Archinect - Birmingham City University (Chris)

The Final Crit... 3 weeks to go

2009-05-13T04:51:34-04:00

So yesterday was our final crit of the year, of the course, of part 2, of our student lives... Here's my presentation, reactions were good although i need to rework the layout mainly for the final pin up as I won't be able to stand up and talk it through, it needs to speak for itself a bit more.

A timeline of the Choleric people's development over 80 plus years

So then i go on to describe the new hive condition after they have moved out of the building hive, which had become overcrowded and conditions were less than ideal, medical facilities were poor, deaths from non tribal operations were high so a new leader promised a better way of life and this new hive was constructed

These better living conditions as time goes on produces higher population numbers and soon this hive is also becoming full... expansion is needed so they begin construction on a new hive, using the sludge construction plant (above) to create the new hive linked to the original.

This expansion continues over a...

urban segregation : social reintegration... the final hurdle

2009-04-16T13:06:53-04:00

Its been a while.......

So the charting of this new way of living continues a pace... since the last entry i have decided to concentrate on the Choleric quadrant of the division and work up how i see these people living their lives and test the assumption that it would be better if we were all split as a people like this....

So the story... the Choleric people are resourceful, strong willed, aggressive and independent, after a period of fighting tribes form and one of these tribes, the Vicia set up a hive situation within an abandoned steelworks in Birmingham, they continue to live their lives, building what they need as they go along, recon and defence machines, food cultivation, water collection and scrap collection, whilst also creating water purification and hydrogen fuel cell technology within the hive.

old hive interior shot:

timeline

Eventually the hive becomes cramped and overcrowded and can no longer support the life of the tribe within it, so plans are made to creat...

‘SOCIETY OF MANIPULATED STATE OF MINDS’ YT

2009-02-08T13:05:03-05:00

¬¬Thesis Statement

We see the signs of societal fears all around us, surveillance cameras; airport checks; barred store windows. Everyday we hear and see reports of the newest dangers that stir our sense of imminent doom. We believe that we are becoming increasingly exposed to all types of dangers and that these dangers are becoming more frequent and severe. In truth, we are the healthiest, wealthiest, and longest-lived people in history. Within a futuristic scenario, I wish to investigate the fundamental ideas and issues behind the powerful emotion of fear.

¬¬Plot

The year is 2048; the world has become a planet of poverty and violence. Constant riots caused by social and economic problems have caused a divide between humanity. Constant wars and disease has drained the people’s hope of a normal life. World leaders and governments have tried to take back control of their cities, but in doing so they have achieved an oppressive society within their realms. The government ...

Manipulative Social Regimes

2009-02-07T17:25:23-05:00

An investigation into the individual's place within socio-political groups. Individual thoughts and needs are often expressed through groups or societies, which may not accurately express views but collectively make an impact. Is manipulation applied at an individual level or do groups and societies use individuals to express specific views?

We like to think we live in a fairly free society where we make our own decisions but... maybe influence and manipulation in socio-political groups can brainwash people - or actually, do we choose to believe what we want to? Do more intelligent or intellectual people make informed choices or are we like sheep and as much as we like individuality, we also like to belong in society.

This project focuses on the lower end of the socio-political scale, whilst combining manipulation and rioting together as a tool for the acceleration of urban decay and regeneration.

Nomadic Hydro Park

2009-02-06T04:19:13-05:00

Kumaraguru

Past - In early civilization human race lived in very uncertainty lifestyle where their lifestyle depends on the availability of local life stock and vegetation. This is due to varies factor including lack of basic needs and fundamental knowledge for survival in one place and drives them to survive as nomads.

Present - In modern age, people still continue the nomadic life in the form of migration which influenced by the global economic development. Science and Technology have also contributed and facilitate the migration culture in this century.

Future - This form of lifestyle will be accelerated and become a permanent human culture which will be contributed by the global condition such as Global tragedy or warming, disaster and economical imbalance.

My thesis idea
I am intending to investigate the idea of human race developing a permanent nomadic culture in the future which will allow them to physically survive beyond the boundary, state and territories by sta...

