Plan B Hive: An outpost in the hinterland

Abstract

In May 2014, the New Zealand Government released plans that in the wake of a major Wellington disaster, parliament would temporarily shift to Auckland. This thesis instead proposes an alternative governmental 'outpost' on the Kapiti Coast. Functioning as a Disaster Research Centre, this would maintain the flexibility to support a temporary 'crisis parliament' post-catastrophe. The notion of an 'outpost' stems from observations of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and recognises how important sub-centres have been in supporting the city as it slowly recovers. While this thesis tests a specific scenario, it becomes an example of establishing a resilient polycentricism between the city and its hinterland.

Identifying a 'peri-urban' condition, this thesis investigates architecture's role at the periphery, exploring alternative models of settlement to the existing exurban sprawl. These alternatives are explored through design-led research that culminates in a developed design presented as Plan B-Hive. Within a large quarry, the extreme scenario is matched by an extreme site, and investigates a settlement shift away from the coast to the more stable foothills. As a monolithic and singular form, it becomes a provocation for enlarged architecture in the hinterland.

Through the lens of architect and theorist Pier Aureli, the thesis explores a confluence between the political and formal mechanisms of architecture and the possibility they hold in structuring urban space. Projects by Aureli’s firm Dogma become primary case studies and inform the experiments carried out in developing Plan B-Hive. Ultimately the relationship with the somewhat totalitarian Dogma catalyses a reflection and critique of Aureli's ideology. The conclusion of this process forms a broader disciplinary discussion on the validity of dogmatism in architecture. This thesis interrogates whether through enacting certain amounts of dogma, architecture may regain a sense of projective agency in shaping urban space.