Areas of Interest
Waters Edge (External, The Coast and the Han River)- The natural and artificial boundaries where the urban collides with nature can tell the story of our changing relationship with water. Studying these edges can reveal cultural, political, social and environmental forces that are present in particular situations. These spatial situations in my experience are under-used and under-explored and offer huge potential in improving urban life and the citizens' relationship with water. In London, Bath and Bognor Regis the infrastructural barriers limit the possibilities for the walker to engage with the edge condition. Desolate spaces are a result. All three places differ greatly in scale, but some key spatial situations are common to all, the location of roads, industry, private land and defense structures all hinder the ability to truly allow a place to maximise the benefits of water as an inherent part of their context.
- The Natural and the Artificial, Potentialities for the existing ecosystems and Infrastructures
- When Urban meets Nature, What is the sustainable balance?
- Desolate Edges, Discovery of the under-used and under-explored condition
- Industries' relationship to the edge condition
Bathing (Internal, Cultural Identity) - The cleansing, spiritual and purifying characteristics of water highlight our important and dependent relationship with the compound. Baptism is an important part of the Christian church, an immersion in water for the chance for salvation, a profound meaning, what are the architectures involved in such ritual bathing? Bath Houses form an important part of the social life in Korea, what makes these places unique and desirable? Historically Bath houses have been an important place within society for us to meet and cleanse ourselves, from the Roman Spa towns to the traditional sea side resort, they all offer a form of escape and a chance to interact in a communal setting in the urban environment.
- Studies into the social, spiritual and spatial qualities of Bath houses in Korean Culture
- Cross cultural comparison, (West to East)
- What is the historical evolution of such a building typology?
- Exploration into the notion of immersion and purification
Dislocation - The result of a growing existence in environments that remove us from the natural paths and states of water. A fear exists that prevents of living in harmney with water in many modern constructs. In many places water becomes a sinister entity and is unwelcoming in many ways. The threats of flooding, erosion, disease and in Seouls political case attack test our relationship with water.
- Defense infrastructures
- Welcoming situations of water in our urban lives.
- Studies into the scales of interaction with water. (From the home to the city)
A Language
The methods of exploration practiced this year in Korea, will form a critical and clear process of analysis and discovery that can form a unique aesthetic that can be utilised in other contexts. Using the mediums of physical modeling, photography, illustration and collage I will produce a body of work that will question and provoke thinking about our current relationship with water. City wide maps and topographical analysis will form an important part of the research in Seoul. I would like to explore ergonomic drawings that look at the intricate situations, connections and physical results that people have with water. These drawings will help explain the differing scales of our conscious and unconscious relationship with water and will help build a language for my reseacrh and analysis throughout.
A South Korean Exploration
Water and Wellbeing
Humanities dislocation with natural systems has been a subject that has pre-occupied my mind for along time. Our current relationship with water illustrates this succinctly and has always been apparent in my years of growing up. Living on the coast or in River dependant Cities I have always enjoyed a healthy connection with water. I love to swim, kayak, surf, fish, skinny-dip and relax in, on and around water. This strong relationship has helped me form positive connections with the environment, but I have seen our collective relationship struggle as pollution, over fishing and reckless developments strain our relationship with our habitat and ecosystems. Modern issues are dislocating us from our most important compound: H2O. For city dwellers water bodies, natural and artificial can be a necessary form of escape. I believe it is a crucial connection that needs to be supported and encouraged, helping to push positive developments that allow us to understand and therefore respect the part we play in maintaining the natural systems that life relies on.
As part of the free unit I wish to use my memories and experiences to help research our relationship with water. Growing up in a coastal destination for pleasure and mass entertainment I want to understand other key forces that water can have on people and their actions. Water in certain situations can result in infrastructures that provide places with unique identities, it is an interesting starting point when considering the possibilities for future architectures and proposals. Possible themes of exploration in the free unit and in Seoul, could involve research into the architectures of pleasure and entertainment and the ways people in South Korea escape to the rivers, lakes and coasts. The research in the year could lead me to explore the reinvention of seaside landscapes formed on memories and consultation research, and possibly allow me to analyse certain issues to do with my home town.
