Open-Ended Design for Interstital Play by Maggie Hanna-Elattar

Open-Ended Design For Interstitial Play

A Project Presented to the Faculty of the NewSchool of Architecture and Design In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture By Maggie Hanna-Elattar San Diego 2011

Open-Ended Design For Interstital Play Maggie Hanna-Elattar NewSchool of Architecture + Design Instructor: Caitlin Kelley, M. Arch, AIA, NCARB

Abstract The purpose of this study is to create socially valuable places where the urban fabric has failed to provide for the needs of residents. This study focuses on the omnipresent interstitial areas of a city; freeways, seas of parking lots, rail lines and abandoned buildings, which do not promote a social function and typically become the catalysts of blight as they physically divide and separate the urban landscape. Rather than allowing these spaces to remain in a constant state of lack luster pro-forma and no nuance, the simple insertion of a place for play is studied as a solution to a problem present in all urban cities. In order to begin responding to the problem a thorough analysis of the city is essential; in this case Detroit is being used as the test site due to its abundance, and variety, of interstitial environments. The analysis process begins at a macro level where the entire city of Detroit is studied through overlay maps that show conclusively where the city is suffering the most; this inherently proves that interstitial spaces are more often the cause of blight and separation in the urban environment. Upon a closer examination, ten sites emerged as the most eligible intervention sites. The number of intervention sites will change from city to city; nonetheless, this will signify the start of a city wide network for rehabilitation and beautification. Lastly, the ten sites selected are analyzed again, however, this time the analysis goes further than the physical environment; it exposes a layer of play; gardening, exercising, skateboarding etc. This analysis must be done on site through observation and communication, and the designer must have a tactile and memorable understanding of the site. Thus far the method of testing play as a design response is analytical; however the next step begins to delve into the theoretical exposure of playfulness needed to begin designing appropriate responses. Although this step can be achieved in a variety of ways, this particular study focuses on right brain childlike crayon colored overlays of site photographs for the purpose of attaining uninhibited responses which create an opportunity for playfulness to present itself. It is important to note that before beginning the right brain childlike drawing exercise

that a network vocabulary is assigned to tie each site together, in this case the vocabulary consists of water, color, fabric and nature each of which is assigned a color during the exercise. As the designer recollects the experience of being on site the process of drawing becomes more fluid and expressive of the subliminal exuberance and playfulness within each site. Although at first glance these drawings may seem arbitrary it provides a point of take off for the most important factor in designing for playâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; open-ended design. The method of using open-ended design allows for multiple levels of play; that which is programmed and that which is created by users. However, there are challenges in creating open-ended designs that require restraint by the designer in order to translate playfulness into form. To resolve those challenges the designer must enter a child like mindset. In this case, the drawings used to expose layers of liveliness are transformed for the purpose of form finding through three dimensional models. These models are used to dictate, design, and overcome open-ended design challenges. From this point on the user becomes the master designer of the site. Although, there is a primary program factored into each open-ended design it is up to the user to program each site to their specifications, according to the seasons, and over time. There are many obstacles for designing places for play through openended design, regardless of site. However, the process of exposing subliminal layers of a site that are positive and stimulating is a daunting task. Letting go of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inhibitions is the most effective and honest way of exposing play rather than imposing it onto a site. After several failed exercises and strategies throughout this process it is now understood that in order to create a place of play through open ended design requires an open mind and child like disposition. There must be an overall understanding that such an approach requires the designer to let go of their need for program and power over a site and instead, allow the users to become the true site designer, thus providing transformative playfulness and beautification of otherwise un-nurtured spaces.

iii

to Caitlin and Alan for their guidance to my Family and Friends for their support

i .......................................TITLE SHEET iii .........................................ABSTRACT v ...................................DEDICATION CHAPTER ONE

3 ...........................................General Description 4 ...............................................Problem Statement Omnipresent Interstitial Spaces Play

CHAPTER TWO

11 ............................................Project Narrative 11 .............................................Project Statement 12 .........................................Open-Ended Design 13 ..............................................Exposure of Play 14 ........................................................Form Finding

Table of Contents

CHAPTER THREE

17 .................................................Macro Analysis Discoveries Criteria For Picking Sites

CHAPTER FOUR

29 ............................................Comerica Parking

Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design 39 .....................................................................................Fisher

Plant

Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design 49................Foot Bridge at Old Tiger Stadium Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Government Housing Projects................. 59 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Greek Town......................................................... 69 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Holden Street..................................................... 79 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Industrial Neighborhood.............................. 89 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Michigan Central Train Depot.................. 99 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Midtown Adjacent........................................ 109 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

Spaghetti Bowl................................................ 119 Site Analysis Site Plan Site Design

CHAPTER FIVE

Conclusion...................................................... 131

REFRENCES........................................... 133 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................. 135 APPENDICES........................................ 139

Table of Contents

Chapter One

â&#x20AC;&#x153;For Architecture to be appreciated, it must be able to build a relevant emotional experience at different points of contact with its usersâ&#x20AC;Ś the relative success of design is measured in the sensation a person derives from it - in the growth it offers and the resulting pleasure it evokes.â&#x20AC;? Klingmann (2007:45)

Linking acts and footsteps, opening meanings and direction, these words operate in the name of an emptying-out and wearing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; away of their primary role. They become liberated spaces that can be occupied. A rich indetermination gives them, by means of a semantic rarefaction, the function of articulating a second, poetic geography of the literal, forbidden or permitted meaning. Bunschoten (2001:75)

Chapter One

Figure 1: Sea of Parking

General Description Many cities in the United States suffer from an abundance of neglected areas within the urban environment that cause sprawl. Such places are omnipresent and exist as a result of infrastructure taking over a significant amount of real estate without considering the needs of its users and local residents. While these spaces are crucial to the flow of a city, it fails to address the needs of residents, and their negative effects easily spread through cities like a virus. Thankfully, like a virus, neglected spaces that are formed by freeways, rail lines, parking lots, and abandoned buildings can be manipulated to create antibodies that fortify and strengthen neighborhoods, communities and cities. Architecturally creating these antibodies will require a thorough analysis that describes how a variety of neglected spaces have effected the urban environment. For that reason, this study will use Detroit as a test site due to its diverse range of such spaces. The challenge of manipulating these neglected areas, that obstruct and separate the urban environment, must be overcome by the ability to serve as a playful space for locals to use rather than be turned away from or merely passed by. For this reason, open-ended design will be studied here as a tool for rehabilitating these spaces for play.

Figure 2: Abandoned Building

Figure 2: Freeway Division

Problem Statement Omnipresent Interstitial Spaces The focus of this study centers on four typological factors present in nearly all urban cities: freeways, rail lines, parking lots, and abandoned buildings (here after referred to as omnipresent interstitial spaces). Typically these spaces provide little to no benefits for the communities they are placed among and often times are catalysts for blight. However, the presence of such spaces is not actually the cause of negative pro-forma in the cities that surround them. The reality is that the lax and neglectful nature of these spaces is the primary cause of disconnect, sprawl, blight and discomfort of residents. In order to understand this problem more thoroughly it is important to analyze how the presence of these spaces affects a city physically on a macro-level and psychologically on a micro-scale. By and large, the flow and efficiency of an urban city would be at a stand still without the presence of infrastructure such as freeways and industrial rail lines. Undoubtedly, such places are here to stay, but their negative influence over the design and development of our cities should not. The presence of freeways and rail lines generate physical divisions that often dominos into sprawl. A typical metropolitan city that contains an infrastructural freeway or rail line within it tends to react defensively to their presence. This defensive strategy takes on several forms, but typically includes averting a building entrance away from infrastructure and the creation of set backs for separation. Since freeways and rail lines are physically dividing a city it is problematic that the built environment does not provide a proportional reaction to mend the

