Urban Bye-Pass

Bypasses effectively deny localities, and the local response to the bypasses is often equally as disengaged. Using the Graham street bypass in Port Phillip, where various forms of housing, industry, transportation, schooling, and public space have been separated into northern and southern territories, and surrounding residents and commuters have effectively “barricaded” themselves against the bypass in an effort to refuse its impact, this studio considers the spaces under and around the bypass so as to reintegrate and reinvigorate the bypass with its local surrounds during the day as well as at night (where opportunistic activities/programs have become menacing and introduced security concerns.) The preferred palette for the studio’s investigation is influenced by a Phosphorescent long afterglow material (developed at RMIT by Prof. David Mainwaring) that can glow for up to 8 hours. The “material” is a fine polymer powder that can be embedded in paint, PVC sheeting, and spun in fibre, which allows for flexibility in its application.

A collaborative venture, Port Phillip Council is supporting the RMIT Architecture studio’s site-specific applications of these passive technologies which were developed by RMIT Material Science.