[urban]eering - Graduate Thesis

[urban]eering Reorganizing Manhattan’s existing infrastructure to support development underground and alleviate the rising population density in the city.

Alex Roberts M. Arch - 2016/17

[urban]eering

dedication I’d like to dedicate this collection of work to my family and friends, who helped me through my five years of architecture school, and those who will continue to guide me through the many years to come.

To my mother, who has been an inspiration and a role model in all of life’s aspects.

To Sam, who walked along the same path and provided me with a infinite source of laughter and support.

[urban]eering A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Architecture Wentworth Institute of Technology by

Alex Roberts

Bachelors of Science in Architecture Wentworth Institute of Technology, 2016 In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture April 2017 ..........................................................................

Submitted by Alex Roberts Department of Architecture

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Certified by Marilyn Moedinger Primary Thesis Supervisor

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Accepted by Kelly Hutzell, AIA Director of Graduate Program Š 2017 Alex Roberts. All rights reserved.

The author hereby grants to Wentworth Institute of Technology permission to reproduce and to publicly distribute copies of this thesis document in whole or in part using paper, electronic, and any medium now known or hereafter created.

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table of contents introduction thesis statement + argument + abstract relevance

literature review

7 9

11

design as research inFORM perFORM transFORM

probe concept place sprawl + site choice

24-29 30-31 32-33

00 34-37 Concep38-39 place 40-41

scale - the above

scale - the abov

the island midtown, manhattan adjacency of spaces singular formalities

42 43 44 45

table of contents

sch

below

46-47 48-49 50-51

outcomes 52-53 54-55 56-57

schematic - the below inFORM 2.0 perFORM 2.0 transFORM 2.0

outcomes as a whole as a building as an element

precedents 58-59

reflection precedents

62 63 64 65

The Barbican Government Service Center Downtown Athletic Club The Atlanta BeltLine

appendix 68-69 70-71

bibliography image list

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Fig._01 Unpacking the layered distinctions of a city streetscape 6

introduction

thesis statement Reorganizing a dense urban fabric and rising population to mitigate the development of underground buildings and their respective supporting infrastructure will amplify programmatic building use and effectively restructure how each square foot of space is valued.

argument Cities are overly packed urban environments, composed of monstrous buildings that rise from the streets, pipes that run for miles under our feet, and people that come from all over the world. With that characterization alarmingly apparent, there is a need for operable design strategies with population density leading the charge. Coupled with urban density is the value of space in cities and their respective price of land. If space is so limited, and so valuable, where can designers build to support all of the lives in cities? Where is the new urban layer?

abstract Urban environments are constantly changing, energetic adaptive systems, comprised of networks of built elements and collective voids.

Dissecting the nature of their attractive and successful qualities and using those characteristics as building tools can create a new system to influence the progression of the existing. This exploration is sited in the city of Manhattan, where movement and emerging designs are rapidly breaking ground, the focus becomes using the transformation of a dense city to the multitude of urban layers.

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Fig._02 Metropolitan layer typologies I Fig._03 Singularity in an urban environments 8

introduction

relevance Cities are complex systems made up of people, architecture, landscape, traffic, and unseen social, cultural, and economic forces.

They are magnetic in their attractive qualities; thousands of people gravitate towards them for their energy, financial, and cultural opportunities. With this large scale movement growing every day, the need for housing and density redistribution becomes evident. In other instances, within post-industrial environments the separation between socioeconomic standing can initiate smaller dislocated communities.

These disconnected places sometimes begin to formulate separate cultures, which often can lead to clashing.

Metropolitan density creates issues to be addressed but also acts as a tool for developing design strategies. Using pre-established criteria as a catalyst, a plan can be created to merge urban fabrics and bring forward moments of interaction between people. Amplifying the unseen forces and merging the unbuilt moments, introduces the metropolitan into the city of sprawl. This form of urbanism seeks to engage all elements of a city, one that is moving from the vehicle promoted lifestyle to that driven by the individual. Finding the optimal model for a social epicenter, through multi-functional programs and connective spaces aims to improve the qualities of life in those who live and thrive within them.

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Fig._04 Pinpointing moments of manageable programmatic redesign 10

literature review

literature review The following literature review aims to compile a pre-existing set of theories, criticisms, ideas and project under the pretense of dense cities and social sustainability. Through many lenses of different thinkers, a strong line of critical nature has been presented.

Outlining this thesis investigation brings forth new ideas and elements to capitalize upon. Aiming to concisely analyze the overall thesis constructs and its dependent elements, this review initializes the thought process and gathers the necessary tools for further investigation.

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metropolitanism The growing architectural world is a vastly changing environment and we as humans are consistently shifting to follow its advancements and constant evolving nature. As of late there has been a large transition from suburban living to another metropolitan system, the city.

This energetic and complicated system is what we have welcomed into our lives as a successful method of evolutionary architecture. But what happens when a city becomes too crowded and overwhelming, and how must the architecture reflect on that transition? A select few have taken on the role of dissecting this manifestation and analyzing the cause and effect relationship of urban density. The select few identified dozens of precedents in which the relationship between population density and metropolitan architecture has resulted in conflict, and how a city has thrived or declined from a developed methodology. Between the buildings there are thousands of elements and dozens of energetic systems that keep such a complex place intact and functional. When it comes to the overwhelming population, a city must be performative and keep up with the demand to compensate for its developing rates. Taking into consideration the rapid flow of systems, there becomes an issue with how humans live in the same place that thousands of others also live in. How an individual interprets their living conditions is a key element in successful design, therefore social constructs in cities are of vital relevance.

Cities offer thousands of opportunities, a key element in its attraction and drive from the suburban realm. Whether it be economic reasoning, an attraction to job opportunities, a place to interact with different cultures, or the pragmatic interest in the energetic atmosphere, cities have dozens of attractive qualities and need to place themselves in the limelight of capability. The breakdown of human needs and desires (i.e. water, light, access to transportation, green space), are seamlessly merged together into hierarchical layers. The interweaving of these systems are morphed into the networks and treated as such, providing functionality for the population and the physical built space, which in turn lays the groundwork for architecture to be built upon and thus provide a higher level of accommodation.

The relationship that we have with our built environment, relies on a lot of the amplified implications that occur when we interact with spaces and the other people within them. With that, comes social risks and issues, such as the abiding notion of isolation and individualism, coupled with disconnected groups of economic status. Urban planning and design must undergo specific transitions to ensure a healthy and functional environment is established to circumvent these situations and prevent them from happening in the future. Too often

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literature review

are cities split apart by social and economic status, and then further damaged from the lack of connected cultures. The division of cities into smaller metropolitan sub-sectors allows a separation of power and diversity, but this lack of overall systematic connection implies a strong boundary line between districts. Simultaneously, as of late urban planning strategies are initiating a design approach that promotes interaction between all levels of living.

