HOW DO YOU CREATE A PRIVATE REFUGE IN AN URBAN CONTEXT? project: location: date: type:
419 Studio Urban Townhouse Saint Louis, Missouri November - December 2006 architecture studio project
The townhouse site lies on McPherson one block east of Euclid in the heart of the meticulously preserved Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. The site is immediately adjacent to the only rent in the fabric of the block; a surface parking lot occupies four lots directly to the west. This unfortunate circumstance has a positive effect: it allows the site to receive full sunlight from the west; a condition not typically shared by townhouses with two foot lot line offsets. The design was inspired by the existing fabric which is characterized by formal visual cohesion on the street facade and a striking degree of informal expansion or alteration behind the facade. The informality and the density of the urban fabric result in a diverse range of liminal spaces which are public and private, inside and outside.
3
CONCEPT There is no such concept as residential public space. The home is a series of mediations between the public realm and the private sanctum. Much like the seventeenth century Roman appartamento the idea of a procession from public to private becomes the explicit organizational strategy for the townhouse. Life is architecturally staged as a series of liminalities and manipulations in surface, width, and section demarcate more private space from more urban space without explicit barriers. Furthermore a side garden behind a screen becomes the primary means of entrance and circulation through the house; the screen affords it the luxury of dappled light and of moderate privacy in adjacency to the urban realm.
Preliminary digital and physical models were used to explore different spatial configurations within the constricted site
5
FRONT ELEVATION 7
PERSONAL SECLUSION IS ACHIEVED THROUGH LIMINAL THRESHOLDS.
EXTERIOR CIRCULATIONTHROUGH SKIN
DETAILING: ROOF, GROUND, ETCHED PATTERN DETAIL
ABSTRACT SKIN BACKGROUNDS V E RNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
9
LONGITUDINAL PERSPECTIVE SECTIONS
11
TRANSVERSE SECTION
WEST (PARKING LOT) ELEVATION
13
PERSPECTIVE VIEW - DAY
15
PERSPECTIVE VIEW - NIGHT
CAN DESIGN MAKE AN INVITING STOREFRONT CHURCH? project: location: date: type:
Church for All People Columbus, Ohio December 2005 Client Project, Neighborhood Design Center
The Church for All People is an urban United Methodist congregation. The congregation wanted to unite their sanctuary and their busy Free Store in the same building and purchased a three storefront commercial building. The design was phased because the corner tenant, a drugstore, was grandfathered for five years.
The design attempted to remove recent alterations to the historical building while complying with glazing and signage regulations in the Urban Commercial Overlay (UCO) legislation. Since the building was located in a Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization (NCR) commercial district, the congregation opted to use the Neighborhood Design Center for exterior design work.
The storefront providing access to the church sanctuary is turned into a focal point by insetting the storefront system at a slant and using backlit sandblasted glass with a surround of purple tilework.
17
SOUTH ELEVATION The Free Store would be located in the corner storefront after five years. A large canopy was designed for the south elevation to shelter the lines of customers waiting for entrance and waiting for the bus.
Special attention was paid to the lighting of the Church for All People. The Parsons Avenue commercial district has been in decline for several decades and is forbidding at night. The CFAP has devoted considerable resources to stabilizing the neighborhood and wanted their physical presence to be a beacon to the neighborhood. Down-lighting of new tilework and doorways was combined with spotlighted blade signs to create a welcoming image after dark.
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HOW CAN YOU LIVE IN THE SKY? project: location: date: type:
Private Residence Saint Louis, Missouri August-December 2007 Client Project, Tao Lee Associates
Initial condition
Final plan
This private client project combined two adjacent units in a mid-century modern residential tower high above Forest Park. The units were over-compartmentalized and the amazing views were obstructed. Throughout the design process we attempted to consolidate service functions in the interior of the unit and orchestrate views across the park from within the unit. I measured and drew as-bult drawings, floor plans, electrical plans, and three dimensional models to facilitate client consultation and project development.
