design idea

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Looking around Newtown, I noticed a very curious intermingling of ideas, architecture and culture. Newtown society is eclectic and forward-thinking, yet it is housed within ageing Neo-classical and Federation shop fronts and terrace houses. The streets and buildings are very much solid and ad-hoc, seeming to expand to accommodate the people, while behind Site 1 there is a very peaceful and underused park, contrasting the man-made with the natural. And I also noticed a struggle for expression from the Aboriginal community - a large painted wall calls for equality with an Aboriginal flag and Martin Luther King, eye-catching and powerful, but somehow overpowered amongst the sea of shops and traffic. These ideas all gelled to form my narrative. The part-Aboriginal art-dealer wishes to display Aboriginal art to bring together the modern world and the old world, and feels that Newtown and its contradictions is the perfect place to address these issues.
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Hopefully my architecture captures the art dealer's intentions. I have attempted to mould a topographic building which uses Site 1's length and position, flowing along the site and associating with the front and back entrances. This form is intended to feel somewhat organic and an extension of the ground and landscape. It recalls the rocky topography and monoliths that are important to Aboriginal culture, like Ayer's Rock/Uluru. However, the majority of the construction is concrete, steel and glass. These synthetic materials are arranged in a stepped pattern that rises and falls to create the rocky form - hence, uniting the modern and ancient worlds. This form flows between one end of the site to the other, bringing together the busier commercial entrance at King Street and the natural park at Lennox Street behind.
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The interior is one large space that is 'carved' out by the stepped roof. Instead of being divided into separate, self-contained storeys, it features two mezzanine-like levels, whose balconies always peer down the one space. The ground floor is open and for general display, the first floor features an office and workshop and more display areas, and the second floor features the dealer's apartment and kitchen. As the levels ascend, they decrease in size, appearing stepped like the roof, and ramps link each level so the spaces continuously rise and flow. The interior is always bathed in light by the glass panels in the roof, but these are frosted to protect the artworks from direct sunlight. This dominance of glass then allows for a reciprocal relationship with the outside world, as various colours and lights can be displayed through at night, reflecting the colour and creativity of the Aboriginal artworks within.
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