All cities represent an issue of density in their own response to the overall context of the area, some being denser than others, and some with population numbers rising at a more rapid rate than others. Marking successful strides towards purposeful densification and slowly claiming land in the reach of its urban sprawl, urban planners have juxtaposed themselves into mixed-use programming projects that promote different types of daily use. In each metropolis around the world, resolutions are being constructed approaching different methods and finding a significant methodology appropriate to a given place and situation. Authors have spent decades cataloging this phenomenon of development and understanding the cause and effect relationship between specific social implications and urban density.

urban fallacies + looking ahead The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism brings forward the clear method formed around the relationship between metropolitan planning and the progressive urban area and its incorporation of dwindling social constructs (5). Constructs relating to division of communities and conflicts surrounding differential cultures. With Atlanta rapidly emerging in the post-industrial era, the merging of economic communities will need to be addressed with a new system of social constructs. This migration is headed by the attraction of economic potential and the energetic atmosphere, therefore the design needs to be headed by an understood concept of valuable space and commodity. Cause and effect urbanism, a concept reflective in urban planning can merge this large transition and the social ills that are drawn from that change. That concept in relation to social isolation and Atlanta’s emergence will incite a necessary design strategy to compensate for the various potential outcomes. Many urban planners are trying to initiate the concept of gentrification in cities, and while that seems like an opportunistic approach the focus is going to need to organize division and growth in a sectional composition, merging the network of systems and approachable spaces. Merging these methods can infer a great deal, but a conscious effort will be needed to enforce a specific spatial difference to avoid the issues of socioeconomic status.

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The new metropolitan urbanism begins to suggest the idea of a developing nature that is gravitating towards emerging oriental cities that are subdividing their regions into smaller undeveloped towns and implementing an epicenter of political and economic power. A similar technique of urban planning has been instituted in Atlanta, meaning an institutional epicenter has been put into place while the development surrounds and grows in a sprawling fashion. This imposition towards divided design is also promoting the “coming and going” influx of population as time progresses. If emerging industrial cities are consistently developing and enlarging their region of urban sprawl, then there needs to be a dependable method of circulating the needs and desires of its inhabitants. The text states, “The first and most important aspect of popular movements is their resistance against displacement in both rural and urban areas.” (72) Both elements of desirability and livability are key factors in the progressive nature of these communities and urban areas, which in turn represents the idea that they must be maintained by the users if the consistent manifestation of growth has hopes to continue (78) As the ideas progress through an analysis of different thriving cities, such as those in Latin America, India, Palestine, it begins to catalog the concentration of program that vastly incorporate themselves into the different networking urban fabrics. In this subsection of text, it represents the core idea of how designers and urban planners can correspond to the needs of a city, and use the population density as a catalyst and adversary for change.

The last subsection of text pinpoints on the method of designing for unpredictability and the centuries to come. Concepts relating to The New Urbanism and Smart Growth have been instituted in North America which begin to rationalize and return metropolitan environments to safe and healthy places to live. Cities are ever-changing and adapting to their context which means that designing for one set of circumstances and a singular time frame is not a viable approach.

The flexible nature of elements and networks need to be adapted to fit parameters within a window of urban characteristics (160). Also complying to a marketable approach, merging programmatic open space with the built environment allows for a new integrated system of spaces and a more attractive quality (158). This cohesive place brings elements from the rural element and urban world, placing them both on the forefront and makes the living quality more realistic and approachable. One last concept proposed by the text is the methodology that urban designers practice, that of localizing an issue and internalizing the problematic qualities, and morphing those characteristics into a specific solution, emphasizing the variation of its functional aspects especially ranging between those of the individual and that of the larger scaled city.

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literature review

social + environmental sustainability Designing for High-Density Cities: For Social & Environmental Sustainability provides a more in depth understanding of how to incorporate an urban area’s density into a prominent design method. Using hundreds of singular elements and composing threads of approaching dense urban planning methods, the text begins to examine how a city and its populaces react to density. Taking cues from Jane Jacobs’, The Life and Death of Great American Cities, the constructs of urban design are related heavily around what is pre-established. (Ng, 45) Promoting flexible urban spaces is supported by a typology of the block, emphasizing valuable density concentration and function in relation to ease of circulation. These social and environmental foundations work in tandem to construct a network of organized systems which then produce successful and developing metropolitan area. The first concept derives itself from the nature of the term: density and what it means for a city to be hyper-dense. Separate living conditions and working environments can lead to different values of density and therefore alleviate diverse design approaches.

Atlanta, especially in the area of Mid-town has already welcomed this tradition and style, with towers breaking ground under separate programmatic usages. Varying perspectives of range can also initiate different catalysts and can imply multiple levels of need and desire, meaning density of a single building, a single block, or an urban range or multiple values. Another concept related to metropolitan living pinpoints on risks in urban planning and design, meaning if inhabitants are looking for the most attractive qualities are they willing to put forth as a trade-off value. How far are designers willing to go for the optimal set of living circumstances, in order to provide an ideal place to thrive? Implicated issues of healthy and functionality are compromised when paired with population density, but this provides a staple to capitalize on (29). This text’s implication is so important as cities are beginning to also push the boundaries of what is considered to be healthy living circumstances while still simultaneously pushing the limits of complexity and size. This inference on Atlanta’s progression makes a plea, changing the situation before density takes over and becomes irreversible. The question based on that topic is brought up considering the idea of compromising, do designers need to sacrifice a certain element to make a city more attractive and livable in terms of density?

The next concept starts to dissect the specificities of hyper-dense city design, being that of the environmental and social aspects, while primarily focusing on the term “comfort” (89). A single person living within any urban realm can infer a great deal on what a set of comfortable living and working circumstances really embodies. Beginning to consider the undesirable circumstances and how these qualities

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can severely change how the general population is manifesting and how numbers are changing due to those prescribed atmospheres.

If a place is unlikable, how does that affect its understanding and how can the conditions be architecturally altered to make them more functional and performative for all of the scales affected by it. One of the most valuable assets in a dense urban area is the levels of noise and all the energetic elements that pair with it. Cities are highly energetic places and they are often understood and attractive for that given aspect, thousands of people congregate to them solely based on the idea. However, with noise comes an issue, unwanted or unwarranted sounds. Filtering unwanted sound through design while simultaneously merging the appealing qualities of noise, including its paired connotations has been a successful design tactic in performative architecture. Cataloging sound in various environments, paired with their qualities of density and program can produce a desirable soundscape. With that planning noise and energetic space can begin to locate certain urban elements such as epicenters of life and circulatory spaces, and this can launch at pattern of timed peaks of activity. Situating within Atlanta, finding a valuable space to locate an epicenter where the fabric will not be disrupted, in a method of introducing a new enclave. Another concept relating to noise focuses on the relationship between scale and design, and how the users and population can in turn be designers of their own realm. This starts to imply a sense of upkeep, and maintaining a space in order to continuously grow (195). Considering that the users and people are the ones that sustain measurable life in a city, having them lead the charge in maintaining and developing the area allows for a personal connection and a more realistic relationship between user and place.

One final concept derived from this text focuses on the concept of space, rather than place, and the undertone of living and working in a specific confine. Using the optimistic fundamentals of density and making them to be prosperous instead of considering them as overcrowding and cramming into minimal space, the density catalyst can start to infer a starting point rather than an uncontrollable residing issue. Shifting Scales is a topic in urbanity that is addressed from one person, to one block, to one city (274). That scale change can directly approach the social realm in the idea of the individual space and that of the shared public place. This concept gives the individual their personal space while promoting certain interaction points throughout a certain narrative of connection points within a physically built environment. This sense of scale can also be incorporated in the idea of community design, which is an essential step towards moving away from the singular living and more in line with the societal efficiency of performative multi-use spaces. How can designers and urban planners compose a perfect city, that being one with minimal social issues and amplified efficiency.

