Fall's Gardens - Architectural Design Studio 5 “Memory Architecture: Re-Framing the Margins”

Falls Garden’s.

Project By - Peter Ghionis Swinburne University - Bachelor of Design (Architecture) BA-ARC ARC3002 Architectural Design Studio 5 “Memory Architecture: Re-Framing the Margins” Teaching Team - Dr Ian Woodcock, A/Prof Flavia Marcello and Martín Alvarez

Abstract.

The concept for “Falls Gardens” arises from its place. It centres on Queensbridge connecting Southbank Promenade crossing the Yarra River to Flinders Street.

The project celebrates the historical si-gnificance of this site dating back to the original conditions of the land and water that gave it significance as a place. The current Queensbridge sits on top of what was once a natural waterfall separating the freshwater of the Yarra River from the saltwater of the bay. The break in the water here was a common crossing point of the Yarra in Victoria’s pre-contact era and is known to be the first bridging point across what was then known as the Birrarung.

This place holds significant cultural importance to the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the original custodians of the land. It was a major meeting place, food source and held great spiritual and ecological importance to the area.

Falls Gardens reflects and celebrates the rich ecology and spiritual significance that the place continues to have despite its destruction and replacement with Queensbridge – a four lane road with a pair of tram tracks. Falls Gardens replaces Queensbridge, to provide open and semi-enclosed gardens, theatre/performance spaces & memorial waterfall public art pieces, along with new tram termini at either end. The intent of the gardens is to guide the user through a transformed and juxtaposed urban and ecological context.

Acknowledgement of Country I respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners of the land in which my project is on, and pay my respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

I am honoured to recognise my connection to Wurundjeri Country, history, culture and spirituality through these locations, and strive to ensure that I operate in a manner that respects and honours the Elders and Ancestors of these lands.

I also acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of lands across Australia, their Elders, Ancestors, cultures and heritage.

Melbourne from the falls, 30 June 1837 - Robert Russel

https://www.watercolourworld.org/painting/melbourne-falls-30-june-1837-tww012a86

Queens Bridge - Melbourne

https://www.google.com/maps/search/queens+railway+bridge/@-37.8206159,144.960 8632,365m/data=!3m1!1e3

Content.

Falls Gardens Epidaurus Amphitheatre Further Precedents & Initial Concept Frameworks & Theme Development Mapping Historical&Context

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Falls Gardens.

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Site Context & Program

The concept for “Falls Gardens� arises from its place. It centres on Queensbridge connecting Southbank Promenade crossing the Yarra River to Flinders Street.

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The movement diagram indicates the points of access to and through the site.

The main feature being the terminating the No. 58 tram line to create two defined entry points. The removal of the road and tram network in this area also allowed me to bring Enterprize Park to the waters edge.

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Fall’ s Gardens Elevations.

WEST

NORTH

SOUTH

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EAST

The elevations and perspective illustrate the hemispherical nature of the canopy that has been designed to juxtapose the rectilinear form of the city skyline.

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NORTH (RAIL VIADUCT)

I have broken down the plans of the gardens into 3 main sectors, the north viaduct portion, the central gardens and the Southbank Promenade terminus.

The North Viaducts that run from Flinder’s Street Station was the main point of access interest. I wanted the approach to this area to be visually engaging from every perspective. It is also the location of tandem bike parking bays and cafÊ.

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CENTRAL GARDENS

Irrigated from the Yarra river and the namesake of the project, the Fall’s art installations are the centerpiece to the landscaped garden and public spaces throughout the site. Aimed to reflect and recognize the lands previous state, The Falls central gardens will consist of native flora and will house various pockets of performing art space and public seating areas.

The path throughout curves and elevates, offering seating and step free movement throughout. The design of this mode of access was critical in allowing for ambulant access in the same frame as non-ambulant.

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The main key building element is the sensory canopy that spans the length of the river. It has been designed to filter the users visual and acoustic perspective throughout each zone.

