Stacking Up: Piecing Together a Reinterpreted Architectonic Condition for New Lynn

Abstract

Drawing on the age-old architectural traditions of brick making and brick building, this thesis is thus titled 'Stacking Up'. Beginning with the earliest cities, inherent material qualities have resulted in its persistence through the ages, constituting a reliable and dynamic building material for the current day. The now-defunct and demolished clay industry of West Auckland, centred in the suburb of New Lynn serves as the key architectonic impetus. Once operating as a leading national, technological and social hub of innovation in brick and ceramics production, the New Lynn town centre today retains close to none of its historic industrial architectural fabric. Ongoing urban development remains commercially-driven and involving little engagement with its architectural heritage. The chosen site in the heart of the town centre will establish a connection between the community, the earth and the neglected waters of the Rewarewa Stream which once generated a booming industry. The research poses the question: How may the historic architectural tradition of brick production and use in the demolished New Lynn clay industry, inform a contemporary architectonic response for a new New Lynn Community Centre and enable greater social cohesion? Twentieth century applications are explored within contexts where the humble brick is privileged ahead of advanced construction technologies. The wider urban and socio-economic benefits of this building practice, such as providing a means of employment or self-build housing are traced back to ancient settlements, where the construction of communal facilities constituted a collective undertaking. Evaluating and reinterpreting the processes used in historic and contemporary brick production informs the development of a composite building system, for the design of a new Community Centre. Drawing on the historic backyard production of New Lynn's first earthen drain pipe, core processes of molding and firing are combined with digital modelling to facilitate a contemporary response. The research and design proposal displays the inherent material versatility of brick to produce highly contextual architectural responses. Illustrated by humankind's earliest applications, this may be extracted from urban or social conditions and historic building traditions, to offer unique structural, aesthetic and environmental advantages. A series of urban context studies also aids the understanding and provision of public infrastructure within the New Lynn town centre.