Saverio Curcio Architecture Portfolio 2024

Academic Architecture

Portfolio

Overview

Reconnect and Rehabilitate in short (RnR). A Project that tackles two of some of the most pressing issues of our time and our city. Urban sprawl, seems a never ending, never resting beast swallowing up farmlands and native flora in its path as it aims to meet the ever-increasing demand of current and new Melbournian’s lusting for what is somewhat known as the ‘Australian dream’ a ‘plot of land’ a ‘back yard for the kids’ but at what cost... Melbourne’s population, currently around 5 million is on track to double in size by 2051. Rehabilitate.

RnR is a large urban scale land rehabilitation project fighting the ‘tug o war’ against Urban sprawl, where the natural environment is allowed

Farms, Burbs, Nature & Things

The existing site is currently private property, the future site aims to invert this prospect and give back to the community as a hub that carefully interacts with its surrounding wetlands and grass lands. Gyms, Schools, Residential and high density farming are just some of the many programs it will house.

In contrast with previous iterations, now explored is the idea and intention to intervene architecturally in a liner format, taking advantage of the liner nature in which the existing site context resides, parallel and in tandem with a railway line. A linear development allows for the architecture to further utilize the under utilized railcorridor as well as reduce it’s potential footprint.

Further exploration of threshold space where, architecture with a light ephemeral nature decrease in density to eventual open air as it meets the grass lands and recreation tracks and fields.

The site explored, houses existing under utilized railway track. A potential Threshold space that blurs the line between the ‘inside’ and the ‘out’ can come to fruition where the space between existing infrastructure such as silo’s and warehouses would meet a future railway station.

There is potential for the uses of existing infrastructure for high density farming, as in the case of warehouse space, tall and vast spaces create the volumes needed for the sheer amount that could occupy the space, existing polycarbonate skylights are also a great means to letting light into the spaces. More materials can be sourced from surrounding structures that are decommissioned.

Visualising Thresholds Between Existing Context & Rehabilitated

Mapping Rehabilitated Landscape // (Threshold between exisiting urban context & Rehabilitated

Mixed program spaces, Threshold spaces, where interior and exterior meets and mixes. A transparent approach to architecture is explored where infrastructure such as plumbing, electrical and more, are exposed for all to see. Connections between silos and n structures are light and exposed giving a sense of weightlessness and dynamism.

The focus for this review, is to explore and exhaust the realm in what the architecture could be. As a result a series of abstracted forms and thresholds are collected and collaged to created new spaces where cross programming can begin to take place. These programs include, High density farming, High density residential redevelopment of silos, and gallery spaces. With the intention to remain as a light weight dynamic structure suspended atop uninterrupted grass and wetlands bellow.

Intersecting Circulation & Program - Contrasting Contexts

Project Proposal

The edge conundrum. Where does it lie? Why does it seem almost impossible to keep up with its rapid relocation?

The nature of a living breathing city, is to be free. Despite the constant wrestling with theoretical shackles of what should and what shan’t.

The nature of THIS living breathing and city is to grow...

And as a result, is been brought down to its knees by the demands of its people.

Every last being wanting it all. The yard.. The porch.. The space..

As we play second fiddle to this inevitability. Does one only sit by and watch from a far?..

How may we re-think what it means to be suburbia. On the back of the industrial revolution the automobile was born giving individuals the ability to traverse distances not one possible by any one man alone.

For far too long have town centres been configured for the automobile while the pedestrian has had to take the back seat.

Here in lies a new proposal, for what ‘could be’ gone are the days of cookie cutter LTCS.

Behold a suburban social condenser, peppered with a retail core while its two anchors draw a consistent flow through the plaza.

A town centre for everyone, With essential retail, libraries and sporting facilities. Where the automotive experience is limited beyond the bounds of its walls. And where the pedestrians can truly thrive, in this SUB – URBAN town centre

Iterating the Proposed Local Town Centre to make the land work harder. The idea behind iterating is to choose one or multiple town centre typologies and to see what works best with the site and the intention behind the redesign.

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Overview

Birds Studio, Consisted of a deep dive into an extensive library of film, poetry, art and architecture. The underlying theme of the studio was constructed narratives, ones that bent the truth.

This allowed for neural connections between the mediums that could continue to flow through the developed architecture as a result of the history and context of site begin intertwined with the media elements.

Throughout the semester when developing our archiecture, Manifestos that would come from our work became the driving forces that lead our projects further as the semester progressed. Manifestos were delivered with clear intent and belief in a spoken format along side the work each week.

The themes in my project were to create, a public building that was held together by the people of Carlton as they forever adapted the architecture and kept it in a trans formative state. The ‘people of Carlton’ in my case, existing in a different timeline as per the constructed narrative, where still slum dwellers as the slums of Carlton were never lost out to redevelopment in the 1950s.

The prominent theme that drove my project for BIRDS was everything surrounding the idea of time and entropy. Throughout the semester, there were a series of techniques use to help creat drawings and images such as, emulating precedent, watching films and lots of reading that would aim to inspire a certain mood through out each undertaking and a particular aesthetic quality centered around the film or mood of the week.

“How

has mankind managed to remember..?

It wrote the bible.

The new Bible will be an eternal magnetic tape of a time that will have to re read itself constantly.”

The architecture in a constant state of trying to remember.

Acting as container while forever adapting to preserve its fabric.

How many elements must be restored until ‘original architecture’ ceases to exist.

Architecture to be an eternal magnetic tape of a time that will have to re-read itself constantly.

Architecture now in a constant state of trying to remember. Acting as container while forever adapting to preserve its fabric. A new balance to be struck between order and the unescapable entropy of all things and its ultimate move from order to chaos.