Urban suburb

WORKSHOP 3

 "Programme Generator and Material Systems"

studioCODE v8, v8 Rizky Lasmaratti, v8 Handy Yonathan, v8 Mui Kim Low

Thesis - Urban suburb

Group : Mui Kim Low, Handy Yonathan, Rizky Lasmaratti

“How do we improve urban living in the city of Melbourne?”

This question marks the beginning of our discourse into finding a new type of living space for the urban fabric of Melbourne.

Generally, Melbourne has two living norms. Firstly, urban living, known for its towering heights with a small space next to the city, communal outdoor spaces, the triumph of public transportation, and unfamiliar neighbours next door. And the second, suburban living of far proximity from the city, large houses with outdoor spaces, high dependency on cars, and a friendly community with familiar neighbours.

Where does this bring us? Living, which includes the benefits of both urban and suburban living. A living space which allows urban dwellers to live in the city with the privilege of enjoying suburban benefits. A site that sprawls vertically. An urban suburb.

We propose to develop on site a “Vertical Green Living” that allows occupants to enjoy:

i)                the benefits of green spaces at their doorstep

ii)              living close to the city

iii)            facilities within walking distance from their doorstep

iv)             an environment which promotes social interactions between occupants

Our thesis proposes a building that combines living, facilities and green spaces to enable the occupants of the building to access facilities and open space within walking distance. It also aims to increase social interactions between its occupants by creating a walking and cycling only space. This also increases the level of interactive spatial experience between the occupants and the surrounding space and creates a low energy transport environment. We are proposing a bike lift within the building to allow users to transport their bikes vertically.

THE SITE AND CONTEXT

Our site is along Franklin St., a site close to the Melbourne CBD.  Our project introduces attractors (proposed programmes) on our site. With that, traffic is expected to increase thus drawing more people to existing attractors such as Victoria Market and Flagstaff Gardens. Also, the existing activities around the site would not be ignored. The project aims to draw in adjacent activities: residential, park, market, and transport into its verticality. We aim to create a 100-storey development that provides facilities that one would expect to find in a city scale.

PROGRAMMES AND GENERATORS

Our programmes will include: School, Residential, Open Space, Market, Transport, and Circulation. We would include entertainment in hybrid with the Open Space. Our Programme Generator was generated from human needs. We also have a Hybrid Generator to determine the relationship between the programmes. It is divided into 2-tiers:

i.    Micro – hybridising activities occurring within the same programme, e.g. hybrid of performance space and interactive space within a school.

ii.    Macro – hybridising activities occurring within different programme, e.g. the sporting facilities of a school, with residential sporting facilities.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

The privatisation of spaces within our building is controlled by the programmes. Circulation and open spaces within the building can be appropriated to the needs of the users allowing them to create non defined public and private spaces based on their activities.