Workshop 02 / One Tree

A25 PROJECT: One Tree (Papua New Guinea)

Location: UEL Workshops and open woodland for Papua New Guinea

Client: Article 25 www.article-25.org

Facilitators: Alex Ragovskis, Yara Pavel + Victoria Mitchell

DESCRIPTION: fixings and finishing. Students need to ensure that they are realistic in what they can deliver so as to not leave things unfinished on site. Students will also need to commit to material provided and work within the economy of means at the start of the project, while being ambitious with design aspirations and turning the ‘economy of means’ from a perceived difficulty into an architectural merit.

INTRODUCTION AND TIMELINE: The availability of construction materials in remote Papua New Guinea is severely limited. Communities in the highland villages construct all of the houses out of materials sourced from the forest. Taking a lesson from the severely constrained site conditions in Papua New Guinea, One Tree uses an English location to explore new ideas using ancient techniques.

>Friday 20 September @ 4pm Presentation by Alex Ragovskis of last years project – Q+A session.

>Weekend: Research into site and materials for Monday – make brief – define the task and toolkit

>Monday 23rd September @ 10.45am AVA Workshop induction – COMPULSORY

@6pm meeting with Jonathan McDowell @ McDowell&Benedetti http://www.mcdowellbenedetti.com

>Tuesday 24th September @ 11am Meet on site, 2pm cut tree down, onsite skills workshop. Location: Part of Limekiln/Park Wood, Limekiln Forest Road, Boarshead, near Crowborough, East Sussex.

>Thursday-Sunday 30th September Designing.

>Friday 27th September @10am Presentation to Robin Cross and A25 fieldworkers. Location: Article 25, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AB, T0203 197 9801.

>Sunday-Monday 29-30th September 3 days wild camping and construction on site

>Thursday 4th October Documentation.

THE BRIEF: Explore fundamental construction principals in international development. Design and build a series of prototype components that could form key structural parts of a school or community assembly area from materials entirely sourced from a tree or woodland.

– A rigorous design process is essential

– A collaborative approach is expected. Different teams should explore different

parts of the building: roof, primary structure, cladding, raft floor etc.

– Innovative use of the components of a tree is expected

– Design must extend beyond any obvious or predictable solutions

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Freshly cut timber, hand tools and instruction on their safe use, access to woodland, the wood workshop and the hardware store which will not be available once on site. The workshop is partly based in woodland, and living on site is core to the workshop.

OUTCOMES: Prototype structures for performance testing, e.g. environmental performance, repeatability, durability.

KEY RISKS TO CONSIDER: The ‘ANNEX A’ risk assessment is a document that asks you, the team to collaborate in anticipating the activities you are about to engage in, and to develop a strategy to deliver a safe and effective outcome. This is not a chore – it is core – an architect who cannot establish a safe design is not an architect. Update the risk assessments online as a first draft via the blog and upload for review on the 26th September – as the design progresses, the risk assessment will be revised and uploaded as Revision A latest Friday 27th September.