Thesis - Naturally Urban

Naturally Urban

A thesis submitted to The Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE in the school of Architecture and interior Design in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2014 by Corey Thomas Bachelor of Design, University of Florida Associate of Arts, St. Johns River State College First Committee Chair: Michael Mcinturf Second Committee Chair: Jeff Tilman

i| Abstract

| Abstract Within our current transition from a society contagiously sprawling through the natural environment to a more concentrically densifying urban society, architecture can provide a definitive threshold welcoming our consolidation into more authentic urban environments helping to reinvigorate city identity. As the majority of human populations move into cities, our innate sense of belonging is solidified through the development of urban spaces combining aspects of time, culture, and sense of place. Through our misconception of being superior to our landscape, we forget that our urban sprawl problem is suffocating the natural world integral to our existence. By looking inwards at a more concentric society sponsored by the time and heritage of place, architecture can redirect the focus of human development back to authentic interactive city centers filled with diversity and intellectual growth. The role of architectural design should be to visibly root cities into the land that surrounds them making them a more tangible product of the earth, bringing attention to our heritage of place, and helping to define the bounding identity of our increasingly dense urban cores.

With the desire of a fortified relationship between humanity and our natural environment, we can build a stronger sense of belonging to urban space and consolidate our efforts of environmental synthesis.

Destination Urban:

Supporting the general movement towards cities by redefining car storage as a kind of liberating urban waypoint, architecture can openly integrate modern ideas into an established historic fabric, to encourage a more authentic and interactive urban lifestyle.

Š 2014 Corey Lee Thomas All Rights Reserved

iii| Dedication

| Dedication To my family, friends, colleages, and professors who have helped me get to this point, especially Michael Mcinturf and Jeff Tilman I thank you for all your support.

To my Father and Mother, Paul and Tricia Thomas.

To my home town of St. Augustine.

To all readers, thank you for your interest!

Preface| iv

Preface | Looking through a reflective lens, what initially drew me into architecture was the influence space has on the lives of other human beings in a positive way. The realization of thesis comes from the selection of interests obtained during the gradual accumulation of information and learning in the architectural field and in my own life. By affecting the decisions of others through design I realized the potential to make a difference in our society. Through years of participation in the Boy Scouts of America I was immersed in the teachings of a respectful, preservative relationship with the natural world making our connection to the environment an important aspect of design for me. The number one camping rule in scouts to always leave your camp site cleaner than how you found it... Leave no trace. Most of my the more influential life experiences, have been within nature and connected to place. It’s humbling to think of how humanity is just a small fraction of what makes up our natural world. I believe there is an instinctive balance between human beings and other living systems present in our environment which, is beginning to lean too much on our side.

Becoming the most prosperous nation in the world after World War II, the United States began redefining its identity to become more consumer driven with social mobility emphasized by a suburban lifestyle. This changing landscape of cities becoming industrial marked the end of a urban lifestyle and the beginning of mass suburban sprawl. The development trends of temporary suburbanization throughout the nation’s natural landscapes, decimating living habitats to develop a false sense of place for ourselves is naturally redirecting into a consolidating effort now to focus on more positive environmental efforts to foster a new, more complex and exciting urban lifestyle setting within cities. Especially in the smaller towns across the nation, I believe there is a need for some sense of urban identity. Sometimes the smaller cities have the richest identity, sheer size of the city does not matter in this case rather the origin is what matters. When observing European urbanism the segregation between the cities and their surroundings is clear. Thanks to the ring highway bounding Rome the definition of what is Rome as a entity is tangible. This creates a city origin point for all to be oriented. An architecture that can inspire a nostalgic, perseveratory, and sustainable state of mind for the current and future generations has fostered an interest for developing this nonurban transition into urban. Seen through the eyes of a tourist or a local, the transition out of the car to walking brings learning the history and culture of place to the next level. The study of context should have an influence on design by rooting it into a more clearly logical reaction to climate changes, cultural ties, and/or the time of place.

v| Preface

Architecture can inspire an understanding of a place’s value and authenticity through this connection to context; humanity’s place within nature and nature’s place within human society has been made clear. In our present condition related to architecture, Stephen Kellert, a Professor at Yale University who specializes in forestry and environmental studies, wrote a book titled, Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life. He has come up with six different design elements within it that are related to how we can create more meaningful architecture, bringing nature into a more direct relationship with the built environment that we live within. These are environmental features; natural shapes and forms; natural processes and patterns; light and space; place based design; and evolved human-natural relationships. The most interesting element is the connection to place, because I believe there is a need within our society to create places that we can connect with and I believe our natural connection to place can do that. This is not a distant relationship with our organic natural environment but is embodied in all that surrounds us, as the journalist Jane Jacobs realized in the 1960s when she changed the tradition of planning with her book, The Life and Death of American Cities.

These ideas of immersion and the importance of human scaled place making lead towards an understanding that urban environments are in constant need of definition, supported by the current trends of population shifts moving to majority urban, the importance is clear. For the first time in human history, around 2008 more than half of the world population crossed the threshold into cities. Potentially losing sight of ecological realities, the architecture of our future cities needs to hold onto the culture of place and openly honor the environment.

The dual purpose of cities than becomes a place for culture to thrive and a place to focus on our symbiotic relationship with mother nature. There have been studies to show the positive effects that organic natural elements can have on a building occupant. For example, the introduction of water into architecture has been known to increase the general well being of occupants, actually increasing their efficiency and any rehabilitation efforts. In schools, the use of natural light has been known to increase student’s learning capacity and in work environments it can help increase productivity/ efficiency. These are all different incentives for pursue of a more naturalistic design, validating our instinctive connection to place, not only being through history and culture.

Narrative Support:

Throughout this document you will find here, citations and side notes supporting the ideas being discussed in the narrative

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Table of Contents I.

Abstract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

II.

Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

III. Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv IV.

Figures List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

V.

Thesis Statement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 01

VI. Eight Sentences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 VII. Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 VIII. Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 V.

Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

IX.

Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

X.

Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

XI. Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 XII. Design Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 XIII. Outcomes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 XIV. Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 XV. Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Figures| viii

Figures | Figure 1.) Thesis Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 2.) Threshold Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 3.) Foudazione Quirini-Stampalia: Taken and edited by Corey Thomas Figure 4.) Carlo Scarpa: Josipovic, Anamarija. Beatrix Schalk, Kristel Biletski, Elena Yushko , “Research Projec, carlo-scarpa-portrait.” Last modified November 14, 2012. Accessed April 2, 2014. http://makemistakesoften.wordpress.com/carlo-scarpa/carlo-scarpa-as-aninspiration/carlo-scarpa-portrait/.

Figure 5.) Consolidation Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 6.) City Ownership Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 7.) Watts Central Corridor Study: BASE Architecture, “watts central corridor study.”

Accessed January 5, 2014. http://www.base-architecture.com/urban-planning/wattscentral-corridor-study/.

Figure 8.) ZTL Boundary: Courtesy of Google Maps, edited by Corey Thomas Figure 9.) Henderson, Nevada: MacLean, Alex. Over, The American Landscape at the Tipping Point0. Abrams, New York: Abrams, Harry N., Inc, 2008. pg. 292-293 Figure 10.) Spaghetti Bowl: MacLean, Alex. Over, The American Landscape at the Tipping Point0. Abrams, New York: Abrams, Harry N., Inc, 2008. pg. 83.

Figure 11.) Reduction in Carbon Footprint: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 12.) Congested London: Harvey, Fiona. theguardian, “Boris Johnson accused of hiding London air pollution.” Last modified April 24, 2012. Accessed March 7, 2014. http:// www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/apr/24/boris-johnson-london-air-pollution.

Figure 13.) City Museums Map: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 14.) Norberg Schulz: Solveig, Rødland. AHO, “Book launch: An Eye for Place.” Last modified August 25, 2009. Accessed March 7, 2014. http://www.aho.no/en/AHO/Newsand-events/Calendar/2009/Book-launch-An-Eye-for-Place/.

Figure 15.) Shnnon McDonald: podcar.org, “SHANNON MCDONALD.” Last modified April 05, 2012. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://archive.podcar.org/profiles/profiles/news/ shannon-mcdonald/.

Figure 16.) The Parking Garage: parkingcommunity.com, “Parking Publications Section.”

Accessed March 7, 2014. http://www.parkingcommunity.com/publications.htm.

Figure 17.) Peter Kahn: BENJAMIN DRUMMOND / SARA JOY STEELE, “THe Natural Histories Project.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014. http:// naturalhistoriesproject.org/conversations/environmental-generational-amnesia.

Figure 18.) The Human Relationship with Nature: Peter H. Kahn, Jr. The Human Relationship with Nature. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999

ix| Figures

Figure 19.) Combinatory Urbanism: Mayne, Thom. “Combinatory Urbanism.” In Combinatory Urbanism, by Thom Mayne, 45. Culver City: Stray Dog Cafe, 2011.

Figure 20.) Thom Mayne: Jerome, Weeks. Art Seek, “The Perot Museum’s Stairway to Heaven – Or At Least to the Dinosaur Exhibit - See more at: http://artandseek. net/2012/11/14/the-perot-museums-stairway-to-heaven-or-at-least-to-the-dinosaurexhibit/ Figure 21.) Stephen Kellert: Kellert, Stephen. Biological , “Dr. Stephen R. Kellert / Director.”

Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.biologicalcapital.com/board/dr-stephen-r-kellert/.

Figure 22.) Building for Life: Kelert, Stephen R. Building for Life. Washington: Island Press, 2005.

Figure 23.) Ben-Joseph: Bachar, David. HAARETZ, “The solution to urban blight: parking lots.” Last modified July 21, 2012. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.haaretz.com/ weekend/week-s-end/the-solution-to-urban-blight-parking-lots-1.452542.

Figure 24.) Rethinking a Lot: Ben-Joseph, Eran. Rethinking the Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012.

Figure 25.) Car Diagrams: Rethinking a Lot: Ben-Joseph, Eran. Rethinking the Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012. pg 14.

Figure 26.) A Lot of Air Diagrams: Rethinking a Lot: Ben-Joseph, Eran. Rethinking the Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012. pg 19.

Figure 27.) A Lot of Water & Power Diagrams: Rethinking a Lot: Ben-Joseph, Eran.

Rethinking the Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012. pg 18.

Figure 28.) Surface Lots Diagrams: Rethinking a Lot: Ben-Joseph, Eran. Rethinking the Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012. pg 19.

Figure 29.) Urban Elements: Kevin Lynch, The Image of a City, (Cambrige, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1960), 47-48 Figure 30.) The image of the city: Kevin Lynch, The Image of a City, (Cambrige, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1960) Figure 31.) Kevin Lynch: Canniffe, Eamonn. Architecture and Urbanism Blog, “Kevin Lynch: The Image of the City (1960).” Last modified March 28, 2012. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post.html.

Figure 32.) Contextual Code: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 33.) Preliminary Design Visualization: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 34.) FEC Railway to Miami: Florida Memory, “Florida East Coast Railway passenger train leaving for north Miami.” Accessed March 2, 2014. http://www.floridamemory.com/ items/show/26061.

Figures| x

Figure 35.) High Line Map: High Line, “About.” Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www. thehighline.org/about/maps.

Figure 36.) St. Augustine Evolution Diagrams: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 37.) Masafumi Yamasaki: Ritsumeikan University, “Preserving Kyoto’s Cityscapes.”

Accessed March 10, 2014. http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/eng/html/research/areas/feat-projects/ disaster/06-02-cityscapes.html/.

Figure 38.) Trolley Route Map: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 39.) National Movement Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 40.) Megaregions: America 2050, “Florida.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.america2050.org/florida.html.

Figure 41.) State Movement Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 42.) Ponce Inlet: woodyboater.com, “Down the Hatch & Sea Love Marina Antique Boat Show & Swap Meet – On Florida’s East Coast.” Last modified September 16, 2012.

Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.woodyboater.com/communityweb/down-the-hatchsea-love-marina-antique-boat-show-swap-meet-on-floridas-east-coast/.

Figure 43.) St. Augustine Fort Marion: State Archives of Florida, . Florida Memory, “Aerial view of Castillo de San Marcos - Saint Augustine, Florida.” Accessed March 9, 2014. http:// www.floridamemory.com/items/show/7984.

Figure 44.) Fort San Luis, FL: Hornbeck, David. “Spanish Legacy in the Borderlands.”

