Folie Design - The 'Parasitic Spine'

THE ‘PARASITIC SPINE’

Design Concept:  The Story Bridge is an iconic structure within the Brisbane City Landscape is acts as an artery connecting people to locations throughout the city. HSW has the potential to become a major transitional point in the movements of pedestrians, thus allowing for occupation of the site through a means of a spatial inhabitancy. The bridges structure its self embodies the image of a giant rib cage.  The Folie aims to use the human like nature of the bridges structure and symbolically insert another human element such ‘Parasitic Spine’ as a manifestation of the ideology to serve pedestrians. 

Design Context: Suspended within HSW, floating above the ground the ‘Parasitic Spine’ becomes a manifestation of the Story Bridge and appears to grow out of the surrounding bank.  The Folie overlooks its surrounding context (old sheds and HSW) and is placed in the site space but not directly touching it in a mark of respect to the historical value of the surrounding context. It allows people to enjoy the existing character without physically impeding on it.  The small scale of the ‘Parasitic Spine’ comparison to the bridge shows the insertion is humble and works with the bridge instead of against.  It becomes one with the site context.

Design Tectonics: The skeletal modular steel, aluminium and glass framed pods tied together using tensile steel circular beams form a manifestation of the parent the Story Bridge.  The human engineered materials of steel aluminium and glass out into ‘vertebrae’ like modules enhance the symbolic human ideology of the ‘Parasitic Spine’. 

Design Function: The ‘Parasitic Spine’ acts as a place for resting, reading and viewing it also becomes a point of reference for pedestrians that use the thoroughfare at HSW from the CBD to New Farm and to Fortitude Valley.  This aims to encourage occupation of the HSW site via the unique ‘Parasitic Spine’ space.

Design Experience:  The fact you are suspended off the site gives the users a new and unique experience of HSW.  The user can become immersed the surrounding context such as the scale of the bridge and the surrounding city views.  The ability to actually sit down and relax and absorb the surrounding context is something new and hopefully aid in the recognition of the ideologies of its design.