By. O
Description
Sustainable Jewelry Workshop
Focus
University Projects
Year
2024
Location
Docklands
by O. proposes a new kind of civic infrastructure along the Yarra River, one where ecological production and public life intersect.
Algae is cultivated on site, processed into bioplastic, and integrated into workshops that engage the community. The architecture is organised as a series of layered platforms, offering spaces for production, participation and reflection.
Rather than treating infrastructure as invisible, the project makes it a cultural protagonist, asking: what if the systems that sustain cities
also became spaces for civic engagement
Layered Platforms – the project uses floating layers to create varied levels of engagement: from close interaction with production to elevated reflection.
Living with Nature – drawing from Robin Boyd’s Featherston House, skylights, algae streams, and rock formations integrate ecological systems into the architecture, blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior.
Materiality: algae bioplastic, caddisfly cocoons, skylit timber platforms
Experience: public can observe, participate and reflect within an active ecological infrastructure
Each level provides a unique relationship between people, production and nature. Lower platforms bring visitors closer to the algae streams and caddisfly habitats, immersing them in the processes of cultivation and transformation. Mid-level terraces allow engagement with jewelry making, while upper platforms offer reflective spaces (and jewelry making) overlooking the site.
A cavern-like lower level where algae streams and caddisfly cocoons form living habitats
Platforms peel away to reveal layered spaces that connect riverfront, city skyline and the workshop below.
Upper level where light filters through perforated skins, creating an open workshop that merges craft with nature.
Family with children area; kids sized furnitures and flat platforms
A living workshop where ecology, craft and architecture converge