litter-strewn housing developments – which we are responsible for – also contribute to the denouncement of residents.

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13

3

PRIMER

0 3 PRIMER

MONOTONOUS

SEGREGATED

THE ISSUE

Throughout Primer our focus began at Great Park. Newcastle Great Park is a recent suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

Much of Great Park is still under development and is based in between older areas of Newcastle, specifically Gosforth, Fawdon and Kingston Park to the south, and Hazlerigg to the north. It is the biggest housing development in the North East of England.

The construction of Great Park posed many complaints, especially concerning wildlife habitats, as well as sustainable lifestyles. ‘Save Newcastle’s wildlife’ initiated a legal challenge, to which was overridden and the go ahead for more planning permission was granted.

The wildlife cause labelled the conclusion as ‘unjust’. As well as destroying wildlife habitats, proposed conveniences, such as shops, have failed to yet be existent. Problems like this encourage the North-East largest estates to drive to pick up a pint of milk or a few snacks from shops further afield, therefore contributing to unnecessary air pollution. Great Park is also contributing to yet another meaningless, extensive peripheral estate. Each new community is becoming indistinguishable. As a result, the disparateness of communities gets omitted and identities start to be lost.

REPETITIVE

These suburban streets are often too ample, vacant of trees, leaving plenty of capacity to see ahead. This can only encourage speeding and when these modern suburban streets are overcrowded with parked cars creating unsightly blocks it creates an unsafe environment for children.

Places with wide open spaces, like Great Park, can become untouched, despised and deserted. These communities haven’t been designed to encourage social interaction and to walk around the community and engage with local facilities so there isn’t much reason to operate within these spaces.

New developments often ignore the impact of wildlife and landscaping opportunities, such as tree-lined streets. Many highway authorities discourage trees and hedgerows, due to the expenses, making green streets increasingly hard to find. As a consequence, many modern developments are dominated by hard materials and often appear soulless.

MISPLACED IDENITITY 16

N

17

0 3 PRIMER

MEANINGLESS

EXTENSIVE

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19

0 3 PRIMER

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GARAGE AND DOMESTIC LIFE

Garages for a while, if not forever, have been relegated to bleak, dull, pragmatic background structures with minimum attention given to design features.

Garages used to be exploited as a typical storage facility to keep cars secure from crime and weather, it is now frequently known that this is becoming less likely for car owners. Only 19% of cars within the UK are still keeping their cars within their garage.

Motives for the decrease in garage usage include: -Garages are progressively being used for the storage of other belongings -Current cars are too extensive and wide to fit into older garages -Modern cars are more dependable, more weatherresistant and more protected, meaning people trust it is safe and feasible to leave them outside -A rise in multi-car families means results in not sufficient garage space for each car As one of the above point mentions garages are now increasinly being used as a storage facilityand the majoirty of possessions it will store are commonly either neglected belongings, possesions for outdoor activities, or activities known as ‘messy’ or not frequently done, such as painting, or storage for things like hammers, drills, nails etc.

Map of 3 blocks within Great Park showing the frequency and placement of the Garage and it’s relationship to the road

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ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS

N

The Garage and it’s role in suburban areas now stores possessions to replace the empty space of the car and it’s role overlaps with the garden shed in terms of it’s use and relationship to domestic life. The garage in some ways has replaced the garden shed, especially when an integral typology as access is more convenient and frequent.

N

21

0 3 PRIMER

22

N

There are varied forms of Garages at Great Park, but they are still symbolic and conventional of the suburban area. They include single, double, treble and integral typologies. It was evident on the site visit that very few garages were used for car storage as many cars were stored in front of the garage, or along the curb in front of the house.

Garages that are detached from the house can often advocate residents to park along the road, resulting in pathways for the neighbourhood to be impeded upon, and also exposing children to a hazardous situation where they could run out into the road without being visible.

With reference to David Knight’s sub plan (Knight, 2009) I looked at the current placement of the homes and garages and the layout. The garages are laid in a very irregular order, which creates larger gardens for some homes, however much smaller ones for others. If the garages were abolished and parking was moved to the edges of the blocks it could create bigger gardens for all houses, with an option for a communal, public, pedestrianised space.

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0 3 PRIMER

The car storage typologies at Great Park are a variation of single, double, treble and integral car garages. However, numerous cars are parked on the road immediately outside of houses, as the garages and driveways can be located around the corner or behind the house. This leads to a build up of vehicles on the side of the pavements, creating a unsafe environment for children. This led me to understand where car storage could be moved to, in order to prevent this, and try and make it a more frequent and normal procedure that the car won’t be parked immediately outside of the house.

Growth in private car ownership during the 20th century has lead to a steady increase in the number of cars in the UK over the past thirty years driven by increases in the population and more so by the number of households as well increased economic prosperity. Car storage and parking has been proposed in numerous forms by many architects including, Radburn layouts, Multi-storey car parks, Underground car parks, single, double, treble and integral car garages, as well as car free initiatives, which can be all suitable dependant on the environment.

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N

I

25

0 3 PRIMER

N

As a small group we started to explore the spatial qualities of Great Park. From the element studies it had become clear there was no evidence of interaction and community within the area. There was no sight of any conversations happening between neighbours. When observing the behaviour of the residents watching them arriving and leaving they would neglect their surroundings and move from their front door to their car door.

The position of the drive and the garage also isn’t encouraging a sustainable lifestyle and pedestrian circulation, which is likely to diminish the chance of interaction. This led us to testing the possibility of a new parking layout at the edges of the street, which provides much more green, communal and meaningful space for interactions to take place. The space it creates can be used for safer play areas for the children etc, instead of designating these areas to the outskirts of the site, like they currently are, and also encourage much for use of these facilities as they are much closer to the residential homes.

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This key image is showing the existing landscape and plan of a block within Great Park with our propositional testing overlayed. It aims to establish the spatial opportunities that the propositional has the potential to conceive, instead of the minimal and restricted exterior scope that the plan currently offers.

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0 3 PRIMER

EXHIBITION

For the exhibition, we wanted a showcase that was prominent and conspicuous. We wanted to authentically parade the legitimacy of the housing crisis that is ongoing. The aim was for the space to be engaging and overloading to show the crucial need for innovation, development and responsibility to be taken within housing. The primer exhibition included our architectural element models and illustrated posters, our protest placards with our

manifesto points symbolised, the map of great park and the propositional testing, as well as a curated film that identified our experience at Great Park and what we believed to be unsuccessful within the housing sector.

Throughout Primer our aim was to work towards a manifesto in which we could carry forwards with us into our own projects. Our focus on each of our architectural elements allowed us to comprehend

the issues in suburban areas and features that assist in a misplaced identity. Established themes became recognised within the studio, and with our studio readings and research alongside this it granted us to construct 10 key motifs that we can exploit within our own designs when moving forward. imperative to the overcoming of current issues in todays housing climate.

Once our site visit to Great Park had taken place we decided to create a housing manifesto for our studio that positioned our thoughts on housing as a collective. This aimed to address all issues and areas, which we felt had been neglected, particularly areas that seemed to have minimal attention paid to them during the construction of Great Park.

This manifesto will aim to influence our decisions further on in the project when determining our own housing to ensure these crucial elements are present. These issues present in the manifesto aim to determine exactly why these suburban areas can be unsuccessful and are imperative to the overcoming of current issues in today’s housing climate.