The covered spaces filter the visual perspective of the city skyline whilst the hemispherical dome like shape was designed to amplify the falls memorial art pieces, resonating the sound within and filtering the surrounding hum of the city.

Oculi in the domes reinforce awareness of natural rhythms by emphasizing the play of sunlight.

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SOUTHBANK PROMENADE TERMINUS

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The internal pathway through the gardens has been designed to create a close engagement with the memorial pieces.

Portions of the path cross over the falls, reminiscent of the crossing nature of the original.

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The size and scale of the canopy was created to amplify the presence and importance of the sites context. Varying the amount of cover in each portion, separating zones and offering various sensory experiences.

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Australia is renowned for its culturally diverse population but more often than not, the culture and history of Aboriginal people is erased, unknown and ignored, let alone celebrated.

Falls Gardens embraces this notion, offering a new perspective on culture, history and sense of place, making moves towards a more complete and inclusive sense of Australian culture.

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Epidaurus Amphitheatre.

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Main Precedent - Memory Architecture.

The driving focus in my project and constant point of reference.

Epidaurus Amphitheatre contains features in which helped me unlock what a sense of place and memory meant in reference to my own site context.

Visiting this site personally, I was able to experience the phenomenological qualities the theatre had.

Three main features were in the acoustics, size and history of what had been before.

The fact that the theatre is still in use today was another key talking point in realizing the dramatic change and destruction in such a small period of time in the context of my subject site, and what kind of impact this would have had to the memory and place that it once was.

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Floor Plan & Analysis.

The theatre is predominately made from limestone.

The limestone properties assist in the resonating of sound throughout the theatre.

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Surrounding vegetation assists in ambient noise reduction and acts as an environmental buffer.

Built into an unobstructed clifside, the theatres acoustic properties are further enhanced due to the elevated seating capturing the sound as its projected from the orchestra and skene below.

The acoustic diagram shows the way in which the seating was designed to reflect and trap sound waves from the orchestra below.

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Futher Precedents & Initial Concept.

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As my analysis and understanding of the context of my site grew, I expanded on further precedents resembling similar phenomenological features I was aiming to uncover in my own project.

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Initial Sketch.Program &

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The initial program for the site began with removing the existing bridges road and pedestrian infrastructure and elevating the No. 58 Tram line on an incline towards Flinder’s St. This created the space below to allow the whole bridge to become a public pedestrian zone. The tram would terminate at the junction of Queens Bridge and Enterprize Park.

Under the tram line and spanning the length of the bridge would be a waterfall art installation irrigated from the Yarra river. The falls were designed to resemble the steppingstone nature of the falls that were once present.

The falls break onto the western side of the bridge following the stream of the Yarra and would be the centre piece to the landscaped garden and public spaces throughout the bridge.

Fall’s Gardens Concept Sketch

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Site Movement & Ideation.

Movement Layout

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Exiting onto the gardens below, the tram terminal will house indigenous art installations and its ceiling infrastructure will be intersected by the city loop rail line. The intersection aims to create a civic space of reflection on pre and post European settlement conditions.

The pedestrian circulation will engage the user with the falls, zig zagging throughout the extents of the bridges garden network and performing spaces.

Initial Pedestrian Movement Ideation Sketch

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Further Precedents.

Precedent 2 - Falling Water - Frank Lloyd Wright The house was designed for a Edgar Kaufmann’s family holiday home which faced a 9 meter waterfall of the Bear Run Nature Reserve in rural Pennsylvania.

The house was designed on top of the existing falls cantilevering the floor plates of the terraces over the running stream.

The nature of the waterfalls flow and surroundings is something I aim to emulate in my proposed landscaping of my subject site.

Falling Water - Frank Lloyd Wright

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/07/fallingwater-frank-lloyd-wright-pennsylvania-house-usa-150th-birthday/

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Precedent 3 - 911 Memorial & Museum - Michael Arad Quotes taken from the official memorial website: “Although water flows into the voids, they can never be filled. The sound of the cascading water makes the pools a place of tranquility and contemplation separate from the bustling noises of the city.”

