INTERIM REVIEW

I took the idea of stitching forward as I wanted it to inspire my design of spaces. I took from the process of stitching the fact that the thread is what connects the different sheets of fabric together and in doing so it would have to move in and out of the fabrics thereby appearing in one face of the the joined fabric and disappearing in another face. This pushed me to make a sketch illustrating how my spaces could act as the thread which stitches the building with the site literally and these spaces are as well connected by 'threads' such as corridors and walkways within the building. This is the feeling I intend to embed with my spaces, the feeling of going in and out. 

After the review, I realised that although it's a good idea to use the stitching process as an inspiration for my plans, I should still continue to explore the idea such that my plans wouldn't have to appear overwhelmed by the constraints of the site, rather, it should follow my idea and respect the site constraints.

Sketches

Top view of physical sketch model

Interactive Shop Front

Fitting room concept

SITE ANALYSIS

The site analysis for this project was done in groups and our group decided to concentrate more on gathering qualitative data from the site but in such a way that general and sufficient quantitative data could also be drawn from the analysis. 

All of our analyses in the group was in form of video footage and we were able to go back and study these videos to inform our conclusions during the analysis. The main aim of doing the analysis this way was to see if we could provoke a reaction from the public users in and around the site and also to get people to interact with the site being that the site's present state did not encourage all of this. Therefore, we wanted to intervene    and get a reaction. All of the other quantitative data related to environmental issues such as wind, rainfall, sun path, pedestrian and traffic flow were covered in the video footage we took at different times of the day. 

We brainstormed, and our initial plan was to place something in the site and get people to notice it and hopefully interact with it. We decided to place a box on site  with a small window through which people could take a peek through and have a link to our website inside so that we could know the number of people that actually noticed the site and went in to interact with it. 

INTERVENTION STAGES

   

Our initial plan wasn't productive because people were walking past the site without even noticing the presence of the 'big white box', we had to improvise and device another means with which people would be more comfortable with in terms of ease of access and interest level.

People interacting

Eventually, we were satisfied with the result as more and more people began to interact with the site and also with themselves. We were able to get over 400 hits on the blog and the presentation went very well because this was not done by any other group and the results of our analysis was very original, something everyone can learn from. For detail information on the group work, visit our blog http://marchfabric.blogspot.co.uk/

MAIN INTERVENTION

Final turn out

Week 2 : 1:5 MODEL

We were asked to take a big leap and prepare a 1:1 or 1:5 model of a fitting within our building. I wanted to carry on with my idea of exploring the stitching process.
I made a number of sketches simulating stitching as a method of joinery of two different materials. Therefore, I began to think of things like furniture, window frames, built in mirrors.

Sketches

Eventually I decided to do a reception desk where I could reveal the way stitching could be used as a construction method for built in furniture. I also did the reception desk because my main idea is stitching and revealing the stitching process, therefore, I envisaged the first point of contact between a prospective user of my building and I thought of that point of contact as where Kula, the client, or her employee would welcome the users into the building and I wanted to reveal that idea right from that point of contact.
In terms of the execution of the reception table itself, I can't say it was completely successful because I felt, after the crit, that the idea just ran through the top of the table and did not really run through the whole table including all of its members, also, It did not seem to be specific to its setting.

Physical model of 1:5 reception desk

VERTICAL STUDIO TWO

TEXTILE AND ARCHITECTURE

 The vertical studio module for this year is focusing on linking textile production processes with architecture. In the very first session, we visited looms in the school of arts in Bonington, Nottingham Trent University in order to expose us to the textile making processes and for us to begin to have an idea of how these processes can inspire concepts for our respective designs. The theme of design is fixed and we are all to design a bridal shop for a client who presently owns a bridal shop in lace market Nottingham; Kula Tsurdiu (http://www.kulatsurdiu.co.uk/). The client brief entails providing a proposal for a bridal shop in a different site as the client seeks to expand her business.

Present site situation

The site that was given to us is presently a dead space which sits between a prominent thick black brick wall of Boots of Victoria centre and the side of argos outlet just along Lower parliament street, Nottingham. This is obviously a challenging site as there are many constraints and it would be interesting to see how I can address these site issues not only from a physical perspective but from an economic and social perspective as well.

WEEK 1: EXPLORATION OF TEXTILE MAKING IN RELATION WITH THE SITE

Tasks are allocated on weekly basis and the first task was to explore concepts and ideas related to textile making but confined within the site as a way of representing the first response to the brief.

