Communication Strategies

My strategies to the presentation consisted in using the slides to explain the development of the project, showing the firsts ideas and how they developed, as we were going to receive guests I wanted to show the process and steps that I took for creating my Museum of Mullumbimby. For the A1 I wanted to show the final result and I picked some strategic drawings and diagrams that I found to be more suitable to explain how my project works.

Final A1

Final Model

From Entries to Exits - Experiences and Perceptions.

 

    From the start point of the conception of the project - as I knew that because of the flood hazard the building was elevated from the floor and as a consequence of that it was not accessible for people with difficulties of locomotion - I wanted to develop a way that would make both the original and the extension building more accessible and for that I created a new floor plan, also elevated from the floor as I recognize and respect that it's a important feature for the building, but I also made a series of new stairs and ramps connecting it to the floor and also connecting the extension to the original block.

   My wish to make the hole project accessible manifested in the interior of the new building where I introduced an elevator as one of the options for vertical circulation so people with difficulties to use the stairs can reach the second floor. 

    As the original site presents a car way inside that had to be removed for the positioning of the new building, I created another one, more dislocated to the left, to ease the access to the waste area and to provide a appropriate area where vehicles that are going to deliver goods for the museum can stop.

    The exposition area in the second floor received its own entries because I wanted that the other areas of the building could be used at nightime, so even if the exposition area is closed and the old building is closed, it can still have nocturnal workshops, and the auditorium can have presentations and performances, and the coffee shop can work during dinners and make popcorn during the  nights with open cinema - I didn't want my project to be limited by the commercial hours.
    Two stairs leads to the second floor and for each of them there's one entrance for the exposition area, the stair of the suspended block was a way to avoid a dead end in the project.
     I searched to 

Architectural Presence, Significance and Value.

    In the project for the Museum of Mullumbimby I tried to create a flexible space able to attract people of different ages and attend a long range of activities in its interior. The square is the focal point because I wanted to have inside the museum  a space for social interaction and that happens with the fountain, which is the main element that I took from my Community Node, with the market which I took into consideration during the synthesis of the space and the building itself, with the opportunity for nigh time activities as the open cinema and it also has a great potential to receive presentations and shows. The square is a place where parents can take their children to play in a safe and refreshing area, where people can go to sell and buy things, eat, rest, meet, chat, surf the internet - infinite possibilities. 

     For the uses of the building my great concern was to give the people and visitors of Mullumbimby the chance to get into contact with the local culture, that is very connected to the art fields, as it has space for them to expose their work and to make performances and also to learn and improve their skills with the computer and arts workshops, which I believe that will be specially attractive for elderly people that usually have more difficulty with technology and . 

    Above all I tried to create a space that is entertaining and vivid, as the city posses a more antique general image and a very quiet lifestyle with already a wide range of places that people can relax and stay in silence my wish was to make something different, new and expressive. A place that would make a strong connection to the younger generations - attract them and provide opportunities for them to socialize and to go out at night, as a lot of them still can not frequent the city pubs - but also wouldn't neglect the older generations and would deliver possibilities and interesting activities for them as well. I believe that the extension for the Museum of Mullumbimby can give the city a more actual feeling and perhaps open a discussion about utilizing architecture as a way to the renovate and to make the city of Mullumbimby more stimulating and attractive for possible new dwellers.

Final Elevations

     By making modern addictions clearly recognizable as such I wanted to make a formal contrast and signal that the building has been given a new purpose and new uses and, in that way, make people curious and seduced by the new and unusual presence and what it beholds.

    The respect for the original building and the surrounding environment is observed in the positioning of the extension as it stays behind the older block of the museum from the sight of the street, which is the first that people sees when coming to the museum, by the height of the new block that is considering the original, and also that it can be completely removed without leaving any traces if the building's purpose should change in the future.

    By creating the suspended block I wanted not only to give more free space for people to use and delight but also wanted to preserve the view from the riverside and the green area in the back part of the site.