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literature review

the achievable metropolis Lastly, six different methods or concepts come about from a concise list of detailed paradigms in which all begin to answer questions related to the image of density and thriving livability. Cities such as Berlin, Bruxelles, Firenze, London, Toronto, and ZuĚˆrich have begun to lay out the groundwork of incorporating the individual and the socialism of a specific region with predisposed characteristics. The first few cities tackles the dream-like idea of a utopia and how these cities are all achievable in their own circumstances. Within the city of Berlin the idea of the unbuilt nature begins to transpose itself on a concept of imaging a city as a system, something that requires constant development and change in order to thrive and become functional for the user and the larger scaled scheme. Within Berlin, a counterculture is attributed to merge with a pre-established history, which provokes many questions relating to culture and design (36).

From Bruxelles, the fragmentation concept has merged urban planning solutions between the physical environment and the unbuilt nature, between purposeful landscape and reinvigorated open space (78).

This arises the question, how much of a city be changed without interaction from breaking ground or does anything need to be built from the ground up? Depending on the given place and the established nature of time capitalizing on a specific underpinning, can lead to a valuable principal design tactic. With this concept, urbanists can begin to share the networked characteristics between both the place and the space within it, reinventing the space to infer new elements and restore the greater sense of place – otherwise known as the idea of designing from within. This will also activate patterns of methodologies between residential travel and elements of landmark nature and engagement, delineating separated paths of program distinction. Considering all the prescribed factors, this can also begin to merge the urban design strategies at a large scale and the intimate and more calculated tactics or community scaled design which will start to initiate a hierarchical separation of value (90).

The second subsection localizes its ideas on the cities of Firenze and London, the insurgent and congested cities, but also considerably thriving cities. Starting with the key elements of Firenze’s capitalized success, the city has valued the concept of the unbuilt and turned the space into performative interaction space, therefore promoting contact and exposure to varying cultures in the vast metropolitan area (118). Utilizing the character of space and the value of differential interpretation and perspective, moving towards an experimental design assessment. Opportunities to intervene at a social extent are therefore presented and allowed to capitalize on, especially on the categorization of movement. Movement presents a strong opportunity and promotes an energetic feature which then is manifested into a

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reflected design. Moving towards London, a city that thrives upon the idea of urban movement, and a vastly growing metropolitan population, the design tactics are centralized around urban regeneration.

Composing an urban fabric, one in which residential and intermediate working spaces are seamlessly integrated into the exciting main streets of energetic connotation, considering those of important landmarks and projects the promote cultural experience of the place.

The approach to urban planning has been dissected from searching and promoting a strict critical lens, understanding a place for its basic form and its compliable needs.

The last set of ideas finds their way to the rapidly emerging city of Toronto and the reestablished paradigm city of ZuĚˆrich. Toronto has found itself in a model of vast development and in a consistent nature of growth in both emerging cultures and population figures.

Toronto became the model of the urgent gentrified design, while attempting to avoid the nature of community sectional design they managed to develop socially vulnerable sectors of the city while slowly maintaining the rest until the breaking point of a cleanse was detrimental. Community design has been a key factor in urban design, but needs to be overrun and simultaneously worked into the larger upscale of the greater urban realm (208). This backlash from sectional community design can lead to a radical negative reaction and therefore initiate the downfall of a city as a whole. This idea leads to the act of selective resurgence within the lens of activism and paralleled design approach. Turning the focus to the city of ZuĚˆrich we see a large range in a tactical approach, using the separation of program to its advantage and the cooperative power of all of the parties involved has initiated a collective design overhaul, which in the end maintains the appease of all hierarchical levels of persona.

The transition from the opening discussion of the utopia to a reality based production the city of ZuĚˆrich has put in place a network of systems and taken its given elements, and transformed them as necessary, initiating a regulatory framework for design. Atlanta can begin to be altered in the nature of all these city models, meaning that taking an element from each and forming a new metropolitan urbanistic approach to its emerging density.

progression In the narrative of all three of these texts, a string of thoughts has become apparent in the essence of approaching urban design whilst using density as a catalyst. Flowing through ideas that are all fixated on a singular threaded idea and concept, an implication can start to be made about complying to these growing social issues of isolation and disjointed groupings of socioeconomic status. The first text

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literature review

creates establishes a catalog of related terminology that can assist in understanding the topic concepts and their unseen elements while also localizing the social issues within these urban areas. The second text begins to break down and establish the criteria for focusing on the predetermined social issues and then pragmatically institutes a set methodology and approach in preset elements and factors such as scale, qualities of space, and attractive urban characteristics.

The last text ties together the two previous texts while setting forth on a narrative of proving the model on which these methods can be successful. The text presents an analysis of urban design tactics on cities that have grown from their enclaves to new and inviting places to develop and thrive in. Approaching density with an understanding of the necessities of the place, and setting forth on a method of design can the reflexive nature really begin to be function and be performative.

Fig._05 Strecosa, Home. (November 1, 2016) 19

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1

Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, “Divided We Sprawl,” The Atlantic (December 1999). Definition pulled directly from the text, in relation to the post-industrial sector of Atlanta.

2

Tom Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism (711 Third Avenue, New York: Routledge, 2012), 49. See this page for a deeper understanding on the value of land in an expanding city, and the relationship of between the post-industrial age and the new urban society.

3

Tom Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism (711 Third Avenue, New York: Routledge, 2012), 54. See the bottom of the page where the text infers about the idea of a “balanced region”, meaning a gentrified spatial divide but with a valuable purpose.

4

Tom Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism (711 Third Avenue, New York: Routledge, 2012), 72. This section of text initiates the concept of permanence in urban design, conflicting changes in the environment require a sensibility in flexible design methods.

5

Tom Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism (711 Third Avenue, New York: Routledge, 2012), 118. This specific section starts to divide metropolitan areas into smaller sections, based on culture and then differentiates them with their use of program 6

Tom Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism (711 Third Avenue, New York: Routledge, 2012), 128-129. The ideas described in this section are viable methods of urban design and begin to aid in organizing the unseen forces that stabilize a city.

7

Tom Angotti, The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism (711 Third Avenue, New York: Routledge, 2012), 161. Merging time and place with a design strategy and use both elements as a staple of change for a metropolitan environment. Scale is key within a large scale project of this nature.

8

Edward Ng, Designing High-Density Cities: For Social and Environmental Sustainability (22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009), 45. Compressing into different subsections of urban design under the notion of flexibility.

9

Edward Ng, Designing High-Density Cities: For Social and Environmental Sustainability (22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009), 12. See this page and chapter to get a better understanding of the section related to perceived types of density, as each meaning can infer different architectural responses.

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endnotes 10

Edward Ng, Designing High-Density Cities: For Social and Environmental Sustainability (22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009), 89. This page comprehends the topic of comfort and the relationship to urban change, and how an individual reacts 11

Edward Ng, Designing High-Density Cities: For Social and Environmental Sustainability (22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009),174.

