My perception on the environment has definitely changed over the last 13 weeks. I know look much more into the analysis of every building, rather than allowing my initial thought process to affect my perception. I know believe it is important to understand the full role that the city, town, street, building, form, landscape etc. plays on the surrounding environment.
A good example of this was my study of Mount Isa. Initially I thought that Mount Isa was a small mining town with dry and arid surroundings, however, it is much more than that. It is a vibrant, heavily populated commercial epicenter that dominants the North-West economy. It is rich in history and the towns development reflects both the heritage and future interests of the community.
I now fully understand why urban forms and structures are built the way the are - they do not simply acquire an aesthetic appeal. They stem from a large process of analysis including - mobility, function, morphology, stereotypes, typologies etc.
Peer Comments
I do believe I contributed suitable comments to the online discussion. I chose to mainly comment of people whom were in my tutorial discussion board because their areas were all in Australia and we seemed to be heading in the same direction.
I did find sometimes that this was hard because some of them didn't post stuff weekly. I also found that sometimes the comments I made were rather repetitive. I also only realised that most people were posting in the Online Reflective Journal on Blackboard 0 I must have misunderstood Mirko early on.
I think that my ability to analyse peoples work developed over the semester and would definitely feel confident critiquing peoples work if future subjects.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Week 1 Evaluation and Reflection
Below is what I wrote for the first blog entry:
1. The city is nestled between a river and mountains. The city is formed to the natural edge of the water, bending around in a smooth motion, whilst it is restricted by the harsh and steep mountains in the background. Forming yet another city edge and boundary. The layout of the city is quite organic yet it seems to have a structured and tidy plan .
2. Some of the pictures show the changing heights on which the buildings are built on. Each neighbouring house different to the other. This higjlights that they were not restricted by the topography of the land and again shows that this is an organic plan. With these two points in mind it suggests that this city was created originally for produce and harvesting. Most likely fishing or farming.
3. The large building is clearly the dominant form within the city. It is proportionally out of scale and has no reference to its surroundings either historically or naturally. The materials are different and it doesn't even form a similar shape in coherence with the existing buildings or refernce the beutiful skyline forged by the mountains in the background.
It is very interesting to go back an see what I did write almost 13 weeks ago. I believe that the premise of my explanations were quite basic but did contain a small portion of what we were to learn this semester, however, I lacked the explanation and application of the ideas that Mirko has taught and explained.
Probably the most important thing I could say about my thoughts from week 1, was that I describe "What I Saw" and totally disregarded, "How the City Worked, Why it is like this and What affect it my have."
If I was to now apply the knowledge that I have it would be definitely would be more thorough.As highlighted below:
1. The city is of an organic layout. There is no defined grid system but rather a natural placement of buildings.
This is similar to my comment about the city nestled between the river and the mountains, yet I was not able to define the correct term.
2. The large building is a prototype and landmark. It is the first building of its kind particularly in the area of location. It also acts as a landmark due to its scale. It gives the people a point of reference. It could possibly even be defined as a monument.
3. The building has no roots to the cities heritage. It acts as a loss of memory of the cities past. It is purely there fore commercial interests. This reflects the cities change towards urbanism and the importance of tourism to the area.
1. The city is nestled between a river and mountains. The city is formed to the natural edge of the water, bending around in a smooth motion, whilst it is restricted by the harsh and steep mountains in the background. Forming yet another city edge and boundary. The layout of the city is quite organic yet it seems to have a structured and tidy plan .
2. Some of the pictures show the changing heights on which the buildings are built on. Each neighbouring house different to the other. This higjlights that they were not restricted by the topography of the land and again shows that this is an organic plan. With these two points in mind it suggests that this city was created originally for produce and harvesting. Most likely fishing or farming.
3. The large building is clearly the dominant form within the city. It is proportionally out of scale and has no reference to its surroundings either historically or naturally. The materials are different and it doesn't even form a similar shape in coherence with the existing buildings or refernce the beutiful skyline forged by the mountains in the background.
It is very interesting to go back an see what I did write almost 13 weeks ago. I believe that the premise of my explanations were quite basic but did contain a small portion of what we were to learn this semester, however, I lacked the explanation and application of the ideas that Mirko has taught and explained.
