A Space Without a Use

You’re on a bench swiping through your phone,

What governs this moment of unproductive action,

You, your environment, or your phone?

Is this in some way your own personal park?

The Park is fundamentally, a space that demands no fix usage. It has traditionally been defined by the program of recreation - thus leaving out the working program. Ultimately, no activities are exclusive to or excluded from the domain of a park. It is ‘a space without a use’.

A park is an event, a condition, an instance of relief. It is the void space within the mass of productive space which surrounds it: offices, commercial, retail, and restaurants - the main occupants and users of the park are not its residents, but individuals who are only present for moments, passing through this machine for productivity be it for leisure or occupation.

The city is a machine. The park is the socio-economic condenser, the buffer zone. It operates as the left-overs by the institutions and corporations. The void offers a last chance for slowness. The park is the last place to finally; do nothing.

Time and Space is ever so more becoming a commodity in demand; the future park must be examined through re-orienting the object of the park towards its emerging nature rather than the predefined attributes. Lawn, stairs, sculptures, benches, dogs - these are constantly in flux.

This project sets to recognise the becoming of parks and an attempt to design towards conditions for their becoming. This future-park presents as Chinatown becomes pedestrianised and the automobile finds redundancy. The Heritage-Listed, Brutalist Carpark - Total House; is found at the crossroads of

Melbourne’s Chinatown district; apart from formally, it already fulfils the traditional functions of a park. Total House attracts different scopes of respite, from contemporary music events and skate enthusiasts adapting the existing spaces to their own needs, to businessmen and amateur photographers seeking breath-taking vistas of the city which surrounds - a space with no formal use beyond a vehicle stow - becomes a park through an instance of relief.

The strategy employed: to design the productive solids to only it’s mere programmatic efficiency, only with enough architectural specificity to leave a porous space, providing the condition for more imaginative infiltrations by those who fill the void. A crucible emerges at ground, the physical manifestation of void, a bowl for skaters, a pool for swimmers, an amphitheatre for performers - reinstating Chinatown’s place in underground culture. The existing car ramps lead up, clustered between them - vendors imitating the typology of Vertical-Markets and Food-Halls found throughout Asia, localised in our Chinatown, provides a condensed dining experience where patrons of the park can grab a pick-me-up and read, or some dumplings and beer to share among friends. At Roof, a hint of green pays homage to the tradition of the park, a shroud of astroturf envelops the floor, its unholy power evident in the dramatic rebirth of patron occupation at QV Square following its introduction.

The void is fluid and loose - a park is naturally occurs when the chance and conditions for recreation presents itself when the vacuum is filled all spaces emerge without a use; and thus potential to be a space with any use.

Total House Carpark,
Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Loitering

50x38m²

<1 Week