Portfolio, Volume 1 by Matthew Wang

Matthew Wang

M.Arch 2013

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Columbia University, New York

thanks to... Mom, Dad, Joe, and Andrew Cindy Phil, Bob, Jeffrey, Galia, and Mabel and all of my classmates, colleagues, and friends

1 CORE I CORE II

FIRST YEAR P. Parker, critic R. Marino, critic

CORE I: Ice

Critic: P. Parker

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CORE I: Backpack Critic: P. Parker

Water-filtering backpack. The backpack is an item that is personal, physical, and tactile. Through studying the human body in motion, I became interested in its stretch and compression capabilities. I utilized the natural attributes of the sponge because of its filtering capabilities when dynamically stretched or compressed. Water is stored and collected in the sponge itself. It is then pushed through a series of additional filters as it is squeezed, stretched, and compressed parallel to the natural movements of the wearer.

These line drawings were produced by tracing overlaid photos of myself. As I move, my skin, the principle and most intimate envelope of my body is stretched and compressed as the construction of muscles, fluids, and joints changes underneath. Placing dots on specific points on my body allowed me to track the stretch of the skin and the movement of the body in two dimensional space.

This series of line drawings shows depicts the secondary envelope of the body: the shirt. Despite the similar properties of a cotton shirt and skin with respect to their elastic qualities, the two act very differently.

I constructed a physical section of the backpack device, shown below. The sponge is both the storage mechanism and the filter for the backpack. As the wearer hikes, climbs, sits, and runs, the backpack is stretched and compressed pushing water out of the sponge, through a secondary series of filters, and into a collection tank.

A) Exploded perspective of construction of backpack layered filtering system

Transparent Plastic Membrane Filters Rubber/Semi-Elastic/Non-Permeable Membrane Filtering Sponge Plastic Membrane

B) Physical model in stretch, compression, and torsion

C) Section of backpack, showing path of water through device

CORE I: Cell/Air Lab Critic: P. Parker

1970-1980

1980-1990

1990-2000

2000-2010

Temperature Mapping in the Arctic

The issue of Global Warming is not a new one. For much more than a few years, scientists, climatologists, politicians, and activists have been urging citizens of this world to tackle the problem that could be the end of the world as we know it. While what the future holds for us is unclear, the possibilities and graveness of the issue are real. Our citizens know the hypotheses; they know the problem, but few take it seriously. While a large player in the problem of global warming is our own carbon dioxide and fossil fuel emissions, the real evidence of a pressing issue lies within the reactions of our planet to the problem we have presented it. Because of humans' recent technological boom that defined the 20th century and our modern-day world, in just 70 years, the average temperature of our planet has risen approximately five degrees celsius. As a result of a closed-feedback loop, our planet's surface temperature has risen, in turn melting the artic ice, in turn causing terrain and ocean to absorb more of the sun's heat, in turn causing the surface temperature to rise. Add enough heat into the system (in addition to man-made carbon and fossil fuel emission) and we have a sudden rise in a release of methane gas from underneath the permafrost of Siberia, the arctic circle, and now Alaska. What was believed to be a permanent seal has begun to melt; in 2005 over one million sq. kilometers of this permafrost layer had begun to show significant signs of melting. The Siberian permafrost accounts for 25% of the world's natural storage of methane and is estimated to contain approximately 70 billion tons of methane. Current methane release levels are five times higher than any expert had foreseen. The gas, 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide, will rapidly increase an already growing global warming problem. Methane, because of its low density, is very difficult to measure and current satellite technology in place to monitor weather patterns, temperature, and other climate-related issues are inadequate in facing this issue. Therefore, in a direct and physical attempt to fight the issue of global warming, individuals should be sent to research this phenomenon first-hand. Not only will we learn valuable information for their work, but the apathy towards environmental issues caused my automated research devices will surely lessen because of our physical presence in the arctic. Once in place, teams of two will monitor methane levels, temperature, wind speed, and ice density throughout the artic circle during the summer season.

Changes in the Artic Glacier over time (1980-2010, by decade)

Amalgamation of terrain massing, glacier change, and temperature maps

Distribution of climatology cellls throughout the Arctic Circle

Shown here is the creation and development of a surface which would be the principle unit with which I worked for the greater part of my first semester. The lines come from a site analysis of the Arctic circle which includes temperature intensity maps, terrain, and glacier ice maps. The combination of multiple layers highlights particular moments of intensity where lines are found in higher proximity at higher density. Lines were laser cut onto chipboard. The laser was used as a tool for affecting not only the surface of the material, but its structural integrity as well. The material itself began to dissintegrate, tear, and fall apart depending on the forces placed upon it, always at the weakest points as determined by the density of lines cut into the material.

