[up]s.t.a.r.t. Sustained Teaching and Regenerative Transitions
M.ARCH : Spring 2012 : University of Oregon
Dan Scofield
p.
Po
Q
)
(O TR
f yo t i l ua
1800 1830s
18301850
1850
18601900
1878
1842
OTR becomes densely settled and develops a sense of place
Completion of Music Hall
The name ‘Over-the-Rhine’ is officially given to the neighborhood
Cincinnati’s population more than quadruples
Shift to mainly German & Irish immigrants
Miami & Erie Canal : Cincinnati Connection complete
First riverboat traffic to Cincinnati along the Ohio River
1828
1811
Name changed officially to Cincinnati
Losantiville is founded within what is now Hamilton County
1790
1788
43,000 44,475
TR Seventeen in O
Eig ht
Life s (City) Brewerie
19
0
1950
Over-the-Rhine is declared a neighborhood in decline
Rural Appalachians migrate into/around OTR
What is now Central Parkway is opened to traffic
Subway funds are exhausted
Canal is drained. Subway & overhead parkway construction begins
Prohibition
Appalachian community is mostly permanent although can’t
1940s
19301950
1928
1927
1919
1919
to sound more ‘American’
1918 Business and Street names are changed
Schools drop German language instruction
1916
Anti-German hysteria preceeding the war
7,638 All-time low Two
Zero
2000
2005Present
Current revitalization efforts, tending toward gentrification and resident displacement
2006 89 Murders are committed in Cincinnati. Drug use and violent crime persist
2001
Population is largely poor & undereducated
1990
Unarmed African-American shot and killed by caucasian police oficer. Four days of riots ensue, followed by police work slowdown and a reduction in discretionary police work, emergency responses only
1960- Population decrease by over 50% while African-American population 1970 more than doubles. New character and racial tension
1960s afford to purchase property or change their neighborhood
,00
30
900 025
15,
Over-the-Rhine, the neighborhood directly north of and adjacent to downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, is a neighborhood rich with diversity yet overshadowed by a stigma of racial tension, crime, drug use and violence. Initially home to a largely German immigrant population, this burgeoning neighborhood showed promise of becoming a successful industrial city. Situated on the Ohio River and the Ohio & Erie Canal System, development progressed through key exports such as pork and whiskey. Due largely to German social customs, establishments for brewing and drinking beer became some of the most successful businesses, with as many as 36 breweries in the city, 17 of which were within the .62 square miles known as Over-the-Rhine. Despite seemingly inevitable success, antiGerman hysteria surrounding World War I and the enactment of Prohibition proved fatal not only to industry, but to the life of the neighborhood. As immigrants were forced out and jobs were disappearing, other residents began to leave as well for better conditions, less pollution and new livelihoods. This mass evacuation left the neighborhood in shock, vacant buildings, absentee landowners, no one to maintain property or infrastructure. Over-the-Rhine experienced a population drop from its peak at 45,000 down to only 7000. This left the neighborhood open for appalachians from the east and a few small groups from the south, but none of which that could hope to impact the neighborhood. This group was made up largely of squatters and lower class workers, living in poverty, simply unable to take care ownership of the property or the neighborhood. Mostly transient, these groups never stayed long and generally reduced the quality of the area. Officially declared a neighborhood in decline in 1940, the population and quality of the neighborhood remained fairly constant through the 1990’s. As the city continued to be ignored, the expected issues with drugs, violence and crime escalated, reaching their peak in 2001. On a standard chase, a white male police officer shot and killed an unarmed black 19 year old. This event sent the neighborhood into chaos. Racial
Brief History
tensions erupted into 3 days of rioting and mindless violence, the worst urban disorder since the 1992 riots of LosAngeles. Due largely to the riots, the police force undertook a work slowdown, responding only to emergency calls, halting patrols and incidental crime stops. Poor resident-police relations have continued and are still far from perfect today. Summer 2009 was nicknamed ‘The Summer of Guns’ by a local paper as 89 murders were committed within Cincinnati that year. Within the last five years, development efforts have begun in OTR, attempting to resolve these pressing issues and introduce new life to the neighborhood. These efforts, unfortunately, tend greatly towards gentrification and resident displacement. Through the establishment of upscale restaurants, boutique shops and high end condos, a new population has taken interest in the neighborhood. This group can afford to support such upscale ventures, and in turn, boost the economy of OTR, but what becomes of the people who call this area home : the people who have leaved here through it all, the people who’s kids were born here, who grew up here themselves and want their kids to to do the same. It’s not always been the best neighborhood, but it’s been their neighborhood and their home.
