BETTER BLOCK KC 2013
KCDC Kansas City Design Center
2
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Contents
Project Brief KCDC Better Block KC Research & Analysis Case Studies Site Analysis Project Diagrams Usage Materiality Kit of Parts Unit Structure Final Documentation Plan Elevation Details Renderings Construction Event Photos
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
3
4
Project Brief
5
Kansas City Design Center
The Kansas City Design Center supports educational initiatives that help build public awareness of the factors that influence the character of the public realm. For the second year, KCDC is participating with Better Block KC to create a more “complete street” for the downtown area of Kansas City. This event aligns with the mission of KCDC, which is to improve the urban environment.
6
PROJECT BRIEF
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Better Block KC
The “Better Block” project transforms a typical autocentric street into a pedestrian oriented route to show the potential for a great, walkable, vibrant neighborhood. It is a demonstration tool that acts as a living charrette so that communities can actively engage in the process and provide feedback in real time.
Better Block KC 2012: Make Grand “Grand”
KCDCDESIGN BRIEF
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
PROJECT BRIEF
7
Transportation Oriented Design
The overall goal of Better Block KC is to engage the community and advocate for multi-modal transportation, including the upcoming street car. Once the KC Streetcar is in operation, the route will connect the River Market area to the Crown Center/Union Station area. The majority of the two-mile route will be on Main Street. The stops will be spaced about every two blocks, which will be a total of 18 stops. The 2013 Better Block KC site at 19th St. and Main St. was chosen to help facilitate excitement for the streetcar, and will be a future streetcar stop.
8
PROJECT BRIEF
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Project Brief & Challenge Develop a Facade to support and demonstrate transit oriented development (TOD) within the vacant site. Collaborate with Local Start KC to arrange a layout of the marketplace with accessible pedestrian corridor.
Existing Site
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Event concept image.
PROJECT BRIEF
9
10
Research & Analysis
11
Facade Study The facade is the interface of two conditions, and occupies the space that is shared by both.
exterior vs. interior public vs. private building vs. city
The facade is significant, as it designates the intitial perception of a space, and sets the tone for the entire structure. A facade conventionally signifies the program within; for instance, a bank vs. a market facade each convey a different meaning. Historically, the facade was the “face” of a building; the side adjacent to the street, or city. As the most urban part of the building, the facade promoted human interaction along the street, while providing separation for the interior. The identity of a city’s streets and public spaces was created by the facades in aggregate. The facades developed their own dialogue, which affected the overall “conversation” of the city.
12
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Facades develop a relationship between two spaces. Parsons Design School; New York City
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
The skin of a building, and the public interface.
Facade Study
As part of our study, we also investigated the different attributes of a facade: Transparency & Layering Form & Material Communication & Ideas of engagement
The changing conditions of the facade as markers of time and space.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
13
Transparency & Layering transparent: able to be seen through; easy to notice or understand; honest and open, not secretive. transmitting light so that bodies lying beyond are seen clearly. allowing the passage of a specified form. free from pretense or deceit.
The degree to which on object is transparent is transparency. Transparency can be Conceptual or Literal; visual or physical. When considering a facade, transparency involves removing or varying the barriers between the two conditions. This varies the degree of the accessability and openess of this intermediate space.
With Steven Holl’s building, the users can litteraly occupy the space that is typically used only as a boundary. The space can be morphed into a variety of uses, and the spacial boundaries change with use.
14
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Transparency & Layering “Transparency means a simultaneous perception of different spatial locations. Space not only recedes but fluctuates in a continuous activity. ” (Gyorgy Kepes, Language of Vision, quoted in C. Rowe & R. Slutzky, 1982, Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal, The mathematics of the ideal villa and other essays)
The layering produces an opposition between the actual geometry and an implied geometry; between real space which is negative or void and implied volume which is positive or solid” (Eisenman, 1975).
Jean Nouvel’s Cartier Foundation in Paris has a transparent glass facade which maintains the street wall, continues some of the adjacent building’s datum, and transparently masks (virtually) the complexity of the programed spaces beyond.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
15
Form & Material Found object vs. custom made
Objects or products that are no longer considered useful may be reporpused with an entirely different fuction to change the perception of it’s utility or status.