21
CONCEPTUAL RENDERING
FINAL IMAGE: KITCHEN 23
CAN A SHELTER BE BEAUTIFUL? project: location: date: type:
TBox Pavillion University City, Missouri August-December 2008 collaborative design build
The 2008 Design Build studio was charged to replace a decrepit shelter (above) on the Ruth Park golf course. The program was simply to accommodate a dozen golfers in a storm and to protect against drives from the neighboring tee. Students worked in teams to define schemes. After the client chose a scheme the entire studio worked together to refine the concept and build the project. After intense design work in the initial phase I took responsibility for project scheduling and invoicing and contributed to the construction of the pavilion.
Andrew Faulkner Leslie Garner Ruben Hung
Hisashi Iida Lucas Lopez Lei Qi
Christopher Rehwoldt Brian Watzin Kyle Zaylor Tracy Spooner Yingli Tang
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STUDY MODELS
TRANSVERSE SECTION AND BENCH DETAIL
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COULD A BARREL SAVE LIVES AND BUILD COMMUNITY? project: location: date: type:
Dropped Cities (readymade urbanism) Worldwide January 2008 Scarpa Studio Project
Top bung cap Tie - down points Welded steel lid with axle sleeve
3/8”x 1’-9” O.D. steel shop fabricated interior sleeve
3/8” thick steel reinforcing ring
Standard manufactured smooth sided 55 gallon drum shell
Welded steel lid with axle sleeve (bung and lid not shown at left)
Humanitarian aid is currently considered as a stopgap measure. Food aid and refugee camps are designed to be temporary solutions until refugees return to their homeland. This solution does not help Long Term Refugees (LTRs) who may be stuck in inadequate refugee camps for months, years or generations. This project looks at two universal materials and redesigns the material of temporary aid to become the building blocks of a new community for victims of natural disasters and political upheaval.
31
7'-4"
20'-0"
Redesigned life cask
Solid Top HDPE Pallet
2 Tier Palletization
Each Drop Sled = 1.5 Shelters
24'-0"
24 life casks per sled
24'-0"
Axonometric | 1” = 1’-0”
C17 Globemaster III Strategic Airlifter Payload: 160,000 lbs. Range: 2,800 Mile Operated by: USA, GB, AUS, CAN, NATO
Humanitarian Capacity Water: 6,875 Gal. (supplies 50 people for 50 days) Food: 3,110 Lbs. (supplies 50 people for 50 days) Capacity: 9 shelters Formation: Potential:
9-13 aircraft 117 shelters, food/water to support 650 people for 50 days
LIFE CASK DEPLOYMENT
24x24’ Shipping Tarp folded over and secured with tie downs
12'-0" Sleeping Mats (by inhabitant)
HDPE shipping pallet
2'-0"
Rice bags packed with earth
5'-6"
5'-6"
Firepit
8'-0"
DROPPED CITIES CONSTRUCTION
Roof Construction (Shipping Tarp)
12'-0" Potential Unit Plan
2'-0" Quad 4 Units | 8-16 Inhabitants
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CAN PLAY INSTILL CREATIVITY? project: location: date: type:
Children’s Village Preston Hollow, Texas 2009-2010 Consulting / Private Client
The Children’s Village was designed to give the three children of a wealthy lawyer a world apart from the Robert Stern designed main house. While the main house can be characterized as being cold and formal with eighteen foot high ceilings and copious use of limestone, the material palette of the playhouses creates a tactile counterpoint with wood, soft foam, and bright colors.
STORAGE HOUSE S
The client picked a site adjacent to a Claes Oldenburg sculpture on the grounds. Drawing on the complementary work of Roy Lichtenstein, the Children’s Village seeks to reproduce the iconic small town in a pop art mode. The client requested that the playhouses be designed to accommodate active play. As a result, the programming of the playhouses attempted to blend the situationist attitude toward play with the whimsical objectivity of Oldenburg.
BLOCK HOUSE
CHALK HOUSE
N
CHALK HOUSE The concept of the chalk house is based on the universal desire of children to write and draw everywhere. The playhouse, meant to evoke a village schoolhouse, is covered with specially formulated paint that functions as a chalkboard and stands up to the elements. The tower gives the children a private space and an elevated viewpoint.
