ARTS @ RENAISSANCE
a vision for north brooklyn arts @ renaissance cr studio architects 2012
2 kingsland avenue, brooklyn, ny
ARTS @ RENAISSANCE
Ever underdogs. Hope filled dreamers. Arts @ Renaissance serves a passionate North Brooklyn community. As an extension of St. Nick’s Alliance, Arts@Renaissance is sensitive to the needs of neighborhood artists. An update to its space is an investment in the promise of the A@R, a budding arts incubator in North Brooklyn.
THE EXISTING BUILDING
Steeped in history, originally the existing building served as the outpatient department of the old Greenpoint Hospital. It wears the patina of time and use within its solid walls. Charged by this residue, the space is a welcome alternative to conventional white box art spaces. Its non-precious nature is an asset and muse. Cradled in the courtyard and nestled in its subterranean spaces, artists find support and sustenance. Great potential is embedded within the A@R headquarters. CR Studio endeavors to augment the space’s capacity to support artists with critical infrastructure updates while maintaining its existing character.
background
community profile
13%
50% 6%
$
Married couPLes With chiLdreN
siNGLe-Mother househoLds
1%
$100,000 to $199,999
4%
$75,000 to $99,999 $50,000 to $74,999
15-19
7.8%
20-24
9.0%
25-44
30.7%
45-64
18.5%
greenpoint/ Williamsburg in 2007/09
brooklyn in 2007/09
educatioN LeVeL 25 Yrs & oLder
9.6%
oWNer occuPied 17%
reNtreGuLated uNits 41%
28%
$10,000 to $24,999
housiNG
reNtaL uNits 24%
26% 23%
doMiNicaN 25% itaLiaN 13%
13%
$25,000 to $49,999
househoLd iNcoMe
greenpoint/ Williamsburg in 2000
bachelor's degree or higher
aGe
6%
less than $10,000
less than a high school degree or ged eQuivalent
29%
7.7%
36%
10-14
25%
8.2%
65 & oVer
FaMiLY tYPes
$200,000 or more
8.5%
5-9
22%
31%
uNder 5
25%
Married couPLe FaMiLies
aduLts shariNG or siNGLe PersoN househoLds
41%
This North Brooklyn community is well-served by public transportation and community facilities to the west, including the imminent New York City bike sharing program. New members to the community are frequently added as the neighborhood continues to undergo transformation.
PuBLic & suBsidiZed reNtaL uNits 18%
Data procured from Community District 1 Brooklyn Neighborhood Reports, 2012
Puerto ricaN 20%
reLiGious resPoNces 31%
toP 5 ethNicities PoLish 25%
communtiy facilities subWay lines + stations bus routes +stops bike routes+ stations
community ISSUES
2 Kingsland Avenue is currently “2 blocks from ground zero of waste transfer,� according to Laura Hoffman, board member of the Newtown Creek Alliance and OUTRAGE, Organizations United for Trash Reduction and Garbage Equity. The area is dominated by garbage trucks and, while this traffic will be increasing, it will move more towards maritime transportation of waste along the Creek. Dredging and cleaning of Newtown Creek is scheduled to commence in 2013.
BUILT CHARACTER
A figure-ground study of the built environment illuminates variable forces on the community embodied in form. The street grid to the west is filled with an intricate density of low-rise buildings, many of which are row houses. This regularity breaks up eastward by Bushwick Avenue and dissolves into mid-sized warehouse-type facilities. Increasingly, wildcard new condominium redevelopments are sprinkled into the mix.
Metropolitan Avenue
Row Houses
Redevelopment
Towers in the park
Industrial facilities
BOUNDARY CONDITION
Zoning maps of this North Brooklyn area reiterate the building’s location on a boundary condition.
A@R
small
1 iron
2 chain link
FENCES
3 masonry
tall
iron 1 iron
tall
2 chain link
3 masonry
small
2 chain link
3 masonry
3 masonryshort sma 4 llwood
tall tall
4 wood
chain link
small tall
masonry
small
small
small
tall
tall
tall
small
small
tall
tall
small
wood
tall
4 wood small
small
tall
small small
tall
tall
tall
small
4 wood
small tall
tall
small tall
Zooming in, on a semi-architectural urban scale, boundaries pervade the blocks surrounding the building. Boundaries emerge as forms of property control and security. They also communicate restriction and permission to pass. Can they also be invitations to engage?
