Friday, June 12, 2009

The Design

The site I am doing is site 3.After reserching the area of Newtown I found that the Aboriginal History is what I found most interesting and interestingand inspiring so I decided to design a gallery for contemporary Aboriginal artists.As contemporary Aboriginal art has become one of the most important ways in which theya re able to comment on the politicalissues they are facing today and the issues they have faced in the past.My main inspiration for the gallery washe artwork "Edge of the Trees" by Janet Laurence and Fiona FoleyThe work is sculptural installation that is placed outside the museum of Sydney.The artwork is made up of a number of hollowed out logs which represent dijerridoos. The artwork symbolises the meeting of cultures that occured on that site over 2 centeries ago.With the design of the gallery I tried to capture the distinctive qualities of the Newtown area, which is alos influenced by the Aboriginalculture. The building does conform to the general box like structure of the surrounding buildings. The Aboriginal influence is obviouse in the facade of the buiding, which is where you see the influence of the "Edge of the Trees" artwork This half of the facade is made up of a covered wall which is part of a room that is at the entrance of the gallery. This room is ispired by the by the form of the digerridoos. This makes the gallery stand out.When you enter the gallery you are led to into the cylinder shaped room where you go down a small set of stairs as this room sits slightlyunderground, you can then leave this room using another staircase which leads you to the courtyard which is the same form as the first cylinder room. This large room and the courtyard are used for displaying sculptures and installations. Once you leave this room you are once again on the ground floor of the gallery where you go into a small room for displaying small artworks. Leaving this room you are able to viewthe artworks on the side wall of the gallery. The viewer can go up these stairs which curve around the wall of the courtyard.These stairs take you up to the first level and lead you into the another room for displaying sculptures and artorks.

Plans & Sections
















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Model in progress
















Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Ularu Cultural centre



Design proposal

The architecture will provide a neutral and autonomous framework within which the art is displayed.
The design will capture the distinctive qualities of the Newtown area however it will be influenced by the culture of the Aboriginal people and what this area symbolises to the people.
The design of the gallery has been influenced by the symbols used by aboriginal people in traditional aboriginal art. The symbol will be used in a way to express the culture of the Aboriginal people.


The design of the gallery will be based upon these two signs. These signs represent what this area one meant to its people. The area was a track that connected various areas of Sydney. Using this symbol will not only allow me to express the Aboriginal culture, but it also allows me to express the atmosphere of Newtown and the architecture which has been built in the area.
The building will conform to the box like structure of the surrounding buildings. As keeping this structure helps me express the symbolism.

The interior of the gallery will take you on a journey to into the the lives of aboriginal people. I will be creating a sequence of spaces that will help show what the aboriginal people have gone through since the settlement of europeans.

Aboriginal history

The Newtown area was part of the land of the Cadigal band of the Eora people, who ranged across the entire area from the southern shores of Sydney Harbour to Botany Bay in the south-east and Petersham in the west. The street reputedly follows an ancient Aboriginal track that branched out from the main western track, now beneath Broadway and Parramatta Road, and which continued all the way to the coastal plains around Botany Bay. According to the colonial diarist Watkin Tench when Europeans arrived in Sydney it was possible to walk easily all the way from Sydney Cove to Botany Bay in a few hours, through a grassy and lightly-wooded area that Tench described as being like English parkland.

The Art

The gallery will be dedicated to aboriginal artists. The art exhibited in the gallery will be contemporary Aboriginal Art. The gallery will be able to express the aboriginal people history and how far they have come. The aim of the gallery is to inspire the younger aboriginal generations and reintroduce them to their history. It will also be able to introduce a wider community to aboriginal history and contemporary aboriginal issues. I want the gallery to take the viewer on a journey into the past and also into the lives of aboriginal people today.

