Bespoke Urban Factory
Since the emergence of the city itself, the public marketplace has remained a critical node for urban vitality — an assemblage of skilled creative specialists liaising directly with the consumer — where the designer is the maker and the store is the workshop. My thesis posits the question: how can the emergence of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies generate a new marketplace typology that integrates production, consumerism, and public space?
Twentieth century industry is vastly outdated, yet it continues to dictate present day consumerism. This design-led research continuously juggles the dichotomy of consumer and machine to develop a harmonious architectural solution in a world of Industrie 4.0. The process uses Wellington, New Zealand as a testing ground for architectural ideas, contextually relevant to major centres around the world. Based on iterative design explorations, a new marketplace typology is ultimately proposed — combining production, consumerism and public space.
Inserted within an established urban fabric, the architecture operates at multiple scales, thoughtfully composed as a public domain for human-scale encounters. After exploring to the potentials of a vertical marketplace, this idea is rejected in favour of prioritising passive and active consumer opportunities through ground plane relationships. The shift in design thinking allows the pedestrian scale to become the fundamental driver. The above ground distribution of smaller building masses provides a permeable public plaza experience, where pedestrian travel routes are flanked by high-energy production environments. The inclusion of a below ground expanse becomes a crucial strategic move, not only for the success of the marketplace itself, but for the wider urban peripheries. The relocation of above-ground vehicle routes prioritises high volume pedestrian travel paths, while forcing an increase in subterranean engagement.
Inserted within an established urban fabric, the architecture operates at multiple scales, thoughtfully composed as a public domain for human-scale encounters.
Minimalist and functionalist design philosophies are key drivers in the development of a potent architectural language — referenced across all scales, from the urban masterplan, to building forms, and interior fixtures. An extension of the craft of making, detailing remains refined, slender and understated. Elements reflect historic notions of industry, using the slotted connection as a homage to the moving joints of common machines. The expressed negative junction is a reference to the assemblage of parts — instilling a favourable tension at the point of convergence, where a given piece slots into the other. Across these scales, the notion of adaptability remains prevalent throughout, where detailing expresses a contingency for adjustment and adaptability.
This is a precinct full of activity – where cutting edge creative artisans come together to collaborate, explore and learn. This is not a sterile place, but one filled with people. The distant noise of the industrial machine is drowned out by inspiring chatter and the essence of new ideas. This an ever-changing demonstration of the possibilities of new age craftsmanship — not merely a production of mechanisation but one of theatrics and wonder, where the consumer becomes both audience and conductor.