12

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263513000654 This research piece relates the soundscape of Cairo to successful methods of filtering noise in metropolitan environments 13

Edward Ng, Designing High-Density Cities: For Social and Environmental Sustainability (22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009), 311.

14

Raffaele Paloscia, The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, 2003) 52. This chapter localizes around Berlin and the nature of divided communities, and the shifting change in scaled design tactics.

15

Raffaele Paloscia, The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, 2003) 80. The section of A Small Global City infers a lot about density in emerging cities and how beneficial they can be for the greater contextual surroundings.

16

Raffaele Paloscia, The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, 2003) 138. See “Perspective Space” and “Effects of Place” sections, they push the concept of social movement in urban environments.

17

Raffaele Paloscia, The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, 2003) 174.

18

Raffaele Paloscia, The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, 2003) 222. Approaching design tactics of community gentrification without creating boundaries, relative to socioeconomic division.

19

Raffaele Paloscia, The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser – Publishers for Architecture, 2003) 278. Framework of design can be instituted into any place, but requires a set of specific circumstances.

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Fig._06 Reflecting on the vibrancy of the city streetfront 22

design as research

design as research This thesis relies heavily a specific breakdown of site through a cataloged system. Through the methods of informing, performing, and transforming, a line of thinking merges itself to New York’s urban context and evolution. Through inFORM, we can begin to understand Manhattan by what is existing and what can be used to create a new model of architecture. Using perFORM relates to Manhattan by instituting a metropolitan nexus in order to perform at multiple scales. Lastly, in order to ultimately transFORM Manhattan the nexus mitigates and amplifies its existing elements by instituting a new model of metropolitan urbanism.

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built vs. unbuilt Architecture plays a major role in how a city is defined, the comparable nature between the physical and the open space is one to be strongly considered in terms of urban design. The amount of underdeveloped open space is something to be used to their full monetary and performative value, as many city dwellers crave the open space but rely on the built space in order to live and thrive.

Fig._07 Calling out open space in a dense urban fabric 24

design as research

inFORM - attributes

density as a catalyst Population factors in relation with the system of a flowing city transposes the attraction and repulsion of future population growth.

Capitalizing on the attractive urban characteristics, including the mixture of global cultures, social interests, and engaging qualities to design a new layer with the coupled infrastructure and spatial qualities.

Fig._08 The individual versus the group mentality in a large shared space 25

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sense of place Cities are places of habit, and while they are consistently changing and unpredictable, they are easily understood for the qualities they embody. In response to that relation, when someone thinks of a city - they envision a loud and active place, one that attracts tourists and other people from all over the world. Each metropolitan “place� resembles a character, and that quality must be maintained.

Fig._09 Metaphorical response to built and unbuilt moments in a city 26

design as research

city cores Metropolitanism implies a certain coexisting nature with surrounding communities and merging urban fabrics. Establishing a cohesive and hierarchical strategy between the suburban sector and the post-vehicle realm can imply a new urbanistic way of living, thus blurring the line between density and sprawl as both the underground and streetlevel sectors are merged.

Fig._10 City centers and dense points call out patterns in an urban fabric 27

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The existing site characteristics, seen and unseen, establish criteria for design.

By comparing characteristics of a pre-established hyper-dense city to one that is considered to be up-and-coming in terms of a 5-10 year development we can begin to dissect manageable design strategies that organize density to be most efficient. A city that is already considered to be hyper-dense can offer very different opportunities as opposed to a city that can see the same rise in population density in the decades to come. New York and Atlanta have similar factors such as their patterns of flowing circulation but differ in their quality of unbuilt space. Untouched open space is rare in hyper-dense cities, which makes the later more approachable.

Atlanta thus becomes the focus, and open space is driving factor of the problem and the solution. As an open space is valuable to the above ground development , it provides a moment of underdeveloped underground space as well.

Fig._11 Comparison of viable space development in two different cities 28

design as research

Beneficial for the individual & the city

inFORM - place

Understanding urban planning in Manhattan informs a great deal towards the necessary development to arise in the decades to come.

Being informed as to what is pre-established and what needs to be addressed in order can generate strategies on which to capitalize on.

Finding empty plots or program adjacent to service elements that strongly influence the urban fabric implies new elements that can be considered. Multi-functional and blended program elements composed throughout several cites promotes a epicenter of life and thread of connected nodes that work together to alleviate problematic unseen forces.

Fig._12 Analysis of programmatic elements in an adjacent relation to an unused space 29

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perFORM: Transitioning criteria into spaces and interventions will engage with the inhabitants and greater public. In turn, this makes a level of interaction and performative function for multiple scales.

Spaces inhabited by urban dwellers often resemble private sectors within larger structures. None of which engage with their adjacent spaces and remain insular and uninviting, while the exterior space is energetic and a seamless transition between larger realms of metropolitan areas. Creating spaces in which inhabitants can claim as their own while also merging them with larger forms promotes engagement with other people. Bringing people together through transected spaces, and influencing the overall appeal of a space introduces people to a controlled environment.

Fig._13 Modeling the inner workings of different spatial barriers 30

design as research

perFORM - process

Engaging the new hierarchical spaces in a single building as a formed node along a threaded system intersects the existing with new characteristics, influencing a new form of urban planning. This “thread� or cynosure acts as the new model of development in Manhattan, gravitating an epicenter of social redevelopment. With these new spaces and constructs in place performing at full force, the redevelopment acts as a paradigm for future design strategy.

Fig._14 Finding the most valuable open space to institute the new model 31

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transFORM: Using the new spaces and interventions along with the criteria to ultimately transform Manhattan’s urban fabric. After being informed by the nature of Manhattan’s systems and growing programmatic elements, and in turn created a new system of spaces and cataloged constructs we have laid out the ground work of strategies to transform density and the industrial sector of the city.

The context surrounding the site(s) within Manhattan will have been adapted to and learned from, in order to fully influence the unseen network of systems. To lay a hand at changing the structural order of circulation, the transportation, and other forces surrounding and aiding the urban fabric allows for active design strategies to be heightened and capitalized on.

Fig._15 Physically modeling the unseen forces in an urban environment 32

design as research

SPANS WITHIN URBAN CONTEXT RESIDENTIAL AREA

5 MIN UTE WAL KIN G

SPA N

transFORM

ROUND TRANSIT

LOCAL UNDERG

INDUSTRIAL CENTER

I aim to activate each system within the network as its own being, understanding each element as a hierarchical layer transposes a transformative nature. This bottoms-up design strategy allows architects and urban planners to dissect the most problematic and valuable elements which can end up being the most viable and profitable for successful design. This model is designed to engage with the systems individually and then as a collective.

Fig._16 Diagram of unseen urban forces that amplify how a collective group of people use a city 33

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Fig._17 Sketching how a city can function both above and below the streetscape 34

probe

probe The probe assignment enacts a large scale investigation of our thesis ideas. In order to truly understand the groundwork of the project and begin a deep analysis we constructed installations that compelled a series of week long research. Using a clear method and presentation strategy the probe was ultimately a model that would be refined as the project came into fruition.