Greater Cincinnati, Ohio
University of Cincinnati
Over-the-Rhine
Downtown Cincinnati
Oho River
Central Cincinnati
needs quality housing higher income residents consistent or
over-the-rhine
quality of life for current residents business development job opportunity eliminate crime improve better
perception
of
community-police relations
respect
safety
improve
acceptance
one diverse community eliminate imagined barriers appreciation
26 %
23 % 9%
19 % 6%
17 %
[City of Cincinnati}
Related Community Institutions
46 %
26 % 18 %
<3% 4% 3%
[Over-the-Rhine]
Less than high school
Project Site
High School/Equivalent Some College Associate Bachelor
[OtR]
39.114
o
Master or Higher
Highest Level of Education Attained
Urban Gardens Food Education
Teaching Restaurants Communal Dining
Teaching Kitchen
Community Garden
Development of Additional Sites/Branches
Food Service
g
Medical Technology
Bui ldin
Site
Exp
ans
ion
Historic Preservation & Adaptive Reuse
Building Maintenance & Property Management
Academic Core Classrooms Media Center
Cafe/ Collaborate
Vocational Training
General Trades [MEP)
Art & Design New Trades Programs
Construction Technologies
Craftsmanship
Education
General Finance & Accounting
Business Development
Counseling & Support Administration
[Student] Apartments
Management & Operations
Housing
Administrative Support
Preservation & Reuse
New Construction
Property Ownership
Employment Bicycle Co-op
Short-term Lease Space
Market-Rate Condos
Additional Retrofits
New Construction Public Buy-in Leasable Space
Public Investment Mixed-Use
Long-Term Lease Spaces
Additional Storefronts
Overall Urban Program
[Transitional Self-Help]
a new model
A model in which people are provided with the tools for self-sufficiency, transitional self-help aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to take control in their own setting. On the verge of being forced from their home, this project attempts to anchor long-time residents of Over-the-Rhine in their neighborhood. Through recent development efforts, a new demographic has made its way into OTR: a great boost economically, but inadvertently tending towards gentrification and resident displacement. A lack of communication and understanding between this new demographic and the long-time residents has led to distrust and the rise of false perceptions between the groups. Thus, this project aims to account for both sides, the residents who have called this place home and the residents who can ensure continued development and a valuable future for Over-the-Rhine. By recognizing the strength inherent in their differences, these two groups can work together for the neighborhood they love, forging a community united in diversity. This is a new start for OTR, a step away from its troubled history, and a chance for two populations to come together as one community. This project, for both groups, is an introduction to their own context. Beginning with the design & implementation of my building design, the overall urban plan is meant to expand from this central location out into the neighborhood. The initial design provides a central anchor while the future development is meant to expand the presence in the neighborhood while continuing a cycle of learning and teaching, expanding vocational programs as well as commercial sites and public interaction.
Expansion from Initial Site
-An immediate change and a continual catalyst, a model for sustained improvement into the future. Regeneration at multiple scales. Goals Immediate
: Awareness of the issues : Acceptance of diversity : Understanding of needs : Trust within a community : Education & Employment : Affordable housing : Retrofit existing buildings : Learn through experience
Future
: Sustained employment & continual job creation : Expanded education & training programs : Retrofits at additional sites : Neighborhood preservation : Sustainable community : Mutual acceptance and support
Existing & Proposed
Existing on Site
[Residential] Preservation, Re-use, and New Construction Long-Term Transitional Housing 2-4 Year Lease Agree to work Enroll in Education Co-housing type apartments
[Education] Re-use and New Construction Teaching Kitchen Food Service Vocational Trade School Property Management Administrative & Professional Support Business Management Financial Services General Education General Education Programs Health Clinic and Administration Counseling & Dependency Services
[Commercial & Retail] New Construction Retail Storefront Short-term lease for small start-ups and business development Bicycle Co-op Publicly Leasable Office Space Above
BUILDING
Extended Site
NEIGHBORHOOD
INDIVIDUAL
[up]s.t.a.r.t.
Sustained Teaching and Regenerative Transitions [up]start is a new take on education. Mixing vocational training with entrepreneurship and business development creates endless variation in curriculum. A non-traditional hierarchy allows students to learn not only from faculty, but more importantly from one another. Open work spaces and visual connections allow users to see and hear activities throughout the building, creating both direct and indirect interaction. It is in this collaborative environment that students learn the most, not specifically classroom lessons, but more valuable lessons about human interaction. [up]start seeks to arm students with skills for self-sufficiency, from general education to specific vocational programs to business development & operations. The main focus, regardless of chosen curriculum, is ownership: the ability to have a stake in one’s own life. From control of general academics to property ownership to developing and operating one’s own business, [up]start aims to provide the tools to anchor oneself and be counted, to make an impact in his/her neighborhood and be an integral part of a larger community.