The surface quality of the chipboard became of great interest to me as the lamination began to lose its integrity and the individual sheets began to pull apart. With the addition of piano wire, I introduced forces onto the surface in both tension and compression. Weakened or ripped areas were prone to folding whereas other parts of the surface maintained most of its original structural integrity. By placing wire at strategic points along the surface and allowing the surface to fold or droop on its own, a number of interesting spaces, volumes, and voids were formed. Shown here is one example of a set position.

Methane Release Measuring

1-B 1-A

Section 1-A Wind Speed Monitoring

2-B 2-A

Section 2-A Ice Core Sampling and Measuring

3-A

3-B

Temperature Measuring

4-A

Section 3-A

4-B

Section 4-A

Section 1-B

Section 2-B

Section 3-B

Section 4-B

Through the aggregation of identical surfaces by attaching them to each other at specific points, I created a machine that could move depending on external forces. In this iteration, there are two external forces moving in the vertical direction. These images map the variations that occur to the machine when its surfaces are pushed together and pulled apart. They also draw attention to the spacial and voluminous changes that occur in between each surface.

This work is a a translation the previous studies into a building. The system and logic of the forces placed upon the aggregation of surfaces comes from a site study mapping the pedestrian and automobile traffic within and around the site. The tendencies of both were center-focused, either moving in a circular pattern around a center point or cutting through the space at its center point. The applied forces originated from a center point and pulled inwards on each surface, creating a dense core of material in its center. In doing so, the center point was cut off from all circulation, while the exterior was opened up to light and open programming. The site was Park Slope, a four-sided open space (currently a parking lot) near South Ferry in New York City. These drawings are the result of a very careful analysis where I mapped all traffic, pedestrian and vehicular, for one full hour three times in one day: at 6 am, 12 pm, and 6 pm. (see the following pages)

South St. Traffic

6 am

Delivery Trucks

TAXIS

Taxis

BUSES

Buses

SOUTH ST. TRAFFIC

Motorcycles

DELIVERY TRUCKS

Dog Walkers

BIKES

Bikes

CARS

Cars

MOTORCYCLES

PEOPLE

People

DOG WALKERS

12 pm

6 pm

6 am

12 pm

6 pm

pUBLIC, eXHIBITION

AUDITORIUM

RECEPTION, ENTRANCE

REST AREA RESEARCH CELLS GENERATOR ROOM PUBLIC

TOILETS RECEPTION, ENTRANCE

GALLERY SMALL AUDITORIUM

gARAGE

LABORATORY

FLOOR 1

FLOOR 2

LABORATORY

REST AREA RESEARCH CELLS

RESEARCH CELLS

OFFICES LABORATORY

LABORATORY

REST AREA

FLOOR 3

LABORATORY

FLOOR 4

LABORATORY LABORATORY

AUDITORIUM

REST AREA PUBLIC

OUTDOOR, SEMI-ENCLOSED PLAZA

CORE II: Carrel Critic: R. Marino

Architecture and the human body are tightly linked. With the task of creating a library carrel, I immediately turned to measuring the body and its extents based on the radial movements of our joints. The image on the following page is a spherical point cloud of these axes moving through space and occupying it. The designs above are based on this sphere... where the carrel creates the void to be filled by the individual. The 15O articulation of the structural rails mimic underlying geometries from the rotunda of Gunnar Asplundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stockholm Library. The exercise also allowed me to explore physical modelling techniques using different woods and poured plaster.

CORE II: Library Critic: R. Marino

Located on the corner of Centre and Grand, the site for a new addition to the New York Public Library network rests at the intersection of historically relevant and vibrant communities: Chinatown, Little Italy, and SoHo. These early studies explore the power of pure geometrical forms to seize upon the curiosity of a passerby. The massive entrance turned 45o to face the corner acts as a funnel for visitors of the library and draws them into an elevated courtyard open to the sky. The courtyard, created by cutting a void through all six levels, brings light into the building, but more importantly rewards the individual for their visit by revealing that which cannot be seen from the street. The bold, unornamented faces of glass and concrete are meant to breathe a sense of importance and monumentality into this civic building. Just as the exterior is highly organized, so is the interior in its distribution of program.

