FEEDBACK

Hi All. Nice work on getting the Traveldater event rolling.

I love the representation style in the sketches and how it presents a clear image of what could be happening on the site.

Thank you so much for taking up the start on drawing the programmatic visions of the events! And thank you all for the great comments. Its great to see the blog alive.

In an overall picture: I have been thinking that we need to focus more on the concept of the picnic component, and less so on the production of it.

For example, as architects we can be less involved in creating branded products and more focused on creating larger scale signature experiences. Photographing these and diagramming them brings them into a scale that is architectural. You will not be graded or reviewed by architects for the decisions made around products that support the event, but on the architectural merit of the concept and gesture of the event itself, particularly in relation to architectural concerns such as place, view, experience, program, elevation, diagram, and narrative. Think about transforming the basic assumptions of the programs you are creating through architectural moves.

For example, imagine if we took a simple white roll of fabric and spanned it across one of the larger open spaces in Hyde Park, say 50 or 60 metres. Our 'picnic' event could be a mingling social event that happens loosely along the fabric strip. We could start as a cluster in the middle and see how people move out over time. In addition, the massive scale of the 'picnic rug' could notionally invite other people coming to the park to join us. Perhaps they sit down, close or far. In this way, we can use large simple gestures to create high impact interventions with a lot less fiddly effort. Think elegance rather than over detailed.

In this example by SANAA below, in the early morning they set out a series of small portable BBQs randomly in the park:

By afternoon, the space had become populated with program. People gathered to hold their own events. The BBQ infrastructure allowed the architects to study how behaviour transforms over time according to a particular social code.

 Again, the below example illustrates the role of the human form in instantiating program. How architectural facilitators are designed and situated creates particular affordances of space and human interaction.

 

These are some examples of a 'taxonometrical' approach to analysing space and behaviour as program. I think it is essential that the elegance of approach taken in designing the taxonomy of the travelator component is translated to all of the design decisions made in the project.

I like the food boxes idea, however, I would post the question: could having one's own box could be seen as somewhat antisocial? Typically, cultures that do social eating well, have large plates of food in the middle and everyone helps themselves. This promotes discussion, sharing, interaction... Just a thought.

The picnic in any case is the secondary event for the Trave-Dater project. Its the 'windup party' so to say.

In summary:
It is useful to think about how we justify each design decision made in terms of architecture. From there we need to be clear on why each move is necessary.

I think we can shift our energies from designing the fine details for the picnic and look to what built infrastructure we can design for the major events -- the Colonnade, the Final Review Event. I would still like to see a built 'architecture' of some kind. Thoughts? These events are only 3.5 and 5.5 weeks away.

I hope I have communicated this feedback clearly as I will not be able to attend the site meeting tomorrow. Good luck down there and have fun!