Finding this useful for the write up

Lee man this was some information i pulled out A pattern Language a while back, its about positive and negative space and why people prefer spaces! It might not be to relevant but have a look.

Charlie whats the Nord blokes email.?

Intro collaboration...

INTRODUCTION>

Three year study carried out by the world health organisation concluded that social factors not genetics are responsible for differences in health and life expectancy example given; a boy living in one suburb of Glasgow is on average said to live 28 years less than in another more affluent suburb nearby... (bbc news: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health)
Subject- social inequality; drugs, economics, politics, alcohol... etc (we could the use welsh references...) how-ever the divide is conceptualised, the important point is that, there were two or more separate antagonistic or unequal conditions which causes the division of the local community (a type of class divide?), the main thing we are looking at in the case study is the ways in which NORD undermine social divisions by bringing people together; Smoking Clusters, Bath House, Public Convenience etc...

From the NORD website:

“NORD have a general interest in the everyday... In our present day, public furniture does little to encourage social interaction”.

Experiment: to test the devices Nord use to do this... we need the plans and sections to highlight what we are talking about and i will scan in the diagrams when i am in uni tomorrow.

When reading this book what struck me the most was not the alcohol and drug abuse that can be read in many of Welsh’s other books but the social depression that is inflicted on to the people through experiences which can then lead them on to drugs, alcohol and smoking in an attempt to sooth their emotions.

A good reason seen from the chapters ‘The First Day of School’ and ‘Pished, Drugged, Laid’ for this depression would be the attitude towards women, as some of the characters portray them as toys either sexually or socially, leaving them feeling degraded and with a low self esteem. This can be thought as the cause towards the decaying thinking in the area having a knock on effect towards future generations through broken homes.

Based in the schemes of Edinburgh ‘Glue’ provides an insight to the attitudes, social standings and culture not only on a local scale but also on a regional and national scale in the eras that it is set. It can be related to the other cities such as the council estate housing in Glasgow, that has had its significant problems with drug abuse and gangs.

Throughout the book there is a background theme based on drugs, alcohol and sex. Within the first few sections the book it is clear to point out the personal domestic problems that people face that can eventually degrade their aspirations associated with youth and lead them to the low expectations in this area.

We first meet some of the characters as children in which one situation the father leaves his partner two children and partner distraught without a care in the world for them as he strolls through the pub with his ‘clan of gangsters’ after he verbally abuses an old couple beforehand.

The book also stresses on the poor state of the housing and living conditions quite frequently throughout, for instance Welsh describes the ‘concrete block of flats’ as an ‘overheated greenhouse’ covered in ‘soot and grime for generations’.

In each chapter there almost always seems to be an incident or mentioning of alcohol; once the characters come in from a night out in search for a more adventurous and interesting ending. In the chapter ‘An Urban Myth’ one of the main characters Juice Terry tries to capture the moment with an international superstar by taking her to a pub for further drinking however ends in a debating match with his so called friends about their related gangs and razor blade incidents within the area.

Ay cunts thit pit razor blades on the flumes ay a public swimming pool that wee bairns yaze…..

In the chapter ‘Bitterest Pill is Mine to Take’ hard drug use is used on a regular basis by the characters. It almost seems to be an important commodity of their culture to get ‘pished, drugged and laid’ in order to escape the repetitive and constant occurrences of everyday life.

Kathryn had done loads of coke before at one time, but she ‘d never tried ecstasy before. She felt a sense of trepidation as she swallowed the bitter pill.

The Irvine Welsh Porno Novel is the sequel to Trainspotting. The book describes the characters of Trainspotting ten years after the events of the earlier book, as their paths cross again, this time with the pornography business as the backdrop rather than heroin use. However drugs and the issues related to them still remain a fundamental part of this novel. For instance we see the character Danny ‘Spud’ Murphy battle his heroin addiction, he feels he has accomplished little with his life through his drug use. His heroin addiction has also made his relationship with his wife strained; this leads him to contemplate suicide in order to leave his life insurance to his wife.

At the other end of the scale we have Mark Renton the main character of Trainspotting who in this novel has completely turned his life around. He’s managed to kick his heroin addiction whilst still remaining fairly reliant on cocaine. After leaving Glasgow for Amsterdam he became successful at running a nightclub his only relation back to the Glasgow scene is that of an illicit deal with ‘Sick Boy’ and his pornography dealings.

‘Sick Boy’ was unable to hold down a steady job in the ten years since Trainspotting (suggestive of the economic climate of Glasgow at the time and also the negative attitude towards work of the contemporary Glasgow youth) he traveled to London but later returned to Glasgow to take over his aunties pub. Rather than run it legally he attempts to turn the upstairs of the pub into a set for pornography, this business venture eventually ends up with ‘Sick Boy’ alienating his mates through trying to get all their girlfriends involved in his illicit films.

SELECTION >

Irvine Welsh, (2002) Porno. Published by Jonathan Cape.

Group E selected Nord as our practice for ArC6-2 for which we developed the theme of social inequality to explore choosing the Ceramic Ashtray, Urban Green Park as our precedent study.

It was felt that in the group it would be a good idea to read some the of Irvine Welsh novels and interpret his representation of Glasgow in relation to our theme. Thus why ‘Porno’ was chose.

ARGUMENT >

The main social divisions that take place in Porno are to do with sex, drugs and fraud. When narrated by a male character women are often seen as objects, used for male pleasures. However when narrated by the woman involved in the sexual acts, they see it as a position of empowerment.

Drug abuse is also a key focus in ‘Porno’. Drug abuse appears to be a rebellion against social norms, society. The characters who abuse drugs are often refered to as ‘Wasters’

Its widely believed that Renton the main character from Trainspotting and Porno is an alter ego referenced to his colourful life growing up in Leith. Some of the situations in the novel could be a direct reference to actual events.

