Urban Acupuncture: Catalytic Insertions Into Wellington City's Urban Fabric

Abstract

Wellington City, like many modern cities around the world, contains large amounts of lost space. Described by Roger Trancick as anti-space, it is depicted as urban space that sits away from the flow of pedestrian activity making little positive contribution to the surroundings or its users (Trancick, 1986). Sitting idle, this land fragments large parts of Wellington’s urban fabric, particularly in the low city, where it creates an urban landscape that is, in places, disjointed and vehicle dominated. As a result these areas are often overlooked for development projects, leaving them untouched, becoming further lost in the urban landscape. In reaction to this, the thesis develops a position which views Wellington’s lost space as an opportunity for future development within the city.

To realise this latent potential, the theory of urban acupuncture is presented as a viable strategy for the urban renewal of Wellington’s lost spaces. Tested through a Wellington design case study of a new campus for the New Zealand School of Music; the research develops existing urban acupuncture strategies which are considered to be vague and lack direction. The result of which, is a refined set of urban acupuncture strategies which are applicable to a New Zealand context; presenting architects and planners with an alternative to large scale redevelopments when planning significant transformations within a city’s urban fabric.