City of Sails: Activating Wynyard Point as an apparatus of intervening programmes

Abstract

A definition of a good, livable city has been consistently changing due to the fast development of the technology in the last few decades which is pressuring numerous cities around the world to move towards an identical outcome. Efficiency, speed, and robotic behaviour are replacing comfort, relaxation, and spontaneity in the modern society. In the 21st century, designers should try to re-gain these disappearing human qualities from today’s urban environment. Although technology has unarguably increased the commercial performance of the city, it should not be entirely depended on to the extent where human qualities are ignored. High-rise buildings and skyscrapers that create a dramatic skyline is not the only way of determining how successful the city has grown. City designers have been focusing on improving the active nodes of an urban grid such as hotels, galleries, office buildings and libraries. However, this thesis puts significance on the passive nodes such as transport terminals in an attempt to stop these transitional spaces to be known as a mere intervening space which people simply think of as a tiny ‘pause’ of their journey. Architectural opportunities to improve the quality of people’s journey and make it much more meaningful and entertaining lay in the terminals. Meaningless selection of programmes to simply decorate these spaces will not fulfil the goal, but care must be taken to pick and arrange the programmes in a way that would bring joy to the users and enhance spontaneity in the community. As a template, Wynyard Point will be used to study how a cruise ship terminal could be designed to provide the city with enjoyable activities and help both travellers and locals make the most of their time in Auckland’s waterfront.