Architectonic Solutions - Structures, Materials and Finishes

    The structural system for the Museum of Mullumbimby had it bases formed in the Community Node Project, which was a pre-cast structure made of steel.  By choosing the same structure I wanted to create a visual connection to my Community Node but also, I believe that a pre-cast structure would be appropriate to the museum as it is changeable - it is modular and it can grow or shrink  according to different necessities and uses - and also permit the space to be more flexible as the layout can be modified, new rooms can be created, removed, increased or decreased to adapt to new opportunities or new attractions of the museum.  The pre-cast structure is also more sustainable and if in the future the city wants to use that space for something different the building could be dismantled and replaced or its elements could be reused in different constructions and also the steel is recyclable. 

For last I wanted to create a contrast using new materials and by doing so highlight that the building is something new, is something more technological and exiting in a city that is calm and visually old. I believe that this image is appealing and seductive in its peculiarity and distinctiveness, especially for the younger generations that can relate more easily with that modern feeling transmitted by the extension building. Despite the wish to bring a more current/modern feeling to the space I tried to guarantee that the original construction would be the central point of the main facade and that the presence of the new building behind it would be noticed from the street in a discrete manner, that would be able to entice the visitors inside the site, without outstanding the original and respecting the proportion and the height of it.

    The use of pre-cast structure conjured some obstacles and the elevator was one of them. I didn't want to break with the benefits of the general structure by putting a reinforced concrete wall to hold the elevator so I looked for a solution that could be used with the steel posts and that wouldn't need a machine room - so the roof would stay intact.

    Above there is a example of elevator using steels posts and beams as structure and without machine room. As the height of the second floor is 4.5m, because of the exposition area, it would be appropriate to use this kind of elevator that needs a double height ceiling to compensate the elimination of the room machine.

    For the interior walls I also wanted to go for a pre-cast element that could be moved and I picked dry-wall, as the building has double stories height the simplest dry-wall system with one steel stud structure wouldn't be able to withstand the forces/weight so I used a double steel stud structure, also because I wanted to use the same type of wall in the hole project, including the toilets, and this system allows the passage of water pipes and sewage.

        Section ot the Community Node project


    The fountain in the central square will work using a system that is similar to my Community Node cascade, where water continuously circulates with the help of pumps and motors before falling back into the shallow pool, and when the fountain is turned off the water goes to a underground reservoir. The floor in the pool area is made of concrete so the pool can be formed and not drain but strategic positioned drains will direct the water to the reservoir. In my vision all the floor of the square will have drains that not only takes the fountain water to the reservoir but also can capture the rainwater so it can be reused in the maintenance and cleaning of buildings.

  Final sections demonstrating the definitive structure and the spans.

Week 9 - One to ten

The following images are the final sections and perspectives of my project, they represent the result of all the steps that I took and explained previously and also, they allow the visualization of how the project will work both day and night, structural details (sections) and the scale of the extension in relation to the plaza, visitors and also the original building.

Section AA

Section BB

Perspectives

Week 8 - One to Hundred

After evaluating the previous structure I came to the conclusion that I was not satisfied with the suspended block, I wanted a free area beneath him, without the interruption of the steel posts and so I sought a different structural solution and the one I found to be more appropriate was to make the block with a truss system - similar to a bridge.

 

 New Structure

I also decided to go with a different structure for the canopy, instead of a space frame I'm, once more, using a flat truss system (improving the visual uniformity of the project ) with perforated metalic sheets that were positioned in an angle that protects the square and the facades from the summer sun and permit the winter sun to penetrate inside the space. A metallic brise soleil was also add to protect the facades and it was design in a similar composition to the perforated sheets in the canopy. 

 Summer 12 a.m

Summer 3 p.m

Winter 12 a.m

Winter 3 p.m

The geo-location of the model was altered to the city of Mullumbiby in Sketch-up, and it was rotationed to the proper direction to guarantee that the canopy and the brise will work in the right way to protect the square and the facades.

Top view of the project, it is noticable the composition of the canopy with displaced and interspersed perforated metallic sheets. In the left side of the new building it is the car acess. In the moment there's already a small street in the left side of the old building, but the extension got bigger than the existing Shed, so the street had to be deslocated more to the left.

Access to high ground - stairs and ramps - I tried to create a new floor plan connecting the two buildings and also tried to make the project easily acessible to everybody so new stairs and ramps were add in both sides of the new floor plan. A detail about the stairs is that part of the steps is twice the height of a normal step and it works as a bench.

example of a stair with normal and twice height steps

Week 7 - One to Thousand

After analysing the possibles directions and uses for my project I started working in the 3D model:

The image below is the first attemptive - the new building is turned to the square in an L shape. I decided to make part of it suspended from the floor in a way that the space below could be used for the fountain and the market as well, making it more permeable space and preserving the view of the green areas ( in which, possibly in the future, I will be able to be work a landscaping proposal).

