The previous post is the brief that was given to my studio to explore. Its been 3 days of ACAU and its been pretty eventful to say the least. I'm on medical leave today, so missing one day of the workshop.Should be back in action tomorrow though.

So far, we've had a few paper presentations during the workshop. Mostly the papers presented issues on how one can deal with the creation of an urban waterfront. Especially considering the colonial history of most Asian countries, elements of colonial interventions are still strong in the urban fabric. Others also presented ways in which interventinos can take place at such a site.

On another note, we've been down to site everyday since the workshop started. Walking by the river and really trying to sense the city. We've had a few discussions on what we feel about the site. We discussed each one of our reflections on the site, an attempt to approach an urban study away from the formal documentation of the area. In a way it is similar to the book "sense of the City" edited by Mirko Zardini

We attempted to discuss our reflections in the form of using our other senses as a filter to experience the city. What i did was to try and listen to the sound of the site. Trying to understand the sonic identity of the waterfront site.

-I always hear but i dont listen. I listened to the sounds of the low hum of the motors, lying dormant. Sounds of cutlery clattering into each other reached me, an indication that the waiters were setting the tables for the riverside restaurants to start their day.I tried to listen harder and the voice started to become clear. So many vocals, all harmonizing with one another. Such a rich layering of sounds that i never really noticed.

But where was the sound of the river? I couldnt hear it. All these sounds that i hear could have been from anywhere. I couldnt pick out any sonic clue that i was beside the river. Is the river supposed to be silent? Then if so, ishould i be able to hear the silence? If it should be vibrant and noisy then, is this the sound of a vibrant waterfront development?

These were points that i brought up for discussions and we ended the discussion by splitting up to do a SWOT analysis using our five senses as filters. From there, we hope to come up with a strong issue that can be the basis for our design.

I hope to post more stuff as the workshop goes along..thats all for now.