Town Hall - Fiji
The community Multi-purpose hall serves the purpose of the local community which can host any kind of conference meetings, business events, community functions, disaster center, spiritual activities. The property is located in the outskirts of the town between urban development and rural area setting.
Design Features
- The exterior façade is built with locally sourced materials such as corrugated iron, concrete, and wood. The use of a weave pattern on the exterior façade represents local art and craft weaving of coconut leaves weaved into baskets.
- The proposed interior structure is a separate secondary structure from the exterior cladding, consisting of a complex sculptural plaster molded wall and multi-color cloth.
- There is a transition space where the occupant can view both the internal and external form.
There are no doors into the structure, the idea that the cloth structure would be zipped up to enclose the structure. DesignLife proposed two-layered facades and roofs meant a thermal break for the structure to maintain a comfortable environment at the inner temperature. The façade of architecture promotes local materials and the architecture of the local context. Due to the unpredictable weather conditions, the principal activities are located on the upper floors and ancillary activities that used moveable furniture are located on the ground floor.
The design philosophy what using architecture to search for one’s true self. This is defined by 3 phases. Firstly, a person is defined by what others think you are, this is symbolized as a reflective stage which is very much external. The second stage is interiorized by the person definition of themselves, which can be symbolized as a shadow. The third stage is understanding the essence, symbolized by the act. Design is developed using these three definitions. The reflective symbolism enacted as an architectural design process was reflecting the existing neighboring built forms, over the site boundary as the reflection imaginary line to create the external form over several reflection permutations. The shadow symbolism enacted as an architectural process was using multilayered shadow tones which were exposed to a spherical effect to create the internal wall and ceiling forms. The last and the third stage is the state of nothing representing a true self-search, which is used by having nothing in central space. The third stage is the state of nothing.
The design takes on the challenge of the expression of the art form to know one’s true self and asks 3 questions that have to be put into a design process. These are the following questions: What others think of me – a type of reflection, What I think of myself – a type of shadow, and What I am – state of experience.