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Fig._18 Physical response of the underground spatial moments and the infrastructure within it 36

probe

claim The probe at first glance represents a section cut of a generalized city street, but it also demonstrates a great deal more. It shows us what supports our daily lives, and it guides our minds to think of what urban composition entails. It prompts us to wonder how we connect with infrastructure that surrounds us while also cataloging all of the layers under our feet.

method By dissecting and cataloging the systems and layers of an urban environment, the shifted focus of the probe relies on a section cut of a layered city. Abstracting an analysis of the literal prompts smaller sectors of supporting elements such as transportation, gas, electricity, and water. The goal becomes to then present these layers as a way to show the audience what they don’t see at first glance.

product The culminated probe act as more of a tool rather than an item for display. The systems represented abstractly and analytically in a sectional manner allow the audience to see what surrounds them.

Modifying the systems to appease the general population could result in a flipped infrastructure and a reorganized urban fabric for new architecture to be introduced. In order to embody my thesis in a manner that invites a new model of thinking I used a larger scale section model to convey to the audience what they see and what they don’t realize in order to make them think of a city in a different way – using infrastructure as a lens.

37

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Fig._19 Discursive image displaying how a city could be amplified with underground program 38

concept

concept inverted infrastructure - With the population growing consistently, thus amplifying the consumption of energy and resources, cities have become an environment that thrives on flow and establishment, but as an overbuilt place - where do we go next? inhabit the unestablished - Most urban environments are not using the full potential of their underground sectors. Altering the hierarchical system could uncover new spaces and opportunities to amplify flow and circulation. reinvent the established - An urban environment is supported by several systems and hundreds of elements, especially as of late considering the growing population rates. With the overall populace becoming such a large urban force the need for compliable design strategies are strongly examined, such as finding a new viable source of undeveloped or unrealized potential.

Choosing to develop underground not only alleviates the spacial constraints on Manhattan’s urban fabric but it also demonstrates a model of potential development in other cities. The process of finding program to replace underground and rebuild upon can establish a series of housing blocks. This will redistribute Manhattan’s density, and act more purposeful circulation and building typologies. Program that would be suitable underground rely on minimal to no natural light and also act as a destination point, prompting circulation and travel.

I have chosen to look at large scale theaters, shopping complexes, parking garages. Simultaneously, the underutilized or undeveloped spaces act as possible starting points for transitional development.

Provided the urban fabric offers program, this will begin a large scale underground complex that will offer up significant amounts of space and valuable land to change.

39

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Pa r i s , FRAN CE

Seoul, SO UTH KO REA

Ma nha tta n, N EW YO RK CIT Y

Somerville, B O STO N

PA R I S, F R A N C E

STO N E PARK , IL L IN OIS

SOME RVILLE , MASSACHUSE TTS

S EO U L, S O U TH KO R EA

MANHATTAN, NE W YOR K

W E ST H O L LY WOO D, CALIF O RN IA

MU MB A I , I N DI A

KEY:

1 SQ UA R E M I L E 1 BILLION DOLLARS

J O H A N N ES B U R G , S O U TH A FR I CA

1 T H O USA N D P E O P L E

Fig._20 Cataloging urban environments I Fig._21 Diagramming monetary spatial value versus density 40

site

sprawl In order to pinpoint the appropriate site to develop a model of dense urban designs, a study was conducted to inform a great deal of characteristics on a collection of varying cities. The study represented a clear line of thinking, connecting to various layers of urban environments. Each study dissected, a system of transit lines, proximity to water, metropolitan scale, value of land per square foot, and how programmatic elements tied in with one another. The analysis drew a clear line of thought that relied on the relationship between how many people occupy a square mile and the monetary value of each square foot.

midtown, manhattan After conducting the study of varying urban environments , the choice of Manhattan became evident as the optimal site to test an architectural response. Before narrowing down the scope of the project to a selection of spaces, a scalar study was performed to locate a selection of buildings. A programmatic analysis was conducted to distribute certain pieces of program underground. When that analysis was complete I located the source of development towards Midtown. Midtown also holds a significant monthly rent, which can be redistributed and therefore more valuable if housing was added.

41

[urban]eering

the island Manhattan is only one of five boroughs in New York City and it is the most dense city in North America. It’s average one bedroom apartment is 750 square feet, and the rent is almost four thousand dollars a month. Each square foot of development is worth two thousand dollars making it one of the most expensive cities in North America.

Fig._22 The island as a collective metropolitan space 42

scale - the above

Parking Large Scale Retail Programmatic Open Space Theater/Performance Space Midtown Boundry Neighborhood Boundry

midtown, manhattan Midtown is the section of Manhattan directly south of Central Park.

It holds a distinct amount of different program typologies and lies at the heart of the transit hub of the island. It holds Times Square and some of New York’s most well known infrastructure. The density of Midtown is directly connected to the proximity to Central Park, and so the relationship is similar to the price of land

Fig._23 Diagramming programmatic elements that do not require ample natural light 43

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1 2

underutilized open space - 8271 sq. ft. parking garage - 9927 sq. ft.

3

parking Garage - 17364 sq. ft.

4

underutilized open space - 16575 sq. ft.

5

6 7

entertainment center - 9471 sq. ft.

underutilized open space - 21876 sq. ft. parking garage - 6910 sq. ft.

8

parking garage - 92288 sq. ft.

9

parking garage - 162473 sq. ft.

Total building footprint: 345,155 sq. ft.

T o t a l f o o t p r i n t w o r t h : $8 5 6 m i l l i o n

adjacency of spaces Selecting four adjacent blocks within Midtown and dissecting each building’s program showed that there were nine instances of possible interaction. Those nine spaces alloted 8.56 million dollars in developed building footprints. The connections made underground run directly along the path of the purple transit line and will need to be adjusted.

Fig._24 Spatial value of a 4 block Midtown selection 44

scale - the above

9 8 6 7

4 5

3 2

1

A ve ra g e 1 be d ro o m a p t . - 750 sq . f t .

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

1 1 a p t . - 0 e x i st i n g /1 76 p ro p o se d 1 3 A P T . - 39 e x i st i n g /338 P ro p o se d 23 A p t . - 9 2 e x i st i n g /36 8 P ro p o se d 22 A P T . - o E x i st i n g /352 P ro p o se d 9 A P T . - 6 3 E X I ST I N G /1 44 P RO P O SE D 1 2 A p t . - 72 e x i st i n g /1 9 2 p ro p o se d 29 A P T . - O e x i st i n g /46 4 p ro p o se d 1 23 A P T . - 49 2 E X I ST I N G /1 9 6 8 P RO P O SE D 21 6 A P T . - 86 4 E X I ST I N G /3456 P RO P O SE D

T O T A L E X I ST I N G : 1 6 22 T O T A L P RO P O SE D : 7458

singular formalities Breaking down each of these nine spaces to their floor plates shows how much program would be added to the existing framework. In the existing nine spaces there could be 1622 one bedroom apartment. If the buildings were maxed out to the average 18 story building the project could develop nearly 7458 one bedroom apartments.

