INDUSTRIAL HYBRID | ARCH302

For the ASCA and MKM Steel Competition: students were challenged to display innovative ways to build with steel and to imagine the role that architecture can and should play in evolving civic conditions, and to propose unique, appropriate, and dynamic architectural solutions.

Muncie, Indiana has a proud history as a leading manufacturing center within the midwest. Over time, economic and industrial decline has taken a grave toll on the community. According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, in 2020 Muncie’s unemployment rate for its civilian labor force soared to a 16% increase, many workers displaced from high paying manufacturing jobs. Industrial Hybrid aspires to catalyze a shift towards a more innovative and sustainable future, engaging emerging technologies of the 4th Industrial revolution, with the conviction of Muncie’s proud industrial past. The project incorporates programmatic elements to help address imbalances in the community such as a local produce market to provide easy access to healthy produce, a local health center to facilitate access for under-serviced communities, a conditioned gallery space for new aspiring artists, a lounge for fundraising and community events, a full gym to promote healthy living, office space for local businesses, and an auditorium for community events and workforce development to train and re-engage the workforce. These progressive programmatic elements are incorporated into a distinct and expressive architecture which soars confidently and unapologetically from the plaza, creating an iconic landmark and assertively announcing the arrival of a new path forward.