Stoked

“A swim in the pool is a complex and curious activity, one that oscillates between joy and fear, between domination and submission, for the swimmer delivers himself with controlled abandonment to the forces of gravity resulting in sensations of weight and timelessness.”

This studio will be investigating leisure and architecture through a design competition as result of the Stokehouse restaurant fire. This will be tested via the design of a Sea Pool, Surf Life Saving club and new Stokehouse Restaurant located on the St Kilda foresure.

The studio will be structured around the production of biweekly esquisses that will be carried out by students both collaboratively and individually. The esquisses will broadly cover the following:

– Phenomenology and the body in architecture.

– Leisure and architecture.

– Australian identity, popular culture and leisure.

– Cultural and historical readings of the site and typology.

– Relationships to existing urban fabric.

The studio will teach students a number of skills including form-making techniques, model making skills, photomontage techniques, research skills and drawing development.

A series of different investigations will explore the following:

CONTEXT/EXISTING PHENOMENA: This study will explore the way the history and existing phenomena of an area can influence the design process.

PRECEDENT STUDY: This is an architecturally specific investigation of building typology via the architectural precedent. The studio will be both questioning and exploring this notion through a study of precedents.

CULTURAL & PROGRAMMATIC STUDY: This study will investigate the nature of leisure in architecture, particularly the relationship between water and bather, as well as lifesaving, food and building.