COWORKING
Thinking Creatively Together
Kelli Franklin 2008 Thesis Document
INDEX
01
Analysis and Research 1.1 The Creative Office In Context 1.2 Architecture and Disjunction 1.3 The Manhattan Transcripts 1.4 Parc de la Villette 1.5 Stansted Airport: Structural System
02
03
Proposal of Site 2.1 Charlotte, North Carolina 2.2 Neighborhood in context: Wilmore 2.3 The Site: 100 West Park Avenue 2.4 The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) 2.5 Market Delineation: Central Business Districts 2.6 Local Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats 2.7 Zoning Ordinances, Buffers, & Setbacks Organization of Space 3.1 Creating Pavilions 3.2 Preliminary Design 3.3 Parti models and diagrams 3.4 Second Design Scheme 3.5 Third Design Scheme 3.6 Third Design Scheme (contin.) 3.7 Perspective Drawings/ Concepts
INTRO Coworking can be best defined as a social, informal collaborative, bringing together entrepreneurs and independent contractors who dream of leasing their own space, but are limited by the cost of square footage and utilities. They are energetic individuals excited about their jobs that do not feel pressured to remain seated if they need to walk around to clear a brain block. Coworking is a new approach to the structure of a workplace. The building I have designed warrants a compilation of disciplines that not only rely on one another socially but are represented structurally. A building with forces triangulating together to hold its own. A place for coworkers, a Creative Office. I have a specific interest in designing for independents and those who are challenged financially to start their own businesses. I have met many individuals that are experiencing these problems and as a result they seek collaborative environments. When people work together, they understand each other. Their collective intelligence allow them to be more productive in the workplace. However, some companies unintentionally take these interactions away from their employees and advances in technology are often the cause.
Technology takes this interaction away from people by substituting their positions. There is no longer a need to combine efforts amongst individuals when a machine could produce more efficient work. It is not only the final product that is important, the interaction amongst individuals is just as important. Nowadays, more people work longer hours, and often multiple jobs, yet they still continue to seek more freedom. For some this means starting small businesses that are often forced to share a working environment because of cost, but it does not have to always be a bad thing. Some people choose to work in collaborative environments. This is a great example of who coworkers are. Those who do not mind working around other people and find it useful to share the amenities with other individiduals to save money. These are also people who seek social interaction as a way to further their ideas and lives in the business world. I will preface this document by noting that coworking is a culture, not a building type. However, the building type I have proposed in this document, also considered a creative office, creates an environment for this 21st culture to thrive.
01
1.1
Analysis and Research
The Creative Office In Context The architecture of a creative office is experienced in the same way that a literary context unfolds events to a reader or as a series of frozen frames found in photography or cinema. The building captures events, space, and movement; being both continuous and logical as well as startling and unscripted at times. The method I used to organize this building derived from several sources. They include Bernard Tschumi’s design for “The Manhattan Transcripts” and his influential project Parc de la Villette in addition to the writings of Richard Florida in the books The Rise of the Creative Class and Cities and the Creative Class. I also studied other buildings such as the Stansted Airport as a reference for materiality and structural systems. The abstraction of these concepts and the construction of material images created the form of this design. I will analyze and frame the four disjointed programs of an existing farmer’s market, a printing company, a coffee shop, and use the creative office studio space as a supportive infrastructure. It is through diagramming and research that I will produce a snapshot from which a creative office will manifest.
1.2 Architecture and Disjunction
The book Architecture and Disjunction is a collection of essays composed by Bernard Tschumi to provide an alternative to the architectural condition of the twentieth century. He defines architecture to be pleasurable but at times a “violent confrontation of spaces and events�. The book is broken into three main parts: Space, Program, and Disjunction. Space not defined as the six faces of a cube, but the experience one questions as they observe and navigate. Program suggests the pragmatic usefulness of a building in solidity and utility as an extension to the notion of event. Disjunction begins to combine these concepts of space and program to produce a form. A form that would design the conditions of a city rather than the city conditioning the design. Tschumi expands upon the importance of socioeconomics to architecture. In particular to understanding an absolute contradiction between new spatial organization and the growth of the land. A form or organization can temporarily modify an individual or group, then inherently society could experience change.
