Been spending some time walking around Redfern.
In an effort to try to comprehend the suburb, where people congregated, main infrustructure nodes etc I compared it to Surry Hills or even Paddington; areas of gentrification.
If we look at Redfern I couldn't really see any main streets or areas where significant amounts of people congregated, e.g. that were "Crown St"-esque. Instead, little pockets of cafes, restaurants and bars, as well as some parks seemed to be where small amounts of people congregated, and that these areas were spread out throughout the suburb. Paddington has its Oxford St, Surry Hills its Crown St, which are both fairly major thoroughfares when moving through the suburb. However Redferns main thoroughfares would probably be Gibbons St next to the train station, which provides access towards the city, and Redfern Street, which is smaller scale. Gibbons Street is noisy and loud, and it is no surprise that it is not pleasant to be around. Redfern Street I feel has potential, with the newly developed BVN park adjacent and lots of retail shops, but a significant minority of shops were empty storefronts waiting to be leased.
If we look at the transport in the area, the busiest area (disregarding the roads) would be Redfern Station. Watching the station in the morning saw it extremely busy as people went to work. Despite this, the public areas around the station were not particularly pleasant, and access points were awkward and congested. It struck me that the Station really just acted as a transit point, there was nowhere to meet people or spend time. Should this be improved?
Furthermore I realised that Redfern was potentially a suburb of dispersal, as opposed to congregation. Surry Hills and Crown St I would suggest are areas where people congregate, and yet in Redfern there are no real areas to congregate. You get off your train from work, and walk home via networks of laneways. Different precincts such as the station, the Australian Tech Park, the BVN park, the social housing towers, are not linked by any large roads but medium to small streets and laneways. It made me wonder what the qualities f the public areas are like (mostly not great), do people actually use them (sometimes), do they have multiple uses (no, excepting the BVN park), are laneways considered public spaces (yes), how do they affect people moving around the area, what infrastructure is linked to the public areas, and if we use Redfern Station as a generator for people, what are the public areas and thoroughfares surrounding it like?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Assignment 1
I've been considering what area to do for the City Observation Exercise and came up with three potential sites.
1. Surry Hills - Crown Street
I have recently been spending a lot of time on Crown Street in Surry Hills, as I have just begun working in a restaurant there. I usually get to the area a little earlier than my starting time so to kill time I will go sit in Shannon Reserve next to the Clock Hotel. What struck me about the area is that it seemed to embody so much of the diversity that Jane Jacobs mentions in her book, as well as what WH Whyte mentions in his analysis of small city spaces. Any time of the day, you will get people going to the park (which in a way reminds me of a living room as all the seats are along the perimeter facing inwards) and people will be there playing with children, enjoying the sunshine, chatting to friends in little circles on the grass, or reading/listening to music.
The little square of grass next to Surry Hills Library is also one of my favourite places places in the whole of Sydney. Sitting there you can people watch as people enter the space off Crown St, watch the cars and pedestrians in front of you, get glimpses into the park, and watch the people on the balcony of the Clock Hotel as they watch the street below. Just that little area has so many layers of physical, aural and visual interaction. I recall one time not long ago I was sitting on the balcony of the Clock Hotel, and we saw as an brass band decided to display an impromptu performance walking up and down Crown St, stopping in front of the grass next to the Library, while some (probably inebriated) onlookers started dancing.
However as much as I love Surry Hills I feel like it is almost too perfect. It's a suburb that embodies almost everything I find successful about inner city living - proximity to public transport and infrastructure, clean and interesting laneways (which seem safe even walking at night), interesting cafes, bars and shops. I feel like the other sites I was looking at are so much more complex and need to be 'fixed', such as Redfern or Maroubra Junction.
