High Speed Rail

High Speed Rail (HSR) represents a significant step forward in the future connectivity between cities on the east coast of Australia. Since initial investigations into its feasibility began in the early 1980's, there have been many attempts at implementing such a system. The federal government's latest report, released recently on the 4th of August, details the projected cost of the scheme and suggests potential routes for the service to run. According to this and other studies done into the project, a HSR network would capture over 80% of the market currently travelling between Sydney and Canberra via plane, and 99% of the market currently travelling between the two cities via car and other vehicular transport. Routes between Sydney and either Brisbane or the Gold Coast would capture over 50% of the current market for air transport, while the Melbourne to Sydney route would capture just under 50% (Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, 2010). Such a network would not only allow for a more comfortable mode of travel, and for the development of regional centres along the network line, but an opportunity for architecture to create spaces which honour their city. 


Train stations can be someone's first impression of a city, and as such should personify all that the city is or aims to be. Take for example King's Cross/St. Pancras in London, it is an internationally renowned train station and the centre for much domestic and international travel. An icon in London's rich urban fabric, King's Cross station as stood since 1852, and undergone several renovations and extensions to become what it is today. If the HSR network were to go ahead in Australia, it would enhance the mobility of parliament, with the opportunity to include government areas not only in the train station, but the trains themselves. With the number of journeys undertaken by politicians as they move between the eastern capital cities, this prospect could be a new and exciting way to move parliament into the future.


Infrastructure Partnerships Australia. 2010. East Coast High Capacity Infrastructure Corridors - A realistic pathway to very fast trains. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Rx3S0EI3IQgJ:www.infrastructure.org.au/DisplayFile.aspx?FileID%3D433+EAST+COAST+HIGH+CAPACITY+INFRASTRUCTURE+CORRIDORS+-+A+realistic+pathway+to+very+fast+trains&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiNhQV6ssxBY3RQRD3xM-Im0xN9FMBEl5IM_rh466zYlYoj__4Bgl5gJlsc80FaKsumwmC-ALVytOUUvxtFW30Z699Ynhxk9ct0ei6e9JHAwPLV2cogxjf1t63V93bkJ3RmfBOz&sig=AHIEtbT74nkVYLRI_xzVGgTxNLecbUoH8g&pli=1



Image from: http://sitbackandsee.typepad.com/.a/6a0133eeb9bfc7970b0133f2e2d412970b-800wi

Mobile

Able to be moved or move freely and easily.

Portable architecture? Is it able to be moved? Can it be used whilst it's in motion?

Installations - is it the physical building that moves, or a system of spaces that allow for installations to move between them? Installations move between institutions to create mobility.

Does mobile architecture mean that you are moving the physical building or moving the sense/purpose of the space.

Forum - traditionally a market space, centre for communication, politics and law etc, now used in the sense of an Internet forum - similar sense of connectivity though virtual.

Disaster relief architecture, should it be able to be mobile aka. Walk away from the floods etc.

Food vans, caravans, houseboats. Are these existing examples of mobile architecture?

Does mobile mean that the building is able to move from one site to another or that the building is internally mobile, that it is able to have a shifting floor plate.

What is the time frame for its mobility? Is it instantaneously mobile or a gradual change?

Internal mobility - pods that are able to be moved and adapted to required use.

Does the architecture itself have to be mobile, or is it an institution that enables greater mobility?

Flexible

What is it that will make people use and interact with space? Innovative ways to move and recreate space that are user friendly that create intriguing new places with an easy interface - anyone can do it!

Spaces should be able to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances or conditions.

Architects should design ad a level of abstraction - allow the user to choose multiple uses within a single project

What does it mean to have flexible architecture? Is it simply that there are multiple uses occupying the one space at different times or is it something more than that? Are the flexible uses able to exist consecutively?

Flexible architecture/design should be judged on the degree to which it can accommodate challenges; both in the present and the future.

How do you change the feeling/sense of the palace to suit it's different uses? Ie. Turning a nightclub into a cafe.

Everyone aims to be flexible to some degree, but how successful is it? What are the reasons for either its success or failure?

We usually think of only a building's uses or programs being flexible, but what about the building itself? How can the building change and manipulate itself to comply with the individual needs of the user? We tend of think only of the fit-out of s building being flexible - why is this?

Virtual

Adjective - being such in power, force, or effect, though not actually or expressly such; temporarily simulated or extended by computer software. 


Can technology be used to create space from a blank canvas, to imply separation or connectivity? Can the software interact with the architecture to create spaces which enable a higher sense of interaction with the user, or a higher adaptability to the needs of the user, ie. a shifting floor plate, water walls, laser, light paths etc.


What does it mean to occupy virtual space? It is able to be physically occupied or are you able to connect remotely and occupy it via a computer, or is it a combination of both? Does a virtual occupancy via a computer still count as occupancy?


How do you make a space real if it doesn't exist physically? Is a space defined by its four walls and a roof, or is it defined by the emotions it invokes when occupied? If this is the case, then space is certainly able to exist virtually, however it may be more complex than traditional ideas of space.


How does a teacher make a distance educated child feel as though they are part of a class? Is it through virtual connectivity and interaction with the teacher and other students or is it unable to be achieved with the current technology?


The existence of a building in a virtual world is purely symbolic, a reference to its real world counterpart, so with this in mind, does architecture still play the same role in a virtual world as it does in the real world or does it adapt? A virtual building in virtual space lets the creator choose how a space is to be used and perceived, is this taking over the role of an architect so that anyone can design virtually?


How does one behave in a virtual world? Without the constraints of the physical world, are people more honest or does it enable them to hide behind a false persona?


Can virtual space be occupied by several people at once, or is it only a place for the individual? Can it be both?


Does everybody see and interpret the same thing within virtual space or do they see only what they want to see?


Does virtual space only do what you want it to do? Is it able to be programmed and tested?


Does virtual space only exist in a virtual world or does it have a physical manifestation as well?


What are the boundaries of virtual space? When does it cease to be virtual and move into the physical world? Is virtual space able to occupy both consecutively?


Can virtual space exist without a designer? Is it able to grow organically and evolve or will it always need a person and a program behind it?

Reichstag

The Reichstag renovation, designed in 1990 by Norman Foster following the reunification of Germany, stands as a beacon for the German people. The glass dome atop its roof serves as a  metaphor for the new German government, an openness and clarity in decision making and a place for the people. 

image from: http://www.travlang.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/reichstag.jpg