“...Architecture was, first and foremost, the adaptation of space to the existing socioeconomic structure. It would serve the powers in place, and, even in the case of more socially oriented policies, its programs would reflect the prevalent views of the existing political framework “ (Tschumi).
Coworking, to me, is not defined as a space, but a movement. One that motivates a change in the way people operate in the business world.
After reading many of his books, I started to question the very things Tschumi researched, especially organization as an architectural method.
Coworking is a community-like environment that acts as a collaboration space for developers, writers, and independents. It allows people of various disciplines to inadvertently make use of each other’s knowledge.
Tschumi’s method of transprogramming was very similar to my definition of “coworking”. He defines transprogramming as a “combination of two programs regardless of their incompatibilities, together with their respective spatial configurations.” His reference: a planetarium + a rollercoaster.
I have a specific enthusiasm for people who are separated by genre, but not separated by geography or sociological organization. These could be writers, who look to photographers for inspiration, or graphic artists who seek dance movements for logos. These are individuals who work independently, but still share similar values and are interested in the
1.3 The Manhattan Transcripts
“Architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event, action, and what happens in space. “ The Manhattan Transcripts are different from most of the architectural drawings. As a theoretical project, the transcripts proposed an architectural interpretation of reality. The transcripts are a collection of photographs that either directed or “witnessed” events through the lens of a camera, in the same way that plans, sections, and diagrams outline spaces the “lead role” in the experience of architecture. “The Transcripts’ explicit purpose was to transcribe things normally removed from conventional architectural representation, namely the complex relationship between spaces and their use, between “type” and “program”, between objects and events.” Tschumi offered a different reading of architecture keeping space, movement, and events independent. Their relationship to one another on paper, however, allowed them to be comparable. This was his way of breaking down architecture and rebuilding it along different axes. Hiss abstractions and format aid in exploring the unlikely confrontations of design.
“Although no mode of notation, whether mathematical or logical, can transcribe the full complexity of the architectural phenomenon, the progress of architectural notation is linked to the renewal of both architecture and its accompanying concepts of culture.” (Tschumi)
It is difficult for a reader to understand “The Manhattan Transcripts” after only a single glance of images. However, this demonstratesTschumi’s ability to make us view architecture through an atypical lens, or set of eyes. “The Manhattan Transcripts” made me think about organization in a different way. One that is seeminly structured, however, unpredictable at times.
“In contrast and in opposition to functionalist, formalist, classical, and modernist doctrines, my ambition, already expressed in “The Manhattan Transcripts”, is to deconstruct architectural norms in order to reconstruct architecture; to indicate that space, movement, and event are inevitably part of a minimal definition of architecture, and that the contemporary disjunction between use, form, and social va lues suggest an interchangeable relation between object, movement, and action.”
This led me to a theory of sociology called organisational semiotics. Organizational semiotics examines the nature, characteristics and features of information, and studies how information can be best used in the context of organized activities and businesses.
values and beliefs), systematics (the collection of individuals that is automated or driven by specific genre or machine), telecommunications (the interchange of dialogue), and computational organization which is the gathering, processing, and distribution of the information such as human activity systems.
Organizations are treated like information systems, separated into various categories. I took this same structural system and began thinking of it with regard to socioeconomics and architecture.
Some of these systems were diagrammed and revisited in 3.4 as a design scheme. The configurations led me to a basic grid from which my floor plan was derived. To the right is an image of one of the diagrams. More diagrams can be found in section 3.4.
The categories include: Geography (the relationship of individuals with regard to their geographic location), Mathematic ( an algabraic lattice structure or an abstraction of logical reasoning), social systems ( the grouping of individuals based on goals,
1.4 Parc de la Villette
The Parc de la Villette project was a competition where a selected chief architect would be in charge of the master plan as well as the construction of key park elements. La Villette was to be an “Urban Park for the 21st Century” encombassing restaurants, art galleries, music and painting workshops, playgrounds, and gardens. Tschumi was selected for the project and approached it with three independent systems of points, lines, and planes. The points, also called “folies” are placed on a point-grid coordinate system at 120-meter intervals. “Each “folie” is basically a 10x10x10 meter cube, or a threestory construction of neutral space, that can be transformed and elaborated according to programmatic needs. The folie grid is related to a larger set of axes that evolve from the pedestrian movement that marks the site with a cross. These lines connect the park to exterior coordinates such as the subway stations and the suburbs. The surfaces or “planes” of the park receive all activites such as body exercises, entertainment, markets, etc.