In The Making of the American Landscape, by Michael P. Conzen, 51-62. New York: Routledge, 1990. 27 Figure 45.) 18th Century Spanish Redoubts: Hornbeck, David. “Spanish Legacy in the Borderlands.” In The Making of the American Landscape, by Michael P. Conzen, 51-62.

New York: Routledge, 1990. 38 Figure 46.) Shrimp Boat: LAMP, “Florida-Style Shrimp Trawler, ca. 1920 - 1980.” Accessed March 10, 2014. http://www.staugustinelighthouse.org/LAMP/Hertiage_Boatbuilding/ St_Augustine_Water _Craft/Shrimp_Trawler.

Figure 47.) Shrimp Boat Components: staugustinelighthouse.org, “Shrimp boat Trawler Diagram.” Last modified 2013. Accessed March 10, 2014. http://www. staugustinelighthouse.org/LAMP/Hertiage_Boatbuilding/St_Augustine_Water _Craft/ Shrimp boat/15_Trawler Rig Diagram_from Ringhaver 1960_Fishing Boats of the World. jpg.

Figure 48.) Wikipedia, “Italo Calvino.” Last modified Feburary 12, 2014. Accessed March 10, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Calvino.

Figure 49.) Tidal Zone Map: Authored by Corey Thomas

xi| Figures

Figure 50.) St. Augustine: “St. Augustine.” 29°52’59.03” N 81° 18’40.28” W. Google Earth.

January, 22, 2013. March 6, 2014.

Figure 51.) Urban Core Systems Maps: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 52.) Jim Dodge: Writers on the Edge inc., “ny beach writers’ series.” Last modified October 19, 2002. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://nyebeachwritersseries.blogspot. com/2002/10/jim-dodge.html.

Figure 53.) Surface Parking Map: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 54.) Car to Go: Car2Go, “Car2go Electric Drive.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014. https://www.car2go.com/en/austin/.

Figure 55.) 1111 Lincoln Rd: Brittex Appraisal Services, Inc., “ 1111 Lincoln Road - A new mixed use building designed by Herzog & de Meuron.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://www.brittexusa.com/1111LincolnRoad.

Figure 56.) 1111 Lincoln Rd: Lomholt, Isabelle. e-architect, “1111 Lincoln Road Miami Beach.” Last modified March 06, 2014. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://www.e-architect. co.uk/miami/1111-lincoln-road.

Figure 57.) 1111 Lincoln Rd: ideasg, “1111 Lincoln Road Parking Garage / Herzog & De Meuron.” Last modified April 26, 2013. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://ideasgn.com/ architecture/1111-lincoln-road-parking-garage-herzog-de-meuron/.

Figure 58.) 1111 Lincoln Rd: 1111, “Architecture.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://www.1111lincolnroad.com/.

Figure 59.) Realistic Render: Gangal, Sanjay. AECCafe, “Zaha Hadid Architects.” Last modified March 12, 2013. Accessed February 28, 2014. http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/ arch-showcase/2013/03/12/collins-park-garage-in-miami-beach-usa-by-zaha-hadidarchitects-2/?interstitial_displayed=Yes. Figure 60.) Public Underlap: Gangal, Sanjay.

Figure 61.) Exploded Axonometric: Gangal, Sanjay.

Figure 62.) Open Edge: Gangal, Sanjay.

Figure 63.) Site Circulation: Gangal, Sanjay.

Figure 64.) Figure ground: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 65.Fort Sea Wall: Taken and edited by Corey Thomas Figure 66.) Eric Fischer, New York tourist vs. locals: Eric, Fischer. flicker, “Locals and Tourist.” Last modified June 05, 2010. Accessed March 9, 2014. https://www.flickr.com/ photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/.

Figure 67.) Eric Fischer, Chicago tourist vs. locals: Eric, Fischer. flicker, “Locals and

Figures| xii

Tourist.”

Figure 68.) Eric Fischer, San Diego tourist vs. locals: Eric, Fischer. flicker, “Locals and Tourist.”

Figure 69.) Eric Fischer, St. Augustine tourist vs. locals: Eric, Fischer. flicker, “Locals and Tourist.”

Figure 70.) Psycometric Chart: Climate consultant, “Energy Plus Energy Simulation Software.” Last modified August 20, 2013. Accessed April 2, 2014. http://apps1.eere.energy. gov/buildings/energyplus/weatherdata_about.cfm?CFID=966883&CFTOKEN=4f68fd5b1f dab267-7009F80A-93FC-6683-004A33C41F329D20&jsessionid=A56E34AF397A3A3744B D44BC22064E24.eere.

Figure 71.) St. Augustine Inlet: Courtesy of Google Maps, edited by Corey Thomas Figure 72.) Lewis Mumford: NNBD, Soylent Communications, “Lewis Mumford.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://www.nndb.com/people/061/000087797/.

Figure 73.) Urban Trend: Site drawing by Corey Thomas Figure 74.) St. Augustine Site: Courtesy of Google Maps, edited by Corey Thomas Figure 75.) Zoning and Building Uses: City of St. Augustine, “City of St. Augustine 2030 Comprehensive Plan Evaluation and Appraisal Report-Based Amendments.” Last modified June 2011. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://www.staugustinegovernment.com/the-city/ documents/St.AugustineCompPlan2030.pdf.

Figure 76.)What would Frank do?: Photo Taken by Tricia Thomas with original Wright Drawing imposed; Phill, Patton. The New York Times, “An Auto Destination, Almost, by Frank Lloyd Wright.” Last modified May 19, 2009. Accessed March 25, 2014. http://wheels. blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/an-auto-destination-almost-by-frank-lloyd-wright/?_ php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1.

Figure 77.)Kings Quarry: Courtesy of Google Maps, edited by Corey Thomas Figure 78.) Castillo de San Marcus: Wilson, Gil. Dr. Bronson, “Defenses of St. Augustine and Spanish Florida.” Accessed March 10, 2014. http://www.drbronsontours.com/ bronsonstaugustinedefenses.html.

Figure 79.) Oyster Drawing: DannyB, . Gonna Stuff a Chicken, “Drawings and Color!.”

Last modified June 05, 2011. Accessed March 10, 2014. http://stuffachicken.blogspot. com/2011/06/drawings-and-color.html.

Figure 80.) Oyster bed: Taken and edited by Corey Thomas Figure 81.) Bastion Defense: Taken and edited by Corey Thomas Figure 82.) Jim Dodge: Streufert, Steven. Bigfoot’c Blog, “BIGFOOT’S BLOG, LATE JUNE

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EDITION.” Last modified June 29, 2010. Accessed March 9, 2014. http://bigfootbooksblog. blogspot.com/2010/06/oregon-sasquatch-symposium-2010-day-one.html.

Figure 83.) Historic Districts Map: Drawn by Corey Thomas Figure 84.) Molluscs: Wikipedia, “Limacina helicina.” Last modified December 09, 2013.

Accessed April 2, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limacina_helicina.

Figure 85.) Trilobites: Dana, James D. New Text-Book of Geology. New York: Ivison, Blakeman & Company, 1883. 222 Figure 86.) Brachiopods: Wikipedia, “Atrypa reticularis.” Last modified August 25, 2013.

Accessed April 2, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrypa_reticularis.

Figure 87.) Skull Image: Science, American Association for the Advancement of. A New Look for Early Homo. 2013. Image. 23 November 2013. <http://www.sciencemag.org/site/ multimedia/slideshows/342.6156.297/index.xhtml>.

Figure 88.) Coquina Locations: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 89.) Experiance Drawing: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 90.) Program Diagram: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 91.)Site Plan Render: Authored by Corey Thomas Figure 92.) Public and Commercial Parking Consolidation: Design and representation by Corey Thomas Figure 93.) St. Augustine Site Conditions Map: Representation Corey Thomas Figure 94.) Redoubt Design: Design and representation by Corey Thomas Figure 95.) Lighthouse Original Drawings: National Archives, Department of Commerce, “Elevation and Plan Drawing for the Lighthouse at Saint Augustine, Florida, 1871.”

Last modified January 07, 1939. Accessed March 4, 2014. http://research.archives.gov/ description/6281866.

Figure 96.)Tower Design: Design and representation by Corey Thomas Figure 97.) Garage Design: Design and representation by Corey Thomas

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01| Thesis Statement:

Thesis Statement: “Within our current transition from a society contagiously sprawling through the natural environment to a more concentrically densifying urban society, architecture can provide a definitive threshold welcoming our consolidation into more authentic urban environments helping to reinvigorate city identity.”

NON-URBAN

URBAN

21% of US Pop.1

79% of US Pop.1

NATURE

TRANSITION

Natural

Diversity

Sense of Place

Scenic

Cars

Site THRESHOLD

People

Movement

Walkability CITY

Periphery

Participatory

Simple

Cooperative

Figure 1.) Thesis Diagram Figure 2.) Threshold Diagram

Isolation

Citizenship

HUB

Waypoint

Landmark

Filter

Temporary Arch.

Lasting Arch.

1.)Population percentages: Kaiser, . Kaiser Family Foundation, “Urban Population.” Last modified October 24, 2013. Accessed March 2, 2014. http://kff.org/globalindicator/urbanpopulation/.

Thesis Statement:

| 02

Threshold The topic of urban thresholds is a subjective discussion related to movement. The focus needed to become a master lies within the connectivity to place in an environmental/ vernacular sense, integrating place into the architecture. While we currently have a detrimental effect on nature as a species, my hope is that we can begin to design buildings with regenerative connections to place, fortifying a sense of authenticity and belonging that has been gradually melting away through the sprawl of our constructed environment.

Non-Urban

How can architecture filter people into the city?

Urban

How can new architecture transition into a historic district?

Modern

Historic

How can architecture facilitate our desire for walking over driving?

Car

Walk

03| Thesis Statement:

The thresholds just identifyed are to be omnipresent throughout research in order to portray authenticity in design through contextualism. The story is seen through the methodology and examples. Progressing into design from a distance to eventually formulate responses, the methodology tree will bring together a style of place. Carlos Scarpaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work in Venice, Italy joins and enhances buildings in an organic fashion sometimes merging the encroaching sea level intentionally into his designs, embracing the power of nature. Most of his work in Venice is sensitive to time and history of the place using relative materials. The shifts in material are often revealing of either the construction methods or the poetic dynamic existing between materials.

By using his methodology with materials, the design becomes instantly more contextual and therefore, connected.

Figure 3.) Fondazione Quirini-Stampalia Figure 4.) Carlo Scarpa

8 Sentences| 04

8 Sentences |

As the majority of human population moves into cities, our innate sense of belonging

Problem

1. that has faded away due to the development of urban spaces giving primary concern to cars neglects our indispensable relationship to free movement.

CAR

2.

The issue of cities growing in unsustainable ways gives a need for the rethinking of how we relate to our cities and how our cities relate to their environments.

NON-URBAN

3.

URBAN

Modern architecture has always struggled with intervening in historic contexts, often resulting with a design unrespectful to its contextual fabric.

MODERN

HISTORIC

Within our current transition from a society contagiously sprawling through the

Figure 5.) Consolidation Diagram

Idea

WALK

4.

natural environment architecture can provide a definitive threshold welcoming our consolidation into more authentic urban environments helping to reinvigorate city identity.

05| 8 Sentences

By studying the human-environment connection I plan to rethink the idea of parking as a valuable example of consolidating sprawl into an evolved urban life setting to help 5. start the development of organic relationships within the solidity of our environment.

WALK

Solution

CAR

Within the already established momentum of combinatory urbanism started by Thom Mayne I will solidify a conceptual design ethic that can give character to buildings on

6.

the edge of urban contexts to prevent us from losing our connections of place.

URBAN

NON-URBAN

Parking will challenge the discourse of city growth identifying what is missing in the city and moving towards a more widespread solution for our internal problem of parking, 7. featurelessly defining St. Augustine, FLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic character of authenticity..

HISTORIC

MODERN

A construct that promotes the integration of heritage into an urban situation by providing a destination point for cars to give people the experience of St. Augustine through a

more environmentally rejuvenating and contextually exemplary style of urban activity. 8.

Outcome

Problem| 06

Problem |

Micro How can our built environment better relate to the natural world within the high population densities that are necessary for urban life while maintaining a strong sense of cultural belonging?