VIEW CORRIDORS
The building’s public face is predominantly visible from the south-west direction. Walking from the Graham L subway stop eastward, the crown of the building emerges beyond a mixed haze of fast food, diagonal intersection traffic and neglected fenced-in lots. Vantage point east, from Cooper park, we have a clearer view of the building, but are currently distracted by the overgrown fence and derelict vacant lot adjacent. CR Studio sees potential in engaging with the fence as a site for A@R art installations in partnership with the city agency responsible for the lot. Arts intervention of this type can connect A@R artists with the community by providing more public exposure, make the view to the building more welcoming and extend the art presence out to the building’s immediate vicinity.
L
north brooklyn ARTS ECOSYSTEM
North Brooklyn is already established as an incubator for working artists. Creatives abound in neighboring Williamsburg, Bushwick and Ridgewood. To understand how A@R can plug into and compliment the existing arts ecosystem, CR Studio mapped arts production, exhibition and education spaces in the neighborhood. As with other public services, arts support and access can be found more to the west and south of the building. Considering its unique boundary location, its vicinity to diffuse urban wastelands, A@R is poised to engage with different issues and a different faction of the changing community.
SAINT CECILIA
UNION DOCS
Norte Maar
Camel Art Space
Chocolate Factory
Box Art Studios
El Puente
MORE PROMINANT
ART STUDIO GALLERY & EXHIBITION SPACE EDUCATIONAL SPACE LESS PROMINANT
UNION DOCS
A@R NEEDS ASSESSMENT
A@R ACTIVITies:
NOTES:
Current:
Third Rail: There is IMPRECIOUSNESS about the space that facilitates creativity. The ceiling grid is a plus. Currently no capacity for proper theatrical lighting exists.
• Site-specific residencies for visual, performing and multidisciplinary artists with a full calendar of exhibitions and performances that have a tangible benefit to the broader community including workshops, discounted tickets and capturing the history and current advocacy work in North Brooklyn.
Parallel to urban analysis, CR Studio studied the Creative Needs Assessment for North Brooklyn and engaged in conversations with community members, artists and board members to draw out needs, challenges and priorities for the A@R space.
• Studio residencies for North Brooklyn artists with community-based practice. • Forums on critical neighborhood issues of interest to artists including affordable housing, environmental concerns, and neighborhood preservation. Planned for 2012-13: • A senior arts workshop series with skillsharing classes for North Brooklyn’s aging population. Chloe Bass
Third Rail
Chris Henderson, Melissa Staiger
Jill Sigman
Laura Hoffman
• A yearlong curriculum-based professional development program for artists in partnership with the Brooklyn Business Center, St. Nicks Alliance’s entrepreneurship arm. To be implemented after significant capital improvements: • Regularly scheduled arts instruction for the community including young people taught by local artists • Co-working facilities for artists and entrepreneurs to share workspace for office work.
Chloe Bass: Look at mobile vs. fixed programming; *Branding* Melissa Staiger: The uniqueness of the space is interesting for the artists; How can we encourage interaction between St. Nick’s employees and artists? A@R should create alliances with existing arts community. For example 3rd ward – A@R presents those artists with opportunities. It is an outlet for programming. Artists can also reach out to community. Community service. Skills exchange. Laura Hoffman: General Access & Visibility Although currently provided it is unclear and uninviting to use as it “feels like you are jumping through hoops” to be able to access the space as a handicapped member of the community. Artist’s are drawn to the area by the industrial nature/pollution as inspiration – potential to both draw from this as well as create environmental hub within that context. Potential to use waste (e.g. construction waste) as found materials for the project. Community Member: The fact that sound/noise disturbance is not an issue is a massive asset as all the performances that used to go on until 4am in the morning in the area have now been driven out to Bushwick; makes A@R a potentially unique venue. Jill Sigman: On visibility - A@R is not a known art space yet. A dedicated marketing effort is
required, also to build a feeling that it is comfortable to come in. Not everyone in the neighborhood is necessarily interested in art. Further, there seems to be other pressing issues in the community beyond art: poverty, health – proximity to garbage processing. These are more pressing for working activists in the community. Pros: • Ceiling grid structure • Raw space • Locked storage Cons: • Walls impenetrable • Ambiguity of central space – its identity and use are unclear. People would come in and instinctively cross through to the back corner looking for something else. There’s no cue for the public. It would have been nice to have options for privacy in that central space, also because there was a lot of traffic from St. Nick’s staff – coming in and out of closets. Jill suggested the definition of a public corridor. • Security. It’s easy to “feel like a sitting duck” in the basement. Exiting from below, little visibility out to know what’s waiting for you. • Locks and keys are a scrambled mess. • No space/isolation for artists working with hazardous materials.