The concept of “pure mathematics” that Tschumi uses in “The Manhattan Transcripts” is contradicted by the “applied mathematics” of the Parc de la Villette project. So I asked myself the question: How do you make a building from researching theory? Especially when combining two that are in such opposition? Tschumi used the theoretical concepts in Parc de la Villette practically. He chose a specific system of three components and allowed all of the programmatic pieces to nestle themselves within that strategy. La Villette’s expresses a rigid organization between point, line, and plane that addresses multiple programmatic pieces and combines them so that they operate effectively. These two Tschumi projects resulted in a design for a coworking space using a space frame construction. The space frame was based on a 15’ base triangular pyramid. The triangle, particularly equilateral, was of specific interest to me. All edges of a triangle rely on one another to hold its form. In 2D, these edges are bound by 60 degree angles, all totaling 180 degrees on the interior. In 3D, when the triangles become pyramids, the edges continue to rely one another. I immediately started thinking about this structure as a response to the program, a mixed-use coworking studio. Idrew a parallel between a set of people who depend on one another to a series of shapes, that when combined form different variations that still rely on one another to function properly. This is still while assuming their properties as original shapes.
1.5 Stansted Airport: Structural System
The Stansted Airport, designed by architect Sir Norman Foster and Associates, is a British rail station located in London, England. The objective of Foster and Associates was to create a large space that was clear and easier to navigate than other international airports. The space had to be free of columns, but resonable economically. The terminal building is two levels. Baggage handling systems, storage, and the British Rail Station were placed int he lower part of the building. The upper concourse hosts all public facilities with the arrivals and departures arranged side by side. This reduces the walking distance for passengers, especially those connecting flights. Each building has a composition of columns and roof structure that allow natural light to penetrate the spaces as the floor plates are represented by the various shades of grey. The interior grid system provided a connection between the levels as well as a directional structure that is easy to navigate. This lead the passengers from land to air through virtual experience and view.
Above Left: Exterior Elevation, Above Right: Pin connection of column Left: Column system
The way that Foster opened up the floor plan to receive a large group immediately drew my attention towards a space frame construction type for the Coworking studio. This column system would allow the structure to function as a system who’s members highly depend on one another, much like the coworkers. The images on this page are of the Stansted Airport. The drawing to the left is the column system. This drawing shows how the utilities come up the center of the column to each floor of the building. I want to look into this idea in Phase 2 of my analysis.
02
2.1
Proposal of Site
Charlotte, North Carolina Coworking and creative offices or collaboration spaces are moving across the Carolinas. They can be found in cities such as Greensboro, Raleigh, Durham, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Charlotte. These areas are gaining great enthusiasm about creating spaces that promote socioeconomic development. As a result, I inquired Charlotte as an option to investigate what forces are acting against us? Charlotte is a city that is growing with young professionals. However, most of Charlotte’s efforts to contribute to the young professional community rarely exists outside of business accelerators and executive suites. The number of independent professionals, contractors, and designers is increasing, and in turn, the need for isolated space is expanding. Throughout my research, I have been in contact with Nathan and Heather Longbrook; two individuals with the initiative to acquire, design, and run a “Creative Office” environment for Charlotte. Until the design is finalized, they are “parasites” to local businesses willing to share space.. I have continued to show them my research and drawings as I do more analysis on the type of space this usergroup warrants. Hopefully, after the project is complete I will be able to participate in rennovating a space along side of them.
2.2 Neighborhood in context: Wilmore The site is located in the Camden Square Village of Wilmore Neighborhood. Wilmore is a close-in neighborhood that dates back to 1914. It is separated by South Tryon Street from the district of Dilworth, where many historic buildings have been redeveloped offices, condos, shops, and restaurants. As residential development increases in the Camden Square Village and Southend area, people will observe a greater need for pedestrian connections, especially to the light-rail stops nearby. “Wilmore has begun to attract urban pioneers who have purchased and remodeled houses in the working-class neighborhood.� Wilmore is recognized as a major revitalization area for Charlotte. However, many architects and contractors are wary of the changes made to the area, ensuring they blend with the character of the neighborhood. It is also my responsibility, addressing this site for my Thesis, to ensure the character of the neighborhood is not sacrificed.