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0 3 PRIMER

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31

4

STAGING

0 4 STAGING

NEWCASTLE

ELSWICK THE SITE The site for where we would start designing our own housing schemes was at Cruddas Park, Elswick Newcastle. It currently is home to a residential tower block and a shopping centre. The site has a negative reputation with crime and anti-social behaviour being terms firmly assigned to the area. Numerous residents have reported feeling terrified in regards to their safety after accidents such as Grenfell also.

My proposal for Cruddas Park comes from discovering these initial problems at the site visit. The entrances are very bleak, and the openings dont allow the wider community to be aware of anything going on internally as they are unappealing and uninviting.

Secondly, the materiality and cladding were something I immediately disliked. The dull blue has municipal and clinical connotations.

It isn’t enticing or charming and it isn’t encouraging anyone to make us of the facilities that it offers unless necessary.

The vast green area is also very noticeable, and appears to be an enticing space, however when analysing the use and circulation of this space it was very idle and vacant. The community should be enjoying this space and experiencing the views that look out over the River Tyne.

CRUDDAS PARK

What I felt lacked most at Cruddas Park was interaction and community intergration, which have become my key focuses throughout the project.

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0 4 STAGING

N

1950’S CRUDDAS PARK The surrounding area had long been dominated by Armstrong’s arms works and Vickers who built tanks close to the Scotswood Road.

During the nineteenth-century rows of closely packed houses filled the banks of the Tyne to house factory workers.

By the 1950s these had become run-down residential areas and the housing was considered to be low-amenity slums.

The slums were cleared and new flats were built by Wimpey to a Swedish precast concrete modular design.

In the late 1980s it was decided to revitalise the area, which had become the focus of criminal activity and had gained a reputation.

The West End was targeted as ‘copycat’ incidents broke out on September 12. Hundreds of rampaging youths threw bricks and fire-bombs at police and emergency services. Masked ‘joyriders’ screeched along the streets, burning cars were used as barricades, while shops and schools were looted. The Dodds Arms pub on Elswick Road was burned to the ground as disorder raged.

The fallout saw the council announce plans to demolish hundreds of properties in the area and start again from scratch.

The police were officially admitting that the west end of Newcastle was one of the highest crime areas in the country with problems of poverty and unemployment too.

Following Grenfell Tower in June 2017, the council had the cladding on tower blocks tested and were found to be ‘not combustible’ and thus not likely to catch fire easily. A fire in Cruddas Park House in November 2017 left residents concerned about fire alarms, the lack of sprinkler systems and safety in general. Residents at Cruddas Park were unhappy and ‘fearful’ due to arson attacks and dissatisfaction with existing fire safety features.

The images show how the site was around the 1950’s. The picture establishing the children playing in the street speaks volumes for me, because this is how I envisage the site that I design to end up- full of children playing and having the freedom to have fun.

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0 4 STAGING

CRIME AT CRUDDAS PARK

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N

39

0 4 STAGING

DREARY

MUNICIPAL

DISMAL

BLEAK

40

41

0 4 STAGING

LOCAL SERVICES

42

CIRCULATION

N

43

0 4 STAGING

GENDER STEREOTYPES

QUALIFICATIONS Degree

AGE GROUPS 80

There are no children living on the site, as most people are single or living alone, and married couples are childless. There is no community or provisions, apart from an early years centre that has a small number of children attending. This data reflects that a women would be less likely to get pregnant or start a family in this environment.

Apprenticeship HNC, HND or 2+ A levels Up to 1 A Level 1-4 GCSE’S or equivalent No GCSE’S or equivalent

70 60 50

Other 40

Highest proportion of relationship status is divorcedmeaning the flats are made up mostly of divorced and single men. Still, a significant proportion are married. This means the majority of the flats are occupied by people living alone. All of the flats are 2 bedrooms, so designed for more than one person, meaning a lot of the flats are not fully occupied.

30 20 Female Male

10 0 0-4 5-7 8-9

1014

15

1617

1819

2024

2529

3044

4559

6064

6574

7584

8589

90+

Single

Cruddas Park has a major male bias, in relation to national data showing near equality, with slight more females. For every women there are two men, meaning providing for women’s safety and sense of security should be a priority.

3 People

Married

2 People

Divorced 1 Person Seperated Widowed

The majority of people living in the estate have little to no qualifications and few are in part-time or fulltime employment. This means the crime rate is quite high, meaning women again are put at high risk. This also means people are likely to spend the majority of their time at their home, meaning the provision of adequate housing size and community facilities should be a priority.

Same Sex

RELATIONSHIPS

44

OCCUPANCY

N

45

0 4 STAGING

‘T H E N E W W A Y O F L I V I N G T H E O L D W A Y’

‘B E I N G A B L E T O S E E A N D C H A T T O Y O U R N E I G H B O U R S’

‘I G R E W U P W I T H M Y G R A N D F A T H E R’

‘I N C I D E N T A L E N C O U N T E R S A N D U N P L A N N E D C O N V E R S A T I O N S’ N

Currently the main demographic living on site is single, middle-aged men. The incentive of interaction is understandable that it would be low because of this. For my scheme I have proposed an intergenerational living strategy. Intergenerational living allows me to introduce all types of people, to encourage interaction, integration and companionship for more vulnerable groups, like the elderly or foster care families.

Aims: -Allowing architecture to curate unintentional meetings -Awareness in design to achieve longevity of communities to forge diverse and sustainnable fragments of city -Designing spaces to connect all ages together to help corrupt the ageist stereotypes that alienate members in society

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0 4 STAGING

PRECEDENT STUDY Savonnerie Heymans- MDW Architecture

Savonnerie Heymans is a social housing project that designed a ‘village’ of 42 tenable residences.

The scheme created numerous different housing typologies including studios, 1 to 6-bedroom apartments, lofts, duplexes and Maisonettes. The diversification within the project helps to implement a range of spaces reiterating the diversity of the residents and the wider community within Brussels.

It embraces a high-density structure that grants a sequence of intimate, exterior spaces supporting the inhabitants to communicate freely with one another and producing a sociable and pleasant atmosphere.

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PRECEDENT STUDY

Living in a Park- MAB Arquitectura & BMS Progetti Srl

The project includes 184 apartments of social housing, as well as open public space. The fundamental goal was to provide places of contemporary ‘urbanity’in minor locations of the city. It was a co-habitation approach between housing and public space, where the residents are able to exisit in pedestrian surroundings, reinforced with a strong framework of infrastructure, facilities, and open space. The services will function as a social relation between the old and new community.

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0 4 STAGING

ADAPTIVE TYPOLOGIES

My initial massing for the podium explores the possibility of a courtyard. As my main focus is integrate the new housing onto the site I wanted to explore the most suitable way to connect the old to the new. I feel a courtyard will help bridge the gap between the existing structure and the new housing. During the initial site visit a problem that was identified was that the outdoor spaces weren’t being used so I wanted to design a connection that would draw people outside. The idea of the courtyard can create a seamless transition between inside and out.

The initial massing for the new housing was thinking about how to accommodate a wide range of typologies. I explored with historical methods on Cruddas Park with a terraced layout, I also experimented with a structure that resembled the high-density of the tower but was a bridge in-between the podium and the tower. Lastly I experimented a hybrid of the two, where the density decreased around the site.

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0 4 STAGING

The first diagram that I chose upon representing my strategy was to show the current buildings that enclosed the open space by highlighting these in blue. I wanted to highlight the routes in the public realm, which may encourage anti-social behaviour especially late at night. This is the space that I aim to maintain and enhance, and potentially design pockets of play, where children, families, and people of all ages can restore and enjoy the atmosphere and lanscape.

