Here is the final product of my thesis project!
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Final Review Reflection
While my final review went fairly well, there are areas that need great improvement. The areas that I believe need the most concentration at this point are biosynergies and facade development. I believe that the organization of the building is working successfully at this point. The organization is directly related to the experience and the tectonics; the idea being that the basic structural order of the concrete walls allows for the lighter wood rooms and airy circulation to have more flexibility in the space. With this being said, this organizational concept for the building is still not coinciding with my general concept of the wall. While I need to focus on biosynergies and the facade, at this point I really need to figure out how “the wall” interacts with the remainder or the building.
After taking a little time to step away from my project after the review, I met with my mentor. We discussed a couple issues, one of the being the ways in which I can begin to incorporate the wall into my design. We came to the conclusion that the wall is important more as a gestural figure than as an actual wall, meaning that it is the implied separation that it creates from the highway that has an impact on the campus. With this in mind, I am going to move forward with the idea that maybe it doesn’t have to be a complete solid, rather it can be more of a grid that becomes filled in. Another area that we focused on was the development of the campus and how to bring in the idea of “rows of agriculture”, campus green and paved areas into on cohesive campus plan. As I develop the campus plan further, with the ideas that we discussed, I will be able to incorporate more ideas of biosyngeries into my design.
The facade is another area that I have been struggling with. I believe that I have been actually overthinking it and the result is a facade that is incredibly disconnected from my building concept and material choice. I believe that the best way for me to move forward with this is to begin to make some façade study models around my tectonic model and physically see and feel how these connections between indoors and outdoors occur.
Pin-Up Reflection
After the pin-up on Friday, I feel as though I am headed in the right direction with my design concept and ideas, but I need to refine them in order to move forward with the project. The concept of “life behind the wall” seems to have potential because it deals with the greatest issue of the site, the highways, yet it needs further development in order to work with the other areas of the site. I think that the concept can be strengthened by creating a relationship between the wall and the other programmatic spaces. For example, one of the reviewers suggested that the wall become the “high density” area and as you move away from the it the spaces become less dense. This is just one idea but it begins to form a concept that can be applied to all areas of the design, both the small and large scale.
I think that I am getting closer to developing an urban vision that will support the project. Right now I have been trying to create too many types of spaces on the urban scale. I need to now focus on the primary rout to my site so that there is just one developed axis and the others become secondary.
The project lends itself very well to district sustainability because, due to the nature of Gateway, there is a significant amount of excess energy. There are strong possibilities for heat exchange between Fred Meyer and my project, as well as other buildings that may be developed in the future. The vast amounts of impervious surfaces can become excellent ways to capture rain water and there are hundreds of square feet of roofs that can be used to harvest solar energy as well as green roofs. With all the potential in the district, the question becomes how can my project use all these resources.
My next step will be to refine my concept so that I can apply it to the site and begin to place the program into the concept.
Project Reflection
I struggled in the beginning of this assignment because I was hoping to develop a modular structure that was directly based on biomimicry. What I found was that I was trying to mimic nature too closely and created too narrow of a vision. I ended up basing my project on geometry and moving away from biomimicry. What I realize now is that I could have taken a much broader approach to biomimicry and developed a project that was still derived from a biological organism. I am now hoping to go back and develop a method to include biomimicry in my assignment, possibly in a more metaphorical manner.
I was pleased with the way my structure allowed me to think about its application at various scales. While the initial intention I had for the structure may not be directly transferred to my project, the variations possible at different scales will be something that I include.
Revised Thesis Booklet
I have made some revisions based on the feed back from the review on Tuesday. It will be a continuous work-in-progress.
(Note: The document was designed to be read with pages facing one-another, when PDF is open, change the view to “Two-up” to see the document as it was designed.)
Annotated Bibliography
Crosbie, Michael J. Class Architecture. Mulgrave, Vic.: Images Pub. Group, 2001. Print.
This book explores the design and programming needs for educational centers and schools. Since this is something that I am going to be looking further into designing, it is important to know what is required at a center like this. The book looks at precedents at all levels of education and in all locations, urban, rural, etc. Some examples look at schools that are combined with community centers, which is the direction I will take the project in Gateway.
Bureau of Planning; City of Portland. Chapter 33.526 Gateway Plan District. 1, January 2009.
This report provides all the necessary regulations for building in the Gateway district. It recognizes that Gateway is Portland’s regional center and thus it is designed to withstand a large amount of the cities’ growth. Because of this predicted growth, the regulations need to be similar to those of an urban scale. The regulations have to allow for greater connectivity between the streets. The report sets out standards for Gateway in which the regulations should support. These include, compatibility between private and public, expansion to create positive places for pedestrians and those using public transportation, ensure large sites are near open space, and allow for mixed-use development around the light rail. It then gives very detailed regulations for buildings and zoning.