Wilmore Neighborhood Charlotte, NC
The image below shows the intersection of Park Avenue and Camden Street in relation to S. Tryon Street.
The map to the right shows the lower 277 Beltoop of Charlotte and its proximity to the site. The site is located south of Charlotte’s main axis, Tryon Street.
2.3 The Site: 100 West Park Avenue
The site for the project is on the cross streets of Park Avenue and Camden Street. This neighborhood, known as Wilmore, is part of a greater district called Southend. Southend is also recognized as one of Charlotte’s Historic Neighborhoods. The neighborhood hosts many events, some of which require street closings. Some of these events include gallery crawls on the first Friday of every month. Many restaurants and galleries take advantage of this time, while the neighborhood is open and engaged with both locals and visitors. Southend has become a place for people to escape the corporate business life of Uptown and enjoy live entertainment. In addition to the recently added lightrail, Southend has hired a vintage trolley to circle South End, bringing visitors to the front door of the galleries. The people in this community are very driven, which is the same types of individuals you might find participating and coworking in Creative Offices.
Below: On Tuesdays and Saturdays, the site is the home of the Charlotte Tailgate Farmers’ Market. The market consists of local growers and artisans who assemble vender tables and sell to the community. Those visiting the site throughout the rest of the week are mostly visitors to nearby shops and restaurants.
2.4 The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS)
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the agency responsible for operating mass transit in Charlotte, and Mecklenburg County. CATS operates light rail transit, historic trolleys, express shuttles, and bus service that serves Charlotte and its immediate suburbs. The LYNX light rail system comprises a 9.6 mile line that runs north-south known as the Blue Line. This line passes by the site on Camden Road and tenants can access it by walking one block east of the site. Figure 1 is a map showing the light rail’s proximity to the site. The blue circle represents the selected site and the green line represents the light rail. Today, South End is the home to many local and national retailers including contemporary boutiques featuring men’s and women’s apparel, hair salons, and antique shops, office supply, jewelers, a home and garden center, pet store, music store, grocery and convenience stores. The area also supports many unique restaurants like Phat Burrito, Pike’s Old Fashion Soda Shop, and Price’s Chicken Coop. Chain restaurants nearby include Carabba’s, Fuel Pizza, and Einstein’s Brothers’ Bagels. All of which are able to benefit from the light rail stations that have been placed along this corridor.
“The relationship between people and their environment go both ways. Humanity shapes its environment and the environment shapes its inhabitants� ( Architect).
The light rail plays an important role to the Coworking studio. The users of this building are often working at other locations as well as communting from home. It is helpful for a building of this type to have access to many forms of transportation so that it is available for users of all types. Those traveling from the center city may find the building to be a quick bike ride, walk, or light rail visit away, while those who are communting from farther away may choose to drive or take a bus. This site can be accessible from all directions in various forms of transportation. This is another reason it is proven to be a successful site selection.
Figure 1
2.5 Market Delineation: Central Business Districts
Office buildings compete the most with buildings in the immediate vicinity. Many tenants will most likely want easy access to the building and its resources. This design will compete with similar size floor plates (roughly 7,000 SF), which have the ability to accommodate smaller, professional type tenants. Much of the target market includes those tenants who are alread prevalent in the Midtown area, such as real estate firms, insurance, architects, graphic artists, journalists, and designers. The primary competition for retail will be within a half mile radius from the site. There will be minimal business that is generated from people who have to travel much further due to the availability of similar retail offerings that offer greater convenience for further locations. The South End Market offers a number of benefits that differentiate it from other areas in Mecklenburg County. It has a close proximity to downtown businesses and resources. It also has easy access to light rail which is convenient to workers, shoppers, and nearby residences. It contains the historic look and feel of Charlotte with a diverse group of retailers and activities. This is an area with a growing density and a recently high residential growth area. This building will draw tenants from an educated workforce, including those whose businesses are independently owned.
Some of the most cultural events of Charlotte have been pushed to the outskirts as the city has been overcome by corporate businesses and small retail shops. It has been recently that the city is starting to introduce events back to the center-city. Camden is one of the areas of Charlotte that has received variety and still remains culturally rich.
