ZACHARY VEACH Design, Drawing, and Architecture Portfolio 2012 - 2015
YSOA Studio Projects Spring 2015
Chicago Farmhouse
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Fall 2014
Vauxhall Village
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Spring 2014
Sample City
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Fall 2013
CASIS HQ
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Spring 2013
Utility Wall Housing Prototype
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Hearth Building Project Entry
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Yale Vlock Building Project 2013
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Fall 2012
Slope Carve
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Dual Display Pavilion
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Hi Line
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Drawing, Fabrication, and Research
Drawing and Arch’l Form
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Viz Series: I, II, III, IV
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Nomad Tables
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Nightstand 101
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Wood / Steel
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Winslow House in Timber
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Welcome to the Huburbs
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NYSL: Portal Ornament
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ZACHARY VEACH Design, Drawing, and Architecture Portfolio 2012 - 2015
Yale School of Architecture, 2015
Master of Architecture (M.Arch I)
University of Washington, 2012
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
CHICAGO FARMHOUSE Critic: Tom Beeby YSOA Spring 2015 This infill housing prototype is designed to fit on a typical vacant lot in Chicago’s Southside neighborhood. Like most American cities, large parts of Chicago lack access to healthy fruits and vegetables. Using an easily constructed industrial steel frame, this re-imagined urban farmhouse can grow food to distribute to the neighborhood year-round.
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A temperature controlled basement functions as storage for on-site production with the potential to become a neighborhood storage facility for community farming on nearby vacant lots. These rapidly constructed and reproducable structures can provide families and neighborhoods with sources of healthy food and employment.
9" Z220 PURLIN (LAP)
RIGID FRAME
FRAME CLIPS
EAVE STRUT
SOLARFECTIVE MOTORIZED SHADE
HEAVY DUTY 3 X 6 T&G V PINE
3 1/2" C GIRT (LAP) FOAMED POLYETHYLENE SEALED IN PLASTIC BAGS CORRUGATED FIBER-REINFORCED PLASTIC
HOPE 5000 SERIES STEEL WINDOWS 1 3/8" X 2 1/2" STEEL BAR
3/8" ENTERNIT FIBERCEMENT ANCHOR PLATE 1 1/2" RIGID INSULATION METAL DECKING (1.5FD)
3" SLAB + LIQUI-HARD COATING
DRAINBOARD PERFORATED DRAIN PIPE GRAVEL IN GEO-FABRIC CAPILLARY BREAK
1 1/2" POLYSTYRENE
GRAVEL FILL
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The modular Butler building structure is classicized, painted white and left exposed. The easily constructed frame is clad in a translucent envelope and a steel trellis forms an independent interior structure. The cladding is made of two layers of corrugated fiber-glass, attached on either side of the prefab Butler girts, sandwiching a layer of foamed polyethylene contained in plastic bags. The bags run linearly between the girts and provide insulation and an additional layer of cloudy translucency and privacy.
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Domestic living is contained in a central service core which can be efficiently controlled for temperature and humidity. Roller shades in the outer shell and heavy curtains in the inner core provide additional layers of thermal control, while linear vents along the bottom and the top of the building allow for easy ventilation. Residents can live intimately with their domestic garden while maintaining adequate seperation from the humidity and heat gain of the attached greenhouse.
Side Elevation 4
Longitudinal Section 5
First Floor 8
Second Floor 9
North Elevation 16
South Elevation 17
Street Front 18
Rear Planting Beds 19
Living 22
Dining 23
Interior / Exterior Luminosity 24
View Corridor 25
Early Modified Butler Concept 28
Stowable Storage Walls 29
Open
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PENELOPE L
W4x12
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washer/ dryer
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pantry
W4x12
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d/w
oven
fridge
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Closed
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PENELOPE L
PENELOPE L
W4x12
W4x12
W4x12
washer/ dryer
washer/ dryer
W4x12
W4x12
W4x12
pantry
pantry
W4x12
W4x12
W4x12
d/w
d/w
prep
oven
prep/dine
dine
oven
fridge
fridge
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Open / Closed Sections 32
Open Space 33
VAUXHALL VILLAGE Critics: Sam Jacobs and Sean Griffiths YSOA Fall 2014 The work from this semester was generated from a series of conceptual process models and drawings which are attempts to psychoanalyze the work of F.A.T. These early explorations served as points of departure for architectural and urban ideas that were then applied to an industrial site along the Thames River in London. The area we looked at is currently
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undergoing homogenous highend real estate development. Vauxhall Village proposes to subvert the bland gentrification of contemporary London by creating a vibrant multi-use affordable housing development along the Thames. The architecture is designed to evoke the thriving communal city life that its streets and piazzas will foster.
Early ‘Blue House’ Analytical Drawing 36
Mind Map Concept Sketch 37
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Vauxhall Village Concept Drawing 46
Vauxhall Village From Across A3036 48
Monumental Gateway Piazza 49
View From Residential Terraces 50
Street Interior 51
Commercial Boardwalk 52
View From Bell Tower 53
View From Office Towers 54
View From The New US Embassy 55
Town Square 58
Residential Massing 59
Ground nd d Floor 25’
50’
100’ 1
50’
100’ 1
First t Floor 25’
Second nd d Floor 25’
50’
100’ 1
Riverfront Elevation 69
SAMPLE CITY Critic: Alan Platus YSOA Spring 2013
Partner: Zach Huelsing
Harnessing the international energy of the Olympics, my partner and I sought to turn our site into a hot spot for future economic development. By connecting the two existing channels and forming a new island centered around the Boston Convention Center, we have created an isolated island zone for international development, as well as an inner waterfront that has now
been made accessible to South Boston. By offering post-Olympic public amenities such as two new multi-modal transportation systems, public parks and beaches, and new waterfront retail zones, we hope to draw in Bostonians while creating a space for the international business elite that are soon to flood Boston’s new destination zone.
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The site is composed of sampled ‘edges’ that have been taken from around Boston. This is a take on the city’s history as a series of artificial land masses and patchwork developments that created today’s episodically experienced city. Tying these edges together is a robust transportation network that utilizes the existing airport connection and adds a new people mover skewering the site and connecting it right to the heart of downtown Boston. The site also
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brings a vast water taxi network to downtown Boston and connects it to the site’s ferry and cruise terminals. All of this eases downtown access for South Boston residents. Essentially, this zone becomes a hyper-dense development hub centered around the convention center and connected with downtown. This is where Boston can develop into a 21st century international city without destroying the intimate fabric of traditional Boston neighborhoods.
