Earlier in the week, Viv (Saskia’s father) visited the 34 neighbourhoods to support our thinking around the design of meeting places. He presented the thinking, decision making, considerations and potential for evolution behind the design of Federation Square.
As Viv guided us through the project, we began to thinking about many aspects of our design that we had not yet considered. We thought about shape, space, shade, surroundings, steps, materials, colour, pattern, people, groups and the view that someone may look upon while at a meeting place, just name a few aspects. It was surprising to realise the amount of consideration behind these aspects and the difference it can make on the whole meeting place. For example, a step will invite someone to stop and sit down in an open space. Narrowing the amount space available will entice a human characteristic and encourage people to move slowly and/or gather, while wide open spaces encourage movement and people to pass through.
After Viv’s visit, we are beginning to ask questions such as-
- How do we make important decisions about aspects of our design?
- How do we record, communicate, develop and build our ideas?
- How will our meeting places symbolise and capture the purpose and importance of our groups?
We have a couple of other expert architects coming in over the next few weeks and can’t wait to ‘expand possibilities’ with them.