Figure 2: Abandoned Building

Figure 5: Freeway Division

separation. Instead, infrastructure begins to program the layout of the city. Residential neighborhoods are allocated real estate more heavily toward one side of the infrastructural division while mixed use is clustered on the other side. In addition, the value of real estate decreases as it approaches infrastructural breaks in the fabric of the city making such spaces undesirable and neglected over time. The existence of infrastructure in our cities needs to be addressed appropriately in order to alleviate the problem of disconnect that is caused by the neglect of these spaces. Since our cities are heavily influenced and formed around the presence of infrastructure it is important to involve it in the overall design of cityscapes. Doing so would lead to a cohesive flow, not only on the macro scale of the physical form of the city, but at a level that supports human environment. A micro analysis will show that the habits of people living in and around infrastructure are greatly compromised by their presence. Since it has been determined by the macro-analysis that infrastructure programs cities; where residential neighborhoods and mixed uses are physically divided, the micro, or more importantly human scale, effects of this condition presents other types of problems. For example, pedestrian flow in these areas progressively dwindles. This occurs when there is a 6 lane freeway to cross, for which ones path becomes compromised and what should have been a simple walk turns into maze. This is the first seed of resentment towards the infrastructure. In cases where infrastructure acts less like an obstruction to a persons control over pathways, they are met with another problem: discomfort and displacement. Psychologically and, in many cases, physically crossing the infrastructure is uninviting, due to the feeling that ones presence in such a place is unnatural and unwanted. These conditions

Figure 6: Typical Neighborhood

Figure 7: Spaghetti Bowl Separation

are problematic to the development of neighborhoods, because it suggests that the appropriate means of getting from point A to point B requires the use of an automobile. This leads to an increased lack of social scenarios that is usually the foundation to healthy lifestyles. Rather than people taking walks from their residential neighborhood to the mixed use shops on the other side of the infrastructural division, they isolate themselves in their cars, do their business, isolate themselves in cars again, and finally end their day isolated within their homes. This under-stimulating condition forces people to compromise their quality of life by limiting them to a few experiences at a couple points on a map. The treatment, rather than the presence, of infrastructure determines how people behave and interact within the city. Without addressing the problem that infrastructure is used to delineate urban activity and does not appeal to the needs of pedestrians, cities will continue on the downhill spiral of neglecting to stimulate people rather than create ease of vehicular mobility. However, infrastructure is not the only factor of weakness in cities; the abandonment of buildings and seas of parking lots also have a profound affect on how people relate to the city. As cities grow and develop over time certain features are replaced, while others linger. The presence of an abandoned building, with recognition that they are not permanent or necessary to the efficiency of the city, has a profound effect on their surrounding physical environment. The problems that arise with such spaces are quite different than that of infrastructure as their affects are more localized and often stand independent of its surrounding thus creating a void of activity. At a macro-scale it can be seen that unlike the reaction caused by infrastructure, these spaces remain isolated and monumental; leaving them untouched sculptural additions to the landscape of the city. These

Figure 8: Industrial Separation

Figure 9: Footbridge

spaces are hardly used or acknowledged because they are void of activity and purpose. The non-functionality of these spaces creates voids around which activity is forced to orbit rather than include. Similar to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response toward infrastructure, there is a lack of continuity and flow that restricts these spaces from performing a service in the makeup of the city. Instead, they are reduced mere landmarks. Unlike the macro effect of infrastructure, the presence of parking lots and abandoned buildings are not treated with the same defensive behavior. Unfortunately, there is a relationship between their presence and the spread of their nothingness functions. Analysis shows that abandonment typically occurs in large clusters while parking lots are formed in strands throughout the city. These spaces are vast, and without an appropriate intervention they will continue to remain in a state of dormancy. Although the condition of these voids is less likely to spread they are also less likely to be redeveloped. These space merely become artifacts around which the city must flow. Unlike the physical characteristics that can be seen at macro-level, the micro-scale effects of these spaces lend a heavy hand to the identity of their neighborhoods. Most of the time these spaces take on multiple personalities such as historic or busy, but the one common identifier in all of them is wasted space. To be identified as a waste of space opens the door to the ruin of these areas. Since they are not being taken care of and do not have a purposeful presence they are looted and become zones for illegal activity. For that reason these spaces become undesirable. Arguably, the microscale affects of these abandoned buildings and parking lots are the reasons for the cluster and stranding spread of theses spaces. Without a purpose for their presence these spaces will never be

Figure 10: Abandoned Rail Platforms

rehabilitated and the neighborhoods they are surrounded by will continue to orbit around them rather than use them as positive neighborhood identifiers. The problem in this case, as with the infrastructure, is that wasted space is not the root of the problem; rather the identity of the space that contributes to their negative connotation. However, if these spaces are repurposed in order to serve their neighborhoods in such a way that activity does not have to orbit around them, then they can be used to stitch the urban fabric back together. Play Play is another factor in the design of cities that has taken a back seat in the urban environment. They are places people have to plan to go to rather than a place they go through and interact with daily; I believe this is why many parks are often used far less than they could be. These spaces are not focused on allowing play to occur; rather they merely allocate a place for something other than work. However, the desire to play often times is forced into the built environment through the guerilla insertion of it. This comes in several forms and sizes ranging from wax on sidewalks for skate borders or umbrella domes for an impromptu bar. These insertions of play rarely take place in parks, instead they are created in areas where people move from home to work, or from work to the grocery store, or from the grocery store to the mall, they occur in areas of transition rather than in parks because play cannot be confined. Essentially, if cities want happy and healthy residents, then it is necessary to allow them to play. The process of converting a city so that it is suitable for play and still functions efficiently requires the fusion of interstitial space and

playfulness. Since transitory places typically become sites for play, and omnipresent interstitial spaces are typically transitory areas, then developing them simultaneously creates an opportunity to stitch the urban fabric together. Combining interstitial spaces with play address the physical needs of the city and the psychological need for play equally and thus creating a happy and healthy environment.

Chapter Two

The research presents a multilayered picture of the site that then begins to suggest an approach. The most important objective is to create a space about which people care, enjoy using and are motivated to sustain. Schwartz (2004:124)

The appealing thing about playgrounds in relation to a real inner city neighborhood is that they had been tremendously successful in creating a sense of community in a city devastatedâ&#x20AC;Ś They had truly formed a peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public space that had been used and loved. Lefaivre (2007:24)

Chapter Two

URBAN CONDITION AS A RESULT OF INTERSTITAL SPACES

Project Narrative

Parking Strand Formation..................................

Project Statement Improving cities where omnipresent obstructions in the built environment typically create blight involves the insertion of play through the use of open-ended design.

Abandoned Cluster Formation...................

Play is something that takes on several different forms; such as, playing on a jungle gym to tailgating, sunbathing to concert going, splashing water around to kissing. Furthermore, the act of playing differs dramatically among age groups and from person to person making it difficult to create a place that can carryout many play activities. The scope of this study investigates open-ended design as a tool for creating play space and stitching together the urban fabric.

Infrastructure City Programming Effect Residential & Mixed Uses..................................

Infrastructural Setback...........................................

Typical places of play, such as parks, provide a space for recreation, but they are limited by their programmatic handling of activities. They allocated area for sports fields, jungle gyms, and sand lots which restricts the act of playing to a single activity per zone. This is not conducive to an environment that releases people from the formality of daily life which, coincidently, is the purpose of play. However, releasing the hold of program by allowing the intermingling of activities through the multiple interpretations of form can reveal an untraditional membrane for play that is inherent to the city, each neighborhood, and residents.