Bluffs & Parkland
Terminal Building & Harbor
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Waterfront Neighborhood
Tower Islands
Forest & Beach
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Convention & Hotel
Downtown to South Boston Transport Network 82
People Mover & Water Taxi Stops 83
Early Concept Studies 84
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Back Bay
Constitution Beach
Reserve Channel
Fort Point Channel
North Channel
Seaport
MIT
Mystic
Mystic Reservation
Pleasure Bay
CASIS HQ Critic: Marc Foster Gage YSOA Fall 2013 As the corporate armature that will support the International Space Station in all its future ventures, CASIS requires a unique headquarters. It needs to function as a secure, private complex for the foundation’s research, development, and operations, and as an open and inviting space to engage tourists and other visitors. The complex is organized by a series of activity
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nodes bound together by a glass public promenade. This promenade cuts into the stone objects providing views into workspaces for visitors, and views out for the workers within. The objects are clustered around an open courtyard, to give the complex the feel of a small village or campus, which is important to dispel the elusively corporatist air of CASIS.
MECHANICAL
WORKSHOP
EXHIBITION
CENTRAL VOLUME
STORAGE
Lower Level
CONFERENCE FACILITIES
WORKSHOP
EXHIBITION
CENTRAL VOLUME
LOADING
EXHIBITION
Ground Level 90
PREFUNCTION SPACE
CONFERENCE HALL
LOBBY
COURTYARD
CENTRAL VOLUME
EDUCATION CENTER
OPERATIONS CONTROL
Promenade Level
CASIS
CASIS
Second Level
CASIS
CASIS
Upper Levels 91
Entrance Sequence 92
Visitors enter the complex through a raised courtyard by taking a monumental staircase off of the park, or an elevator going directly to the main lobby. From there, visitors are connected to a public promenade band which provides access to an education center, an auditorium, and two meeting rooms. A large central volume serves as a multi-purpose viewing space, allowing visitors to watch operations control conducting launches from across the void, as the Destiny Module hangs above.
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Descending down the large skylit central volume, visitors enter a spacious subterranean exhibition space. The visit concludes with an ascent which affords beautiful views of the East River. CASIS administration and support services are all located in the two taller buildings in the rear of the complex, ensuring that workers also share riverfront views with the museum goers.
Central Volume 94
CASIS
CASIS
AUDITORIUM
LOBBY
WC
SERVICE
Auditorium Section 95
WC
WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP
City Views Through Circulation Band 96
Auditorium Light Study 97
UTILITY WALL HOUSING PROTOTYPE Critic: Alan Organschi YSOA Spring 2013 This systematic prototype addresses its site with a distinct sidedness. A utility wall borders the driveway and is embedded with equipment and service spaces. Private spaces explode outwards from the wall, creating sliver windows that provide long views down the narrow lot to maximize privacy. The monolithic wall system serves as conceptual support for a highly customizable
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“lean-to” shed, and this condenses utilitarian function in a single band as to maximize open, livable space for family functions. More than a formal gesture, the densely packed wall system serves as an efficient organizer of space and a single datum off of which the prototype’s system can flex to fit site-specific needs such as views, lighting conditions, and new site dimensions.
Lower Level 102
Upper Level 103
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This prototype organizes the house around the idea that true ownership of a residence does not reside in the utilitarian aspects of a home, but exists in the customizable open space in which family and social activities take place. By compressing equipment and service spaces into a narrow band, the rest of the plan maximizes open and livable space on a narrow lot. Private spaces above are expressed as contained volumes breaking through the heavy service wall, creating a dynamic play of shadows.
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“Wall” Cut 106
“Space” Cut 107
Ground Floor Plan 1/8” = 1’ - 0
Lateral Section 1/8” = 1’ - 0”
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Ground Floor Plan 1/8” = 1’ - 0
Lateral Section 1/8” = 1’ - 0”
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Ground Floor Plan 1/8” = 1’ - 0
Lateral Section 1/8” = 1’ - 0”
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Ground Floor Plan 1/8” = 1’ - 0
Lateral Section 1/8” = 1’ - 0”
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HEARTH [Winning Vlock Building Project Entry] Critics: Adam Hopfner, Herb Newman, Peter de Bretteville, and Amy Lelyveld Team: Mark Peterson, Ben Smith, Amy Su, Alissa Chastain, JT Keeley, and Zachary Veach YSOA Spring 2013 This home is centered around the hearth; it is a reinterpretation of the traditional saltbox house of New England that was built off of a central fireplace. Here, the hearth is recontextualized as a packed utility wall centered on a double-height space. This space connects the kitchen, the social heart of the space, to a unique nook 117
space above. The design allows for efficient use of space which moves in and out of the solid linear wall element that runs through the house. A custom kitchen cabinetry piece runs between the kitchen and the stair, reaching through the double-height space to collect light and serve as a central element to organize the house.
First Floor 118
Second Floor 119
Nook 120
Entry & Hearth 121
East Elevation
West Elevation 122
North Elevation
South Elevation 123
Hearth / Nook Section 124
Kitchen Hearth Detail 125
Hearth Section 126
Yale Vlock Building Project 2013 Critic: Adam Hopfner Team: YSOA Class of 2015 YSOA Summer 2013 Our team’s Hearth prototype house was selected to be refined and built by the YSOA Class of 2015 as part of the Yale Vlock Building Project. The project has been run since 1967, and offers students an opportunity to design and build a structure in the first year of their program. Our design was built at 116 Greenwood Street in New Haven, Connecticut. 131
Special thanks to Neil Alexander for the photos of the completed project.
Hearth Kitchen 133
Hearth at Day 136
Hearth at Evening 137
Hearth Stair Detail 138
Hearth Cabinet Detail 139
Second Floor Nook 142
Main Bedroom Facing Street 146
Main Bedroom Facing Nook 147
Side Patio Below Nook 149
Backyard Patio 150
SLOPE CARVE Critic: Sunil Bald YSOA Fall 2012 A rift in an abstract sloping topography creates a passage in which light plays off a series of structural fins. The landscape is faceted and bent to allow occupation above and below, and a crack in its surface allows light to enter its interior. Rythmic shadows are created by the structural armature, so that its ribs serve structural and ornamental functions.
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The ribs delaminate from their shell to support a ramp and to expose the tectonics of the embedded structure. The ramped path creates moments of tunneling into interior occupation and ascension out to exterior occupation, forming a circulation spiral through these spaces above and below the pitched grade.
