Soft Site.

Elective Pamphlets

Soft Site Tutor: Marcus White

Elective description page This elective involved modelling and interacting with complex site landscapes focusing on modelling large, difficult buildings and terrains, both existing conditions and topographical manipulation. Modelling was done digitally and physically using CAD-CAM routing and 3D printing.

The elective investigated biomorphic/organic form making and representation techniques utilising parametric modelling technology, the particle driven modelling capabilities of 3D Studio Max as well as plug-in and script use.

Through investigating rapidly emerging digital modelling technologies, students learnt time saving modelling and rendering techniques, how to manage complex files, and how to move information between a range of softwares eg. 3D Studio Max to AutoCAD, Rhino to AutoCAD, AutoCAD to Excel etc.

Throughout the semester, students ‘recorded’ all that they learnt with ‘digital how to’ style manuals. Students were taught rapid knowledge capture techniques with the introduction of IrfanView capturing used with InDesign and Acrobat PDFs.

‘Cellular City’

The abounds with a mesh of irregular cells by the re-naturalization of urban landscape in Footscray. These organic, porous green cell-like structures dissolve the rigid grid of the area, and merge with the Yarra River. The field of vertical towers grows from the cells, with its height manipulated according to the city-river interface. Road systems branch within the mesh of cells, connecting these islands of landscape gardens with the surroundings.

A microscopic image of plant cells

towers

road system

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PROCESS

bevel

displace

boolean

edit mesh

glue cells / landscape

CELLULAR CITY FOOTSCRAY, MELBOURNE 3

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growing city---footscray urban design The strategy is to increase the density of Footsctay along the river. The design showing the development cross the river.

view along river

site plan

aerial view design process diagrams

step1

step2

step3

step4

step5

step6

import plan drawing from Auto CAD

modify with Bevel

modify with FFD 4*4*4

modify with TubeSmooth

running plugin---Voxel to create complex boxes along the original objects

ungroup the boxes and delete some of boxes

step7

step8

step9

step10

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modify the original objects with Lattice

build two plane under the objects

modify the planes with FFD 2*2*2 to cover the certain area

modify the planes with Greeble

adjust the objects into site and add lightings

precedent

6 behavioral urbanism: urban density scenario B: yiota goutsou, diego perez, robert stuart-smith

The city of growing teeth

Kristin Gade _ s3252778

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Population Wave_F O O T S C R A Y

perspective image_01

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site plan perspective image_03

Polulation Wave is a massing wave which begins in the central point of Footscray. The massing of wave begins as a low lying mass and builds up to its highest point and begins to drop again. It could be translated as a water droplet.

The red objects are classified as retail/industrial and the outer buildings are residential towers. The population of the area will grow substantially, this is the reason behind the towers.

The overall forms are subtracted from the existing buildings in the immediate area.

precedent_zaha hadid_master planning

street level image_01

street level image_02

street level image_03

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soft site_taner dede_s3053221 tutor_marcus white

Planning Map footscray overlays Legend

train station

business public use industry residential 0

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300 m.

Copyright © State Government of Victoria. Service provided by www.land.vic.gov.au Disclaimer: This map is a snapshot generated from Victorian Government data. This material may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria does not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for error, loss or damage which may arise from reliance upon it. All persons accessing this information should make appropriate enquiries to assess the currency of data.

Scale 1:6,834 Printed: September 13, 2009

Planning map, Footscray Overlays

Using the planning overlays Footscray is classified in to zones - business, public use, industrial and residential. The train station works as the center.

Density diagram. The lighter centres nidecated lower density.

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTIVITY CENTRE PRINCIPLES • an urban structure where networks of neighbourhoods are clustered to support larger activity centres on the public transport network.

• compact neighbourhoods that are oriented around walkable distances between activities and where neighbourhood centres provide access to services and facilities to meet day-to-day needs • Reduced dependence on car use because public transport is easy to use, there are safe and attractive spaces for walking and cycling, and subdivision layouts allow easy movement through and between neighbourhoods • a range of lot sizes and housing types to satisfy the needs and aspirations of different groups of people • integration of housing, workplaces, shopping, recreation, and community services to provide a mix and level of activity that attracts people, creates a safe environment, stimulates interaction and provides a lively community focus • a strong sense of place because neighbourhood development emphasises existing cultural heritage values, attractive built form and landscape character • environmentally friendly development that includes improved energy efficiency, water conservation, local management of stormwater and waste water treatment, less waste and reduced air pollution • protection and enhancement of native habitat and discouragement of the spread and planting of noxious weeds.