N 0 1/8 mi1/4 mi

1/2 mi

1 mile

CITY CAUSE & EFFECT

Open-Ended Design Open-ended design is the tool used in this study to create places for play within interstitial environments. It is composed of loosely programmed space that can be perceived and used in multiple ways. This allows it to be a true place of play without the confining limits of programmed and single use functions. The process of using open-ended design is complex and forces the designer to lose control over many of the regular requirements of a typical design process, like that of programming each inch and use of a space. However, this is done in order to create a successful place of play, in which the user of the space becomes the master designer. Although the effect of open-ended design focuses less on program and more on the interpretation of space, it is important to note that function is an important factor in its design. Since this study focuses on stitching the urban fabric together there must be programmatic feature that allows it to happen. The difference here, however, is that the interpretation of that function differs from person to person. Although it might not be obvious to the user, the underlying program, for the purpose of this study, is accomplishing through the ability to mend physical divisions. Aside from mending the physical environment, there is a positive transformation that is created when open-ended design for play is used to rehabilitate cities. It has the ability to capture the ambiance of neighborhoods, communities, and cities. This is further personi-

Figure 11: Exposing Play

fied by the sense of ownership that residents feel as a result of an open-ended design experience. The power of control that a user has in a loosely programmed site creates a personal attachment between them and what is traditionally an unused waste of space. Exposure of Play When one typically thinks of play it is most commonly in association with a park and children running around. However, play takes on several forms and is not something that is typically planed out. With that in mind, the challenge of this project does not concern placing play on a site; instead it is about exposing it within the context of the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s everyday life. There are many exercises and methods that can assist in the process of exposing inherent layers of play; however, this study focuses on child like creative brain drawings. This begins with test site visits. Each site has unique characteristics such as color, smell, sound, and energy, which without experiencing first hand will cause a lose of honesty within the overall design. In addition, interacting with residents and noticing habits affects the outcome of exposing play, and will help with form finding later. The next, and most important, step to expose layers of play requires one to release the analytical inhibition of designing. Instead, it is important to access ones inner child and right/creative brain. Before doing this, it is important to establish one logical system; a color vocabulary. In this case four crayons were used and labeled Sound, Color, Fabric, and Water. Although, parts of the vocabulary might get lost or replaced later in the design process, it is the exercise for which they served that will remain the unifier of multiple sites. With a vocabulary established and crayons present, it is finally time to start coloring overlays on site photographs

Figure 12: Form Finding

using oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left hand in order to access the right/creative brain. While the creative brain assists to alleviate the impulse to analyze and program, it is the child like disposition that is the most important factor in this process, and must not be underestimated. This is because it is what releases the designer from the design. It allows the site to control how play is incorporated without being filtered and twisted by an inhibited designer; essentially it is the beginning of open-ended design. Form Finding Since it is important not to impose an environment of play, it is essential to continually extract information from each site that alludes to a more inherent playfulness. The child like right/creative brain drawing exercise was the first step in exposing a layer of playfulness and is used as the foundation for form finding in this study. Doing this allows the design to continue evolving as an element of the site rather than something being placed on it. Unlike the previous exercise were it was important to remain uninhibited, form finding allows for interpretive thought while extracting a physical model from the previous exercise. Here, the designer needs to access both the child like and interpretive mentality to find space and form. A child like disposition, similar to playing with legos as a child, allows the designer to freely create form without being concerned with the logistics of it becoming a habitable space; it is merely form finding. Due to this the more logical interpretive design process is free to play with what it sees rather than what it wants to insert into a space. The extraction of form is at the discretion of the designer. The overlay

of the drawing and the image of the city collide in such a way that the two dimensional drawings can be seen both in plan and perspective. The designer, in the mindset of a child, is simply extruding what is interpreted, thereby allowing form and space to begin taking shape. It is important to note that modeling the forms and spaces found in this exercise must use the same vocabulary as the drawings that exposed play; Sound, Color, Fabric, and Water. In this study, however, the element of sound is not useful to form finding and is not modeled. All other vocabulary elements are modeled with materials that best represent them. The outcome of doing this revealed more than just a formal representation of open ended play, it also developed ambiance and character. This process of form finding creates the open-end-ness for this study. Although the models and drawings seem to represent the physical layout of each site they are actually spaces of nothing until there is an understanding of what play activities can be served per site. From there, each model and drawing is used, enlarged, shrunken, stretched out, and manipulated to perform a diverse range of play activities while adhering to the program that is meant to mend the physical environment. Nonetheless, these forms and spaces are used to dictate how open ended play is incorporated into each site.

Chapter Three

… These [weak] architectures transform the aesthetic experience of the artwork, and specifically of architecture, into event… in contemporary thought the objective and the subjective are not different and opposing fields but constitute what is called ‘folds of a single reality.’ For architecture, this notion of the folds proves exceptionally

illuminating. Reality immerges as a continuum in which the time of the subject and the time of the external objects go round together on the same looped tape, with the encounter of objective and subjective only occurring when this continuous reality folds over in e disruption of its continuity. Sola-Morales (1998)

Chapter Three

Macro Analysis Discoveries To implement this design theory a macro-scale analysis of a test city must be made. In this case Detroit is used due to its plethora and variety of omnipresent interstitial spaces. To analyze the city several layers of its character, such as residential, historic, mixed use, education, commercial, parks, abandoned buildings, empty lots, parking lots, industrial zones, freeway usage, and freeway setbacks, are diagrammed. Doing this helps define how the composition of the city is made up; locating the strongest and weakest areas and exposing how interstitial spaces affect the urban environment. This analysis revealed several problems in the built environment especially revolving around areas where interstitial spaces exists; freeways, rail lines, abandoned buildings, and parking lots. These areas divide and create sprawl in an environment where connectivity and walk-ability is essential to the efficiency of the city. While residential sections of the city are clustered towards the North West, mixed use, education, and commercial zones are centrally located in downtown Detroit. However, between the two are multiple zones that do not serve residents or businesses, and tend to separate the residents from the city. The purpose of this study is to create a solution to alleviate the problem through open ended play. However, before that can begin it is necessary to develop criteria by which specific intervention sites can be chosen.

Criteria For Picking Sites In order to test the concept of mending the urban fabric it is important to have multiple typologies to test. For the purpose of this study interstitial spaces, or more specifically, freeways, rail lines, abandoned buildings, and parking lots, are the areas being treated. In order to choose specific test sites for these typologies there must be criteria which pinpoints specific sites that are in need of an intervention. It is important to note that the theory of play, or the optimum placement of play, is not a factor in the site location criteria. This is because the underlying function of this study is to mend the urban fabric. Meaning that, although, the criteria is not concerned with play, the process of designing each site is. Each typological test site must be composed of zones of activity that straddle an interstitial space. This is not limited to two zone types; if there is a residential zone being divided, then that is an acceptable test site. The test sites must also have a range classes; high, middle, and low income neighborhoods. This is important in ensuring that regardless of financial standing no class of people is favored more than the other; instead it creates a network for city beautification. Lastly each intervention should be within a one mile radius of another, in order to create an equal balance of interventions throughout the city. With the test sites selected it is important to visit each site in order to begin the design process. Visiting each site may lead to the discovery that an intervention may not be needed in certain neighborhoods, or other parts of the city might be better candidates for testing. The

main goal of establishing a criterion is to pinpoint the nuances within the city that need to be seen first hand. It is the site visits that will determine conclusively where each intervention site will be located.

