Sarah Rasquinha, Community Conjunctions [×]

Footscray is a western Melbourne suburb with a rich multicultural population.
Within Planning Victoria’s development policy, Footscray is labelled as a Metropolitan Activity Centre, with an anticipated doubling of the population over the next 20 years. This has prompted significant urban development over the last decade, particularly along the edge of the Maribyrnong River with the construction of several new high-rise apartment buildings.
This research project asks how community connections can be maintained and strengthened in the context of this rapidly increasing population and urban density. Using the currently under construction ‘Victoria Square’ as a case study, this project explores how the supplementary resident amenities and facilities that accompany this development may feed back into the urban environment and inform new connections with the extended community.
Through drawing, diagramming, collaging, and modelling, this research project has investigated how the significant changes within the streetscape impact the social dynamics and existing community culture of Footscray.
This project proposes a network of interventions integrated into the urban infrastructure, that choreograph and prompt moments of connection between people and the social and urban environment of Footscray. These interventions take the “luxury” amenity within Victoria Square as an influence; cinema, games room, gyms, sky gardens, outdoor Olympic track, and asks how these facilities can be translated into moments of connection and act as conjunctions for the community.
These proposed interventions aim to subtly speculate and suggest community connections by drawing out private amenity into a public realm. New urban interiors generate from these moments of social and urban connection and contribute to maintaining the strong community presence of Footscray.