connectingtothepacific

[connectingtothepacific]

Abstract

When you walk around Auckland City you see tall buildings, luxurious shops and flashy lights. This gives our city a lack of originality and a loss of identity due to reason that when walking around other cities of the world you see and feel the same thing. My project responds to this by pointing out Auckland as the biggest Pacific city in the world, we should show case this through our city landscape making original and standout from other international city. To do this I have looked at the idea of lalava (lashing) an old technique used by Polynesian ancestors where they would use sennit to tie and bind materials together to create structures such as homes and canoes. The concept of lalava may not mean much to that of the western world but in the Pacific, lalava is a representation that binds all Pacific Islands together which creates strong bonds while also providing links to the past and binding our people together. With Auckland building towards the future I wanted my project to be that link to the past. From early Polynesian settlers to Fort Lane once being the waves that led to the original shore line. (Fort Street).

[connectingtothepacific]

Fort Lane and Project

Fort Lane is like the city version of a dangerous alleyway you wouldn’t want to pass through when alone of  a ghetto or slum. The feeling when walking through Fort Lane is different compared to when walking around the rest of Auckland city. Almost every space within Auckland has a role in how the city flow while Fort Lane is kind of just there and because of this I feel Fort Lane is disconnected from the city and lacks any importance. I want to physically bind Fort Lane by using a variety of bridges or planks connecting the existing buildings of Fort Lane to the other, while having position the bridges/ planks in two different angles that creates lalava patterns. I have elevated each plank/ bridge to create levels and have made them different sizes for different purposes. Wider planks are for events and thinner planks are for navigating around the site. The programme that have based my project on is that of a market because links back to how in the past Fort Lane use to be the waves that carried sailors and their ships to Fort Street back when it was the original shore line where they would trade goods with the people of the land. This idea inspired me to fill the lane in water which would create the feel of navigating on water through the lalava structure, and the markets being that of the trading centre.  

[connectingtothepacific]

Section

[connectingtothepacific]

Site Map 1:500

[connectingtothepacific]

Cinema and exhibition space.

[connectingtothepacific]

With live performances happening during day, I had an idea of displaying projectors on two seperate parts of the where would display short films about the history of Pasifika and other cultures here in New Zealand. Also it could be a place for Art & Design Students to showcase their work, creating an exhibition like space.

[connectingtothepacific]

[connectingtothepacific]

The Site could be used for story telling through performances whether it is on the stage or within the lane. Stories of voyaging, where Polynesian people come from, and myths and legends.

[connectingtothepacific]

Kava cultures are the religious and cultural traditions of western Oceania which consume kava. There are similarities in the use of kava between the different cultures, but each one also has its own traditions.

[connectingtothepacific]

Fashion Shows. A space for fashion designers to present their work.

[connectingtothepacific]

With Cassia and Roxy, their entrances are located right next to each other and so what I did was make one single entry where it can access both restaurants/ bar using the same planks that also leads into the Angus Steak House.

[connectingtothepacific]

With Queens Arcade I had opened up an entrance through the back to create an access from Fort Lane.  It is interesting with Queens Arcade because the style of its design has this colonial feel to it so having my structure linking to Queens Arcade is like two different cultures coming together. By connecting Queens Arcade to Fort Lane it will create access to the site from and to Queens Street.

[connectingtothepacific]

[connectingtothepacific]

[connectingtothepacific]

[connectingtothepacific]

[connectingtothepacific]