doing the installation

photos!!

Installation Trouve

Constructions surround everyday LIFE

A Textural City

The idea of creating a textural map brings forward the many idea and elements that have defined our installation. Upon reminding ourselves of the key points of our journey we were then able to establish the clear defining features of these areas through texturl analysis.

Progression becoming an Artform

Colourful Chaos in a Strange City (Helen Blana)

A Black and White Life

The Intallation Progression

The building of a city

A Three Dimensional Cityscape

The city scpae developed shows our route as a whole but in turn shows the rooms within the city that we have perceived to have the most significance on the journey.

These rooms that have been highlighted are the areas in which we want to represent on our installation.

Mental Mapping

- Mental Mapping Statement

In order to make any journey, whether it be one your familiar with or not, the process is strategic and for you own self-satisfaction, gratifying. The points of a journey are symbolised and memorised in our subconscious from the very first step we take, allowing for the process to evolve through our imagination.

Movement, memories and symbols are all we are given from maps and pursuing the journey itself. The points along the journey provide the participant with the satisfied knowledge of knowing that upon recognition of these points the memories will evoke a simple mental map.

Greg Anderson perceives the journey as an activity and the joy is found in doing the activity rather than the completion of the journey.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination.
Joy is found not in finishing an activity but doing it.”

The journey undertaken allowed for movement through many differing spaces, absorbing many different smells, textures, sites and most importantly landmarks in which the journey can be described.

From my experience of the journey and my knowledge of Portsmouth various sites and mental images were familiar to me. This allowed me complete a mental mapping process that I hope would inform participants of the journey and embark on the experiences that were gained from completing the journey.

- The Journey

The journey starts at the University of Portsmouth Portland Building, which to all architecture students would be familiar surroundings. From the main courtyard you simply want to move towards the Lion Gate Building courtyard, the purple University of Portsmouth gates enclose this area. Moving through these gates you are then met by a number of parked cars and a road to which you take a left the main road that is just visible in the distance.

Upon reaching this road you notice the business, the noise and the decorative naval entrance, which lies almost opposite the road you are leaving. There is no visible crossing on this busy road and therefore it is easier to follow the curve of the pavement round to the right. Looking down the road you can notice the cathedral of Portsmouth. As you move towards the cathedral you pass another dominant Naval Building on your right and arrive upon at the end of the road a very busy traffic light junction.

Upon tackling this junction you arrive at a gated area, which confines Victoria Park. The parks greenery vividly stands out from the monotone townscape that Portsmouth unfortunately boasts. Upon entering the park you notice a very large black glazed building further on just outside the park. This building signifies which end of the park you want to head towards. Likewise the heavy grey concrete path, which runs diagonally through park, leads you neatly towards the underpass of a railway bridge. Under the bridge it becomes very dark with artificial lighting to be used or manipulated but the clarity at the end of the tunnel is significant as the light grey of the War memorial stone stands out. When you are in this memorial area opposite to where you entered this space there are a few steps, which lead you up into Guildhall Square. This enclosed obviously by the Guildhall itself and the council buildings.

From the square you then want to head towards the town centre area of Portsmouth. This takes you under the council civic offices towards Portsmouth Harbour train station and likewise under another train bridge. Passing the train station you enter the high street, which is without doubt the busiest area in Portsmouth. As you head towards the end of the high street the pedestrianised area comes to and end, at this point you follow the road round to the right towards a busy roundabout.

As you get closer to the roundabout a blue fence emerges from behind a traditional red brick wall. The two opposing entities lead you down a small alley way cutting away from the busy road near the town centre to a quiet small street with a number of council houses lining the street.

In this area you notice the distinct absence of noise as there is far less traffic. As you move down the street towards the end of the road there seems to be more population and movement as it is a short distance to the local Tesco Express. On this busier road you head away from the movement and noise towards a street about 50 yards left of the one you have just exited.

