Kate S

CV


Common Source
Third Year
Bachelor of Design with Honours, Majoring in Spatial Design
CoCA, Massey University, Wellington
2019



The site for this brief was set as Government House in Wellington. The brief asked us to use the historical and political relevance of the site as a platform to address any social, economic, evironmental or political theme or topic we felt addressed “wellbeing”, within the context of New Zealand.


“An undeniable revelation of ecological wellness in New Zealand through spatial practice. Positioned and designed to interrupt and inform the practice of ecological preservation within the dairy industry. The performative development of audience interaction makes for a more tangible experience as it mirrors the causes and effects of agriculture run off in a real world site. As a studio we were presented with a site, New Zealand's Government House, and the over arching critical context of "wellbeing''. From this basis I was able to work as an individual to develop and respond to an aspect of well being and construct a critical spatial practice that would guide and inform my design.  I identified the unique opportunity within Government House, to use its national and international audience to challenge the inaccuracy of New Zealand's 'naturally pure' image. The farming industry and fresh water health has long been a point of conflict amongst New Zealand communities. I am searching for exposure of an issue which is calling onto question our ability to balance economic gain with environmental preservation. I aim to achieve this by intruding on a program of presentation and international hosting, with a tangible experience that reflects the reality of an environmental crisis. This project is speculative and the renders are designed to reflect that, to capture the elegance and style of Government House and the varying state in which the landscape would augment and oppose that elegance. The state of this intervention will be directly effected by the wellness of actual fresh waterways within NZ, with sulphate and phosphorous levels as they are the installed landscape will produce algae and mold. The power of the intervention comes from the audiences ability to improve this imposed landscape by improving the real world waterways, if the health improves the intervention will appear healthier and pure, and will reduce in size, passing back some of the space to the original program.” This Project was a Finalist at the New Zealand Best Awards 2020
Student Spatial.