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
LOFT PLAN
CROSS SECTION
INTERIOR ELEVATION
CROW’S NEST PLAN
CHALK HOUSE DESIGN At the behest of the client, the playhouse was designed to use pressure-treated sleepers instead of a slab foundation. Guardrails and flooring made from recycled rubber safety tiles protect against injury.
BLOCK HOUSE The Block House combines the tactile play and spatial logic of building blocks with athletic and muscular development. The walls of the house are tiled with Lego™ baseplates and the flooring is interlocking foam mats imprinted with letters and numbers. The colorful blocks on the outside support two slides, cargo nets, and are studded with climbing holds.
DETAIL AT EAVE
PLAN
CROSS SECTION
DETAIL AT FOOTING
BLOCK HOUSE DESIGN The interior dimensions of the Block House were sized to accommodate the 10” and 15” modules of Lego™ baseplates. The exterior blocks are fabricated out of 1” MDO with knee bracing to resist the overturning moment of the cargo nets and climbing holds.
STORAGE HOUSE The storage house serves as an utilitarian container for the outdoor toys of the three children. The design attempts to evoke the utilitarianism of a barn and create a sculptural rhythm in what would typically be a background building.
FLOOR PLAN
CROSS SECTION
DETAIL AT ROOF PEAK
STORAGE HOUSE DESIGN Unlike the playhouses, the storage house is designed with a point foundation to be a permanent structure. After the children grow-up the storage house can still be used on the grounds.
VIEW OF CHILDREN’S VILLAGE
CAN YOU DESIGN A POSTER TO SUMMARIZE AN ENTIRE CAREER? 43
Poster design for the Sam Fox School of Visual Arts Lecture Series is accomplished in an extremely compressed timeframe. In some cases the time between commissioning and production can be measured in hours. Despite the constraints, I sought to deliver a clear design with a memorable image that conveys the attitude of the subject through a combination of manipulated image, form and typography.
47
HOW CAN YOU CONNECT A CITY AND ITS RIVER? project: location: date: type:
Arch Grounds Charrette Saint Louis, Missouri 7-9 November 2008 interdisciplinary charrette
The Saint Louis Arch Grounds Charrette was an intense three day immersion into the political and technical challenge of updating the landscape surrounding the Gateway Memorial Arch. In addition to the status accorded rightfully accorded to the collaboration between Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley, the arch Grounds are overseen by organizations ranging from the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Parks Service to MODOT. Interdisciplinary teams represented art, architecture, urban design and traffic planning disciplines and focused on the redesign of the grounds and the Saint Louis riverfront in a three day period.
Andrew Faulkner
Chris Hainer
Jeff Olson
Washington University
University of Illinois
Southern Illinois University University of Illinois
Monika Piwowarska
Donovan Ross Drury University
49
UNDER-UTILIZED SPACES PRESENT MISSISSIPPI RIVERFRONT
OPPORTUNITY.
ARCH PARKING GARAGE
MISSED CONNECTIONS - LACLEDE’S LANDING
MISSED CONNECTIONS - CHOUTEAU’S LANDING
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Plan drawn by Monika Piwowarska
MASTER PLAN
phase 1
First phase improvements include adding new paths to improve access to existing ponds, installing accent lighting, and using light sculptures to make the park desirable after dark
phase 2
DESIGN PHASING
The second phase focuses on improving access. The depressed interstate will be capped and the existing garage will be relocated to an expanded Laclede’s Landing garage.
phase 3
The third phase includes ADA ramp connections to the existing museum and museum terrace and bicycle/pedestrian connections suspended from either the Poplar Street or MacArthur bridges.
53
Perspective by Chris Hainer
BARGE VENUES - DAY
ACTIVATE THE RIVERFRONT! BARGE VENUES - EVENING
55
The construction of a one block cap between Chestnut and Market streets continues the Gateway Mall to the arch and connects the Arch to the old courthouse. Perspective by Donovan Ross
The construction of the cap will allow a simplification of the road network and will allow pedestrian promenades to be implemented North of Chestnut and South of Market.