Fig._25 Diagramming programmatic elements that do not require ample natural light 45

nd

t dis ts r ic

circ ulat ion int ers ec tio gr n ids

wate r

air

steam

icity

light

u so

re ctu stru

pp or tin g

energy

electr

su

connections

[urban]eering

ig he tran sit

ht l aw spr laye

rs

ge sewa

bridg

es

y

hierarch

tunnels

systems

blocks

humans

pers skyscra

olitan

ace en s p

divis

s car

e pac

pa c

riptiv e d es c

phy sic al

rial

Fig._26 Understanding urban hyper-connectivity and relationships between elements 46

ive

d

al turn

g rowdin over-c

congestion

pollution

undergroun d

flow

t indus

noc

e spe

e

ing ild

ns pe ex

bu

mo de rn sp ac iou s

livi ng s

gs rkin wo

h is t oric

su bw ay

gre

metrop

ion

schematic - the below

inform 2.0

a collection of thoughts inform

necessity to provide living/working space

hyper-density

hyper-dense cities

lack of builable space price of rent steady rise in population

proximity to bodies of water

seoul stone park somerville west hollywood manhattan mumbai johanesburg paris

price of land

metropolitan scale transit mapping program mixing building typology price of land per square foot

perform

manhattan, new york

scalar exploration

manhattan midtown W 40 st. - W 44 st.

dissection of suitable underground programmatic elements

underground buildings transposable infrastructure spatial definition, occupiable places supportive systems

theatrical performance space large scale parking underutilized open space large scale collective retail

transform

manhattan character

supportive infrastructure

vibrance and consistant manifested foot traffic

transformative urban fabric

structure sewage electricity cable water steam gas

construction livable/thriving spaces

modulating infrastructure to inform spatial quality above + below ground buildings mitigating purposeful density

The process of compiling information to generate a significantly dense catalog and analysis of urban environments dissects a certain design methodology and path. The comparative analysis provided a focus on site, which turned in a study on varying scaled elements (blocks and districts, individual buildings, and distinctive programmatic elements).

Each scaled study illuminated a valuable piece of information which has propelled this schematic design proposal. This reflexive sector of the overall method relies on the design just as much as the design process relies on the site analysis. As different elements of the design change and amplified certain sectors of research will need to be revisited and reevaluated.

Fig._27 Catalog of a process of moving from method of understanding to designing a new model 47

a

concrete baseline 0-10 ft.

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loose bedrock/dirt 10-100 ft.

dense large bedrock 100+ ft.

tree structure: massive trunks connect the variations of manholes in the streets through the passage of the vertical circulation cores that penetrate the building completely

shared spaces: using “the leftover space� in the building’s footprint ancillary programmatic spaces merged paths of the residents by instituting moments of community and social laundry rooms and bike storage.

b

transferring: the street-level floor-plate provides the for street traffic to flow from the streets to into the building

c

texas donut: establishing a ring of program on the exterior edges and intersecting the above ground program with an interior street condition, seamlessly merging communal and residential program.

d

Fig._28 Sectional relationships between the above and below 48

schematic - the below

perform 2.0

The schematic system proposed acts as a catalyst for the future of modulating this Midtown urban fabric. While all of these infrastructure systems are performative they also generate a model of new design approach. The form driven from this model allows for both underground development and allows for structures to rise above the street simultaneously. The scale of performance ranges from aiding the city in its relief of urban density, its supply of services to the individual buildings and their inhabitants, and creating a spatial quality for new underground places and programmatic elements. The reflexive nature of these terms implies that while these systems are informing the future they are also transforming how we use the urban fabric and its layers regularly.

Fig._29 Understanding an holistic approach to urban infrastructure within Midtown 49

mumbai, india land area: 232.97 square mi total population: 12,442,373

land area: 1.88 square mi total population: 34,399 manhattan, new york land area: 22.83 square mi total population: 1,537,195

key: 1 square mile

1 billion dollars 1 thousand people

[urban]eering johanesburg, south africa land area: 635.13 square mi total population: 4,434,827

axonometric cost to develop: $57.1 million

cost to develop: $144.9 million

cost to develop: $121.1 million

cost to develop: $266.9 million

cost to develop: $202.2 million

cost to develop: $119.8 million

cost to develop: $47.7 million

cost to develop: $1.75 billion

36 two-bedroom apartments building #6 176 one-bedroom apartments building #7

42 two-bedroom apartments building #1

42 two-bedroom apartments building #2 110 one-bedroom apartments building #3

110 one-bedroom apartments building #4 18 two-bedroom apartments building #5

649 one-bedroom apartments buildings #8 + 9

building footprint cost: $14.3 million building #6

building footprint cost: $33 million building #7

building footprint cost: $12.5 million building #1

building footprint cost: $139.5 million building #8 building footprint cost: $15 million building #2 building footprint cost: $26.3 million building #3

building footprint cost: $25.1 million building #4 building footprint cost: $10.4 million building #5

Fig._30 Built forms and their cost value 50

building footprint cost: $245.7 million building #9

schematic - the below

transform 2.0

This thesis relies heavily on the character of a city and its consistent nature of density coupled with the noise and vibrancy of its people.

The focus on maintaining that character while designing to mitigate the constant rise in population begins to transform elements we depend on. In terms of reorganizing infrastructure to mitigate progress and the additive program. Our urban fabric is designed and built around how we live and thrive, and if there are more of us to design for, how can I transform an underutilized space into a desired threshold of large scale program.

Fig._31 Scalar approach to urban planning from building to element relationship 51

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the before underutilized open space - 8271 sq. ft. parking garage - 9927 sq. ft.

1

2

parking garage - 17364 sq. ft.

3

underutilized open space - 16575 sq. ft.

4 5

entertainment center - 9471 sq. ft.

6

underutilized open space - 21876 sq. ft. parking garage - 6910 sq. ft.

7

8

parking garage - 92288 sq. ft.

9

parking garage - 162473 sq. ft.

total: 345,155 sq. ft. total: $856 million 5. 7 stories 6. 6 stories - corner retail 7. open undeveloped space 8. 4 stories - 2 parking + 2 retail 9. 4 stories - 2 parking + 2 retail

1. open undeveloped space 2. 3 stories 3. 4 stories 4. open undeveloped space

the after 2

housing + retail - 124,065 sq. ft. housing + parking - 148,905 sq. ft.

1

housing + parking - 347,280 sq. ft.

3

housing + retail - 331,500 sq. ft.

4 5

6

housing + movie theater - 104,181 sq. ft. housing + parking - 437,520 sq. ft. housing + retail - 103,650 sq. ft.

7

housing + parking - 5,095,220 sq. ft.

8 + 9

total: 6,692,321 sq. ft. total: $1.1 billion 1. 6 housing floors + 8 retail floors 2. 6 housing floors + 8 parking floors 3. 11 housing floors + 8 parking floors 4. 11 housing floors + 8 retail floors

5. 6 housing floors + 8 parking floors 6. 6 housing floors + 4 theatrical space floors 7. 11 housing floors + 8 retail floors 8 + 9. 11 housing floors + 8 parking floors

Fig._32 Cost analysis comparison of existing and proposed 52

outcomes

as a whole

cost analysis above: 110 one-bedroom units return value per year: $4.49 million

above: 36 two-bedroom apartments return value per year: $1.81 million

below: 138,912 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $240.18 million

below: 37,884 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $65.5 milion

above: 42 two-bedroom units return value per year: $2.12 million below: 79,416 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $137.3 million

above: 176 one-bedroom apartments return value per year: $7.18 million

above: 110 one-bedroom units return value per year: $4.49 million

below: 175,008 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $302.59 million

below: 132,600 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $229.27 million above: 18 two-bedroom units return value per year :$1.18 million

above: 649 one-bedroom apartments return value per year: $26.48 million

below: 75,768 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $131 million

below: 2,038,088 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $3.52 billion

above: 42 two-bedroom units return value per year: $2.12 million below: 66,168 sq. ft. total space cost to develop: $114.4 million

total return value per year: $49.87 million total cost to develop: $4.74 billion

proposed conditions open space - 8271 sq. ft. footprint

9471 sq. ft. footprint - entertainment center 658,260 cu. ft.

parking garage - 9927 sq. ft. footprint 297,810 cu. ft.

