Back-tracking

So now, i've hit a dead end as changing the house of representatives into office space doesn't really fit in with what I want to achieve in this project.
My solution to this problem is to go back to the beginning (again) and find out why I initially wanted to change parliament in the first place.

It takes me back to the inverted pyramid.

 My main goal of changing the parliament was to give more power to people in choosing how they tackle certain situations and problems. (i.e. deciding between carbon trading and a carbon tax)

By removing political parties I've removed the unnecessary debates and time/money wasting in parliament. But I also think that one of the main issues between the government and the population is a lack of understanding due to a gap in communication.

Parliament House

Above  is a general plan of the layout of parliament house in Canberra. I previously found out that the House of Representatives is a room that I do not need.

So to implement a new parliamentry system that is more efficient and fair and utilizes less tax-payers money, we need to re-fit/redesign the house of representatives to accommodate the new system.

The exisiting ministers and prime ministers offices can be used my the new experts.

Reflection to Date

So after the last tute on tuesday, Davor pushed me to re-think what my intentions were in the first assignment, and how I am achieving this in the current brief.

...So what we wanted to achieve in the first assignment is:

1. Remove politicians and instate experts in specific divisions to create new policies.
2. Divide parliament into each state, to allow more flexibility in laws.

However now when I think about this, there are several issues I can find with the logic behind them.

1. Splitting up parliament will render Canberra and the current parliament house useless.
2. It will bemore expensive and inefficient to run a parliament in each state.
3. There aren't that many experts in Australia to develop acts/rules for each state.
4. Businesses and people will exploit states which have rules which are more beneficial to them.

So now I'm thinking why did I want to split up parliament in the first place? And what factors do I need to implement to remove politicians without causing major upset to the government to allow a smooth transition.

The Parliament System

So after investigating how the current political system works, i've found that the House of Representatives is where the political discussions take place.

The senate review policies aggreed upon in the house of representatives and then revise them or approve them and implement them.

Driverless Airport Pods

I saw in a news article today, about new driver-less laser guided pods which have been implemented at Heathrow Airport. It would be interesting if it was possible to implement this kind of technology as a form on transport between government buildings, or just as pubic transport all-together. At the very least some food for thought and inspiration.

http://video.news.com.au/2136246441/Look-ma-no-driver

A link to a brief video about the pods.

City of Perth

Perth council house, is already considered an icon of Perth, which has undergone retrofits and refurbishments, including its LED light incorporation (which I personally think destroys its heritage meaning, and makes it look somewhat tacky)

http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/icons_per_councilhse.htm

To get an idea of what other architecture is like in Perth, i've been looking at some videos of Perth architecture and their lifestyle.

The Existing Council House

I thought, before I get ahead of myself I should do a bit of research about the current Perth council house which I plan to change. This way hopefully I can get an idea of what it useful and what isn't.

Turns out it was opened by the Queen in 1963 after Perth hosted the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Council House is constructed from concrete-encased steel frame, with lifts and service rooms located at its eastern end and a fire escape stairwell at its western end. Level 9 houses the distinctive circular Council Chamber, which features wood panelling and has been restored to largely its original state in the 1990s refurbishment (by contrast to most of the other levels of the building). The building is almost completely clad with glass, which led to criticism about its excessive air conditioning costs. The glass exterior of the building has T-shaped white sunbreakers superimposed in an alternating pattern across the building, coated with fine mosaic tiles. With the newly-enclosed top floor, the building now has 13 levels above ground.
The building, which was the favourite creation of its designer Jeffrey Howlett, has been called the most important example of modernist architecture in Perth and "one of the State's modernist icons". The building has been described as demonstrating "modernist aspirations" from the Bauhaus school, exuding "brutalist warmth".Stephen Neille, the Chair of Architectural Design at Curtin University, described it as reflecting Perth of that time: a city "brimming with confidence and consciously promoting itself to the world as a modern city"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_House,_Perth
http://heritageperth.com.au/make-history/perths-treasures/council-house

Ideas part 3

Here are two more alternatives, to manipulate the existing structure.

Existing Structure

Above is the existing council house, and below are some basic merges with some ideas. the main complication is the restricted space between the current structure and the courthouse and government house

Ideas part 2

So after Yasu's lecture, I thought I had some basic idea of what I was going to do. However after I talked with DaVor, my ideas and thoughts changed again completely. I heard DaVor talking with other students about utilizing the current structure, and although DaVor said it was okay to create a new building if I could justify it.

I thought, there is no point in creating a new building, when buildings already exist. Otherwise the older buildings will have no purpose, and that alone would be waste enough not to change the current system at all.

So that got me thinking about the current buildings, and incorporating my design into existing infrastructure.
Below in red, is the old site that I had selected, and in blue is my new proposed site.

The new site, is the current main government office building in Perth located adjacent to the supreme court of Perth and Government House. It also has close access to the river system. By using the existing building, the core structure is already in place.

Ideas part 1

 Coming up with new ideas, which encompasses all the requirements of a new parliament building is more complicated than I thought.

 My basic idea to have a central core with basic services in green. Next are fixed office levels in red, which incorporate regular office facilities which would be required. On the outside in blue/cyan are removable, or mobile offices.

Below is how the movable outer offices work. They slide down the fixed pillars and out, which can then be transported to remote areas. The reason why this would be a benefit in the new parliament is because now each division is made up of panels of experts. Because these people are just paper pushers, they need to be in the field to retain and expand their knowledge to create policies which make sense. For example for the environment division, they may send two portable offices to mining sites to analyze the effects and degradation to land etc. This way, the experts can spend more time in the area, and complete the necessary work with their current work environment.

The Design

I was first thinking of making a new office building, which had slight differences such as movable interior spaces etc, but after seeing Yasu's lecture my ideas where drastically changed.

Different ideas of construction and transportation, as well as its effect, layout and impact on its surroundings.

Location

So my basic brief is to design a new state building.
For this purpose I have chosen Perth and Western Australia to implement a design, because I think it will best exhibit and display my intentions for our new parliament system. In saying this, a similar design would be as effective in any state.

So in looking at the city of Perth, it's easy to see that the main government buildings are close together and and are also in the cbd.

I have selected a site near by, which is close to existing government buildings, as well as transportation infrastructure in the forms of highways and train lines.

The purpose of distribution of pwer

Our current system has a central hub, or point of connectivity (Canberra). Everything we do, must first go through Canbeera and then be relayed, making the system inefficient, as well as wasting time in transportation.

With the proposal of having each state with its own parliament system, each state can work individually on its own needs, but can still come together and convene as a country if need be. This is more efficient in many ways, from environmental points, to each states needs.

Part 2 - The Place to Be

First to sum up our main points from the first assignment as to set a starting point for the second.

1. Dissolving of the current parliament building in ACT.
    - the current building can be transformed into various other national/state government buildings such as public or private facilities.
2. Creating a new parliament building in each state
    - the building has to accommodate all required services
    - the building needs to be flexible to accommodate changing needs and envrironments
    - the building needs to most of all demonstrate the benefits of dissolving the current parliament house