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CAN YOU DOUBLE CITY POPULATION WITHOUT REDUCING QUALITY OF LIFE? project: location: date: type:
2009 ULI Hines Competition Denver, Colorado January 2009 interdisciplinary competition
As a result of its infrastructural connections and spectacular location, Denver is the fastest growing major city in the Rocky Mountain region. This exponential growth of Denver threatens to overwhelm the natural setting that comprises its greatest amenity. The competition challenged teams to use an existing big box shopping center as the catalyst to rethink Denver’s urbanism and the urbanism of the region as a whole. The Interdisciplinary team was composed of graduate students in architecture, urban design, law, business and planning disciplines working within a two week time frame.
Andrew Faulkner
Rebecca Levy
Howard McAuliffe Scott Talkov
Washington University Washington University Saint Louis University
Glenn Timmons
Washington University Washington University
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WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE IN THE CITY OF 2050?
drawn by Glenn Timmons
REGAL VIEW SITE PLAN AND SECTION
61
PROPOSAL PHASING
63
PLAZA AT METRO STOP
Regal View’s progressive design ensures sustainability for decades to come. Strategies such as green roofs, bio-filtration, greywater reuse and community-wide vehicle sharing will reduce the ecological footprint of the development. Existing big box retailers and their accompanying revenue streams will be maintained but their form will be reconsidered. Community connections will be enhanced through spatial integration and transit accessibility. Despite the many changes the district will see over the next half century, the iconic Bayer sculpture will remain as a regional landmark and visible link to the past.
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CAN YOU RETHINK SUBURBAN DESIGN IN FIVE IMAGES? project: location: date: type:
ReBurbia Competition United States July 2009 Design ideas competition
Suburbia is threatened by resource depletion and climactic change. Suburbia must be weaned from the automobile and be redesigned to support dense walkable mixed-use nodes connected by transit routes and surrounded by natural corridors. The biggest obstacle to this change is vast tracts of land given over to perpetual large-lot use such as golf courses, cemeteries and landfills. Ecolinks seeks to minimize the impact of large lot uses by turning golf courses into productive land, replacing low density golf course homes with multi-story residences, and combining large lot uses to free up adjacent land to create natural corridors.
67
HYPER-PROGRAMMING THE GOLF COURSE OF THE FUTURE The ecolinks project combines the vacated landfill and cemetery with the amenity of the golf course. The cemeteries becomes a vibrant space for recreation while providing grazing land to herds of Shetland cows owned by residents. The golf course rough is now alive with produce in allotment gardens and the water hazards biofilter sewage and landfill lechate.
ECOLINKS: INFRASTRUCTURAL CENTER FOR NEXT GENERATION ECOPOWER. Multiples of ecolinks communities will act in a distributed network to generate power and weather in the face of climactic imbalance. Each community will seed clouds to provide rainfall to the region and harvest electricity from lightning in the seeded storms.
CLOUD SEEDING Former landfills will become an inconspicuous part of the bucolic topography of the future golf course. The accumulated garbage legacy of previous generations will be tapped as an energy source and the methane produced by decomposition will power hygroscopic cloud seeding equipment in each ecolinks community.
HARVESTING THE STORM Ecolinks communities will be situated in a distributed network so that each may benefit from the storms generated by the cloud seeding activities of another. Lightning discharges will be captured, stored, used for co-generation and trickled back into a smart grid.
