AD 2100 'Isle of Bognor'

Conservative predictions for sea level rise due to the melting of the arctic ice cap are for around 7ft by 2100. 

http://e360.yale.edu/

100 Words

My thesis looks to re-connect urban communities with their natural water systems. Through analysis of their beach infrastructures a rehabilitating design strategy will be used to help forge a new identity and help create a cohesive community. The benifits of tourism and the neccessity localism will shape a design approach that looks to sustain a vibrant sustainable community. The powerful rhythms of our natural contexts can be used to generate an appropriate architectural language to suite this ambition.

Busan Beaches 부산 해변

I managed to escape Seoul for the weekend and venture to Busan a Korea's second city on the coast. This post shows my sketch study of the Haeundae Beach, it really was the Copacabana of Korea. You swim fully clothed on these beaches though. It had a typically seaside feel about the place with run down buildings and the smell of fish markets. The city escaped density by adopting the sandy beaches as a public space. Strictly no smoking!

Escape to Wolmido, a Pleasure Destination

The Weird World of Wolmi-Do 의 이상한 세계

I discovered a place that resembled some of the cheap and cheerful fancies that can be enjoyed at many seaside resorts globally. Once a romantic escape from Seoul for courting couples, the Island of Wolmi has become a promenade for mass entertainment at a hysterical pace. 

I found the experience overwhelming after a couple of hours. Intense screaming and fishy food odors filled the air, which was enough to turn even my strong stomach. It was a gray Saturday afternoon and people ventured here en masse. Sandwiched between the huge seaports and industry of Incheon, it was a surprising break in the harrowing landscape of infrastructures of imports and exports. It seemed Coney Island had arrived on a ship. 

I presented some photos of this experience and some key questions arose, which interestingly surrounded the cultural differences between my views and that of people who enjoy this orgy. Why do people enjoy this so much? Does everyone in Seoul love this type of excursion? Why do I find this juxtaposition on the waterfront somewhat uncomfortable? The views of the Sea were stunning and on a gray day it could've have been Bognor. The activity was frenzied and led to thoughts on how this was a seasonal place. It must suffer from some of the same issues as British resorts with the need to shut up shop for winter months. 

Its relationship to the water front reminded me of the typical British need to have a convoluted journey to the water accompanied with an alcoholic drink and some diverting entertainments along the way. There is a pursuit of pleasure in such a place but not in a romantic manner. The artificial landscape of distractions mirrors that of the consumer’s need in shopping malls for material objects. It is surreal and as Travis Elborough describes in such situations 'theres a giddying sense that the time-honored distinctions between the sea and the land have come unstuck some how'. 

Seoul & The Sea

This drawing looks at Seoul's urban growth towards the Yellow Sea to the West of the city. The seaport of Incheon is the nearest city to Seoul and has a population of 2.7 million making it South Koreas third largest metropolis. The transport connections between the two cities make the travel time between the two centres not much more than an hour. Our location is flagged in red which represents the KNUA campus.

The World Is Not Enough

With my journey now underway I would like to talk about my Dubai experience. This city and it's culture should be so different and unrecognizable in so many ways and some parts are, but unfortunately the huge malls and skyscrapers that are so dominant are good examples of 'non-places' of our supermodern society (Marc Auge). The 'Old areas Bastakiah and Diera resembled a traditional city with their narrow streets and small souks (markets). But an overwhelming sense of sameness and banality was felt in the new areas. It is clear a rich culture can be diluted by the perils of being a global destination. The array of malls all sporting the same global brands was expected and hit home the gaudy and sickly state of our capitalist appetite for consuming. Dubai has with its linear character monopolised the excess of space by building along the coast, but why go so high with so much land? I wondered what forces are at play with regard to density or land prices? And I have to admit it just left me baffled, which means I have to take it for what it is 'a playground vision being fulfilled'. A strange ugliness pervades a place built on money and not on the personal needs and relationships of its citizens. 