CITY

American culture has continually forsaken the interest in urban social life throughout history because of our continued search for â&#x20AC;&#x153;placeâ&#x20AC;?. The rural bliss of space and openness has become a distant memory for much of the world. As the majority of human populations

PEOPLE CARS

move into cities, our innate sense of belonging is beginning to fade away by the development of urban spaces that are neglecting contextual design ethics to emphasize our indispensable relation to the natural world through man-made structures. We need to accept the responsibilities of the future, encapsulating the current problems created by the industrial age of the past by designing a sense of unity with environment through the built form.

Instead of encroaching we can bring the necessary relationship humanity has with earth to the forefront of architectural interaction.

Figure 6.) City Ownership Diagram

When I think of the more influential life experiences, I realize how a large portion of my memories come from within the car traveling to and from places, in a way detached from reality not immersed in participation. The car separates us from our environment, countering our instinctive bond with other living systems present in the world of nature that we can learn from. Looking at architecture as a tool for mankind to play between our environment and ourselves, reflects a potential to impact society as a whole, to evolve our built environment.

Figure 7.)Watts Central Corridor Study.

Los Angeles, CA - A place completely dedicated to the car. This mile-long 75-acre corridor stretches between Manchester Boulevard and Imperial Highway proposed land use, zoning, building design and streetscape standards along Central Avenue. They are starting to define the limits of connectivity to the city.

BASE, in association with Carrier Johnson, completed these services, as well as community outreach, parking analysis, traffic studies and cost estimates.

07| Problem

Rome, Italy has been constantly evolving as an adaptive entity throughout the ages. It was where the first roads were paved and is now home to an elaborate transit system connecting all parts of the city with different methods while preserving the historic artifacts within the urban landscape. They still have the use of private transportation, such as cars, taxis, and walking; but they also have public transit methodically networked between different important areas of the city. With the metro, buses, and trains the use of private transit is unnecessary. The public transit crowd is comprised of either people without cars, people who respect the natural environment, young people, and people coming from distances that would be to expensive by car. Rome uses a resident permission pass in ZTLs or Limited Traffic Zone to regulate the car traffic in the historic core of the city. This prevents people from crowding the streets of the more touristic areas leaving plenty of space for people to walk through the city and get a full understanding of its character. If you drive through one of these restricted areas a traffic camera takes a picture of your license plate and then you are

2.) Rometour.org, “Rome Traffic Restrictions.” Last modified July 07, 2011.

Accessed March 2, 2014. http://rometour.org/rometraffic-restrictions.html.

mailed a ticket.

2

ROME: ZTL Figure 8.) ZTL Boundary.

Rometour.org, “Rome Traffic Restrictions.” Last modified July 07, 2011.

Accessed March 2, 2014. http://rometour.org/rometraffic-restrictions.html.

Problem| 08

Figure 9.) Henderson, Nevada A suburb located 15 miles outside of Las Vegas, is one of Nevadas fastest growing cities and is now Nevadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second largest city. To build homes quickly and cheaply, developers use assembly lineinspired design and construction methods.

These two images show how we are creating a larger demand for infrastructure, never satisfying the continuation of pollution and sprawl.

Figure 10.) Sphaghetti Bowl.

Where U.S. 95 and 93 intersect 15 in Las Vegas, NV, several mulitmillion-dollar lane-widening projects are scheduled for this stretch of highway, which, despite its size, is subject to heavy traffic every day.

09| Problem

After World War II the United States began redefining its identity to become more consumer driven emphasized by the freedom of social mobility yielding a suburban lifestyle. This decline of industrial cities marked the end of an urban lifestyle to spark mass suburbanization, sprawling throughout the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landscapes decimated natural habitats

IMPACT MPG < 20 12,000 miles/ year

primarily thanks to the car. The built typology of parking has become a quintessential pattern of our wastefulness; surrounded by problems related to the importance we give convenience. The gaffe of relatively wasted space devoted to an occasional overuse of cars needs to be redesigned to inspire a sense of belonging within cities which account for 72% of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pollution. Our innate sense of belonging is highlighted by the indispensable walkable urban development that creates livable cities. By leaving our cars behind after entering a city the experience becomes more about an interactive place filtering into a more diverse, cooperative, and involved citizenship.

Looking just at carbon footprint of car use, our impact on the environment equals an average 10 tons of CO2 gas emissions per year. This is based off a global average of around 20 mpg of 12,000 miles per year. Amongst the important figures working in the parking industry there seems to be an agreement that on average 30% of cars driving in a city are looking for

10 tons of CO2 Emissions per year

10

Tons

12,000 -(12,000 x .3) 12,000 - 3,600 = 8,400

parking. So by eliminating the need to search we can potentially eliminate 3 tons of carbon released from each car per year which is one great incentive for walkable urban life and the

- 30%

reduction of car dependency. This physical gap coupled with an increasing awareness of resource limitations lead to functional inefficiencies that result in suburban flight, ending the brief period in human history of suburban growth initiated by the industrial revolution 200 years ago. Now the population has a major desire for urban lifestyles with little to no capacity. In the smaller cities around the nation such as St. Augustine, Florida there is a

7

Tons

need to increase the capacity of the city with parking provisions that are well integrated and connected to the historic center. The capacity to host tourists and locals alike is an important balance that becomes crucial for the success or failure of a city to survive like in Venice, Italy.

Although St. Augustineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main source of revenue is tourism, the importance given to the city image is not fully realized.

3

Tons

Figure 11.) Reduction of Carbon Footprint

Problem| 10

|

Macro The Significance of this discrepancy between what is natural and what is built lies within the union of societal structure and the naturally occurring structure of our environment. The eventual merging of these two sides of life can give people a stronger connection to their place of origin and cure the need to move towards a more non-urban place of being. As humans we have a deep connection with our natural environment, which can be supported by the construction of spaces that allow for this connection to happen. While buildings have become more “sustainable” in recent years there is not a clear correlation between the environmental qualities of buildings and their portrayal to the user. Currently we are creating buildings that are marked as sustainable but they often have little environmental weight within the regenerative field of sustainability, not only fail to rejuvenate nature, but also ourselves. This issue and the fact that humans are instinctively connected to nature gives a need for the rethinking of how buildings are seen as sustainable and how design can help solidify this connection.

The topic of transitioning into an urban culture can be a subjective discussion related to behavior, emotion, trends, and technology, but the focus needed to become a master of this transition lies within place making for the reinforcement of urban identities. By integrating clean ideas about nature within society and revealing how our species currently has a detrimental effect on it the hope is that we can cooperatively influence building design to redefine our sense of place and belonging. With the end of colonization, now fossil fuels, our focus needs to be redirected towards the continued development of existing places.

In London, England the adverse affects of the car have been extremely detrimental to air

3.) Wikipedia, “London congestion charge.” Last modified February 23, 2014. Accessed March 7, 2014. http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/London_ congestion_charge.

Figure 12.) Congested London: Poor air quality in London was due to the over use of fossil fuel transportation in the city with the traffic..

quality in and around the city. Their response to this increased threat to public safety was the congestion charge establishing driving rules to reinvigorate the city core master plan functions. This charges drivers in the city center between 7:00am and 6:00pm, Monday through Friday. The charge aims to reduce congestion, and to raise investment funds for London’s transport system.3

11| Problem

Looking into the larger scale of urban complexity; In Venice they have no roads and it is a completely walkable city not much different in size than St. Augustine. Also I found that Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s congestion pricing resulted in a 25% decrease in congestion overnight. With this dramatic decrease in congestion comes a decrease in pollution as well leading to an improved quality of life. The interesting thing about this project precedent which I would like to continue looking further into is the criteria for determining the boundary of the zone.

While the boundaries of St. Augustine are largely apparent I would like to understand what other forces could impact that boundary to create places that we can connect with and foster to the recent overwhelming demand for urban life.

As we make distinctions between the two conditions of urban and non-urban the built environment can be seen as our main form of remembrance and passing on of information.

Living in a time where no one can separate themselves from the global community, we often have a synergistic decision making process. Professor Daniel Stokols, who teaches at the University of California Irvine, had a lecture series about environmental psychology, which related people to their everyday social and physical environments. He talked about the impact of our environment on our behavior and personality. 4 The study of environmental psychology began in the late 1960s, due to our understnading of resource depletion. This realization began to give a growing number of people the respect for nature similar to that of Frank Lloyd Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s architecture. With the constant presence and connectivity to the world through digital media, we as designers have to not only deal with the environmental aspects of site but also the sociological aspects of life, to produce resonating designs that stand firm within the pressures of society.

Wayfinding through psychological and environmental circumstances can sometimes move us from feeling anxiety to fruitful action. We know that the environment has a direct impact on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality so by developing places with personality we can engender any particular sense of personality onto users. By simply mediating the relationship between environment, behavior, cognition, and well-being we can allow for the revelation of evolved personalities.

Our natural reactions to global events have interconnected relationships between people allowing them to realize their impact on the environment and its processes along with its qualities of light, space, and sense of place. The most interesting element is the connection to place, identifying the need within our society to create places that we can develop our symbiotic relationship to nature.

4.) Stokols, Daniel.

Lecture 01 - Introduction to Environmental Psychology. August 22, 2012. https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UyzrTQN6z4g (accessed January 21, 2013).

Problem| 12

|

Deduction To help rehabilitate existing urban cores modern architectural techniques and technologies will be integrated into historic fabrics to promote not only a diverse social landscape but built landscape as well, encouraging a more interactive urban lifestyle and welcoming the human scale of participation into the city. This can be done by first realizing that personal transportation will never cease to exist and by defining the boundaries of city we gain control over the impact of the car inside the city. Architecture can make the first step in this direction by redefining the threshold into cities as liberating way points to relieve urban cores from the negative affects associated with vehicular compatibility. With this reorienting presence we immediately begin to see urban cores developing their own identities, separating the urban and non-urban zones of human occupation. Influenced by the already establishing momentum of urbanism framed by Thom Mayneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s line of inquiry, cultivating existing geography, climate, history, and culture of place into designs that deepen societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interrelationships, architecture can strengthen urban consciousness.

By developing relationships necessary for a sustainable human existence, we can help to consolidate sprawl into an evolved urban life setting occupied first on the boundary of urban core. This can result in a definitive threshold which would welcome our transition into existing stratums of density. These were perceived by Kevin Lynch as paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Within the fractures of established urban contexts and their borders, this architectural ethic melds the large modern architectural ideas related to sustainability and urbanity with the smaller preexisting historic city fabric, starting with a primary waypoint or hub to environmentally synchronize our movements away from the car. By creating an interstitial building type that defines the urban experience, architecture can make downtowns a logical choice for development through densification.

13| Problem

Figure 13.) City Museums Map: This map shows the locations of various museums already in place within the city limits.

The concentration being around the historic urban core, St. Augustine is a opportune city to act as a museum. With its original development being in the late 16th century the entire urban core emulates history.

Figure 14.) Norberg-Schulz

“To identify with a place primarily means to be open to its character or ‘genius loci’ and to have a place in common means to share the experience of the local character. To respect the place, finally, means to adapt new buildings to this character.” 5 Christian Norberg-Schulz’s book “Genies Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture” can help us recognize our spirit of place.

5.) Norberg-Schulz, C.: The Concept of Dwelling, on the way to figurative architecture, 1985, New York: Rizzoli, p. 63.

Literature | 14

Literature | Reviews |

The Parking Garage: Design and Evolution of a Modern Form Working around the fact that over 50% of the world’s population is living in urban areas and that number is constantly increasing I have examined some key texts to develop an attitude for the future focus of urban architecture. The Parking Garage: Design and Evolution of a Modern Form by Shannon McDonald, an architect practicing in Georgia and Illinois

“The challenge today is to connect the rural and the urban in a new paradigm, one that reaches far beyond anything ever envisioned.” 6 6.) McDonald, Shannon Sanders. The Parking Garage: Design and Evolution of a Modern Urban Form.

Washington: ULI - the Urban Land Institute, 2007.

who frequently speaks on the topics of parking and transportation within the discourse of architecture, unfolds the evolution of parking garages as the most important architectural typology in urban life. McDonald is clear with her words and her text focused on the integration of parking into the urban landscape.