I thought of different things to do but while searching the net for inspiration, I came across the idea of thread art and thread sculpting. Immediately, this connected me to the dress making process of stitching and I analysed some of these examples and interpreted them as 'creatively revealed stitching processes'. After this I began to explore with test models to see what I could come up with and if I could apply this idea to my site. I was also at the same time experimenting with colours to see what kind of effects I could get from it

Test and unfinished final models

I then decided to make the colours have a meaning, that is when I started to think of treating this as a preliminary architectural concept model where, the colours would represent different zones and functions of the proposed building and having curved characters to suggest a potential roof scape for the building.

Final piece

The final model was exhibited along with all the other models from the students. This I felt was a good way to introduce ourselves to the project. It was interesting to see a lot of abstract ideas which have a strong potential of significantly influencing the future design process.

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FINAL PRESENTATION OF MUSIC THEATRE

Further to the master plan done as the first part of the Intervening in the city module, We individually had to select a site from the master plan and propose an intervention for that site. The site was between two historical buildings which were Nottingham's Castle and St. Nicholas Church. In my research, I was able to find a musical connection between the two historic buildings and therefore I decided to establish that connection both metaphorically and physically through my proposed intervention. The project is a music theatre that focuses on instrumental music and historically informed performances. In relation to the principles of the master plan, the projects seeks to satisfy the principles which are about revitalising social interaction and heritage and preservation in the broad marsh area of Nottingham.

Although general analysis had already been done during the group stage, I wanted to do a site specific analysis so I produced the above collage which comprises of elements that represent historic information, key buildings, environmental analysis such as greenery, sun path and wind direction, exploration of the topography and relationship between the two key buildings with the Nottingham castle to the left and the church to the right, visualisation of making a musical connection and other exploratory work I did on the way.

The music theatre was proposed to consist of three elements namely the main theatre where the main performances are held, an exhibition space for historical music instruments and a workshop for the crafting and making of musical instruments that would then be sold in shops.

The physical and pedestrian connection between the castle and the church was important and the scheme suggests a pedestrian route through which all the other supporting functions of the theatre are easily accessible and visible with active frontages in all faces of the structure.

The scheme also suggests establishing visual connections between the Castle and the Church, most especially the bridge that connects the theatre and the workshop which was designed to be a viewing port between the two key buildings. Below are the key views of the project. I tried to emphasize on the connections and relationship between the two historical buildings.

View from the Castle

View from the Church

View showing the pedestrian route which leads links the castle and church.

BROAD MARSH MASTER PLAN

At the beginning of the Intervening in the city module, We analysed the broad marsh area of Nottingham's city centre as one group and afterwards, with all of the data that had been derived from the site analysis, we progressed to proposing concepts for the redevelopment of the site in smaller groups.
My group comprised of Hauwa Yusuf, Kit Law and Djamel Mestour and myself. Together, we came up with the idea of proposing a vibrant city, the main aim of which was to be able to revitalise this area of Nottingham was in a very passive state. The concept is backed by four principles which are connected to and revolve around each other. The principles were chosen based on the main existing problems  in the site which based on our analysis, we felt had to be improved.
The master plan for the broad marsh redevelopment was then to be designed and  generated from this idea and its principles.

During the analysis stage, we started out by identifying the present areas of social interaction within the site(marked in blue) which were mainly Market square and St. Peters square. With this we concluded that the broad marsh area would benefit from more major sites/squares that encourage social interaction and also the prospects of having a better network of these of spaces.
Another issue with the site was that of connectivity and transportation; the vehicular routes create a big loop around the Coach station which just increases the carbon emissions from the vehicles because this complicated road system could be avoided. Moreover, these routes then define some of the building lines, therefore the buildings act a barrier in which people are denied visual interaction with the rest of the city.
Also illustrated are the historical areas (marked in orange) of the site which, going by the third principle of heritage and conservation, we intended to preserve and promote.

In the master plan, we intervened mostly in the broad marsh shopping centre block by breaking it into smaller units to allow for improved permeability and connectivity. We provided a prominent square where all of the major routes which we proposed meet. The square was proposed to be used for multiple purposes such as gatherings, events, market place to increase the quality of social interaction. It was strategically located at a central area such that there could be both physical and visual connections with the landmarks of the city centre. 

Another major feature of the master plan is the transport hub which is proposed to integrate all modes of public transportation. This was achieved by moving the coach station to the same area as the train station and tram station. This also broke the loop that used to be around the coach station and in doing that created uninterrupted views from station street to the rest of the city centre. It was important to achieve this because that view is what tourists or visitors would experience first after coming out of the station.

Conserving and promoting historical buildings such as Nottingham Castle and St Nicholas church was another objective of this master plan, we proposed having active frontages including retail activities around these areas in order to make them livelier and boost tourism in Nottingham's city centre.

In general, through high quality social interaction, high standard transportation systems and connectivity, Rich heritage conservation and efficient sustainable systems, this master plan was designed to revitalise Nottingham's city centre as a result making Nottingham a vibrant city.