Transfusion of Process

Abstract

Globally around two million people are migrating into urban areas every day. By the year 2050, three quarters of the world population will be concentrated in these urban areas. To accommodate rapid growth, repetitive low quality, mass- produced, standardised buildings have been built by short- sighted market forces, resulting in a rapidly decaying urban fabric. The drive behind urban economic growth is supported by large injections of energy which are drawn mainly from non-renewable resources; these are reflected in the large amounts of the by-product of the carbon footprint and waste emission. Our city is overflowing with trash and people are running out of 'dump space'. How can we deal with the piles of junk that we produce? We are gambling the future of our environment and our planet with every move we make. This thesis is in response to Auckland's context of urbanisation, recognising the current urban situation of low quality buildings, natural resources and waste emission. The potential re-generation of an urban fabric building in Newmarket, Auckland will be conducted as a site investigation. Transfusion of Process will be operating as a media of communication, conveying the idea of "an architecture explicitly embracing symbols and cultures that are both high and low." This design thesis will reveal new possibilities to create community exchange hubs by gradual transmission of a healthier architectural solution to the existing condition. These issues are to be explored by the critical question: How can the transfusion of a new cycle of architectural process revive the decaying urban fabric?