“Around the hearth the first groups assembled; around it the first alliances formed; around it the first rude religious concepts were put into the customs of a cult.� Gottfried Semper, 1851
Can You Hear Me Now? A THESIS PROPOSAL By: Grace Cabrera
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Dedicated to my parents, Brenda Long and Rafael Cabrera. Thank you for all your love and support.
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A special thanks to my advisor, Chris Pritchett for teaching me more than just design.
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Through the last advancements in the progression of communication, people seem to no longer acquire the ability to converse with the finesse of those from generations prior to the information age. When we can see facial expressions, read body language, and hear the tone of voice, we are more likely to better understand the message. There is no emoticon that can do the face justice. “Some alarmists fear that our reliance on digital communication has created a society that despite exchanging information and thoughts around the clock in blogs and on social networks can no longer articulate ideas and emotions. We run the risk of alienating the people who populate our daily lives in pursuit of intimacy with our online friends.”1 Conversation is in real time. There is no editing, retouching, or deleting. We should not sacrifice conversation for mere “connection.” When we stumble and hesitate is when we begin to reveal ourselves. Learning to converse with others, teaches you to converse with yourself.2
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30 % OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION IS ONLINE
= 2,095,006,005 IN ONE DAY THERE ARE MORE THAN:
250 MILLION TWEETS 800 MILLION FACEBOOK STATUS UPDATES 4
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THE AVERAGE TIME AN AMERICAN SPENDS ONLINE IS 32 HRS/MONTH 22% 21% 20% 19% 13% 5%
SOCIAL NETWORKING SEARCHES READING CONTENT EMAILS-COMMUNICATION MULTIMEDIA SITES ONLINE SHOPPING
THE AVERAGE TIME THE GLOBAL USER SPENDS ONLINE IS 16 HRS/MONTH 4
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THERE ARE 1440 MINUTES IN A DAY. COUPLES SPEND ANYWHERE BETWEEN 52 - 74 MINUTES COMMUNICATING FACE-TO-FACE A DAY.
41% OF COUPLES SEND
TEXTS, EMAILS, OR USED SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES TO RELAY MESSAGES TO EACHOTHER RATHER THAN SPEAKING.5
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+ 25 MIN/DAY SURFING THE WEB + AN ADDITIONAL 17 MIN/DAY CHECKING AND UPDATING SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES + 12 MIN/DAY TALKING ON THE PHONE + 10 MIN/DAY TEXTING
2/3 OF TEENS ARE MORE LIKELY TO TEXT THEIR FRIENDS THAN CALL.5
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In our society it is easy to become consumed by social media. Out of fear of being left out, we are “connecting� less and less with those actually around us. In this thesis I am exploring the art of communication and how architecture can cultivate it.
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I believe that architecture has the ability to foster an environment that stimulates conversation. I have spent the majority of this year asking: How can architecture stimulate a conversation?
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My answer follows:
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The site was chosen at the south end of Market Street, in downtown Roanoke, due to the location of the farmer’s market and the abundance of retail. Despite the overload of information that one can be bombarded with in a city, the farmer’s market and retail around this site keep the area constantly active while also promoting person-to-person conversation.
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Market Street
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DOWNTOWN ROANOKE
Market Street
Church Avenue
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View down Market Street, towards site
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Site: defined by a parking garage on the east and corporate office building on the west
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Buildings to the west and east of site
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View up Market Street, from site
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Farmer’s Market along Market Street
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I am seeking to encourage a more intimate exchange of thoughts, information, and ideas through the design of a rehabilitation facility for social media addicts.
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Rehabilitation Facility for Social Media Addicts
Detox: Social Media Room Archives Shower Bedrooms for a pair Bedrooms for a group Bedrooms for an individual Living Room Dining Room Kitchen Garden
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please be at ... place at ... time
goodbye facebook
please silence your phone ... forever
three’s a company
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Conceptual map of treatment process
rub a dub, dub
hey roomie
can you hear me now?
welcome back
the hearth is the center of the home
cooking for 12 is a group effort
good conversation often develops around good food
home sweet home
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please be at ... place at ... time
goodbye facebook
please silence your phone ... forever
rub a dub, dub
three’s a company
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Architectural map of treatment process
hey roomie
can you hear me now?
welcome back
the hearth is the center of the home
home sweet home
good conversation cooking for 12 is a group often develops around good food effort
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Longitudinal Section
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We can relearn communication in a series of steps.
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Detox - Cleanse the mind, body, and soul of any connection with social media. Step 1 - Reconnect with the individual. Learn how to interact with one other person. Step 2 - Reconnect with the group. How can interaction between a group remain meaningful? Step 3 - A gradual reintegration into society. “Work and play� can occur in the city, while still a resident of the facility.