“More than 400 swamp white oak trees fill the Memorial plaza around the pools. This hardy species of tree is native to the areas of all three 9/11 crash sites: New York City; Arlington, Virginia; and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.”

According to the architect, Michael Arad, the pools represent “absence made visible.”

911 Memorial and Museum - Michael Arad - Photograph by Jin s. Lee https://www.911memorial.org/visit/memorial/about-memorial

The features of silence amongst a bustling city and the use of native vegetation were key in the intent for the central canopied spaces in my design.

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Further Precedents.

Precedent 3 - Cenotaph for Newton - Etienne-Louis Boullée “For Boullée the sphere represented perfection and majesty, creating soft gradations of light across its curved surface and having an “immeasurable hold over our senses”

Cenotaph for Newton - Section - Ettiene-Louis Boullee

https://www.archdaily.com/614908/society-for-atheistic-spirituality-to-construct-etienne-louis-boullee-s-cenotaph-for-newton

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The scale in which Boullee designed the cenotaph was something I tried emulating in my design. The effect and theatre it gave to the space offered a true representation of recognition.

The sheer scale and speed in which infrastructure has grown in the immediate context hinted at the potential of my project being lost through time.

I wanted my project to reshape the city skyline for generations to come and cement itself in the memory of its context.

Precedent 4 -The Gathering Circle at The Spirit Garden - Ontario, Canada - Brook Mcilroy & Ryan Gorrie The Garden extends to Lake Superior considered to be of high cultural significance to the indigenous people of the area. The pavilion was designed to reflect a traditional aboriginal bentwood building technique and was sustainably constructed. Following with the theme, I selected this precedent as I would like to implement a similar principle in to the open canopied garden spaces in my project.

The Gathering Circle - Ontario, Canada

https://aasarchitecture.com/2012/11/gathering-circle-at-the-spirit-garden-by-brook-mcilroy-and-ryan-gorrie.html/

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Further Precedents.

Precedent 5 - Possum Skin Cloak - Lee Daroch “Once an everyday item for Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia, possum skin cloaks were worn for warmth, used as baby carriers, coverings at night, drums in ceremony and for burial.

Worn from a young age, cloaks started out small with a few skins sewn together to wrap a baby. Over time, more skins were added so that as a person grew, their cloaks grew with them.�

In 2016 Lee Darroch was commissioned to create a possum skin cloak for the AIATSIS collection.

Features of the cloak helped shape the movement throughout my project.

The AIATSIS Possum Skin Cloak - Lee Daroch - 2016 https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/possum-skin-cloak

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Precedent 6 - Possum-skin cloak: Blackfella road - Lorraine Connelly-Northey “Possum-skin cloak: Blackfella road references the desecration of culturally sensitive burial sites resulting from the construction of an unsealed road near Swan Hill.”

Another contemporary approach to the indigenous possum skin cloak, Lorraine’s perspective of this culturally sensitive topic of displacement and destruction.

The way in which Lorraine expresses this sensitivity in a free flowing organic nature is something I found to be quite an interesting interpretation that made sense to the placement of the memorial art pieces in my own project.

Possum-skin cloak: Blackfella road - Lorraine Connelly-Northey - NGV https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/108726/

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Frameworks & Theme Development.

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The development of the framework grew as further information was unpacked from myself and my group members relevant sites.

Five key themes were outlined as defining features relevant to the design.

- Cultural Recognition - Historic Significance - Connection - Interposed Nature - Reflection

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Required Design Features.

Acoustic Perspective Inside vs Out

Visual Perspective

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Natural Materiality

Juxtaposing Natural and Fabricated Materials

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Mapping & Historical Context.

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Group Project Theme - Victorian Rail Line Development and Pre-Contact Indigenous Land Early planning of the rail networks and subsequent construction showed no consideration for the land’s predecessors.

