Angel Yi Zhang Email angelzhangyi@gmail.com Phone 0432 243 642
Velvet justice - Ethos - topos - pathos - civilitas The timeless task of architecture is to create embodied existential metaphors that concretize and structure a person’s being in the world. Architecture is the catalyst of a city’s transformation. Located close to Sydney Cove and with its distinctive topography, the setting for this project is rich in memory and history with a heritage that reveals the discourse of vision and hardship involved in the making of Macquarie’s Sydney. The Velvet Justice Centre is a project proposal that seeks healing resonances between the city and its citizens; the meaning of justice: and the phenomenology of architecture. As a theme, ‘velvet justice’ involves the reconciliation between the intellectual aspect of judiciary system and the forgotten emotions of participants, introducing mindful caress into justice where the Justice Centre is a place that encourages public discourse, while recognizing individual differences in reconciling disputes. With
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attention to multi-judiciary civic agencies justice is activated through consultation, mediation, persuasion, participation and collaboration. With the building programed accordingly, associate community activities such as: Justice TV show, Library, Justice Exhibition, also anchor civic engagement with the city and its social institutions. Velvet Justice is a reaction to the soulless urban context of cities; to evoke in citizens sensitivity, love and compassion within the multi-sensory experience of architecture through places of congregation, places of separation and places of interaction. Fittingly in a location of rich significance the architectural language of the Velvet Justice Centre is coherent yet dynamic, with attention to assembly methods, materials and fenestration.