Integrating Imagination into Space
I think it is a highly valuable practice to use imagination to create new uses of space. The concept of regeneration, growth and development ties into generating the idea of a resurgence in the Wynyard Quarter. By developing new ways to integrate into existing space, this hopes to expand the experience of Wynyard Quarter by renewing its uses. The space of the Wynyard Quarter gives a sense of equality for the public by the arrangement of mechanisms that have shaped this area. With the accessible pathways leading into the area, a colourful playground at core, an inviting space to relax at and a view of Auckland, the space is attractive for all audiences. My response to this public space is consistently positive, I like the idea of recycling the containers into public space, developing sustainability. Even with the grouping of containers further down the side, the industrialism is evident, but it does not appear as dull or uninviting. While I can compare that the inner-city space focuses on tourism and financial competitions, the outcome of Wynyard Quarter at the waterfront allows the public to escape from the urban bustle.
In response to expanding the experience of this space, I thought it'd be useful to bring in my skills of sketching to form new buildings inspired by Silo Park. The buildings could be a Cafe, play-spaces, information centre or indoor-outdoor shelter. The designs acknowledge the industrialism and nature of trade within the space by the manipulation of curves and slick edges to replicate the curving of the cylinder spaces and the lapping motion of the waves. The play spaces I want to create, aims to activate freedom for different types of play: creative and make-believe. Below images are the current existing playground in Silo Park, its type of play in this playground are active and learning, for children.
Daldy and Halsey Streets Playground Project by MPM Projects (Source: (MPM Projects, 2016)
The opportunity here is to involve the untapped market of creating a play-space for adults too. I feel the current playground is fantastic for kids as they are the developing growth for our future, but adults on the other hand, should also be allowed to freely express their inner youth without being judged. We only really conform to society’s social institutions to survive. By conforming to the set standards, we survive by not being labelled or ridiculed as ‘social-outcasts.’ Our tendency to be liked, can alternate one’s fabricated personality. Thus, the opportunity for adults to temporarily escape from reality activates play and celebrates individuality with freedom. What the play-space entails inside would be an outdoor playground brought indoor. Inside the play-space, it will be split with a division of half a digital experience of interactive art installations inside the space and the other half of a Cafe, and a hang out area. The look and feel of the hang-out area would be a designed space with a organic-natural feel fulfilled. A similar urban experience that I draw inspiration from is in Boston. 'The Lawn on D Street' showcases the latest urban activity sensation in the Seaport District. The wildly successful Lawn on D Street is a temporary park that took no tedious city planning. It is an outdoor playground for adults complete with its set of 20 lighted oval swings, bocce, ping pong, beanbag toss, Adirondack chairs, a sound stage, and open-air bar. The Lawn on D Street, Boston Adult playground in the park (Anthony Flint, 2014)
The Lawn on D Street, Boston Adult playground in the park (Anthony Flint, 2014)
The Look and feel of my play-space Organic -natural flow of cafe/hub space Half digital experience of art installation
("Sarah Price Landscapes » Cadogan Cafe Central London", 2016)
My play-space will be indoors because I want the experience to be permanent in its traces of presence within the urban. The adults can temporarily experience the play, and come back for more when they visit again, allowing time and space for everyone else to share. The building is to be situated as an expansion attached to the cylinder shown. This is a central point of the space and invites a crowd of adults to participate as a majority of events in the play-space will be held at night i.e. movies. Adults often go to work at day and out in the evening to enjoy themselves.
Jellicoe Street, North Wharf & Silo ParkWynyard Quarter, Auckland(Wraite+Associates, 2016)
By bringing digital experience in the art installations, I want to give them the option to experience play by bringing the outdoor to them. The art installations will include plant-based and scenery visions to withhold the audience in a cinematic dimension where they can see, touch and hear nature. It is intended to attract adults who usually go out during evenings, and want to escape into a temporary surreal world. The surreal world invites the notion of play, this type of play is creative and make-believe. Creative play involves music, arts & crafts and audio-visual and, Make-believe play involves role-playing scenes. The creative play of the visual imaging and sound effects help build up the setting and feel to the place that the person is experiencing. On the other hand, the Make-believe play activates their mind through imagination, taking them to another place. Opening the opportunity for digital media will change the experience of encountering the urban. We can physically be in one place and also be at many other places at the same time. It is the platform of digital media that joins together a portal of network and connections into one integrated experience. The art from the installation becomes a mechanism for communication, such as when many people come into the same place at once; dialogue will happen. And because dialogue happens, communication develops and relationships are formed. Conversations between the public people are generally at acquaintance level, the level of engagement is minimal and polite. The conversation could be as temporary as a simple greeting or a discussion about the weather, environment or the art. But even if it is temporary, the opportunity to engage with others is credited to the public space.
Furthermore, the concept of imagination triggered by the digital medium can be recognised as a concept of utopia, where unreal space is created. The engagement from the users allow them to enter both a surreal world (fantasy) within a real space (reality). The ability to transition in both worlds challenges the concept of heterotypic space. Philosopher Michel Foucault, introduces the concept of heterotypic space as an unconscious planning of people doing, feeling or sensing things to articulate the meaning of everyday life (Harvey, D. (2012). He describes it as spaces that have more layers of meaning or relationships to other places than immediately meet the eye. In general, a heterotopia is a physical representation or approximation of a utopia, or a parallel space (such as a prison) that contains undesirable bodies to make a real utopian space possible.
Foucault's theory is relevant to the digital art installation because this process of social construction shows that there is a capacity to identify the normal (reality) from abnormal (fantasy), then the need to transition within both modes. ("The Cultural Reader: Foucault's concept of heterotopia", 2011) Once again, this encourages the user to escape from the urban bustle into their imaginations. The user's imagination is a metaphor for utopia because the image that you see in it does not exist, but it is also a heterotopia because the mind is a real existing process of the human brain, which shapes the way you relate to your own image (Dehaene, Michiel; De Cauter, Lieven, eds. (2008). In other words,
heterotypic space is seen as a natural and necessary way for us to recognise the internal separation between what is required of us socially (reality) and of what we desire or wish for (fantasy). Finally, the integration of imagination into space has taught me that the concept of play withholds greater power than I imagined for learning. The act of playing is more enticing and rewarding when you dissect its potential for bringing together a mass of people who want to share an experience. The play-spaces for adults provides a space for them to choose to escape into a surreal world or to engage with people through conversation.
