The Implied Line

Cities are built for people, however, sometimes the nature of the urban environment does not reflect this. Traffic infrastructure in New Zealand often isolates areas of the city from each other, lessening the experience for the pedestrian. In Porirua this issue is present, with the highway, railway and stream disconnecting the city center from the residential territories. With no dedicated pedestrian infrastructure, there is little incentive for residents to commute around Porirua without a vehicle. What is the nature of a pedestrian focused design that reconnects Porirua’s city center with its surrounding residential suburbs? Using art as a tool for urban design, this thesis rethinks how we might achieve creative moments in the city. Art was selected as a framework because it is personal to the artist, yet open to interpretation by viewers. The first step in this investigation was to create a series of autonomous drawings, and interrogate the making process and how they are acting on a page. This is where the implied line drawing was born. The second step of the investigation was to introduce site and scale, and begin to merge the autonomous with the pragmatic. This research offers an investigation into how the drawing process can be utilised to create urbanism that better forms a cities design values and public space. A small piece of the urban environment where people play a role in the city. As architects we cannot look to solve all urban issues with one project, but we can make creative moments that add value to the people and the city.