Convert Contradistinction Savoir-Faire

2009-02-05T17:58:58-05:00

[NS]

A totalitarian government has subversively gain power over the country. Tighten their grasp on society further they utilise an ID Card system under the guise to protect and benefit every citizens life. The truth is that they utilise this technology as a means to imprison us all in their world. The government blames and persecute a sect of society for the faults our world has to further their cause.

The thesis involves the incorporation of hidden spaces for the persecuted counter-culture, where their true identity can exist behind illusionist surfaces and deceptive contours right under the noses of those who persecute them.

The following four images introduce the concept of hidden spaces in my Thesis project. An introduction showing part of a study of priest holes, a situation where hidden spaces could be integrated based on historical events, a form study comparing where people want to be in tall buildings from Ken Shuttleworth’s ‘Swiss Re Building’ and Vortex projects which...

media machine

2009-02-05T17:10:58-05:00

andrew wood

It’s a material world.

In today’s developed world, society have everything to choose from; be it objects, images or food; it’s all at our disposal, effortlessly via the net, or physically by visiting the local shopping centre or food hypermarkets and everything is attached in someway to a media event.

Does the media control what we do and how we think? In the 1950s subliminal messages were banned in advertising because it was said to be brainwashing you to buy a product.

Does the TV really make us do stuff. When a murder is committed, it sometimes blames violent movies, video games etc; the movie makers and gamers say that this does not affect the way people think; and yet the advertisers spend billions a year on advertising, because they know it makes us go out to by their products.

Media machine

The credit crunch takes hold in 2009 and progressively gets worse as the weeks and months go by. The media have full coverage of every angle of the crunch, keeping the pu...

Flawed Perfection

2009-02-05T16:43:58-05:00

Dan C

Digital representation techniques promote an idealised image, an image of ‘unachievable’ perfection, hiding/disguising the imperfections from the public. The investigation will explore the idea of a building ‘skin’ being used as a ‘representation’ tool to enclose/hide the imperfections of its program.

The thesis aims to explore the idea of a reality where technology is used to create the illusion of perfection. Architecturally, the idea of buildings, through the use of technology, providing this illusion of perfection, enclosing the ‘flaws’ within its skin.

Facilitating the Un-Facilitable

2009-02-04T16:04:05-05:00

In the mid 21st century, in a society obsessed with control, we live with no fear.As a vehicle to combat crime and keep people safe, the government implements a system to control people through monitoring.

Are we really safe? or has this just moved the problem?

To fully understand what is good, we need to know what is bad. When bad can only be explored in the mind- what does this lead to?

Urban Segregation:Social Reintegration

2009-02-04T09:35:54-05:00

Chris Bravington

Divided Kingdom explores the concept of social division and integration through the four humours:

Sanguine
Choleric
Melancholic
Phlegmatic

I would like to explore the consequences of this division applied to Birmingham in order to solve our social isolation and subsequent tension.

I will test this hypothesis by exploring the path the Choleric sector takes after the reorganisation.

The Choleric people have arranged themselves into tribes... one of these tribes, Vicia have inhabited a former steelworks, constructing the machines they need to live, eat, drink, steal and fight, these same machines deconstruct to form their hive. A transient place to call their own....

8 Lies

2008-10-25T12:52:57-04:00

What’s at stake?

Is beauty what we are looking for? Is beauty really beautiful? Who told us that using the alibi of efficiency to validate a project is really valid? When did we start to wish for architecture that adapts to society instead of forcing into the scene an architecture that coerces society to change and adapt to it? When did we agree to comply with everything, to be accomplices, and to keep our mouths shut? When did we lose all our power?

The scope of what’s at stake within this unit is twofold: on the one hand it tries to make an ironic comment towards the homogenization of architectural production, what Theodor Adorno would call: “pseudo-individualization and the always-the-same” and on the other; mirrored hand it tries to make an ironic comment towards the process of social homogenization: precisely through commoditized “once-cultural” items such as Architecture, as Guy Debord would say.

In today’s world of commoditized Architecture words like Elegance, Effi...

this is not a test!

2008-10-17T16:55:08-04:00

Hi everyone, welcome to the bcu 8 Lies blog......... enjoy