THE GATHERING PLACE

A Place of Public Amenity + Community

Tutor: Lee Ivett • Studio work of Stage 2 - 2015-16

This project is to design a new gathering place in which people share in a collective experience. As the economy of the town is getting decreased over last several years, the main role of architecture as a new market place is to revitalise the inner town. The building acts as a new landmark of the town and the gateway to the town centre. At night, it will light up the whole town for the community like a lighthouse to guide their way back home.

URBAN CONDITION

There is a growing condition within post-war European urban development whereby activity has become zoned, fragmented and peripheral to both the urban core and where people live. This increasing dissolution of a civic and public realm composed of a diverse range of activity diminishes rather than enhances the opportunity for a positive mode of community that can only develop through shared and visible activity, shared experience and the creation of common mythologies and histories.

TRADITIONAL TOWN

Traditional small town centres, such as that found in Beith, Scotland, are currently being re-evaluated (Scotland Government Town Centre First Policy) for their rich mix of uses and public gathering spaces, due to a tangible and visible decrease in their physical, environmental, cultural, social and economic condition. This kind of activity has increasingly become peripheral to towns or the preserve of cities.

MARKET SPACE | INITIAL CONCEPT

The high street condition as a viable retail environment is increasingly diminishing in terms of relevance and appropriateness and viability. Productivity, creativity and the exchange and trade of things is an integral element of discerning and developing the culture of a place. What is a potential architecture for accommodating the exchange of goods?

MARKET HISTORY

Traditionally the market places consisted of three parts: the open-air market place, the market cross and a market house. The proposal is applied this composition by reinterpreting the history of British traditional markets. Town Plan, Stockport, 1680 - (15) the open-air market place, (14) the market cross and (12) a market house where butter, eggs, etc. were sold.

COMPOSITION | PROGRAMME

1. Tower Bridge is a key link between no man’s land (greenery area) and man’s land (town), playing a significant role in a new landmark of the town.

2. Communal Shelter provides opportunities for informal gathering and social events along with public realm.

3. Market Place offer a wide range of fresh materials for daily life and the places where they exchange their goods as well.

PLAN | SECTION

The proposed design consists of three parts, Market place, outdoor space and tower bridge. As a main place, market area will provide the community with fresh and organic products with its active atmosphere. Next outdoor space will be open-air space for cooking and eating, so people can buy fresh ingredients and cook food right next door in which they can share and communicate with one another as well. The tower bridge will offer the conjunction with greenery space over the cliff. The site, as a result, would be able to the core place of the town, the gathering place.