Gateway

2014

The four level graphic proposed for the liftwell of the CDU Waterfront Building is derived from the profile of the pylon type used in Iron Ore Conveyor Belt.

The graphic is the outcome of a rigorous exploration of the formal affinities between the internal structure and proportions of the new building and the geometrical properties of the pylon. This exploration used a three dimensional model of the building (specially constructed for the purpose) and subjected it to a series of ‘cuts’ or cross-sections.

The framework used to guide these cuts was a ‘cuirass’ or encasing frieze composed of the pylon type. The ‘cuirass’ set up relationships through the building, which, when physically extruded, interfered with the building’s physical structure to produce a kind of ‘gateway’ through the flesh of the building. In an another narration of this process, the effect was to suggest a ghost building inside the present one.

Either way, by casting the shadow geometry of the pylon angularly through the building, we have been able to describe a surprising richness of motifs, including the emergence of curvilinear forms that usefully counterpoint the meshing of straight lines and double lines.