2. Maroubra Junction
I very briefly considered doing Maroubra Junction for my project. I live close by to it and my bus often passes through the area. What both attracted me to consider the Junction for the project is the diversity of the population demographically, diversity of building types, as well as the odd, awkward public spaces. The diversity of building types includes high rise residential, semi detached and detached family homes, small shops, restaurants (including a McDonalds and a Yum Cha), retirement homes, and social housing close by. I think this reflects itself in the population as the population mix includes students living in the high rise residential, the elderly, the disadvantaged, families, and young professionals.
At the night, the area is one that I avoid, not because it is unsafe, but it feels unsafe. The street lighting is poor in areas, the place is deserted (especially the carpark that separates both sides of Anzac Pde), and waiting at the bus stop is such that they now post security at bus stop near the corner of Maroubra Rd and Anzac Pde. It is strange as it seems to almost tick all Jacobs "diversity" boxes, and yet at night the place feels uncomfortable and in my opinion, a bit ominous.
3. Redfern - area around the station, Redfern Street
Redfern is such a complex, fragmented suburb I almost don't know how to describe it. The eastern part is almost like the Surry Hills laneways, a fine grain network of fairly clean and safe laneways and streets. As one moves west however and along the main Redfern distributor that is Redfern St, the social housing towers come into view. Walking around the area of the towers is almost pleasant as there is an extremely large setback to the towers, planted with trees and filled with birds, but the presence of the towers and some of the human population makes it slightly less idyllic. Then near to the towers next to Redfern St is the recently gentrified Redfern Park and Oval, with little cafes, bars and restaurants nearby. The large presence of students is also interesting due to the proximity to Sydney University, and price of the housing.
What I would love to study about the area is how the public areas - parks, squares, setbacks and streets- link or divide all these highly diverse areas. Do they add or take away from the social fabric? How do people use them? Are they successful?
Ashleigh
1. Surry Hills - Crown Street
I have recently been spending a lot of time on Crown Street in Surry Hills, as I have just begun working in a restaurant there. I usually get to the area a little earlier than my starting time so to kill time I will go sit in Shannon Reserve next to the Clock Hotel. What struck me about the area is that it seemed to embody so much of the diversity that Jane Jacobs mentions in her book, as well as what WH Whyte mentions in his analysis of small city spaces. Any time of the day, you will get people going to the park (which in a way reminds me of a living room as all the seats are along the perimeter facing inwards) and people will be there playing with children, enjoying the sunshine, chatting to friends in little circles on the grass, or reading/listening to music.
The little square of grass next to Surry Hills Library is also one of my favourite places places in the whole of Sydney. Sitting there you can people watch as people enter the space off Crown St, watch the cars and pedestrians in front of you, get glimpses into the park, and watch the people on the balcony of the Clock Hotel as they watch the street below. Just that little area has so many layers of physical, aural and visual interaction. I recall one time not long ago I was sitting on the balcony of the Clock Hotel, and we saw as an brass band decided to display an impromptu performance walking up and down Crown St, stopping in front of the grass next to the Library, while some (probably inebriated) onlookers started dancing.
However as much as I love Surry Hills I feel like it is almost too perfect. It's a suburb that embodies almost everything I find successful about inner city living - proximity to public transport and infrastructure, clean and interesting laneways (which seem safe even walking at night), interesting cafes, bars and shops. I feel like the other sites I was looking at are so much more complex and need to be 'fixed', such as Redfern or Maroubra Junction.
2. Maroubra Junction
I very briefly considered doing Maroubra Junction for my project. I live close by to it and my bus often passes through the area. What both attracted me to consider the Junction for the project is the diversity of the population demographically, diversity of building types, as well as the odd, awkward public spaces. The diversity of building types includes high rise residential, semi detached and detached family homes, small shops, restaurants (including a McDonalds and a Yum Cha), retirement homes, and social housing close by. I think this reflects itself in the population as the population mix includes students living in the high rise residential, the elderly, the disadvantaged, families, and young professionals.
