| Site West Farms, Bronx New York This architecture is public and seeks a pedestrain accessible realm that can be spontaneously encountered along the way. It desires to be situated between nature and an urban environment, offering its presence as a place of entry between the two. The site is located along a 23 mile watershed corridor that is the Bronx River. This portion of the river is an under developed link between the Northern Westchester County and Southern Bronx portions. . The Greenway River plan is a comprehensive overview aiming to provide 633 acres of multi-use parkland extending the full length of the river flowing through the Westchester county + the Bronx as well as providing solutions for the urban runoff pollution. It is the only fresh water river in New York city. The presence of 19th centry manufacturing plants led to the decrease in water quality, turning the river into a natural sewer for natural waste and expansive amounts of impermeable surfaces prevents rainwater from naturally being intercepted by vegetation and infiltrating into the soil, disturbing flow patterns within the channel. The West Farms, eight-mile stretch of river is currently undergoing restoration of wildlife habitats and its water quality by the Bronx River Alliance, The Bronx River Watershed Coalition and the Bronx River Ecological Restoration progam. The selected place of exploration presents an urban block that directly abuts an extreme natural condition. The building will be situated near a major trafficked avenue, an elevated portion of the subway rail sourced in Manhattan, New York that borders two edges of the site and has close proximity to the transit stop of the railway. With the the Bronx River Art Center is located within the selected block for intervention and close locations of several education facilities for learning, there is a potential for this site to become a recreational focal point for a community plagued by high crime and slow urban renewal
| Precedents
Espai de la Lira | Ripoll Spain| RCR Arquitectos |44m Bridge, 599 m2 Square surface
Ciaxa Forum |Madrid Spain | Herzog & De Mueron |2008 | 11000 m2 | 118403 ft2
This space was constructed to be the “gateway of the public space” of the square that connects the Paseo del Maestro Guich and 1’Escorxador street. It is a square sited within a architectural complex built on the demolished theatre La Lira. A two level pedestrian and contemplation bridge spans across the river. La Lira is located at the crossing of two rivers, Ter and Freser; which water energy was used to forge steel. Steel was used to evoke memories of the historic metallurgical industry in Ripoll.The objective wwas to create a covered space for a meeting point of arrival and departure while maintaining the spirit of the theatre.
Bamboo Bridge School |Fujian China | Li Xiadong | 2009| 240 m2 | 2583 ft2
It is an adaptive reuse construction, incorporating the walls of a older power plant and the site of an old gas station, with new construction underground as well as above. It is a multi-purpose art centre with galleries, offices, auditoriuim and restarants. The materiality of the classified brick shell is remincetent of the early industrial age in Madrid. The architectural gesture of the floating mass that draws the visitors to the door. The covered public space provides shade to vistors and the location of the main entrance. It is a place between the outside and the inside.
The goal was to provide a place for children to learn, a opportunity to cross the river and a place for public gatherings. It is composed of two schoolhouses that are flexible multi-purpose spaces for the rural village. The pedestrian bridge is located underneath the school and spans the width of the river. The school is supported with two large steel spans with smaller framing as supports and local material was used help blend the architecture with the surrounding context through texture and aesthetics.
“He paused on the threshold and then entered.”
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Abstract
Encounters of the threshold transpire as a daily occurance with the body and or the mind. Whether it is a physical moment of contact or psychological occurance, the threshold is a state that must be crossed so a new state may be inhabited. It is what allows us to move foreward. The motivation to cross the threshold is an innate need and movement, its is a liminal zone, a moment that is barely perceptible.
A Reconsideration of the Threshold: Constructing points of entry as a spatial condition. This thesis about exploring unbroken movement through the absence of the conventional doorway. It is about constructing a spatial progression that is gradual. Inspired by the notion of one individual journey through distinct environments; the sequence of departing one place and arrival into another is of interest. What occurs between the place being departed from and the place the one is arriving into? Imagine the existence of a threshold that is more than just an abrupt cut through a wall that lie between to places. This inquiry about the space in the middle; between the forground and the background, examines the shared boundary lines of two contrasting environments and the architectural possibilities of the act of transitioning.
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Program
The soul for which this investigation of the threshold with manifest is in the form of an Stretching_______________________________________ architecture that supports exercise, going beyond an organized system of air condiRelaxation tioned open spaces filled with treadmills, exercise bikes, wieghts and other fitness appaGallery Lounge 1_2500 ratus. It is imagined that this is a place that embraces the active body not only in the moment of fitness but transitioning in and out of it as well. Therapy Physical + First Aid [400] Physical Therapist Office 1_100 This program is an architecture that embraces body movement and prepares the body Examination Room 1_200 for departure and arrival. It will provide spaces for calisthenic movement, a simple rhythStorage 1_100 mical exercise that does not require the support of equipment. Body strength (muscular and cardiovascular fitness) and flexibility are increased through self-weight acting as Reception Lobby 1_500 resistance. The presence of the spaces will take on the role of an external resistance on the participant, to increase fitness benefits. The collection of spaces is divided into the Total 4700 four phases of exercise which is gradual sequence that provides preparation, recreation Warm-up_______________________________________ and recovery time for the body to safely endure fitness. Preparation Stretching prepares the body to move from rest to activity. This Personal Storage Locker rooms (M +W) 1_2900 phase will provide a place to lounge, a space allowing time for the body to properly improve flexibility and reduce muscle stress. Conditioning_____________________________________ The warm-up also prepares the body to move from rest to activFitness ity, but lessons the stress placed on your heart and muscles, by gradually increasing Rhymthic Dance studio 3_1500 breathing, heart rate and body temperature.This phase will be a spatial threshold to entering the spaces for conditioning. Aquatic Canoe + Kayak dock 1_500 The conditioning produces fitness benefits. This phase will proSwimming pool 1_ 12500 vide spaces for cardiovascular fitness: Rhythmic, Aquatic ,and Sport . The cool down recovers the body , allowing for the heart rate Sport Bicycle lane 1 and blood pressure to return to near resting value. It is a slow decrease from intense activity. It is also known as the “carbohydrate window”, the period of which the body opRunning track 1_ 1,312 ft timizes its ability to replenish energy stores, depleted during the conditioning phase. Football pitch 1_5000 This phase will provide a space for : consumption of food and beverage that will refuel the body, ease muscle tension and improving blood circulation.
| Client
Nike | Game Changers The “Design to Move” campaign promotes an increase in the physical activity that has slowed down immensely with the arrival and progression of the digital age. Their mission is to stimulate children before unhealthy static activity sets-in, by integrating physical activity into their everyday lives. This launched by thirty-three partners including Nike and Architecture for Humanity, believes that perpetual motion inhernent in adolescents should not be overlooked but instead harnessed.
Total 19500 Cool Down_______________________________________ Recovery Food + Beverage Snack bar 1_500 Relaxation Steam space 1_1000
Nedith A. Wikina | Arch 641 | Graduate Thesis Research Seminar | Professor Hasan-Uddin Khan
Total 1500 Gross Square Area 28000