Considering that, in my vision, there will be kids playing in the square, and that the exposition to the sun for a long time can be harmful I decided to include a canopy (maybe space frame) as a response to this new problem. I believe that it is a great way to make the space more confortable, refreshing, and also protect visitors. 

As the region also features risk of flood, the new project was built on a higher plane from the floor, and this plan connects the new to the old building. To make the project more accessible were added new stairs and new ramps, allowing access for people with difficulties of locomotion to the museum, which was previously very complicated because the old building only has stairs.

I decided to go with the same structural language of the my Community node project. The main structure is made of steel, in the facades I will be working with concrete panels, glass, maybe some perforated metalic sheets in the front of the glass and in the canopy (still need to investigate more).

While thinking about the composition of the facade and what each part could behold in its interior, I chose to make a great concrete wall turned directly to the center of the square so I can use that part of the facade as the display for the outdoor cinema (the projector might be attached to the canopy), and in the interior of that part of the facade could be the auditory, once it doesn't need to have windows to the ouside.

After analyzing the streets around the area I believe the main routes that will be used to get to the museum will be through the Stuart Street, because it has the most direct route and has signs pointing to the museum from the city center, the River Terrace Street because it is where is located the bus stop which visitors from other cities and residents who use public transport arrive in Mullumbimby and, in a possible future scenario where the train station is reopened, through the Station Street. 

The blue line represents the main route from Byron Bay, passing through the city center and in the case of buses, stops in River Terrace Street. 

Stuart Street

River Terrace Street

There will be no parking inside the museum, only a street exclusive for cars that will be there to make some service, delivery for example, however there is space to park in some points in Myocum street and other streets nearby. Despite the nonexistence of a parking, the size of the city and the proximity of the museum with the center, aproximattely 400m, make it very effortless to get there by foot and by bike. 

In my vision the project for the new museum will atract a lot of visitors and residents both day and night time, and not only those that will engage with the new activies - the workshops, the expositions, the market, the presentations in the auditory and the cinema - but also people that are just passing by and whants some place to sit and relax, perhaps eat, surf the internet (free wi-fi) or just take their children to play. It will be a very flexible space with a lot of opportunities for people of all ages.

The positioning of the new building has been designed to better occupy the available space of the land along with the new plaza proposal, he is also located behind the historic building so that the new architecture won't outshine the historic architecture of the original museum, however, the new block is higher and that way people will be able to see it even behind the original. I believe that this a factor that might entice/seduce visitors to enter the museum to discover the new building and thus come into contact with new activities and opportunities offered by both the plaza as for the museum extension.

Week 6 - Possible Architectural Directions

After talking to some residents of Mullumbimby about the existent museum and its activities it became clear that the lack of space preclude its use as a space of cultural interest and leisure for the people. The museum houses a library of all city periodicals and it is constantly growing and because of that the post that worked along with the museum had to be moved and the computer classes that were offered in one of its rooms had to be halted. According to the citizens the market is, at the moment, the most popular attraction that occurs in the museum and it is while the market is happening the only moment that the museum stays open.

Taking this scenario in consideration the creation of a new extension to the museum seems extremely nescessary in the way to ampliate its capacity and possibilities, it will make it posible to behold new activities, turning it into more interesting and atractive space. 

The first idea of the central square remains but now I'm thinking about a more flexible area; I want the fountain but I also want to utilize that space for the market so, the water pumps can be turned off and then other activities can begin. I also want to intodruce some opportunity for the night time, possibly an outdoor cinema, that will took place in the same square. As the city doesn't have many options for going out at night - speacially for kids and teenagers who still don't have age to frequent the city pubs - the cinema idea stood out as very atractive and enjoyable activity for people of all ages.

These firsts concepts led me to these first sketches for the implantation of the square:

My intention was to make the extension turned to new square so it would be the conection between the old and the new part of the museum and it would work, as I wanted, as the central point of the project. 