COULD DESIGN HELP EMERGENT CITIES AVOID ECOLOGICAL DISASTER? project: location: date: type:
(Colonia)izing La Frontera Tijuana, Mexico July 2008 Urban Design Capstone Studio
The last half century has seen a level of urbanization unprecedented in human history. In under two decades the number of urban residents will exceed 5 billion persons. If present trends continue more than 2 billion persons will live in informal settlements. These settlements vary widely from irregular and illegal off-grid squatter camps to unplanned settlements with full municipal services. Due to their extra-legal origin the majority of these communities are at risk from natural disasters such as drought, flooding, landslides, and fires. Despite their environmentally precarious condition, informal settlements offer an organic and austere alternative to the resource-hungry conventional forms of development. If such development were applied at the scale needed to meet the current demand of urbanization the resource exhaustion would be insurmountable. Framework Plan and Site Research with
Andrew Faulkner
Washington University
Aashish Garg
Cristina Greavu
Washington University Washington University
73
IMMIGRATION
“IT IS CLEAR THAT A MAJORITY OF
THE CITIZENS OF BOTH SIDES OF THE SAN DIEGO-TIJUANA BORDER ARE NOT NATIVE TO THE REGION.” Blurred Borders” p.151
Legal Immigrants to Tijuana - origin by number
INFORMALITY
“PEOPLE’S CARS ARE RECYCLED FROM THEIR OLD CALIFORNIAN OWNERS. TIJUANA SURVIVES THANKS TO THE WASTE AND SECOND- OR THIRDHAND MERCHANDISE OF THE UNITED STATES. CLOTHES. COMPUTERS. DREAMS. SOMETIMES I THINK TIJUANA, MORE THAN A CITY, IS A SWAP MEET.” --Heriberto Yépez
LESS THAN
4 0 % OFTHETOTAL
MEXICAN WORKFORCE
PAY S
TAXES
INFORMAL ECONOMY: REMITTANCES 700,000 MEXICAN NATIONALS LIVED IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY IN 2004 $800.0 MILLION IN ANNUAL REMITTANCES FLOWED FROM SAN DIEGO THE AVERAGE REMITTANCE WAS $1143
INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS Due to national laws that allow legal possession of land after five years of inhabitation, the majority of Tijuana has been developed in informal settlements. Such communities allow land tenure for the poor and foster incremental expansion as finances allow. In the next century a majority of the world’s population will live in similar communities.
GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED TRACT DEVELOPMENT In opposition to informal development, the Mexican government subsidizes private construction of massive suburban tract developments. While such developments are provided with infrastructure, they require steep down-payments, lack permeable surfaces, capacity for business and expansion, and are entirely centered around the automobile.
FRACCTIONOMENTO SANTA FE, TIJUANA, BAJA MEXICO
urbanized tijuana site
79
CRITIQUE OF EXISTING CONDITIONS
FRAMEWORK PLAN
1. COMMUNITY Provide an infrastructure for community growth. Create a diverse an integrated mixed income community.
2. MOBILITY Foster socioeconomic mobility without physical movement. Provide an infrastructure for informal growth. Provide basic amenities while allowing for informal economic growth Provide a parcel and building frame that allows for private expansion
3. DENSIFICATION Facilitate future population growth and densification. Plan non-commercial services and amenities for incremental upgrading or projected occupancy at full build-out.
4. NATURAL RESOURCES Treat land, water, and vegetation as valuable environmental and social resources. 5. PUBLIC SPACE Provide a civic maintenance framework to encourage shared use, upkeep, and ownership of public space. Promote social accountability
Foster community interaction through hyper-programming of public space
6. REGIONAL CONTEXT Connect to and enhance the regional context
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70% Developable Land
30% Roads
7% Municipal 3.5% Commercial 2+2% Park and School
CONVENTIONAL MEXICAN DEVELOPER MODEL
55% Residential
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FRAMEWORK PLAN METRICS
URBAN DESIGN PLAN
NATURAL SYSTEMS AND SITE CONSTRAINTS
85
THICK INFRASTRUCTURE The urban design utilizes sustainable stormwater infrastructure such as biofiltration swales and catchment ponds as multi-programmed public space to ensure its retention and create a basis for community ownership and maintenance.
ECONOMIC ACCESSIBILITY Larger lot ares are designed for informal growth and to accommodate the creation of home business and home retail as well as future subdivision and densification of lots. The goal of the development is to encourage 3-4 story owner/tenant occupied buildings and enable transit-feasible densities and mass transit access within fifty years.
CAN DESIGN MAKE US HEALTHY project: location: date: type:
Cultivating Complexity National City, Illinois September 2008-May 2009 graduate thesis project
AND SOLVE OUR NATION'S HEALTHCARE CRISIS? 89
THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC An epidemic is a condition in a given population that occurs at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected based on recent experience.
