Sky City Isolation : Designing a new MIQ facility for Auckland City

Abstract

This thesis analyses and explores the methods and practices utilised by the early Futurists of the 1960s to assist and inform the design of a new alternative city scheme in the Auckland CBD. This city scheme will respond to increasing societal issues such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. This will form a new managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility in Auckland City to deal with growing infection rates and virus mutation. In a radically changing world, it is essential to evaluate and explore techniques and methods implemented in the past to help address these current issues. The primary questions the research answered were; What were the key influences and current events of the time that informed the ideologies of the early Futurists? Why was the Futurist movement important and influential? How can techniques and methods utilised by the Futurists and through the design of healthcare facilities be employed in designing a new MIQ facility. These primary questions have been explored through the creation of architectural media and the production of drawings, digital art, and sculptures. A comprehensive understanding of how the design responds to research is attained through continually critiquing and evaluating works. Architectural media can provide a way to materialise and physically understand the theories and concepts being explored to develop a proposal that responds effectively to the design research and project intent. The research helped to understand how the early Futurists were fascinated by mass production, advanced technologies, and consumerism, which led to the attempt to decentralize and liberate the public with provocative imagery and architectural design. This was essential during the 1960s as society was overdue for liberation after the second world war. The movement paved the way for pushing exaggerated designs to encourage thought and reflection. The research also shed light on the practices employed in designing healthcare facilities to mitigate the risk of virus transmission and improve the overall health of staff and patients using these facilities. In modern society, the response to the design of our city varies significantly from past methods, and a dominant approach would aid in ensuring compliance and adding a sense of transparency to the city. The scheme inhabits the air space of the Auckland CBD skyline and uses existing buildings as foundations for oversized concrete structures, which provide housing and an adequate social distancing design. The new city is legislated as a necessity to reduce the catastrophic effects of the current pandemic.