I constrained the design to following strict, formal geometries: the square, the rectangle, and the circle, taking cues from historical design processes used on civic buildings in New York and the rest of the Western world. The rigidity of the design (in both plan and section) complement the use of the building as a public library, breathing into it a sense of importance and monumentality.

C B A

LIBRARY STACKS READING LIBRARY STACKS LIBRARY STACKS CIRCULATION OFEVENTFICES CIRCULATION SPACE EVENT MEETING ROOMS CIRC. SPACE OFFICES CLASSROOMS STORAGE ROOM

SECTION A

LIBRARY STACKS READING LIBRARY STACKS ROOM LIBRARY STACKS STORE CIRCULATION OFEVENTFICES CIRCULATION SPACE EVENT MEETING ROOMS CIRCULATION SPACE OFFICES CLASSROOMS STORAGE SECTION B

STACKS STACKS STACKS STORE STORE EVENT SPACE EVENT SPACE

CIRC. A CIRC. T O RISUTORMAGE CIRC. CIRC. R

AUDITO

SECTION C

STACKS EL STACKS E STACKS V

Physical models show a number of iterations in the development of the project. I focused a lot on the condition of the corner that would engage the intersection and draw people into the building. I played with ways to bring people up a grand stair and ways to keep the main entrance at street level. In addition, I worked with ways to cantilever over and towards the corner to both pull people in off of the street and create views for visitors in the upper floors.

Basement

Floor 4

Ground Floor

Floor 5

Plaza

Floor 8

Mezzanine

Floor 9

2 CORE III ADVANCED STUDIO IV

SECOND YEAR

J. Johnson, critic G. Solomonoff, critic

CORE III: Housing (Part 1) Critic: J. Johnson Partner: BumHee Lee

The site is a perimeter block in East Harlem on the corner of 125th street and Lexington Avenue. The approach is one that relies on interactions as the foundation for forming communities of all scales. As a result, the unit design is based on shared spaces. The hope is that any individual can find a home on our site, no matter their living preferences. Units include any combination of shared bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms, and outdoor terraces. Completely private apartment units are available as well. Past the confines of each apartment (or pairing of apartments), the unit is one of 22 that together form one group aggregation. Within this group is a vertical sectional relationship in which apartments are offset from one another and staggered. Units within the group are clustered around a centralized program, such as a public garden space, that brings together the inhabitants of each apartment. These groups are then aggregated again to form a wing, and three wings form the entire housing complex. It was important for us to emphasize the creation of community interactions at multiple scales from the unit to the entire community.

single unit

double units ( sharing )

community space

typical aggregation

bigger scale community

whole as community

community aggregation

C**

BA TH LIV RO IN OM KI G R TC OO H TE EN M RR AC E

Programs were selected and organized based on whether or not we considered them to be open to the public or private. The location of each in space is the result of promixity by relevance. As you can see from the two dimensional diagram (below), there are two threads. On the left, is the private programming, while on the right is programming open to the general public. The hope is that residents of this housing complex are also those who work the farms, are the firemen, the salesclerks, the teachers, the receptionists, etc. of each program on site. The two-dimensional diagram was converted into a three dimensional on based on approximate required quare footage. It was then fit into an S-shape form which was determined by the location of public transportation, the orientation of the perimeter block, and the path of the sun.

Urban Farming

Pathmark Farming

(9,000)

(15,000)

Park Swimming Pool (2,700)

Auditorium

Daycare Center

Rose Garden

(1,800)

(900)

(6,000)

Senior Center Park

(1800)

Fitness Center (1,200)

Park

Cafe (600)

Pathmark (10,000)

Park

Library (2,100)

The far diagram shows how the units and the programming fill in the site together. The ground floor is left open and the large public park is created with spaces for picnicking, gathering, and loitering. More commercial entities are naturally left on street level, but other public gathering spaces are pulled up and into the building in an attempt to create interaction between the residents of the housing complex and visitors to the site.

zoning limit

subway station

N 5t h

zoning limit

subway station open the view to sun and create public space easier access from subway station

zoning limit

subway station

zoning limit

subway station open the view to sun and create public space easier access from subway station

open the view to sun and create public space 12 easier access from subway station 5t h 20ft st elevated ramp / isolate the park

open the view to sun and create public space 12 easier access from subway station 5t h 20ft st