Land was a fundamental aspect to the Aboriginal people. They believed that the land was shaped by the actions of their spiritual ancestors who traveled across the landscape, one did not own land but rather belonged to it. Being semi-nomadic they were not driven by materialism but rather an emphasis on social, religious and spiritual activities.

Since original planning and infrastructure of the rail networks, portions of rail networks have since been removed, various land has been reclaimed and this cultural significance to the Aboriginal people has been recognized. An engagement of acoustic memory of pre and post settlement will be the main design driven focus across each project, with an emphasis on the conflicting characteristics of nature versus infrastructure.

The spaces we aim to reflect on with our architecture will focus a place of cultural remembrance and celebration of the people of the Kulin nation of Victoria, along with the broader indigenous and non-indigenous Australian context.

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Mapping Analysis.

The excersize behind this map was to unearth lost points of culturally significant campsites and dense bushland.

This was done to gain an understanding of the ecology but also a sense of where Wurundjeri people would typically reside.

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This map is important in illustrating the locality of the first rail line in Victoria and what it impacted during its construction.

The rail line runs directly through the dense bushland that would have been home to various native flora and fauna.

The destruction this would have caused to the natural ecology of the land is extremely evident.

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https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231398700/view

Upon investigating Victoria’s rail network planning scheme during 1880, the allowance for future rail networks was given as a 24km radius from the current central network that had already displaced the land.

It is clear from the amount allowed for future rail networks, that there was absolutely no regard for the lands indigenous.

The rail map below it in 1927 shows the product of this planning scheme. From this it is extremely evident the impact that this built network of infrastructure would have caused for the states indigenous people and the countries ecology.

https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE15491522&mode=browse

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Mapping Analysis.

Although the current rail line map in the subject site seems a promising improvement to the plethora of network of the early 1900’s, there is still extremely culturally significant points in which these rail networks disrespect.

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The past and present overlay shows this dense infrastructure development and the slow recall of its destruction.

This is where I drew on for my site selection.

Queens bridge sits at the cornerstone of a memory of colonialist destruction and displacement, the locality in which Fall’s Gardens will replace and revive spiritual connection to memory and to place.

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Australia is renowned for its culturally diverse population but more often than not, the culture and history of Aboriginal people is erased, unknown and ignored, let alone celebrated.

Falls Gardens embraces this notion, offering a new perspective on culture, history and sense of place, making moves towards a more complete and inclusive sense of Australian culture.

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Resources.

Main Project Resources https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/history.aspx#:~:text=Victoria%3A%20The%20 first%20railway%20line,feeding%20the%20Melbourne%20tram%20system. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231398700/view https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE15491522&mode=browse https://overland.org.au/2012/07/melbourne-from-the-falls/ http://www.workingwithindigenousaustralians.info/content/History_2_60,000_years. html https://aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/possum-skin-cloak https://pocketozmelbourne.com.au/sandridge-bridge.html https://poi-australia.com.au/points-of-interest/australia/victoria/melbourne/queensbridge-c-1889-william-st-melbourne-vic/ https://cbdnews.com.au/aboriginal-history-in-the-hoddle-grid%EF%BB%BF/

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https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/108726/

Theme map image resources: https://www.gapingvoid.com/content/uploads/2016/04/make-a-connection.jpg https://thriveglobal.com/stories/win-your-life-by-harnessing-the-power-of-reflection/ https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1e/8d/e1/1e8de1cb6fcbbe7c6881b7cb94c73377.jpg https://blog.csiro.au/national-eucalyptus-day-five-things-you-might-not-know-aboutthese-flowering-giants/ Epidaurus Precedent Resources: https://eng.travelogues.gr/item.php?view=49372 http://www.kvl.cch.kcl.ac.uk/THEATRON/theatres/epidaurus/assets/images/epimg14. html https://www.greeka.com/peloponnese/epidaurus/sightseeing/epidaurus-ancient-theatre/ https://visitworldheritage.com/en/eu/sanctuary-of-asclepius-at-epidaurus-greece/3772 5626-da68-4581-9736-1df11c27b248

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