Figure 14: Industrial Neighborhood

Figure 13: Residential Neighborhood

Figure 15: Mixed Use Neighborhood

19 LEGEND Freeway................................................................. Rail Line................................................................. Major Roads................................................... Detroit River...................................................... RESIDENTIAL ZONES Parks.......................................................................... Historic Residential Community.... Residential......................................................... USES DIVERSITY Commercial....................................................... Mixed Use.......................................................... Educational..................................................... UNDER UTILIZED SPACE Parking Lots....................................................... Industrial................................................................ Abandoned Buildings.......................... Empty Lots..........................................................

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

1mile

RESIDENTIAL ZONES

Rail Line................................................................. Major Roads................................................... Detroit River...................................................... LEGEND RESIDENTIAL ZONES Freeway................................................................. Parks.......................................................................... Rail Line................................................................. Historic Residential Community.... Major Roads................................................... Residential......................................................... Detroit River...................................................... USES DIVERSITY RESIDENTIAL ZONES Commercial....................................................... Parks.......................................................................... Mixed HistoricUse.......................................................... Residential Community.... Educational..................................................... Residential......................................................... UNDER UTILIZED SPACE USES DIVERSITY Parking Lots....................................................... Commercial....................................................... Industrial................................................................ Mixed Use.......................................................... Abandoned Buildings.......................... Educational..................................................... Empty UNDERLots.......................................................... UTILIZED SPACE Parking Lots....................................................... Industrial................................................................ Abandoned Buildings.......................... Empty Lots..........................................................

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

1mile

USE DIVERSITY

Educational.....................................................

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE Parking Lots....................................................... Industrial................................................................ Abandoned Buildings.......................... Empty Lots..........................................................

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

1/2 mi

1mile

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE

LEGEND Freeway................................................................. Rail Line................................................................. Major Roads................................................... Detroit River...................................................... RESIDENTIAL ZONES Parks.......................................................................... Historic Residential Community.... Residential......................................................... USES DIVERSITY Commercial....................................................... Mixed Use.......................................................... Educational..................................................... UNDER UTILIZED SPACE Parking Lots....................................................... Industrial................................................................ Abandoned Buildings.......................... Empty Lots..........................................................

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

1/2 mi

1mile

MACRO SITE ANALYSIS

N 0’ 1371/2’ 275’

500’

1500’

INDUSTRIAL NEIGHBORHOOD

1500’

H N

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

1500’

GREEK TOWN

I C

B 750’

1100’

750’

GOVERNMENT HOUSING PROJECTS

1000’

HOLDEN STREET

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

FISHER PLANT

N 0’ 125’ 250’

F 550’

G I J H E N

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

COMERICA PARKING

1/2 mi

1mile

0’ 175’ 350’

700’

1400’

MIDTOWN ADJACENT

INTERVENTION TYPE Landscape................................... Retrofit................................................ Built........................................................

SITE SELECTION

D N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

MICHIGAN CENTRAL TRAIN DEPOT N 0’ 200’ 400’

E 800’

1600’

FOOT BRIDGE AT OLD TIGER’S STADIUM

J N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

SPAGHETTI BOWL

Chapter Four

Because our landscapes are cultural artifacts, their design can be as rich and diverse as the people who design and inhabit themâ&#x20AC;Ś landscapes need not be confined to parks, waterfronts and gardens: it must include all the spaces found outside the

building footprint-alleys, highways, sidewalks, parking lots, strip malls, suburban tracts, utility corridors- all are constructed artifacts. Our landscape, contrary to our fantasy of the wilderness, is what we determine it to be. Schwartz (2004:123-127)

Chapter Four

Application Of Open Ended Design Comerica Parking This site is composed of a sea of parking lots, put there to serve Tiger Stadium and Fox Theater on goers. Although it is in a prominent part of the city where cultural and national pastimes are celebrated, its presence on the site does not reflect the exuberant nature of the area. Instead, it creates a less than pleasant environment for pedestrians that pass by and use the site daily. Although the obvious function of the site is parking, there is often times a large amount of play that is not catered to; namely tailgating before a Tigers game. In addition, the presence of a theater brings in many thespians looking for a show; this provides an opportunity for an impromptu dance and music side show. Tailgating, dancing, listening to music, and watching performances are all forms of play which must be captured on this site. Using open-ended design this parking lot can become a gathering point or ate least an interesting and visually and physically stimulating place to experience. Without utilizing this space it will continue be a stagnant sea of parking that physically terminates the excitement that occurs on either side of it. The insertion of play, however, can be used as a means of expressing the active relationship that can happen between the theater and sports. This project will allow the excitement that happens within the walls of each venue to be carried out into urban life through play.

INTERVENTION TYPE Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. N

Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation...................

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

COMERICA PARKING

Focal Point.............................................. 800’

1600’

CITY STITCHING

SITE USES Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 33 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

INTERVENTION

1600’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Fisher Plant This building is a land mark relic of Detroitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s industrial age. Located in an industrial zone that is surrounded by businesses, some homes, and less than a mile away from Wayne State, this beautiful structure is merely a shell of a building being used only for it parking. Although it is an icon is structure, it presence within the context of the site acts more like wall than a member of the neighborhood. Although this building has been looted and has graffiti on it, it remains a symbol of Detroit. However, the reality is that its presence on in the neighborhood promotes more of an unsafe environment. Still, the neighborhood around it continues to function as many industrial businesses thrive in the area. In order to insert play in such a site it is important to take advantage of the current environment. Since there are many employed people in the areas then providing a hot spot for them to take a lunch or smoke break would be an opportunity for play space. It would provide a venue for socializing among people from various companies in the area as well. Without allowing this space to become a hub of activity, rather than a looted relic, it will continue to lower the feeling of comfort in the neighborhood while limiting it to an industrial work zone. Inserting play however, can transform this site from a lost cause to a catalyst for the neighborhoods revival of business in the area. Inserting play in such a site creates an opportunity for a community to reclaim their neighborhood.

N 0’ 1371/2’ 275’

550’

FISHER PLANT

1100’

Parking......................................................... 550’

1100’

Focal Point..............................................

SITE USES CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 43 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................ N 0’ 1371/2’ 275’

550’

1100’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

N 0’ 1371/2’ 275’

550’

INTERVENTION

1100’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Foot Bridge at Old Tiger Stadium Since it was demolished, the area around the old Tigers stadium has not fully recovered and remnants of it still remain in place. For example, the footbridge that links a residential neighborhood to what used to be the stadium is still present. Although the purpose of its existence is no longer a contributing factor for its current use the fact is that residents continue to use it to get to work or the grocery store. Its enchanting view of the Detroit skyline and the Ambassador Bridge is completely unobstructed making it a wonderful piece of real estate had it not been for its lack of ambiance and stimulating approach of getting pedestrians from point A to B. Considering the many positive qualities of the bridge there is an opportunity to accentuate its function as more than a walk-able path. This space could become a highlight for sightseers or even an extreme track for rollerbladers. Being limited by the singular function of walking across a footbridge does not promote delight in people. Walking in many senses is a playful act. Allowing the act of walking to personify a sense of play transforms a mundane action into an exuberant experience.

Education................................................

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation...................

FOOT BRIDGE AT OLD TIGER’S STADIUM

1600’

N Pedestrian Circulation...............

0’ 200’ 400’

SITE USES

800’

1600’

Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 53 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

Play Space............................................

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

1600’

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

INTERVENTION

1600’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Government Housing Projects The government housing projects of Detroit was not successful, and the site where its abandoned shell stands seems to be a small ghost town. However, neighboring that site are a new residential developments for families and the elderly. In addition, it is less than a mile away from the popular Eastern Market. Interestingly, there is a paradox in that although there are many thriving areas around the site it remains abandoned. Since the structures and large fields are still present, it creates an opportunity for a type of play that serves and networks resident and possibly farmers market. Because there are many elderly and young families in the area it is important to server their play needs which could consist of, but are limited to, gardening and physical exercise. While gardening can perform as the play activity for the elderly, whose produce could be sold at the farmers market, exercise is for the young families who might drop by the site on their Sunday morning jog to the farmers market. Reviving the site by allowing it to network people from different age groups and backgrounds is a benefit of play. Since this site is so large in scale it is only right that begins to subliminally interweave its neighborhood with or events in town. This will allow play to extend out further than the boundaries of the site.