Edible Elswick is a stimulating community scheme that’s been flourishing since 2010. It is familiar and appreciated by the community. seeks to increment satisfaction and pride in the local area, help communities cooperate and encourage active lifestyles. They do this by implementing opportunities for residents living in Elswick to cultivate their own food and consolidate and celebrate.

Some of their projects include: Garden Neighbours Project Elswick Park Family Fun Events Adopt A Planter Tidy Up And Plant Estate Events As I want to implement a courtyard, landscaped routines and the potential space for allotments within my scheme Edible Elswick would be an appropriate method in engaging the local community within the new housing scheme and encouraging interaction amongst both groups.

COMMUNITY

STRATEGY

West End Women and Girls Centre is the first and only open entry, community based women and girls centre in Newcastle. They aspire to assemble the power and liberty of women and girls, who have been and remain to be vulnerable and suppressed.

This takes place through methods like group work where women and girls have the freedom to contact, enjoy, gain skills, discover relevant issues about their lives and evolve assurance and spirit in a protected and secure environment.

Their main focuses include: Belonging Grass Roots Equality Integrity Transformational Leadership Passion Courage

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I feel the new community would also really benefit from working with the centre as I aim to introduce vulnerable groups, like foster-care families and the elderly, so it can integrate the two communities.N

The second diagram begins to illustrate my initial approach to the site. After visiting Vienna on the field trip, and a trip to Alt-Erlaa, the spaces that I noticed to have the most interaction amongst people were those that possessed pedestrianised streets, and those that allowed people to move freely. It also encourages healthier and more active lifestyles, and with cars not as near by it will encourage the community to make use of the local services, with localisation being one of the focuses we took from Primer. It should encourage interaction amongst the residents as it means they’ll be making use of the routes through the site that I aim to introduce.

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TAGING 0The4 Sthird diagram

is showing the spaces that I envisage being part of the site. I want to create pockets of play and outdoor areas for residents to enjoy, communicate, integrate and interact. The areas will be provided in safe, surrounded areas so children can be trusted and watched by their families at a close distance. The site is close to a school, which will encourage families and children to move through the site after school and integrate the wider community.

Massing Proposal The basic massing shape shown will include masionettes, apartments and houses as a proposal for intergenrational living. The different housing types will be sutiable to the different needs that are required to be fulďŹ lled such as the elderly having bungalows available and big families having houses. The podium has also been proposed to change into a U shape in order to fraem the boundary of the site and create more central space.

Proposed New Spaces As the site is so close to a school I wanted there to be numerous activities for children. iIncluding a playground/park allows children to play safely whilst still in sight of their homes. The courtyard space will be orientated around shops/cafes, in order to allow outside interaction during warmer periods.

New Road Proposal To be able to create this sense of community I decided to remove ant roads obstructiing the border of the site, in order to encourage walking, therefore resulting in more interaction bewteen the residents and a willingness to use local services.

Original Site The buildings I have chosen to focus on are highlighted in blue- the podium, the tower block, Riverside Dene tower blocks, the sports hall and the schol. These buildings surround the green area in the middle of the site, where I aim to create a sense of community.

The final diagram shows my first thoughts for the massing of the new housing. I wanted to introduce a range of typologies, such as maisonettes, bungalows, to suit a wide variety of people and accommodate numerous individuals. Each typology would be in a different cluster and located around the site in an enclosing pattern to encase the courtyard.

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THINKING THROUGH MAKING

0 5 TTMW

THINKING THROUGH MAKING WEEK The key themes that I wanted to focus on throughout thinking through making week were materiality and exploring the hybrid between the existing and the new. This led me to probe different options for what would be appropriate for cladding and structural alternatives. The existing structure, which is standing on the site is concrete construction. At the moment, concrete is the most consumed man-made material in the world and the second most consumed material on the planet after water. It is long-lasting and dependable, affordable, and adaptable to many designs. In today’s current climate crisis, TTMW led me to consider using a radical, contrasting material of timber.

The model consisted of me creating two corner blocks out of both materials. The concrete was cast, which included creating a mould out of wooden offcuts, and then pouring a cement mix into the mould to be left to dry. I used wooden offcuts as I wanted a concrete texture to be left against the wood to create a composite of the two materials.

To also help to emphasise the hybrid I wanted to create a structure that reflected a grid, like I intend to do with the routes on my site, to resemble the routes and spaces will pass through to connect both of the structures. It aims to resemble the main space that integration and interaction will take place, and where the new and existing communities will cross over.

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THE EXISTING

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0 5 TTMW

EXHIBITION

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VIENNA

0 6 VIENNA

HOUSING FOR THE PEOPLE In the 1920’s Vienna started to build social housing. The social democratic government of the first republic wished to advance workers quality of life. They desired to assemble large housing networks that were economical and provided suitable living conditions. The housing operated as a ‘city within a city’, and was constructed as confined block expansions. A broad entry point would usually lead into a landscaped courtyard from where the residences would be accessed. Facilities such as supermarkets, and nurseries are frequently located in the common buildings. (Social housing, 2020).

Throughout the field trip we visited the Zwischenbrucken district, the Karl Mark-Hof, and Wohnpark Alt-Erlaa to try and achieve an understanding of why Vienna’s social housing has been much more successful than in the UK. As I had already identified my key concepts as community integration and interaction, I aimed to identify opportunities that Vienna’s social housing had designed for the potential to achieve this throughout the trip and explore elements for interaction. These opportunities were present in architectural elements such as windows. At Karl Marx-Hof this windows on the ground floor were designed at a height that allowed the residents privacy, but still allowed a wide view out onto the courtyard enabling the inhabitants to be able to observe any activity.

ELEMENTS FOR INTERACTION

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BALCONIES IN STREET PATTERNS

0 6 VIENNA

66 67

7

REALISATION

0 7 REALISATION

IMPROVING HOUSING Moving on from staging, I wanted to ensure the scheme was relevant and suitable to integrate the proposed target market within the existing community. When beginning to develop the massing I felt it wasn’t sufficient to attain the intention of an integrated community, due to the proposal of placing each typology separately on the site, which would be inadequate when encouraging groups to mix. This led me to wanting to test a range of typologies stacked and clustered together to see the potential this could have.

By creating spaces to bring all ages together we can help break down the ageist stereotypes that drive us apart. The concern is that an ‘economics only’ approach, rather than a person-centred approach, risks further isolation and stereotyping of older people by only identifying them as a generic age group rather than actively seeking to understand what people’s range of individual needs and preferences might be. When we consider older people as discerning individuals with different care, housing, and community preferences we will be better positioned to provide a greater choice of considered living environments that meet our unique needs and aspirations in later life, which leads to a more robust and sustainable market proposition in the long term.

When thinking about an environment that works well for people of all ages and abilities, our scope should extend far beyond just housing to incorporate care, community, activity, engagement, and the choices available to individuals within and across those categories. Older adults will no longer accept the bare minimum standard of design associated with later living, and this burgeoning sector will continue to respond to the growing demand of individual choice. Designers and developers alike should embrace the opportunity to design to a higher standard, better adapting and catering to the unique needs and desires of this wildly diverse group of people. The design, cost, and value of developments for older people must be considered not only in terms of immediately measurable market forces, but also with reference to the choices that potential residents will make, the implications of those choices, and the benefits that such communities can bring to their surroundings.

I tested the clusters to see what exterior capabilities it could produce, and how it could be arranged to integrate people and create opportunities for mixing and interaction.