Circulation Diagram 154
Cross Section 155
Clerestory Light Break 156
Exposed Armature 157
DUAL DISPLAY PAVILION Critic: Sunil Bald YSOA Fall 2012 This building was designed as a prominent billboard for Yale’s Peabody Musuem as well as a gateway and information center for Yale’s Science Hill Campus. The facade is read from both interior and exterior and is responsive and adaptable to changing exhibits displayed within. Extended architectural mullions support adaptable display cases which
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can be designed to communicate to passersby outside, creating a constantly changing facade. These panels can also be coordinated to provide large-scale information displays on the exterior as well. Dual screen projectors allow informational visuals to be viewed from the interior and broadcast to the exterior simultaneously.
Science Hill
Grove Street Cemetary
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YALE CAMPUS
New Haven Green
New Haven, CT 160
Sterling Chemistry
Yale University Molecular
Kline Science Center
Yale Astronomy
Sloane Physics
Yale Geology Library
Sage Hall
PROSPECT ST.
WHITNEY AVE.
Kroon Hall
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Osborn Memorial Laboratory
SACHEM ST.
Science Hill 161
Concept Model 162
Sterling Chemistry
Yale University Molecular
Kline Science Center
Yale Astronomy
Sloane Physics
Yale Geology Library
Sage Hall
PROSPECT ST.
WHITNEY AVE.
Kroon Hall
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Osborn Memorial Laboratory
SACHEM ST.
Early Site Analysis 163
DUAL SCREEN PROJECTION / TRANSPARENT DISPLAY
Dual Screen Projection / Transparent Display
Dual Readings 166
FACADE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
CTION / AY
“LIVING EXHBITION WALL” / MODULAR RIB SYSTEM
“Living Exhibition Wall” / Modular Rib System
FACADE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Locations on Elevation 167
HI LINE Critic: Sunil Bald YSOA Fall 2012 Responding to The Standard Hotel across the street and an adjacency to the Highline, this design revolves around people-watching. A proposed dance center provides public and private programmed spaces that intertwine and overlap to create a formal armature which holds the main blackblox theater. A connection to the Highline cascades through the site, and rehearsal
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spaces below the Highline are accessed by a private entrance. Public spaces are oriented for views of passersby to encourage engagement with the public. The armature that holds the public and private processions to the theater and back of house is split and glazed, allowing viewers from the street to see the juxtaposition of audience and performer.
W 13 t h S t Washington St.
Upper Level 172
7 3
6
2
W 13 t h S t
W 13 t h S t
1
First Floor Plan
4 8
5
Basement Level Plan
Washington St.
Washington St.
1
Lobby
2
Office Space
3
Dance Studios
4
Changing Rooms
5
Back of House
6
Rehearsal Entrance
7
Locker Room
8
Storage Space
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5 8 4
East / West Sections 174
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1
2 7
6
3 5
4
1
Theater
2
Lobby
3
Rehearsal Studios
4
Changing Rooms
5
Office Space
6
Bathrooms
7
Back of House
8
Rehearsal Lobby
9
Locker Room
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Lobby Ascent 176
Backstage Ascent 177
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Concept Sketches 179
DRAWING AND ARCHITECTURAL FORM Critic: Victor Agran YSOA Fall 2013 “This course examines the historical and theoretical development of descriptive geometry and perspective through the practice of rigorous constructed architectural drawings. The methods and concepts studied serve as a foundation for the development of drawings that interrogate the relationship between a drawing’s production and its conceptual objectives.”
- Victor Agran
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CASIS Concept Drawing 182
Sciagraphy 183
VISUALIZATION SERIES Critics: Kent Bloomer, Sunil Bald, John Eberhart, and John Blood YSOA Fall / Spring, 2012 - 2013
“This course investigates drawing as a means of architectural communication and as a generative instrument of formal, spatial, and tectonic discovery.” - Sunil Bald
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NOMAD TABLES Critic: Jim Nichols UW: CBE Summer 2011 These tables were designed to be simple enough to have an incredible flexibility of use. Their dimensions, form, and structure lend them to sitting, leaning, step-stooling, storing, and carrying. Their slats can be used as handles for transport or as cord or file organizers.
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It is made completely of 1” x 1” pine components, and its joinery creates a minimalistic ornament out of the material’s natural grain. Different directions and tones of endgrain form an organic mosaic, and short legs create a dramatic shadow line below the tables.
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NIGHTSTAND 101 Critic: Jim Nichols UW: CBE Summer 2011 This is a simple nightstand. Designed to be made of a single sheet of 3/4� Birch plywood, the notched form fits together and only the tabletop requires gluing. The joinery is designed to highlight the grain of the furniture-grade plywood.
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WOOD/STEEL Critic: Deborah Berke YSOA Spring 2015 This is a material study which resulted in a design for a wall / fence / screen system. The wooden planks and steel studs are readily available off-the-shelf materials that when combined in a thoughtful manner become enhanced and elevated. A simple tongue-andgroove construction system uses the pine planks as an inlay for the horizontally running steel wall studs.
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This inlay effect contrasts the sheen of the steel against the grain of the pine. The reflectivity of the steel also increases the amount of light and visual information passing through the privacy-providing slats. The slats are held in place by vertically running steel studs and can be spaced by stacking excess pine material between each course.
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WINSLOW HOUSE IN TIMBER Critic: Deborah Berke YSOA Spring 2015 This image conceives of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1894 Winslow House as a reimagined timber structure. The original home in Chicago’s Oak Park neighborhood is a Roman brick structure on a cast stone coping. Below the low, wide roof is a terra cotta band obscuring the second story. Taking a cue from the ornamental banding, horizontal
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materiality, and prominent roof structures found in vernacular Polish timber architecture, the reimagined house is made of log cabin-like joinery. Ornament is reconceived according to principals of wood craftsmanship - the roof made of small, pointed wood shingles and contrasting wood species enhancing the ornamental banding below.
