Sunday, October 25, 2009
Joint Picture Theories
This is how I have perceived the other symbols in the joint picture, I have worked this out from the colours, shapes and positions of the symbols.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Looking around the Stonehouse area we have decided to go with working mainly upon Union Street, this area has a grand history originally one of the main, and richest parts of Plymouth.
The area has now fallen greatly, becoming a main area for anti-social behavior, such as drinking, gambling and also strip clubs. With this the history of the area has been all but lost, with our project we hope to revitalise Stonehouse and bring back much of its former grandour. Buildings such as Malthouse and Dance Academy have been uninhabited (other than by homeless people) for many years and have little hope of referbishment. The Dance Academy is actually a Victorian listed building, and is on the list of most in danger listed buildings in the UK.
In areas where the old buildings have gotten into such a bad condition they had to be pulled down there has been no new development as the area is so undesireable. These areas have been left clear for so long that they have in fact started to grow trees and shrubary.
This is very ironic as the growth is there as a direct cause of the lack of archutectural and cultural growth on union street.
I feel that greenery would actually benifit the area and possibly instead of keeping these dead zones closed off, they should be cleaned up, replanted and opened up, creating a small park for the area.
The group has decided to go with the idea of projections on buildings as our idea. We feel that projecting '3D' images of Stonehouses history on new buildings will help renovate the area. The light it will produce will make people want to visit the area and stop when passing through to view the illuminations.
Below is a video which shows the sort of projections I feel the group would like to get, whilst they may not be actual projections and instead made in a program like After Effects I believe the idea is achievable.
The area has now fallen greatly, becoming a main area for anti-social behavior, such as drinking, gambling and also strip clubs. With this the history of the area has been all but lost, with our project we hope to revitalise Stonehouse and bring back much of its former grandour. Buildings such as Malthouse and Dance Academy have been uninhabited (other than by homeless people) for many years and have little hope of referbishment. The Dance Academy is actually a Victorian listed building, and is on the list of most in danger listed buildings in the UK.
In areas where the old buildings have gotten into such a bad condition they had to be pulled down there has been no new development as the area is so undesireable. These areas have been left clear for so long that they have in fact started to grow trees and shrubary.
This is very ironic as the growth is there as a direct cause of the lack of archutectural and cultural growth on union street.
I feel that greenery would actually benifit the area and possibly instead of keeping these dead zones closed off, they should be cleaned up, replanted and opened up, creating a small park for the area.
The group has decided to go with the idea of projections on buildings as our idea. We feel that projecting '3D' images of Stonehouses history on new buildings will help renovate the area. The light it will produce will make people want to visit the area and stop when passing through to view the illuminations.
Below is a video which shows the sort of projections I feel the group would like to get, whilst they may not be actual projections and instead made in a program like After Effects I believe the idea is achievable.
Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Stonehouse Photographs
Now I've made my map of Stonehouse I am going to go around the area to look around and see if my predictions from the Google earth map reflect what the area is really like.
This building was actually in the red area of the map. If I'd seen this building before I may have reconsidered the borders of my zones.
This is in the yellow area of the map, whilst this isolated area does look nice, the rest of the area is houses and small factories so I feel this overall is accurate.
All of the following pictures are in the green area, I feel the majority match how I had pictured this area of Stonehouse, there was lots of interesting architecture, and the whole area seemed very well maintained and litter free.
The people who were around the area were mainly residents but there were some people who seemed to just be visiting, this was the only area I found this was the case. So it shows that people find it desirable.
All of these photographs were in the yellow area, I feel that this may have been a bad judgement as the yellow area is so broad it doesn't take into account the small areas of beauty that you find in every area, instead just generalizing the whole area as mediocre. As you can see from the photographs there are some great examples of modern and older architecture in the area mixed in with the housing. One thing the area did lack however was a feeling of somewhere you'd like to visit, which I feel would put people off of visiting the area. Therefore people would probably bypass this area if they were going to visit Royal William Yard and the surrounding area or on the way to the continental ferry port.
The following pictures are all from the red area on the map. Whilst there was nothing in the area to stop people visiting, there is nothing to encorage them to come to the area, the area was simply an assortment of ugly low-rent factories and storage facilities. This area is clearly not for people to visit but it does seem strange for residents of the Royal William Yard, who are supposidly part of the upper weath bracket of Plymouth, pass through this area. This could put off potential buyers, a solution would be to put improve the image of the main street, Durnford Street, this would give the whole area a boost in my opinion maybe meaning people take the time to look around the rest of the area and find the hidden gems the the majority of people would normally never see.
This building was actually in the red area of the map. If I'd seen this building before I may have reconsidered the borders of my zones.
This is in the yellow area of the map, whilst this isolated area does look nice, the rest of the area is houses and small factories so I feel this overall is accurate.
All of the following pictures are in the green area, I feel the majority match how I had pictured this area of Stonehouse, there was lots of interesting architecture, and the whole area seemed very well maintained and litter free.
The people who were around the area were mainly residents but there were some people who seemed to just be visiting, this was the only area I found this was the case. So it shows that people find it desirable.
All of these photographs were in the yellow area, I feel that this may have been a bad judgement as the yellow area is so broad it doesn't take into account the small areas of beauty that you find in every area, instead just generalizing the whole area as mediocre. As you can see from the photographs there are some great examples of modern and older architecture in the area mixed in with the housing. One thing the area did lack however was a feeling of somewhere you'd like to visit, which I feel would put people off of visiting the area. Therefore people would probably bypass this area if they were going to visit Royal William Yard and the surrounding area or on the way to the continental ferry port.