Burayidi, Michael A. Urban Planning in a Multicultural Society. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2000. Print.
Editor Michael A. Buyayidi uses the work of scholars as well as historical facts to argue that incorporating varieties of cultures into city planning is necessary for the success at the urban scale. He looks at questions regarding the inclusion of multiple cultures when the ideals may disagree and how you can be sensitive to a variety of cultures. He explores whether it is possible to achieve a unified urban development while incorporating the needs of many cultures. Michael Buayidi explores the issues of communicating across cultures, gathering information, the role of politics and many other issues that create barriers.
DistrictLab. Gateway Ecodistrict Pilot Study. Rep. June 2010
This article was prepared by DistrictLab for the Portland Sustainability Institute. This article is especially helpful because it addresses the needs of the community and includes outcomes of public engagement. It outlines the communities’ desires and identifies the top three as increasing connectivity, creating an identity and increasing the security and appearance. With the input from the community, DistrictLab selected target areas that could be improved. With-in these areas specific improvements were highlighted and next steps set out for the areas.
Neill, William J. V. Urban Planning and Cultural Identity. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.
William Neill examines the importance of maintaining identity in order to achieve social cohesion and not create an “us verses them” mentality. The book looks at how you can create cultural identity in a spatial realm by using 3 precedents, German national identity in Berlin, racial identity in Detroit and ethnic identity in Belfast. William Neill examines these places based on personal experience as well as looking at other scholars work.
Portland Development Commission. Gateway Regional Center. http://www.pdc.us/ura/gateway.asp
Portland Development Commission is an important player in the development of the Gateway regional center. They have compiled large amounts of data about gateway and composed documents, maps and surveys of the neighborhood. They keep and updated calendar of events in the region and Gateway in the news.
Portland Development Commission. Opportunity Gateway; Concept Plan and Redevelopment Strategy. February 2000.
This article looks closely at Gateway as a district and how it can be redeveloped to further develop it as a vibrant regional center to Portland. The article addresses why Gateway has been chosen for further development. The primary reason is for its accessibility to multiple forms of public transportation, its proximity to the airport and to the intersection of I-205 and I-84. It looks at existing Gateway and the changes that need to be made to increase and maintain its activity. The article sets up a concept plan for development, setting up design philosophies and strategies. It identifies the public infrastructure that needs to be improved including, parks, transportation and civic buildings.
Portland Sustainability Institute. Pilot Report: Gateway EcoDistrict Development. Rep. 2010-2011
This article was composed by Portland Sustainability institute and it looks at the steps that need to be taken to develop Gateway as an Ecodistrict. It focuses on district organization, district assessment, project feasibility, project development and district monitoring. Although it does not delve into the areas in depth, the article gives an adequate overview allowing for a clear understanding each component. It gives a rough time line for each category as well.
Smith, M. Cecil., and Thomas Pourchot. Adult Learning and Development: Perspectives from Educational Psychology. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1998. Print.
This book is a great resource because the educational center I will be designing will be targeted at young adult, high school, and above. I am curious how the phycology behind the education of adults differs from that of children and if the architecture can support those changes in learning style. The book delves into adult learning and the psychology behind it.
United States Department of Agriculture. Plants Database. 24 October 2011 http://plants.usda.gov/java/
This site is helpful for finding native plants of the Northwest and specifically Portland. The site allows you to do advanced searches for specific counties, species etc. It will be especially helpful when looking further into the concept of Biomimicry. By learning what plants are native in the area and how they have adapted to the climate and changing environment it will be possible to carry the principles over to the building scale.
Diagraming
I looked closely at two resources, This American Life and Space Syntax. What I enjoyed about looking at these sites, and what I think makes them compliment each other well, is the way in which they both capture a variety of ways mapping can be used. This American Life, Mapping, episode 101, begins by emphasizing the amount of maps that exist in our world today, everyone uses maps and often they are used without a conscious acknowledgement that it is a map, weather maps, bus routes, etc. The discussion of maps using all senses addresses the ability to take the idea of mapping, and transfer it into all realms of life, creating maps for things that seem “unmappable”. Space Syntax was fascinating due to the variety of maps all of which were composed using strong visual graphics. There are maps very simply composed of hand pencil sketches all the way to complex, 3D maps using color and transparency for clarity. Space syntax uses a variety of ways to depict relationships, color, adjacency, overlap, opacity, etc. Many of the graphics are complex, capturing multiple ideas, verses the maps on This American Life, which focused on one element per map then compared the elements together, rather them putting them on one map. What I also thought was interesting about This American Life, was the ability to discuss maps and create a visualization for the listener without having a physical map to view. I took the idea from both of these sites and tried to make some diagrams/maps with the combined principles. I looked at East Portland at a larger scale, connecting the neighborhoods surrounding Gateway. The idea of these diagrams was to take one idea, as in This American Life, and then stack them on top of each other to create a diagram seen in Space Syntax capturing multiple realms.
