Section

This section shows the cantilevel structure of my building. How the left side is heavily concreted behind the rock to counter-balance the building. Not too sure whether it would work in reality though.

Finalised floor plans

Floor plan sketches

Here are some sketches trying work out a floor plan for my building. At the moment the plans are pretty simple, yet it will give me something to work off later.

Here is another sketch of another form proposal for my building. This one ties back to the form concept of my folie, in which the form opposes everything around it; the nature, the complicated structure of the bridge. Each floor is facing a different angle to harness the use of the many views.

This is a sketch of an initial design thought that I had. It is to have a main function floor with a high ceiling counter sunkk into the rock face, with a visible glass facade. The higher floors, which would be little bars, would be split from the main function area. The 'pods' on the side would be similar to my folie design. These would be facing different directions to certain views.

4G Network

4G is the fourth generation in cellular wireless network standards. It provides much faster broadband internet access.



Below is a video comparing network speed between the emerging 4G network and the current 3G network speed.



If this network was available throughout my building, it would promote workers to come and even bring their laptop along to finish some work or even surf the net whilst on a break.

Philips 16 Million Colours

I have been searching everywhere for lighting technologies, and even though this isn't a breakthrough, it is an interesting find. Philips (again) have developed a new series of LED lights that offer an almost infinite number of colours. The LivingColors lamp features four low-voltage LEDs that when increased, dimmed, brightened or reduced offer a palette of 16 million color combinations. It can be aimed at a wall or corner of a room, at any angle or height and the small size helps make it an inconspicuous but effective lighting device.



This technology of almost infinte colours could be incorporated into my building to set moods of different rooms. There would be a colour setting for any occasion.

Translucent Concrete

This is one technology that absolutely amazes me. Concrete that is tranlucent to the point where you can see the outline of shadows. At first, when looking at the pictures I thought that it wasnt concrete at all, and rather some kind of acrylic. Yet it is indeed 100% concrete, still with all the same strength properties that normal concrete has.

This special concrete allows light to pass through. The tile contains optical fibers that make up about 5% of its surface area. The fibers are distributed uniformly throughout the surface to allow an outline to be clearly visible on the other side. The tiles have the unique combination of being nearly unbreakable and translucent.

The material is made with a combination of optical fibers and fine concrete. It can be produced as prefabricated building blocks. Due to the small size of the fibers, they blend into concrete and become a component of the material like small pieces of aggregate. The result is a new material, which is homogeneous in both its inner structure and its surfaces.

The material is manufactured by alternating layers of concrete and fibers. The concrete sets and the material is cut into tiles. The pattern of the fibers can be uniform, or can be designed to a specification such as artificial wood grain.

This technology could be used on the building facade to promote the building from the outside. From the Howard Smith Wharves, the facade will seem to light up from the interior lights, and the users inside the building will cast shadows that will show through the facade. This would exhibit the buildings movement on the inside.

If you want to learn more about it, check out the link below. I highly recommend it.

http://www.inventables.com/technologies/translucent-concrete

Oxygen Bar + Artificial Photosynthesis

After showing my tutor the emerging technologies I researched, I was not convinced that i had used an emerging technology to its full potential yet. After much thought and google searching, I eventually stumbled across the idea of an oxygen bar. The reason that I thought an oxygen bar was so important to incorporate into my intervention, was the intergration of the oxygen bar with artificial photosynthesis. As oxygen bars sell and distribute flavoured oxygen for recreational use, my building could harness the pure oxygen through the installation of artificial photosynthesis.

The oxygen bar aspect of my building has a multi-purpose feature. This is that during the day, the oxygen bar would be used by workers looking for a relaxing break from work, while during night, dancers would use the oxygen bar to rejuvenate their tired body.

360 degree Viewing

This is 360 degree full motion video produced by Yellowbird. They produce booths in which a user can view from inside, almost like a wrap-around television.



Incorporating this technology into my building could create the sense of being in a special place. Imagine if the surrounding walls of a room, 360 degrees around, produce a 360 degree image of  a Chemical Brothers concert. It would give the users the impression of actually being in a place of their dreams.

The following link is to the company that produce the item, Yellowbird. I think this is one of the worst business URL's I've ever come across. http://www.yellowbirdsdonthavewingsbuttheyflytomakeyouexperiencea3dreality.com/

Artificial Photosynthesis

Artificial Photsynthesis was one of the stand-out emerging technologies in the first tutorial. The use of artificial photosynthesis would aid in providing energy used in the building for lighting etc.

The Hydrogen and Oxygen could possibly be used for other purposes which i have not thought of yet.

Philips Lumiblade

The Phillips Lumiblade division to create an interactive installation that unlocks  the creative potential of their next generation OLED technology. With  the opportunity to work with thousands of OLEDs straight from their lab,  we started this project by creating "You fade to light", the worlds  first OLED media wall. Fascinated by the beautiful mirror finish quality  of the individual OLED modules we developed an installation that allows  the viewer in front of it to engage with the light in a physical way.  The wall is reflecting the person in front of it and then subtly fades  their mirror image into light. Check out the below link for more interesting technologies
 http://www.random-international.com/
 

The principle behind OLEDs is electroluminescence and the material emits light in the presence of an electric current.This Philips Lumiblade OLED technology would be great to use as a feature wall to promote a space for movement or dance.

The following are some cool pictures and videos of emerging technologies the could be incorporated into my building.

After much thought, I have decided to create a bar/nightclub as my design intervention. The reason for this is that many features in a bar at the Howard Smith Wharves can relate back to the aspects of the brief, as well the site location and the folie concepts.

The site location is surrounded by suburbs that have a large bar and nightclub scene. Many of times have a found myself, on a night out, wanting to go from the city into the valley. I have mostly always caught a cab, mainly for the reason that walking would be long and boring as for there is nothing in between these areas. A bar/nightclub would be a perfect junction to the surrounding areas. Not only would it be used in the nightclub scene during nightime, during daytime it would serve as a retreat for workers around the area to relax and have a drink.

The folie concepts of views and structure can again be manipulated. Rather than seeing the many views through a single structure such as the folie, the different levels of the building could face the different views, giving each level an individual view of the wharves and beyond. Structurally, the building could be a cantilever like the folie, yet the space in between the walls that continued into the rock face that acted as a cantilever could be dug out to make the rooms larger. This cantilever effect would also give the building the appearance that it is floating, similar to the folie.

As emerging technologies go, a bar has much potential for the incorporation of emerging technologies. While the obvious technologies would be elements such as lighting and audio, it could also include technologies used in the construction of the building or even technologies in the structure itself.

After talking to my tutor and classmates about our folie concept, we discussed the tutorial topic of what exactly "the new machine' meant. My understanding of it  is an exploration of the way in which 21st century architecture can be driven and enhanced by emerging technologies. With both the folie concept and the tutorial theme in mind, we are now to design a building within the Howard Smith Wharves site.

My main folie concept was to manipulate and control the many views from the Howard Smith Wharves through a single structure. This concept of views got me thinking for a design intervention for a building that could maximise the use of the views from the site. The structure of my folie was itself another concept. This was that the thick concrete, monolith like structure purposely opposed that of not only the surrounding nature, but also the complex framework of the above Story Bridge.  There are also many aspects of the site that a driving my design intervention. I am interested in the fact that the site is surrounded by the CBD, Fortitude Valley and New Farm. All these areas are known for their involvement in the bar and nightclub scene.

Folie