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

1500’

Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation...................

GOVERNMENT HOUSING PROJECTS

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

Vehicular Circulation................... 750’

SITE USES

1500’

Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 63 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

1500’

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

INTERVENTION

1500’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Greek Town This site contains an awkward transition between residential neighborhoods and the border of downtown Detroit. The two areas are separate from each other by a freeway, and while this is a more active part of the city it is difficult to see how Greek Town relates to the residential neighborhoods. Most of the downtown buildings do not face the freeway; ergo they turn their back on the community just adjacent to them. Since the physical condition of the site completely neglects the relationship between downtown and the residents it is incredibly important to compensate through play. The cultural presence that exists in downtown is something that can be used to stitch this part of the city back together. Since Greek Town celebrates culture through food, shopping, and gamming, and residents seek those activities for entertainment, then the intervention at this sight must be able to make the cross over from residential to cultural/commercial enticing. If the freeway is hidden by a place of leisure and play that residents use often then they will be more inclined to visit downtown. The goal with this intervention is to salvage the relationship between the two uses. With such a dramatic difference in the scale of the urban environment from residential to high-rise, such as on this site, it is particularly cumbersome to design an intervention that can appropriately transition between the two. Creating an environment that welcomes a migration back and forth through the site as a result of play in the everyday lives of residents is the most appropriate means of mending the urban fabric for these site conditions.

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

GREEK TOWN

1500’

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

SITE USES

URBAN USES 750’

1500’

Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 73 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING N

Physical Union..................................... 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

750’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

1500’

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

INTERVENTION

1500’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Holden Street This residential neighborhood is quite peculiar. Beginning at its North-Western point, it is a healthy urban environment with pretty homes and several shops and museums to visit. The further South-East one goes, the less cared for the home become. Suddenly there is a transition from residential to business. Finally the street terminates between a rail line bridge and freeway. Since this site is so diverse and physically terminates, meaning there is very little traffic in the area, so there is an opportunity to create a socialized street. Ideally, play for people on this site would take place at their doorstep, or perhaps their neighborsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; doorstep. It will allow the small businesses in the area to become intertwined with the residents making the transition from residential to business more natural for those residing on the street edge. This intervention repurposes a street that is oddly terminated by two infrastructural elements. Since the transition of uses along the street is so widely varied it is important that they somehow relate to one another. Play can provide the opportunity to interact among neighbors, regardless if that neighbor is a resident or a business owner. Play serves to bring people out to socialize and socializing aids to the sense of ownership, something that this neighborhood seems to lack due current state of schizophrenia.

Park..................................................................

0’ 125’ 250’

Recreational.........................................

HOLDEN STREET

URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation...................

500’

1000’

500’

SITE USES

1000’

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 83 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................ N 0’ 125’ 250’

500’

1000’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

N 0’ 125’ 250’

500’

INTERVENTION

1000’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Industrial Neighborhood A typical first impression when walking through this neighborhood is that it is dreary; but this is incorrect. Upon closer inspection this neighborhood is rich in art which is represented through murals all around the neighborhood. Although many of the business in the area have been foreclosed, the art scene has taken over to fill in the void and restlessness. The industrial line that runs through the neighborhood does nothing to bolster the sprit of the community. Since there is already a well established built environment in the area, the rail lines, which have been spaced about 60 feet apart, can potentially become an art gallery or linear park that stretches across the neighborhood as a unifier. This way the presence of the rail line will not create a physical separation in the neighborhood. Instead an intervention such as this can bring joy through creativity and play. Although a rail line does divide neighborhoods, it does not necessarily have to be hidden or bridged over in order to reconnect a neighborhood. Instead, the simple act of using its excessive real estate for the neighborhoods advantage can create a greater opportunity for play and rehabilitation.

N Religious.................................................... 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

INDUSTRIAL NEIGHBORHOOD

1500’

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

Vehicular Circulation................... 750’

SITE USES

1500’

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 93 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................

N Play Space............................................ 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

1500’

N 0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

INTERVENTION

1500’

Right Creative Brain Drawings

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Michigan Central Train Depot This abandoned landmark is already a controversial issue among Detroit residents. It has been unused, looted, and falling apart for about sixty years. It towers over Mexican Town, an adorable kempt neighborhood. Residents cannot access any portion of the building, and even though it is a dominating presence in the neighborhood it is also the factor of discomfort. Although the building itself could be a candidate for an intervention, this study is focusing on the unused rail line platforms which will be more accessible to an open ended design intervention. The cultural presence of this neighborhood could have an influence one the play on site which could range from Quincea単eras, to barbecues. Since the demographics of this site are families there must be diverse range of play. The importance of this site intervention is to keep it open for large and small groups of people. Also it must be accessible to for all age groups. What is important about this site is that must have a truly diverse range of play. Unlike other sites in this study, this neighborhood is well established which means this particular intervention will be treated more like a park than other intervention site.

100

101

N Education................................................ 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

MICHIGAN CENTRAL TRAIN DEPOT

102

N 0’ 200’ 400’

Pedestrian Circulation............... 800’

SITE USES

1600’

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 103 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................

N Play Space............................................ 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

1600’

104

N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

INTERVENTION

1600’

105

Right Creative Brain Drawings

106

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

109

Midtown Adjacent This is a new residential development that is a clear example of how infrastructure is used to program cities. To the west of the freeway is a completely residential neighborhood. To the east is midtown, where Wayne State University and mixed use communities reside. The portion of the freeway selected for this intervention is one that contains a bridge crossing every mile making the pedestrian use their car to get around. There are many schools and recreational activities that residents need flow back and forth from. Since students typically like to hangout with friends after school this play intervention will provide them with a space to do that. Meanwhile the need for easy movement from one side of the freeway to the other can be done playfully on foot by mending the freewayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gash through this neighborhood. The use of play for this site must address the recreational desires of youths as well as the ease of use for adults. Because midtown is a desirable place to go to often, an intervention that makes the process of getting there easily is a programmatic need that must be met. However, in so doing, the process of crossing over remain in context of this study; playful and exuberant.

110

111

Park..................................................................

0’ 175’ 350’

Recreational.........................................

MIDTOWN ADJACENT

URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation...................

700’

1400’

112

N 0’ 175’ 350’

700’

SITE USES

1400’

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 113 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... Usable Space................................ Play Space............................................

N 0’ 175’ 350’

700’

1400’

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

114

N 0’ 175’ 350’

700’

INTERVENTION

1400’

115

Right Creative Brain Drawings

116

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

119

Spaghetti Bowl This, the largest of all intervention sites in this study, creates a gaping void in the urban fabric. It separates two gamming venues; Motor Town Casino and Hotel and the MGM Grand. Meanwhile, it also separates residential and mixed use districts. This study will focus on the available space between on and off ramps and how they can be used to connect these four corners of the city. Since gamming is a theme that is carried on two portions of the site then it is important to incorporate a gamming event throughout. This does not mean a casino would be an appropriate intervention, however something lighthearted such as an area where â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;hide and seekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; can be played would be a suitable intervention. Children can play for fun and exercise and adults can play while on a date as playful flirtation. There are many other game options that can be presented to users in a way allows access through the site while creating scenarios for play for several age groups. The point of providing an intervention on this site is to transform one of the largest barriers in any urban environment into a place that people would prefer to use as a means of getting from point A to B simply because it is fun. Going into the heart of this intervention site, however, will prove that infrastructural scale should not prohibit design for people. Regardless of the size, shape, and interstitial function of a location it should not have the ability to forfeit a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right to use a space with delight.

