Transitional Christchurch - Public Art

So as you are all probably well aware I am doing my planning thesis on the transitional temporary uses that have happened in Christchurch in response to the earthquake and  in the last couple of weeks, I actually got to go and experience Christchurch and talk to some of the key people involved in pushing the boundaries of temporary and experimentation for Christchurch. It was awesome. The creativity in a city that is facing a long and slow recovery is astounding, and the public art in the city is of an amazing quality and content. So seeing as I have quite a few pictures and quite a few thoughts on transitional Christchurch I thought I would dedicate this post to the amazing public art I saw during my visit. 

Kaleidoscope Wall near Re:Start Mall

This "kaleidoscope" piece had the most amazing colours and was located on a wall near the Re:Start Mall (where I spent way too much time and money!). This piece really picked up the area, and was a huge change from the traditionally grey city centre that Christchurch had pre-earthquakes. 

Freak Container in the Re:Start Mall

The personalisation on some of the shipping containers actually in the Re:Start Mall was also amazing, this "freak container" near the amazing food truck area was one of my favourites. 

Portrait on the currently vacant Art Gallery

This large portrait is on the wall of what was previously the Art Gallery, but now remains unused. Also outside this art gallery is one of my particular favourite pieces...

The Gnomes

The giant, silver gnomes! What could be better then those two gnomes standing guard. I also really loved the "It's Coming Down" sculpture pictured below, which is actually 3m tall on the roof of a still standing building. 

It's Coming Down Sculpture

So that is all I have for you for now, even though the amazing public art in Christchurch appeared to be endless! I am flat out with work and uni at the moment but I will post again soon on the great transitional streetscapes and transitional urban design/architecture that has developed in Christchurch's Central City. 

The People's Market

Now today is both a bit of a preemptive post (because I am pretty sure this project will feature largely on "The Block" this week) , and at the same time I can't believe I haven't featured this sooner. The project I am referring to is "The People's Market", a community shipping container market located in a car park in Collingwood, Melbourne by Emerge Studio. This temporary and completely portable project, focused on the theme of "recycled garden" is even more impressive for being the first project two part Emerge Studio has created. 

The People's Market via Emerge Studio

  

Although at first glance it might appear like just another shipping container mall, when reading the thought process behind this project on Emerge Studios website, I believe a lot of attention has gone into making this project a high functioning and engaging community space. When looking at the mix of uses, including the COMA art gallery viewable 24/7, shops, cafes and bars and the flexible nature of the space it is clear that considerable thought has gone into making this a 24hr space Jane Jacobs herself would be proud of. Also come on, those timber trees are fantastic!

The PVC Pipe Container via Australian Design Review

   

I also love the fact that all the shipping Containers have a point of difference, whether it be a vertical garden, PVC piping (as above), Bike Wheels, or just the encouragement for graffiti and Street art around the back of the containers. This personalisation really helps to create an activated and interesting site, drawing the attention of the community. 

So what do you think of The People's Market, are shipping container markets simply building on a great idea or are they "overdone" in the public realm? I personally still think they are pretty awesome. 

Urban Change Maker - Joost Bakker

Oh yeah, the Urban Change Maker column is back! Do you ever dedicate some time to finally listening to a lecture or talk you have been meaning to and get absolutely blown away by what they had to say? Well, that is exactly what happened when I watched this Creative Mornings Melbourne talk (vimeo.com/63225503 ) by todays Urban Change Maker - Joost Bakker. 

Joost's Melbourne Greenhouse Pop Up via Broadsheet Melbourne

Joost could be categorised as a lot of things; farmer, inventor, artist, designer and problem solver but at the heart of everything he does is his clear ethos - rethink your original notions of waste and products and collaborate and explore to inspire people to live sustainably. Joost has made particular efforts to improve the sustainability of the hospitality industry not only by developing the cool vertical gardens you see everywhere such as those featured on the Greenhouse Pop Up. In Silo by Joost, a hole in the wall Melbourne Cafe in Hardware Lane the act of simple stating that the cafe will not have a bin has lead to a huge range of sustainable and waste minimising solutions! 

Inside Silo by Joost via Broadsheet Melbourne

Asides from providing take away coffee (and I am sure a sustainably made reusable coffee cup is encouraged) Silo boasts the fact that it produces absolutely no waste. You even get to sit on top of the reusable kegs which provide the milk and other beverages for the cafe. I wont provide too much more detail when you can watch the video and check out Joost for yourself and be sure to visit ByJoost.com for more information on other cool projects (e.g. rooftop farming and harvesting urine!). I know I want to learn everything I can about this talented problem solver!

The Service Station

It is a pretty amazing feeling when all your favourite things come together in the one place right? Even if that place does happen to be Los Feliz, California on the other side of the world... As I was reading a few blogs I follow on a Sunday morning, not thinking about urban design or temporary uses at all I was suddenly blown away by this post on Oh Joy. It just goes to show that good things pop up when you least expect them too.  

The post in question was about a visit to "The Service Station" which is, you guessed it, an old service station that has been turned into an outdoor creative market place and event space. The Service Station houses pop up shops (in refurbished shipping containers), outdoor movie nights and best of all a Wednesday food truck night! As I said, all the things I love coming together in a cool themed space - if that doesn't draw crowds and keep people coming back to Los Feliz, I don't know what would! 