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Plan: 1st Floor
Perspective Section: through Media room
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Picture of Site Model (down Market Street)
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Picture of Site Model (down Church Avenue)
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Detox - Cleanse the mind, body and soul of any connection to and with social media. 1)
To start the program one will recieve a text message with a time and place. 2) Upon arrival the addict is lifted into a media room. This room is enclosed by screens that will bring up any social media accounts of the patient where they will be required to deactivate each of their accounts. 3) After deactivating the media addict will cross a bridge. This bridge allows for a moment of contemplation before entering an archive tower. The archive tower is a catacomb of cellphones from former patients, here they must relinquish their cellphone. 4) Before starting treatment a shower must be taken. The shower allows the opportunity for a physical cleanse. A window angled above the shower allows light to pierce into the space. 5) After showering the patient will walk around a brick dome and meet their roommate when the paths intersect. 6) Finally two will descend a set of stairs and begin the first step of the social media rehabilitation program.
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Plan: 2nd Floor
Perspective section: Dining room and pair rooms
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Step 1 - Reconnect with the individual. Learn how to interact with one other person. Three rooms sleep two people each. The room is divided in the middle by a change in elevation calling attention to a nook, a dedicated space for conversation. The beds are on either side of the nook against walls angled towards each other which encourage casual conversation. The rooms are situated towards each other giving patients a chance to talk with those they are not rooming with.
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Perspective Section: pair room towards nook
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Plan: pair rooms
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Perspective Section: nook
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Step 2 - Reconnect with the group. How can interaction between a group remain meaningful? One room sleeps six people. A step down in the middle of the room provides a space for the group to talk. Directly above the step down there is a dropped ceiling of perforated metal filtering light through. The obscurity of light created by the perforated ceiling gives a sense of intimacy allowing for deeper conversation.
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Plan: group rooms
Perspective Section: through step down 45
Step 3 - A gradual reintegration into society. “Work and Play� can occur in the city, while still a resident of the facility. Six rooms sleep one person each. This room was designed to encourage one to go out into Roanoke and socialize. A slope in the ceiling guides ones eye to a window. This window provides a view of Market Street without overwhelming the patient by projecting out of the room. One can observe the city from further away in their bed or close up on the sill as they become more comfortable with the city and life.
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Perspective Section: through one room and window
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Plan: individual rooms and city exit
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Perspective Section: city exit and two rooms
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Plan: 3rd Floor
Perspective Section: Detox showers, Group room, & Individual room
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Throughout history fire has been an integral part of our species’ survival. Fire has provided us with both warmth and food. Along with the use of fire as the link to our continued existence, it also has the power of extinction. Fire-keepers were used to manage the fires from going out, spreading or theft, thus starting a social organization. “Early fires formed a nucleus for human grouping, and became tribal or communal fires, from which the individual family fires derived.”6 In ancient Greece, “the accidental or negligent extinction of a domestic hearth-fire represented a failure of domestic and religious care for the family.”7 Initially, fires were symbolic and kept sacred at an altar as a symbol of spirituality, yet through time the significance has gradually lessened and finally the hearth became the center of the home as a place for hospitality and good cheer.”6
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Picture of Living Room Model
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Plan: Ground Floor
Perspective Section: Living Room
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The heart of this building is the hearth and this room was meant to represent specific qualities of the hearth. Those qualities are to provide a sense of closeness despite size of space, a focal point of light, obscurity of light beyond the perimeter, warmth, and comfort. Located in the living room on a raised platform is a circular seating area surrounding a fire. Above the fire is a chimney that directs one’s eye to a dome. This dome becomes a architectural hearth. The brick and glass dome give a sense of darkness while allowing streaks of light in illuminating the seating area below. The streaks of light glisten on the floor similar to the flickering of a fire.
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Picture of Living Room Model
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How can architecture foster an environment that stimulates conversation? Architecture can stimulate conversation through two different methods. It needs to define a space for conversation specifically, as an additional programmatic element. It needs to adapt the intimate qualities of the hearth.
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Process Images & Sketches
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Works Cited 1.Antonelli, Paola. Talk to me: Design communication between people and objects. New York, NY: The Museum of Modern Art, 2011.Print 2.S.Turkel.<http://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_ together.html>. 3.Edwards,Chas,. N.p.,n.d. 2May2013. <http://chasnote. com/2011/04/05/facebook-social-cigarettes/>. 4. Go Gulf, . N.p., n. d. 2 May 2013. <http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/ online-time/>. 5.Waugh, R.. N.p.. Web. 2 May 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk sciencetech/article-2166603/Making-calls-fifth-usedfunction-smartphones--web-Facebook-games-music.html>. 6.Semmelroth, Ed. N.p.. Web. 2 May 2013. <http://hearth.com/ what/historyfire.html>. 7. Hestia. (2013, April 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:24, May 3, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Hestia&oldid=552925954
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