Welcome to the Huburb A Modest Proposal to Hack Urban Sprawl
The Future Arizona
Indiana
Kansas
#TUL1 2654 N US Highway 169 Coffeyville, KS 67337 Montgomery County
#GSP1 402 John Dodd Rd. Spartanburg, SC 29303 Spartanburg County
#PHX6 4750 W. Mohave Rd. Phoenix, AZ Maricopa County
#IND1 4255 Anson Blvd. Whitestown, IN 46075 Boone County #XUSE 5100 S Indianapolis Rd Whitestown, IN 46075
Maryland
#CAE1 4400 12th Street Extension West Columbia, SC 29172 Lexington County
#PHX3 6835 W. Buckeye Rd. Phoenix, AZ Maricopa County
#PHX5 16920 W. Commerce Dr. Goodyear, Arizona 85338 Maricopa County
#PHX7 800 N. 75th Ave Phoenix, Arizona, 85043 Maricopa County
California #ONT2 1910 E Central Ave. San Bernadino, CA San Bernardino County
#OAK3 255 Park Center Drive Patterson City, CA 95363 #OAK4 1555 N. Chrisman Rd. Tracy, California, 95304 PLANNED
Connecticut PLANNED – 2014 801 Day Hill Rd. Windsor, Connecticut 06095
Delaware #PHL1 1 Centerpoint Blvd. New Castle, DE 19720 New Castle County #PHL3 1600 Johnson Way New Castle, DE 19720
Suburb
#PHL7 560 Merrimac Ave Middletown, DE 19709 #PHL8 727 N. Broad Street Middletown, DE New Castle County
Florida
PLANNED Ruskin, FL 33570 Hillsborough County PLANNED 1760 County Line Rd. Lakeland, Florida 33811
Arizona Brought Brough to you by:Indiana #PHX5 16920 W. Commerce Dr. Goodyear, Arizona 85338 Maricopa County
#IND6 1453 10th Street Jeffersonville, IN 47130 Clark County
#PHX6 4750 W. Mohave Rd. Phoenix, AZ Maricopa County
#IND1 4255 Anson Blvd. Whitestown, IN 46075 Boone County
#PHX3 6835 W. Buckeye Rd. Phoenix, AZ Maricopa County
#XUSE 5100 S Indianapolis Rd Whitestown, IN 46075
#PHX7 800 N. 75th Ave Phoenix, Arizona, 85043 Maricopa County
California #ONT2 1910 E Central Ave. San Bernadino, CA San Bernardino County
#OAK3 255 Park Center Drive Patterson City, CA 95363 #OAK4 1555 N. Chrisman Rd. Tracy, California, 95304 PLANNED
Connecticut PLANNED – 2014 801 Day Hill Rd. Windsor, Connecticut 06095
Delaware #PHL1 1 Centerpoint Blvd. New Castle, DE 19720 New Castle County #PHL3 1600 Johnson Way New Castle, DE 19720 #PHL7 560 Merrimac Ave Middletown, DE 19709 #PHL8 727 N. Broad Street Middletown, DE New Castle County
Florida
PLANNED Ruskin, FL 33570 Hillsborough County PLANNED 1760 County Line Rd. Lakeland, Florida 33811
#IND4 710 South Girls School Rd Indianapolis, IN 46214 Marion County
#IND6 1453 10th Street Jeffersonville, IN 47130 Clark County
#IND4 710 South Girls School Rd Indianapolis, IN 46214 Marion County #IND2 715 Airtech Pkwy Plainfield, IN 46168 Hendricks County #IND5 800 S Perry Rd Plainfield, IN 46168 Hendricks County #SDF8 900 Patrol Rd. Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Kentucky #SDF1 1105 S Columbia Ave Campbellsville, KY 42718 Taylor County #SDF2 4360 Robards Ln Louisville, KY 40218
PLANNED Broening Highway Baltimore, MD 21224
Nevada
#LAS2 3837 Bay Lake Trail Suite 113 North Las Vegas, NV 89030-4434
#BNA1 14840 Central Pike Lebanon, TN 37090
New Hampshire #BOS1 10 State St Nashua, NH 03063 Hillsborough County
New Jersey
#EWR4 – SCHEDULED TO OPEN EARLY 2014 50 New Canton Way Robbinsville, NJ 08691 #EWR5 301 Blair Rd. Avenel, NJ 07001
Pennsylvania
#LEX1 1850 Mercer Rd Lexington, KY 40511 #LEX2 172 Trade St. Lexington, Kentucky, 40511 #SDF4 376 Zappos.com Blvd Shepherdesville, KY 40165 #SDF6 271 Omega Pkwy Shepherdsville, KY 40165 #SDF7 300 Omicron Court Shepherdsville, KY 40165 #SDF9 100 W. Thomas P. Echols Lane Shepherdsville, KY 40165
#CHA1 7200 Discovery Dr Chattanooga, TN 37421 Hamilton County
#BNA3 2020 Joe B Jackson Pkwy Murfreesboro, TN 37127 Rutherford County
#CVG2 1600 Worldwide Blvd. Hebron, KY 41048
#CVG5 2285 Litton Lane Hebron, KY 41048
Tennessee
#RNO1 1600 East Newlands Dr. Fernley, NV 89408 Lyon County
#CVG1 1155 Worldwide Blvd. Hebron, KY 41048
#CVG3 3680 Langley Dr. Hebron, KY 41048
South Carolina
#DFW1 2700 Regent Blvd DFW Airport, TX 75261
#RIC1 9827 Chester Rd. Petersburg, VA Independent City (Doesn’t reside in a county) #RIC2 1901 Meadowville Technology Parkway Chester, VA 23836 Chesterfield County
#PHL4 21 Roadway Drive Carlisle, PA 17015
Kansas
South Carolina
#TUL1 2654 N US Highway 169 Coffeyville, KS 67337 Montgomery County
#GSP1 402 John Dodd Rd. Spartanburg, SC 29303 Spartanburg County
Maryland
#CAE1 4400 12th Street Extension West Columbia, SC 29172 Lexington County
PLANNED Broening Highway Baltimore, MD 21224
Nevada
Tennessee #CHA1 7200 Discovery Dr Chattanooga, TN 37421 Hamilton County
#SDF8 900 Patrol Rd. Jeffersonville, IN 47130
New Hampshire #BOS1 10 State St Nashua, NH 03063 Hillsborough County
New Jersey
#EWR4 – SCHEDULED TO OPEN EARLY 2014 50 New Canton Way Robbinsville, NJ 08691
#CVG1 1155 Worldwide Blvd. Hebron, KY 41048
#EWR5 301 Blair Rd. Avenel, NJ 07001
#CVG2 1600 Worldwide Blvd. Hebron, KY 41048
Pennsylvania
#CVG5 2285 Litton Lane Hebron, KY 41048 #LEX1 1850 Mercer Rd Lexington, KY 40511 #LEX2 172 Trade St. Lexington, Kentucky, 40511 #SDF4 376 Zappos.com Blvd Shepherdesville, KY 40165 #SDF6 271 Omega Pkwy Shepherdsville, KY 40165 #SDF7 300 Omicron Court Shepherdsville, KY 40165 #SDF9 100 W. Thomas P. Echols Lane Shepherdsville, KY 40165