Like previously this street has a number of council houses lining the road and there are large council development blocks visible. At the end of the street is a very busy main road, which links the Kingston area of Portsmouth with the main City Centre. As this is a very busy street it makes it tricky to cross and therefore if you a take right and head towards the town centre once again you come to a pedestrian crossing.

Upon moving across the road there is a street opposite which leads you towards the railway line. Walking down this road is a difficult experience as there are a number road works which cut onto the pavement meaning you have to walk on the road to be able to move round them. As you get to the end of the street the is a large red brick wall in front of you and the sound of trains can be clearly heard. If you look to your right you will see a number of steps that lead to a bridge which is a little old and rundown but has been brightened by vivid paint colours and children’s hand prints which in some way brings back some of the innocence of the city amongst a large amount of graffiti.

Once you have crossed the bridge you have a choice of to directions in this case take the staircase to the right which will lead you along side the railway line that heads towards the Portsmouth harbour station.

As you get closer to the rear of the station there is a small quiet roundabout that leads cars towards the city centre or leftwards towards Southsea. This road takes you past another small roundabout and towards the main police Station and law courts in Portsmouth. The police station is situated on the corner of yet another roundabout and leads to the final length of the journey towards the University of Portsmouth Eldon Building. At the roundabout you head right down a large dual carriageway style road, which runs past and alongside our destination. As there is no defined crossing near the building you have to head down to the pedestrian crossing at the end of the road and make your way back up the other side to reach your destination.

Photomontages - Interrogation of City Elements

How does one person against another define what elements makeup a cities basis

the element of ordered chaos

the chaos of umprecedented order?

A route in portsmouth by an 18th years old girl 1-2 pm (Ioanna Makri)

When i started with my friend doing the route we already knew where to go because we did that once 2 days before with our group. We were walking near the Portland building which was the beggining point of our route. Fortunately it was a sunny day so we could go around taking photos and having a nice time. As we were walking in the avenue i saw a gate in our left. A big and exciting gate so i stopped to photograph it. Accrossing a road we found ourselves in a park with huge green trees and many happy people laughing and walking with their children. They were running and playing around with a big smile:) it was a nice atmosphere there in the park that made us very happy. We stayed there and rest for a while hearing the sounds of birds and smelling the nice smell of the flowers. Green was everywhere. Very nice view for us. I felt so free and i wanted to be a small kid again running around in the park careless. ''Let's go!'' my friend said. So I came back as an 18th years old girl doing the route around the portsmouth. We passed through a bridge and we got into a square which some statues with soldiers were there. It was a monument from a war. The town hall came in front of us when we started walking again. 'Let's take some photos!' i said. The town hall is a very nice building with very nice architecture. And now the best part of the route. Commercial road. As an 18th years old girl i love shopping!! We were going through the shops and having a look for clothes, shoes, accesories etc. I wanted to bye something but we had to make the route. So i left it for the next days. Many people were walking around doing different things. Talking on the mobile phones, shopping, other walking slowly and other fast to do their jobs. Everyone had a different thing to do. Suddenly a hand came over me. My friend was shopping there in commercial road and asked me what i was doing there with a notepad and a camera. 'Studying' i said and we went to continue the route. That was the end of commercial road. We tuned right and then right again in a small path and then in a very nice neighbourhood. A nice place to live. A quiet and nice atmosphere was there so we were walking without making any noise. We were a little tired so we sit down to drow something for the studio. Then we started again to continue the route. We were going through the nice neighbourhoods and then over a bridge. When we turned right after walking down fron the bridge, buildings looked like very familiar so we realised that we are going to the end of the route. After the roundabout we turned right again and Eldon building was just in front of us. We finished the route with lots and lots of expearances. We learned a lot of things about the Portsmouth and my opinion is that is a city that a young girl like me can have a really great time and learn a lot things in Portsmouth about what life means!

Ioanna Makri, 18 years old


The City Journey at 1-2pm

The Park Area :

- The park was full of wedding guests who has spilt over from the guildhall square. The public area has taken the form of a private gathering space. The park later empties and is used once again by families. The park meets its purpose of providing a haven from the hustle and bustle of city living, with only the dull sound of traffic echoing in the background.

