Week Twelve : Architectural Entity Materiality

Emphasis on local materials and recycled product are foremost considerations in the emergence of Paddington Exchange. Not only in a physical sense but also in reference to the Paddington vernacular. Wooden facades comprise much of the structure with intermittent glass panelling and operable windows; as to “bring hands up to building and light into the interior”. Material selections are intended to emphasises the emergent mentality of wellness and humility with minimal finish and organic textures. The following represent a selection of inclusions within the structure and the below image illustrates the facade that I have used through out the entity; namely to allow for a constant visual connection with external activity and to allow for human operation of the facade at given intervals;

Week Twelve : Architectural Entity Access

Place is inherently bound up with its surroundings; to the extent that the urban fabric is either strengthened or weakened by its public space. In order for Paddington Exchange to deeply embed community ownership and participation, open and immediate access to the entity must be established as to nurture the diverse range and needs of its citizens. In achieving such an outcome the following strategies have emerged as prevailing considerations of access;

Main entrance: By placing the main entrance centrally; at a point where it can be seen immediately from avenues of approach and with a bold and visible presence it makes possible a natural  orientation of movement toward and within the entity.

Opening to the street: A glass connection creates relatively passive involvement while a facade open to the street allows a far more valuable and involving connection. When public space is open it is possible to hear, what is going on inside, to smell the inside, to exchange words and even to step in all along the opening.

Multiple points of interaction: Paddington Exchange by its nature can only prosper if it is not only accessible to the citizens of its own community but also receptive to channels of exchange with surrounding subcultures. While Latrobe Terrace is privileged to the main entrance the entity is also comprised of several additional points of entry in order to nurture deep and mutual participation with a range of users.

Week Twelve : Architectural Entity Configuration

Refining my design this week; the defining concept of Paddington Exchange is as a visible manifestation of the emergent culture and language of its citizen. The sight of action is often incentive for action. Thus where people can see into spaces from the street their world is enlarged and made richer, there is more understanding and a greater possibility for communication and exchange. In this sense through glimpses of contained activity the building will act to enlarge Paddington. It will throw open the space as an offer and invitation to the community for delight and participation.

The organisation of space and the objects occupying it I anticipate will allow for a flow of space and time, in which passive and active engagement is provoked. The expendable nature of spaces within the entity on the one hand challenges participants dexterity and on the allow for a continual re-imagination of the physical setting. Capturing an infinite spectrum of community use and introducing an ever changing performance Paddington Exchange therefore through its configuration is intended to stimulate cycles of interaction and spark events. In exploring how these aniticipations will find physical root, the below strategies are design intentions that I feel will support such philosophy. 

Week Twelve : Further Research on Social Innovation

Considering notions of engagement, I would suggest that at its core Paddington Exchange is an attempt to capture and perpetuate a process of social innovation. My own ideas about how this reality could be delineated are elaborated in the below diagram.

However in exploring more thoroughly these notions I uncovered The Social Innovator; an organisation which presents in extensive detail tangible suggestions and examples for facilitating this type of reality. Social innovation is considered as a process of six stages, evident in the below image. These stages from inception to impact are not necessarily sequential; there are feedback loops between them and they can be thought of as overlapping spaces with distinct cultures and skills. Engaging such a concept in relation to Paddington Exchange, I would suggest that this entity contains most predominantly the opportunity to foster stages of prompting, proposal and ideas and sustainment. The diagram below details how I would envision these manifested in both theoretical and physical forms.

Week Twelve : Further Research on Engagement

Participation is essentially at the heart of what I am trying to achieve through this contemporary marketplace. Collaboration in the community for the community. At present there is an emergent culture emphasising such participatory urbanism although it exists predominantly in the virtual realm.

TEDxCity2.0 is one such insurgent idea. The City 2.0 website (which I touched on earlier) is a platform created to surface the myriad stories and collective actions being taken by citizens around the world. It draws on the best of what is already being discovered by urban advocates and adds grassroots movers and shakers into the mix. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." The program is designed to give communities, organizations, and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. At TEDx events, a screening of TEDTalks videos--or a combination of live presenters and TEDTalks videos--sparks deep conversation and connections. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

Similar to this Engaged by Design is a platform which enables dialogues and actions between a diverse range of disciplines around sustainability and design through creative outputs and workshops. It aims to empower partners and collaborators to generate meaningful change through opening conversations & providing by space for reflection.

In imagining this emerging future and in keeping with what I envision as valuable to the community of Paddington and indeed Brisbane at large I would suggest that this collaborative initiative could represent the physical manifestation and facilitation of such models. Thus while threads of traditional consumption and exchange would remain opportunities for deep and meaningful dialogue would also be supported. The question thus is to consider how?