70

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0 7 REALISATION

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0 7 REALISATION

ROUTES

A main focus for the site is to focus on the routes that will connect the existing structure with the new. I wanted to experiment with the routes that I could create through the housing where the existing green links could be reinforced with a landscape scheme, extending beyond the housing. The routes should aim to strengthen existing connections and routes from east to west.

76

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0 7 REALISATION

PODIUM

Grocery Store

Newcastle College Library Boots Elderly Day Centre Foyer

Courtyard

PLAN ITERATIONS

For the podium I wanted to accommodate facilities that would attract the new community aswell as the wider community. I wanted to retain the library, pharmacy and re-locate the Newcastle College Facilities. As well as this I wanted to introduce a kids cafe that could accommodate working spaces, as well as play spaces and to provide food and drink. I also want to provide an elderly day centre, where there are social spaces, opportunity for volunteering within the local area, as well as spaces for Edible Elswick and Newcastle women and girls centre, so different groups have the opportunities to work with one another.

Kids Cafe

TOWER

My brief ideas and concepts for the tower are the same as the new housing. I want to encourage interaction and design spaces for unintentional meetings as frequently as possible. I also wanted to refer back to the manifesto, such as ‘Housing standards should not be standard. Currently there are 8 flats on a floor, so each flat only has single aspect windows.

I looked at a student housing tower block in Paris where they had wide corridors with an open mesh wall that allowed light into the corridor and on the other side there were social spaces, so the people passing by could see who was in there and any activity going on. I felt this would be an appropriate idea to implement at Cruddas Park in the tower.

78

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80

INITIAL PLANS

81

0 7 REALISATION

INITIAL SECTIONS

STREET ARRANGEMENT

82

N

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0 7 REALISATION

North Facing Section

N

CLADDING For the cladding I wanted to use a sustainable approach that would contrast against the existing structure. For this reason I decided to choose larch cladding.

I wanted to determine whether I wanted the clusters to be recognised as a whole or whether they could be seen as their own individual homes within the cluster. Due to wanting to implement a very diverse group of people into the site I decided that I wanted the homes to be identified separately. I thought I could do this through the orientation of the cladding so I tested different ways in creating a contrast between each home. This included horizontal cladding, vertical cladding, light, dark, faded and deeper tones of larch.

A major part of developing the facade requires consideration of the window form. I wanted to liven up the facade of the building to convey the character that I want to be implemented across the whole site. As the site is currently mostly unused and empty, I want to bring lots of life into the site to help encourage interaction. Through my research I looked to Holmes Road Studios,

by Peter Barber Architects. It is a high-quality residential scheme for the homeless. Their aim was also to bring life to the site, in order for the residents to have a sense of belonging, self-worth and empowerment. I aim to create a similar atmosphere in my scheme, so that the residents will feel uplifted to help create a desired community.

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ENTRANCES

86

STAIRS

87

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SUSTAINABILITY

BIOMASS

BIKE STORAGE

STRUCTURE

CLT CYCLE

88

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0 7 REALISATION

90

91

0 6 REALISATION

8

SYNTHESIS

0 8 SYNTHESIS

COMMUNITY INTEGRATION AND INTERACTION Throughout synthesis I aimed to communicate the community integrating regardless of culture or language, I intend for the site to be used by children from different households playing, cyclists, people enjoying the atmosphere of the street on warmer days and there will be people from different households getting to know one another from the spatial opportunities that have been created throughout the project.

The perspective is a view point from a photo that I took back at the first site visit, which I feel has an importance in bridging the gap between existing and new, and how I envisage the landscape of the site to change. This lane was quiet and disused, where the only activity seemed to be related to a small newsagents will now connect the existing and the new community together.

The work through synthesis aims to exemplify moments within the site that create spatial opportunities for interaction no matter what scale. They’re apparent in peoples daily routines to work, walking through the routes and through the podium on the way to work. They’re apparent from the kids cafe through the glazed openings, and from within the home, having the opportunities to look out onto the street. They’re visible throughout the podium looking out once again through the glazed openings onto the courtyard and seeing the new housing in the distant background.

A community is not something that can be forced, but by responding to resident’s priorities and creating places that they can call home is a start. Social housing sites usually aren’t cared for as the stigma in the UK teaches that they shouldn’t be. If people have a home that they love and a positive community it helps to begin to break the barriers down.

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0 8 SYNTHESIS

GROUND FLOOR

SECOND FLOOR

FIRST FLOOR

MEZZANINE FLOOR

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PLANS The need to offer adaptability and flexibility in housing is of critical importance in helping to create strong communities. Homes that can adapt to changing needs allow residents to remain even as their circumstances change. Generous kitchen and living spaces form the heart of each home, with south facing façades to take opportunity of the views and light.

The colour key that I have used identifies the different groups within the plans.

The ground floor plan shows the ground floor of both the family homes, and the stairwell and lift, where the rest of the residences can access their homes.

The living spaces are generous, in order to allow big families space to engage and spend time with one another. The open plan layout can help to promote interaction and allow the family to engage with one another, whether watching TV, cooking, eating etc. The spatial arrangement aims to allow for interaction to happen at a smaller scale within the homes, and not just the wider site. The glazing around the living areas allow for the family homes to look out along the street, observe people passing, and also see activities occurring within the other family home from a distance.

FOURTH FLOOR

The first floor plan occupies the first floor of both the family homes and also the apartment for the elderly. The elderly apartment is designed to have a wide corridor, in order to be able to store a wheelchair or any other supported assistance equipment. A balcony is also provided, in order to allow fresh air and a place to sit, instead of the elderly having to make their way back onto the ground floor and main street. There is direct access from the bedroom to the bathroom and kitchen, and direct access from the open plan living space into the bathroom. There is also a separate entrance from the bedroom to the front door.

The second floor accommodates the final floor of the family homes and the ground floor of the home for a single or young professional. This home has large glazed openings that allow the residents to look onto the street and observe activity. The living space is also generous to allow the option for guests to come over. This floor also has decking that can be utilised by all the residents in each cluster.

The mezzanine floor is part of the young professional or single apartment.

It occupies the bedroom and an exterior private balcony, which allows more space for friends over on warm summer nights and views onto the street.

The final group of people, a single parent, couple, or small family are accommodated on the fourth and fifth floor. The downstairs has a kitchen and dining space, with storage and a small office. The upstairs is where the lounge is accommodated, because there was more space available. The bedrooms are big enough to allow a young baby to sleep in their parents room and then when they’re old enough they can move into their own/spare room.

FIFTH FLOOR 98

99

0 8 SYNTHESIS

MASTERPLAN

100

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0 8 SYNTHESIS

S ISTI E T ES E SC EC T ITOI O NN

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0 8 SYNTHESIS

STREET SECTION

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0 8 SYNTHESIS

Another opportunity for observing the activity going on is through the clusters and the views out of the windows onto the decking and onto the street. The activity of the neighbours in the clusters can be observed from the working space in the single parents home. Even though the home is at the top of the cluster, the openings still allow them the potential to mix with the rest of the cluster and observe the activity and movement taking place.

COURTYARD INTERACTION

Another spatial opportunity for interaction that I am implementing is through the glazed facade from the corridor inside the podium that will look out onto the new courtyard space. The glazed openings will allow users of the podium to look out into the courtyard, see activities going on, people sitting and using the outdoor furniture, and this will aim to encourage people to move through the site and make use of the facilities.