City
#VUBA 1000 Keystone Industrial Park Scranton, PA 18512
#BNA1 14840 Central Pike Lebanon, TN 37090
#CVG3 3680 Langley Dr. Hebron, KY 41048
Huburb
Virginia
#LAS2 3837 Bay Lake Trail Suite 113 North Las Vegas, NV 89030-4434
#SDF2 4360 Robards Ln Louisville, KY 40218
PLANNED 38th St. Kenosha, Wisconsin 53144
PLANNED – 2013 Haslet, TX
#IND5 800 S Perry Rd Plainfield, IN 46168 Hendricks County
#SDF1 1105 S Columbia Ave Campbellsville, KY 42718 Taylor County
Wisconsin
PLANNED – 2013 Coppell, TX
#BNA3 2020 Joe B Jackson Pkwy Murfreesboro, TN 37127 Rutherford County
Kentucky
PLANNED Kent, WA
#DFW6 940 W Bethel Road Coppell, TX 75019
#RNO1 1600 East Newlands Dr. Fernley, NV 89408 Lyon County
#IND2 715 Airtech Pkwy Plainfield, IN 46168 Hendricks County
amazon
#SEA6 2646 Rainier Ave South Seattle, WA 98144
#SAT1 6000 Enterprise Avenue Schertz, TX 78154
#XUSB 14900 Frey Rd Fort Worth, TX 76155
#PHL6 675 Allen Rd. Carlisle, PA 17015
#BFI3 2700 Center Drive Dupont, WA 98327
Texas
#DFW7 700 Westport Parkway Fort Worth, TX 76177
#PHL5 500 McCarthy Dr Lewisberry, PA 17339 York County
#SEA6 & #SEA8 1227 124th Avenue Northeast Bellevue, WA, 98005
#BNA2 500 Duke Drive Lebanon, TN 37090
#ABE2 705 Boulder Dr Breinigsville, PA 18031 Lehigh County
#ABE5 6455 Allentown Boulevard Harrisburg, PA 17112
#BFI1 1800 140th Ave. E Sumner, WA Pierce County
#CHA2 225 Infinity Dr NW Charleston, TN 37310
#AVP1 550 Oak Ridge Road Hazleton, PA 18202 Luzerne County
#ABE3 650 Boulder Drive Breinigsville, PA 18031
Washington
#SEA6 2646 Rainier Ave South Seattle, WA 98144 PLANNED Kent, WA
Wisconsin PLANNED 38th St. Kenosha, Wisconsin 53144
#SAT1 6000 Enterprise Avenue Schertz, TX 78154 #DFW6 940 W Bethel Road Coppell, TX 75019 PLANNED – 2013 Coppell, TX PLANNED – 2013 Haslet, TX
#XUSB 14900 Frey Rd Fort Worth, TX 76155
#PHL6 675 Allen Rd. Carlisle, PA 17015
#BFI3 2700 Center Drive Dupont, WA 98327
Texas
#DFW7 700 Westport Parkway Fort Worth, TX 76177
#PHL5 500 McCarthy Dr Lewisberry, PA 17339 York County
#SEA6 & #SEA8 1227 124th Avenue Northeast Bellevue, WA, 98005
#BNA2 500 Duke Drive Lebanon, TN 37090
#ABE2 705 Boulder Dr Breinigsville, PA 18031 Lehigh County
#ABE5 6455 Allentown Boulevard Harrisburg, PA 17112
#BFI1 1800 140th Ave. E Sumner, WA Pierce County
#CHA2 225 Infinity Dr NW Charleston, TN 37310
#AVP1 550 Oak Ridge Road Hazleton, PA 18202 Luzerne County
#ABE3 650 Boulder Drive Breinigsville, PA 18031
Washington
#DFW1 2700 Regent Blvd DFW Airport, TX 75261
Virginia
#RIC1 9827 Chester Rd. Petersburg, VA Independent City (Doesn’t reside in a county) #RIC2 1901 Meadowville Technology Parkway Chester, VA 23836 Chesterfield County
#PHL4 21 Roadway Drive Carlisle, PA 17015 #VUBA 1000 Keystone Industrial Park Scranton, PA 18512
By Maya Alexander and Zachary Veach Yale School of Architecture | Spring 2014 Prof. Keller Easterling | Launch Seminar
spaceMatchers
“For empire is something more than territory. It is a working thing; it is a rough hewn organism - a system.” - Benton MacKaye, The New Exploration, 1928
WELCOME TO THE HUBURB Critic: Keller Easterling YSOA Spring 2015
Partner: Maya Alexander
Mom and Pop fixtures of Main Street, USA exist now only in our collective nostalgia. More importantly, the retail environment that they created is gone - and it’s not coming back. Over the last 15 years commerce has consistently shifted to online platforms, which means that the traditional places where goods were exchanged are rapidly dissipating
into thin air. Although the physical space may be gone, the products are not...
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We see an opportunity to hack urban sprawl while capitalizing on shifts in e-commerce. This in turn can produce a new urbanism that is mutually beneficial to corporations, consumers, and property owners.
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The Future “When customers found out they could get free shipping, the lunchboxes began selling like crazy.” - Kelly Lester, CEO, EasyLunchboxes
Fig. 1, The New Faces of “Mom and Pop”
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Mom and Pop, fixtures of Main Street, exist now only in our collective nostalgia. More
importantly, the retail environment that they created is gone - and it’s not coming back. Over the last 15 years commerce has consistently shifted to online platforms, which means that the traditional places in which goods were exchanged are rapidly dissipating into thin air. However, although the physical space may be gone, the products are not. Thus within the distribution networks that transport this plethora of goods, exists a physical and spatial matrix that currently is being underutilized by corporations and cities. As spaceMatchers, we see an opportunity to hack urban sprawl while capitalizing on shifts in e-commerce. This in turn can produce a new urbanism that is mutually beneficial to corporations, consumers, and property owners. The distribution of e-commerce has always flexed to accommodate infrastructure, this would be infrastructure flexing to accommodate the distribution of e-commerce.