By providing numerous examples she demonstrated that the consolidation of surface parking into garages is a key focus by allowing space for the development of new and possibly more sociologically supportive building types and/or providing space for nature parks to easily be integrated into cities. Many of the parking issues revolve around the downtown, urban cores in cities today. There are two major sides in the battle of parking strategies. One is pushing the parking to the periphery of cities; the “protection” strategy, and relying on public transit for movement within cities while the other is integrating parking into the core or the “integration” strategy by occupying what would otherwise be unused land through urban

7.) McDonald. 26..

infill resulting in a centralized distribution point for all movement to begin.7 In creating a stronger sense of place, the parking at the periphery seems to be a more fitting solution

Figure 15.) Shannon McDonald

since the primary mode of movement would then be given back to the more human-scaled connecting modes of walking or biking. This fosters a lifestyle meant for urban dwellers and the more transient participants to interact in public spaces, promoting a relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit.

The text gives clues as to which strategy for the city is more conducive for the historic image of the city; the protection strategy separates the urban fabric from a heavy automobile environment into a more historically correct city as a museum. As McDonald explains, the evolution of garage architecture has been focused on a different aspect each decade since

8.) McDonald. 11..

1917 when someone built a garage reminiscent of a barn.8 McDonald acknowledges that

Figure 16.) The Parking Garage

in Europe the cities were already formed by the time the car was a major part of society, but in America the cars was able to heavily influence our cities’ designs, excluding the historic urban cores.

15| Literature

The Human Relationship with Nature:

|

On the other side of this urban and non urban analysis I looked at the non-urban, in this case the natural environment. This text is by Peter H. Kahn, Jr who is a professor at the University of Washington in the department of psychology. He has written a number of books related to the topic of our relationship to nature. There is an interesting development related to defining place through a biophilic or love of nature approach. Without a strong connection to our environment, there is a high risk that parts of society will not be able to learn from a reality of nature and survive in the future.

Kahn discusses the impact on children who are now viewing nature more through the augmented lens of technology than through experience. This relationship is an important part of societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s developmental future and the general trend of children not having the contact past generations have had with nature could have a negative effect on the longevity of human existence on earth. While the movement of population into cities is taking people out of the wilderness it has been acknowledged that we still need to have some connection to it. The no child left inside movement is seeking to encourage and provide funding for environmental education of children. They have become endorsed by 58 different

organizations as of 2007, promoting the need to educate for the future.9 There are valuable lessons within the perspective of children as untainted views into our own world which we may not realize without their involvement. Simple and straightforward responses to a

9.) Peter H. Kahn, Jr. The Human Relationship with Nature. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1999

survey Kahn did reveal this lens as a positive inflection on societal values moving gradually into a more sustainable and optimistic future. We know that the environment has a direct relation with peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personality so by developing places with personality we can sway some

Figure 17.) Peter Kahn

particular sense into users by mediating the relationship between environment, behavior, cognition, and well-being and allowing for the realization of evolved personalities.

This close tie we have with our environment seems to be a primary aspect of urban life in need of support. Reinforcing a sense of place allows for the development of culture and traditions that make urban life more meaningful.

Figure 18.) The Human Relationship with Nature

Literature | 16

|

Combinatory Urbanism: The Complex Behavior of Collective Form Identifying parking as the problem of modern urbanity is embedded within larger ideas of city established by Thom Mayne in his book titled Combinatory Urbanism: The complex Behavior of collective form. Mayne talks about how architecture and urban planning have changed dramatically in the past few decades. Designing singular buildings plugged into urban planning matrixes is no longer a viable strategy for future architects. Our society’s multiple relationships are too complex and dynamic. As cities mature their architectural conception of form must inevitably expand to embrace design parameters geared toward solving the multiplicity of demands inherent in any contemporary project. Projects claim

10.) Mayne, Thom.

“Combinatory Urbanism.” In Combinatory Urbanism, by Thom Mayne, 45. Culver City: Stray Dog Cafe, 2011. 9.

no singularity but are instead dependent on and expressive of specific urban conditions.10 They seek a balance between the immaterial ideas of the design process and the tangible products of design to establish new criteria by which they can be understood, evaluated, and inhabited. Mastering the contingent spaces that appear in the city as a consequence of design are crucial to the city’s vitality, mystery, and beauty. The overall strategy of design has required the development of specific serial protocols for integrating architecture and urban concerns to be implemented by myriad stakeholders over time. Mayne talks a little about his parametric modeling, particularly in relation to incremental phasing and asymmetrical accumulations connecting singularities that form important moments of coherency within

11.) Mayne. 15.

the complex conditions that they embrace and forge.11

He calls out three main issues of combinatory urbanism starting with style which is derived by the distinctiveness of analyzing the uniqueness embedded in the precise conditions of each project’s program, site, and time. The second issue is the relationship of urban architecture to existing landscapes. Parts of a greater whole, architecture can employ a codependent engine 12.) Mayne.16.

of creative tension.12 The last and third issue he explains is the need for poetics in urban

architecture that describe interactive flows from the confluence of material, intellectual, and emotional energies that are liberated by the particular acts of insight that all those involved perform.

Figure 19.) Combinatory Urbanism

17| Literature

Curbing the prevailing paradigm of cities biological evolution as producing increasingly complex life forms over time. As Mayne says, “Systems never get simpler.”13 Our time suffers

13.) Mayne. 28.

from an inability to organize urban formation which is now understood as an accumulation of spontaneous, non-sequential elements that overlap and fragment into integrated networks along with finance, migration, communication, and resources. While we more comfortably allow biological models to influence our perception of urban constructs, we

must translate patterns of human behavior into urban systems and spaces.14 Architecture

14.) Mayne. 29.

must accommodate and take advantage of the rapid changes and increased complexities of contemporary reality to foster social cooperation or generate an engaged public sphere, keeping the individual looking outwards instead of inwards towards a privatized place of self. Mayne alludes to a strategy for dealing with urban safety using densification followed by the return of most of our land to nature. “There are no opposites in Nature” says Walter

Kaufman, in Mayne’s book.15 Urban agglomeration of events is what brings uniqueness to

15.) Mayne. 45.

any site, increasing the emphasis on the local. Kneading the forces affecting a particular site can provide formal characteristics of design. With the first step in formalizing a building being manipulation of a site the neighboring constructs are the first to have an opinion on the edge of a historic district.

Figure 20.) Thom Mayne

Literature | 18

|

Building for Life Stephen R. Kellertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book, Building for life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection brings an initial view towards the repair and restoration of our interaction with our environment grounded within architecture. While explaining the connection between human and natural systems he identifies nine basic values of biophilia being utilitarian, dominionistic, naturalistic, scientific, symbolic, aesthetic, humanistic, negativistic, and

16.) Kellert, Stephen R. Building for Life. Washington: Island Press, 2005.

moralistic.16 These values are marked as weak genetic tendencies that are imperative to human well-being. He says that many modern people have marked the dependency on nature as an ancient tradition that is no longer needed but nature is needed and has continually been used by all people across the world. His primary idea that caught my attention within the book was that a secure and satisfying spirit of place can lead to the reduction of the adverse effects buildings can have on human health and natural systems through promotion of the human-nature connection in the built environment. Talking about restorative and low-impact environmental design, he leads back into the Biophilic design topic, defining the subtopic of organic design as buildings with a direct affinity for natural features and of processes.

As an overview of the human-nature relationship he establishes a set of ethics that puts focus on our need for the environment, giving notice to natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more prevalent occurrence within architecture. After the late 1960s environmental psychology began sparking a new charge that buildings should try to address.17 Within the context of an urban architectural

17.) Stokols, Daniel.

Lecture 01 - Introduction to Environmental Psychology.

August 22, 2012. https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UyzrTQN6z4g (accessed January 21, 2013).

Figure 21.) Stephen Kellert

situation the role of a building not only includes providing shelter but also a sense of security and improvement in our general well-being. The argument is that by learning the linguistics of nature we can acquire a less imposing design standard, integrating our built and natural worlds together. I see the underutilized building typology of parking as an opportunity for improving these roles within high density urban environments.

Figure 22.) Building for Life

19| Literature

Rethinking a Lot

|

In Eran Ben-Joseph’s book titled Rethinking a Lot, he challenges our current perception of parking and endeavors focus our attention on Parking through an explanation of our previous situations leading us to today. As everyone knows, we are all dependent on parking as a normality. Parking your car signifies the beginning and end of every day so it’s a part of most people’s everyday life. The current situation of parking has solved the old problems of congested streets with off-street parking, but Ben-Joseph argues that we are not creating an improved urban environment but rather an uninspiring waste of space. The apparent need for parking and its value can be seen as an opportunity for injection of positive place making design. With so many parking surfaces covering the natural soil we have condemned ourselves to a series of environmental and land conservation issues.18 There is always at least half of a given site dedicated to parking because of codes enforced within different cities.

Within the first third of the book titled “A Lot in Common” Ben-Joseph organizes the text into

18.) Ben-Joseph, Eran.

Rethinking the Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2012.

ten sub topics. All of these topics begin to look at parking through different lenses. Starting with “Mediocrity” he tries to expose the deficiencies present in parking today. Designers do not waste their time designing parking lots because there is no interest in the program. They have not exactly been in many design competitions. Why is that? Ben-Joseph references the Wiley Graphic Standards book which is supposed to be used by many practicing architects and students today. Within its text there is only about four pages dedicated to parking out of almost 500 pages.19 It is a neglected topic given a notably bad connotation.

19.) Ben-Joseph.

“Demand” is the next focus of the book, emphasizing the need we have for personal

Figure 23.) Ben-Joseph

transportation today. He states that over 90% of commuters utilize personal transportation.

While this may or may not be true there is without a doubt a large demand for parking space in and around urban areas where business is conducted. Commuters fill the empty space during their business hours and need the space available every morning without fail.

As long as the method of personal transportation (the car) is still around there will be a demand for parking. Although we are still dependent on personal transportation I do see a decline thanks to public transportation continually improving in our urban environments.

The concentration of vehicles to a single location can feed a system of public transit such as

Figure 24.) Rethinking a Lot

bus routes or light rail, similar to the old rail line in New York known as the high line.

Figure 25.) Car Digrams: Showing our relationship to the car and its relation to land.

Literature | 20

Covering 50% of this area with trees could remove 1,260,805 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

The different types of parking are important to identify and Ben-Joseph does so by categorizing 5 different parking typologies. Multi-family residential housing usually has the smallest parking area of the five. The strip mall comes in second with its long building always stocked with parking to one side. Office parks then come in third with their usually excessive amounts of surface parking, completely surrounding all buildings with pavement.

Big box retail has on the third largest amount of parking space. Second to last is the whole city block covered in parking (usually public) typology followed by the stadium. Each one of these parking examples serves a different function to a different demographic or event. The most in need of help that is readily apparent being the public parking lots we see in urban contexts.

How people use parking is what defines its value. In the “Occupied” third sub-topic BenJoseph studies the amount of parking spaces we currently have in the United States. With a typical parking space ranging from 8-10 feet wide and 18-20 feet deep we can figure an

Covering 50% of this area with trees could generate 822,264 tons of oxygen per year.

average parking spot being somewhere between 144-200 square feet. Somewhere between 105 million to 2 billion parking spaces exist in the U.S. At a median of 419 million spaces the total area of our parking surfaces could cover Puerto Rico... Maybe some consolidation would be a good idea at this point.

Studies have been done to show differences between parking techniques occurring every time you go to a commercial location. The two revealed in the text have their own specific objectives. One technique being to park as close to the door as possible and the other being to park as quickly as possible and then just walk to your destination. The second of the two, “park and walk,” takes an average of 61 seconds while the other technique takes an average of 71 seconds.

Figure 26.) A Lot of Air Diagrams.

Global impact realization shows the scale of air quality by compairing 5,500 blue whales or 20,000 african elephants to half that amount of square footage in trees.

21| Literature

The most obvious reason that parking strategies are often neglected in design is “cost and consequences.” Surface parking costs an average of $4,000 per-space and a single elevated parking structure spot cost and average of $20,000 per space, five times the base cost. I can

Covering 50% of this area with trees could generate 2 billion m3 of storm water runoff per year.

see the initial cost being tremendously more but they also become of value by returning money through what I would call “value income” similar to the results of union square garage in San Francisco. Ben-Joseph depicts the value our under utilized parking spaces have. For example he shows that by covering the total area of 4,437 square kilometers of parking spots with solar panels, you can generate 11 billion kwh per day, powering 11 million households for 1 month and while the united states only 27 cars per square kilometer we also have a staggering 814 cars per every 1,000 people.