Seoul is a city with many important relationships to water, which include transport, trade, leisure and tourism all of which connect people in positive and negative ways to the River Han and the Ocean. I wish to explore different situations, spatial and psychological in which people use water for health and leisure activities. In a huge metropolis this connection to water is crucial for a balanced existence. Initial aims for the year would be to understand ways to promote a more positive relationship with the compound that sustains our life. Explorations to help communities support sustainable industries that build on the benefits of water as part of the genius loci of their individual context.
A British Exploration
Re-invention of Seaside and River landscapes
People escape the city and journey to a place with all the positive associations of typical British 'traditional' summer holiday every year. For a decade I have travelled from large urban areas back to such a place that I call home, a small Victorian seaside town, called Bognor Regis. This journey always instils a feeling of excitement, the arrival at a moment where culture and nature meet. The results are interesting, for me my memories are of a place that reminds me of childish innocence (buckets, spades and sandcastles), nature (crabs, rock-pools and gulls as well as the power and tranquility of the sea itself) and tasty, informal seaside food: fattening, glutinous (fish and chips, ice cream, candy-floss, cockles and whelks and jellied Eels) and full of summer party events, (clown conventions, Bognor Birdman, Circus, carnivals and The ROX music festival). When I return the sea liberates me, skinny-dipping and pier jumping allow me to escape the urban. All these memorable experiences have been juxtaposed with the reality of spending time there as a resident. The town has problems such as severe issues with racism; which culminate in violence and vandalism and the result is a place where people are segregated and disparate. This can be identified in the urban and suburban structures of the town, with private gated housing estates of the rich and wealthy on the periphery, and the barbed wire walls of the public holiday camps. The numerous indoor amusement arcades, Butlin’s resort and countless self-contained caravan parks draw people into neon lit worlds turning they’re back on the town community and the sea. Traditionally Bognor Regis was a place offering well-being and healthy activities, with the clean air and the calming affects of the sea, making it a perfect place to relax and recuperate. The current situation offers a hectic cheap thrill environment where people come for quick fixes. Health and well-being is no longer an important part of why people visit. Fast-food outlets, mobile phone stores and amusement arcades have saturated the town in the last decade. Can the coastal landscape, natural and urban change to support a more holistic experience for the visitor? Re-establishing the health benefits of being on such a powerful threshold.
During my time living in Bath I became involved in the transition towns movement and witnessed the benefits in community discussion and engagement on pressing issues, such as waste, quality of the public realm, Peak Oil, transport, pollution and food. The Transition Town’s movement is beginning to take hold across the UK and I feel that it can offer communities a new outlet to discuss and implement positive sustainable development with full community support. I and two other friends have been interested in starting this engagement and discussion in Bognor Regis as I feel it could be a fruitful way for the community to come together and discover exciting new ways forward. This level of discussion with the community will help me find avenues of research for possible projects.
Changing Identities
Changing Identities
Changing identities of buildings has been a pre occupation of my architectural studies and work in practice. I have always had a fascination with existing structures and the stories that they tell. My thesis project at the University of Bath looked at how a large derelict Herman Miller Factory could be analysed and then manipulated to cater for a program that dealt with a cities growing need to engage with waste and recycling. This interest became key to my research and design project in Unit 6 last year with the surveying (cultural and physical) of a derelict structure in Delhi. This helped me manipulate an existing infrastructure to accommodate the desired needs of a local community. My work for FCB studios allowed me to work on many creative re-use projects tackling the issues of a changing identity and in particular work on the world’s oldest iron framed building (Ditherington Flax Mill, Shrewsbury). This interest has pushed me to explore the architectures and urbanisms of the Victorian seaside town and how they can be manipulated and retained. I’m intrigued by the nostalgia attached to seaside infrastructures and landscapes and their crucial role in forming the identity of a pleasure destination.
The Re-invention of a pleasure destination and a coastal landscape; is ‘Copaca-Bognor’ the perfect escape from the city.
My final year is a chance for me to explore how the seaside town can be interpreted to help reinforce and solidify its identity as a place for pleasure and summer holidays. Ensuring that future development is sustainable and driven by the needs of the residing communities. Talking with the council (discussing current UDP and aspirations) and organising community consultation workshops (Promenade protest?) would become a way of working in both a bottom –up and a top-down approach.