In his 1928 text, The New Exploration, Benton Mackaye uses the river system as a metaphor
to analyze the distribution networks of industry. Although the type of industry has changed, we can still glean much from MacKaye’s understanding of “flows” and “sources” within this “industrial web.” The varying levels of density that he identified are useful in rethinking our current systems of distribution. For MacKaye the city was the, “knottiest, thickest part of the industrial jungle.” In contrast to the density and complexity of the city, was the country, his prime example being Boston versus the Berkshires. As he says, “For in Berkshire the industrial web lies thinnest; here at the ‘source’ industry greet nature; here industry begins; here it fastens in Mother Earth those initial strands along which the ‘flow’ gets started. But in Boston the web lies thickest; there at the ‘mouth’ industry greets man; there industry rests; there it links with the ultimate consumer those myriad final strands through which the ‘flow’ ends.” In 2014 we see ever increasing urbanization,
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but it would be quite difficult to support the claim that this development was creating an “industrial jungle” or that our cities were thick with industry. If we were to analyze the current industrial system with Mackaye’s watershed analogy our web would be far more extensive, where we are no longer considering Boston versus the Berkshires, but Boston versus Shenzhen. However, our goal is not to analyze this new global network, but instead to illuminate and harness the networks that exist within a national system of distribution centers, interstate highways and single family homes. There are many players in the system but because of their sheer market dominance we have chosen to use Amazon as our Pilot Program. Over the last decade they have developed a distribution network incredibly responsive to established population nodes, but can our urban spaces be arranged to be more spatially sympathetic to systems of product distribution? We believe that Amazon can be used as a catalyst for a re-imagined urbanism which more efficiently aligns itself with Mackaye’s ideas of “flow” and “source”.
This new urbanism can, and should, rely on existing retail infrastructure. Thus in order
to project what the next space of commerce may be, we felt it was important to take stock of where it started and how it has changed over the last 2000 years. From the Agora to the strip mall, markets have served as important social spaces and have been catalysts to urban growth. At the turn of the 19th century we began to see centrally located open air markets slowly transitioning to massive interior retail environments. Then with the rise of the car and suburbia these spaces which had moved inside but remained in the city, became islands in a sea of parking lots. What we have seen since the sprawl of post-war developments, is that this growth can no longer be supported by consumers or property owners. Moreover, the rise of online shopping has further devastated these vast swaths of land which sit between suburban homes and urban metropolises. In re-imagining
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aces of Commerce
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Fig. 2, Historic Spaces of Commerce
Historical Spaces of Commerce
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places of commerce, we see this abundance of vacant retail space as an accessible and readily available finely grained preexisting spatial network. In the case of Amazon, we see great potential to use these spaces to bolster shipping efficiency and solve the notorious “last mile� problem. This in turn creates a new type of retail space which can house third party vendors, new retail venues for businesses both digital and corporeal, and shipping and storage facilities which simultaneously function as anchors for the densification of sprawl.
In order to tap into these vacancies it is important to understand just how extensive they
are and what is currently being done to ameliorate their underutilization. For our purposes it was also crucial to identify where the highest density of these vacancies were located, and thus how we could align their locations with dense nodes within Amazon’s existing distribution networks. In
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1 San Francisco 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fairfield County Long Island Rank Nor. New Jersey 1 2 San Jose Orange County 3 4 Los Angeles 5 Oakland-East Bay6 7 San Diego Suburban Virginia8
Metro
San Francisco Fairfield County Long Island Nor. New Jersey San Jose Orange County Los Angeles Oakland-East Bay 9 San Diego 10 Suburban Virginia
3.7% 4.4% 5.2% Vacancy Rate 5.8% 3.7% 4.4% 6.0% 5.2% 6.0% 5.8% 6.5% 6.0% 6.5% 6.0% 6.5% 6.7% 6.5% 6.7%
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
Retail Vacancy Comparisons
Cincinatti Dallas Rank Metro Indianapolis Syracuse 71 Cincinatti 72 Dallas Cleveland 73 Indianapolis Birmingham 74 Syracuse Colorado Springs 75 Cleveland Columbus 76 Birmingham 77 Colorado Springs Tulsa 78 Columbus 80 Dayton
6.7% 6.7%
79 Tulsa 80 Dayton
14.5% 14.7% Vacancy 14.8% Rate 15.0% 14.5% 14.7% 15.3% 14.8% 15.5% 15.0% 15.6% 15.3% 15.9% 15.5% 15.6% 16.3% 15.9% 17.1% 16.3% 17.1%
* Top 10 and Bottom 10 Retail Markets by Vacancy Rate during 4Q2011, for the 80 primary Reis Retail metros. * Top 10 and Bottom 10 Retail Markets by Vacancy Rate during 4Q2011, for the 80 primary Reis Retail metros.
Fig. 3, National Retail Vacancies Figure 3, the Reis Retail forecasts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011 illustrate a massive problem with vacancies in mid-sized cities which don’t have the jobs or social cache of larger more cosmopolitan ones. In places such as Dayton, Ohio almost 17 percent of retail spaces are vacant. This of course has massive financial implications for property owners, but also effects local governments which see significant losses in property tax revenue. There are examples of cities and property owners that are trying to fill the vacancies, but more often than not these solutions are temporary and only apply a band-aid to larger problems. Examples of this would be temporary storefront installations which may help with the “broken window theory” but do little to stimulate economic growth. There are other more integrated examples such as the McAllen Public Library. In 2010 the city of McAllen, Texas inherited a former Wal-mart after the retailer closed and abandoned the storefront, and in 2012 this 124,000 square foot single story building was converted to a branch of the Texas public library. This massive space is now a thriving library and is notably the largest single story library
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This.
Fig. 4, McAllen, Texas Wal-mart converted to the McAllen Public Library in the country1. This example is helpful in terms of spatial re-purposing but does not support our desire to maintain commerce as the primary program within the vacancies. This is the crucial key to stimulating these depressed markets as well as providing jobs.
How then can growing trends in commerce occupy these vast and abandoned retail spaces?
We believe the answer is clear and simple, Amazon Fulfillment Centers. With over 40 existing locations in the United States, and nearly a dozen slated for development3, Amazon clearly has a significant physical presence despite the fact that most people think of it as a purely an “online” company. Prior to 2006 Amazon’s growth mimicked that of e-commerce and much of the spaces that they inhabited were leased. However, sometime after 2006 Amazon determined that the best way to dominant the market would be to lower their shipping costs and expand their nascent Third Party Marketplace. To tackle the first problem, they needed to expand their warehouse facilities thus shortening the distance and cost from “source” to “mouth”. This expansion is illustrated in Figure 6, but essentially Amazon now holds over 40 million square feet of warehouse real estate. Additionally their is a significant diversity within the Centers, and the logistics and distribution consulting firm MWPVL breaks them down this way2:
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Fig. 5, Amazon Fulfillment Center •
Big Sortable Fulfillment Centers: Generally house larger items than can all fit into one box shipment. (e.g. books, DVDs, watches, etc.)