Walking diagram. Each circle indicates 10min walking dista

Existing block

Ebenezer Howard’s Garden C of To-Morrow

Existing block overlaid with a green centre

Localised Living This project aims to recreate Footscray within the parameters set by Melbourne 2030, creating more liveable high-density neighbourhood formed around Footscray as an activity centres. The activity centres provide the base for a compact neighbourhood with walking distances and riding distances to public transport and day-to-day needs - creating a localised living.

‘Melbourne’s population will grow substantially over the next 30 years. To manage this change in a sustainable way, Melbourne 2030 encourages new development at activity centres near current infrastructure.’

Each block will have a lowered green centre using the rooftops as green park space allowing for parking and storage underneath.

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Soft Site ____ The Rock City Site Plan

Process

Aerial View

Step 1: Import CAD drawing to 3D MAX Step 2: Attach Spline and extrude Step 3:Turbosmooth Step 4:Boolean Step 5:Edit Mesh - Soft Selection

Street Views

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Li Xiang Carol S3224542

The Digital Footscray

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Transit Centre Development

masterplan for a new mixed-used urban business district in Footscray

CONCEPT:

The masterplan is the redevelopment of the centre site into a new sub-centre. It is complete with a central business district, high-end residential development, cultural facilities. The site lies at the heart of several important infrastructural links.

The project begins by tying together the basic infrastructural and urban context of the surrounding site. Lateral lines stitch together the major road connections emerging.

The integration of these lateral connections with the main longitudinal axis creates a soft grid that forms the underlying framework for the project. Blocks are split into four quadrants allowing for a secondary, pedestrian path system. The fabric is further articulated by different typologies of buildings that respond to the different demands of each district. This creates open conditions that can transform from detached buildings to perimeter blocks, and ultimately into hybrid systems that can create a porous, interconnected network of open spaces.

PRECEDENTS:

Frei Otto, Occupation with simultaneous distancing and attracting forces, Institute for Lightweight Structures (ILEK), Stuttgart, Germany, 1992 Analogue models for the material computation of structural building forms (form-finding) are the hallmark of Frei Otto’s research institute. The same methodology has been applied to his urban simulation work. The model shown integrates both distancing and attractive occupations by using polystyrene chips that cluster around the floating magnetic needles that maintain distance among themselves.

Voronoi definition which inputs a surface and an attractor point which influences the sizes of the voronoi cells. The closer to the point, the smaller and tighter the cells.

Marek Kolodziejczyk, Wool-thread model to compute optimised detour path networks, Institute for Lightweight Structures (ILEK), Stuttgart, 1991 Depending on the adjustable parameter of the thread’s sur-length, the apparatus – through the fusion of threads – computes a solution that significantly reduces the overall length of the path system while maintaining a low average detour factor.

Kartal-Pendik Masterplan, Istanbul: Zaha Hadid. 2006.

Site Plan

Street View

Street View

Overall Perspective MICHAEL FERREYRA // s3053150

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Overhead Rail View SOFT SITE - A1 Poster //Submission// Tutor: Marcus White // RMIT School of Architecture and Design // Elective // Master // Semester 2 2009

FUTUREFOOTSCRAYMICRO-ENGINEEREDMASSING CHRIS HADDAD S3240239

BACKGROUND In the not too distant future tragic world events lead Australia to opening its boarders to a large influx of refugees with Footscray, Melbourne becoming their new home. Severe overcrowding and a lack of building materials results in mass homelessness and the creation of unstable ghettos. In an effort to combat this rising tide of despair the Victorian Government enlists the services of renegade scientist and former child star Olaf Munch to test his research into carbon based micro-engineered massing. Olaf’s early research has shown promising results in converting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into carbon based structures. The resulting material is some what of an organic concrete that has been nicknamed Construction Coral due to its ability to grow and self repair damaged areas. The web link structure of the Carbonic Construction Coral makes the material extremely strong but also lightweight with air pockets between the links insulating the internal environment. While the research appears hopeful even the ever cocky Olaf Munch is cynical that his process can successful create self growing carbon housing on such a large scale.