20ft

elevated ramp / isolate the park 12 5t

programmed park and linking the park in diagonal relationship. new visual relationship

elevated ramp / isolate the park

20ft

elevated ramp / isolate the park 12 5

12 st

programmed park and linking the park in diagonal relationship. new visual relationship st

programmed park and linking the park in diagonal relationship. new visual relationship

program distribution system top level

urban garden farming

only for dwellers public use

public roof park

medium level

public park auditorium urban garden rose garden daycare center elderly care center school/ society food program community garden/park swimming pool

farming/craft market library cafe gallery ground level

original program

Pathmark

building envelope

circulation for private

circulation for public

public park 5th

Le xin gto na v

car circulation

parking space

CORE III: Urban Study

Critic: J. Johnson Partner: BumHee Lee

This model is the result of a short urban study exercise that was a part of the third semester housing studio. The task was to prioritize the relationship of the site to the street. Our goal was to capture the street and bring the pedestrian area up and into our site. To do so, we used a funnelling technique that pulled people up and in off the street and onto two central axes. The relationship and boundary between the public (the white) and the private (the brown) was important to us as well. Because of this, the distinction between the two is blurred as the structure moves up. The residential massing moves outwards and encroaches upon what would have been public, while the public circulation and programming moves inward off the street and into the residential buildings.

CORE III: Housing (Part 2) Critic: J. Johnson Partner: BumHee Lee

In this final interation, the previous idea of creating communities based on encouraged interactions holds true. Making sure to keep in mind the importance of variations in scale, we continued to focus on creating these interactions are the smallest scale as well as the biggest. For unit design, we follow exactly what we did in the previous interation, but we were more intentional in what was being shared. For example, for modern New Yorkers, the kitchen is something that is rarely used while the bathroom is used every day. As a result, this interation accounts for these facts and the kitchen is now the most shared space while no bedroom is ever shared.

The aggregation method is the same. Units are stacked in groups based on their diversity (meaning no two units of the same type are neighbors horizontally or vertically) and semi-public programs bring the residenta of these units together. Communities...based on interactions...based on shared interest.

Share SHARE AA PRIVATE STUDIO Studio

Share C SHARE C SHARE B B Share

Private 2 2BR BR PRIVATE

Studio PRIVATE STUDIO

PRIVATE DUPLEX Private Duplex

Ki tc Liv he in n Ba g R th oo Ba roo m lco m ny

Share A

SHARE A

Share ShareBB

SHARE B

Share ShareCC

Private PrivateDuplex Duplex PRI

SHARE C

PRIVATE 2BR

Private Private22Bedroom Bedroom

Private PrivateStudio 2 Bedroom PRI A

In this final interation, our primary focus was to create interactions between the residents of this complex with the general public, the visitors to the site. Circulation and programming draw people off of the street, into and up the building in a wandering manner. Programs like a music center, grocery store, cafe, restaurants, and health club are strategically place throughout the building are important points where the public and private circulation overlap. The private residential units form a perimeter block around the exterior of the site, while the enterior is public. At specific moments the public realm pushes the units apart and reaches the exterior facade - these are namely the performance spaces and grocery store. The moments where the public and private realms intersect are the most important for us as they will the moments of interaction, and therefore the moments of the creation of our definition of community.

interior screen

private circulation

screen, open for public access exterior screen

structure for public spaces

private roof garden

jazz performance hall

small theater

mainstage auditorium

fitness center

art gallery

childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daycare

private circulation

grocery store

coffee shop

art gallery

restaurant

grocery store

performance space

public circulation

resident landing

fire station

post office

private vertical circ.

16 inch

Roof Garden & Public Circulation

12 inch

Primary Public Programming

8 inch

Public Programming & Private Circulation

4 inch

Private Unit Facade

10â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Screen Density Types

We are also employing the use of screens on the interior and exterior. On the exterior they are used as a unifying wrapper for the building, bring the private and public languages into one. The screens are also a language to be read. While they are used as a unifying wrapper, the spacing between horizontal rods is an indication of what is behind the screen on the inside. We have created four levels. This language is most important on the interior. The private walkways are not defined by walls, but instead by these screens. Individuals can still make visual and audio connections with others, while maintaining their privacy. Our hope is that one standing in the center of the public realm would be able to read the interior of the building by looking at the screens and know which spots were meant to be public and which were meant to be private.