Ben-Joseph then introduces “Lots of lifestyles” which begins to inform on the possibilities of different parking social typologies. Children’s safety is of primary concern, solved with the parking pal magnet for children to place their hand, keeping them immobile and out of harm’s way until their parents can walk them across the dangerous parking lot. Empty parking lots are often used as free gathering spots for the youth. Food vendors set up in parking lots sometimes providing additional amenities such as Wi-Fi attracting business and popularity to a location. Tailgating at or near stadiums is a huge use related to parking lots

Covering all of this area with trees could generate 11 billion kwh of electricity per day (powering 11 million households for 1 month).

that is one of the most infrequent. Boon docking is also covered in the text referring to the traveling circuit of RVs revolving around Wal-Mart parking lots across the country.

The most interesting but elusive section for me is “Nature.” As I am also thinking of nature’s connection within urban life, the connection we have with nature could be strongly reinforced through different parking strategies to include nature. It brings up thoughts about sustainability which some think should be thought of as a standard but I don’t think it’s at a good enough quality to be adopted as the norm. There are still many different relationships we have to establish between our built environment and also our lifestyles. The relationship to water poses a huge threat because of our resource management skills related to watershed.

Joseph mentions retaining ponds which can be noticed along many roads becoming a popular solution to adding impervious landscaping such as parking. Landscaping can affect people’s behavior, even within the minute adaptations a parking zone can establish for itself.

The “Public Realm” focuses on the underutilized lots serving alternative uses. Not only

Figure 27.) A Lot of Water & Power Diagrams.

Global impact realization shows the scale of water and power quality by compairing 1,000 empire state buildings or 11 million housholds stormwater runoff and electricity.

Literature | 22

are parking lots a defining characteristic of our public world, they are an integral part of everyday life. Ben-Joseph talks about the different functions available to occupy vacant lots.

Community mail boxes and drive in churches are some of his examples. These lead the focus of parking as defining spaces in our urban fabric that can be used for support as common infrastructure. I think parking is thought of today as infrastructure but there is a deeper category that parking falls into rooted more within the active life of social interaction.

When you first clam a parking spot it is yours. “Mental domination” is his second to last sub-topic bringing the right to your territory into play with the temporary ownership people feel when they settle their car in a spot. Their spots relationship between security and attractiveness, through Ben-Josephs graph, differentiates vegetation from landscape design.

While vegetation reduces the sense of security it extremely boosts attractiveness, landscape design increases both security and attractiveness. This supports managed arrangements with controlled vegetation is welcomed more than the simple growth of natural occurrence making people more likely to claim a spot if it’s touched by design. Ben-Joseph lastly explains that resorts are the only constructed typology that premiers the design of parking locations as key for their livelihood, revealed in the “First and last” sub-topic.

The overall outcome of the text concludes that there are methods of improving our parking design through a more urgent concern in every stage of design related to function and aesthetics. In the next step of the book, Eran begins to describe the history of cars and there unanticipated effects on society especially within the urban environment. He then follows up with a few inspiring examples of resent parking designs that have proved to be a plus compared to what we tend to accept as the norm. Also, the water conservative attitude comes out of the fold to mitigate a translation of our runoffs to pure aquifer water which he refers to as the “infrastructure metamorphosis.”

Orange: Surface Parking Black: Buildings footprints Grey: Roads White: Unpaved areas Figure 28.) Surface Lots Diagrams. 19.

Showing typical urban conditions in the United States and surface parking lots’ coverage.

23| Literature

The Image of a City

|

As I alluded to Kevin Lynch previously, he has become a very influential urban thinker describing the elements that create our urban image in his book titled The image of a city as paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.20 He points out that many of these general

elements can be seen from different perspectives like how a road can be seen as a path from a driver and edge for a pedestrian. With a better understanding of what role buildings and the voids around them play within the collective image of a city we can better the chances for

20.) Kevin Lynch, The Image of a City, (Cambrige, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1960), 46-90

a more successful methodology. In Lynchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book titled: What time is this Place he explains an understanding of change that gives meaning to a place related to the accretion of information over time that can be tied into a development strategy similar to Thom Mayneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concepts of combinatory practice.

Path

Recognizing that the view from the city should be different from the view of the city we should focuse on the Inside vs. outside of the edge that defines the boundary of the city.

Lynch describes the edge condition to be linear elements not used as paths which are channels along which the observer moves. The other three elements that make the city for

Edges

him are districts, medium to large sections that have a common identification or character, nodes, points or foci to and from which people travel, and landmarks, external nodes that are only experienced from the exterior. By using these direct ideas about place making the design can embody Lynchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s respect for our environment to better our relationship to context.

Districts

Nodes

Landmarks Figure 29. ) Urban Elements, above Figure 30. ) The Image of the City, first to the left Figure 31. ) Kevin Lynch, second to the left

Methodology| 24

Methodology | The focus needed to become a master of contextuality lies within this connection to place.

In an environmental, historic, and cultural sense the project learns from the different roles of the city itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s situated within. While we currently have a detrimental effect on our natural environment as a species, by designing buildings with strong connections to city systems architecture can fortify a sustainable sense relationship with our environemnt. Looking through the lens of a planner the relationship of the garage to the city becomes apparent as a vital organ necessary for the survival of the larger entity, in this case, St. Augustine.

Within the already established momentum of contextuality framed by Thom Mayne, Kevin Lynch, and Anthony Tung the conceptual design ethic has been solidified into a hybrid methodology that can be applied to urban development, preventing us from losing or connection with place again. Rethinking this connection and the idea of parking as a valuable medium for the integration of rural beginnings into an evolved urban life setting instead fosters to our already growing urban population percentages. Parking garages are often seen as a stepping stone instead of destination but after rethinking itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role for the context around it the garage can surely orchestrate its users to experience the city in new ways by becoming to a destination that leads to others.

By looking at the data presented by the context of St. Augustine the design elements can assume specific responsibilities. With a need for some specific function or purpose, the design takes life. This process should foster authentic design with undisputed origin to create a genuine architecture of place. Connencting people to the historic city center through a filter gives the chance to set a mood for the city as new and interesting places are waiting to be discovered within.

25| Methodology

CONTEXTUAL CODE

Time Henry Flagler

Culture Tourism

Social Support

Shrimp

Role of the City

Style Experience Poetics

Data

Learning Point

Design Elements

Place Water

Car

Community Interaction

Role of the City

Spanish Art Guidance

Data

Hospitality

Destination

Design Elements

Coquina

Access to Basic Needs

Parking 2030 Plan 450th

Figure 32. ) Contextual Code.

By focusing on these three princeples of time, culture, and place, the design process negotiates between its responsibility to fit into the roles of the city and the data of site information with historical influences.

Yeilding design components that can be used to solidify the relationship between the building and the city core.

Path of Movement

5

12

1:

TOURIST, MUSEUM LANDMARK, GARAGE LOCAL, FISH MARKET

80 PRIVATE CAPACITY

272 PUBLIC CAPACITY

Figure 33. ) Preliminary Design Visualization.

0

25

1:

Time| 26

Time | Using the theoretical makeup of cities as inspiration for a Euclidean design, criticizing our dependency on the car, we can develop a more widespread building ethic for our growing problem of parking, featurelessly defining our public world. Within the urbanization process of St. Augustine chance encounter is a reason for city occupation. By creating a focal node for transitioning into the city, the experience becomes more understood by groups of people and easily manifested in people’s memory to increase overall realization. Urban design is the language of the city that affects the building setbacks, bench locations, street widths, etc. Forces of change are technological and environmental which the garden city, as the major influencer for modernism, tried to address. In the 1950’s the vehicle starts to have a major effect on city design with the number of trips and length of trips as cause for traffic jams. Restricting parking is another way to reduce traffic but within the role of the city as enabler of efficient access to the basic needs of life, increase social support and community interaction the main issue to confront comes from trying to define the limits of intervention for reaching out into the city.

In a city with little to no capacity for the amount of people interested in experiencing it, the need for a waypoint architecture is apparent. Throughout time as the city became larger and more populated it grew inland. Due to the city’s placement on the water, there is no other direction to grow. With each step of development throughout the years there is a redefining of what St Augustine is. Moving from its origin point being the Spanish fort on the bay it gradually grew to be the only city in the United States ever to be walled, protecting the city as it promotes a style of architecture for the region. By defining the urban environment the boundaries of the city being walls and redoubts helped give unity and hope to the community.

Henry Flagler had two main contributions to defining the city of St. Augustine, the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) and Flagler Hotel which is the present day Flagler College, a private college which has dorms located on the edge of the site in what used to be the old FEC Railway office buildings. Adjacent to these buildings, which have been dubbed St. Augustine’s version of skyscrapers, there is an abundance of under utilized surface parking spots. The buildings have been preserved in their rightful mid 19th century Flagler era style.

Figure 34.) FEC Railway to Miami

27| Time

The major problem surrounding historic city centers within our current time is that cars rule the non-urban and the urban but people need to rule these urban cores. Using the highline as a notifying path of personal involvement and consciousness, the boundary of the city can formalize a more welcoming city. Mentioned earlier the New York highline was a project that takes full bloom within this conversation of creating a time appropriate response to place. This iconic work was done in collaboration between James Corner Field Operations (Project Lead), Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and planting designer Piet Oudolf.21

21.) High Line, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Design Team.â&#x20AC;? Last modified 2014.

Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.thehighline. org/design/design-team.

Figure 35.) High Line Map To promote the idea of time data is related to experience, style and poetics.

As community interaction is engendered the ideas of our past can be again realized through learning from the city as a beacon of hope.

Time| 28

1764

ORIGIN

First placements of settlement around the point of refuge being the fort.

1783

BOUNDARY

1898

THRESHOLD

1943

CONNECTION

Figure 36.) St. Augustine Evolution Diagrams

Defining zone of safety embedding a sense of pride in citizenship promoting longevity.

Priority shifts towards business and a trade centered city

Connectivity to the larger forces of the country emphasizing the rail industry.

29| Time

“ Of course there was nothing wrong with wanting to

Figure 37.) Matasahumi Yamasaki

“modernize” the environment in which people lived, in the sense of making it more hygenic, more comfortable, more practical. But the question is, was it really necessary to destroy so much of the traditional environment and culture in the

interest of modernization?” 22 Kyoto: Its’ Cityscape, Tradition, and Heritage describes reversing negative impacts on a city throughout time 22.) Tung, Anthony.

Preserving the World Great Cities. New York: Clarkson Potter/ Publishers, 2001. 368.

Figure 38.) Trolley Route Map:.

This map shows the current Old Town Trolley of St. Augustine touring route. The presence of these trolleys is much less invasive than the continued use of personal transportation throughout the city center.

Culture| 30

1,000,001 - 10,000,000

Culture | 500,001 - 1,000,000

100,001 - 500,000 10,001 - 100,000 0 - 10,000

96%

4%

Figure 39.) National Movement Diagram, Above Figure 40.) Florida Megaregion Figure 41.) State Movement Diagram, on right side

St. Augustine, FL was built because of its proximity to water. Being its founding spirit the city maintains a strong connection to the ocean. Now that cars are our main mode of transportation, the city usefulness is not at its full potential. Being on the coast can be hazardous and inviting. The character of St. Augustineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture lies on the water. Coastal life spawns a destination environment for vacationing. The city was born and located originally for its relationship to other land features as well. By coupling these ideas with the reduction of car presence, we can allow for a stronger 27% presence of the land around the city. This method brings to the city a more tangible product of the 5% earth to better root its identity into the land that surrounds it. Within the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surrounding landscape there are a string of urban developments along the east coast, all in similar condition. Connecting St. Augustineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture into a line from Jacksonville in68% the north to Daytona, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Miami in the south strengthens the unique stamp of rail history in the region. All aboard Florida could unify Florida into the predicted megaregion including the central corridor of urban development from Tampa, on the west coast of the state, through Orlando and across to Daytona, on the east side of the state.

31| Culture

The programmatic story of the site has varied from Oil Storage tanks to merchant workplace. It was once a home to the most ancient peoples, being the Saturiwa and Timucua Native Americans tribes. The conquistador Pedro Menendez founded the city on August 28, 1565, being Augustine of Hippoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feast day. As Florida was being explored in the early 1500s there were many failed attempts at establishing a city but to do so there needs to be certain qualities existing. The building type appropriate for the site would be something supportive of the city and its touristic life cycle.