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Small Sortable Fulfillment Centers: Generally house smaller items that can all fit into one box/ shipment
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Non-Sortable Fulfillment Centers: Generally house items (usually because of size) that can not be sorted into a box with other items.
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Replenishment Centers: Generally receive product from vendors and then move these products to and between other Fulfillment Centers.
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Customer Return Centers: Process all Amazon customer returns.
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Specialty Site: Fulfill specialty items sold by Amazon such as jewelry and clothing.
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Grocery Site: Service home delivery of Dry grocery and Perishable merchandise.
This growth and diversity of Centers is integral in supporting Amazon’s free shipping membership programs such as Super-Saver and Prime, which have greatly driven up sales and made them a market leader. The other essential part of this growth has been in the development of the Third Party Marketplace, which keeps shelves stocked without having to procure goods and interface directly
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Count Amazon Code
City
State
Launched
SQ-FT Status FBA?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Phoenix Goodyear Phoenix Phoenix San Bernad. Tracy Patterson New Castle New Castle Middletown Whitestown Planfield Plainfield Indianapolis Plainfield Jeffersonville Coffeyville Hebron Hebron Hebron Lexington Lexington Campbells. Louisville Shepherd. Shepherd. Nashua Robbinsville TBD Las Vegas Fernley Breinigsville Breinigsville Hazleton Carlisle Lewisberry Carlisle Cayce Spartanburg Lebanon Lebanon Murfreesboro Chatanooga Charleston Schertz Coppell Haslet Sterling Petersburg Chester Sumner tbd Bellevue Dupont
AZ AZ AZ AZ CA CA CA DE DE DE IN IN IN IN IN IN KS KY KY KY KY KY KY KY KY KY NH NJ NJ NV NV PA PA PA PA PA PA SC SC TN TN TN TN TN TX TX TX VA VA VA WA WA WA WA
9/1/07 5/1/07 10/1/10 9/1/11 10/1/12 5/1/13 11/1/13 11/1/97 1/1/00 10/1/12 8/1/08 10/1/08 10/1/08 5/1/11 8/1/11 10/3/12 4/1/99 5/1/05 12/1/05 7/1/07 11/1/00 5/1/06 5/1/99 9/1/05 9/1/05 9/1/05 7/1/07 7/1/14 7/1/14 10/1/08 1/1/99 7/1/10 6/1/11 7/1/08 11/1/10 8/1/10 8/1/10 9/1/11 10/1/12 9/1/11 10/1/12 10/1/12 9/1/11 9/1/11 9/1/13 11/1/13 8/1/13 10/1/10 10/1/12 10/1/12 5/1/11 8/1/07 8/1/07 11/1/13
1,000,000 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,200,000 950,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 202,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 942,500 1,000,000 902,850 925,800 1,000,000 750,000 427,200 543,000 711,400 604,000 380,000 770,000 110,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 63,750 1,000,000 1,000,000 283,920 786,000 600,000 997,400 630,000 558,700 750,000 1,206,500 1,000,000 1,000,000 449,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,260,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,100,000 500,000 13,300 1,000,000
PHX3 PHX5 PHX6 PHX7 ONT2 TBD TBD PHL1 PHL3 PHL7 IND1 IND2 IND3 IND4 IND5 IND6 TUL1 CVG1 CVG2 CVG3 LEX1 LEX2 SDF1 SDF2 SDF4 SDF6 BOS1 TBD TBD LAS2 RNO1 ABE2 ABE3 AVP1 PHL4 PHL5 PHL6 CAE1 CAE2 BNA1 BNA2 BNA3 CHA1 CHA2 TBD TBD TBD BWI1 RIC1 RIC2 BFI1 SEA6 SEA8 TBD
Open Open Open Open Open Future Future Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Future Future Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Open Future Future Future Open Open Open Open Open Open Future
Y Y Y Y Y TBD TBD Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N TBD TBD Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y TBD Y Y Y Y Y TBD TBD TBD N Y Y Y N N TBD
Total Existing Square Footage: 40,996,700 Fig. 6, U.S. Amazon Fulfillment Center Locations and Statistics3
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with consumers. The other important factor of the growth in Third Parties is the Fulfillment by Amazon program (FBA). This program essentially allows Third Party retailers to house their goods within Amazon facilities for a fee. Additionally it allows them to participate in Prime which is approximately 10% of Amazon’s Customer base4, but since Prime Members spend nearly four times more than the average customer5 they are a very lucrative base to tap into. In Figure 6, we can see that of the 46 existing Fulfillment centers, only 4 do not house goods that are within the FBA program. This is in line with Amazon’s trend of becoming more and more dependent on their Third Party retailers. This growing number of Third Party retailers also creates a new dynamic in the interface between Amazon and the consumer and we see them as a potential key player in our new commerce space. It is however important to note that although there is an increase in these massive Fulfillment Centers there also remains a diversity of warehouse sizes, which could accommodate varying types of retail vacancies, ranging from abandoned big boxes to smaller strip malls. Additionally our proposal does not assume that Amazon would abandon these new super sized Fulfillment Centers, but instead incorporate these smaller and even more finely grained retail spaces into their already existing network.
In the Fourth Quarter of 2012, $1.4 billion of Amazon’s $3.79 billion in domestic capital
expenditures was from purchases of previously leased corporate office space as well as property development5. In the Earnings Call Transcript from this period, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Thomas Szkutak, specifically states that this increase in expenditures was meant to provide “additional capacity to support our fulfillment operations.” What this signals is that Amazon which historically stayed out of the real estate game, now sees this as an important part of their growth. Szkutak also goes on to say in the same Earnings Transcript that, “Over the past few years,
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Retail Vacancy Highs and Lows
Fig. 7, Retail Vacancies: Highs and Lows
Indianapolis Cincinatti Louisville
Fig. 8, Locations of Amazon Fulfillment Centers
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we have expanded our FCs [Fulfillment Centers] pretty extensively to the point where we are closer to customers; and you are seeing that reflected in our transportation costs.� So for Amazon, the $1.4 billion that they may spend on real estate acquisitions is more than compensated for in their $21.27 billions in revenue during the same quarter.