Contemporary Aboriginal art

Contemporary Aboriginal art has developed rapidly and for Aboriginal people it has become one of the most important ways in which they could comment on the political issues they are facing today and the issues they have faced in the past. Artists in urban settings and in larger Australian cities during the 1970s and 1980s began using art as a means of powerful social comment and political expression.
Contemporary Aboriginal artists began using a wide range of media ranging from painting to photography, digital work and installations. Through the use of such a wide range of media contemporary aboriginal artists have been able to challenge the stereotypical view of what it means to be aboriginal and have been able to battle against stereotyping Aboriginal art which sees work in ochre on bark. Through their work artists expressed political issues that Aboriginal people have been dealing with since the European settlement in the 1800s. Urban Aboriginal art depicts a wide range of political issues which include the interaction of black and white cultures, the assimilation policy, reconciliation and black death in custody.

Artists

Tracy Moffatts work is influenced by aboriginal heitage and culture. Mofatt works with the media of film, photography, video and uses experimental techniques and artistic strategies to create a unique, visual style of cinema that challenges the stereotypical treatment of race through symbolic and political references. She was interested in presenting positive things about Aboriginbal Australia through her work.




"Night Cries" is a seventeen minute drama about a middle aged Aboriginal women caring for her adopted white mother. Most of the film describes the dreary lives of the two women and their daily activities such as feeding and bathing. There is no spoken dialogue only tense disturbing and aggressive narrative dominated by memory flashbacks to their earlier life. Political issues reflected in the film are both contemporary and historical. The story refers to the assimilation policy that forced Aboriginal children to be raised in white families.
Through Tracey Moffatts work we are able to see the social and political issues aboriginal people face and the way this has impacted on there lives.

Lin Onus is another contemporary Aboriginal artist that depicts similar political issues in his work. The vision of a united Australia, for the right of all people to pursue their lifestyles and culture in accordance to their own tradition was the central motivating force behind the work of Lin Onus. For most of his artistic life Lin Onus demonstrated his commitment to bridging the gap between urban and traditional, indiginous and white Australia in his multi-layered works. One of the biggest political and social issues depicted in his work is the interaction of black and white cultures.


"Fruit Bats" is an installation of fibre glass sculptures, featuring "rrark", a traditional cross hatching design paticular to the Arnhem region. The clothes line is a symbol of Australian white suburban living, which has been combined with traditional aboriginal colours and "rrark" on the bats hanging from the clothing line. There is a strange misture of symbols in this work. Even though his work depicts political issues faced by both indiginous and white Australians, there is also an element of humour.


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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Drawings











Narrative


A Space for a young women who has to deal with a life threatning illness.
A space for a women who has to deal with a life threatning illness.I designed this space as a retreat for the women to relax in and overcome her illnessI chose to look at how this women would be living so its a typical day and life. With every room showing the different activiyiesshe would do during her day.It is a very geometric based design whih is simply made up 3 rectangles.The strong structure is a representation of the strength the women needs.One of the things which I found partcularly interesting in the painting washe light came through the window.To me this light was representing hope, so for my design i was inspired by the light that was coming from these windows, this would be the source of hope for this women.The space is made up of threeooms and the patio.The bedroom, bathroom and mediation room, which all had a small kitchen area.The bedroom is where she would wake up every morning and where she would be when she is recieving all her treatmentsI made it quite large with 2 large windows beause this is where she would be spending most of her time, therefore the needs to feel comfortable.Then I have the bathroom which almost has a day spa feeling, with this window which stretches across the wall. The bathroomis quite necessary because it is a place for her to relax and wash. The small windows on the wall would reflect the light above her,this light is almost a heavenly light.The third room is the mediation room where she would spend most of her time when she is not feeling too ill. I've got a got a shelf in thisroom for reading, which is a relaxing task and also helps time go past.The kitchen area here is for her to make herself food.There is windowsll around this place, which would help her feel more inspired and hopeful.

Villa Savoye


Enclosure


Program

Geometrey


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Poche 1:100



Plan 1:100



Section 1:100