Food Trucks @ The Service Station via Oh Joy blog 

I just can't help loving the idea of taking traditional car dominated spaces and completely transforming them into places for the community to gather, oh and eat at food trucks of course. Not only that they have taken a relatively unattractive and unused space and turned it into a place of experimentation and practical urbanism and if you take a look through the galleries on The Service Station website you can see the community coming together and enjoying themselves in this new space! And I mean who wouldn't enjoy themselves if they had the chance to watch Back to the Future in a retro style service station! 

Pop up shipping container shops via The Service Station

The sad thing about this project is that city permits have made it so difficult that this space has had to close and is currently seeking a new space to start up. It is frustrating that despite the obvious benefits from a town planning perspective, these spaces are often either restricted or completely shut down because of issues with permits. It makes it clear that a more flexible approach to city planning is required pretty urgently to foster creativity and innovation in planning solutions. Not only do temporary uses need to work with the existing legislation, but existing legislation should become progressive in making way for temporary uses.  

Attendant: Cafe Restroom?

So obviously March was not a great month over here at Urban Submarine, and I apologise profusely for that. Between job applications, starting a new job, writing a thesis and having a social life my availability to blog has been pretty limited, BUT April is a new month and I really want to get back into finding the coolest and most innovative urban initiatives to feature them here on the blog and encourage even more initiatives in the future! Before I mention to cool little reuse of inactive space I have for you today, i thought I would mention some things I have in the works for this month in order to establish some accountability! This month will bring us UR{BNE} festival in Brisbane, so a lot of cool things will be happening in the city. I will definitely be heading a long to the Albert Street Picnic and ideas fiesta (seeing as I work on Albert Street) and taking some pictures to feature, I am also working on a job application based on Paddington so I am hoping to feature that either this month or next too! I am sure other more exciting stuff will pop up, but thats it for now - so onto the story!

The outside of Attendant via We Heart

The Attendant Cafe, is probably one of the coolest and most out there transformations of unused urban space I have seen yet - so obviously I love it! This cafe has made its home in a former unused Victorian era mens bathroom in West London, and somewhat to the tune of secret urbanism, involves heading downstairs via the wrought iron cage to gain access to this porcelain based cafe. 

The interior fit out of Attendant via We Heart

With the cafe clearly paying great respects to its original use, even utilising plugged up urinals as seats, it is a great mix celebrating both the old and the new in our cities. Not only that but the interior is so delightfully quirky I don't think you could help but having fun (and probably a bit of a giggle) while you were there. 

For more photos and an article with a lot more toilet jokes than I was willing to make head on over to weheart.co.uk.   

The Urban Coffee Farm

I tweeted a video of Hassell's Urban Coffee Farm process (here) for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and I am super stoked to share some photos of the finished product here. I think this project really embodies a great temporary urban place and love that it has focused on reactivating a space that was otherwise underused.  Not only that I, like many Australians and especially Melbournites, am a coffee addict - so any place to get more coffee is always going to be approved by me!  The space is also awesome as it actually gives you to opportunity to learn more about coffee and where it comes from placing an emphasis on sustainability. 

Inside the Urban Coffee Farm via Habitus

The design of this project is, for lack of a better word, ingenious. The way that pallets, ply and chalkboards have been used in conjunction with a huge volume of greenery and vegetation really does set the scene of walking into a coffee farm or jungle and allowing you to step out of the city for a few moments (as well as just looking genuinely cool). Not only does it look cool, but you can see in the below picture that the coffee farm is attracting a wide range of people and giving them a collective an accessible open space to enjoy together. 

Outer View of the Urban Coffee Farm via Habitus

There are more photos over on the Habitus blog if you want to check it out further, and if your living in Melbourne I hope you are heading straight over to enjoy it while it's there because I wish I was! 

Barking Bathhouse

I think it is already clear that I am a sucker for a pop up social experiment with a great name, and the Barking Bathhouse sure has me covered on that front. Created by Something & Son (uber cool collaborators)  and popping up in East London, the Barking Bathhouse aims to recapture the communal spirit present of historic bath houses and foster that spirit within the now suburban suburb. Not only that, the design of this pop up truly is beautiful.

Barking Bathhouse Pop Up via The Remodelista

The design acts as a nod to the industrial past of East London and incorporates a range of recycled and salvaged building materials, such as the benches created from salvaged rail road timber. The Bathhouse offers a range of spa treatments as well as the possibility of relaxing in the gravel bay, napping in the relaxation yard, soothing your muscles in the sauna, chilling out in the cool room or even having a drink at the included bar. To be honest I don't know why any one would ever want to leave! 

Reclaimed timber benches via The Remodelista

The pop up has now left East London and after being super successful will be opening again at a new location sometime in Spring. If you want any more information be sure to check out their website and maybe fantasise about the range of treatments they offer here.

Sushi Pod

While wandering through Paddington (as an attempt to start a new suburb profile column...) I managed to pick up a copy of  the awesome (and free) Map Magazine. Inside I was super excited to see a little article on Sushi Pod in Fortitude Valley and its awesome conception via "place shaker" engineer John Tuxworth. Basically the Sushi Pod is a tiny temporary structure that has been created as an "urban reinvigoration" experiment - aiming to bring life and activity into an otherwise underwhelming car park. Not only that the sushi pod offers delicious healthy meals and delivers some Japanese infusion to Brisbane. I think this is an awesome experiment and a true example of a place shaker, and if the picture below is any indication, i'd say it has been pretty successful too! 

People lining up at the Sushi Pod via Supertectonics