At the night, the area is one that I avoid, not because it is unsafe, but it feels unsafe. The street lighting is poor in areas, the place is deserted (especially the carpark that separates both sides of Anzac Pde), and waiting at the bus stop is such that they now post security at bus stop near the corner of Maroubra Rd and Anzac Pde. It is strange as it seems to almost tick all Jacobs "diversity" boxes, and yet at night the place feels uncomfortable and in my opinion, a bit ominous.
3. Redfern - area around the station, Redfern Street
Redfern is such a complex, fragmented suburb I almost don't know how to describe it. The eastern part is almost like the Surry Hills laneways, a fine grain network of fairly clean and safe laneways and streets. As one moves west however and along the main Redfern distributor that is Redfern St, the social housing towers come into view. Walking around the area of the towers is almost pleasant as there is an extremely large setback to the towers, planted with trees and filled with birds, but the presence of the towers and some of the human population makes it slightly less idyllic. Then near to the towers next to Redfern St is the recently gentrified Redfern Park and Oval, with little cafes, bars and restaurants nearby. The large presence of students is also interesting due to the proximity to Sydney University, and price of the housing.
What I would love to study about the area is how the public areas - parks, squares, setbacks and streets- link or divide all these highly diverse areas. Do they add or take away from the social fabric? How do people use them? Are they successful?
Ashleigh
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Fukushima
In design studio, myself and a partner are studying "Drosscape" and what a drosscape is in relation to Redfern and Redfern Station. We are doing this in reference to articles written bu Lars Lerup, Manuel De Sola-Morales, and Alan Berger.
Drosscape, as written by Berger whom based his writing on a manifesto by Lerup, essentially describes drosscape as wasteland left over from past politico-economic regimes. They formed from two main processes, rapid horizontal growth (i.e. urban sprawl) or left over fragments from industrial regimes within the city (i.e. the industrial core).
One of the waste landscape "types" is the "waste landscape of contamination", and in a presentation to my Studio class I included an aerial photo of Fukushima and the surrounding landscape. And then last night, my boyfriend sent me a link to something he had seen on the internet, where Google took a car to one of the deserted cities Namie.
Virtually driving through the streets is simultaneously both fascinating and highly emotive. What happens to a place like this in 10, 20, 50 years? Where are all the people? How will the government deal with the situation, will they eventually rebuild or leave the city to crumble? One of the main points Berger makes is that drosscapes are not always negative as they have the potential to be regenerated. It begs the question of what is the potential of Namie?
Also looking at drosscapes and urban sprawl took us to looking at photos of American suburbs and cities such as Los Angeles, where aerial photos in Bergers Drosscape book showed the grid with single detached homes stretching into the horizon. It makes me wonder what it is like to live in a city where a vast area of it is repetitive can only be traversed by car.
Ashleigh
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Some interesting links
I have been reading a lot of articles on a website called The Atlantic Cities. Many of the articles deal with Architecture/Urban Design which are highly interesting. Several articles relevant to the course include:
The Power of the Moveable Chair by William H Whyte, of whom was mentioned in the first lecture.
Intro
Hi!
This is my UDE0004 blog where I will be recording my thoughts, interesting articles & links regarding the course.
Some background: I am a Masters of Architecture student. I recently took a year off between Undergrad and Masters, and spent this year living in Dublin, Ireland. Prior to Architecture I had aspirations to be a Veterinarian and spent a year and a half at Sydney University studying Animal and Veterinary Bioscience before deciding time spent in the company of sheep and cows was not for me. I am still highly interested in science, particularly biology.
Some background: I am a Masters of Architecture student. I recently took a year off between Undergrad and Masters, and spent this year living in Dublin, Ireland. Prior to Architecture I had aspirations to be a Veterinarian and spent a year and a half at Sydney University studying Animal and Veterinary Bioscience before deciding time spent in the company of sheep and cows was not for me. I am still highly interested in science, particularly biology.
Thanks for reading,
Ashleigh
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