after a very honest and critical review, i received very constructive feedback on my project and numerous new ideas emerged, which i am excited to incorporate into my project. the idea i need to build upon most is that my site is a very active construction site. for midreview, i suggested concealing many aspects of the existing materials in order to protect the public that will embody the site, however i should not be concealing the materials, but rather amplifying them. my site being on an active construction site is a rare and novel concept. why conceal the intricacies, dangers and difficulty of the site? rather, i should make them accessible. the public should be allowed to walk around the existing material and tangibly experience the site. construction sites are often broken into because outsiders are intrigued by the mystery of what is inside the site and people experience a rush of adrenaline from the danger of breaking into the site and surrounding themselves with rough and raw building materials. why destroy this? ideas of how to incorporate this idea into my project include:
limiting access in site. selective access.
redesign construction fence (boundaries of site)
public realm versus uninhabitable space
program my site. allow the activity of certain spaces to dictate which spaces are habitable and which spaces aren't.
maintain the "construction vibe". leave the site dirty and gritty. incorporate this dirty and grittiness into models and drawings.
consider different conditions. day versus night. summer versus winter. etc.
"edging". incorporate surroundings into site through violating property lines. surroundings subtly creep into site.
building on a construction site has a lot to offer. gritty. dirty. danger.
Friday, February 26, 2010
midreview
Site Analysis
Upon arriving at Williamsburg, I was initially intrigued by the art culture boldly encompassing the community. The streets of Wiliamsburg are filled with artwork, murals and political banners, there are many galleries and many of the people residing in Williamsburg are musicians. The many stalled construction sites in Williamsburg are an eyesore for the residents and there is no definite time that these sites will resume construction and move closer to completion. Being interested with the art culture of Williamsburg, I want to create a space for the creation and exhibition of artwork. In order to accomplish this, I surveyed the many sites and searched for a site with a large open space. I chose the site between N. 11th Street and N. 12th Street and between Bedford Street and Driggs Street. This site makes up the majority of an entire block and the dimensions of this site are 196' by 300'. It is surrounded by three public parks, a church, residential units, restaurants and commercial buildings. Although the surroundings to the site chosen has a mixed building use, what set this site apart from other stalled construction sites within Williamsburg is that this site is surrounded by parks/open public space. Wanting my site to also be a large, open and public venue, my site is an extension to the parks. The surrounding parks consist of kickball fields, pools and a track. Although my space will continue this idea of open public space for the community, rather than having a focus on athletics, my site will be an open public space for the community to gather and for the creation and/or exhibition of artwork.
Existing Site
As I mentioned above, the site I have chosen is very large ( 196' by 300'). Currently residing on the site is wood braces for the retaining wall, concrete blocks, concrete foundation, rebar and lots of dirt. On the north west side of the site, there is a 20' drop from sidewalk level. Although incomplete, all materials on the site are "fresh"; all materials are in good condition and construction could easily resume at any moment without having to replace existing material. The goal of my project is to create an installation on the existing site without altering any existing materials. The idea of temporality is vital to my project- I want to ensure that when construction begins again, my installation can be easily removed and no money will have to be reinvested into re-building materials.
Upon arriving at Williamsburg, I was initially intrigued by the art culture boldly encompassing the community. The streets of Wiliamsburg are filled with artwork, murals and political banners, there are many galleries and many of the people residing in Williamsburg are musicians. The many stalled construction sites in Williamsburg are an eyesore for the residents and there is no definite time that these sites will resume construction and move closer to completion. Being interested with the art culture of Williamsburg, I want to create a space for the creation and exhibition of artwork. In order to accomplish this, I surveyed the many sites and searched for a site with a large open space. I chose the site between N. 11th Street and N. 12th Street and between Bedford Street and Driggs Street. This site makes up the majority of an entire block and the dimensions of this site are 196' by 300'. It is surrounded by three public parks, a church, residential units, restaurants and commercial buildings. Although the surroundings to the site chosen has a mixed building use, what set this site apart from other stalled construction sites within Williamsburg is that this site is surrounded by parks/open public space. Wanting my site to also be a large, open and public venue, my site is an extension to the parks. The surrounding parks consist of kickball fields, pools and a track. Although my space will continue this idea of open public space for the community, rather than having a focus on athletics, my site will be an open public space for the community to gather and for the creation and/or exhibition of artwork.