21876 sq. ft. footprint - open space parking garage - 17364 sq. ft. footprint 694,560 cu. ft.

92288 sq. ft. footprint - parking garage 3,691,520 cu. ft.

open space - 16575 sq. ft. footprint 162473 sq. ft. footprint - parking garage 6,498,920 cu. ft. parking garage - 6910 sq. ft. footprint 483,700 cu. ft. total: 345,155 sq. ft. footprint total: 12,371,492 million cu. ft.

existing conditions

The architectural response for this thesis project resulted in nine individual buildings. Each one of the nine buildings implements a housing sector above ground and a below ground programmatic element, one that relates and supports the residents in the units above. Sustaining the value of the buildings footprint and the existing floor-plates filled with program relied on an addition of program that would act as a consistent circulatory element and ultimately return the value at a strong rate. Each building within the system also acts as a moment within a larger scaled nexus of new models, one that can eventually advocate a new method of underground urbanism.

Fig._33 Cost analysis breakdown of individual programmatic elements 53

[urban]eering

inverted cinema: cinema complexes offer large span footprints and can pull people from the street-scape into the underground space for an extended period of time

inhabitable underground: the spaces underground support the population above ground, but those spaces cannot function on their own. the underground programmatic elements require the basic (if not more) support. using the cores and sub-branches provide the destinations with ample artificial lighting and the necessary air filtration.

transference

Fig._34 Breakdown of the building system 54

the buffer: the transfer floor offers the opportunity to cushion the barrier between the public realm and the private residences. understanding that normally we flow in-and-up into a building can be reestablished as a double-directed space, transferring flow both up and down

outcomes

as a building

the neighborhood condition valuable density: providing a series of restorative housing initiatives reciprocates the monetary value of a built form and alleviates the pressure of the dividend.

the neighborhood condition: in the suburbs it is often that when you go to get your paper you often run into your neighbors and strike up conversation. the atrium condition designed in each of these 9 buildings amplifies that interaction.

Nine buildings within an urban fabric as dense as Manhattan has ample opportunity to initiate holistic system change. Within one of the nine interventions there are three parts, an above ground housing complex with either single or double bedroom units, a below ground ancillary program piece, and a street level transfer floor. The goal of this thesis was to treat each building like a neighborhood, a city within a city. The underground program would be chosen and applied in terms of building size and relationship to the above ground housing complex.

The infrastructure breakdown is organized in tandem with the main vertical circulation core and the shared column. The vertical cores connect all the building pieces together and flow the infrastructure systems from the street to the individual programmatic elements.

Fig._35 Breakdown of the building system + programmatic merging with circulation 55

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above ground - establishing flow

above ground - mainline condition

sewage electric water steam gas

system flow trunk branch

below ground - establishing flow

below ground - mainline condition

sewage electric water steam gas

system flow trunk branch

Fig._36 Building correspondence with the street level infrastructure 56

manhole structure each manhole is indicated by a chimney, they are distinctive in their typologies that match outcomes designs that indicate what kind of manhole lies underneath it. underneath manhole covers there are concrete encases spaces with large wires and cables connected by braces, crab holes connect individual manholes down large corridors

as an element hierarchy of systems: flowing from the street are individual pipelines varying from different support systems. the mainline is threaded into one of a few massive vertical cores that travel both up and down to the housing and ancillary programmatic elements. the subbranches flow to the 2’6� spacer column which supports either one large space or a pair of apartments.

system flo tru bran

system flo tru bran Infrastructure supports the residents with water, clean air, electricity, heat during the winter months and makes it possible for the underground spaces to be lit up and enjoyable for the masses of public circulation. From the manholes in the streets flow up through the vertical cores and fan out into the smaller shared cores within the apartments and individual feed lines. The transfer floor acts as a way to amplify and alter the needs to the specific floor-plate, and provide ample service to each program element.

Fig._37 Breakdown of individual infrastructure elements within a building 57

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Fig._38 Upsplash, Transporation. (March, 2016) 58

reflection

reflection building on the outcomes - If given two more weeks to alter and design the architectural response, it would require another revision of the housing complex of some of the larger building footprints. In order to make sure the return value in monthly rent, finding a strategy that makes the most profitable circumstance would further prove that this new model of urbanism is viable for Manhattan. re-establish the method - The method has consistently altered by necessity, and will continue to change as the project grows. The same method of inform, perform, and transform will remain the same, but the reflections of each will become more in depth. The catalog of information will be investigated as new elements are introduced. The reflection of city performance will also change as the building becomes more fleshed out and detailed. All of this ties back to the final transformation, which will change as the process alters itself. emergence of questions - The interior streetfront within the largest building footprint was drawn to question as a viable design possibility.

The critics questioned if that was a modern and valuable response to the thesis at hand. They wondered if a new design investigation and alternate method of design would be better suited for the particular building footprint. response to emergence - With that question of the urban interior streetfront brings out a matter of design preference. The critics mentioned that the interior street was one of many constant design battles and could potentially be further investigated. If needed to choose between the interior street and the tower relationship, if would require another iteration of building investigation and understanding of what the best condition could be applied to a particular situation. reflection - In terms of reflecting on the thesis statement and year as a whole, the thesis can provide a clear and realistic model, as mentioned by the critics in the review. If anyone were to reflect and pursue this issue in the future this thesis would allow the understanding that underground development is a viable and valuable method of future urban design.

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Fig._39 Built forms and their cost value 60

precedents

precedents A case study analysis provides a secondary layer of criteria to develop another line of design research, cataloging successful design strategies to future development. Within each instance a different idea comes about, in which to catalog and infer a new set of contextual characteristics. Ones to begin to formulate new ideas, and grow from to be the most performative for the area of Manhattan.

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the barbican Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, 1982 London, United Kingdom Considered one of the modern “wonders of the world�, the Barbican Complex has altered the way of how to design for living in highly dense cities. Combining a neighborhood with dozens of necessities and cultural elements, the complex is transposed as a solution for aggregated spaces for multiple uses, aiding thousands of people.

This microcosm within London introduces the mixed-program as a solution to the lack of space, using multiple pieces on multiple plots to create a single entity (nodes combining into a single thread). This strategy allows for a collage of constructs to merge into an independent urban fabric. Forming this new urbanistic approach can INFORM future development, not only for the thesis and Manhattan but also methodologies that can change how we arrange density.

Fig._40 Sectional relationships between the above and below 62

precedents

Hyper density as an central extension of the urban fabric

government service center Paul Rudolph, Unfinished Boston, Massachusetts Boston’s emerging urban realm is not an easy task, but the Government Service Center holds a strong presence in the seamless fabric.

