Week 10: Co-design Workshop

As a photographer, the concept of looking into a camera’s viewfinder has always been an interesting subject, playing with different angles, lighting, and running up levels to gain perspectives. When entering Fort Lane, we only have access to one perspective; the eye level, often looking upwards towards the red line that travels through the lane.

A cinematic device I created in Week 1 was inspired by the pinhole camera, the idea of a small gap pointed towards the subject. This led me to think about what I would like to be highlighted within Fort Lane, as it is often a transitional space passerbys dont pay much attention to.

It also made me think about how light travels through Fort Lane, as it is a street that has limited natural lighting.

Located in Fort Lane, I have created a temporary folly, that relocates down the lane over the period of 3 months in the summer. This is due to weather conditions, sunlight, and the higher desire to be outdoors exploring the urban.

The definition of a folly is that of a structure with no designated purpose. Therefore, those who walk through the folly have the autonomy to decide how to occupy the space. Would they choose to sit and converse, or use it as a viewing platform overlooking Fort Lane?

The height of my folly design allows the space for people to stop and have another perspective of the city, separating ourselves from the city life by ascending levels.

(Unfortunately due to time constraints, I was unable to complete my design for Stage 2, which is not present in this presentation)

I am using a scaffolding structure to create this folly. This is to express the temporality of the design, and it is also a representation of Auckland as a developing city, a city with a permanent “construction in progress” sign.

I am using polycarbonate panels to create a facade over the structure. This is because the transparent qualities of the material will create a light transmission of red projections over the structure, from the natural sunlight. The panels themselves are also cut in a specific shape: a shape that shows the curated views of Fort Lane and the points of interest that put Fort Lane on the map.

Additional Speaking Notes

From my minor in Urban Practices, and with the covid situation the past two years, I’ve been interested in the idea of giving exposure to people who need it, such as small businesses, and even buskers. so I thought a lot about how I could design something that would benefit them in some way too.

Feedback

My group and I had the opportunity to have Anna Mason from Jasmax join in as our guest designer for our workshop. She offered me the following feedback:

• Missing atmosphere in the renders from the initial photographs, bringing quality in the spaces
• Using the image with multiple scenarios, e.g. more renders.
• How the businesses interact with the folly
• “Wings” that let you enter in other laneways of restaurants

My group also gave me some feedback:

• Prob try bringing in the atmospheric qualities that you have in transitional model etc. into the final perspectives
• Could potentially play with colour saturation, transparency etc?
• Night and day compare and contrast
• Seeing the relationship with the original site?