The Rise of Oxford’s Social Milieu / MArchD
Overview:
In my second semester, I evolved my initial written academic research into an architectural design project. I proposed four locations to design four proposals that would allow the public to break away from their addictive online self. These locations were derived from my mapping research which highlighted spaces that were most present to the public, but also presented an opportunity to design new public spaces for the people to create, appropriate and play. These zones would disturb the repetitive, mundane spaces within central Oxford and the static formation created by the public on their mobile phones. Free space is needed for our social benefit and when navigating through Oxford, it is noticeable to see how regulated the city is. Not to mention how some can even navigate solely looking at their mobile phone. Space is not created and produced by labels and boundaries, but by the people and their energy. By scattering my proposal through the city, it allows for a variety of different scenarios which encourages an unpredictable nature due to the activity of its users.
I developed numerous long exposure shots from each of my four sites based on eight questions I derived from Lefebvre’s triad. The exposures created a dynamic perspective of the space as it is warped by various views and actions of people. Through this I created various forms and spaces that gave a chance for people to explore, meet and adopt a space which they could use in a positive and social manner. Here I have shown one of my proposals located in Frideswide Square, which is one of the largest public spaces within Oxford and located in-front of one of the University of Oxford buildings. My concept was to reclaim the space which was originally dominated by people solely transitioning through the space and traffic dividing the two spaces. To combat this, I designed an urban pier which is elevated by 11m and forced people to be more aware of which paths to take as spaces are claimed by various installations throughout the year. Whilst still providing access to the original site, they are required to walk along the pier to navigate through the site. The original lower level is then consumed by vegetation and spaces of tranquillity, providing an area to allow people to relax and physically interact by having a conversation. This is accessed by various staircases, escalators and lifts.
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