Coworking is an urban revitalization with grassroots participation and finding an area of Charlotte that can accomodate that was difficult. I researched market analysis of the site to ensure that Camden was the appropriate place for this building proposal. I separated the analysis as a series of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This allowed me to view things that would help, hurt, and benefit the building design. Coworking is a culture, and in order to design for that culture, I needed to make sure I understood it completely. As a part of an extensive study, I performed a financial analysis of the site, averaging lease terms , and understanding retail competition, in addition to the office competition.
2.6 Local Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threats
Strengths: 1. Economical transportation options: The light rail and trolley will provide easy access to and from the site. 2. Corner: Although the site is off of the main thoroughfare, the corner lot offers better visibility compared to neighboring tenants. The exist ing parking and nearby businesses activate all four corners of the site. 3. Easy ingress and egress with two access points 4. In recent past, mixed-use developments have dominated the Charlotte market. 5. Adequate parking to service the retail and studio tenants: 3 to every 1,000 square feet plus street parking and cross parking at night. 6. Plaza/ Farmer’s Market: This space will be an amenity to office employees who can use it during the weekends by the Farmer’s Market, who already conduct business on a regular basis. Weakness: 1. The development for this project requires multiple parcels of land to be acquired which will increase the cost and time required to deal 2. Escalating construction costs 3. Although over 7,500 cars pass by this site daily, nearby streets see much higher traffic counts. This may turn off potential retail tenants. 4. On the fringe of a transitional neighborhood
Opportunity: 1. Strong demographics: At 2.3%, the metro’s population growth rate nearly triples that of the nation as a whole. The pace is expected to continue. South End will benefit will benefit from the population growth. 2. The Charlotte area is an attractive place for businesses due to the lower cost of living (96%) and the lower cost of doing business (92%) when compared to the U.S. 3. There are numerous residential developments nearby - 3030 South (1.46 miles from site) - The Abbot (.50 miles from site) - Village Lofts (.68 miles from site) - C (.35 miles from site) - The Silos (1.2 miles from site) - Spectrum Apartments (.62 miles from site) - ChelseaAtSouthEnd Mixed Use Building (Planning stage- .69 miles from site) - Brooklyn Village Mixed Use (Planning stage- .92 miles from site) Threats: 1. Economic stress is reducing consumer spending 2. Increased office deliveries may drive rents lower, which can be competition to the decreased prices of a coworking space. 3. Things are starting to slow down for Charlotte as a whole. Employment growth year over year was 1.6% (14,143 new jobs) as of mid 2008. This is moderate compared to the annual pace of 4.5% during the prior 12 month period. 4. With the sale of Wachovia, and acquisition of Mer rill Lynch by Bank of America, additional office space could come back on the market. Also, companies that supported these giants may be out of work.
2.7 Zoning Ordinances, Buffers, & Setbacks
According the Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Commission, the site is zoned MUDD-O meaning it is available for mixed use development. This zoning ordinance requires the setbacks on the site to be 15’-0� from the street curb as represented below. The brown color in Figure 2 below represents the alloted land for use in compliance with the zoning ordinance laws. The blue topography lines show a slope of no more than 10 feet across the site. 730 ft.
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Figure 2
ALLOTED LAND USE scale: 0
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The zoning ordinances and site analysis have played a significant role in the designing this building. The parking minimum would seem to be no issue, however, the program on the first floor of the building is retail. It is important to have parking that will support the retail appropriately. In order for the building to have positive market value, the parking must be split between day and night time users. This could indicate that one of the pieces on the first floor be a restaurant that is only open in the evenings.
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See Figure 2 for Section Reference
Another import piece of information to be attentive to are the two houses placed immediately behind the site. To place a parking structure between the building and the houses could cause noise issues. The placement of the building on site will direct the uses on the interior. Those gaining northern light would be most promising for office spaces..
03
3.1
Organization of Space
Creating Pavilions There are many factors to consider when analyzing the data gathered from the site analysis; appropriate placement on site, activation of site, pedestrian and vehicular traffic, in addition to zoning ordinances. The site is culturally rich and active on all four corners. This means that pedestrians should be able to reach the site from any locale nearby. This section is process work that lead to valuable conclusions. Many times architects design assuming the user will determine how to occupy a space, especially open spaces. The building I hope I will produce will lead the user not only through the architecture, but across the site into other parts of the neighborhood. This brings interaction from the users inside of the building to the local community, and beyond.