16
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Form & Material Found object : wood pallet
A pallet is designed to be a stable support for heavy objects while in transport. As the structural foundation of a unit load, the pallet is designed to perform horizontally in compression. While there is no universal standard size, pallets are generally built in similarl sizes in order to be more usefull and economical. For the Better Block KC project, we have found ample sources of discarded pallets. The 80 inch pallets in the left photograph were used for shipping solar panels.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
17
Communication & Ideas of Engagement
18
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Communication Previous events helped the studio establish its primary goals.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
19
20
Site Analysis
21
22
SITE ANALYSIS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Aerial Map
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
SITE ANALYSIS
23
View Diagram
24
SITE ANALYSIS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Views Looking East on 19th St.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
SITE ANALYSIS
25
Views Looking South on Main St.
26
SITE ANALYSIS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Views Looking North East from Extra Virgin Restaraunt.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
SITE ANALYSIS
27
Site Plan
19th St.
Confluence Parklet
Streetcar Stop Mockup Streetcar Exhibit
Parklets
Main St.
KCDC Interactive Facade
MARKET SEATING & MOVIE VEIWING
0'
28
10'
SITE ANALYSIS
20'
40'
SITE PLAN
80'
BETTER BLOCK KC
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
KCDC 2014 00/00
Circulation
gathering space circulation
Main St.
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
SITE ANALYSIS
29
30
Project Diagrams
31
Unit Diagram
32
PROJECT DIAGRAMS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Transparency
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
PROJECT DIAGRAMS
33
Interaction
customer
ity un m g m tin co sea
exiting fence
vendor
34
PROJECT DIAGRAMS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Material Language
MATERIAL LANGUAGE: stacked/ horizontal pallets MDF countertops layered/ vertical pallets existing iron fence
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
PROJECT DIAGRAMS
35
36
Final Documentation
37
Elevation
ft. ft. 52 in.
38
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
STREET ELEVATION Better Block KC
KCDC 2013
00/00
Axon
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
39
Details
40
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Details
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
41
End Condition
42
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
End Condition
Base Seating Space Defining
END CONDITION Exploded Axon
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
KCDC 2014 00/00
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
43
Vignette 1
44
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Vignette 2
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
45
Vignette 3
46
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Vignette 4
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
47
Vignette 5
48
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Vignette 6
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
FINAL DOCUMENTATION
49
50
Construction
51
52
CONSTRUCTION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
CONSTRUCTION
53
54
CONSTRUCTION
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
CONSTRUCTION
55
56
Event Photos
57
Event Setup
58
EVENT PHOTOS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Event Setup
1. moving the pallets into place on site 2. assembling one of the countertops 3. installing lights inside the structure 4. arranging vegetation with the help from Family Tree Nursery
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
EVENT PHOTOS
59
Event Setup
60
EVENT PHOTOS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Event Setup
1. fastening the cords for the lighting to the pallets 2. guests gathered at the site around 5pm to hear Mayor Sly James speak 3. view of the assembled facade 4. Thou Mayest setting up their vendor counter BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
EVENT PHOTS
61
Vendors
62
EVENT PHOTOS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Vendors
1. Howards Organic Market 2. Thou Mayest 3. The Local Pig 4. H&C Ice Cream
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
EVENT PHOTOS
63
Local Start Market
64
EVENT PHOTOS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Local Start Market
1. Local Start Marketplace 2. Cultivate KC sharing information 3. Vendors inside the marketplace 4. Bread KC pop up shop
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
EVENT PHOTOS
65
Evening Photos
66
EVENT PHOTOS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Evening Photos
1. Later in the evening, people with food from other locations using the seating 2. Lighting incorporated into the facade allowed vendors to keep selling their products after dark. BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
EVENT PHOTOS
67
Evening Photos
68
EVENT PHOTOS
BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
Evening Photos
1. Seating area in use 2. Fluorescent lighting detail 3. Countertop Detail 4. Facade illuminating the sidewalk after the event BETTER BLOCK KC—KCDC 2014
EVENT PHOTOS
69