CHOREOGRAPHED TRANSITION
“....evolving within a loose envelope of constraints.�Stan Allen
CHOREOGRAPHED TRANSITIONAmanda Texas
Prof. Gia Daskalaskis Design Thinking Spring 2012
CONTENTS[06] Premise
[08] Conceptual Thinking [30] Site Analysis [46] Programmatic Intentions [68] Resources
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How can the performative nature of infrastructure be applied to architecture and time? How can it as a notion, activate voided fields in which containers sit as objects? Can coexistence of both people and cars within the infrastructural landscape create a connective territory?
PREMISE
1
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The dispositive function will not be simply to organize flows, but also to construct a field of urban intensity through the enhancement of multiple paths and directions. The aim is to produce a solenoid – an inductive organization of flows – to project urban intensity within the place. Alejandro Zaera-Polo
SOLENOID
CONVERGENCE ACTIVATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
COEXISTENCE
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DISPERSAL
CHOREOGRAPHED TRANSITION
container
coexistence within the directed field
void time
dispersal
activation infrastructure
convergence
connective territory
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Within the contemporary urban landscape, there exists a specific spatial condition in which large containers for the gathering of people remain isolated objects in a disconnected territory. They are typically placed in relation to infrastructures but do not account for the transition across this field. The intention is to activate this territory through the understanding of a solenoid; an activation via the convergence and dispersal of both people and transit through this connective territory both day and night, 24/7. This movement across the directed field will allow for coexistence within this choreographed transition.
SITUATION
EXISTING
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SOLUTION
FRAMEWORK
Conceptual ideas of infrastructure will be applied as a framework to the directed field to establish a framework for inhabitation and activation of the void. 12
VOCABULARY
CONNECTIVE TERRITORY
The directed field should physically be situated within a connective territory to ensure connection to the greater urban landscape. Also, infrastructure conceptually connects two destinations but physically disconnects the landscape in which it resides.
CONVERGENCE
Convergence can be found in both the physical landscape and the movement of people. This is a form of activation that weaves through the directed field.
DISPERSAL
As people and/or transit converge, they must also disperse. These are flows that activate the directed field and help further the connective territory beyond the boundary of architecture.
VOID
Shaping the void into a connective field for occupants to inhabit is in part furthering the idea of connective territories but also speaks of a condition applicable to architecture and its design for occupancy, especially in the case of event spaces requiring the mass movement of people.
PERFORMATIVE FLEXIBILITY
Performance can be defined for this purpose as a spatial construct optimized to handle inputs and outputs of people throughout the day. This notion of performative flexibility is the same. Programmatically the container will evolve to handle the different flows of the directed field.
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infrastructure
+
activation
+ container =
DIRECTED FIELD
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This series of studies examines both the urban and suburban landscape as a source and site for conceptual development. The diagrams above are the analysis of large detached containers frequently left unactivated and situated within a parking lot scattered landscape. While both the urban and suburban realm share this condition, it is in the suburban landscape that one finds this problem recurrently.
LAN DS TURA L
INFRA STRUC
ID
CA P E
RY RITO 16
VO
CON NECT IVE T ER
WS
FLO
URBAN VS SUBURBAN
IN F R
ASTR
UC T
URA L
FLOW
S
P
FLOWS
CONN ECTIV E TER RITOR Y S
ID
FLOW
EC T I VE TERRITO
INFRASTRUCTURAL LANDSCAPE
ID
VO RY
CON N
VO
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The suburban mall acts as the main source of public space within the suburban landscape. The mall and its surrounding field of parking lots is designed to accomodate flows of both people and cars but can still accomodate movement of even larger masses of people. It is not designed for short duration peak capacities, but rather for more continuous occuption throughout the day. And when the mall is closed, the vast parking fields create large scale vacancies.
SUBURBAN LANDSCAPE
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55
Madison 70
70
St Charles
70 64
St Louis City
St Louis
64
St Claire
Franklin 20
44
Jefferson
55
Monroe
mall location
FLOWS - MODES - ENTRY
The following is an analysis of the potential of this suburban landscape through the examination and and understanding the flows, modes, and entries of these object containers. The mapping of several malls within different spatial situations extracts the potential site of the connective territory within the contemporary urban landscape. South County Mall West County Mall Galleria Mall
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WEST COUNTY MALL
D
VOI
APE
INFRASTRUCT
URAL LANDSC
FLOWS E TERRITORY V I T EC N N CO
P
P 23
24
SOUTH COUNTY MALL
APE NDSC AL LA CTUR STRU INFRA
CONNECTIV E
TERRITORY
S
ID
OW FL
VO
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GALLERIA MALL
P
VOID CONNECTIVE TERRITO RY
P
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OVERFLOW
FLOWS
INFRASTRUCTURAL LANDSCAPE
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After an examination of the condition specifically pertaining to the mall as the preferred example, it is clear that the mall sits as an object container in a voided field with infrastructural flows only existing but not activating. This is a commonality among all the examples while the South County Mall is the most extreme. For this reason, the site is chosen as the location for the creation of transitions in order to activate this extensive territory.
CONTEMPORARY URBAN LANDSCAPE
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I-270
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I-55
SITE ANALYSIS
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I-255
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47 South County Center is located in south St Louis County near the residential town of Mehlville. Situated just east of the I-270 [east-west axis] and I-55 [north-south axis] exchange, the mall is situated within a dominant retail corridor within the suburban landscape.
47 SOUTH COUNTY CENTER
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The typical suburban mall landscape is characterized by a single story sprawling structure planted within a vast series of parking lots. 47 South County Center is no exception to this description. Surrounded by major highways on two sides, the remaining two edges are situated along heavily trafficed regional corridors. The mall sits as an object container within a field of parking lots in which pedestrian flows are interrupted by secondary roads connecting the various parking lots.