120

121

N 0’ 200’ 400’

Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation...................

800’

1600’

SPAGHETTI BOWL

122

N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

SITE USES

1600’

Landscape............................................ Retrofit.......................................................... 123 Built.................................................................. MAJOR USES Residential............................................... Business....................................................... Education................................................ Religious.................................................... Park.................................................................. Recreational......................................... URBAN USES Pedestrian Circulation............... Vehicular Circulation................... Parking......................................................... Focal Point.............................................. CITY STITCHING Physical Union..................................... N

Usable Space................................

0’ 200’ 400’

Play Space............................................

SITE CIRCULATION AND FUNCTIONS

800’

1600’

124

N 0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

INTERVENTION

125

Right Creative Brain Drawings

126

Form Finding

Resulting Design Concept For Interstitial Play

Chapter Five

Even the simple use of pre-existing space, without redesigning the raw form with construction or material elements, can change the atmosphere because it is redefined by the presence of new users. consequently, a spaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s atmosphere cannot be completely planned

in advance… yet spatial atmosphere can still be designed… spatial atmosphere and the way it is perceived are influenced by the lasting and complex interaction between ideas and a spatial concept, activities, the presence of people, light… Exner (2009:81)

Chapter Five

131

Conclusion This study was born from a frustration towards incompleteness of urban environments and has grown to expose layers of beauty and playfulness in cities. Research and analysis is used to expose where areas of the city seemed to be suffering the most and as a result confirm that omnipresent areas, freeways, seas of parking lots, rail lines and abandoned buildings, are the leading cause of blight and urban sprawl. After exposing this problem it became evident that in order to rehabilitate these areas one must reveal the reserved playful ambiance of each intervention site; something that is often difficult to see and largely overlooked. Through a series of exercises layers of playfulness is exposed and used to create forms for each site which aid in the process of open-ended design. The goal of the project focuses on the personal experience and authority that users have on the site as a result of open-ended design rather than the designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total control of program. The scope of this investigation requires two states of mind; analytical and child like. Such a process encounters problems with the merging of practicality and overall design goals. Several routes are taken in order to combine the two logically; one such route is an exercise which studies the creation of codes. It allocates certain play interventions wherever the physical omnipresent environment interrupts the conceptual network plan. This, however, creates an unnatural sense of play and form finding throughout the project. Rather than elaborating on the existing play condition it imposes program and becomes an applied feature to the city rather than an inherent expression of each site and neighborhood. For that reason it became obvious that in

order to create an honest expression of each site practicality of programmatic design will have to be replaced by intuition and a child like mindset in order to successfully bring this project to fruition. This investigation also requires research on several different areas of study, the most dominant of which being; play, open-ended design and designing with infrastructure. Unfortunately, source material was limited on certain aspects of this study. It is important however, in addition to finding scholarly sources of similar architectural interventions, to delve into the avant-garde realms of public art and landscaping for supporting case studies of open-ended design and playfulness. Although it is difficult to find many supporting sources for this study it is evident that observation is an influential tool to support this design theory. Noting the activities and remnants of activities, such as art work or running trails, on each site or similar areas allows one to draw conclusions about what is needed to promote a continued playfulness at each site or site typology. By restricting the designer impulse to program the life of the site and instead allow it to emerge naturally is the most important and challenging aspect of this study. Such a technique poses many obstacles as a designer and researcher, however, the end result is a successful implementation of simple design techniques that perform a great service for people were it is needed and used the most. Future work on this study should focus on the temporality of each intervention. Although the current design is open to evolve over

132

time and with changing seasons, it would be interesting to see what happens to these areas after they stitch the urban fabric back together and are no longer a necessity to the public. The question is; what becomes of these forms if they have surpassed the necessary time needed to rehabilitate each neighborhood? Will they remain sculptural artifacts, or will they be dismembered and moved to other sites as needed? Perhaps the shell of each intervention over time will become used as a place requiring a hard program if the neighborhood sees it fit for that purpose. A design evolution along a timeline would be the best indicator of the long-term successfulness of this study.

Figure 16: Collage of Right/Creative Brain, Form Finding and Final Design

133

References

*All Photographs, drawings and diagrams were taken and produced by the author of this document *Special rendering assistance provided by Andera Limpede

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Bunschoten, Raoul. Urban Flotsam: stirring the city : Chora. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2001. Print. This reference contains the design philosophy of the architectural firm CHORA. Their concepts of using play as a means to design was especially useful to support and guide this study. This book also provided valuable case studies and references. Exner, Ulrich, and Dietrich Pressel. Spatial Design. Basel: BirkhaÌˆuser, 2009. Print. This is a thesis which analyzes how people perceive space and how designers should design according to people’s perception of space. It delves into the psychological issues that make people repeatedly go to a space due to a memorable connection, or subconscious fondness of the site. Klingmann, Anna. Brandscapes: architecture in the experience economy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2007. Print. This reference is a study into urban cities performance and perception among residents. It investigates why and how the urban landscape suffers and can be repaired through design techniques that provide memorable experience for users. Lefaivre, Liane, and George Hall. Ground-up city: play as a design tool. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2007. Print. This book contains interviews and thorough research on the transformation of Amsterdam through the insertion of parks. Aldo van Eyck’s process of providing play in ravaged areas is particularly studied in this book; and is useful to the design of play in this project. Schwartz, Martha, and Tim Richardson. The vanguard landscapes and gardens of Martha Schwartz . New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004. Print. This book looks at the most important landscape architecture projects of Martha Schwartz. Her philosophy and approach to creating spaces that go beyond what people refer to as landscape is used as a helpful guide to open-ended design in this project.

References

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Authored Books: Alexander, Christopher, Hajo Neis, Artemis Anninou, and Ingrid King. A New Theory of Urban Design . New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print. This is the sixth series of books which describe an entirely new attitude to architectureand planning. The books are intended to provide complete working alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building, and planning. Brown, G. Z., and Mark DeKay. Sun, Wind & Light: architectural design strategies. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 2001. Print. Developed for rapid use in schematic design, this book clarifies relationships between form and energy and gives designers tools for designing sustainably. This book also contains an extensive bibliography.

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field, and anticipate how the profession must adapt in order to confront the challenges posed by the underprecedented rate of urbanization. This book also contains an extensive bibliography. Lowe, Jeanne R. Cities in a Race With Time; progress and poverty in America’s renewing cities. New York: Random House, 1967. Print. This book is a journey to the understanding of how American cities develop, and what happens in them today. Using several case studies, the analyses of each arrive to a conclusion that pinpoints strengths and weaknesses in the built environments. This book contains an extensive bibliography. Lynch, Kevin. The Image of the City. Cambridge [Mass.: Technology Press, 1960. Print. This book is a great analysis of how cities are formed. It lists strategic ways to createsuccessful urban environment for people rather than for the automobile. It is a direct architectural conclusion to how people move and through the built environment. Murtagh, William J.. Keeping Time. Pittstown, NJ: Main street press., 1993. Print. The primary purpose of this book is to discuss the subject of historic preservation, the various forms it takes and something about its background. This is done to understand what it is and how it has evolved. This book has an extensive bibliography. Reference Works: “48216 Zip Code (Detroit, Michigan) Profile - homes, apartments, schools, population, income, averages, housing, demographics, location, statistics, sex offenders, residents and real estate info.” Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, house prices, home value estimator, recent sales, cost of living, crime, race, income, photos, education, maps, weather, houses, schools, neighborhoods, and more. Onboard Informatics, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.city-data. com/zips/48216.html>. This is a reliable site used to obtain information on the demographics of communities by their zip code. It contains information regarding race, education, income and much more information about the community surrounding the Michigan Central Depot. Allen, Edward, and Joseph Iano. The Architect’s Studio Companion: Rules of Thumb for Preliminary Design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007. Print. Labor saving design resource containing industry standard tool for the preliminary

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“Michigan Central Rail Way Station at Detroit.” Railway Age Gazette. 9 Jan. 1914: 73-81. Michigan Railroads . Web. 30 Oct. 2010. This article contains historical facts about the Michigan Central Depot and the rail tracks. In addition it has cost of construction amounts, building plans, and site plans. Pearson, Clifford. “High Line.” Architectural Record. Oct. 2009: n. pag. Architectural Record. Web. 1 Nov. 2010. This article contains a case study in New York of a rail line transformation in the heart of downtown New York. There is also information pertaining to structural and design matters that greatly influenced the design of this urban park.