On the morning of December 12th 2022 Olaf and his researches unleash the carbonic genome in the centre on Footscray keeping close tabs on the growth and development of the resulting structure. After 3 days the first signs of movement and change are witnessed. After this initial slow start the growth increases exponentially and within the week the tall slender buildings of the CBD start taking shape. The genome being a spliced hybrid of many naturally occurring elements seeks sun, warmth and air thus creating slender round buildings that maximise sun penetration and promote ventilation. The repetitious matrix formed by the buildings continues this endeavour by creating courtyard spaces between clusters of buildings. Within weeks the carbonic genome has successfully developed the new CBD business area as well as a residential outer ring of two hundred thousand new apartments. Olaf is hailed a genius by the scientific community and given a Nobel Prize for Science although his crowning moment is still to come. Upon inspection of the newly created carbonic apartments it is discovered that the genome has not just created building structure but each apartment has also grown a 55 inch Full HD LED Flat Screen television. Olaf is hailed a legend from the people of Footscray and a University and Micro-Engineering Research centre is created next to the Footscray train station in his honour. The Celebrations are cut short when Olaf is accused of tax evasion and jailed.

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The Carbonic Genome

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Olaf in the Lab

Olaf at the Footscray RSL receiving an award

Site Plan Footscray 1.

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Multi zoned Carbonic business and living CBD Outer Carbonic settlement with courtyard spaces Olaf Munch University of Micro-Engineered Science Farming and wind power area in Footscray Park Existing Footscray settlement

View across Maribyrnong River to The Olaf Munch University of Micro-Engineered Science

View from park land of Olaf Munch Univeristy for Micro-Engineering looking at the epicentre of the carbonic genome launch.

View from old Footscray neighbourhood towards the new Carbonic Settlement

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The new popultaion is supported by farming and water collection in the area previous known as Footscray Park

View of new wind farm and power management building in Footscray Park

Footscray 2025

“times of plenty” Footscray celebrates unprecedented prosperity only 15 years after the great flood of 2010 As the great Australian drought came to an end in 2010 the resilient efforts made by the Footscray residents to prevent flooding was seen to be their downfall. When their huge flood walls finally burst, they did so with devastating consequences, annihilating entire neighbourhoods along the banks of the Yarra.

In the months that followed, Footscray bloomed like never before and it was soon revealed that the unique combination of silt deposited from the great flood was richer and more fertile than any known to man. Market gardens flourished in the newly cleared land and soon, researchers from across the globe were descending on the area to collect and analyse the silt to unlock it’s secrets.

Only 15 years on, The ‘Times of plenty’ Agricultural Research Institute remains the worlds largest centre of horticultural fertility research. The precious silt, now collected and meticulously protected in state of the art silos around the institute, remains mysterious in its potent ability to produce fast growing, nutrient rich crops.

The obvious potential of the silt’s growing power also saw a new centre of agro-commerce emerge in Footscray, which provided funding for initial research and harnessed the lands new abundant growth for commercial gain. Today, Agro-City is a literal hive of agro-commercial activity, leading the world in biofuel and fast growing nutrient rich crop seed exports. The local community has also embraced the redevelopment of devastated Footscray making it Melbourne’s largest retail centre for organically grown produce.

The aesthetic vision of the new Footscray over the past 15 years has seen a variety architectural expression emerge. Following the intellectual form of the ‘times of plenty’ institute, the town demanded nature be the driver of both the town’s prosperity and architecture, spawning the hive like Agro-City. A hybrid of mans brutalist past with the influence of natural form has been more recently embraced in the Footscray Rail Headquarters, completed to accommodate the massive influx of people frequenting the produce markets by rail, as well as the enormous volume of exports the small area is increasingly generating.

The ‘times of plenty’ Agricultural Research Institute, world centre of biogenomics and horticultural fertility research

Agrocommerce. The hive of Footscrays growing activity

Inspiration behind the future of Footscray

Marion Cultural Centre http://www.a-r-m.com.au/

Architecture of the busiest nature http://peacebeefarm.blogspot.com/

Brutalist Geisel library by William Pereira http://www.essential-architecture.com

Strata tower proposed by Asymptote Architects http://www.asymptote.net

Times of plenty indeed abound in Footscray as it leads the world into a productive and sustainable future.

Silos protect the rare and precious silts of the flood for abundant production and study to unlock it’s fertile secrets

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Footscray rail headquarters services the thousands of daily market shoppers and abundant daily rail export across the nation

Thanks to: Andrew Thompson Brad Marmion

Elective Pamphlets

Title: Soft Site Tutor: Marcus White Pole: Advanced Architecture Date: Semester 2, 2009 This and other documented examples of elective subjects run as part of the RMIT University Architecture program can be found on issuu.com