Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington
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Space Port City: Assembling Resilience for Bluff, Southland

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posted on 2022-07-28, 01:30 authored by Gorton, William Scott

Bluff, a small industrial fishing township, situated at the spit of the southernmost point of New Zealand stands isolated and desolate. A place that is static in time, with an uncertainty of the township’s future in relation to industries being threatened with closure. This project speculates the unknown outcomes of the inevitable closure of Tiwai Smelter and the impact it will have on the town’s future. It investigates this proposition to develop a methodology to represent site through drawing and how architecture can play a vital role for the people to reconnect to their environment.

Site is employed as an active agent across scales to construct three different architectural perspectives, each increasing in scale and complexity. These three experiments are an installation, observatory dwelling and finally a reimagined Bluff township as, Space Port City. Through the Installation, based off site, specific objects transform and create new possibilities that are tested through to the domestic scale. From the experimental research tests the proposed outcomes of the final design activate the site becoming New Zealand’s first Space Port, reinvigorating the isolated landscape. The three design tests recognise the process of site thinking, communicating and enabling the public to fully engage with their peripheral context.

History

Copyright Date

2017-01-01

Date of Award

2017-01-01

Publisher

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Rights License

Author Retains Copyright

Degree Discipline

Architecture

Degree Grantor

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Degree Level

Masters

Degree Name

Master of Architecture (Professional)

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Outcome code

970112 Expanding Knowledge in Built Environment and Design

Victoria University of Wellington Item Type

Awarded Research Masters Thesis

Language

en_NZ

Victoria University of Wellington School

School of Architecture

Advisors

Twose, Simon