RESPONSE >

I think reading this novel was appropriate for our case study. In some respects its fairly easy to relate the way the smoker of today is treated in comparison with the drug addicted illicit dealer mentioned in Irvine Welsh’s novel. Drug use may be very taboo in society but being a smoker is also being frowned upon today.

Hi Guys I've been looking at NORD substation for the olympics

Charlie Post ArC6-2

Cultural Context Ar C6-2

Literature review Patch 1

SELECTION

The case study that we have decided to look at is by the architects NORD. It is the ceramic ash tray project. The text that I chose to look at in relation to this project was a piece of writing by the Centre for Social Justice. It is called Break Through Glasgow.

The reason I chose this text was because this particular project of NORDs is a result of the changing culture and political legislations that tries to accommodate a new social phenomenon. It was relevant to understand the sociology of Glasgow and the key issues that have led to this social degradation.

ARGUMENT

Describing a 'Tale of Two Cities', Breakthrough Glasgow draws attention to the peculiarly entrenched poverty found in Glasgow. An honest assessment is required in order to ensure Breakthrough policies that will reverse the high levels of worklessness, addiction and gang crime found in the city.

Health issues are address and the text is rich in statistics. The text gives an overview of the key contributing factors that have led to the social degradation of Glasgow.

Key Issuses are:-

Workless homes

Deprived Communities

Generations claiming incapacity benefits

Drugs and alcohol abuse

Crime and gangs

Highest mortality rate

Single parent homes.

The text goes onto suggest that the problem is down to education. Education is the key to social mobility.

Statistics that support that there is a relation between economic activity and life expectancy and how a single parent home affects the child. i.e :-75% likely to fail at school if your not brought up in a two parent society.

Charities and voluntary groups that are active in Glasgow today that are trying to fix this broken society are highlighted as case studies within the text. Right track Scotland and F.A.R.E (family action in Rogerfield and Easterhouse) are just some of the case studies.

RELATION

The piece of text that I am relating it to is a poem that is a thematic driver for my studio project based in Glasgow. It is a poem by Edwin Morgan that concentrates on the idea of identity and belonging in the Scottish culture. There are references to the ‘Red Road’ estate that have recently been knocked down however used to be the typical place for workless homes, drugs and alcohol abuse and crime etc...

I think it is relevant to have a cultural interpretation of the issues that the more formal and informative ‘Break through Glasgow’ piece of writing highlighted.

RESPONSE

It is apparent that there are prominent issues that are causing the social degradation of Glasgow. It is encouraging to hear about charities and voluntary groups that are actively responding to the societies needs.

The governmental statistics are persuasive facts that highlight the issues that Glaswegian culture is facing. It is apparent that the condition of the society has effected the national perception of the city. The poem Scottish Fiction is a reflection of the society.

In the ceramic ashtray project NORD architects undertook research and produced several hypothetical scenarios. The project was realised because of a change in political legislation. NORD responded to that. I will use the knowledge gained from ‘Break through Glasgow’ and apply it to the analysis of our chosen Case Study.

Patch 1

Hey Guys here is my output for patch one, i'll scan the diagrams in and post them tomorrow, can everyone post their output as soon as possible please, it would be good if we all had our introduction written for monday (so we need all the info, forgive me if i'm stating the obvious) so we can discuss and move forward/improve what we've done, if we stick to it as a group it will be stress free! Also would be useful if we all use the module guide to format the output? as it makes the relevant info more readily available.

lEE FARNAN
ArC6-2.
Literature Review.
Patch 1.

SELECTION>
Edward. T. Hall, (1988), The Hidden Dimension. Bantam doubleday dell publishers.
As a group we decided to look at NORD’s work through the concept of social inequality, be it class divide, drug divide, religious divide or whatever. How-ever the divide is conceptualised, the important point is that, there were two or more separate antagonistic or unequal conditions which causes the stratification of the local community and produces; anomic citizens. We thought we had picked up on this issue being discussed in NORD’s work, especially the Ceramic Ashtray, Urban Green Park and the Barrowland Ballroom projects.
The reason for choosing the hidden dimension as reading material was that I wanted to start by looking at how people perceive the built environment in a pragmatic and physical way.

ARGUMENT>
Hall like Durkheim considered people, embedded creatures and as such their behaviours could be said to be predictable and through experimental evidence rationalised into categories or general rules.
The Hidden Dimension focuses on sensory experience in space. Hall divided the senses into two groups: distance receptors (eyes, ears, nose) and immediate receptors (skin, membranes etc). Sight and hearing are said to be the most important because they are the senses which connect people and facilitate interaction, how these senses work is fundamental to socially responsible design.

RELATION>
Situating Halls approach in other theory, I would have to cite Durkheim, because he also reduces the individual as a product of a totallic Other; a collective consensus of morality (which limits possible behavioural principles/traits). This can be seen in Durkheim’s famous work On Suicide, Where Durkheim showed statistically, a link between social structure and suicide. It is a positivist approach which produced in Durkheims own words “social Facts”. This is the same manner with which Hall presents his own work.

RESPONSE>
I agree with Halls opinions and have found them to be supported by empirical evidence. How the evidence is situated morally is less of a design tool and more of a spiritual concern; as with Juhani Pallasmma’s eyes of the skin. I find Hall’s work more directly translatable as a design tool; since eyes of the skin deals more directly with the haptic qualities of architecture it is complementary to Halls spatial investigations (distance and immediate receptors). We can use this information to analyse physically the devices NORD use to encourage interaction.

Well done J-Bone