Oluwaseun Sunday, Ogundipe, and Barunia Segun Tunde. Environmental Control: Acoustic and Noise Control :Outdoor Acoustic Standard. Soft Designs 1 (2008): 1-14. Soft Designs. Web. 1 Nov. 2010. This essay contains extensive research on the effects of sound from trains, cars and airplanes on urban cities in the Midwest. It also contains information about laws that limit the amount of sound that is allowed in residential neighborhoods. There is also measurements showing how far sound and vibrations from sound can travel as well as techniques listing ways to prohibit sounds from entering spaces. This essay also contains an extensive bibliography. Myler, Kofi. “Freep.com.” Where Pipelines Run and Where They’ve Leaked. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov.2010. <www.freep.com/article/20100926/NEWS06/ 100922091/Where-pipelines-run-and-where-they-ve-leaked>. This site specifically illustrates the location of gas and oil pipelines as well as environmentally sensitive locations that have suffered from a pipeline rupture. It is an infrastructural database. Professional Periodicals: Booza, Jason, and Kurt Metzger. “On Some Socio-Economic Aspects of Detroit.” Shrinking Cities 1. (2004): 44-50. Shrinkingcities.com. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. This article explores the history of Detroit and examines how and why it has changed dramatically over time. It studies Detroit industrially, post industrially, and socioeconomically. This article also contains an extensive bibliography. Cortese, Amy. “New Rail Lines Spur Urban Revival.” The New York Times. 13 June 2009: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. This article introduces a case study of a Texan freight rail line conversion in the

Wilgoren, Jodi. “Detroit Urban Renewal Without the Renewal.” The New York Times. 7 July 2002: n. pag. New York Times. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. This article investigates the mayor of Detroit’s way and justification for putting an end to blight through the use of demolition. The belief that demolishing all abandoned buildings will make room for development in the future is pinned up against a local group called, “Motor City Blight Busters” belief that the city can be transformed through rehabilitation of homes that can be renovated. Internet Websites: “City of Detroit | Official City of Detroit Web site | www.detroitmi.gov .” City of Detroit | Official City of Detroit Web site | www.detroitmi.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.detroitmi.gov/>. This is the city of Detroit’s official website. It contains all the facts, laws, zoning, and codes that an architectural professional must use in order to develop an architectural project within the city of Detroit. “Detroit’s Abandoned Train Station-- Michigan Central Station. Detroit, Michigan..:: Detroit Photos by Seedetroit.com ::...” SEEDETROIT.COM- providing prolific, candid, uniquely Detroit images since 1996 -opensourceurban photos . N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http:// seedetroit.com/pictures/mcsweb/>. This Site Contains a plethora of photographs taken from outside and within the

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Michigan Central depot. I addition it contains facts about the Michigan central depot’s history, current state, and future. Many professional refer to this one in there research concerning all abandoned buildings within Detroit including the MCD. “Detroit History.” Detroit Michigan Hotels | Restaurants | Attractions | Real Estate. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.detroit.com/history/>. This site contains substantial history of Detroit from its founding to its future. It is used as a timeline to determine what went wrong in evolution of the city. “Detroit River Tunnel Partnership.” Detroit Regional Chamber. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://wwww.detroitchamber.com/region/Work-in-Detroit/ Education/232-detroit-river-tunnel-partnership>. This site contains information and justification for future proposals for the Michigan Central Depot. It also contains an extensive database of committees, city leaders, and architectural and engineering professionals prepared to take on the task of creating a new rail line that replaces the 100 year old lines at the Michigan Central Depot. Kelly, David. “Michigan Central Station.” Emergency Rail Concepts. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.emergencyrailconcepts.org/MCS.htm>. This site contains proposals for the Michigan Central Depot. In addition, it contains architectural drawings of MCD in plan and elevations with all correct measurements. “SEMCOG Data .” SEMCOG. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://www.semcog. org/Data_and_Maps.aspx>. This site specifically specializes on infrastructural concerns of south east Michigan. It contains many informative maps, zoning laws, and county information for architectural and engineering professionals. Non Architectural Articles: Changnon, Stanley A.. “Precipitation Climatology of Lake Michigan Basin.” Illinois State Water Survey. 52 (1968): 1-43. Illinois State Water Survey. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. This article analyzes the climate over the Great Lakes, including the “Lake Effect.” It is a thorough analysis of Detroit’s climate not just of seasonal weather, but of rain fall amounts, number of thunderstorm days, cloud cover analysis, and tornado facts. This article also contains an extensive bibliography.

Woolley, Helen, and Sian Rose. “The Value of Public Space How high quality parks and public spaces create economic, social and environmental value.” Cabe Space. May 2003: 1-19. CABE Space Strategic Partners. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. This article delves into the social and economical impact of public space. It contains an extensive amount of analysis and data on the effects of gentrification and how it can help or insult certain communities. This article also contains an extensive bibliography. “Index of/ftpref/downloads/climate/windrose/ michigan/detroit.” NRCS National Water and Climate Center | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov.2010.<http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/downloads/ climate/windrose/michigan/detroit/?C=M;O=A>. This site is a database of the wind studies for Detroit. It is used as an informative reference for designing sustainable structures that can be passively cooled with by taking advantage of wind patterns. “Reviving Detroit. Dir. James Lockhart. Perf. Lesa Mitchell and David Enger.” CNBC, 2009. News broadcast. This broadcast on CNBC discussed ways that new programs in Detroit are forming ways of creating jobs from those who have been laid off. They focus on engineers for GM and other such companies that have the skill to begin there own businesses, this is estimated to create 12,000 jobs within Detroit. Zukin, Sharon.”Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disneyland.” California: The Regents of the University of California, 1993. Print. This book delves into the pressing issues of the economic setbacks brought on by those in power. It is a view of the economical struggles and success of cities all over the United States, however, it focuses on Detroit’s failures and how those in power are responsible for the cities struggle to regain its power.

139

Appendices

140

Appendices

Final Presentation

Open-Ended Design for Interstitial Play

141

MACRO Analysis INFRASTRUCTURE

USES DIVERSITY

INTERVENTION TYPE

URBAN CONDITION AS A RESULT OF

Freeway............................................

Commercial..................................

Landscape...................................

Parking Strand Formation.......................................

Rail Line............................................

Mixed Use......................................

Retrofit................................................

Major Roads...............................

Educational.................................

Built........................................................

Detroit River.................................

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE

RESIDENTIAL ZONES

Parking Lots..................................

Parks.....................................................

Industrial...........................................

Historic Residential...............

Abandoned Buildings.....

Residential.....................................