Over the past twenty two years the percentage of the population meeting this criteria has grown from under 14% to nearly one third in some states.
CDC OBESITY INDEX BY STATE POPULATION 1985-2007
In a a study based on data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the Centers for Disease Control has mapped obesity in the United States for the past twenty two years. The study defines obesity as having a body mass index of ≥30% (or thirty pounds overweight for a 5’-4” individual).
CDC OBESITY INDEX BY STATE POPULATION 1985-2007
1990
1985
No Data
<10%
10%–14%
No Data
15%–19%
<10%
10%–14%
<10%
10%–14%
15%–19%
20%
2007
2005
No Data
10%–14%
2000
1995
No Data
<10%
<10%
10%–14%
15%–19%
20%–24%
25%–29%
30%
No Data
15%–19%
20%–24%
25%–29%
30%
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TYPE II DIABETES While obesity is linked to numerous health problems ranging from bone fractures to hypertension, type II diabetes poses the greatest threat to the life of an individual and the health of society. Type II diabetes is a metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Type II diabetes is not currently understood to be a hereditary disorder and it has been linked with lower rates of exercise and increased intake of sugar.
1&3
According to Dr. Richard Jackson (a former director of CDCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Center for Environmental Health and public health advocate) one out of every three children born in the past decade will be diagnosed with type II diabetes if present trends continue.
2&3
The average life expectancy of a patient with type II diabetes is two thirds shorter than that of a comparable healthy person
$218 BILLION
is the total yearly cost of diabetes on the national health system currently. If Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prediction are true this amount could increase by over one hundred fifty fold.
CHEAP CALORIES The expense of fresh fruits and vegetables has forced a replacement with cheap calories derived from corn, soy and seed oils and syrups. The inexpensiveness of these synthetic food products is a direct function of longtime government subsidies and a globalized distribution system with its root in the commodities markets. These substances create excess energy when metabolized which leads to greater fat deposits and obesity. In addition the convenience food they are typically found in encourages faster eating and overconsumption.
93
FOOD DESERTS A recent study1 discovered that supermarkets are many times more likely than independent stores to locate in areas of higher income. Additionally supermarkets necessitate a consumer base of 50,000 individuals or more. As a result many urban neighborhoods are solely served by small stores. The limited scale of these stores makes produce retail typically uneconomical. If produce is available it is typically of poor quality and often shows signs of wilting or rottenness. The metaphor of food deserts has been used to describe urban areas that are dangerously under-served by conventional food retail systems. In such areas fresh produce may be impossible to find and the only food retail within a walkable distance may come from liquor stores or gas stations. 1. Chung, Chanjin, and Samuel L. Myers, Jr. 1999. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do the poor pay more for food? An analysis of grocery store availability and food price disparitiesâ&#x20AC;?. The Journal of Consumer Affairs 33: 276-96.
FOOD DESERTS: ACCESS IN NORTH ST. LOUIS BY WALKING RADIUS
FOOD SYSTEM RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS Saint Louis is a city in a good position to design a sustainable food ecology. The urban fabric of the city was developed in an era when efficient rail transportation was still dominant and, as a result, the industry of the city is concentrated along existing rail corridors. These corridors could be once again utilized to reduce the carbon footprint of food transportation and to effectively link potential agricultural production areas in the Metro East region with distribution and processing facilities in the city. Saint Louis should utilize existing infrastructure to facilitate a system of loops that would bring in nutritional products from the periphery and return organic waste to reduce dependencies on chemical fertilizers.
97
SAINT LOUIS REGION: MAJOR FOOD PRODUCTION ROUTES
IN DEFENSE OF PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE As a result of its density, the city of Saint Louis does not provide many potential sites for agriculture on a meaningful scale. In those areas that have been largely abandoned, the existing infrastructure of roads and utilities still precludes the assemblage of efficient croplands. The removal of such infrastructures would be an intensely difficult and politically divisive process. The largest available parcels within Saint Louis are the former Pruitt-Igoe site at 57 acres and the former site of the Carondelet Coke Plant as 40 acres. An examination immediately across the river yields two available sites twelve times that size and adjoining lands many times larger. These areas are still readily accessible to the city by rail and road and lie in the fertile American Bottoms of the Mississippi River.