124th st

125th st

3rd ave

Lexington ave

Pre-1664 Pre-1664 1665-1775 1665-1775 1776-1799 1776-1799 1800-1836 1800-1835 1836-1870 1836-1869 1870-1897 1870-1896 1897-1937 1897-1937

0’

1,000’

2,000’

1937-1998 1938-1998 1998-present 1999-present

Plan of Lower Manhattan showing buildings by date, as they were constructed over time

0’

ADV. STUDIO IV: THE UNDERGROUND Critic: G. Solomonoff

1,000’

Pre-1664

1800-1835

1897-1937

Founding & Settlement

Construction of City Hall

Expansion

1665-1775

1836-1869

1938-1998

Under British Rule

Progress, Prosperity, and Civil War

Renovation & Excavation

1776-1799

1870-1896

1999-present

Revolution & Independence

The Federal Post Office

Restoration of City Hall Park

Historical Plans showing the transformation of the site surrounding City Hall

The premise of the studio was to choose one of many abandoned subway stations in New York City and transform it into something new. The inspiration for the studio came from the LowLine project at Delancey. I chose the famous City Hall Station at City Hall Plaza. The surrounding area is filled with almost 400 years of history in both the horizontal and vertical directions. In view are both St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chapel and the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. It is a site filled with history and it is exactly this history I chose to highlight.

St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chapel 1766

Liberty Pole 1766

City Hall 1811

Mould Fountain 1880

Brooklyn Bridge 1883

Iron Lamp Fixture 1903

Woolworth Building 1913

Municipal Building 1914

Through a series of â&#x20AC;&#x153;view conesâ&#x20AC;? I choreograph a visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience and lead them through a prescibed path to view eight permanent exhibits taken from the immediate surrounding site chosen to represent important points in the history of New York and City Hall Plaza. The diagrams to the left show the subjects of these exhibits. After entering the space, visitors walk in a circle, stopping eight times to look up at the framed scenes. The stillness, vastness, and size of the blank, cast concrete cones is meant to contrast with and therefore highlight the moving, real-time scene playing 30 feet above. Viewers below can watch clouds move, rain fall, and birds fly past. These passing moments occurring in the present lift up the importance of each monument, having maintained a steady and historically significant presence on the City Hall Plaza skyline. The proceeding pages explain the process of creating each of these cones and the necessary geometry that forms them. The aerial view shows their relationship to the site and highlights each of the eight featured landmarks.

Step 1

Step 2

+ set floor elevation [-32’]

+ set view points at eye-level [-26’6”] + create window frame + draw guides

Step 3

Step 4

+ crop guide lines ++ [-3â&#x20AC;&#x2122;] from ceiling ++ [+6â&#x20AC;&#x2122;] from ground

+ build cone from cropped guides

Subway Platform Plan (-28 ft.)

The program of the design itself is a Cartography Archive. One enters the space by entering first the historical City Hall Station built in 1904. The station is currently not open to commuters, but the 6 train uses the track as a turnaround spot even today. Visitors to the site would walk on the existing platform, next to the modern-day New York subway trains, and move down into the archive at the end of the platform. Visitors cross underneath the tracks into the middle of the turnaround loop. The tracks themselves are left open to create a clerestory for the open space. Next is the cartography archive itself, the more quiet, academic half of the program. The archive is a box inside of a cylinder and is temperature and humidity controlled. Visitors enter and request a map which is then retrieved by an employee. There are tables and viewing rooms provided for guests.

Main Floor Plan (-44 ft.)

0’

10’

50’

150’

Alternatively, visitors can choose to walk the open gallery which is designed for the flexibility of housing rotating exhibits. Unlike the inside of the archive, this space is open and welcoming to noise and conversation. In the north most corner of the space is an auditorium used for educational lectures or presentations. In the southern most corner of the space are two interactive globes that are real-time and satellite-controlled. The smaller of the two is holographic and visitors can control the projected images. The larger one is controlled from the inside of the globe and images are projected onto the inside surface.

Interactive Globe

Cartography Archive

Auditorium

Clerestory for 6 train

Entrance to Cartography Archive

Interactive Hologram

Interactive Globe

Viewing Platform & Permanent Exhibit

Gallery Partitions & Tables

Auditorium or Lecture Space

This model is cast, polished concrete with imbedded acrylic cones protruding from the top, ground-level cap piece. The white elements are powder z-corp 3D printed. The negative was milled out of blue foam using a CNC router.