N

WINDOW VIEWS WORK ROUTINE

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0 8 SYNTHESIS

Another opportunity for observing interaction is from the ground floor family homes.

The glazed openings that look out onto the street and the walkways allow the families to observe pedestrians passing by, children playing in the street, neighbours interacting and enjoy the atmosphere of the street and have an indoor-outdoor experience, They can also observe the other family home and activities that are taking place in their home from a distance.

KIDS CAFE

The kids cafe will include vibrant play spaces for the children within the community, where families and parents can interact and communicate over a coffee or a bite to eat. The wide open windows will look out over the new housing to observe the convivial atmosphere outside. This space will provide opportunities for interaction by providing a comfortable area for the residents and the wider community.

INTERACTION FROM THE HOME 108

109

0 8 SYNTHESIS

The elderly being able to observe street activity and exterior views from their own balcony.

N

BALCONY EXTERIOR VIEWS Open plan interaction between a family

QUIET SPACE ACTIVITIES

Space to Breathe

Hi Vanessa!

I’ll come and see you up there so we can chat out of the rain!

110

Interaction at different levels

N

111

0 8 SYNTHESIS

STREET INTERACTION

The benches placed in the street are age inclusive.

They have upright backs, warm and comfortable materiality, notches to hold an umbrella or walking stick and handles on each set.

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9

CULTURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

0 9 CULTURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

CARDBOARD WORKSHOP

116

METAL WORKSHOP

117

0 9 CULTURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

COLLAGE WORKSHOP

118

SMALL TALK

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0 9 CULTURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

SMALL TALK

120

ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION

121

0 9 CULTURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

BARCELONA

122

CRAGSIDE HALL

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0 9 CULTURAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

LILAC

SITU LEEDS

LILAC

124

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

2009. Housing Our Ageing Population: Panel For Innovation. [ebook] Available at: <https://www.housinglin.org.uk/_assets/Resources/ Housing/Support_materials/Other_reports_and_guidance/Happi_Final_Report.pdf> [Accessed 14 June 2020].

2012. Housing Our Ageing Population: Plan For Implementation (HAPPI2) Report (2012). [ebook] Available at: <https://www.housinglin.org.uk/_assets/Resources/Housing/Support_materials/Other_reports_and_guidance/Housing_our_Ageing_Population_Plan_for_ Implementation.pdf> [Accessed 1 June 2020].

2016. Housing Our Ageing Population: Positive Ideas (HAPPI 3) - Making Retirement Living A Positive Choice. [ebook] Available at: <http://Housing our Ageing Population: Positive Ideas (HAPPI 3) - Making retirement living a positive choice> [Accessed 7 June 2020].

Academyofurbanism.org.uk. 2020. Urban Idiocy: Brilliant Ideas That Ruined Our Cities | The Academy Of Urbanism. [online] Available at: <https://www.academyofurbanism.org.uk/urban-idiocy-brilliant-ideas-that-ruined-our-cities/> [Accessed 14 June 2020].

BBC News. 2020. Housing Crisis ‘Affects 8.4 Million’ In England. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49787913> [Accessed 22 October 2020].

Chapman, T. and Hockey, J., 2013. Ideal Homes?. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Figures that aren’t authors own: Page 36- 1-https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Wh1RlrnB&id=70A7D9D34BC046F43123E920DF2584775D4F8F26&thid=OIP.Wh1RlrnBpHjAiORwfJateAHaE7&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2foriginals%2f1c%2f6c%2f1c%2f1c6c1cd6f013746eb94397c4d05968c5.jpg&exph=1463&expw=2197&q=old+cruddas+park&simid=607994990412562647&ck=89831C0E4C67D01056DBEE847C1E8F5D&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0 2- Unknown Author Page 37- 1- Unknown Author Page 48- https://www.archdaily.com/220116/savonnerie-heymans-mdw-architecture/ Page 49- https://www.e-architect.co.uk/milan/via-gallarate-milano Page 51- Unknown Author Page 52- https://www.edibleelswick.co.uk/ http://westendwomenandgirls.co.uk/ Page 85- http://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/holmes-road-studios

Dk-cm.com. 2020. SUB-PLAN : DK-CM. [online] Available at: <http://dk-cm.com/projects/sub-plan-a-guide-to-permitted-development/> [Accessed 4 June 2020].

Drawingmatter.org. 2020. Drawing Matter → SETS → Drawings Of The Week → Dogma: The Room Of One’s Own. [online] Available at: <https://www.drawingmatter.org/sets/drawing-week/dogma/> [Accessed 11 May 2020].

Housinglin.org.uk. 2020. Intergenerational Living, Its Scope And Potential: Can Age Integration Be Promoted By Co-Location In Extra Care Settings? - Blogs - Housing LIN. [online] Available at: <https://www.housinglin.org.uk/blogs/Intergenerational-living-its-scope-and-potential/> [Accessed 4 June 2020].

Housinglin.org.uk. 2020. Later Living: Ageing Happily - Blogs - Housing LIN. [online] Available at: <https://www.housinglin.org.uk/ blogs/Later-Living-Ageing-Happily/> [Accessed 5 March 2020].

JACOBS, J., 2020. DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES. [S.l.]: THE BODLEY HEAD LTD. Karakusevic, P. and Batchelor, A., n.d. Social Housing. Newcastle: RIBA. Lacatonvassal.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.lacatonvassal.com/data/documents/20190916-110335oase101_FF_ LV.pdf> [Accessed 10 April 2020].

Morris, J. and Winn, M., 1993. Housing And Social Inequality. London: Hilary Shipman.

Park, J. and Porteus, J., 2018. Age-Friendly Housing.

Schittich, C. and Ebner, P., 2007. In Detail Housing For People Of All Ages. München: Edition DETAIL, Institut für Internationale Architektur-Dokumentation GmbH. Spiers, F., 1999. Housing And Social Exclusion. London: Kingsley.

Tait, J., n.d. The Architecture Concept Book.

Taylor & Francis. 2020. House, Home And Identity From A Consumption Perspective. [online] Available at: <https://www.tandfonline. com/doi/full/10.1080/14036090410025816?scroll=top&needAccess=true> [Accessed 6 March 2020]. the Guardian. 2020. The Guardian View On The UK Housing Crisis: No Plan To Fix It | Editorial. [online] Available at: <https://www. theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/05/the-guardian-view-on-the-uk-housing-crisis-no-plan-to-fix-it> [Accessed 27 October 2020].

UNWIN, R., 2015. NOTHING GAINED BY OVERCROWDING. [Place of publication not identified]: FORGOTTEN Books.

VIENNA – Now. Forever. 2020. Social Housing. [online] Available at: <https://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/architecture-design/social-housing> [Accessed 2 June 2020].

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APPENDIX

11

APPENDIX

Architect/Designer | Other Works

The Center was one of Hadid’s last major projects before she died. The building is ‘a gigantic cultural and confer! ence centre containing three auditoriums, a library and museum’. Zaha Hadid’s innovative designs were per! fect for Baku’s vision for transforming the city into a post-modern and contemporary infrastructure, departing from the city’s ‘normative Soviet Modernism’ past. Typ! ical of Hadid, the building has no straight lines, the over! all form undulating like a wave, composed of a sweeping a fluid form that ‘emerges from the natural topography’.

