Twisting high above Floral Street in Covent Garden, the Bridge of Aspiration provides the dancers of the Royal Ballet School with a direct link to the Grade 1 listed Royal Opera House. The award-winning design addresses a series of complex contextual issues, and is legible both as a fully integrated component of the buildings it links, and as an independent architectural element.

The skewed alignment and different levels of the landing points dictate the form of the crossing, which is geometrically and structurally simple. A concertina of 23 square portals with glazed intervals are supported from an aluminium spine beam. These rotate in sequence for the skew in alignment, performing a quarter-turn overall along the length of the bridge. The result is an elegant intervention high above the street, which evokes the fluidity and grace of dance.

LONDON, I. M. (no date) Royal Ballet School: Bridge of Aspiration | Projects | WilkinsonEyre.Architects. Available at: http://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/projects/royal-ballet-school-bridge-of-aspiration.aspx?category=small (Accessed: 22 April 2015)

Contrast very traditional building that is prestigious and a grade 1 listed building with modern design. Practical approach to joining to structures that would benefit from a direct link that may not have been considered previously. Visiting the Bridge of aspirations I was amazed at how people passing by did not take notice of it, these could be added aroud the city and two small structures joined by a bridge may be a solution to desiring a larger space.

Referred to as a bridge meaning it gets from A to B but also this design has its own purpose where the ballet dancers can use the bride as a performance space.

Architects:za bor architects – Arseniy Borisenko and Peter Zaytsev
Location: Moscow, Russia 
Project area: 230 sqm
Project year: 2011

Prominent feature of many Moscow areas is the presence of multi-storey buildings with blind end walls and wide passage between them. This project provides for usage of free spaces between buildings for creation of original and economic offices which do not block the court yard access.

Parasite Office / za bor architects (2011) Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/138151/parasite-office-za-bor-architects/ (Accessed: 22 April 2015)

In 2001, this “parasite” dwelling was erected on the roof of the lift shaft of the Las Palmas building, a former industrial complex in Rotterdam harbour. The structure was built in the context of an architectural project that seeks to exploit scarce urban space in an innovative manner. The “parasites” are housing objects designed for unusual urban situations. The organizers of the scheme, an architects’ office in Rotterdam, invited 30 young architects from all over Europe to create new forms of habitation by developing lightweight, flexible, low-cost structures that could be installed in left-over spaces where services and access already exist or are near at hand. The present prototype is connected to the water and electrical supply of the Las Palmas building. The form of the structure was determined by the lines of access and services in the “host” building, by the existing structural parameters and the architects’ aim to achieve a sculptural appearance. Thick laminated glued timber was used for the construction, a material that is still virtually unknown in the Netherlands.

(no date) Available at: http://www.detail-online.com/architecture/topics/a-parasite-for-rotterdam-014687.html (Accessed: 22 April 2015)

WikiHouse enables users to download Creative Commons-licensed building plans from its website, customize them using SketchUp, and then use them to create jigsaw puzzle-like pieces out of plywood with a CNC router. Construction of WikiHouse structures requires no special parts because the cut pieces of wood snap together with wedge and peg connections inspired by classical Korean architecture. The frame of a WikiHouse can be assembled in less than a day by people with no formal training in construction. The frame must then be finished with cladding, insulation, wiring, and plumbing before it can be inhabited.

WikiHouse (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiHouse (Accessed: 22 April 2015)

http://www.ted.com/talks/alastair_parvin_architecture_for_the_people_by_the_people?language=en

The wikihouse design is very similar to the other examples I have provided for small structures and micro living spaces however it differs in the way it is design and built by the individual. This means that the blanks I have spoken about being in and around structures that have the potential to be utilised is then in the hands of each and everyone who uses and has the permission to build in the space. Each design being uniquely tailored to the individual means maximum potential for each space can be realised.

In the TED talk by Parvin he also goes into detail about the monopoly of housing in cities particularly London where is is hard to get hold of a small plot of land that would sustain the small dwelling people require. Wikihouse and the Catapult future city programme I watched about at the RIBA future city exhibition speak about buying the larger plots of land sold in the city and dividing up the land to individuals wanting to build on this small scale. 

A modern design relating to the In-Between Architecture by Studio Mumbai where this idea could attach to a structure taking up minimal space but as the interior of this piece shows there is still all the basic requirements a dwelling requires.