Dubai has a strained relationship with water and is a good example of a dislocated society. Water is used extensively as a method of passively cooling exterior spaces and this is a harmonious and historic technique. But when a city survives solely by the energy intense method of desalinating seawater and air conditioning spaces to keep the city functioning, it does beg the question, is this extremely short sighted in the current global environmental climate? I was surprised by the amount of green planting and wondered how much water it must take to keep the city artificially and aesthetically pleasing. This need to perform becomes most evident with the 'Burj Khallifa' water show that takes place every evening at the foot of the 830m high worlds tallest building. It was incredible and all I could ask myself was how much? and at what cost? 

The city's coast with the sea breeze and cooling ocean is an Oasis, but has been pillaged by private owners. The land mass is not enough and new formations are being created off the coast, with new beaches and Islands sculpted into mad desires. Land reclamation has its ecological issues and the flows and movement of stagnating water is a key problem. Acting God and creating a 'New World', and the 'Universe' highlight the superficiality of the place. I was intrigued to notice a lake of development on these creations. The World was desolate, no sign of any civilisation, has the global financial crisis doomed this dream. It's fascinating to contemplate the scale of engineering achievements that have taken place in this one city, but I find the quality and thoughtfulness of the designs somewhat doesn't match. The city visually entertains on all the scales and that is a interesting point of departure for the rest of my research. I will return to see if this architectural disneyland will survive or adapt to the strains not to far away.


An article titled the 'The Mad Experiment' succinctly talks about some of the above issues:
http://www.newsweek.com/2008/06/28/the-mad-experiment.html


Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity (1995),  Marc Auge

A Tidal Story

The tide erodes our infrastructures, a story of decay and change.

West Pier, Brighton 2009.

Walking My Dog

Fascinated by what washes up by the tides, I decided to collect every piece of plastic that I came across on a half hour walk along the beach with my dog. The colourful collection of everyday and bizarre items illustrates the unseen issue of plastic pollution. You have to look hard to discover the bottle tops and small bits and pieces as they nestle in between the pebbles out of sight. Beach-combing is a way of studying the natural and the artificial gems that the sea deposits on the beach and intertidal zone, usually the comber is searching for things of value, interest or utility. For me a chance to make sense of our relationship with our ocean.

An Issue of Dislocation

‘As pollution, flooding, over fishing and new developments strains our relationship with water, we must ensure in urban settings, that we educate and provide experiences that highlight water as a crucial ingredient ensuring our well being. It is therefore important to promote positive relationships with the compound that sustains our life; it benefits us all and can liberate, purify, energise, recuperate, and relax us. It is paramount for communities to support sustainable industries that explore the benefits of water as a crucial part of the genius loci of their individual context'.

London Victoria to Bognor Regis direct train 

A research point of departure for the year. My personal interest in water relationships stems from my time growing up by the coast in a small Victorian seaside town called Bognor Regis, which is situated on the south coast of England. For many years I have returned from large cities back to my home town and have witnessed the urban environment stagnating economically and socially. With many places nearby attracting the majority of investment, namely Chichester and Littlehampton. It is a place with a great asset the sea! This relationship between the people and the sea is one that has always had its complications and it is one that will continue to fascinate with the continued need for sea defense and our desire to spend time on these powerful thresholds for pleasure. The recent credit crunch has meant that the stay-cation is back in favor for holidaying Brits. People escape the metropolis of London and jump on the Southern direct train to their final ill sounding destination of Butlin's in Bognor every year. 


Peak Oil, climate change and other developmental pressures are causing communities to come together to help towns and urban areas cope with these environmental transitions. I hope to explore the idea of sustainable transitions as a way of positively engaging people with the natural systems that we have become dislocated from. Water as rivers, canals and oceans are key to our well being as a species and is crucial for the sustainable regeneration of many small coastal or river conurbations.

A Powerful Threshold

Aerial view of Bognor Regis, with the Butlins Holiday camp just off centre. Image approx 10km across with the green belt highlighted beneath at a smaller scale. The image shows the towns relationship and threshold with the water body of the English Channel.