Dundee Masterplan & Museum for the People of Dundee
Language of an Agora
Language of an Agora
Masterplan
Dundee’s water front is a space that is in desperate need of change and revitalisation. Dundee in the past had a very close relationship with its waterfront; originally meant as a hub to receive royal visits, whaling boats and explorers as well as the importation and exportation of goods. Though time and 'development' though, Dundee has somewhat lost its connection with its waterfront. My master plan aims to reconnect the city of Dundee with its waterfront through a series of visa’s and an extention of the high street towards a hub of activity and its relics and memories that made it one of Scotlands great cities.
The master plans language reflects its use; the residential and more private buildings face away from the city and are placed towards the side of the site. The more public areas and spaces such as restaurants, shopping centres and business buildings are to the centre of the plan and create ties with the seafront and finally the museum - holder of the relics and public memories of Dundee - faces the city it serves.
Dundee’s water front is a space that is in desperate need of change and revitalisation. Dundee in the past had a very close relationship with its waterfront; originally meant as a hub to receive royal visits, whaling boats and explorers as well as the importation and exportation of goods. Though time and 'development' though, Dundee has somewhat lost its connection with its waterfront. My master plan aims to reconnect the city of Dundee with its waterfront through a series of visa’s and an extention of the high street towards a hub of activity and its relics and memories that made it one of Scotlands great cities.
The master plans language reflects its use; the residential and more private buildings face away from the city and are placed towards the side of the site. The more public areas and spaces such as restaurants, shopping centres and business buildings are to the centre of the plan and create ties with the seafront and finally the museum - holder of the relics and public memories of Dundee - faces the city it serves.
south facing view of site
West facing view of site
Proposed masterplan of Dundee water front. The bridge now comes into a round-about which then passes under the bridge connecting Dundee to the new masterplan. This largely pedestrianises the area encouraging public use of the spaces.
Axonometric view of new masterplan design.
South facing view of proposed masterplan.
Museum
Museums are special places; they are not only public spaces where we re-visit personal memories of the past; they are places where we visit shared memories of the collective past. I feel that this in itself is a very democratic phenomena – the collection of shared memories and opinions that come together to govern, inform and
celebrate our collective memories and relics.
Using these two concepts I was able to create an architectural language that not only expressed this but created what I feel was a truly public space that celebrated both the memories specific to Dundee as well as celebrating the idea of democracy and collective memory.
I took precedent from two main sources, the memory palace and the agora of ancient Rome. Combining these two precedents I would be able to create a collective memory palace.
The result was a transparent system containing the memories(relics) of Dundee within a memory palace that was observable from within the public domain; creating a public memory palace. The glass box of this building wraps itself around both the relics and the quadrangle; creating both a public domain and a container for the physical memory palace manifested by the ‘floating concrete box’s in which the various rooms of the museum are contained.
Museums are special places; they are not only public spaces where we re-visit personal memories of the past; they are places where we visit shared memories of the collective past. I feel that this in itself is a very democratic phenomena – the collection of shared memories and opinions that come together to govern, inform and
celebrate our collective memories and relics.
Using these two concepts I was able to create an architectural language that not only expressed this but created what I feel was a truly public space that celebrated both the memories specific to Dundee as well as celebrating the idea of democracy and collective memory.
I took precedent from two main sources, the memory palace and the agora of ancient Rome. Combining these two precedents I would be able to create a collective memory palace.
The result was a transparent system containing the memories(relics) of Dundee within a memory palace that was observable from within the public domain; creating a public memory palace. The glass box of this building wraps itself around both the relics and the quadrangle; creating both a public domain and a container for the physical memory palace manifested by the ‘floating concrete box’s in which the various rooms of the museum are contained.
Ground floor plan.
First Floor plan.
Perspective of the public space. The public space is surrounded by a layer restaurants cafes bars and other commercial space with benches provided for (when weather permits) the people can enjoy the urban space directed back to their city for reflection.
Evening perspective of the public space. Given the concept of this building it is natural that people would be encouraged to inhabit the space outside of museum opening hours.
Perspective of Dundee industry pt. 2. This would be one of the more impressive spaces of the building reflecting the importance of this part of Dundee's history and memory.
Coming soon will be a description of the journey through the museums spaces and what my layout intentions were.