The following pictures are all from the red area on the map. Whilst there was nothing in the area to stop people visiting, there is nothing to encorage them to come to the area, the area was simply an assortment of ugly low-rent factories and storage facilities. This area is clearly not for people to visit but it does seem strange for residents of the Royal William Yard, who are supposidly part of the upper weath bracket of Plymouth, pass through this area. This could put off potential buyers, a solution would be to put improve the image of the main street, Durnford Street, this would give the whole area a boost in my opinion maybe meaning people take the time to look around the rest of the area and find the hidden gems the the majority of people would normally never see.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Stonehouse Layer
Introduction
For our Stonehouse project my group (Luke Mears, Ben Quinney, Jon Moore) have been asked to show how we perceive Stonehouse using a birds-eye-view map. The map will show how people can still get a perspective on the world with a birds-eye-view but do they see it in a different way? I have decided to make a picture of areas of desirability in Stonehouse I will do this using colours, as it is another way people perceive things in a different context. Red will show the bad areas and green will show the good areas. This is a similar style to the game Sim City, developed by Maxis. The picture shown below is of the areas in the city with the most pollution and therefore least desirable.
Sim City 4
For our Stonehouse project my group (Luke Mears, Ben Quinney, Jon Moore) have been asked to show how we perceive Stonehouse using a birds-eye-view map. The map will show how people can still get a perspective on the world with a birds-eye-view but do they see it in a different way? I have decided to make a picture of areas of desirability in Stonehouse I will do this using colours, as it is another way people perceive things in a different context. Red will show the bad areas and green will show the good areas. This is a similar style to the game Sim City, developed by Maxis. The picture shown below is of the areas in the city with the most pollution and therefore least desirable.
Sim City 4I will design the map using a lasso and paint bucket tool drawing around the areas. To decide which areas I feel are in different categories I will use the Google Maps satellite tool and also drive around the Stonehouse area before I draw the map.
After everyone in the group has made their design we will put the layers together, then go around Stonehouse to see if our designs reflect how the area actually is.
After everyone in the group has made their design we will put the layers together, then go around Stonehouse to see if our designs reflect how the area actually is.
My Design
Joint Design
Stonehouse Research
The History of Stonehouse
Whilst it is not clear it seems the area of Stonehouse got its name from a stone house, or crematorium which was built by the Romans and named by the Saxons. Another idea is that the land is related to Robert the Bastard.
The area then passed into the hands of the Durnford family for the 14th to 16th century until the 17th century.
From the 1600's to the 1800's the area was one of the wealthiest in Devon, the home of the admirals, doctors and clergy of Plymouth. The area around Union Street however started to fall into disrepute, becoming the "Red Light District" and for almost a century the cities hub of drinking, entertainment and other attractions.
Palace Theatre Interior - 1982 - Palace Theatre Exterior -1909
This was until WWII where much of the Union Street area was destroyed, only a few buildings were left, one of these was the Palace Theatre which still stands now, abet in a poor state of disrepair. In recent history the building was used as a club, "The Dance Academy" before being closed down by the police, in the first drug related closure of a club ever in the UK.
Previously the building was used as a bingo hall from the 1960's to the 1980's and before that was used as a theatre. The building is listed and one of the 10 most endangered Victorian buildings in Britain.
Whilst it is not clear it seems the area of Stonehouse got its name from a stone house, or crematorium which was built by the Romans and named by the Saxons. Another idea is that the land is related to Robert the Bastard.
The area then passed into the hands of the Durnford family for the 14th to 16th century until the 17th century.
From the 1600's to the 1800's the area was one of the wealthiest in Devon, the home of the admirals, doctors and clergy of Plymouth. The area around Union Street however started to fall into disrepute, becoming the "Red Light District" and for almost a century the cities hub of drinking, entertainment and other attractions.
Palace Theatre Interior - 1982 - Palace Theatre Exterior -1909
This was until WWII where much of the Union Street area was destroyed, only a few buildings were left, one of these was the Palace Theatre which still stands now, abet in a poor state of disrepair. In recent history the building was used as a club, "The Dance Academy" before being closed down by the police, in the first drug related closure of a club ever in the UK.
Previously the building was used as a bingo hall from the 1960's to the 1980's and before that was used as a theatre. The building is listed and one of the 10 most endangered Victorian buildings in Britain.
Dance Academy Exterior - 2006 - Dance Academy Interior - Aug 2009
The rest of the Stonehouse area was was turned into low-rent industrial estate, populated with mainly car dealerships, factories and storage. Until 2002 where it was redeveloped into high density residents.
The Royal William Fort area started life as a place to store food for the Royal Navy and was closed down in 1992. The Grade I listed building is now in the process of being redeveloped into high end housing and restaurants.
Stonehouse 1820 - Prior to construction of Royal William Fort
The Royal William Fort area started life as a place to store food for the Royal Navy and was closed down in 1992. The Grade I listed building is now in the process of being redeveloped into high end housing and restaurants.
Stonehouse 1820 - Prior to construction of Royal William Fort
I feel the area of Stonehouse needs a big regeneration, especially in the area south of Union Street, this area houses most of the factories and empty space in the Stonehouse area.
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