Abstract:
The existence of hard borders within the contemporary urban landscape creates potential to
challenge our conventional comprehension of
formal place-making processes. Careful consideration of such spaces can thus challenge the
dominant discourse surrounding a city’s public
spaces and established social order. Boundaries
can be thresholds, not just barriers, fostering social diversity and creating connections between
people and spaces.
This thesis investigates the often overlooked,
historically unappealing and frequently underutilised spatial remnants of modern urbanisation
that occur beneath and around city infrastructure.
These residual configurations impede the cultural, social, and geographic flows of urban communities. By engaging with the diverse cultural
dynamics of the surrounding urban context, the
final design transforms the underside of downtown Auckland’s Victoria Park Viaduct into an
architecturally vibrant environment within and
through which the community actively interacts. The process of inquiry begins with the concept
of inhabiting space. Victoria Park holds a rich
history that intertwines Māori, colonial and geographical heritage. This thesis reveals the site’s
rich historical layers, embracing its complexity
by reshaping the landscape to revive its natural
and cultural evolution. The aim is to recapture
the spirit of Waiatarau, Te Tō, Tunamau, and
Waikuta, landscape features that were once
present here, as a means to blur, punctuate, and
redefine the dense boundaries imposed by transport infrastructure.
The findings from these lines of exploration are
then tested through a design project centred on
Victoria Park. A multi-functional community
centre is envisioned to soften the ‘thick edges’ of
the motorway that intersect with the surrounding
context. This design project endeavours to create
an inclusive, fluid and permeable public space
seamlessly linked to the storied history that precedes it.