“Although no mode of notation, whether mathematical or logical, can transcribe the full complexity of the architectural phenomenon, the progress of architectural notation is linked to the renewal of both architecture and its accompanying concepts of culture.”
3.2 Preliminary Design
The diagrams to the right represent the different arrangements of program that will be proven most successful on the site. These were the first models to include square footage and more accurately represented space making. I specifically arranged the program pieces ( a farmer’s market, a coffee shop, a printing company, a retail store, and the Creative Office) keeping the office spaces above the retail. This would allow the retail to have most access to the street and the coworkers to be put on display. These diagrams were analyzed with Parc de la Villette’s point, line, and plane layers. The points in the plan that will carry the most importance depends on the arrangement of the program. The lines of axis and path across the site determines how one might navigate through the building. The planes carry the program and activate the first level. The reference to Parc de la Villette introduced a gridded system to the project. There are layers of abstraction that should overlay these diagrams. The images to the right are only massing representing a rational structure with adequate square footage and placement of program parts.
Figure 1 Plan View
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 1A Perspective
Figure 2A
Figure 3A
Figure 4A
Figure 5A
Figure 6A
3.3 Parti models and diagrams
Figure 7
As a change of pace, the students exchanged projects for a day. This made each student think about someone else’s project so that he or she may be able to incorporate someone else’s ideas into their own design. The diagrams above in Figure 7 are based on modularity. Shipping container forms were used to denote the spaces across the site. The models on the top row stack the program to create a dynamic play between the areas that one walks through verses the area that they walk under. The diagrams on the bottom row are a separation of program based on different types of clustering. After analyzing the spatial arrangements, a new set of models were created as shown in Figure 8. These models were based on a retail first floor with the creative office spaces above. Much like the other diagrams, some are stacked higher than others. The other diagrams layered the program so that spaces interlock with one another. The way that the spaces interlock with one another started to create rooms where the user group is of more than one type. Suddenly the spaces overlapped creating an interesting “co-working” experience.
Artis
Artisian Trade Print Company COFFEE
Farm Mar
COFFEE
Artisian Trade Farmers Market
sian Trade Farmers Market
Print Company
coffee The different diagrams helped me to visualize how the spaces would work phsically on the site as well a response to the . In the previous computer diagrams earlier in the document, the assumptions were based primarily on mathematics and comparison of spaces with regard to square footage.
COFFEE
I was unsure of the outcome of switching projects with another colleague and how it was to help me with my design. However, the project had become so complex in my head that simplifying it with a modularunit was useful. It was the modularity that led me to revisit Tschumi’s Park la Villette project to complete a structure or system that would act as a backbone to the design of the building. One that would remain neutral, as the first floor had different programmatic parts than the second.
mers rket
Figure 8
3.4 Second Design Scheme
This design was to separate the different spaces and create intermediate mezzanine levels where the interaction between workers and visitors would occur. The concrete wall, as represented in the model to the right, is a barrier for the farmer’s market to the street. The holes in the wall serve multiple functions. They can taunt curiosity to those passing, in hopes they stop by the farmers market. The wall also acts as a light screen with views to the city from inside. The plaza space can also be used by the patrons of the burrito shop, named“Phat Burrito”, across the street. There are times when “Phat Burrito” is very busy and the small space is unable to accomodate the users. This allowed the urban plaza to be shared amongst users in the neighborhood. The community of Wilmore wishes to keep Camden a culturally rich and safe place to visit. It is not overly crowded, nor bombarded with corporate structures. It is my desire to design a building that will give them this sense of community and a place they can feel comfortable enough to call their second home.
The different diagrams helped me to visualize how the spaces would work phsically on the site as well a response to the . In the previous computer diagrams earlier in the document, the assumptions were based primarily on mathematics and comparison of spaces with regard to square footage. I was unsure of the outcome of switching projects with another colleague and how it was to help me with my design. However, the project had become so complex in my head that simplifying it with a sense of modularity was useful. It was the modularity that led me to revisit Tschumi’s Park la Villette project to complete a structure or system that would act as a backbone to the design of the building. One that would remain neutral, as the first floor had different programmatic parts than the second.