Vitra Fire Station | Weil Am Rhein, Germany | 1991-1993 |852m2

Guangzhou Opera House | Guangzhou, China | 2003-2010| 70,000m2

Vitra Fire Station was Hadid’s first major project, a small fire sta! tion for a factory. one of Hadid’s smaller works. Its radical design launched Hadid’s career, despite only being used as a fire station for a short time. Its design was considered innovative, made of concrete and glass, and intended to be sculptural, formed of sharp diagonals ‘colliding together in the centre’. The firm describes the building as ‘emerging as a linear, layered series of walls’.

Guangzhou Opera House is one of her largest build! ings midway through her career, and a budget of 300m US$. It is ‘an 1,800-seat theatre, multipurpose the! atre, entry hall, and salon. Hadid described the two main structures as ‘pebbles’, as the buildings were in! spired by natural earth forms, its facade is composed of glass and granite. The gentle curving interiors and massive spaces make it an amazing sensory experience.

Spittelau Viaducts Housing Project Zaha Hadid Architects

Heydar Aliyev Center | Baku, Azerbaijan | 2007-2013| 15,514m2 4

1

Architect/Designer | Architectural Style

Introduction

Collage of Zaha Hadid’s drawings and paintings

Spittelau Viaducts Housing Project by Zaha Hadid Archi! tects is located on the bank of the Danube Canal in the Al! sergrund District of Vienna, Austria. First commissioned and conceptualised in 1994 and completed in 2005, the City of Vienna used the 4000 square metre project aimed to ‘revitalise’ this waterfront area of Wiener Guertel and extend Vienna’s social housing, by combining a multitude of uses- housing, offices and studios- over three buildings.

Collage of some of Zaha Hadid’s buildings

Considered one of the most dis! tinctive/radical styles, it is impos! sible to place her work into any category or style of architecture.

All of her buildings are visually very different in shape and size and materiality, yet her work has a running theme of aiming to en! gage the senses and be fluid, with pure formal mathematical geom! etries and patterns. The works focus on the building’s aesthetics as a whole and less on detail and specific requirements. Hadid’s tu! tor Zhenglais described her -‘She couldn’t care about tiny details.’

The reinforced concrete structure with a façade of plas! ter and metal-framed glazing is built over and around the arches of an old protected viaduct, with some parts of the structure supported by concrete stilts, de! scribed by the architects as ‘[interacting] playfully with the viaduct, creating new experiences and vistas’.

The building is now over a decade old, and can be consid! ered to not have fulfilled its intended use and purpose as the architect intended, as many of it’s spaces are now unoccu! pied, and much of the facade and immediate site has fallen into disrepair.

Hadid’s work is characterised by her iconic drawings and paint! ings of her buildings. The draw! ings are abstract and aiming to be free-flowing and communicative.

Her forms have been described as ‘liberating architectural geom! etry’, as are expremely expres! sive and avoiding geometrical rigour. The Guardian described her as ‘queen of the curve’, with her recurring use of sweeping lines and planes. It is impossible to find right angles- she is quot! ed as saying “The idea is not to have any 90-degree angles. In the beginning, there was the diagonal. The diagonal comes from the idea of the explosion

Group Members Rachel Sexton Architects/designers, structural strategy

Isabel Chapman Concept and design development, materiality

Sophie Spoor Programme, spatial sequence

Charlie Barratt Typology, environmental strategy

Talal Bader Site, threshold 5

2

Architect/Designer | Context of Architectural Eras

Architect/Designer Company Logo

Iraqi-British architect Dame Zaha Hadid DBE RA (1950-2016) studied mathematics in Beirut, and then studied at the Architectural Associa! tion School for Architecture in Lon! don. Aftre graduating, she worked for Rem Koolhas in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in the Netherlands, and founded her firm Zaha Hadid Architects in 1980 in London, now international! ly renowned. The company em! ploys a large team of architects to deliver the projects, and now aim to continue Hadid’s legacy in their ongoing work, with 350 staff in their London office alone.

Hadid’s firm was founded in the 1980’s and the practice’s first ma! jor work was in 1993 and they have continued to consistently produce many buildings right up until pres! ent day. When Zaha Hadid found! ed her practice, and completed her first project, Post-Modern! ism and High -tech architecture (late modernism) were reigning architectural styles, followed, with Deconstructivism appear! ing shortly after her practice was founded. In the last years of her life, the era of sustainable ar! chitecture began to emerge.

The company has a huge repetoire of projects all produced in collabo! ration with clients, with over 140 buildings in 28 countries stretch! ing 6 continents, many award win! ning. Hadid’s firm is famous for and pride themselves on leading contemporary architecture with their innovative and distinctive de! signs that combine free and for! ward thinking designs and drawing with new technologies. Their de! signs are at all at a variety of scales, budget, programmatic require! ments and context but all aim to be culturally significant to the area.

The practice aims to design with a ‘democratic attitude’, and of! fer generous and spacious plublic spaces that are well articulated.

Futurism has been a consist! ent style that many say Had! id was very influenced by and many buildings are obviously inspired by it, involving long dy! namic lines suggesting speed.

Although Hadid’s architecture fits into none of these eras complete! ly, different elements of certain buildings are inspired by charac! teristics of these eras, especially Deconstructivism, with its charac! tersistic of appearing to fragment a building. Many critics have catego! rised Hadid as being a main leader of the deconstrucivist movement.

!"#"$%"&'&

3

132

6

133

11

APPENDIX

Architect/Designer | Other Works

The Center was one of Hadid’s last major projects before she died. The building is ‘a gigantic cultural and confer! ence centre containing three auditoriums, a library and museum’. Zaha Hadid’s innovative designs were per! fect for Baku’s vision for transforming the city into a post-modern and contemporary infrastructure, departing from the city’s ‘normative Soviet Modernism’ past. Typ! ical of Hadid, the building has no straight lines, the over! all form undulating like a wave, composed of a sweeping a fluid form that ‘emerges from the natural topography’.

Vitra Fire Station | Weil Am Rhein, Germany | 1991-1993 |852m2

Guangzhou Opera House | Guangzhou, China | 2003-2010| 70,000m2

Vitra Fire Station was Hadid’s first major project, a small fire sta! tion for a factory. one of Hadid’s smaller works. Its radical design launched Hadid’s career, despite only being used as a fire station for a short time. Its design was considered innovative, made of concrete and glass, and intended to be sculptural, formed of sharp diagonals ‘colliding together in the centre’. The firm describes the building as ‘emerging as a linear, layered series of walls’.

Guangzhou Opera House is one of her largest build! ings midway through her career, and a budget of 300m US$. It is ‘an 1,800-seat theatre, multipurpose the! atre, entry hall, and salon. Hadid described the two main structures as ‘pebbles’, as the buildings were in! spired by natural earth forms, its facade is composed of glass and granite. The gentle curving interiors and massive spaces make it an amazing sensory experience.

Spittelau Viaducts Housing Project Zaha Hadid Architects

Heydar Aliyev Center | Baku, Azerbaijan | 2007-2013| 15,514m2 4

1

Architect/Designer | Architectural Style

Introduction

Collage of Zaha Hadid’s drawings and paintings

Spittelau Viaducts Housing Project by Zaha Hadid Archi! tects is located on the bank of the Danube Canal in the Al! sergrund District of Vienna, Austria. First commissioned and conceptualised in 1994 and completed in 2005, the City of Vienna used the 4000 square metre project aimed to ‘revitalise’ this waterfront area of Wiener Guertel and extend Vienna’s social housing, by combining a multitude of uses- housing, offices and studios- over three buildings.

Collage of some of Zaha Hadid’s buildings

Considered one of the most dis! tinctive/radical styles, it is impos! sible to place her work into any category or style of architecture.