SITE PHOTO ANALYSIS
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RETAIL CORRIDOR
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retail corridor institution industrial recreation space
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big box single store
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The South County Mall is just one component within a prominent retail corridor in the area. Situated within one of the most concentrated nodes, the mall and several single big box stores have a more primary relationship to the infrastructure while a series of strip malls act as a secondary structure. These conditions share a situation in which there is an object container within the voided field, the parking lot.
RETAIL CONDITIONS
strip mall
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shopping mall
ENTRY
ENTRY 40
EXISTING MALL FACADE
ENTRY
CONNECTIVE TERRITORY 41
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GLA: 1,038,832 sq. ft. Total Stores: 130+ Total Acreage: 65± AC Total Parking: 4,758
SITE FIGURES
A B
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A
interstate 270/255 185’
A
44
EXISTING SITE SECTIONS
interstate 270/255 190’
B
parking lot 900’ connective territory 1045’
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parking lot 620’ connective territory 785’
12 12am
10am
9
9pm
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46
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3
CHOREOGRAPHED TRANSITIONSIn the process of choosing programmatic intentions 47 for this project, the notion of time and activation were crucial. The diagram to the left illustrates the time component of overlapping programs within the container and is further explained in the section that follows.
OVERLAP
I DF
EL
48
DI R
E
T EC
D
Performative Overflow
EXPERIENCE
FLOWS
DIRECT
SPATIAL SOLENOIDWithin
the directed field, overlapping program planes create connectivity across the site. Interactions between the transit flows are allowed to occur through activation and experience.
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3-4
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As a solution to this contemporary urban problem, the program for this solenoid activates the site thoughout the entire day. It consists of a travel center/truck stop with motel, a drive in movie theater which further activates the parking lot at night, and an amusement arcade which acts as a mediating component between the truck stop and the existing mall.
PROGRAM DEFINED
5-6
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The regional map of St Louis and its surrounding areas show a lack of rest stops along I-55 in comparison to the other major highways in the region. Also, Skyview Drive-In in Belleville, Il is the only drive in movie theater within the region.
REGIONAL NETWORKS
55
Madison 70
70
St Charles
70 64
St Louis City
St Louis
64
St Claire
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Franklin
44
Jefferson
55
Monroe
truck stop drive-in movie theater project site
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Just as a suburban mall is accompanied by a large parking lot, the truck stop too has a parking lot dilemma. The difference is in the nature of the void. A truck stop’s parking lot, though not as large, is never empty. From the flows on the interstate, the truck stop is in constant flux and activation. Usually located in close proximity to truck stops are a series of motels or hotels that too, have large parking lots for truck drivers and cars. The first step in dealing with the parking dilemma in the suburban landscape is to consolidate and activate parking lots.
A PARKING DILEMMA
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This scale comparison shows typical sizing at the same scale for both a truck stop and a drive-in movie theater fit comfortably within the existing parking condition at 47 South County Center.
SCALE COMPARISON
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Truck Stop + Motel
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P
wayfarer
COEXISTENCE
community
P 59
Total Bldg: ???? sqft
MALL
PARKING PARKIN ARCADE PARKING PARKING PARKING PARK
SQUARE FOOTAGE BREAKDOWN
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Total Ground Floor: 680,685 sqft
Laundry - 1,000 sqft 24 Motel Rooms - 325 sqft each Lobby - 2,000 sqft
DRIVE-IN
Total Area: 325,000 sqft
Total Bldg: 18,000 sqft
MOTEL STOP
NG PARKING KING TRUCK
Total Area: Total Bldg: 12,000 sqft 16 Diesel Gas Pumps - 3,450 sqft 8 Automobile Gas Pumps - 2,350 sqft Truck Scale - 5,000 sqft Convenience Store - 10,000 sqft Restaurant - 2,500 sqft Restrooms/Showers - 2,000 sqft
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PROGRAM + TIME MATRIX 12 am 3 am 6 am 9 am
Truck Stop + Motel
9 pm
Drive-In
6 pm
Arcade
3 pm
Mall
12 pm 12 am
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.......a parking lot as a loose envelope of constraints.
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PHOTO CREDITS
[1] coverpage, Hubert Blanz, “Roadshow� Digital Media [2] http://www.arkinet.com/articles/roadshow-hubert-blanz [3] http://blog.thecovertletter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Pilot-Truck-Stop.jpg [4] http://www.twincitiesdailyphoto.com/2008/06/indiana-jones-movie-at-drive-in.html [5] http://www.themalibumotel.com/ [6]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dave_%26_Buster%27s_video_arcade_17910.JPG [7] http://iowa80truckstop.com/ All other images and maps are from google earth or photos taken by author.
RESOURCES
Allen, Stan. “Infrasturtucal Urbanism.” Points Lines: Diagrams and Projects for the City. New York: Princeton Architectural, 1999. 48-57. Print. Allen, Stan. “Mat Urbanism: The Thick 2D.” Case: Le Corbusier’s Venice Hospital and the Mat Building Revival. By Hashim Sarkis. Munich: Prestel, 2001. 118-26. Print. “Rethinking Mobility.” Quaderns D’Arquitectura 218 (1997). Print. “Stoss_contents.” Stosslu. Web. <http://www.stoss.net/contents.html> Tatom, Jacqueline. Making the Metropolitan Landscape: Standing Firm on Middle Ground. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. Print. Waldheim, Charles. The Landscape Urbanism Reader. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2006. 36-53. Print.
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