CHALLENGES: • Updating space for desired programming expansion while maintaining the character of the building • Flexibility vs. Specificity • Defining territory • Visibility and Access • Awareness of Community Issues • Contextual Urban Forces
the design: Project development in three acts
GENERAL NOTES: PHASE 1 TO ALLOW FOR SELECTIVE DEMOLITION AND RECONFIGURATION OF SPACES. IN ADDITION TO WORKS HIGHLIGHTED IN PLAN, GC SHOULD ALLOW FOR THE FOLLOWING:
Initial work should address the most immediate concerns, while establishing a base to build from with future improvements. As the first phase of work, CR Studio proposes relocating the entry to so that visitors arrive using the public elevator and opening up three “threshold” zones, differentiated by distinct wall colors, from which the smaller galleries, residency studios and classroom spaces are accessed. These “threshold” zones will begin to distinguish spaces more clearly and orient visitors. Critical improvements including the introduction of more tackable wall surfaces, lighting improvements and painting will also take place.
2) SURVEY AND REMOVAL OF TERRA COTTA BLOCKS NEAR CEILING WHERE BLOCKS ARE LOOSE AND MAY OTHERWISE CAUSE HAZARD 4) GENERAL SURVEY AND CLEAN UP OF CEILING SURFACES, INCLUDING REMOVAL OF DISUSED ELECTRICAL LINES, CONDUITS AND PIPING. EXISTING LIGHTING AND IRON BARS WILL REMAIN UNTOUCHED 5) REPAINTING OF ALL WALL SURFACES, BASES AND TRIMS (COLORS AND PAINT FINISHES TBA)
EXTEND PARTITION TO PROVIDE SECURITY AROUND MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
6) REPAINTING OF ALL CEILING SURFACES, INCLUDING BEAMS, BLACK IRON AND EXPOSED PIPEWORK
MAKE GOOD SURROUNDING WALL SURFACES WHERE DEMOLITION HAS OCCURRED
REMOVE EXISTING DOORWAY AND CLOSE UP WALL. CONSTRUCTION AND FINISHES TO MATCH ADJACENT WALL.
Make rotunda main entry Selected demo in threshold zones Designate classroom Paint ceiling Repair walls, make tackable (furring / hang rail) Select security alterations Select lighting improvements Exterior signage & fence art installations
DASHED LINES INDICATED NEW TACKABLE WALL SURFACES, INSTALL NEW PLY BACKED GYP BOARD FINISH FACE TO WALL TO ALLOW FOR THE HANGING OF ART WORK. FURR OUT WALL AS NECESSARY TO ENSURE FLAT SURFACE
F
MAKE GOOD SURROUNDING WALL SURFACES WHERE DEMOLITION HAS OCCURRED
NEW ENTRY DOOR TO WOMEN'S BATHROOM
-N OT
• • • • • • • •
1) GENERAL SURVEY OF WALL SURFACES, MAKING GOOD AREAS WHERE DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED; ALLOW FOR GENERAL REPAIR THROUGH PATCHING, SANDING AND SKIM COATING AS AGREED WITH ARCHITECT DURING INITIAL SURVEY
ARTS @ RENAISSANCE 2 KINGSLAND AVENUE, GARDEN LEVEL, BROOKLYN, NY 11211
ACT 1: THRESHOLDS
UP
DATE
NO.
D
09/04/12
1
IS
DEMOLISH WALLS FLANKING DOORWAY AND HALF HEIGHT WALLS WHICH FORM SHOWER ENCLOSURES. DISCONNECT AND CAP SHOWER CONNECTIONS ALONG NORTH WALL DASHED LINES INDICATED NEW TACKABLE WALL SURFACES, INSTALL NEW PLY BACKED GYP BOARD FINISH FACE TO WALL TO ALLOW FOR THE HANGING OF ART WORK. FURR OUT WALL AS NECESSARY TO ENSURE FLAT SURFACE
PHAS
DRAWN BY CHECKED BY ISSUE DATE SCALE
PROJECT NUMBE SHEET NUMBER
SEAL & SIGNATU
1
Fence Art: Andy Uprock
PHASE 1 - PLAN 1/8" = 1'-0"
A
4 1
NYC DOB NUMB
P U U P
GENERAL NOTES: PHASE 2 TO ALLOW FOR FURTHER DEMOLITION AND RECONFIGURATION OF SPACES, INCLUDING ADDITION OF OPERABLE PIVOT WALLS IN CENTRAL GALLERY. IN ADDITION TO WORKS HIGHLIGHTED IN PLAN, GC SHOULD ALLOW FOR THE FOLLOWING WORKS: 1) RECONFIGURATION OF LIGHTING IN LINE WITH RCP SKETCH PROVIDED. WHEREVER POSSIBLE, EXISTING FLUORESCENT LIGHTING AND CLAMP LIGHTING SHOULD BE REUSED. ELECTRICIAN TO UNDERTAKE DETAILED SURVEY OF EXISTING CIRCUITS AND LOADING ALLOWANCES, THEN REVIEW WITH ARCHITECT FOR FURTHER REFINEMENT OF PLAN
The second phase of work will focus primarily on improvements within the core galleries. CR Studio proposes constructing four pivoting walls within the main gallery to allow for a dynamic reconfiguration of this space through the year. An additional screening and presentation area will be added near the elevator, while additional improvements will be made to basic infrastructure such as lighting, furniture. An increase in the legal occupancy levels should be sought during this phase to take advantage of the additional capacity.
