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Underneath
Site Analyses
I visited the site several times to observe the characteristics of the surrounding, including the functions of the neighborhood, activities happen in different time-points, the movement of people and the traffic flow. New information, ideas and problems came out on every visitng. By doing this, my knowledge of this area was expanded; the design goal became more all-round in addition.
Questionnaire & Event
In the questionnaire, I found that a great part of respondent waiting for train in station were tend to arrive above 30 minutes earlier than their train.
Therefore, they spend this “grey time” in the “non-place” among their travel. Also, I investigated the activities they were doing at that period.
In terms of the event, I proposed six elements, which can influence the atmosphere of the space, including physical factors, such as texture, lighting and colour, and social factors, such as density, pace and activities. And I tried to use a Mix&Match game for traverllers to respond the questions.
After analysing the results, I suppose that travellers who wait at Waverley Station are looking for a more relaxing waiting space with a softer surface, adequate lighting and a warm atmosphere with a low population density and slow pace. Markedly, people’s expectations are almost totally different from the existing space. I knew it is not possible to satisfy all these requests, because design should be considered from multiple aspects; however, I believe that the results I obtained will have an explicit or implicit effect on my future design.
literature review
“If a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place” -Marc Augé
“Non-place” is a term described by French anthropologist, Marc Augé, quoted from his book ’Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. Nowadays, the pursuing of standardization and high-efficiency hides the characteristics of the spaces, and makes them as duplication of each others. From the anthropological perspective, he addressed the abstractive definition of non-place caused by globalization, and the alienation that non-places bring to the public. However, Augé focused on the context that result in non-places, the essential characters of space of non-place were not given much attention in his work. What are the essences of non-places? And how people respond to it?