The images in this and the following spread are from a previous iteration of the project just presented. The initial design was to create an outdoor (and underground) park that centered around three view cones. On the north is a striated, landscaped slope, while to the south is a cast concrete amphitheater - the subject of which is the modern, underground technology of the MBTA. I include these also to show how the mode of representation changed as the design developed from an outdoors, public park, to an interior space meant to be more introverted and soft-spoken.

0’

-22’

-30’

-52’

HO UR

Language Distribution: SABC Programming versus Primary Language Spoken

23%

10,677,000

9% 8%

13% 5,9 83 ,0 00

ENGLISH

2 HO URS

17% 09,000 3,6 4,2 77 ,0 00

76%

URS 18 HO

OURS 3 H

07,7000 7,9

000 3, 67 3,

SWATI

AFRIKAANS

VENDA

TSWANA

ZULU

TSONGA

NORTHERN SOTHO

XHOSA

SOUTHERN SOTHO

NDEBELE

ADV. STUDIO V: URBAN FUTURES Critic: M. Wilson Partner: Tanya Gershon

Radio Mast Distribution

1975

2012

This studio was sited in Johannesburg, South Africa. The brief challenged each team to design an IMAGINARIUM, the exact program of which would grow out of research done for 75% of the semester on specific aspects of the struggling city. Johannesburg is a very historically-loaded city, one fighting to break away from its apartheid past. Through our research it was clear that the effects of half a century of segregation and violence, had cut the city deeper than expected. Now, the city, and much of the nation, is fighting an upstream battle. The infrastructure of the nation was built around provided service to some and keeping it out of reach for most. Despite calls and attempts for equality between race in our modern era, the existing infrastructure may not allow for it. We chose to focus on the history of the radio and television in South Africa. These two being the means for spreading information as well as the mouthpieces for propoganda, both pro- and anti- apartheid. Through our research, it became clear that modern day Johannesburg is actually very little different from the Johannesburg of decades ago. For example, despite the fact that only 8% of South Africans claim to speak English as their primary language, 76% of the hours broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corportation are in English. By contrast, the most commonly spoken language in the nation is Zulu with 23% of citizens speaking it as their primary language. The SABC only broadcasts 7% of its programming in Zulu. This is just one example, but we came to the conclusion that despite the image of equality presented by the nation and many of the country’s most influential corporations or companies, equality is far from being achieved. The following model acts as a metaphor showing the inequality in the SABC’s broadcasting habits. The projected light represents broadcast information. There are 24 shards of plexiglass, each representing a language, their size representing the attention given it by the SABC. As light from the projector is sent towards and through these pieces of plastic, it is reflected and held...meaning the smaller shards towards the back do not have enough illuminance to light the piece or reflect the image onto the surrounding walls. We looked at one week’s television schedule and took actual footage from the SABC’s three channels and spliced them together. The reflections of the plexiglass allowed for the images to surround the viewer, highlighting the effect and power of this private corportation in terms of providing or witholding information.

The history and identity of Johannesburg is very much one written by those in power during the Apartheid years. To some extent, the only true history is the one that exists through art, photos, music, and video...but even them, much of this was censored and only chosen parts exist today. We wanted to create something that removed the boundaries that still very much exist within the city of Johannesburg. We wanted to allow to citizens, no matter their race or economic status to have the opportunity to share and contribute to the identity of this new nation, one struggling to find its place in the modern era. There is a wall in Yeoville that is an amazing example of community within the city. The wall is a safe spot for classified advertisements, most of which have to do with housing or transportation. The interesting thing about the wall is that no single entity benefits from its existence. The wall is the exterior of a Shoprite in the middle of a very active part of town for immigrants. There is no censor and there is no one in charge. Individuals use the wall to communicate and share openly. This is what excited us the most: the lack of censorship or agenda. Our goal was to encourage and allow the people of Johannesburg to create a new identity for their city by sharing stories, memories, advertisements, rants, or messages in text, audio, or video format. Kiosks are be placed around the city that allow people to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bring Your Own Broadcastâ&#x20AC;? (BYOB). Every broadcast is then shared at every other kiosk in the city. We designed two kinds of kiosks. One is permanent and meant to stand in open areas such as parking lots, vacant lots, or large fields found in the slums. Each is two sided. One side has interactive screens that show each broadcast, organized into categories and receive each broadcast