Probably the most important thing I could say about my thoughts from week 1, was that I describe "What I Saw" and totally disregarded, "How the City Worked, Why it is like this and What affect it my have."
If I was to now apply the knowledge that I have it would be definitely would be more thorough.As highlighted below:
1. The city is of an organic layout. There is no defined grid system but rather a natural placement of buildings.
This is similar to my comment about the city nestled between the river and the mountains, yet I was not able to define the correct term.
2. The large building is a prototype and landmark. It is the first building of its kind particularly in the area of location. It also acts as a landmark due to its scale. It gives the people a point of reference. It could possibly even be defined as a monument.
3. The building has no roots to the cities heritage. It acts as a loss of memory of the cities past. It is purely there fore commercial interests. This reflects the cities change towards urbanism and the importance of tourism to the area.
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Semester Reflection
I must say I was very suprised with the subject. At the beginning of the semester I thought that this was going to be a boring theory based unit that bored the hell out of me but what has unravelled is probably my favourite subject that I have undertaken.
I must commend Mirko on the way he has organised Architecture in the City. His format and way he has delevired the information was exceptional. He definately has the right balance between workload, informative lectures, fun and has set standards for high production of quality work outputs. I like that his lectures were very informative. He was able to get across large amounts of information whilst at the same time keep everyone engaged.
I also like the structure of the tutorial system. I definately like the idea that I was able to upload work on Blackboard and Mirko gave written feedback. I wouldnt of been hesitant if I had a on site tutorial but the fact is I find sometimes tutors feedback can be lost in speech and oral engagement. In my case and the online tutorial I had my feedback written down. This gave me a continual point of reference and Mirko was able to give me a lot more feedback - all of which I had permantley to look at. Weekly I would find myself reading his comments and continually going back to make sure I have done what he has suggested.
I dont believe that the workload for this subject was overwhelming. There definately was a lot to do if you wanted to achieve high grades. I can honestly say I would have spent probably 7 - 8 hours a week dedicated to Arch and the City. I did find it stressful at times but it definately helped that I did little bits every week. It is always pleasing to see the outpout of work I was able to produce. I must also commend other students on there quality of work. I really was impressed by some of the Project 3 submission. Personally I am not artistically gifted and I was envious on some other students ability to produce paintings, books, models etc. They really were impressive.
I have said previously in the blog that I was happy that I did little bits week by week. There definately is an advantage to this. You get more feedback and chances to improve your work. I would always recomend this to other students.
I have found that this subject has also enhanced other skills that have come in handy for the rest of my study. At the beginning of the semester I could barely use photoshop. This is probably reflected in the early modules from week 2, 3, 4. My skills have really developed and I am now comfotably to use photoshop with ease and am impressed with some of the diagrams I can produce. I also really like prezi. I will definately use this for other units in the future if it will be suitabel for the requirements.
The one criticism for the unit would be Assement 1 - this blog. 40% of the grade is dedicated to feedback to our peers. I am not against this cause I beleive it is definately a good way to learn and test your own skills, however, I have found it hard to comment on others work simply because they havent uploaded anything to the discussion board. Therefore I had nothing to comment on. I tried to comment on a weekly basis but it was hard if it was the same person every week. I sort of ran out of stuff to suggest. Particulary if Mirko had already given his feedback.
I would maybe suggest rewarding students who do weekly work by making that a small part of the criteria or having a single discussion board (aswell as the system they are using now) for students to upload so the can comment on people who actually have done stuff.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable subject. I have learnt a lot about the structure and development of cities aswell as a lot of useful theoretical applications.
Thanks Mirko and the Arch and City Team
I must commend Mirko on the way he has organised Architecture in the City. His format and way he has delevired the information was exceptional. He definately has the right balance between workload, informative lectures, fun and has set standards for high production of quality work outputs. I like that his lectures were very informative. He was able to get across large amounts of information whilst at the same time keep everyone engaged.
I also like the structure of the tutorial system. I definately like the idea that I was able to upload work on Blackboard and Mirko gave written feedback. I wouldnt of been hesitant if I had a on site tutorial but the fact is I find sometimes tutors feedback can be lost in speech and oral engagement. In my case and the online tutorial I had my feedback written down. This gave me a continual point of reference and Mirko was able to give me a lot more feedback - all of which I had permantley to look at. Weekly I would find myself reading his comments and continually going back to make sure I have done what he has suggested.