All of her buildings are visually very different in shape and size and materiality, yet her work has a running theme of aiming to en! gage the senses and be fluid, with pure formal mathematical geom! etries and patterns. The works focus on the building’s aesthetics as a whole and less on detail and specific requirements. Hadid’s tu! tor Zhenglais described her -‘She couldn’t care about tiny details.’

The reinforced concrete structure with a façade of plas! ter and metal-framed glazing is built over and around the arches of an old protected viaduct, with some parts of the structure supported by concrete stilts, de! scribed by the architects as ‘[interacting] playfully with the viaduct, creating new experiences and vistas’.

The building is now over a decade old, and can be consid! ered to not have fulfilled its intended use and purpose as the architect intended, as many of it’s spaces are now unoccu! pied, and much of the facade and immediate site has fallen into disrepair.

Hadid’s work is characterised by her iconic drawings and paint! ings of her buildings. The draw! ings are abstract and aiming to be free-flowing and communicative.

Her forms have been described as ‘liberating architectural geom! etry’, as are expremely expres! sive and avoiding geometrical rigour. The Guardian described her as ‘queen of the curve’, with her recurring use of sweeping lines and planes. It is impossible to find right angles- she is quot! ed as saying “The idea is not to have any 90-degree angles. In the beginning, there was the diagonal. The diagonal comes from the idea of the explosion

Group Members Rachel Sexton Architects/designers, structural strategy

Isabel Chapman Concept and design development, materiality

Sophie Spoor Programme, spatial sequence

Charlie Barratt Typology, environmental strategy

Talal Bader Site, threshold 5

2

Architect/Designer | Context of Architectural Eras

Architect/Designer Company Logo

Iraqi-British architect Dame Zaha Hadid DBE RA (1950-2016) studied mathematics in Beirut, and then studied at the Architectural Associa! tion School for Architecture in Lon! don. Aftre graduating, she worked for Rem Koolhas in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in the Netherlands, and founded her firm Zaha Hadid Architects in 1980 in London, now international! ly renowned. The company em! ploys a large team of architects to deliver the projects, and now aim to continue Hadid’s legacy in their ongoing work, with 350 staff in their London office alone.

Hadid’s firm was founded in the 1980’s and the practice’s first ma! jor work was in 1993 and they have continued to consistently produce many buildings right up until pres! ent day. When Zaha Hadid found! ed her practice, and completed her first project, Post-Modern! ism and High -tech architecture (late modernism) were reigning architectural styles, followed, with Deconstructivism appear! ing shortly after her practice was founded. In the last years of her life, the era of sustainable ar! chitecture began to emerge.

The company has a huge repetoire of projects all produced in collabo! ration with clients, with over 140 buildings in 28 countries stretch! ing 6 continents, many award win! ning. Hadid’s firm is famous for and pride themselves on leading contemporary architecture with their innovative and distinctive de! signs that combine free and for! ward thinking designs and drawing with new technologies. Their de! signs are at all at a variety of scales, budget, programmatic require! ments and context but all aim to be culturally significant to the area.

The practice aims to design with a ‘democratic attitude’, and of! fer generous and spacious plublic spaces that are well articulated.

Futurism has been a consist! ent style that many say Had! id was very influenced by and many buildings are obviously inspired by it, involving long dy! namic lines suggesting speed.

Although Hadid’s architecture fits into none of these eras complete! ly, different elements of certain buildings are inspired by charac! teristics of these eras, especially Deconstructivism, with its charac! tersistic of appearing to fragment a building. Many critics have catego! rised Hadid as being a main leader of the deconstrucivist movement.

!"#"$%"&'&

3

134

6

135

11

APPENDIX

Typology Spittelau Housing

Urban housing (Three Houses)

Karl Marx-Hof

(1:10,000)

(1:1000)

(1:1000)

36 Apartments

100 Apartments (approx)

1382 Apartments

Approximate Max Inhabitants: 90

Approximate Max Inhabitants: 250

Approximate Max Inhabitants: 5,000

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Typology | Interaction Spittelau Housing

Urban housing (Three Houses)

Karl Marx-Hof

Spittelau is one key example of how a building badly interacts with the street and pedestrians passing by. There is obvous proof of disslike in the form of graffiti. The ground floor of the building offers nothing to passers by and nothing to the waterfront.

This building expresses how to successfuly interact with the street and pedes! trians. The apartment blocks bring value to the street in the form of a popular cafe that is very well-recieved by locals. The way it spills out onto the street makes the building inviting.

The buildings give an enormous amount to the local community in terms of facilities. One example is this squash centre, used by poeple from all edges of vienna. The courtyards also form routes that are part of many peoples daily routines, even if they dont live there.

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Typology | Form Spittelau Housing

Urban housing (Three Houses)

Karl Marx-Hof

One thing is instantly noticable about this building: the absence of right an! The form of this building is much more economical and highlightings a dif! The scale of this building is almost uncomparable to the other two. It is the gles. The form of this building does not seem to be influenced by the site, ference focus of the scheme. This building puts its occupants and the use of sheer size and scale of this project which determines its form. It vast size pro! wider context or environment, but by the architects style.This caused a great spaces above fancy formwork and elaborate angled facades. duces the need for huge coutyards and blocks of etreme length. deal of expense.

LANDSCAPING

The immediate context is exteremly hard and harsh, as is the form of the These apartment blocks are extremely well nestled within their site. They sit building. It is surrounded by concrete and tarmac pavements with look down among old and newly planted trees and bushes and connect seamlessly with onto the canal, which is possibly the only soft feature of this building. There is near by parks. Childrens play apperatus is even provided on the site. a noticable absence of greenary.

The extremly spacious courtyards prive the inhabitants of these apartments with plenty of green space. There are spaces for kids to play, dogs to be walked and people to exercise. These courtyards are nearly entired turfed and are filled with trees.

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APPENDIX

Concept and Design Development

Programme | Private and Public spaces

The array of apartments, offices and studios are intend! ed to ‘weave like a ribbon through, around and over the arched bays of the viaduct’ (Zaha Hadid Architects, 2005).

Playfully interacting with the protected viaduct, an interest! ing relationship is created between two structures which do not touch.

Ground Floor Plan

The public spaces are located on the ground floor. The intention was to also create public outdoor spaces to invigorate the space, through the infill of restaurants and bars, situated under the arches of the viaduct. However, when visiting the site there was the quick realisation that most of these spaces were disused or abandoned. There was evidence of a couple of office spaces in use, filled with desks, filing systems and organisers, however this was the only activity that was apparent. The private spaces are from the second to the fourth floor, consisting of spaces to contain 36 apartments. The intention was also for the rooftop to accommodate private retreats and roof terraces to take advantage of the visual activity along the canal.

The high contrast and lack of touch results in a building which feels more than physically detached from the site.

First Floor Plan

Semi-Private Private Public

Second, Third and Fourth Floor Plan

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Programme | Issues

Concept and Design Development

The concept drawings and models created by Zaha Hadid Architects for this project are highly focused on the shape and abstract form of the three buildings. The way that the buildings inter! act with each other is highly developed but the relationship with the context of the site is less considered.

Private Space Public Space Map illustrating the difficuty of accessing the site

The idea was that there would be some 36 apartments in the building, with an assortment of restaurants, shops, bars, and offices established in the original brick arches or nearby. However, shortly after launching, inhabitants began to move out and the commercial side was soon neglected with no further development planned. When looking at the map there are clear reasons as to why this site hasn’t been successful. The site is isolated as it is so close to the canal, due to the railway and the road disconnecting it from the community being able to access it with ease.