With a twist of cultural value woven into the design ethics, the building will encourage hospitable social support related to the exampled programs I mentioned previously. With already existing historic and natural amenities located in and around the city, the culture is asking for a destination to promote a sense of belonging and nostalgia that tourists often desire. The Lighthouse in St. Augustine is the beacon for the sea and by making a new beacon the attention comes back into the city. The closest lighthouse is the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, just south of Daytona serving a another nautical beacon.

Figure 42.) Ponce Inlet Similar to St. Augustine inlet, Ponce inlet was used by sailors to access the intercoastal waterway which has a story of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own, connecting most of the east coast.

Culture| 32

The City lives off its esteemed heritage and devotes much of its efforts to preserve and stimulate the area as much as possible. Any new construction within the city limits is done with extreme care and procedure in order to give a new life to the city while maintaining the present day historic feel layer with Henry Flagler, founder of the Florida East Coast Railway and beyond that, the Spanish. Their colonial fortifications were built for a multitude of purposes that all came from their location. The city was a natural waypoint due to its proximity to its sponsor city of the time, Palatka, Florida. Palatka, having an industrious lumber farming and ice hub responsibility for the south, was teaming with business and had the most vibrant urban district in the area. St. Augustine was also a valuable midpoint between the Charleston/Savannah area and Miamiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s south coast. With Palatka being the initial draw, travelers would often make the journey to the St. Augustine beaches just to take a break from the taxing journey across the southern United States. This is what lead Henry Flagler to St. Augustine.

Figure 43.) St. Augustine Fort Marion Taken in the early 20th century, this image shows not only the prominanace of St. Augustineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fort but also the scale of the shrimping industry of the time.

33| Culture

In The Making of the American Landscape, Edited by Michael P. Conzen, there is a chapter about the importance of Spanish settlements in North America. Moving from the Caribbean the Spanish began exploring the Atlantic and gulf coasts of Florida with Ponce de Leon landing in St. Augustine in 1513. Searching for the Fountain of Youth explorers thought of North America as a land of mystery and hope in the beginning. The Spanish did not simply explore areas but actually settled them leaving a chain of settlements along the explorative routes throughout North America including St. Augustine, one of the first Jesuit Mission sites along the south Atlantic coast. Originally the Spanish settled areas for either economic resource collection or to convert the local populations of Indians in the area. Later they began fortifying settlements and creating new places of defense against the French and the British. They employed three frontier institutions: the mission, the presidio, and the pueblo. The missions were meant to congregate the local Indians and convert them to Christianity. The Presidios had a defensive purpose and the pueblos a economic and civil purpose to show the indigenous how to live “properly.” 23 The architecture of their settlements was known to not disdain aboriginal building techniques. They strove to mingle and assimilate all that could be used from the given areas leaving a variety of buildings adapted to their environments. The Spanish explorers should not be down played in their contribution to urban organization even today.

23.) Hornbeck, David.

“Spanish Legacy in the Boarderlands.” In The Making of the American Landscape, by Michael P. Conzen, 51-62. New York: Routledge, 1990.

Figure 44.) Fort San Luis, FL. Top left.

Figure 45.) 18th Century Spanish Redoubts. Above and bottom left.

Culture| 34

Shrimp Industry Shrimping has historically been the most revenue producing industry for St. Augustine.

Second only to tourism, shrimping has always been a major part of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture fortifying the connection to the ocean. The functionality of the Shrimp Boat goes beyond floating but with the power of symmetry balances as its nets drag the ocean floor for shrimp. The wood and metal boats, during the height of the shrimping industry in St. Augustine, would be seen often troweling through the bay out at dusk to catch one of the areas natural amenities.

Shrimpers catch the shrimp at night and can even be seen from the shore as their lights sway over the waves. Connecting the feeling of symmetry, light metal construction, and the timing of importance, the shrimp culture of St. Augustine has always been an important component of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s survival.

These implications lead again to a contextual bases for design. Taking into consideration the major influences already in place for people living in the area the architecture can become more relative and pertinent in use. Identifying the culture allows for this connection.

The bow of a Diesel Engine Sales Co. Florida style trawler built boat mostly out of wood, these boats could withstand long open ocean voyages Figure 46.) Shrimp Boat Figure 47.) Shrimp boat components

35| Culture

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cities like dreams, are made

Figure 48.) Italo Calvino

of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something elseâ&#x20AC;? 24 Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities 24.) Tung, Anthony. 71.

Figure 49.) Tidal Zone Map. This map shows the area affected by rising water levels in the Atlantic. With a desire to be on the water, flood plane boundaries become important limits for design. The map shows the exact 100 year flood plan boundary which encompasses the entire site. Negotiating between this threat of rising currents and the desire for waterfront development the project takes on new responsibilities.

Culture| 36

25.) America 2050, “Florida.” Last modified 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www. america2050.org/florida. html.

26.) St. Augustine 450th Commemoration , “Strategic Master Plan.”

Last modified March 15, 2012. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www. staugustinegovernment. com/sites/450th Main Site/ documents/450StratMastP lan-03.12.pdf.

Figure 50.) St. Augustine: Live off the land.

The Florida Megaregion is one of the fastest growing in the nation and possesses a wealth of diversity, with six of every 10 new residents in the last decade coming from foreign countries. It is both dense and populous, with the major international city of Miami acting as a gateway to Latin America. Regional strategies to protect the Everglades have preserved the natural heritage of the state.25 Since the region is now getting recognition at such a larger scale, there have been plans made to fill the transportation efficiency gap with high-speed rail. Jacksonville has made attempts at a monorail system but the connection to St. Augustine with a light rail passenger system would be the next step towards this larger idea of connectivity. The city of St. Augustine is preparing to celebrate its culture in 2015 with the 450th anniversary of its founding.

With this 450th commemoration now approaching, their current Mission statement for a strategic master plan embodies a list of attributes or values such as community first, an element of fun, and awareness and education.26 All the activities done for the commemoration are done to relate and engage our nation in the city’s long past, invoking a national and international draw. The political relationship with Spain is also of interest since the city was really started by the Spainish, we have them to thank for doing all the hard work of finding such a suitable gem in the dense jungle of the south.

37| Culture

Natural Amenity

The idea of the architecture growing from the

culture of place leads to the necessity for a first look at what the site has embedded within it. The high point of the site is located on the north end, bringing precedent to that northern territory as a safe haven for flooding while also acknowledging the presence of greenery being much more dominant in that area of the city.

Itinerary of Art

Once a month the art community of St. Augustine opens its doors to the public for an evening event leading the public through the city center. The path in relationship to the territory sets a field in which the sequence of experiences mark a change of state while maintaining a dialogue throughout.

Landmark Districts

Looking at pattern of land that has not been designated as historic reveals a rim of opportunity.

Leaving the expansion of industrial age as a lost time period in the preservation effort of St. Augustine that can add to the cities authenticity.

Cultural Landscape

Forms superimposed on physical landscape by the activities of man make St. Augustine into an already popular destination. With a third monument type construction at the west edge of the downtown historic district the city becomes more definable and the alignments show new zones of priority for further intervention.

Figure 51.) Urban Core Systems Maps

Culture| 38

Figure 52.) Jim Dodge

Car orientation as described by Stephen is the way in which the routes and networks used by different modes of movement are related and structured to favor the car. When we look at the historic structure of city routes vs. modern (car oriented routes) we see a reverse organization. Historic routes are centered around the city center usually coupled with a market or similar important economic program. The hierarchy moves

Living by Life: Some Bioregional Theory and Practice by Jim Dodge in Streets and Patterns is working hard to analyze the car as culture.

27.) Marshall, Stephen.

Streets and Patterns.

London: Spon Press, 2005.

180-183.

Figure 53.) Surface Parking Map. Showing the locations of all the public surface parking lots in the historic urban core, this map begins to unveil the unacceptable amount of land lost to accommodate for the car. moving within the city

from the market square to central area streets, then to side streets and finally urban alleys. In the Modern hierarchy we can see a city center that is at the opposite end of routes importance. The local access is the smallest means, located at city center moving away to motor spur or link road and then to a national motorway.27

39| Culture

Car 2 Go

|

A potential client that could help ease the local reliance on fossil fuels due to the city’s sprawl, is the Car-2-Go. With a growing number of smart cars around the nation they are aimed at providing cheap and responsible green transportation. One city they are established in is San Diego, CA which has a divided urban density due to its great topographic shifts. The Car-2-Go provides a great medium for easy, quick, and convenient transportation around town. The only issue they have not yet confronted is a touristic use. The cars would be present all around the city providing for locals and only the most committed tourists due to the sign up process. The concept is a great way to give people the transportation they want without them ever needing to own a car.

The placement of exclusive parking zones for the smart cars throughout the city could be a necessary catalyst for creating a network of transportation nodes providing all the amenities of personal transportation people are currently used to. People are not going to give up the freedom of movement they have with their own personal vehicles but for people who don’t want to own they can join this group and enter into the next age of personal transportation being simply a means of getting from of A to B. Electric cars have the ability to store and supply power into existing grids. By employing cars as electric boosters for peak hours of electricity usage the structure could provide relief to the context not only as a car collector, leaving room for the city itself to be interpreted as a museum, but also providing a service to the community around it. Different from zip cars, which have a more permanent feel allowing the option of different car types and charging by the hour, the Car-2-Go charges by the minute rewarding those who can perform quick trips and has a uniform fleet of smart cars to help with the sense of familiarity always welcome when visiting a place other than your own. Some compatible benefits include the availability being spread around the most utilized urban areas... naturally. The cars can fit into every space available within city parking spots thanks to an agreement made with the city based on a fixed amount prepaid to the city and the rates are reasonable as long as you don’t use them for long periods of time. The site could house a Car-2-Go charging station and information headquarters. Since most of their business is done either online or through the use of smart phones, commute solutions.com provides the Car-2-Go mission statement which focuses on free thinkers and caring for trees.

“Car-2-Go is an innovative mobility service which offers a network of 300 environmentally compatible smart “Car-2Go edition” vehicles for rent. Unlike traditional car sharing programs or car rental companies, car2-go is not station-based. car-2-go vehicles are distributed throughout the city and can be accessed “on-demand”, or reserved for up to 24 hours in advance. Customers are not required to enter into a long-term contract, or be subjected to a minimum spend, deposits or monthly fees. For more information or to register, please visit www. austincar2go.com.” 28 28.Car2Go. Commute Solutions. 2013. http://www. commutesolutions.com/ourpartners/#588 (accessed April 21, 2013).

Figure 54.) Car to Go

The Gordon Strong Automobile Objective and Planetarium was a tourist destination designed

by Frank Lloyd Wright but never built.

Culture| 40

|

1111 Lincoln Road Another relation to the larger context is the modern design by Herzog & De Meuron, 1111 Lincoln Rd. parking structure in South Beach Miami, FL, a prime example of how a parking garage can be used to positively affect a community’s social identity and sense of place.

The building was conceptualized to fit into the Miami way of life through the use of only concrete and glass or “all muscle without cloth” as Jacques Herzog stated. The structure can be seen to define the gateway into the famous Lincoln Rd. promenade allowing for an easily

Figure 55.) 1111 Lincoln Rd.

accessible situation for a walkable experience further integrating itself into its context. This design intent clearly shows a particular relationship to context that does not impede the growth and stability of the architectural collection already present in South Beach but works harmoniously within its context all while providing a much needed parking spot for all those who visit the area.

Figure 56.) 1111 Lincoln Rd

Planning phase was from 2005-2008 with completion in 2010 with a total coast of $65 Million. Program includes retail concept stores and apartments inside a 7 level car parking structure holding 300 cars with a total area of 43,560 sqft. Some of the floor to ceiling heights vary from 8’ to 34’. The main materials are 8,000 psi Post Tension Concrete, Low-e Glass, Mica-clad ply, and various types of metal. By using materials to tell the story of place the modernity becomes visually cohesive with context.

Figure 57.) 1111 Lincoln Rd. 29.) Meuron, Herzog & De. Natural History. Edited by Philip Ursprung. Montreal: Canadian Center for Architecture & Lars Muller Publishers, 2002.

Using the ultimate destination program of parking garage to provide an anchor point for interaction.

MOTOTECTURE & LANDMARK

Figure 58.) 1111 Lincoln Rd.