To be able to deploy the extension in the desired way the old shed - where the historic machinery were exposed - was removed and the functions exercised by it will be transfered to a new exposition area inside the extention, this space will be also used to house exhibitions of local artists, as the city has an occupational history connected to the alternative culture, which has a strong link with the field of arts, I believe that to provide an area for locals to showcase their work is a very effective way to promote culture and connect the different generations of artists with the whole population of the city.
Taking in consideration the fact that, due to the lack of space in the old building the computer classes had to be interrupted, another uses that I'm intending to add in the extension is some workshops rooms where it will be offered the computer classes ( especially targeted to older residents who have some difficulty in following the new technologies) and possibly some arts and craft classes. Besides helping the older members of society to stay current and connected to the new trends, the workshops will also serve as a way to promote and to encourage the arts and new knowledge among people of all ages.

I am also considering including a small auditorium in the project plan, it will be designed especially for the locals and guests to give lectures, make presentations, small shows and theater pieces, etc.; I believe it is an interesting possibility because, in my opinion, the city lacks public spaces where residents can perform (and other activities) and it is a great option for culture and entertainment.

A small coffee shop is the last addition that I'm planning to do in the new extension, its role is to increase the comfort of visitors, so if somebody gets thirsty or hungry there will a place to eat and they won't have to leave the museum to look for a restaurant or another establishment.

Briefly, I sought to include in the plan of my project for the new museum, the return of the activities that were appreciated by the locals but that had to be discontinued for lack of space (classes/workshops), a new space for the realization of the market and the addition of the fountain (square/plaza), and new activities that will attract residents of all ages and provide new options for culture and leisure for them (cinema, auditorium, exposition space, coffee, etc). I believe that the new museum will also be a great opportunity for visitors to get in contact with the local culture and relax and thus, may also make the town of Mullumbimby more attractive to future residents.

Possible floor plans

Week 5 - What if? Speculations and Scenarios

For my Community Node water was the main element responsible to attract and comfort people, in the form of a small fountain, cascades and a shallow pool but, with the new project scale there are bigger possibilities to be explored with the water and I want to explore them.

I believe the site area has the potential for a plaza along with the museum extension, a place where people can meet, eat, rest, take their children to play, infinite possibilities.. and, in that context, I think that water would be a great element of attraction during the day and in summer time. So my first architectural approach was the creation of a square in the center of the project where I'll to create a space of refreshment, where kids will be able to play using water and parents will have place to sit, relax, surf the internet and talk while watching them.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the demography of Mullumbimby, North-eastern NSW, consists of a medium age population of 44 years old, 7 years above the overall Australian average. Due to the flourishing town’s economy in the 1970’ and 1980’s a predominant increase in population took place. Likewise its proximity to the touristic destination of Byron Bay made it an alternative cultural congregation spot for young people at the time, and it is still visible today that the population has a very strong appeal for the arts.

Nevertheless since then there has been a couple of factors that have not only crippled the town’s transformation over time but also created an everlasting discontent among its community, unnatractive and oldfashioned buildings and gruelling accessibility are part of the town's problems.

A considerable number of residents is living there only because of the proximity to Byron Bay - which in turn is a rather very attractive and touristc city that offers more options and activities for residents and visitors - but for a more affordable price. Disabling the railway line was also one of the factors that hindered access to the city making it less attractive to young people and travelers. 

As a personal experience, when I first tried to go to Mullumbimby it was weekend, I took a bus to Byron Bay and when I got there I discovered that there was only one bus going to Mullumbimby and only one coming back to Byron Bay, and there was only a 15 minutes of difference between them, so after all I did not get to city and had to try again in the next weekend with a rent car. The dificulty to get in the city without a car is real and is something that I believe to be one of the main problems about attracting new people. 

As only 15% of the population is between 15 - 34 years old the city has a relatively calm lifestyle, there's only 2 pubs there: The Middle Pub and the Chincogan Tavern and the main events are the Chincogan Fiesta (every September) and the Mullum Music Festival.

The open market is also very popular with the residents and farmers who sell fresh local products - The Museum of Mullumbimby only opens it's doors while the Markets are on.

If the rail line were to be open again I believe that the city would become a more acessible and attractive place for visitors and possible new dwellers. Another factor that could attract more people would be more leisure options and both daytime and night activities, places and cultural opportunities to frequent.

Week 4 - Physical Model

Week 4 - Community Nodes - final

project1