SHOPRITE

CELL PHONE LINE

INFORMAL TRADING

BYOB

from the individual. The other side is open to traders. These traders enter into an agreement with the kiosk owner: in exchange for caring for, and sometimes transforming the units, they can use it as their location of business. The other type is a temporary urban kiosk meant to stand on a sidewalk’s edge. These would exist in pairs or sets of multiple kiosks only. Each kiosk is also equipped with hacking devices that steal cable programming from nearby televisions and broadcast them each night. Community members can gather around these large screens to watch the free programming. Kiosks are located in a variety of “satellite” locations all over Johannesburg. They are placed in such as way that participation is diverse and variant. The information from each satellite is collected and sent to the hub archive in the Maboneng district. There social scientists, politicians, and students have access to all past data and submissions. They can use software to look for trends or other points of interest.

INTERSECTION OF RALEIGH + BEDFORD YEOVILLE MARKET + TAXI RANK

FORMAL TRADING

Kiosk A

Urban Temporary Model

Kiosk B

Suburban/Rural Permanent Model

Traderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Elevation

Side Elevation

BYOB Elevation

The diagrams below show the transformation 1 and use of each kiosk over the course of a day.

Kiosk A

Kiosk B

Kiosk A, the temporary, urban kiosk is designed in such a way that a single individual can transform it and move it, depending on the time of day or the needs of that individual. During the evening hours, only the screen functions and would be in position 1. During the daytime, the kiosk would rest in position 7 so that the trader could set up shop. The design also allows for easy transportation from site to site as needed.

1 3

7 2

1 3

7 5

8 5 8 7 6 7 6

RECORDING

TYPE HERE

3...2...1

MIDRAND

SANDTON

KRUGERSDORP

RANDBURG ALEXANDRA

PONTE CITY YEOVILLE CBD

MABONENG

DOBSONVILLE

DATA MINING HUB

SOWETO

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SATELLITE + HUB

MIDRAND

SANDTON

KRUGERSDORP

RANDBURG ALEXANDRA

PONTE CITY YEOVILLE CBD

MABONENG

DOBSONVILLE

DATA MINING HUB

COLLECTING: BRING YOUR OWN BROADCAST

SOWETO

MIDRAND

SANDTON

KRUGERSDORP

RANDBURG ALEXANDRA

PONTE CITY YEOVILLE CBD DOBSONVILLE

SOWETO

MABONENG DATA MINING HUB

RE-BROADCASTING TO LARGER NETWORK

These images show the main, Maboneng site in relation to the satellite sites. Broadcasts are sent to the hub as they are recorded and they are sent back to all sites for viewing. The series of diagrams above shows how the metaphor of these relationships influenced the form of the hub. Cones, broadcasting information to and from the hub, cut away at the form and produce a single cone with pieces cut out of its exterior and interior.

The Maboneng hub collects and stores all broadcasts. The central archive displays all submissions on its inner walls for 30 days, after which time, they must be recalled through a search engine to be seen again. The satellite labs parse through data looking for trends within the people of Johannesburg and its neighborhoods. Politicians, social scientists, students and others can frequent the archive to learn about the city and its inhabitants.

ENCLOSURE

THE SCREEN

THE ARCHIVE

C SATELLITE LABS

NEWS ROOM

SOUND STAGE

SERVER ROOMS

SUNKEN SEATING AND INPUT KIOSKS

ION

SS MMI

KR ER

UG ST

FOX

In addition to the archive and the labs are news room and sound stage. The sound stage and the news room encourage locally-produced television and programming and provide a forum for lectures and classes about developments in the community or for the sharing of ideas. The exterior of the archive building engages the corner of the Maboneng intersection with free-standing kiosks and a large screen showing the BYOBs. The outdoor cafe and the interactive nature of the building fit right into the fabric of the already vibrant and lively Maboneng precinct.

SATELLITE LABS

CIRCULATION

View of the East Satellite Labs Looking North

View Into the Archive Looking North

UP UP

DOWN

DOWN DOWN

DOWN

UPUP

DOWN DOWN

DOWN

DOWN DOWN

UPUP

Fourth Floor

Ground Floor

DOWN DOWN

DOWN

Basement