Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects’ essay titled “On Slowness” talks about the slowness of method, design, and perception of architecture. The architects criticize the trend towards the instantaneous sharing of ideas and images through social media, which they argue has led to a culture of “surface-level engagement” rather than thoughtful contemplation. They also discuss the importance of slowness in the act of drawing and argue that drawing by hand, as opposed to using computer programs, allows architects to slow down and think deeply about their designs. This thesis uses models and hand drawing to progress through iterative design to embody slowness in the design process.
Through community consultation about the quality of travel within Grangetown, the residents pointed out the quality of the Cardiff Bay walking and cycling trail and how it underutilises the natural resources at its disposal. The river Taff flows along the entire stretch of the trail, providing long views all the way down to Cardiff Bay Barrage. However, there are no places along the route to connect to the river or pause to take in the view.
Through philosophical reading and architectural precedent analysis, this research highlights the health benefits of slowing down, pausing and how the design of our civic spaces can encourage this to happen.
Within the proposal, materials that already exists on the site have been prioritised for construction as it references the creation of Grangetown being made of the clay directly from the ground. Using a laser to create all the drawings for the design not only references the industrial history of the site through its mechanical nature, but also through the fact that no additional material is added to the paper, it just changes state.
Through the redesign of the stretch of Cardiff Bay trail which passes the Sand Wharf Development, the intervention within this thesis creates a moment which encourages passersby to escape the everyday and commence on a journey towards a fuller sense of being through closer connections to people, culture, nature, and their own bodies.