The structure includes not only parking spaces but integrates shopping and restaurants between its massive horizontal concrete slabs. With floor to ceiling storefront windows, the view of the landscape beyond is never interrupted and accepts natural light freely. Herzog and DeMeuron have always been keen with their design and thoughtful in the respect for the building by which they are designing. They often think of new and provocative ways in which we can express our concerns through the relationships of materials and space.29 They look deep into the existing issues present at the site and begin to design the building as a regenerative tool for assisting the local economy and anchoring the identity of place.

41| Culture

Zaha Miami Garage

|

Zaha Hadid focuses on the program and orientation of her project. This condition of bringing streetscape into play can not only be approached as a supporting element but also brought inside the confines of building. In Zaha Hadidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research methods and concepts for making a parking structure in South beach she demonstrates how a hub building should single out parking as an important program looking towards parking structures of different architects approaching the same problem. Representation from the outside can always be playful with parking and these three precedents begin to touch on the possibilities for St. Augustine.

Figure 59.) Realist Render

Figure 60.) Public Underlap Figure 61.) Exploded Axonometric Figure 62.) Open Edge

Figure 63.) Site Circulation

Place| 42

Place |

32080 32084 32085 32086 32092 32095 St. Augustine, FL

Pop. 13,336 (2011)

Figure 64.) Figure Ground

43| Place

Located in St. Augustine Florida, which is in need of a successful parking structure to make their historic downtown district an easily reachable tourist destination. Acknowledging the hierarchy of city features the historic aspects of the site will be of highest concern. St. Augustine has a rich history being the oldest continuously occupied European settled city in the United States. The local historic preservation committee, started in the 1960s, has brought a number of important guidelines into the evaluation of building proposals within the area which I will be taking into consideration while researching and responding to the local needs of the community as a whole.

Architecture can provide a definitive threshold to aid our consolidating movements into urban environments by returning to a natural urbanism. Existing cultural landmarks being plentiful in the area sponsors a aim to develop a parking structure that participates in and enhances the surrounding context by forming a unified vision of urban life for the small town setting. This process of human realization is facilitated through the architecture of transition from automobile oriented non-urban to the walkable, urban. Embracing the phenomena and rituals of place transitioning into the city of St. Augustine can bring a uniqueness to the project accumulated from the context. The proposed design ethic expresses a richer understanding of place while responding to the natural environment.

Environmental concerns of the site in St. Augustine are erosions of ecosystems natural and man-made. Archeological digs on the site has already been done when it was cleared for construction. It was, on Tuesday, October 19, 2010, reviewed by the San Sebastian Inland Harbor PUD Architectural Review Committee. They approved two building typologies for the site. One and first approved topic being “of Temporary Parking Lot” and the other being ‘’of Retail /Restaurant Elevations for Gruthal and Shueth Property.” With the meeting adjourned there was from thenceforth a desirable program established for the site by the architect of the city.30 “Certain significant elements of architecture have been celebrated by phenomenologists as ‘embodiments of difference’ : ‘Boundary and threshold are constituent elements of place. They form part of a figure which discloses the spatiality in question.” 31

30.) Augustine, City of St. Agenda. 2013. http://www. staugustinegovernment.com/ your_government/sansabastian. cfm (accessed April 27, 2013).

31.) Nesbitt, Kate. Theorizing a new Agenda for Architecture an Anthology of Architectural Theory. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996. 49 Figure 65.) Fort Sea Wall

Place| 44

Utilities access in this case are looking towards the natural ecosystems Identifying the need for 32.) Fischer, Eric. Locals and Tourists. June 05, 2010. http://www.flickr. com/photos/walkingsf/ sets/72157624209158632/ (accessed April 23, 2013).

transportation to particular areas around the city, Eric Fischerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tourist vs. Locals mapping can give an initial sense of where throughout the city the most pictures are taken and who is taking them. The blue points in the maps show the location of locals taking pictures. The red is locating tourist photos and the yellow indicates unknown photographers.32 These images begin to reveal a particular relationship between the tourist and the local that can be important for designing a network of populated hotspots with intent. Looking at other cities that have more population but similar land uses to St. Augustine there are lessons to be learned about the landscapeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship with the build environment and how the construction of key elements may influence the attraction to that particular area. In Manhattan you can see the exuberant amount of pictures taken in the center but you can

Figure 66.) Eric Fischer, New York tourist vs. locals

also begin to notice the locals getting a much broader sense of the city taking snapshots from all around the peninsula. In San Diego the densities show how topography can influence development as smaller nodes spread around the larger city scape. And in Chicago the rail connections are surprisingly highlighted as a memorable experience for not only tourists but locals as well. So locals occupy different areas until mixing into metro. Jacksonville youth and travelers would come, as the city already draws a crowd for different events held weekly and monthly.

Figure 67.) Eric Fischer, Chicago tourist vs. locals

Figure 68.) Eric Fischer, San Diego tourist vs. locals Figure 69.) Eric Fischer, St. Augustine tourist vs. locals

45| Place

The siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship with the water is key for developing not only a hub for land use but also water use. With water traffic reestablished into the heart of the San Sebastian River, the city can be viewed from new perspectives. With a focus on the fishing trade the site asks for a strong transition between water and land. The site also is located close to the historic district of downtown St. Augustine, the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest European settled town in the United States.

The history of the site suggests a fishermanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market that becomes a part of a larger context of similarly interesting local nodes.

The climate of the site suggests the utilization of some vernacular building techniques related to the Florida warmth and humidity. Use of shade is important, along with cross -ventilation, available during the few months revolving around winter. Here is the psychometric chart describing the comfort zone of the area and pointing out the necessity of particular design solutions such as window overhangs, ceiling fans, use of plant materials to shield from the western sun, and small footprints. The traditional homes in hot humid climates such as this use lightweight building methods to help provide operable walls and shades for strong ventilation while employing large shaded overhangs to create outdoor porches raised just off the ground, increasing the effectiveness of ventilation throughout.

Figure 70.)

Psycometric Chart Figure 71.) St. Augustine Inlet

Place| 46

6

188 910

Figure 72.) Lewis Mumford Figure 73.) Urban Trend

â&#x20AC;&#x153;But if the big city is largely responsible for the invention and public extension of the museum, there is a sense in which one of its own principle functions is to serve as a museum: in its own right, the historic city retains, by reason of its aptitude and its long past, a larger and more collection of cultural specimens than can be found elsewhere. Every variety of human function, every experiment in human association, every technological process, every mode of architecture and planning, can be found somewhere within its crowded area.â&#x20AC;? 33 -Lewis Mumford, The City in History 33.) Tung, Anthony. 413.

Figure 74.) St. Augustine Site

1

1565

47| Place

Genius Loci or “Spirit of Place” is the protective spirit of place according to the classical Roman religion. In western contemporary usage it seems to be a location’s character instead of the protective quality. Bringing this quality back will more directly root the city’s ancestry back to Southern Europe. The Southern Europe traditional styles where very dependant on the immediate landscapes due to their construction methods and planning techniques. This intuitive methodology can influence modern architecture by embracing the organic analogy, instead of the machine analogy to be the primary dictator of design. The focus is not only on automated functionality but also intuitive connectivity to nature. One of architecture’s main roles is to symbolize man’s position in the natural world.34 The amount of land that we consume needs to stop and we need to consolidate into more unified peoples. Transitioning into a more focused population lifestyle including; interactive, walkable, cooperative, participatory, and Organic qualities.

Being the first architect to describe his architecture as organic, Wright establishes a building ethic redirecting and intensifying our attention to the land. This attitude can push the idea of city life to not be the furthest thing away from nature but to an understanding of our relationship with nature instead. In his project titled the object for the automobile, Frank designed a automobile waypoint that gives drivers the primary view of the landscape and allows for the mixture of car and pedestrian use along it’s ramps. The point at which one enters into a city should have some of these same qualities to observe the natural landscape beyond and also admire the urban landscape within. If architecture can sponsor the respect to context so can cities.

Currently, cities are seen as pollution machines but with a reorientation in priorities on a building scale we can gradually change the functionality of the city.

Zoning Constraints: Residential Medium Density/ Mixed Use - 50% max lot coverage - 15’ setback in front and 10’ for other sides - 50’ max height limit - 78-85% Drive Alone - St. Johns County = 190,039 - Founded 1565

Figure 75.) Zoning and Building uses. Images Above.

34.) Nesbitt, Kate. Theorizing a new Agenda for Architecture an Anthology of Architectural Theory. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996. 48 Figure 76.) What would Frank Do? Images to Left.

The Gordon Strong Automobile Objective and Planetarium was a tourist destination designed

by Frank Lloyd Wright but never built.

Place| 48

The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine is Florida’s dominant Spanish Colonial landmark. Construction of the fortress, which took a quarter century, was completed in 1696.

With walls 16 feet thick at the base and protected by a moat, the Castillo was never taken by force.

The principal material is coquina, a sedimentary rock formed from billions of tiny seashells and quarried nearby. Most of the labor of quarrying and building was performed

by Indians under the supervision of Spanish artisans. 35 35.) Floridamemories, “Aerial view of Castillo de San Marcos - Saint Augustine, Florida.”

Accessed March 9, 2014. http://www.floridamemory. com/items/show/7984.

Figure 77.) Kings Quarry.

2.15 Mile trip for moving the coquina to the construction site of the city.

Figure 78.) Castillo de San Marcus. c1912

The Castillo de San Marcos is the most important artifact located within the city of St. Augustine. Built from 1672 to 1695 on 20.5 acre site its walls are 16’ thick on the bottom and 9’ thick towards the top made of solid coquina to protect the fort’s occupants and shield against any invaders. With the soft qualities of coquina the Spanish were successful in the construction of their fourth fort, which never fell under attack. As a protector from the occasionally harsh environment the seawalls form a definitive boundary between land and sea optimally repelling the waves.

The fort is made almost entirely out of coquina. Its availability was plentiful but painstakingly difficult to transport while requiring 2-3 years to become dry/ hard enough for use in construction. Coquina was the primary building material for all the old city buildings. Softness of the rock was optimal for fort construction being used primarily in the cannon periods to catch the canon balls as they sunk into walls edges.

49| Place

Architectural Significance of the fort being placed in St. Augustine is its title as oldest masonry and only extant 17th century fort in North America utilizing the bastion system of fortification. This system allows for no blind spots along the walls.

Microscopic air pockets in coquina allow for compression under stress. Walls were originally finished with a white plaster comprised of lime, sand, and water while the trim work and towers were finished with red plaster colored with brick dust. It was completely comprised of Coquina 400 years ago catapulting it into a one of the most used building materials in the region. In order to join the blocks of coquina the Spanish devised a mortar type solution know today as quicklime. They used local oysters as their main ingredient. It is made by burning oyster shells for about 12 hours in a fire hotter than 2200 degrees Fahrenheit causing some carbon and some oxygen to leave the original calcium carbonate that makes up oyster shells in the form of CO2. This process leaves CaO which is referred to as the quicklime. After the addition of water to the burnt shells a exothermic reaction yields the white paste used for construction. It was also used as a stucco for the fort which would need refinishing every 1 to 2 years.

CaCO3 + heat CO2

CaO

Figure 79.) Oyster Drawing Figure 80.) Oyster Bed: In intercoastal waterway Figure 81.) Bastion Defense

Place| 50

Figure 82.) Jim Dodge

Jim is an experienced forester and land lover who does not truly know the definition of Bioregionalism although he claims it has been used throughout 99% of human history. It is still considered a notion, not a fully developed idea. The word comes from the Greek word bios meaning life and the Latin regia which means territory. Regia came from the even earlier word regere which means to rule or govern pointing to a possible definition being

government of life or simply life territory.36 To define a biological region you have to look at the percentage of plant/animal species different from one area to another. If 15-25 percent of Architectural Regionalism: Collected Writings on Place, Identity, Modernity, and Tradition 36.) Didge, Jim. “Living

by Life: Some Bioregional Theory and Practice.” In Architectural Regionalism: Collected Writings on Place, Identity, Modernity, and Tradition, by Vincent B. Canizaro, 341-349.

New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

341-349.

37.) Didge. 341-349.