The Square :

- This area is used differently from during the business weekdays. Instead of being used as a social point its used as a passageway to the other parts of the city.

City Centre :

- Fountain even at this quiet point of the day, the fountain is a hub of activity. Fulfilling its purpose of a place to rest during shopping hours. A meeting point and an area for socialising.

High Street :

- A little less busy than during the week. This is due to a more laid back approach to sundays. All the shops are still open, including market stalls

Residential Area :

- The streets are quite and the area is full of the smell of cooked food. This explains the Quiet area, and quiet city centre. People have chose to stay at home instead.

Installation - Concept Drawings

The route from my point of view 1-2pm (Helen Blana)

I first did the route with all the others in our first meeting.I felt safe that day.When we ended the route they told us we had to do it again , but this time we had to do it by ourselves. I'm not from Portsmouth , not even from U.K. I had to walk the route again at 1-2pm. I thought , for my first walk around the city it was a great time. Although it was scary again. When I left Portland building and walked down an norrow alley leading to a busy road...The roads that i walked that day were so noisy and pretty dangerous. The drivers are so careless. I was os depressed that vryone cared about themselves and nothing more. But thankfully that did not last for long cause as soon as i stepped my foot on the park opposite to a huge and very well constructured building i felt so much warm and joy. Seeing all those children running up and down , yelling and screaming , and not in a bad noisy way. Everything seemed better as i kept walking through the park , it seemed as the noisy road was far far away, Unfortunatly all these seemed to faid away when I walked under the railway brigde were i got scared because I'm claustrophobic and the strange sound of the trains passing by.
I walked through the memorial where I wondered the story of these scalptures to the guildhall where i felt quite small with all the huge buildings arround me. Then I passed through a guy that shouted something about a corrupt council which I found rather fanny. I kept walking and i found my self walking through big stores with lots and lots of clothes , shoes and all kinds of accessories , which if i had time i would go inside and buy all of them. The Comercial road was noisy as well. I watched busy people walking by me with their mobile phones.
Once I left Comercial road i turned to a small allayway with lot of cameras over my head which made me fell like a criminal and very unwelcomed to this city.There were only houses around me until i reached ayet another railway brigde. This bridge was different. Good different because it was a colourful brigde made I think by students..
Finally as i stepped out of the bridge I found again busy people and noisy cars passing me by and i felt better nad welcomed again.

Helen Blana

Installation of the Installation

From allowing the mind to wonder it amounted to the idea that we should take the sense of room back to its rawest form. The idea from creating spaces for the rooms within the city to a concept that represents the city in an overall form with the indivdual rooms within the city being the makeup and buildup that a chaotic city achieves.

In simple terms we saw the city as a room itself enclosing the vibrancy and movement that all cities boast. This is represented as a large box which in turn is made out of a number of smaller boxes which show the room within that overall room.

The Texture Map created, allowed us to think directly how we could manipulate or enhance these boxes in order to create a visual representation of these rooms.

The Cubic Room

As the word room began to develop in our minds we felt we had move to far away from the essence of the city room and the overall idea that the city itself is a room on a national if not international scale.

The use of the map and the word rooms provokes how these two elements could be used in one instance. Our participation in the persona studies allowed for elements and characteristics from these personas to use our installation in a number of different ways.

The journey was defined by the map so therefore should the installation be defined by the journey, the turns and corners of a map create the rooms of the journey. Depicting the journey and the rooms depend upon what rooms within the city remain so prominent within the mind.

A tunnel can be classed as a long room in which a journey can be taken but what about the rooms leaving this room will they have a more defined purpose.

The enclosure created by a cities walls can define a way of thinking

Expanding the idea of "room" should the participant be enclosed or should the enclosure be created by the participants occupation within the "rooms".

A 15 minute brainstorming session can materialise into a wealth of knowledge, ideas and excitement. From the models we made we developed the conceptual ideas that had grown and began form a plan of strategy about how we could complte our journey instalation.