Cardiff Fireflies

Designing Public Places

#SketchUp #After Effects #Illustrator #Photoshop

Brief

Everything we see and interact with definitely has a specific influence on us and our quality of life. Therefore, landscape, interior, or architectural design is indispensable in our perception of the environment, even if we do not notice it. Our brain quickly reads and forms an impression of a certain place with the help of touch, hearing, smell and sight. Besides, the impression can be positive or negative. My task was to create something that would contribute to the formation of a positive impression.

Nevertheless, such an impression forms by visiting such places as parks. Life in a big city can be overwhelming, that’s why so many people enjoy having a stroll in the park, especially in the evenings. It is a good opportunity to put your mind at ease and observe a patch of living nature in the middle of the urban pace.

Location

Pontcanna field and Sophia gardens run right alongside the River Taff and are located between Cardiff city center and the Llandaff area. A path along the river goes straight to the Cardiff Metropolitan university from the city center, which makes the fields very convenient for riding bikes, doing sports, walking dogs and just having a walk. As the green area consists of parks, gardens and fields, it occupies a large area. Closer to Cardiff castle is a Bute park with a stone circle, which reminded me of a Stonehenge – the first tourist attraction in the UK.

The main location of my project is a path, which runs along the river Taff on one side and Pontcanna field and Sophia gardens on the other. While exploring the area, I noticed that there is not enough lighting and comfortable places to rest after a waIk on that path. That’s how I came up with the idea of placing benches and lights along the path.

Benefit during the day: the fields of Pontcana often host running and sporting events, so well-arranged seating is essential, both for those who simply observe the event and for the participants themselves.

Benches are already placed along the place where I want to place my objects. They are all made in different styles (some with a backrest, others without). Some consist of simple metal crossbars, which are unsuitable for sitting in cold weather. Therefore, the project intended to replace almost all the benches. However, except memorial benches.

Moodboards

Everything starts with sketches

Presentation of sculptures and benches in some places along the path. The form of the sculptures combines two main materials: stone blocks that can be seen in Bute Park (Pontcanna Fields and Bute Park are far from each other, so in this way, I could make a reference).

During the evening: since there is almost no lighting in that area, the park becomes inconvenient to visit when it starts to get dark. Therefore, lanterns will be attached to the benches along the Pontcanna field. However, only lanterns will be placed along the road, which is part of the Sophia Gardens, because the slopes are quite steep and inconvenient for placing benches there.

The bench and sculptures are made of wood.

I had to consider visualization, measurements, materials, and prices at this stage.

Interaction

Interaction with the design is an essential thing to consider. Therefore, I came up with the idea of LED-controlled light and designed an app. The system is the same as that for bicycle rental. Each sculpture will have a metal plaque with a QR code that contains a link to a free app that will need to be installed. A person will have to type in the number indicated on the plaque to connect to a certain sculpture. Then everything works in the same way as controlling LED string lights.

Required investment

The main client: The Cardiff Council

Approx £800 per sculpture, £1,600 per bench. 5 benches+ 6 sculptures = £12,800 (approx)

Metal plaque: starting at £14 (overall 16 plaques= approx £224)

Creating the app: vary from £1,000 to upwards of £100,000.

The cost of sawing work per hour – £120 Varnish – £35
Installation and materials – £100
Overall: £14,000