Project 1, Folie design

The concept of my project is a combination of the manifestation of the definition of a Folie and the contextual disjointedness of the site of Howard Smith Wharves.

The idea of a Folie, a shared psychotic disorder whereby two people share a delusion, is the main driver of the design. This incorporated with the site analysis which determined that the site of Howard smith wharves, inspired disconnection, with three distinct levels, road level (cliff), ground level (underneath the storey bridge) and the level of the river, entails the perfect location for users to experience this Folie.

The emotional state of the site embodies disconnection from society and the rest of Brisbane with difficulty of accessibility and a disfunctional past.  The manifestation of the project within the disjointed site provides a place for users to encounter this experiential structure.

Within the structure becomes a space for users to challenge their thoughts and emotions and to gain a perspective whereby they begin to embody the emotion of the Folie. The atmosphere dark, cold and fractured created through the tectonic use of such materials as cast concrete, steel tension cables and the natural surroundings of a park creates a space of unsubstantiated fear or paranoia.

The structure, appearing to be fractured, dangerous and precariously idle in its location casts strong shadows reinforcing its fractured nature. The structure encompasses its occupants (1 – 2 people) provides shade and a place to challenge reality, their thoughts and the site.

Site - howard smith wharves

Howard Smith Wharves: Site Plan

Green - Folie location

Red -    Point of symmetry

Blue -   Views

Site aspects - there is three distinct levels, road level, cliff level and ground level.

The site inspires disconnection, from society, the rest of Brisbane, the ‘world’ even. The site embodies discontent, the juxtaposition of the site, the cliff on one side, river on the other, provides the perfect location to explore the idea of shared delusion within the site into a built from.



The concept behind the idea

Folie a daux:

-    A shared psychotic disorder whereby two people share a delusion. There is usually a dominant member in the pair who originally manifests the delusion and through regular contact the less dominant person then assumes the delusion to be reality.

(Medical definition)

The idea of sharing a psychotic delusion could be translated into a structure of some sort, whereby it supports two occupants inhabitance in the structure to experience something out of the ordinary, something that could be thought of as a delusion – an experiential space challenging occupants’ thoughts and ideas.

Human experience introduced into design – colour to evoke emotion or feeling and the idea of a shared psychotic delusion. I want to turn the ‘folie’ into an experiential space where two people experience the space and share the atmosphere, or the feeling embodied in the design, created through the use of materials, tectonics and function.