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Spatial Sequence | Entrances

Concept and Design Development

There are several entrance points to the building. With the building being held in 3 different blocks the entrances are spread out around the site. When on site, the entrances to the housing aren’t very apparent, because you are confronted with the public spaces as the private spaces are located from the second floor and above. The studios are vacant, which doesn’t make anyone’s arrivals very inviting as they are inaccessible due to the locks and shielded with graffiti, as can be seen in the sketches on the right. There are 3 entrances to the building on the ground floor which provide access to the housing and two entrances on the first floor which provide the same access.

The shape and form of the three struc! tures appears to be derived from the directional influence of the site. The longitudinal configuration of the buildings along the river bank reflect the lines of the river, viaduct, railway and road which all run the same way across the site.

Ground Floor plan showing entrance points

Sketch and photo montage of entry point

First floor plan showing entrance points

Sketch and photo montage of entry point

Private Space Public Space

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Railway

Viaduct

Donaukanal

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APPENDIX

Environment | Energy

Spatial Sequence | Routes through the site

Water vapour & filtered flue gasses Waste is delivered by 250 trucks each day, with each truck tipping its load into a huge bunker topped by a garden densely planted with trees. The waste is then fed into two incinerator lines capable of handling 18 tonnes per hour.

Burning the waste is only the first stage in a complex process of treatment.

The bulk of the plant is taken up by sophisticated flue gas scrubbing systems and an ultramodern dioxin destruction facility.

These scrubbers remove hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and dust, while the second phase removes sulphur dioxide before the flue gases go through selective catalytic reduction, before being released into the atmosphere.

Turbine

Scrubbers

Furnace Pedestrian/ Bike access to the site

Car/vehicle access to the site

Train access to the site

Waste

These diagrams analyse the routes and the possible journeys that can be taken in order to access the site. Running behind the Spittelau Viaducts Housing is the “Spittelauer Lände“ which is one of Vienna’s busiest and well-travelled highways in which cars can use to access the housing. The Danube Canal which connects Germany to Hungary has a busy bike path that runs along its banks, in which pedestrians can also utilise. There is also the Viennese railway system and Otto Wagner’s viaducts.

With all three-transport links it results in a noisy and busy atmosphere around the site, with the sound of traffic from the cars, and many people passing through the site along the canal either by foot or bike. Many complaints have also been received, since the railway runs so closely alongside the site and disrupts the atmosphere. The bike path is utilised by many people out on a jog or a bike ride, which results in an atmosphere still hanging around the site even though the building doesn’t appear to have much use.

Warm water output used for heating Ash output recycled in construction

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Spatial Sequence | Interior vertical cirulation

Environment | Noise Pollution Journalist: “In the apartments overlooking the highway, though measures were taken to reduce the sound of traffic, The architect failed to consider the vibrations felt from the underground trains.”

Point at which trainline goes underground

Photo of interior stairwell circulation

Photo of interior stairwell circulation

Trainline

Photo of interior stairwell circulation

Waterfront

Architect: “The problem of soundproofing and vibration from the trains of the working subway isn’t solved in the apartments facing the highway.”

Resident:

There is little evidence from photos on what the inside of the building is like, apart from the plans and section, however the interior circulation is still self-explanatory from these drawings. For each block on the site there is a staircase, and in some cases a lift, that leads through each floor and onto an internal corridor that leads the occupant to their apartment.

Section diagram showing circulation throughout building and inhabitation

“I was woken up every morning by the subway trains shaking my bedroom.”

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Materiality

Environment

The external surfaces of the three buildings are composed of white plas! Alongside the strong lines and angles, the lack of colour makes the angu! ter and exposed concrete. The crisp, clear, monochrome tones are simple lar shapes become sharper and more dramatic. More attention is inten! and quiet, and coupled with the smoothness of the concrete, the tones tionally drawn to the edges and the angles of the forms. are calm and elegant.

Spittelau Housing project is situated adjacent to the Spittelau Incinerator, from which the building recieves its power and heating. Infact the heat it gen! erates is sufficiently provides heating for 15,000 homes in the city.

Materials recycling in Vienna amounts to 30 per cent of the overall waste volume, with a further 9.5 per cent going to make compost. Of the rest, 49 per cent is incinerated, representing an annual saving of 330,000 tonnes of oil, and only 11.5 per cent is landfilled.

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White Plaster

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APPENDIX

Materiality | Contrast to Viaduct

Structural Strategy | Overall Strategy

There is a stark contrast between the materiality of the new white buildings and the old brick viaduct around which are heightened by their unambiguous visual differences. The choice by the architects to build something on the site the building is playfully situated. The themes around the interaction and lack of touch between the two structures so dissimilar to the existing site is not unusual for their style.

Above are my reproductions of overall plans of the buildings- highlighting the additional core structure of internal concrete columns running throughout the building to support the sloped exterior walls and the roof. These are unevenly spaced and located in close proximity to external walls. The walls within the building are a mixture of loadbearing walls and parti walls- with loadbearing walls often seperating flats or different functions such as th commercial units.

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Materiality | Deterioration Weathering

Structural Strategy| Detail Section- Structural Issues

Graffiti

The lack of intended activity and use in and around the building is evident through the deterioration seen on the site. The facades are weathered, dirty and vandalised. In comparison to the clear white surfaces which were revealed when the building was first opened, the damage and lack of upkeep demon! strate peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s negative attitudes towards the building.

These photographs show an area of the building next to a doorway on the ground floor where the wall had been broken- revealing the in! teranl materiality and construction of pre-cast concrete beneath the plaster facade and polystyrene,insulation, the wall ties made of plastic

An external wall detail of the ground floor

Why was this construction type used over over technqiues?

This the use of concrete as the internal structure and the columns was important as is more easily cast in the diagonal and sloping parts of the building, and is strong and able to sup! port the heavy load of the sloing upper floor compared to other techniques such as timber.

Concrete is also a cheaper option, and the facade of plaster is again easy to cast for the sloping diagonal surfaces, and creates the visual effect of plain white walls that emphasise the forms.

Structual Issues: Cheap and easily breakable materials have been used to cut costs in this building- with an extremely thin plaster facade that was broken in many places, revealing polystyrene insulation which is also cheap and not environmentally friendly. These photographs exemplify how easily the flimsy wall can be broken through, to reveal the inner con! crete. this can pose a health and safety issue, and can lead the concrete within to become weathered and unstable.

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Structural Strategy | Overall Strategy To the left are my own reproduc! tions of sections of the buildings that show the sloped pre-cast concrete walls, with the sup! porting columns for overhanging parts of the structure. There is a thick load-bearing concrete slab running through the centre of the building, redistributing the load horizontally, on the level where on some parts of the build! ing there is only internal space above it.

The building sinks into the ground, with the base! ment spaces having much thicker walls to protect from collapsing and act in part as foundations.

The diagrams above show the layout and slope of the external supporting columns- the use of slanting columns is necessary to be in keeping with the diagonal forms of the rest of the build! ing- and are less likely to buck! le and snap under the weight as they create triangular form which are structurally stronger at load-bearing than geomet! ric structures with right angles such as squares and rectangles

The mid-way slab is construct! ed of thick horizontal beams with space and insulation be! tween- this thick floor is cru! cial to support the sloping ver! tical above it from collapsing.

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APPENDIX