(ST. LOUIS URBAN AGRICULTURE)
PRUITT-IGOE SITE
.5 acres
(BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE)
(ROTATING GRAZING/CROPLAND)
610 acres
750 acres
(LARGEST DEVELOPABLE SITE IN ST. LOUIS)
CITY SEEDS FARM
SPIKENARD FARM
57 acres
(ST. LOUIS URBAN AGRICULTURE)
2.5 acres
NATIONAL CITY
CARONDELET COKE PLANT SITE
(PROCESSING, SALES AND EDUCATION)
(SECOND LARGEST DEVELOPABLE SITE IN ST. LOUIS)
ADDED VALUE FARM
750 acres
40 acres
HORSESHOE LAKE REGION
(ROTATING GRAZING/CROPLAND)
1775 acres
(BROOKLYN, NY URBAN AGRICULTURE)
2.5 acres
THE URBAN GARDEN (LOS ANGELES URBAN AGRICULTURE)
14 acres
CENTER FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE (KANSAS CITY URBAN AGRICULTURE)
2.5 acres
URBAN
HARVEST FARM (NORTH CAROLINA PERIURBAN AGRICULTURE)
10 acres
PERI-URBAN
RURAL
AGRICULTURE AREAS AND DEVELOPABLE SITES
EAST RIVERFRONT AREA
NEW ROOTS FARM
99
PERIURBAN AGRICULTRAL POTENTIAL IN THE SAINT LOUIS REGION
THE ECOLOGY OF THE NATIONAL STOCKYARDS The National Stockyards were built in the American Bottoms directly north of East Saint Louis in 1873. By 1893 the stockyards was the third largest in the world covering over 100 acres and supporting a number of related industries. At its peak the National Stockyards covered three hundred acres, serving twelve packing plants and employing 30,000.
g n i h t y r l e ” a e u v q s Ebut the “We use
--Philip Danforth Armour
ARRIVAL
(EAST SAINT LOUIS JUNCTION RAILROAD) (EAST SAINT LOUIS TERMINAL RAILROAD)
STORAGE
(NATIONAL STOCKYARDS)
SALE
(NATIONAL STOCKYARDS)
SLAUGHTER
(ARMOUR & COMPANY) (SWIFT & COMPANY) (EAST ST. LOUIS RENDERING CO.) (HUNTER PACKING COMPANY) (CIRCLE PACKING COMPANY)
BYPRODUCTS
(BONE & BLOOD FERTILIZER CO.) (SWIFT & CO. FERTILIZER PLANT) (PULVERIZED MANURE CO.)
MEAT
(ARMOUR RAILYARD) (SWIFT RAILYARD) (MATHER STOCK CAR COMPANY) (ROBERTSONS INC.) (NORTH AMERICAN PROVISION CO.)
THE ECOLOGY OF THE NATIONAL STOCKYARDS While the vast packing plants of the early twentieth century industrialized food system have become infamous for their cruelty toward animals and workers they also represent a total food ecology. Like the usage of the buffalo by native americans, nothing went to waste and all the potential energy within the animal was utilized to its true potential.
THE NATIONAL STOCKYARDS TODAY After World War II agriculture industry shifted to a feedlot-based speculative model. Armour closed in 1958 and Swift burned in 1967. After a fire at the Exchange Building in 1997 the stockyards closed and all administration was transferred to Oklahoma City. The remaining residents were evicted and the town was unincorporated.
Today all that remains is a small portion of the Exchange Building and half of the mule barns. The Armour complex has been abandoned shell since 1959. A dwindling number of industries still exist, including a scrap metal salvage dealer, but a lumberyard closed within the past year. The new Mississippi River Bridge will result in a new four lane routing of I-70 through the western portion of the site.
HAY
ORGANIC TY CI EFUSE R
PRODUCE ROW
E NUR MA
E UC ODTE R P AS W
PROPOSED HORESHOE LAKE AGRICULTURE AREA
DARLING PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL
AMERICAN BOTTOMS PASTURE LANDS MADISON FARMS BUTTER CO. SWISS AMERICAN INC. CROWN FOODS INC. HAUTLY CHEESE CO. VOLPI ITALIAN SALAMI AND MEAT CO.