Figure 83.) Historic Districts Map. This map outlines the historic district established by the St. Augustine historical society. Each has its own distinct character related to the time in which it was built establishing micro regions of architecture around the city.

the species are different that’s how you can determine if you are in a new biological region or not. There is also the slightly anthropocentric approach of a cultural/phenomenological bioregional distinction. This is based on the simple idea of you are where you preserve you are. The one fault of this method is it’s notoriously prone to distortion. Some provocative ideas of bioregionalism are “spirit of place” and the notion that bioregionalism is a vertical phenomenon. Also, the idea of anarchy not meaning out of control, but out of their control is an important element. By making decisions face to face and not through long lines of bureaucratic hierarchy we can act faster and with more care to our local environments. The best place to meet the challenge of living in symbiosis with the environment is at the local level or in the community/county you live.37

51| Place

Coquina

| molluscs

Origins â&#x20AC;˘

Classification - Organic Sedimentary

trilobites

Composition - Calcite / Phosphate

O OH

C

O OH

R

O

P

OH OH

The last continental glacier retreated during the Pleistocene Era. Lasting from 1.8 million years ago to 11,550 years ago, as marine life began to flourish again, the components of what is now coquina were settling. This era is when humans evolved to there current form, predominant species being Homo erectus. The geology consists of raw, unaltered shell fragments loosely cemented by calcite. Rock formations are considered Coquina when their particle sizes are at least 2mm in size. Physical properties are soft when first quarried and only hardened after years of surface exposure. Generally coarse and porous, frequently consisting of oyster shells and fragments. It is not just found in Florida but variations can be found in the Carolinas and many places around the worlds such as Australia and South America. The material has many significant qualities including the fact that it breaks up wave energy better than regular poured concrete.38 It weathers mostly due to water erosion especially in the case of acid rains and its rough epidermis allows for algae and plant growth that can cause further deterioration. As another connection to place the material usage in design is important. This material along with the other examples of place discussed before will lead directly into project development.

brachiopods

Homo erectus

Figure 84.) Molluscs Figure 85.) Trilobites Figure 86.) Brachiopods Figure 87.) Skull Image Figure 88.) Coquina Locations. Below 38.) Public. Wikipedia.

2013. 18 November 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Coquina>.

Design Experience| 52

Design | Experience | While providing program the building will function as a threshold for the increasingly abundant amount of tourists moving in and out of the city. Connecting people to Jacksonville, the design will be developed as recognizably different from the context but still cohesive enough to not be alienated from touristic activity.

Sequence as a Tourist: •

Following signage marking the route to and from the city’s historic center.

•

Intuitive access to park at city entrance marking by parking.

•

Park.

•

Immediately oriented to central exit.

•

Meeting in center court to than disperse freely.

•

Entering viewing platform attraction.

•

Reaching a view of the city at large from above.

•

Descending slowly back into the human perspective.

•

Meeting in the adjacent public square.

•

Access to Fishing trips, cafe, visitor center, gallery

•

Orienting from the water to the city.

Sequence as a Resident:

Figure 89.) Experiance Drawing

•

Following signage marking the route to and from the city’s historic center.

•

Intuitive access to park at city entrance marking by parking.

•

Park.

•

Immediately oriented to central exit.

•

Enter amenities.

•

Ride to other location deeper into historic fabric.

•

Stop for a coffee in the cafe on the way.

•

Get groceries, errands.

•

Walk home.

53| Design Experience

The design functions as transit hub for the more transient population constantly streaming through the city every day and also as a starting point for locals to move into the city. With the program outstretched people should have incentive to walk inwards as they exit the parking garage.

Program DISTRIBUTIO | PROGRAM Parking Garage

225,000 s

The organizational relationships between programs within the building are based off their relationship to the participation. With more public activities closer to the water at ground floor, taking advantage of the natural landscape, and the private programs happening above or from a perspective where there is no visual connection from outside to in, only inside to out. Employing passive energy strategies and the integration of nature the site can reach out into the city with a series of smaller instillations posting different facts about the area they are in.

88.1%

Parking

225,000 sqft

2.8%

Market 7,000 sqft Cultural Museum

2.4%

Dinning

15,000 sq

6,000 sqft

1.9%

Mail 5,000 sqft Contemporary Art Museum

1.9%

Museum

1.6%

Locals Photography Gallery Cafe 4,000 sqft

4,000 sqft

0.8% 0.5%

Kayak / Canoe House Rentals 2,000 sqft

2,000 sqft

Observation 1,500 Point sqft Redoubt

1,500 sqft

Total:

255,500 sqft

Figure 90.) Program Diagram TOURIST, MUSEUM

LANDMARK, GARAGE

LOCAL, FISH MARKET Figure 91.) Site Plan Render

8,000 sqft

5,000 sqft

Design Experience| 54

Figure 92.) Public and Commercial Parking Consolidation

The ethics for space will relate back to the ideas of context with the use of vernacular materials such as coquina, terracotta, and different woods including palm. Coquina is one of the most plentiful materials of the area. The composite stone and shell mixture is useful for absorbing excess heat and acting as a thermal mass emitting stored heat at night from the day before. Followed by a gradual transition to the interior, the relationship between inside and out will remain a blur. Open to the elements and the historic city the outdoor circulation will invoke the travelers passing through the site to pause and reflect, stock up on water, or learn something before moving onwards to other, more formal, destinations around the city.

As a multi-use building containing a fish market supplied by local fisherman this hub can connect the city with the sea once again. The city has been called by some a drinking village with a fishing problem. The combination of tradesman such as shrimp boat crews and its natural location is a vital presence for establishing a sense of place and self-worth for the locals. Providing space for water treatment and testing facilities the different programs can interact with the reassurance of healthy waters feeding the areas fish livestock. As an important selling point for the city to be interested in developing such a hub of activity and commerce it will function not only as a public parking facility but also as a point for visitors to embark into the city as a living museum. The city will benefit in the hiding of cars from general view and reducing the need for environmentally detrimental surface parking from the historic fabric.

55| Design Experience

JAX

E IL IUS M D RA

E IL M F IUS L D HA RA OR

ORRID RCIAL C

EX. RAIL

COMME

US

-1

SITE

OSA

Figure 93.) St. Augustine Site Conditions Map

Outcomes| 56

Outcomes | The site is adjacent to some already well-established buildings which all have their backs to the site. This gives the opportunity to design freely for those sides facing the buildings while addressing the vernacular historic design features present within the remaining facades. The style is most related to the colonial revival era. During Henry Flaglerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expansion and development of Florida he established the FEC, Florida East Coast Railway system. With the new All Aboard Florida movment sparking new discussions of rail systems connecting Miami to Jacksonville, St. Augustine is anticipating to be a stop along that journey.

While reducing the future demand of personal transportation the rail will never replace it. With parking still an issue, possibly even more as a park and ride location, the size of parking on the site may be a negotiation happening between the number of floors present in the design and the footprint. There must not be a large footprint in order to maximize earth exposiure. The site strategies will be developed from the size of the garage which is based on an analysis of parking currently provided within reach of the site along with a study of authentic materials and design features. The project proposal will be site specific for the historic location but there also needs to be a discussion about the other possible situations within the site orienting to destination points for tourists around the city. Negotiating between this idea of orientation, an innate connection to place, and time should bring a comprehensive site response appropriate and useful with the culture of St. Augustine.

As designing from context has been discussed throughout this document, these design outcomes speak towards the three main lines of thought: Time, Culture, and Place. With inspiration from the genius loci, the power of these contextual designs strengthen local identity into a more unifyed urban landscape. This reveals a city conciousness like never realized before. The boundary of a city being a filter from the car-scaled world to that of human scale. The city naturally becomes more Human.

57| Outcomes

Design from Time Defined as a component of a whole, an organ has a conceptual connection with the idea that components of our environment compose the overall form of the cities we live in. By including ideas about place we can look deeper into the identity of cities that cultivate the ephemeral layers surrounding them, bringing the natural context into play. In Thom Mayneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set of tactics the outputs are deeply contextual, emerging from their inputs. Strategies and resulting organizations are elastic.39 Combining the different functions necessary for the non-urban gaps to be bridged the boundary of the city needs support for a walkable experience and light rail access. Movement of the car and rail throughout the non-urban United States merges with the movement of walking and biking in the urban.

As I have hinted in the previous paragraphs of this document the position of the project needs to be located in accordance with the existing urban fabric. The project encompasses key values of contextualism and connection to place while increasing city capacity. Architecture can support the ever-growing populations in cities through parking structure design being the filter into cities. In a smaller town like St. Augustine this experiment yields a attention to city capacity and conscience. The downtown historic district already has surface parking lots scattered throughout.

Like scars over the historic fabric these lots do not provide ample room for the demand of parking presented by the high volume of tourists moving in and out every day. The city depends on the attraction it has from the outside for its economic stability. A possible outcome of the project could consolidate parking already scattered around the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s center into one structure, leaving the emptied sites of previous parking areas open for redesign, providing a more valuable source of economic or social well-being.

|

39.) Mayne. 38.

Making the connection between historical artifacts forever lost and the vision of modernity.

Programmed as access to elevated path/ edge while providing resistance against future sea levels rising.

Figure 94.) Redoubt Design

Outcomes| 58

|

Design from Culture The tower design includes a sequence of personal experiences leading up a twisting tower with a view of the landscape. The function of the tower is not powered by fossil fuels but rather the natural power of the wind. It acts as an attraction for the garage, making people interested in participating similar to attractions that can be found on Daytona Beach just 45 min south. The building acts as a catalyst for continued exploration of the city, urging users to move deeper into the city on foot once they have left behind their cars. From the top could there could be a connections to nodes around the city through suspended cable cars. They could activate the experiance and give tourism of the city a whole new perspective for locals and residents, entertained and engaged with the city at large. The Alligator farm located only a few miles from the site has implemented a zip line attraction which has become a very popular piece for their business. It allows people to view the alligators in a whole new way. This idea brought to a larger scale, such as the lighthouse, can connect larger areas of the city allowing for access to different hotspots within the half a mile wide historic center.

Figure 95.)

Lighthouse Original Drawings Figure 96.) Tower Design

The real Legacy of St Augustine is its connection to the water, with the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historical function as a beacon from the Atlantic Ocean the threshold into the city can serve as a beacon for all on land as well to know where the historic core is in relation to almost any location in the city. At night the use of spot lights directs a straight vertical beam of light into the sky. Powered by photovoltaic or PV panels discharging the energy collected from the sun that day. Each night the amount of light would show the population the amount of energy collected that day, exemplifying the use of solar energy as a powerful amenity. This connection to the city center for most locals, living in the surrounding landscape, gives a sense of belonging related to culture and place.

59| Outcomes

Design from Place Thinking of a parking garageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose, the word organ, contained within the word organic becomes the defining characteristic. As a part of the whole there is a clear connection to ideas about architecture and a possible set of design principles. An organ is a completely self-contained part of a body and it usually has a very specific role to play contributing to a larger consciousness.40 Within architecture there are many different building typologies. Each of which is related to a larger community of buildings that all serve each other. Thinking of a building as an organ, serving a purpose for its surroundings is a beautifully respectful way to approach any project that should yield a more powerful construct. Cities have layers of systems that are all working simultaneously. These infrastructure utility systems become the prime components of development with the urban.

|

40.) Oxford. Organ. 2013. http://oxforddictionaries. com/definition/american_ english/organ?q=organ (accessed January 20, 2013).

By looking further into the word organic as a component of a whole, the term has a conceptual connection with the idea that units of our environment compose the overall form of the cities we live in. Within the investigation into Biophilic design the word organic helps describe a design ethic connecting the natural process of collaboration with evolved personalities. There is a clear need for us to further ingrain our habits into the cycles of natural life within a city with most of our population moving into cities. By including ideas about place and our natural environment we can look deeper into the identity of cities and cultivate the ephemeral layers surrounding them. The garage becomes the final layer to allow full access to cars and begins to walkkable experiance.

Figure 97.) Garage Design

Glossary| 60

Glossary |

Authentic - of undisputed origin; genuine.

Context - the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.

Contextualism - describes a collection of views in philosophy which emphasize the context in which an action, utterance, or expression occurs, and argues that, in some important respect, the action, utterance, or expression can only be understood relative to that context.

Genius Loci - the protective spirit of place Iteratively Simulated - simulated through repetition, recurrence, reiteration, or repetitiousness.

Organic Form - Form shaped by natural forces.

Non-Urban - Country, rural, and sub-urban areas with a small percentage of build environment.

Sustainability - how biological systems endure and remain diverse and productive while seeking to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, technology, and development space.

Threshold - dialouge between a set of experiences that mark a change of conciousness.

Urban - in, relating to, or characteristic of a city or town

61| Bibliography

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