Thesis Book Andrea Novazzi Syracuse University School of Architecture Primary Advisor: Ted Brown Committee: Julie Larsen & Lawrence Chua
THICK NEW GROUNDS: Recovering public space from the residual urban voids SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
Instrumental single-function infrastructures produce residual spaces within the urban fabric of the city. Part of the “urban public space”, these existing sites may be ‘thickened’ formally, informally, materially and programmatically to help construct the social of the city. Potential transactions – licit and illicit - and chance encounters are produced through sites of social exchange. The central district of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, is the site of intervention. On the west side of the district, four discrete infrastructural systems converge at bus terminal Bandeira. The combination of highways, elevated pedestrian pathways, and a subway line produce uninhabitable or underutilized urban voids. The elevated pathways are used by pedestrian to access the bus terminal over the adjacent expressways, acting as a conduit from both the subway station and the neighboring areas. Pathways are singular, having been “cleaned” through legislation to create one form of order. In an effort to keep pathways clean, commercial activity is banded from the site by the government. In plan, the existing infrastructure presents an animal-like form. Similar to an octopus, 8 arms branch out of the bus terminal. While the site presents an infrastructure that is singular and rigid, an octopus is known for being flexible and adaptable. As large-brained invertebrates, octopuses are highly intelligent, with complex nervous systems. They exert extreme control over their bodies, and are able to squeeze through tight spaces. In addition, their motor skills are organized using a unique nonsomatotopic system. Hence, octopus arms never become tangled to each other, as suction cups located along their tentacles have chemical sensors that recognize octopus skin, and prevent self-attachment. To protect themselves from prey, octopuses camouflage and mimic their surroundings, adapting to their environment. Exploring concepts of adaptability and flexibility, the project confronts the existing residual spaces as an opportunity to produce a multifunctional infrastructure of excess beyond instrumental planning – a project in play. Through ‘thickening’ the infrastructure the ground is constructed as an occupiable surface that is multiple and complex, with insertions of commercial and public programs.
INTRODUCTION
EXISTING GROUND LEVEL PLAN
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EXISTING CONDITIONS PLAN
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SITE INTERVENTION
STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION
STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION
INFRASTRUCTURE
EXISTING
PROPOSED
EXISTING
PROPOSED
SYSTEMS
POSTS
GROUND
PERFORMANCE
ENVIRONMENTAL
SOCIAL
CHANGE OVER TIME
ADAPTABLE
FLEXIBLE
TUESDAY
DAY
NIGHT
SATURDAY
NARRATIVES OF CONSTITUENTS
Prostitute
50-Year-Old Male
Mother
12-Year-Old Child
Homeless
University Student
65-Year-Old Female
Mother
12-Year-Old Child
Homeless
University Student
65-Year-Old Female
Drug Dealer
Vendor
SPATIAL NARRATIVES OF CONSTITUENTS
EXISTING
PROPOSED
UPPER LEVEL PLAN
GROUND LEVEL PLAN