Beach project, any ideas??

Edson

hi mateo,

since you ask for suggestions i will give you an opinion. it is just my way of seeing things so please do not get annoyed at my sincerity.

i would not go for the theme park idea. leave it to disney and for cenographers. what the world does not need is more fake stuff. why pretend to be somewhere else than the place where those beaches are?

why do you not go for authenticity? i would try and uncover the local character (the so called genius loci) and accentuate it.

a theme park project will get old in a few years (to me they are born dead but anyway). something authentic may be interesting for decades or centuries. but you are the one to decide what to do.

Gaieus

Giving the fact that there are four beaches and if Mateo wants to give a special character to each, there should be some difference and most probably not only in the arrangements of bars and sunbrellas.

The first two that he picked (pirates and fishermen) are actually quite authentic for the region - true the pirates may be outdated by now.

True that quite faraway places may not be a good idea to "copy".

They could even be "separated" by activity though. One for more sporty like things, the other for recreation and rest, sunbathing etc.

mateo soletic

Edson ,

Thank You for Your interesting and usefull comments.
Yesterday I was watching a film shot in Brasil
and there was a remark someone said :
Brasil is more than a country it is a
sensation .

Your country is renovned for its copacabana
Beach, samba and outdoor life.
You have a tradition in that.
Do You know that one of the major beaches in
Dubrovnik is called Copacabana.Its been called
like that for the last thirty years.
I am sure that there would be some interesting
details however small that we could adopt
from Your part of the world and in a subtle way
incorporate into a local atmosphere.

An example of this would be a palm tree.
We have had palm trees in my area for centuries.
But never until recently did someone (see my photo
above) start using the leaves to cover beach bars and
make umbrellas. Is that genuine or not.
Not in the fact that we have used it before -we didnt.
Could we have used it Yes but we didnt use anything.
During my childhood days and that was the 70s 80s
we lived in comunism and the beaches were empty.
(Gaieus -You remember that)
The last thing someone had in mind is to design a beach.

And tell You what , the umbrellas look great and everyone loves
them. This little detail gives place a charm.

Another issue is the fact that we have to fulfill the
expectation of the owners and that of the guests.
I know that the owners will be expecting great
moves and the guests will probably be expecting
local authenticity as You have said.

What if our local beach ways are like i mentioned
above boring for the owners and dont meet the
expectations of the guests and need to be accencuated
with some fresh imported ideas.

This is what I was thinking about .
The last thing I would want is to make Disneyland
out of this.

Edson if You come across some ideas from Your
part of the world that could be incorporated here , again in a subtle manner Ill be more than gratefull.

Thanks in advance.
Mateo

Gaieus

I was there in the early 80s with a lot of people around - maybe not in 4 and 5 star hotels though but i liked it...

not registered yet

Don't overlook the forgotten era of the Tiki bar. These Polynesian fantasy environments were popular in the US back in the 50's. They were built as theme bars with their own exotic style of art, design, music, and drink. There are a lot of images on the web and a great book on the style is available on amazon.com - The Book of Tiki by Sven A. Kirsten.

-Gordon

P: gmurray

mateo soletic

@unknownuser said:

Don't overlook the forgotten era of the Tiki bar. These Polynesian fantasy environments were popular in the US back in the 50's. They were built as theme bars with their own exotic style of art, design, music, and drink. There are a lot of images on the web and a great book on the style is available on amazon.com - The Book of Tiki by Sven A. Kirsten.

-Gordon

Thanks Gordon, thats what I had in mind kind
of shabby look but with more local materials
like rough local stone wood...

Edson

mateo,

what i was referring to is the idea of making one or all beaches follow a consistent look (miami, copacabana, it does not really matter).

but i have nothing against umbrellas, trees, etc. my suggestions would be to create pergolas, bars with verandahs, places for groups and couples. you can get a warmth-feeling arrangement with wood, bamboo, fabric, color. all this without resembling directly another place.

once i saw in florida how they create wooden walkways over the dunes, a great way to protect the environment and still be able to use it.

decks are a good idea too, people like wood everywhere. another idea would be to create some kind of pool with sea water, much in the way siza did in the outskirts of oporto.

i hope i helped you in some way.

mateo soletic

Yes it did Edson very much thank You.
I am writing down all Your suggestions
on paper geting ready for the first
meeting hopefully end of the week.
No sketches yet just some brainstorming
and we will see in which direction this
will go.
Thanks again,
Mateo

bertb

Hello matteo,
I did a beachbarproject on a Greek island not so long ago.
Remember these projects are all about atmosphere and if the present location is sufficient it is not a big problem to make something nice
I will attach some examples
If you want more , just let me know
Succes
Bert

mateo soletic

Bert,
The layout and the design looks really interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
I would really like to see the final images of the
finished project if they are available.

mateo soletic

Thanks,Im writing it all down.

