Cultivating the Collective: Re-engaging with the Contemporary City

Abstract

Auckland is emblematic of the contemporary city. Low-rise suburban sprawl has disaggregated the individual from the wider community and the repercussions of globalisation have disconnected the collective from the city centre by transforming them into spaces of consumption. The Auckland City Council have attempted to mediate sprawl, and consolidate density and diversity by introducing “mixed-use” development zones. However, these have failed to hit the mark so far. “Brownfield” sites within the urban landscape, such as the Victoria Park Precinct, have rich industrial and social histories, but have failed to emerge as vibrant places to exist within the contemporary city. New and radical futures of living and working in the city must be imagined if we are to break out of the current dominant neo-liberal paradigm. This thesis proposes a new imagining of mixed-use development in Auckland. The typologies of “home” and “work” are combined and subverted. A return to manufacturing in the city and transient communal living is suggested. A solution proposes a hotel as a model for mass housing combined with a series of spaces for micro-manufacturing. The overlapping and subversion of these two disparate realms has provoked an exploration into a new methodology. The process of collage is utilised as a mechanism for generating unique architectural speculations by combing unrelated materials. Drawing and model-making are expanded in alternative ways to translate the speculative nature of collage. Through the exploration of this methodology and design proposal, this thesis aims to reengage the collective and the city, transforming urban centres to spaces of participation, rather than consumption.