3.5 Third Design Scheme
In order to move further with the design schemes, a framework was needed to encompass the programmatic parts of the Farmer’s Market, the Retail store, the Printing company, and the Coffee shop. I reviewed the precedents and Tschumi’s different forms of framework, seeking one of my own. I looked over basic organizations and frameworks that are found in current buildings, listed above. Some of the types include geometric organization, sociological organization, geometric, and basic organization. I chose a system that works in elevation and in plan, a series of triangles. This particular form of triangle, an equilateral triangular pyramid. The pieces of the triangle rely on one another to stand. The leaning of each piece, causes compression and tension structurally. The combination of triangles can form many different larger shapes. For example, two triangles will form a parallelogram. Six triangles create a hexagon, which is used for the largest gathering spaces in the building.
3.6 Third Design Scheme (contin.)
The next set of images are a more detailed description of this design scheme. This design is an attempt to arrange a floor plan that can operate efficiently within code regulations, and an elevation that creates the areas of the building that create interactions between people. These can be both for business or just socially. There are three main levels to the building. The first floor is mostly leased space for the retail store, a printing company, and the coffee shop, while the top level is intended for the coworking studios. The level inbetween the two is to allow room for interaction between the two. As there will be workers that will come down to use the printing company, to shop at the store, or to grab a quick cup of coffee- there will also be visitors to the building who are not as regular who could engage in conversation with one another. In the same way that bars are effective for bringing strangers together over a common interest, the coworking space should do the same. Only this time, the topics that are brought up can be both socially normal, or “business casual�.
Coffee Shop Above: East Section Sketch Right: East Section Model
South Section of Coffee Shop
3.6 (contin.) Ground Floor Plan On ground level, there is a large plaza space designed for the Farmer’s Market. However, because the Farmer’s market only meets twice a week, there is opportunity for other activities to be held in this area. This may include musical events from local drum circles, or dance performances. To the left of the hexagonal plaza is a local trade store. This will be a place for locals to buy and trade one another’s work. To the right, the smaller area is a Printing company. This will facilitate those working in the offices above as well as the community. To the right of that is the coffee shop that extends to the mezzanine level, bridging the coworking studio and the first floor.
3.6 (contin.) Mezzanine Level Floor Plan The mezzanine level of the floor plan is important because it is areas in the building such as these that the uses are more flexible. This floor was designed as a thoroughfare , bring people together and increasing productivity through interaction. In this plan you can see most of the circulation throughout the building. The staircases are located behind the retail store, in front of the Printing company, and through the coffee shop to the Mezzanine level.
3.6 (contin.) Third Floor Plan The third level of the plan hosts the Coworking studios. This floor is a combination of both public and private spaces. Some of the smaller areas, as defined by triangles are personal desks. The larger areas, are where the people in the studios can host conferences or have group meetings. The flexibility in the use of this space promotes creativity and allows the workers to not be limited by their resources. The parallelogram areas that are shown represent water closets.
East Elevation: Camden Road
North Elevation: Park Avenue
3.6 (contin.) Farmer’s Market Interior (Above), Rear Perspective (Below).
3.5 (contin.) Park Road Perspective (Above) Park Road Perspective `(Below)
Large Group Small Group Personal Space
3.7 Perspective Drawings/ Concepts
These perspectives represent how I feel the structure will be integrated into the program. The top, left drawing shows the height difference in the work stations with the posts being the center. The top, right drawing is of the trade store, or retail. The shelves are built into the structure for display. The right, middle drawing shows how the upper portion of the posts can be activated to hold shelving or even frame a door way. The bottom right drawing shows how the structural parts create more intimate areas in a room. Next semester we still study materiality and structure. I will then choose which uses of the posts are necessary and which are arbitrary.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Smith, Doug. “Project could help revitalize Wilmore.” Historicsouthend. 6 Apr. 2003. 1 Oct. 2008 <www.historicsouthend.com/archives/Project%20Could%20Re vitalize%20Wilmore%204-6-2003.>. 2. The Architect. Dir. Matt Tauber. Perf. Anthony Lapaglia and Isabella Rossellini. DVD. Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2006. 3. Tschumi, Bernard. Architecture and Disjunction. London: The Mit Press, 1996.
IMAGE REFERENCE 4. “[ Bernard Tschumi Architects ].” [ Bernard Tschumi Architects ]. 21 Sep. 2008 <http://www.tschumi.com/>. 5.
(RF), Creative. Market. Getty Images, Http://www.gettyimages.com.