CARGILL INC. EAST ST. LOUIS PLANT
PEVELY DAIRY
MIL K
TS MEA
GOLDEN PHEONIX INTERNATIONAL FOODS
MILLER HAM COMPANY
M E
CHEESE
G&W BAVARIAN HAM AND SAUSAGE CO. KERN MEAT COMPANY
H AY
S AT
LA BODEGA WHOLESALE FOODS
LA TROPICANA DISTRIBUTING
REGIONAL PLANNING: ECOLOGICAL LOOPS Ecological loops are the ecological basis for a sustainable reconsideration of the regional food system. These loops carry goods such as dairy products and meat on existing railroad lines to industries and distribution outlets in the city and return organic material to replenish depleted nutrients in agricultural areas surrounding the National Stockyards.
AREA MASTER PLAN The loops begin to serve as a driver for the master plan at a regional scale. Existing rail corridors determine general locations for livestock market, abattoir and compost facilities.
105
CULTIVATING COMPLEXITY
REFORMING FOOD ECOLOGY AND REGENERATING SITE
location: date: type:
National City, Illinois May 2008 graduate thesis project
“THE DINNER WE HAVE EATEN TONIGHT WAS A PART OF THE SUN BUT A FEW MONTHS AGO. WE HAVE ACTUALLY EATEN TONIGHT A SUBSTANCE THAT WAS IN THE SUN AND CAME TO THE EARTH AS ENERGY.” -WESTON A. PRICE, 1928
107
PUBLIC ZONES
RESEARCH ZONES
PROGRAMMING LAB FACILITIES LAB SERVICES SEED SPLITTING SEED STORAGE
LOADING
PROGRAMMING LIBRARY ARCHIVES LIBRARIAN OFFICE CAFE
SEMINAR ROOM GALLERY
INITIAL DESIGN The design was initially considered as a bridge between the two existing mule barns. The size was reduced in line with the proposed programming. The revised scheme was centered within the smaller existing building to preserve the space between as a natural reclamation landscape.
FINAL MASTER PLAN AND PHASING The scale of the design proposal requires it to be broken into achievable sections over a twenty year period. The architectural design focuses on the ecology institute on the site of the National Stockyards mule barns.
MAKING RESEARCH INCLUSIVE THROUGH
AMENITIES AND CIRCULATION
CONCEPT DIAGRAM
CIRCULATION, ACCESS, AND VISIBILITY.
PRODUCTIVE / COMMUNAL SPACE DIAGRAM
111
HEALING A DAMAGED LANDSCAPE
INITIAL CONDITION
PHASE 1: +5-10 YEARS
PHASE 2: +25 YEARS
SUCCESSIONAL LANDSCAPE The space between the two buildings will be left to serve as a laboratory for post-industrial plant succession. The minimal design interventions will consist of the elevated walkways and benches that stitch the complex together.
ROOFSCAPE DESIGNED AS PRODUCTIVE LAND
ROOF DESIGN The roof will invert the fallow character of the surrounding ground and serve as a laboratory for experimentation of agricultural crops suited for rooftop cultivation.
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FIRST FLOOR PLAN 1”=32’-0” ARCHITECTURAL STRATEGY
The primary architectural move was to create incisions in the 100’-0” deep floor plate. The largest incision creates an angled interior street through the structure that connects outdoor courtyards and provides public access to the auditorium.
The incisions bring light into the deep floor plates and facilitate a natural ventilation system through the second floor greenhouse laboratories and create a series of dynamic spaces to aid in wayfinding.
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SECOND FLOOR PLAN 1”=32’-0”
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CROSS SECTION A
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CROSS SECTION B
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GREENHOUSES FROM RECLAMATION LANDSCAPE - RIGHT
SECTION DETAIL AT OPERABLE PANEL
PASSIVE VENTILATION
PLANT ECOLOGY LIBRARY READING ROOM
CAFE COURTYARD - LEFT