Untouched plots in Boston are often quite rare, and finding one opens up a new world for designers. To alter the traditional circulation with a small utopia of program on its own plot, not only adds to the traffic but simultaneously promotes a new thinking towards circulation.

Program being addressed on the outskirts of the plot while enhancing circulation through the addition of an urban portal and large scale plaza. The urban fabric is merged together with a passive building, this allows for the public to easily slip through or stop and engage.

Amplifying the existing circulation and creating a new unseen system presents a leading design methodology.

Fig._41 Understanding an holistic approach to urban infrastructure within Midtown 63

[urban]eering

downtown athletic club Starrett & van Vleck, 1930 New York, New York In Rem Koolhaas’ Delirious New York, The Downtown Athletic Club acts as an urban prototype, not only for it’s Art Deco style facade but the way it engages the relationship between its program and those who use it. After taking cues from the Financial District of New York, a program was composed based on necessity and desire and the Downtown Athletic Club was introduced. The Club acted as a “social condenser”, it activated the social realm of New York and improved the sense of place for the general institutional sector of New York. It claimed validity through its program cataloging and use, this intervention promoted a contextual design strategy.

Fig._42 Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaus 64

precedents

the atlanta beltline Ryan Gravel, 2005 Altanta, Georgia As a Master’s thesis, this project aims to connect dozens of neighborhoods through the revitalization of an old train line through designed open space and threaded parks. This design proposal initiates the connectivity between separated neighborhoods through passive program in which activates the surrounding context. The thesis proposed in 1999 used the existing systems with built program to enhance and reengage Atlanta’s urban fabric. The project, still ongoing as of 2014, has a plan to influence traffic patterns on adjacent sides of the train line. This systematic approach to alteration allows a division of tactics and thus a new vision to be built.

Fig._43 Westside Trail at Martin Luther King, E. Fred Yalouris 65

[urban]eering

Fig._44 Unsplash, Sky Towers. (December 15, 2014) 66

extra pieces

extra pieces Cataloging and researching are critical pieces of developing a criteria and methodology of design. While diving into sources is important, sprawling the reach of topics in relation is important, as well as understanding all terms in relation to the greater topic. This section ties together all the topics presented in this work and acts as a general conclusion to the overall body of work.

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Ascher, Kate, and Rob Vroman. The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper. New York: Penguin, 2011. Print.

Adler, Jerry. “The High Life.” Architectural Record May 2015: 150-52. Print.

Ascher, Kate, and Wendy Marech. The Works: Anatomy of a City. New York: Penguin, 2005. Print.

Campbell, Reese, and Demetrio’s Comodromos. “Urban Morphology + The Social Vernacular: A Specu

lative Skyscraper for Islamic Medieval Cairo.” Journal of Architectural Education 63.1

(2009): 6-13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Aug. 2016.

Cohen, Elizabeth. “Building Government Service Center: The Boston Redevelopment Authority, 19060-

67” p. 48-61.

Duany, Andres. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jeff Speck. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the

Decline of the American Dream. Macmillan, Sept 14, 2010.

Dupré, Judith, and Adrian D. Smith. Skyscrapers: A History of the World’s Most Extraordinary Buildings.

New York: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2013. Print.

Höweler, Eric. Skyscraper. New York: Universe Pub., 2003. Print.

Kohn, A. Eugene, and Charles Rattray. “The Business of Skyscrapers.” Arq: Architectural Research Quarterly 15.2 (2011): 196-200. Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals. Web. 28 Aug. 2016.

Kostof, Spiro. Greg Castillo. The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban Form Through History. Bull

finch Press, 2004.

Ng, Edward. Designing High-Density Cities: For Social and Environmental Sustainability. 22883 Quicksil

ver Drive, Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2009.

Nobel, Philip, Tom Vanderbilt, Matthew Yglesias, Diana Lind, Will Self, Emily Badger, Dickson D.

Despommier, and Michael Govan. The Future of the Skyscaper New York: Metropolis, 2015.

Print.

Paloscia, Raffaele. The Contested Metropolis: Six Cities at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Basel,

Switzerland: Birkhäuser - Publishers for Architecture, 2003.

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extra pieces

appendix Sabbagh, Karl. Skyscraper: The Making of a Building. Middlesex: Penguin, 1990. Print.

Stephens, Suzanne. “High Time.” Architectural Record 203.10 (2015): 87. MAS Ultra School Edition.

Web. 28 Aug. 2016.

Tom Angotti. The New Century of the Metropolis: Urban Enclaves and Orientalism. 711 Third Avenue,

New York: Routledge, 2012.

Wells, Matthew. Skyscrapers: Structure and Design. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2005. Print.

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70

Figure_01

Unpacking the layered distinctions of a city streetscape

Figure_02

Metropolitan layer typologies

Figure_03

Singularity in an urban environments

Figure_04

Pinpointing moments of manageable programmatic redesign

Figure_05

Strecosa, Home. (November 1, 2016)

Figure_06

Reflecting on the vibrancy of the city streetfront

Figure_07

Reflecting on the vibrance of the city streetfront

Figure_08

The individual versus the group mentality in a large shared space

Figure_09

Metaphorical response to built and unbuilt moments in a city

Figure_10

City centers and dense points call out patterns in an urban fabric

Figure_11

Comparison of viable space development in two different cities

Figure_12

Analysis of programmatic elements in an adjacent relation to an unused space

Figure_13

Modeling the inner workings of different spatial barriers

Figure_14

Finding the most valuable open space to institute the new model

Figure_15

Physically modeling the unseen forces in an urban environment

Figure_16

Diagram of unseen urban forces that amplify how a collective group of people use a city

Figure_17

Sketching how a city can function both above and below the streetscape

Figure_18

Physical response of the underground spatial moments and the infrastructure within it

Figure_19

Discursive image displaying how a city could be amplified with underground program

Figure_20

Cataloging urban environments

Figure_21

Diagramming monetary spatial value versus density

Figure_22

The island as a collective metropolitan space

Figure_23

Diagramming programmatic elements that do not require ample natural light

Figure_24

Spatial value of a 4 block Midtown selection

Figure_25

Diagramming programmatic elements that do not require ample natural light

Figure_26

Understanding urban hyper-connectivity and relationships between elements

Figure_27

Catalog of a process of moving from method of understanding to designing a new model

Figure_28

Sectional relationships between the above and below

Figure_29

Understanding an holistic approach to urban infrastructure within Midtown

extra pieces

list of images Figure_30

Built forms and their cost value

Figure_31

Scalar approach to urban planning from building to element relationship

Figure_32

Cost analysis comparison of existing and proposed

Figure_33

Cost analysis breakdown of individual programmatic elements

Figure_34

Breakdown of the building system

Figure_35

Breakdown of the building system + programmatic merging with circulation

Figure_36

Building correspondence with the street level infrastructure

Figure_37

Breakdown of individual infrastructure elements within a building

Figure_38

Upsplash, Transportation. (March, 2016)

Figure_39

Built forms and their cost value

Figure_40

Sectional relationships between the above and below

Figure_41

Understanding an holistic approach to urban infrastructure within Midtown

Figure_42

Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaus

Figure_43

Westside Trail at Martin Luther King, E. Fred Yalouris

Figure_44

Unsplash, Sky Towers. (December 15, 2014)

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