It’s intended that people who go through the program drive expansion and development at additional sites, taking control of their own property and furthering their education/business by sharing knowledge and experience with others. “The best way to learn is to teach.”
streetfront [a view from vine st]
existing
Design Steps and Formal Concepts Given the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s location in a historic district, it was important to take the context into account, creating a building that respected the historic architecture while introducing its own unique language. In tracing the existing site innumerable times, I discovered patterns in the existing context :
Beginning with this pattern, I also took into account issues of security, material and topography to develop the form. The building takes on a folding form that maintains the historic street edge while the same material folds and breaks down at the back of the site. Using the folding and a custom concrete panel, the landscape is allowed to grow onto the building, blurring the lines of architecture and topography in a form that allows views across both interior and exterior for security and views. The concrete panel and supporting steel structure are meant to play on the use of brick, calling attention to the ways we currently use masonry and structural systems.
final plan outline
form : exterior
form : interior
program
Hard street edge and a formal breakdown at the rear of the site Layering on the front facades Brick masonry as structure and aesthetic
[existing context]
[plan concept]
[section concept]
Courtyard
Gallery
Multi-Use Room
Classroom
Reading Room
Service
Office Social Media Center
Trades Classroom
Business Development
Existing
Adjacency Diagram
[Plan] On each level, the plan is arranged in a way that each space maintains an appropriate feeling of privacy while sustaining an indirect association with other spaces throughout the building. Be it through vision, sound, or direct adjacency, each space in the building promotes and facilitates interaction as a means of practical education, teaching not only theoretical skills but interpersonal and social skills as well.
01
03
02
floors [1/32â&#x20AC;? = 1â&#x20AC;&#x2122;-0â&#x20AC;?]
The main entry at the streetfront takes patrons into the media center. Situated at the bottom of a three story atrium space, the media center is the first introduction to the building and to the overarching idea of indirect connection. From there, users are most drawn to look at the existing building reused in the project, the most important element programatically and historically. The existing building, now
with large openings punched into it, acts as way finding and the critical overlap between education and employment. Inside and directly adjacent to this are the social spaces for collaboration and chance encounters, the spaces where students and employees interact and learn the most from one another. Education spaces house general education, vocation specific classrooms and counseling/support services. The employment spaces are a mixed breed with both working office space and classrooms specifc to administration, entrepreneurship or finances.
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Longitudinal Section [1/16” =1’-0”]
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Transverse Section [1/16” =1’-0”]
Egress Structure
Partial Wall Section @ Southern Elevation
Southern Elevation
on
ati
lev
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es
W Ex W istin all g :
Ne Pa w : ne Co nc l
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Ne Pa w : Ne ne Co nc l Pa w : re ne Co te l & nc re te Br
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[Structure] The structure in the main space is oversized in an effort to compare the existing use of brick as structure to our current structural systems (same as the use of concrete panels, a comparison of historical and modern masonry). The rigid moment frames are comprised of steel members painted to resemble oxideized or weathered steel. The 50’ span is covered by a 28” deep beam while the columns taper from 30” deep at the beam to 16” at grade. As the spaces get smaller on the north side of the building, a lighter gauge steel is used.
[Shading] Shading is used throughout the design to provide an appropriate response to both solar gain and privacy issues. The screens (a tight-weave chain link on the front and native vegetation on the back and sides) provide feelings of privacy while maintaining necessary views to provide security. At the front, the screens are based on Cincinnati’s sun angles to provide passive heat gain in the winter. At the back and sides, vegetation on a similar chain link is meant to introduce new life onto a material with previously negative connotations.
Reinforcing @ Connection between existing & new
Canopy @ Southern Elevation
media
[section @ entry & media center]
[Native Vegetation] Continuing on more than just the screens, the native planting is meant also to grow up the sides of the building, further blurring the boundary between architecture and landscape. Again, vegetation on concrete and chainlink screens is meant to provide a new interpretation of seemingly hostile material. Chain link and concrete are used in OTR to block off alleys and streets deemed to be dangerous. Allowing plants to grow on these typically negative materials is a re-introduction of life into negative environments, which in the long term parallels the goals of the neighborhood, introducing new life into a previously hostile environment.
[Runoff/Reuse] Roof and downspout details guide water to the northern side of the building where the slanted walls and custom concrete panels further direct water back toward the site. The panels have pieces pushed and pulled to create troughs and channels where water can flow through. Vegetation toward the bottom of the northern walls slows the flow of water and begins to filter the runoff. At the base of the walls, runoff makes its way into a channel that disperses water into the site, either slowly filtering water into the ground or directing it into planting beds and green areas in the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coutryard.
Scupper to combo Vegetation Screen and Downspout @ Parapet
Wa & f ter co iltra ll tion ection f on site or reu se
Parapet Scupper to Downspout @ Glazing
back door [section @ rear ent
ry]
Native Vegetation Flowering VInes Woodbine (honeysuckle family - lonicera) Lonicera sempervirens - Trumpet Honeysuckle Parthenocissus Quinquefolia - Virginia Creeper Trees Cornus Racemosa ‘Geauge’ - Gray Dogwood (7-8’ tall) Cornus Florida ‘Cloud 9’ - Flowering Dogwood (18-22’) -Early to bloom, good fall color, attractive winter form (all seasons)
backyard [a view of the courtyard]