INSTALL PAINTED PLY PARTITIONS TO SUBDIVIDE STUDIO INTO BAYS
2) CONSTRUCTION OF MOBILE BAR FOR PUBLIC EVENTS. CONSTRUCTION DETAILS TO BE AGREED WITH ARCHITECT 3) CURTAIN RAILS TO BE ADDED IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS AS AGREED
INSTALL PAINTED PLY PARTITIONS TO SUBDIVIDE STUDIO INTO BAYS
AMPHITHEATER STYLE SEATING SYSTEM TO BE ADDED IN FUTURE AS PART OF LANDSCAPE WORKS
ARTS @ RENAISSANCE 2 KINGSLAND AVENUE, GARDEN LEVEL, BROOKLYN, NY 11211
ACT 2: GALLERY
PROVIDE FOUR STEEL FRAMED PIVOTING PARTITIONS. PAINTED HOMASOTE ON PLY. CONSTRUCTION DETAILS TO BE AGREED WITH ARCHITECT
• Occupancy increase • Expanded gallery flexibility: pivoting walls, curtain rails at ceiling • Wall reconfiguration around elevator • Interior gallery lighting improvements • Design+build furniture (mobile bar)
F
NEW OPERABLE STOREFRONT GLAZING SYSTEM TO BE INTEGRATED ALONG WALL IF BUDGET ALLOWS. FULL DETAILS TO BE REVIEWED WITH AND DEVELOPED BY ARCHITECT IN FUTURE
-N OT
MAKE GOOD SURROUNDING WALL SURFACES WHERE DEMOLITION HAS OCCURRED. NEW WALL SURFACES IN SCREENING AREA TO PROVIDE TACKABLE WALL SURFACE UP
DATE
NO.
D
09/04/12
1
IS
DEMOLISH WALLS FLANKING DOORWAY AND HALF HEIGHT WALLS WHICH FORM SHOWER ENCLOSURES. DISCONNECT AND CAP SHOWER CONNECTIONS ALONG NORTH WALL
PHAS
DRAWN BY CHECKED BY ISSUE DATE SCALE
PROJECT NUMBE SHEET NUMBER
SEAL & SIGNATU
1
PHASE 2 - PLAN 1/8" = 1'-0"
A
Sheila Johnson Center
4 1
NYC DOB NUMB
P U U P
Circulation zone lighting
Exhibition Lighting
Window Shade Detail
Clip-on accent Light
Existing Fluorescent Strips
Mixed Greens Gallery: glowing windows
Clip-on accent Light
Found-object Lights
Shower spigot light
Much dramatic change can be effected by simple alterations to the existing lighting layout.
Sketch layout of proposed lighting improvements as part of “Phase 2�
• • • • • • •
Open wall to courtyard Courtyard treatment Improved egress to exterior Exterior lighting Exterior furniture, redefining edge More signage More design build furniture (storage+cabinetry)
storaGe
eXhiBitioN XhiBitioooNN FLeXiBLe GaLLerY
aMPhiteater
studios sst tud ttu uuddi ddios iio ios os os
scree re r ee e e
1
Large scale public seating at The High LIne
sstud stu tudio tutudios tuudddidio dios ioios ooss
storaGe
The third phase of work is considered “the dream” and should further build on the established improvements by focusing on the external courtyard and landscape. CR Studio proposes opening up the wall separating the central gallery and the courtyard by installing operable glass partitions to breakdown the boundary between exterior and interior. Raked seating will be installed so that this courtyard can serve as a public amphitheater. At ground level above, the south lawn will be improved by reforming the chain-link fence as part of a collective art project, improving overall exterior lighting and furniture and re-imagining this zone as a public exhibition space.
KiNGs LaNd aVeN ue
ACT 3: LANDSCAPE
Basement 1/16" = 1'-0"
M
UP
eXhiBitioN studio/cLassrooM /PerForMaNce
1 A200