rebarinwater

rebarinwater
photo: L. Stacy Passmore

Monday, March 28, 2011

Agro-Industrial Working Waterfront

The portion of the Anam New City that I chose to analyze and design is the agro-industrial waterfront. The area is located at the southern tip of the Anam New City. This project has been very challenging on a multitude of levels. It has been difficult to “visualize” and truly understand the project site and the Anam New City in general, because the site is located in Africa and the city only exists on paper at this time.


To assist with concept design, an analysis of the site was completed. The site analysis included looking at a number of existing conditions and connections as illustrated by the attached site analysis diagrams. The site analysis focused specifically on the agro-industrial potion of Anam New City, and I soon found that although I understood the workings of the agro-industrial blocks, I didn’t really understand the relationship with the rest of the city and peripheral areas, for which the agro-industrial area will undoubtedly impact. This lead to an analysis of the way in which the edges of the overall city are to be used and a review of the tools that I chose for the project. As a result I looked at the agro-industrial area in terms of the cycle that starts with inputs (materials) and ends with outputs (products) and everything in-between.














To tackle concept development, I referred back to my concept collage for inspiration and created a concept diagram. Although the diagram made sense, developing concept diagrams that incorporated all the elements proved to be difficult and frustrating. Without an actual built site, it was hard to visualize a design solution and how it would actually meld with the rest of the city. In the end three concepts were developed. The first is based on site lines from surrounding buildings, the second is inspired by bamboo and the third is based on the eight communities that comprise the Anam New City. The goal with each concept was to incorporate the key elements that were identified while attempting to minimize impact on the environment. At this time a final plan has not completed.




1 comment:

  1. Undoubtedly you already are thinking about this working waterfront from a “Landscape Architecture” point of view, but it may be worth doing so in an even more focused and dedicated way. Its going to come down to making timely decisions based on some information and some faith in yourself as a designer of built environmental systems. Ask some pertinent questions of yourself: where do the boats land to load and unload goods? (you design this!) how do people and goods move from their boats to the markets? What does this say about the slope and the edge conditions between the water and the sites above in terms of topographic considerations, terracing, series or sequences of levels? A constellation of social or economic moments along the way? The conveyance system you’re thinking about is a step in the right direction… While it might need to be grounded in a hypothesized logic, it (and you) may really benefit form being more tactical and playful!

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