ECTIP Blog 1

My initial response to the project was a conservative one, without a complete understanding of the task at hand, but particularly through the dockyard trip early on it gave me a new understanding and thought process. By deeply analysing what at first could be a boring space I quickly learned that a simple alleyway could tell a thousand stories, with brick carvings and informative stories by my tutors about sailors and workers waiting to be paid, carving their stories into the old worn brick. It created a sense of erosion and corrosion which symbolised the tough periodical time that these sailors endured, the surrounding space seemingly being swallowed by the moss and cracked concrete that had developed over the centuries since it was laid there.

Through sketches and photographs I attempted to encapsulate these stories in what now looked like 'dark dying space' as I described to my group, when in fact there was a great deal more to it. This paved the way to our project as it gave me a different perspective not only on the one site, but my general approach to the project upon seeing the magnificent dockyard gave an incentive to me to focus on the ocean when looking into this project. Portsmouth as a city has a deep reliance on the ocean in modern day with fishing, transport and the navy included, and will rely on it further in the future, but upon the visit I realised the magnitude of history there and realised how important it is to the city. From this I aimed to research further about these mysterious waters and took it further into my invasive species research. I believe it was a helpful exercise to enlighten my creativity as well as providing a source of inspiration for the following project ahead.