As I mentioned above, the site I have chosen is very large ( 196' by 300'). Currently residing on the site is wood braces for the retaining wall, concrete blocks, concrete foundation, rebar and lots of dirt. On the north west side of the site, there is a 20' drop from sidewalk level. Although incomplete, all materials on the site are "fresh"; all materials are in good condition and construction could easily resume at any moment without having to replace existing material. The goal of my project is to create an installation on the existing site without altering any existing materials. The idea of temporality is vital to my project- I want to ensure that when construction begins again, my installation can be easily removed and no money will have to be reinvested into re-building materials.
Below is a 1/16" scale model of the site. Creating a model with the existing material, will allow me to easily experiment with different ideas of my installation. Having the existing materials in a model will allow me to incorporate my project into what is currently existing on the site.
Revised Site
Not wanting to alter any existing materials on the site, I began brainstorming ways to create a large public space for community interaction without dismantling materials and protecting the public from being hurt by the materials (safety).
As I have stated above, my site is surrounded by parks. I wanted to incorporate my site into this cluster of public open space and I accomplished this by "pulling in" the parks into my site, therefore my site is an extension of the park (look at diagram below for clarification). Along with "pulling in" the park into my site, I decided to further this idea of incorporating the surrounding and "pulled in" the sidewalk into my site as well. As a method of bringing people into the site, I built an undulating surface extending from the sidewalk on the north-west, north-east and south-west side of the site above the 20' drop down. This allows for easy access to my site from every direction. The undulating surface has a hole in the middle allowing views below to the construction site. Although I am protecting materials and adding surfaces for easier and safe access around the site, I wanted to preserve the feel of the construction site and constantly remind visitors that they aren't on any typical surface, but rather situated on a construction site.
Currently, there are 3' high concrete slabs with lots of exposed rebar on the site. I decided to make a platform with the concrete slabs incorporated into the platform so that the concrete slabs become a level, walkable space. In terms of safety for the public and in terms of protecting the rebar, I decided to encase the rebar in a plaster-like material that created columns. Inspired by Eisennman's Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, these columns would make the site inhabitable in terms of public safety and would also protect the rebar from destruction.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
williamsburg, brooklyn
throughout my architecture education, i have realized that in order to really understand an architectural site a person must visit the site. pictures and articles do not do the site justice. after visiting williamsburg, brooklyn i got a comprehensive feel for the city. through walking around the city and inspecting the stalled construction sites many ideas sparked for my project this semester, however after deep thought today about my project i am not quite sure how i will execute these ideas. we are not suppose to build a building, but rather an installation.
the most prominent aspects of williamsburg that caught my attention were:
1. the "hipster" and artist culture
2. the beautiful, political and conscientious artwork, murals and graffiti
below is a collection of some of the artwork i found throughout the city:
for my project i really want to incorporate this idea of artwork and graffiti. all the artwork i saw was very provocative and many of the pieces responded to current events. i was thinking of making an installation in which artwork and painting can be done. as i was researching williamsburg i found a bunch of guided tours showing the artwork and graffiti in williamsburg. rather than a guided tour around the city, my space can act as a museum, which people can walk through and view artwork. furthermore, williamsburg has recently experienced extreme gentrification. it went from a city being heavily populated by the polish, puerto ricans and hasidic jews to currently being populated with white, young artists. a quote from the washington post described williamsburg as being populated by "more white hipsters per square inch than anywhere on this continent". according to many articles this young population of artists are struggling financially and recently many residents of williamsburg have moved because they could not afford the price of living in williamsburg with an unstable artist salary. creating a gallery in which artists can display their work (hopefully the museum will do well enough to be able to pay the artists for their work) has the potential to help the society financially and create a community center where local artists and residents can hang out. i want to create a wallenberg studio project to respond to the many artists, musicians, writers, etc. that currently reside in williamsburg.