Empty Lots......................................

Infrastructure City Residential & Mixed Uses.....................................................

A-Holden St

Right bra

Form

B-Industrial N N

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

1mile

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

RESIDENTIAL ZONES

1mile

1/2 mi

E J

500’

H 0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

1/2 mi

1mile

C 700’

Right bra

Form

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

1400’

800’

1500’

GOVERNMENT HOUSING PROJECTS

MIDTOWN ADJACENT

750’

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

1500’

1600’

MICHIGAN CENTRAL TRAIN DEPOT

D-Michigan

1100’

750’

INDUSTRIAL NEIGHBORHOOD

0’ 200’ 400’

550’

FISHER PLANT

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

Right bra

Form

0’ 1371/2’ 275’

1000’

Right bra

C-Midtown SITE SELECTION

1mile

Form

C D

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE

USE DIVERSITY

HOLDEN STREET

0’ 175’ 350’

Infrastructural Setback.....

DETROIT

A 0’ 125’ 250’

Abandoned Cluster Formation.......................................

FOOTBRIDGE AT OLD TIGER’S STADIUM

750’

1500’

GREEK TOWN

E-Footbridge

800’

0’ 200’ 400’

1600’

COMERICA PARKING

Form

0’ 200’ 400’

Right bra

800’

1600’

SPAGHETTI BOWL

MACROMACRO Analysis Analysis INTERVENTION TYPE USES DIVERSITY

INTERVENTION TYPE

Commercial.................................. Freeway............................................

Landscape................................... Commercial..................................

Parking Strand Landscape................................... Formation.......................................

Mixed Use...................................... Rail Line............................................

Retrofit................................................ Mixed Use......................................

Educational................................. Major Roads...............................

Built........................................................ Educational.................................

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE

Parking Lots.................................. RESIDENTIAL ZONES

Parking Lots..................................

Industrial........................................... Parks.....................................................

Industrial...........................................

Abandoned Buildings..... Historic Residential...............

Abandoned Buildings.....

Empty Lots...................................... Residential.....................................

CITY STITCHING URBAN USES

CITY STITCHING

Residential....................................

Pedestrian Circulation..... Residential....................................

Physical Union........................... Pedestrian Circulation.....

Physical Union...........................

Business............................................

Vehicular Circulation......... Business............................................

Usable Space.......................... Vehicular Circulation.........

Usable Space..........................

Education......................................

Parking............................................... Education......................................

Play Space.................................. Parking...............................................

Play Space..................................

Infrastructural Setback.....

Religious..........................................

Focal Point.................................... Religious..........................................

Focal Point....................................

Infrastructure City Residential & Mixed Uses.....................................................

Park........................................................

Network for Volunteer Play.......................................................

Infrastructure City Residential & Mixed Uses.....................................................

Network for Volunteer Play.......................................................

Interstitial Play Sites.............

Abandoned Cluster Formation.......................................

Built........................................................

Interstitial Play Sites.............

Park........................................................

Recreational...............................

1/2 mi

0 1/8 mi1/4 mi

1 mile 0 1/8 mi1/4 mi

1/2 mi

1 mile

1/2 mi

1 mile

PLAY NETWORK

CITY CAUSE & EFFECT

0 1/8 mi1/4 mi

1/2 mi

1 mile

PLAY NETWORK

A-HoldenAStreet-Holden Street

F-Fisher PlaFnt-Fisher Plant

Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings

Form FindingForm Finding

Possible SitePossible Use: Block SiteParty Use: Block Party

al Neighborhood B-IndustriaBl Nei-Industrighborhood 0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

ZONES

1mile

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

1mile

1/2 mi

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

1/2 mi

A F F

1mile

550’

1100’

0’ 1371/2’ 275’

FISHER PLANT

Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings

Possible SitePossible Use: Public Site Art Use:Gallery Public Art Gallery

1mile 0 1/8 mi 1/4mi N

1/2 mi

550’

1100’

FISHER PLANT

B G G

Form FindingForm Finding

Possible SitePossible Use: Outdoor Physical Activity Site Use: Outdoor Physical Activity

H-Greek TownH-Greek Town Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings

Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings 1mile

SITE SELECTION

Possible SitePossible Use: Alternative RouteBridge Route Site Use:Bridge Alternative

n DepotTrain Depot -MichiganTraiCentral D-MichiganDCentral

EN STREET

1/2 mi

Form FindingForm Finding

0’ 1371/2’ 275’

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

C C

SITE SELECTION

1000’

Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings

CG G -Midtown Adj-Miadcent town Adjacent I H I H E J N

Possible SitePossible Use: Possible SitePossible Uses: Break Site Use: Site Time Uses:Zone Break Time Zone

Housing ProjHousi ectsng Projects G-Government G-Government

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE

Form FindingForm Finding

1mile

CB E J

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi 1/2 mi

F A

0 1/8 mi 1/4mi

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE USE DIVERSITY

USE DIVERSITY RESIDENTIAL ZONES

Maggie Hanna-Elattar Maggie Hanna-Elattar AR903 AR903 Spring 2011 Spring 2011 Caitlin Kelley Caitlin Kelley

Empty Lots......................................

Improving cities where obstructions in the in the Improving cities omnipresent where omnipresent obstructions built environment typically create blight involves the built environment typically create blight involves the insertioninsertion of play ofthrough the usethe of open-ended design. design. play through use of open-ended

N 0 1/8 mi1/4 mi

CITY CAUSE & EFFECT

TROIT DETROIT

Form FindingForm Finding

Possible SitePossible Use: Pedestrian Site Use:Bridging Pedestrian Bridging

Parking ca Parking I-ComericaI-Comeri

750’

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

750’

1500’

750’

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

1500’

GOVERNMENT HOUSING PROJECTS

TRIAL BORHOOD

1500’

GOVERNMENT HOUSING PROJECTS

C H H

Form FindingForm Finding

750’

1500’

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

1400’

WN ADJACENT

GREEK TOWN

750’

1500’

GREEK TOWN

D I I E J J

Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings

0’ 1871/2’ 375’

700’

0’

URBAN USES MAJOR USES

Parking Strand Formation.......................................

Retrofit................................................ Abandoned Cluster Formation....................................... Infrastructural Setback.....

UNDER UTILIZED SPACE Detroit River.................................

142

MICRO Analysis MICRO Analysis MAJOR USES

IMPLEMENTING PLAY INTO INTERSTITIAL SPACES URBAN CONDITION AS A RESULT OF INTERSTITAL SPACES IMPLEMENTING PLAY INTO INTERSTITIAL SPACES URBAN CONDITION AS A RESULT OF INTERSTITAL SPACES

USES DIVERSITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Possible SitePossible Use: Party SiteEvent Use: Space Party Event Space

at OlddTigeger’ats OlStadi d Tiugmer’s Stadium E-FootbridEge-Footbri

Form FindingForm Finding

Possible SitePossible Use: Concerts and Tailgating Site Use: Concerts and Tailgating

Bowl Bowl J-SpaghettiJ-Spaghetti

800’

1600’

GAN CENTRAL DEPOT

TBRIDGE AT TIGER’S STADIUM

800’

0’ 200’ 400’

1600’

COMERICA PARKING

800’

0’ 200’ 400’

1600’

COMERICA PARKING

Form FindingForm Finding

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

SPAGHETTI BOWL

0’ 200’ 400’

800’

1600’

SPAGHETTI BOWL

Right brain Drawings Right brain Drawings

Possible SitePossible Use: Linear Park Roller Park Site Roller Use: Linear

Form FindingForm Finding

Possible SitePossible Use: Pedestrian and Bridge Urban Park Site Use:Bridge Pedestrian and Urban Park