Finalist: Raimana Jones
Raimana Jones, 2014 student design awards finalist.
Architecture of Coexistence: Regenerating Royal Oak through Urban Acupuncture by Raimana Jones, University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning.
This restorative solution for a suburban site – a pedestrian nightmare – consists of three variously scaled ‘acupuncture’ procedures. At an urban scale (1:500), streets are converted into ‘shared spaces’ and a continuous promenade is established around the commercial centre. At a neighbourhood block scale (1:200) alterations to and extensions of buildings provide a friendlier streetscape. Finally, at an architectural scale (1:100; 1:50), an existing building is re-worked as an exemplar for the neighbourhood’s renewal.
Citation
Focusing on his own neighbourhood in Royal Oak, Raimana addresses an Auckland-wide issue: the domination of suburban communities and architecture by vehicle traffic. Light touch interventions reveal a respect for the existing building fabric and a sympathetic understanding of local social conditions.