although, i didn't see any, there are many homeless people roaming the streets of williamsburg according to multiple articles i have read. i should mention that it was 4 degrees outside with wind chill, meaning the homeless might have found shelter and warmth for the day. however, i am very interested in affordable housing. as a law, all the new residential buildings built in williamsburg must allocate twenty percent of the housing to affordable housing units. the need for affordable housing in new york and every city in the entire country is in desperate need of affordable housing and california is the only state truly addressing the need for affordable housing. i was thinking of using one of the sites on north 7th street because it is close to transportation via subway and bus. however, the intention of this studio is not to make a building with a specific program, but rather an installation addressing aspects of the student's focus, so i might have to push aside this idea for affordable housing. if i do decide to incorporate affordable housing into my project, i can make a space designated to people worthy of receiving affordable housing . it won't be individual rooms, but an open space for them to receive shelter. maybe a co-op of sorts. people eligible to receive affordable housing can do various jobs to upkeep the space and in return receive shelter and food. also, a big component of affordable housing is not only the shelter received but the programs offered within an affordable housing unit. such as daycare, tutoring services, classes, etc. perhaps classes will be incorporated into my project for those who qualify to receive affordable housing.
while in williamsburg i went to brooklyn bowl. brooklyn bowl is an abandoned warehouse that has been transformed into a popular bar, restaurant, bowling alley, dance floor and performance space for bands and dj's. this idea of converting an abandoned warehouse into an attraction that responds to the communities interests is what i want to capture with my wallenberg project. brooklyn bowl was a mundane, large rectangular warehouse that was easily transformed into a highly utilized place for locals to hang out. very little of the original warehouse had to be reconstructed to accommodate this place. hopefully, the site i choose will not have to be altered a great deal and rather i can build my ideas upon the structure currently standing. below are pictures of the brooklyn bowl :
the most prominent aspects of williamsburg that caught my attention were:
1. the "hipster" and artist culture
2. the beautiful, political and conscientious artwork, murals and graffiti
below is a collection of some of the artwork i found throughout the city:
although, i didn't see any, there are many homeless people roaming the streets of williamsburg according to multiple articles i have read. i should mention that it was 4 degrees outside with wind chill, meaning the homeless might have found shelter and warmth for the day. however, i am very interested in affordable housing. as a law, all the new residential buildings built in williamsburg must allocate twenty percent of the housing to affordable housing units. the need for affordable housing in new york and every city in the entire country is in desperate need of affordable housing and california is the only state truly addressing the need for affordable housing. i was thinking of using one of the sites on north 7th street because it is close to transportation via subway and bus. however, the intention of this studio is not to make a building with a specific program, but rather an installation addressing aspects of the student's focus, so i might have to push aside this idea for affordable housing. if i do decide to incorporate affordable housing into my project, i can make a space designated to people worthy of receiving affordable housing . it won't be individual rooms, but an open space for them to receive shelter. maybe a co-op of sorts. people eligible to receive affordable housing can do various jobs to upkeep the space and in return receive shelter and food. also, a big component of affordable housing is not only the shelter received but the programs offered within an affordable housing unit. such as daycare, tutoring services, classes, etc. perhaps classes will be incorporated into my project for those who qualify to receive affordable housing.
while in williamsburg i went to brooklyn bowl. brooklyn bowl is an abandoned warehouse that has been transformed into a popular bar, restaurant, bowling alley, dance floor and performance space for bands and dj's. this idea of converting an abandoned warehouse into an attraction that responds to the communities interests is what i want to capture with my wallenberg project. brooklyn bowl was a mundane, large rectangular warehouse that was easily transformed into a highly utilized place for locals to hang out. very little of the original warehouse had to be reconstructed to accommodate this place. hopefully, the site i choose will not have to be altered a great deal and rather i can build my ideas upon the structure currently standing. below are pictures of the brooklyn bowl :
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