Diagram 1- The neighborhoods and the blur between them
Diagram 2- How streets become grids and grids become the "in-between"
- Diagram 3- Grids and Green
I then did some diagrams looking at a smaller scale yet still large enough to include the context around the site. I elaborated on the concept that we explored a couple weeks ago “Green and Gray” to create new ideas about how the gray connects to other elements in a community.
Green and Gray- In this diagrams green and gray have to exist together, gray is eventually blurred with green and there becomes no line between the two.
Yellow and Gray- Yellow represents neighborhoods and how they relate to the site and need to interact with the gray.
Red and the Lack of Gray- This diagrams explores the idea of people and site. The site reaches out to all types of people and becomes a haven of support for them. Gray is left out of this because in my mind, the built should always support people and become a place for them.
Thesis- Rough Rough Draft
Thesis Statement Draft
The Gateway District has all the essentials needed to create a sustainable community; varieties of people with the desire for a community, infrastructure and incredible public transportation. Unfortunately it has been burdened with the negative effects of city sprawl such asstrip malls, heavy automobile traffic and lack of connectivity. The Gateway district is in need of an identity, something to make it unique from other neighborhoods’ while connecting it to Portland and the Northwest. It’s also in need of a center that will provide a common space for all varieties of people to come and share. The new space will become a social hub for the community, somewhere in which everyone will call theirs. It will provide jobs and represent the Gateway district as a whole. (I know what I want the place to achieve, but I still do not know what the facility will be).
Site
Before visiting the Gateway district, I reviewed the extensive research that has been conducted about the neighborhood by PoSI, DistrictLab, and may other contributors. Located in Southeast Portland, the Gateway district is one of five pilot Ecodistrict sites in city. I was attracted to this district for a couple of reasons; first because it has an incredibly ethnically diverse population and as pointed out in much of the research, it does not have a central area in which activity is based around and the community stems from. While the lack of centralization plays a significant role in the cohesion of the area now, it is particularly important to consider this when thinking about the growth of the area. As the Gateway EcoDistricts Pilot Study pointed out, with out having a central organization there is no way to bring together various interests in a way that creates coordination between them (1). PoSI and DistrictLab have worked extensively with the community to put together a list of priorities that they have for their neighborhood. First they looked at critical issues that needed to be addressed in the area. These included social interaction and investments in education and economic development. From this analysis the priorities were derived. The top three that emerged were, increasing connectivity, both physically and socially, creating an “identity” for their district and improving security and appearance. After reading these conclusions, I was interested in creating a building that could act as the center for the community, something that would provide amenities for everyone while making a significant impression on the community. My initial aspirations were to design a multicultural market, with gallery space, non-profit offices and educational facilities. My impressions changed slightly after visiting the area and the site I had in mind.
Water Tower to the South
- Site Viewed from 102nd St.
Site (looking South)
A little history
Gateway was built on farm
land providing dairy, berries and trucks in the late 1920’s. Housing primarily consisted of small homes on large lots, with businesses mostly existing on NE Halsey St. After WWII, veterans and their families moved to the area. The David Douglas School District was subsequently established and quickly gained a reputation for its quality education. In 1954 Gateway Fred Meyer opened and began the revolution of commercial development in the area. Mr. Meyer located the store in its current position and coined the name Gateway for he envisioned it to be a “gateway” to east Portland from the Banfield freeway. People today still consider the Fred Meyer area to be the center of the district. In the 70’s many of the commercial landmarks that make up the “Gateway Regional Center” were built. In the 80’s it became part of Portland proper in order to reach the urban amenities. I-205 and the Max were built in 1983 and 1984 which made Gateway a significant transit hub.
I have to admit that when I first encountered the Gateway district I was not inspired. I was overcome by the amount of corporate stores, strip malls and lack of historical character. It was overwhelming to think about the changes that would need to take place in order to achieve the goals of the community and vision encompassed by the EcoDistrict. In order to ignore the automobile traffic crossing between seas of parking I had to think about the district from another perspective, one that would allow me to draw on the positive aspects of the area. As I opened my eyes to new possibilities, I realized that it is areas like these that need the most attention. Gateway has the essentials to create a wonderful place; people, of all ethnicities, desiring to create a community, existing infrastructure with space for new developments, and an eclectic building stock, open for a new style to transform them and give character to the neighborhood.
Works Cited
DistrictLab. Gateway Ecodistrict Pilot Study. Rep. June 2010
Portland Sustainability Institute. Pilot Report: Gateway EcoDistrict Development. Rep. 2010-2011
Portland Development Commission. Gateway Regional Center.http://www.pdc.us/ura/gateway.asp
Portland Development Commission. Opportunity Gateway; Concept Plan and Redevelopment Strategy. February 2000.
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