Abstract:
The coastal in_between is coincidence of two conditions - Land and sea - It is also a unique landscape that has been created by tidal movements and rhythms, wave phenomena and processes which result in the changing of the environment. Because of this, the precise nature of the coastal cannot be determined. This 'borderline' is an area of change and of various in_between conditions, giving way to notions of the in_between. The coastal in_between is an environment where nothing is permanent - just like our balance of senses. The rhythm of its changing environment fluctuates - just like our continuing experiences with a place. Tamaki Drive is an iconic area within urban Auckland. 23 Tamaki Drive has been specifically chosen as a site for the exploration of how architecture may integrate the in_between nature of the coastal environment in a way which enriches our sensory engagement. It is a site where we feel detached from our surroundings through the 'tourist gaze' (Malnar and Vodvarka 2005), where the subject of ones gaze is one directional, leaving our experience and engagement with a place from being privileged to the less so (Pallasmaa 2005). As Kelly Tarltons is currently one of the main reasons of visitors to 23 Tamaki Drive, the 'tourist gaze' encourages our sensory estrangement from the rest of the site - the breakwaters, the Orakei jetty, the redundant sewage outage - all elements which make up the rest of 23 Tamaki Drive. Combined, these elements provide a 'stage' for the investigation of integrating the unique in_between nature of Waitemata Harbour in a way which enriches our sensory engagement and repairs our alienation from the site through architecture. There is inherent potential within all the elements which make up 23 Tamaki Drive. These potentials have been outlined as issues which are dealt with question: -How can you utilise the existing architectural elements within the site of 23 Tamaki Drive in a way which encourages the engagement of visitors and users? -How can Architecture enrich our sensory engagement through integrating the in_between nature of the coastal environment? -Can you create a more intimate relationship between the body and the environment through Architecture? This proposition advocates a sensitive mode of thought and proposes health and recreational space/s of sensory enrichment which integrate the nature of the coastal in_between through Architecture in order to remediate the disengaging relationship between oneself and 23 Tamaki Drive.