So how does Amazon decide where they will be expanding and acquiring real estate? In
Figures 7 and 8, we found that locations of the Centers where in correlation with areas of high retail vacancies, specifically in the Midwestern area of Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville. It is obvious that the locations are not chosen arbitrarily and in many cases Amazon builds out 2-5 Centers around population nodes, essentially optimizing proximity to larger populations while keeping property costs relatively low.
So why would Amazon choose to occupy these vacant shopping centers? First of all, it is a
building typology that is readily available across the country, specifically in areas where Amazon has seen the need to bolster their storage and distribution presence. A high level of vacancy also means that generally rent is cheap, and Amazon has traditionally rented the vast majority of their storage warehouses. Different shopping center typologies have the potential to suit the differing types of fulfillment centers Amazon currently operates. An empty big box store can operate in a manner similar to Amazon’s larger Fulfillment Centers, whereas something like a mid-sized shopping center offers the potential for an entirely new type of Fulfillment Center.
The typical mid-sized shopping center is affiliated with both an urban center and a suburban
population, yet is not necessarily located within the bounds of either and often occupies an
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Spatial Components of the Strip Mall UNITIZED HVAC SIGNAGE OVERHANG BACK OF HOUSE STRUCTURAL PARTY WALLS MONOFUNCTIONAL USE STOREFRONT PARKING LIGHTING CURB CUT GARBAGE ARTERIAL ROAD
Fig. 9, Spatial Components of the Strip Mall
The Huburb
Fig. 10, Spatial Components of the HubStore
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• Order processed and shipped Home • Purchase returned to Amazon Fufillment Center
Proposed Distribution Network • Order placed at Home or Order placed at HubStore • Order transferred to Amazon Fufillment Center or Order fufilled at HubStore • Order processed and shipped Home or Order picked up at HubStore Fig. 11, Current Distribution Network • Purchase returned to Amazon Fufillment Center or Purchases batch returned from HubStore
amazon
Growth Generated by Distribution Network
Fig. 12, Proposed Distribution Network
Fig. 13, Growth Generated by New Distribution Network
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underutilized interstitial zone. This positions development in a crucial space between cities and their outlier zones, which would allow a delivery center to serve a wide cross section of the population and could potentially catalyze urban development in a region critical to the negation of sprawl. In Figure 10 we illustrate the potential to house shallow retail storefront spaces. These could be brick and mortar stores for Third Party Retailers as well as more traditional small businesses. Additionally these spaces accommodate storage warehouses in the rear, serving as both a traditional Amazon fulfillment center and a fresh reincarnation of the American shopping center.
The typical shopping center is also currently connected to the existing distribution
infrastructure that Amazon already piggybacks on to - the American highway system. For a variety of reasons, including accessibility for consumers and for suppliers, many shopping centers are located on arterial routes with close proximity to major national routes. This makes for the ideal national fine-grained network of retail and storage space hybrids. We are proposing an entirely new model for retail space. We call it the “Hubstore.” The Hubstore can hack the existing distribution system and start to reform Amazon’s current distribution network. The Old Model (Figure 11) is founded on the relationship between individual shoppers and the nearest Fulfillment Center: 1. An order is placed at home. 2. The order is transferred to a Fulfillment Center. 3. The order is processed, and shipped to the home. 4. The order may be returned, if so, it is picked up at the home and returned to the Fulfillment Center. The distribution network that we are proposing, the New Model (Figure 12), is responsive to a far more dynamic relationship between consumer and supplier. The Hubstore functions dually as a “mouth” and a “source” and allows the flow between consumer and supplier to be manipulated to further efficiency:
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1. An order can be placed at home, or possibly be made at a Hubstore. For example, a third party vendor that sells appliances may have a showroom within a Hubstore which allows consumers to try out a product before placing an order. 2. The order may be transferred to a Fulfillment Center or can be fulfilled directly from the warehouses within the Hubstore. 3. The order is processed and is either shipped to the home, to the Hubstore for pick up, or directly fulfilled from the Hubstore if the item is already on location. This can be done by pick up or by close-range delivery, potentially taking some of the burden of the “last mile” off of Amazon’s delivery services. 4. Lastly, the Hubstore allows for the potential for making returns on location, allowing Amazon to batch ship returns back to their Fulfillment Centers, cutting back on the cost of shipping each returned item individually. More than just a new type of node on the existing distribution infrastructure network, the Hubstore is a catalyst for an altogether new type of urban growth: The Huburb. What we are creating is a new lively retail space that is coupled with distribution infrastructure. With the Hubstore anchoring further commercial develop on the site and in its surroundings, this pairing has the potential to create new critical mass zones for commerce in between density and sprawl, which allows the urban density to intensify outwards. Most importantly, it intensifies along the pathways and flows of goods and e-commerce.
Our current network of distribution is by MacKaye’s definition an extremely tenuous web.
The flow of goods is inherently limited in its efficiency by the fact that it is strung between nodes of density. It is forced to traverse vast swaths of low density territory where the flow is not utilized to its full potential. Huburban development has the potential to ‘naturalize’ our distribution systems by participating in a city-making which crystallizes urban space along preexisting flows, resulting in a thickened web of cities and distribution infrastructure.
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Fig. 11, Future Urban Network Growth 225
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Notes: 1. “A Town Converted AN Abandoned Walmart Into One Gigantic Public Library,” Business Insider, accessed May 1, 2014, http://www.businessinsider.com/mcallen-walmart-turned-intopublic-library-2012-7?op=1#!Kjo18 2. “Amazon Global Fulfillment Center Network,” MWPVL, http://www.mwpvl.com/html/ amazon_com.html 3. “Amazon’s Q4 Results: Under the hood of Amazon’s Fulfillment Center Network,” Channel Advisor, http://www.amazonstrategies.com/2013/02/part-iiiiii-amazons-q4-results-under-thehood-of-amazons-fulfillment-center-network.html 4. Ibid. 5. “Amazon.com’s Management Discusses Q4 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript,” Seeking Alpha, http://seekingalpha.com/article/1142111-amazon-coms-management-discusses-q4-2012results-earnings-call-transcript
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NYSL: New York Seed Library Ornament Critic: Kent Bloomer YSOA Spring 2013 Ornament as taxonomy: The ornament here is generated using phosphenes and form constants, universal geometries created by the human eye. The taxonomy of phosphenes is abstractly correlated to the taxonomy of seeds held within the seed library. Forms are assigned to seed types, and the ornament that
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is generated becomes a diagram of not only the contents within but the building’s organization as well. The ornament communicates abstractly the uses of the plants kept on each particular level, so that the ornament which pulls eyes from the street into the inner atrium serves as a communicator with multiple meanings.
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