I dont believe that the workload for this subject was overwhelming. There definately was a lot to do if you wanted to achieve high grades. I can honestly say I would have spent probably 7 - 8 hours a week dedicated to Arch and the City. I did find it stressful at times but it definately helped that I did little bits every week. It is always pleasing to see the outpout of work I was able to produce. I must also commend other students on there quality of work. I really was impressed by some of the Project 3 submission. Personally I am not artistically gifted and I was envious on some other students ability to produce paintings, books, models etc. They really were impressive.
I have said previously in the blog that I was happy that I did little bits week by week. There definately is an advantage to this. You get more feedback and chances to improve your work. I would always recomend this to other students.
I have found that this subject has also enhanced other skills that have come in handy for the rest of my study. At the beginning of the semester I could barely use photoshop. This is probably reflected in the early modules from week 2, 3, 4. My skills have really developed and I am now comfotably to use photoshop with ease and am impressed with some of the diagrams I can produce. I also really like prezi. I will definately use this for other units in the future if it will be suitabel for the requirements.
The one criticism for the unit would be Assement 1 - this blog. 40% of the grade is dedicated to feedback to our peers. I am not against this cause I beleive it is definately a good way to learn and test your own skills, however, I have found it hard to comment on others work simply because they havent uploaded anything to the discussion board. Therefore I had nothing to comment on. I tried to comment on a weekly basis but it was hard if it was the same person every week. I sort of ran out of stuff to suggest. Particulary if Mirko had already given his feedback.
I would maybe suggest rewarding students who do weekly work by making that a small part of the criteria or having a single discussion board (aswell as the system they are using now) for students to upload so the can comment on people who actually have done stuff.
Overall, it was a really enjoyable subject. I have learnt a lot about the structure and development of cities aswell as a lot of useful theoretical applications.
Thanks Mirko and the Arch and City Team
Week 13: Presentation
Presentation went well this week.
I spent a bit of time finalising the powerpoint and adjusting the analysis to make it flow as a speech. I believe that I have covered a broad range of the requirments. I must admit I was quite 'burnt out' by the end as I have spent a lot of time making minor adjustments. The main work this week was drawing my section through the street and doing a radial diagram to highlight that people cant really walk there so it is mainly meant to be used by car. I also made the video of Before And After images to show how mining has affected the town. These were all sourced from the State Library database. Really amazed me to see what it looked like 70 years ago.
I believe that my oral presentation went well. Didnt get to nervous. A bit of a stuff up when my video didnt play. Not to worried cause Mirko can look at it when I upload it digitally. I believe that speaking is one of my strong points.
Here is a visual look at my presentation
I spent a bit of time finalising the powerpoint and adjusting the analysis to make it flow as a speech. I believe that I have covered a broad range of the requirments. I must admit I was quite 'burnt out' by the end as I have spent a lot of time making minor adjustments. The main work this week was drawing my section through the street and doing a radial diagram to highlight that people cant really walk there so it is mainly meant to be used by car. I also made the video of Before And After images to show how mining has affected the town. These were all sourced from the State Library database. Really amazed me to see what it looked like 70 years ago.
I believe that my oral presentation went well. Didnt get to nervous. A bit of a stuff up when my video didnt play. Not to worried cause Mirko can look at it when I upload it digitally. I believe that speaking is one of my strong points.
Here is a visual look at my presentation
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Week 12
On the feedback that Mirko gave me I was really able to have a clear understanding on what was the exact requirements. I felt that I was getting a bit confused with the direction I was heading but I now have a clear vision of what standard of work I want to produce.
The main area of that I needed to address was highlighting exactly where the street was an focus on its context withing its surrounding areas. Through numerous analytical diagrams this was quite easy. I was able to show surrounding suburbs and key elements of the city in relation to Marian Street.
I also analysed the Structure of Marian Street - in terms of its grid design and building connection. It was evident that the street was articulated by 3 roundabouts and that these also had a distinction of the cities time line.
Marian Street is a mall. I can discuss and define this term. WIll also use a section to highlight this.