Scotty T

Hum....good one.

Four you say. How about one for each different occasion.

One for the single life person looking to get away and maybe do some social activity.

One for the romantic married couple on a honeymoon or anniversary.

One for the married couple with children. Kid friendly design but educational about the area they are in.

One for the retired couple looking to relax as they travel the world after they have completed the top three above.lol.

Scotty T

Oh and dont kill yourselves if you get behind.

Dont forget about the job board and those of us out of work...hint hint!!!!!

Good Luck.

mateo soletic

@scotty t said:

Oh and dont kill yourselves if you get behind.

Dont forget about the job board and those of us out of work...hint hint!!!!!

Good Luck.

Thanks a lot Scotty,
Well to tell You the truth we are all on the edge. There comes a time when all is going great and before You know
it You are down the hill again.

ELYSIUM

Hi all.

I would go with what Edson Mahfuz said, its a good idea to have themed places, but you have the risk of making weird places that look more like amusement parks attractions.

When you are doing tourist targeted places one of the most important things to know is what's the target costumers. Is it for old people, young people, rich people, poor people, international tourists, local tourists? all these expect very different things, and that will have a great impact on the project. For example international tourists expect to see more of the local culture, while some local tourists like to imagine that they are in other places.
My suggestion is to find your main target costumers and start from there.

Hope this helps.

Ross Macintosh

I like the way both Scotty and Elysium seem to approach this. One technique to develop the kinds of profiles they write about is to create a story. A literal story. Think of who will use the facilities -- they are your characters. Think of the feelings you want them to experience. Set the scenes necessary for them to have those experiences. The exercise can quickly translate into ideas about how the project should take form and give you confidence in the direction you take it. It can also give you useful ideas about how to explain the design to others. The technique works well with almost any kind of design project but especially ones that focus on an 'experiential' aspect. It also allows you to add to the story other characters with unique perspectives that can also inform. For instance, in your 'story' additional characters to consider might be staff or the disabled.

The technique can very quickly draw out of you creative ideas and can be a great tool for soliciting useful input from others. Tell them the story and get there input on making it better. One good thing about the technique is that it draws from imagination - informed by experience but not governed by it. It can help you design things about which you have no direct experience. You don't have to write it down if you don't want - the story is just a tool. A fun tool. Smile

Regards, Ross

oecodesignator

Hi Guys. Don't forget what might also lie beyond the beach. The fact that one beach is a good jump off point for a dive site/marine reserve makes a whole lot of difference, and can influence what story it could give. The impact or influence of culture or its artifacts, usually via the adjacent town or historic site (as alluded to in previous posts), is another thing.

As for the genius loci, I totally agree. Nothing makes an experience more enduring than discovering, revealing its intrinsic magic.

Though reality dictates that we can't be purists...you might, maybe will, have to provide for "conflicting" beach side activities...jet ski and wave runners as opposed to snorkling and marine protection....but then, therein lies the art of environmental design!

Cheers!

Rico

mateo soletic

Finally I found this thread..

Two hours ago we completed the preliminary design presentation in
front of a larger auditorium. The reactions to the design proposed
were more than positive, so we are to continue with the project.
I am really glad with this outcome especialy due to the fact that we only
had ten days to do the design and to prepare the presentation . The
coastline we had to draw and design was about 1200 m long. I was afraid
that the machine wouldnt be able to cope with all the detail so I had to
make from scratch most of the low polly stuff myself .
First I started placing neatly in layers and as the time approached
I just placed randomly everything I could get my hands on.

The presentation was directly in shown on a large screen from SU.
The investors looked at the Acad drawings for less than five minutes
And then allready used to our style of presentation said. Ok leave that
Now, we want to see it in 3D. for SU

I would like to share with You some of the images of that presentation.
More will follow as the project continues.

Thanks for Your imput so far.
And thanks for watching.

Cheers,
Mateo