EGTV#1
(The First Meeting of The Emerging Group's Terrain Vague Project)
Taking as a starting point the speculation that there is some condition of urban space which contains within it an undiscovered potential, our project sets out to explore these terrains vagues by employing various research methods. Textual research is combined with field research in the context of each terrain vague.
“The Relationship between the absence of use... and the sense of freedom, of expectancy, is fundamental to understanding the evocative potential of the city’s terrains vagues... Void, absence, yet also promise - the space of the possible”
Ignasi de Solà-Morales Rubió, Terrain Vague in Anyplace, MIT 1996.
Taking as a starting point the speculation that there is some condition of urban space which contains within it an undiscovered potential, our project sets out to explore these terrains vagues by employing various research methods. Textual research is combined with field research in the context of each terrain vague.
- the site has a clearly identifiable boundary to four sides. One side wall is lowered and addresses the paved area giving access to horatio house flats.
- the height of the enclosure on three sides made the site ideal for a game or sport of some kind. We met at 7pm one June evening, having each agreed to bring a selection of objects which could be used to invent a new game.
4 Tennis balls
3 Balls of string
1 pack of baloons
1 red umpires chair
1 foam baseball bat
1 spinner
2 tape measures
scissors
Chalk
- the string was clearly going to help us to add some new boundary to the space, and there were limited places where we could secure it. This suggested that the string should be suspended diagonally across the space and we quickly made a triangular web, Tina, eva, cameo and myself grappling with the logistics of knots and tension to make some kind of recognisable form. Meanwhile, it was decided that the high wall on three sides, above the ledge, and already split into six bays would be ideal for a series of six targets, which could be distinguished by a shape and a number. The number would refer to the number of points scored for the target and therefore how comparatively difficult it should be to hit the target. The inclusion of balloons to the net added a layer of complexity (and foolishness) to the game. The shapes of targets on the wall corresponded to shapes drawn strategically on the grid of paving slabs. The piece of ply which blocked up an old doorway would serve well as a scoreboard. 6 people, four balls and a bat suggested that there would be four shooters, with a tennis ball each, 1 bats person, stood behind the string-and-balloon net and one person left over to sit on the chair and be umpire and scorekeeper.
So, on your marks, get set... At the first barrage, the bats person frantically tries to intercept the balls before they reach their targets, a lot of chicanery and sharp practice from the shooters sending the bat swinging this way and that, a few home runs sending shooters hunting behind wheelie bins for several minutes, and finally attracting the attention of a group of intrigued children, who were up for trying the game themselves.
? use and abuse of boundaries. Boundaries are clearly important to us all, yet they can be hard or soft; the assumption that a boundary is linear and 1-dimensional or 'thin' is rarely the case. The power of this idea of a thin boundary, although useful in dividing ownership, has an enormous influence on the shape of our cities and buildings. Our game naturally spilled out to the adjacent path and included the children who were already playing there, making it difficult to say where the site boundary lay.
? when, at the end of the game, we asked ourselves if we should use the tape to measure the site as a record, we found there was little reason for doing so, since the game itself provided us with a different kind of measure of the space
? when, at the end of the game, we asked ourselves if we should use the tape to measure the site as a record, we found there was little reason for doing so, since the game itself provided us with a different kind of measure of the space
? what was the aim of our activity on / engagement with TV? Regeneration? Assimilation? Incorporation? Preservation? Creation? Annihilation?
? terrain vague is as much a way of thinking about different types of space as a category of urban space.
? defies definition as a category of space because as soon as the abstract concept meets with the experience of acting on the space, the qualities and characteristics begin to dissolve; it is perhaps only distinguishable as the space of 'the other', the unknown.
? when we perceive these spaces, perhaps there is a difference between the unknown and the unknowable; commonly it is assumed that they are unknowable, off-limits, but by mere experience they become known in some way extra-ordinary to other, more familiar types of space. It challenges us to make a new category of space rather than follow habitual and familiar forms of experience or use.
? future TV Sites might demonstrate this variety or show how they defy categorisation.
? terrain vague is as much a way of thinking about different types of space as a category of urban space.
? defies definition as a category of space because as soon as the abstract concept meets with the experience of acting on the space, the qualities and characteristics begin to dissolve; it is perhaps only distinguishable as the space of 'the other', the unknown.
? when we perceive these spaces, perhaps there is a difference between the unknown and the unknowable; commonly it is assumed that they are unknowable, off-limits, but by mere experience they become known in some way extra-ordinary to other, more familiar types of space. It challenges us to make a new category of space rather than follow habitual and familiar forms of experience or use.
? future TV Sites might demonstrate this variety or show how they defy categorisation.
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