The influence of mining is quite hard to talk about. Mirko has suggested using pictures to highlight how mining has played a vital role on the town. I am planning to do a Before and After video that shows the buildings in the 1930's and Now. Will need to find some pictures.
As per last week I have continued to develop the discussion on the landmarks and monuments.
This is my project as to date.
The main area of that I needed to address was highlighting exactly where the street was an focus on its context withing its surrounding areas. Through numerous analytical diagrams this was quite easy. I was able to show surrounding suburbs and key elements of the city in relation to Marian Street.
I also analysed the Structure of Marian Street - in terms of its grid design and building connection. It was evident that the street was articulated by 3 roundabouts and that these also had a distinction of the cities time line.
Marian Street is a mall. I can discuss and define this term. WIll also use a section to highlight this.
The influence of mining is quite hard to talk about. Mirko has suggested using pictures to highlight how mining has played a vital role on the town. I am planning to do a Before and After video that shows the buildings in the 1930's and Now. Will need to find some pictures.
As per last week I have continued to develop the discussion on the landmarks and monuments.
This is my project as to date.
Sunday, 12 May 2013
Week 11
Didnt do anything for week 10. Was caught up with a lot of other assignments. Want to really keep the same process as last time - giving Mirko something new every week to make sure that he has something to critique. I think my result in the last assignment is proof that this process works and it really helped my last assignment develop well.
This week I thought the best way to start was to draw a firgureground of the Main Street - Marian Street. This diagram really is the base for much of the presentation with the rest of the main topics stemming off this. Need to keep developing the more diagrams. I am in sort of worry that I might not have enough detail, but am slowing finding more points to discuss. I guess I will have to wait for more feedback from Mirko to see if I am missing any main points. This week I have focused on the functional use aswell as the landmarks and monuments of the street. I also introduced the concept of it being a commercial avenue.
Still need to talk about the history, produce a nolli and discuss the influence of mining. This will probably be my main point. It has affected the urban form and development of the street. Will research some stuff and produce for next week. I have made some little points on this weeks submission for feedback.
This week I thought the best way to start was to draw a firgureground of the Main Street - Marian Street. This diagram really is the base for much of the presentation with the rest of the main topics stemming off this. Need to keep developing the more diagrams. I am in sort of worry that I might not have enough detail, but am slowing finding more points to discuss. I guess I will have to wait for more feedback from Mirko to see if I am missing any main points. This week I have focused on the functional use aswell as the landmarks and monuments of the street. I also introduced the concept of it being a commercial avenue.
Still need to talk about the history, produce a nolli and discuss the influence of mining. This will probably be my main point. It has affected the urban form and development of the street. Will research some stuff and produce for next week. I have made some little points on this weeks submission for feedback.
Monday, 29 April 2013
Project 3: Beginning
Gonna stick with Mount Isa rather than change to Brisbane. Think there
is a lot to explore still and I really liked where I was heading in the
previous assignment.
For Project 3 I was going to do a powerpoint and oral presentation, focusing on the Commercial Main St in the central hub of Mount Isa. There are a fair few points that I think I could discuss:
My intial thought process would be essentially taking the audience through a journey of the street, highlighting things such as:
- Heritage Buildings/History of Street
- Typology/Urban Form
- Influence of Mining
- Influence of British Colonies
- Street Section
- Use of Buildings
- What is a Commercial Avenue
- Any Landmarks/Nodes
- Future Development
Some inital diagrams that I thought would be good
- Nolli of the Street
- Mobilty of Street
- Historical Development of the Street
- Visual Walkthrough
Essentially just cover a lot of the ideas you have presented in the lecture...
For Project 3 I was going to do a powerpoint and oral presentation, focusing on the Commercial Main St in the central hub of Mount Isa. There are a fair few points that I think I could discuss:
My intial thought process would be essentially taking the audience through a journey of the street, highlighting things such as:
- Heritage Buildings/History of Street
- Typology/Urban Form
- Influence of Mining
- Influence of British Colonies
- Street Section
- Use of Buildings
- What is a Commercial Avenue
- Any Landmarks/Nodes
- Future Development
Some inital diagrams that I thought would be good
- Nolli of the Street
- Mobilty of Street
- Historical Development of the Street
- Visual Walkthrough
Essentially just cover a lot of the ideas you have presented in the lecture...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)