Break the Barrier of the City ——The Shadowed Space under the Overpass Yixuan Yang 19012475

Break the Barrier of the City ——The Shadowed Space under the Overpass

Yixuan Yang (Eason) 19012475

LOCATION The Space under Mancunian Way, Manchester, United Kingdom

Student Accommodation

Office

Commercial

Student Accommodation

office

Oxford Road

Office MMU Campus Mancunian Way MMU Campus

Commercial Office Office

Commercial Student Accommodation Mancunian Way Roundabout

Roundabout

MMU Campus

Student Accommodation

Oxford Road

Mancunian Way Mancunian Way

Residential Residential

Campus

Residential

MMU Campus Residential Residential Student Accommodation

Campus

Residential

Campus

Student Accommodations

Underpass in the Roundabout (Since the site is under construction, the second underpass photo is used to show the general situation)

Residential

Empty

Office

Underpass in the Roundabout

Road

Commercial

Car Park

Roundabout

Car Park

SITE MODEL

Type D

Type E

Type B

Type C

Type A

Library Residentail Road Student Accommodation

Road

Education Centre

Student Accommodation Campus

Car Ramp

Car Ramp

Student Accommodation

Type D Empty

Campus

Student Accommodation

Type B

Type A

Car Park

Car Park

Residential

Residential

Office

Office

Campus

Campus

Student Accommodation

Student Accommodation

Type C Underpass in the Roundabout

Type E

Underpass in the Roundabout

Research topic: Based on personal experience, in most cases, the shadow space under the overpass is a kind of space that is not actively used, vacant, and has

QUESTIONNAIRE

great potential for improvement. Moreover, in the cases that have been transformed, many designs are too functionalist, without considering the tearing of the viaduct itself to the urban space, and the importance of street continuity. Such a space has a large stock in the city and great development potential. The purpose of this design is to study how to improve the vitality of shadowed space under viaducts.

Issues: 1. Oxford Road 1.1 The elevated road break the continuity of the street 1.2 Disharmony caused by huge volume of viaducts 1.3 Feeling stressful 2. Roundabout 2.1 Seldom used 2.2 Feeling insecure 2.3 Muddy path 2.4 Garbage accumulation

Research Question: 1. How to weak the barrier sense caused by viaducts and increase the connection between both sides of elevated road.

2. How to improve the shadowed space under the viaducts?

Methodology: 1. Questionnaire 2. Case of study 3. Observation and recording

Hi, we are postgraduate students of Architecture and Urbanism from the University of Manchester. Now we are doing a survey about this junction. It is a part of our coursework and we really hope you could help us to finish this questionnaire. The questionnaire is anonymous and all data are used for analysis only. Thanks for your help !

Hi, w Manc really all da

1. Which of the following group seems more like you?

1. Wh

Student

Worker

Resident

Other:

2. How often do you pass this junction?

Everyday

Every week

2. Ho Seldomly

3. What is the biggest problem in this junction?

Garbage accumulation Other:

Muddy path

3. Wh Feeling insecure

4. If here will be transformed, you hope it can become: (You can choose more than one option) Skatepark Pop-up market Shared work space

4. If h

(Yo

Graffitiville Open-air theatre Other:

5. Do you like the graffiti in this junction?

Yes No It would be perfect if you could tell us the reason:

Have a nice day!

(This is a questionnaire survey that I cooperated with Yiyin Liu, because our sites are similar. Questions 1-4 are our sharing questions, and the fifth question is Yiyin Liu's dissertation question)

5. Do

It w

RESULTS OF QUESTIONNAIRE Sample Size: 100 Topic Type: Multiple Choice

student

54

worker

26

resident

seldomly

49

everyweek

22

everyday

29

18

others

5 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

Which of the following group seems more like you?

Garbage accumulation

24

Muddy path

10

20

30

40

50

60

How often do you pass this junction?

Skatepark

34

Pop-up market

39

Open-air theatre

17

Shared work space

16

28

Feeling insecure

53

Other:

4 0

others

10

20

30

40

50

60

9 0

What is the biggest problem in this junction?

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

If here will be transformed, what do you hope it can become?

Other:

Filled in with green space / A public space used for events / More facility for people / Open / Don't bypass the road / Sponge city / Traffic light

OBSERVATION AND RECORDING 1. The Roundabout Besides MMU Business School (Type C) STR

T EE

AM

TH

R ST

HA

GE

RC

WE

LO

RID MB CA

EE

Chy

T

EE

TR

RS

T

TE

ES

CH

8

60

Cyc

32.6m

5

Dalton's Statue

53

Meml

Cam

H

56

ay

le W

T

EE

TR

ES

ULM

Shelter

TCB

brid

John Dalton Building

ge

Car Park

Mill

50

5 PH L Twr

16 Travelling Crane

NIAN

WAY

CU

MAN

NO.2

ET

RE

ES

43

OT

CH

to

ST

(ELE

)

AD

RO

40 33

try

Gan

L Twr

try

Gan

32

27

M WIL

R TE

TED

VA

John Dalton West

TS

ESS

TR EE T

NE

30

NO.1

TLE

AS

WC ET

RE

ST

Subway

Sandra Burslem Building 50

20

Subway

3

1

Sir Kenneth Green Library

15

Parkway Gate

NO.4

2

Subway

NO.3

MANCUNIAN WAY

Grosvenor Square

Bellhouse Building

7

10

Business School Subway

LO RO

WE EE T

12

21

2 13

31

14

41

23

32

24

42

0

34

43

ET

mb

Ca

12

No rth

Wa

2 to

m

21 2h

ge

rid

tha

Cavendish Building

ll

to

Ha

lk

41

Entrance Number (12 means the amount of people who walk pass this site from entrance No.1 to entrance No.2)

Ormond Building

RE

11

TR

ST

1 to

DS

ON

AM

Ma

E

AR

39

39

QU

to

ES

ER

29

to

RM

Church

2

TH

NM

ET

CO

RE 2a

0

2

7

HA

Conmere Square

se

RC

k

Wal

V

ST

18

Loxford Court

St Augustine's

Hou

WE

ie aler

2

21

23

LO

11

60 to 70

TLE

FB

to

row

13

he

23

45 55

AS

12

8

11 13

27

WC

10

15

to

13

1 to

25

Clit

to

NE

1

9

to

37

47

RE

ST

21

ON

ND

RE

CLA

15

ET

14

dish

t

ee

Str

51

New

10

brid

1 to

4 2

4

Cam

84 10 12

23 to 13

2

alk

t

ee

Str

Walk

42

Cavendish Hall

ge

brid th

Sou l

Hal

ET

ET

RE

ST

RE

ST

TLE

TT

AS

MO

WC

WIL

NE

Entrance number

Cam

man

Dales

28

to 28

16

dW

woo

71

10 12

dish

en

Cav 1 to 10

26

18

11

ET

1 to

How do people use this roundabout?

RE

PH

om

Bro

38

4

LE IND ET BR TRE S

ST

to 69

to

35.5m

Righton Building

GE

EV

CH

El Sub Sta

RID

53

16

School Bungalow

CLO

MB

RIL

le da Elm k Wal

CE

SE

T

EE

TR

DS

OR

XF

LO

12

LA

54 41

2 to

SP

to to

LE

40 27

25

CA

OW

alk 1 to

ge

Hou

to 14

14 to 24

ld W

KN

bo

se

24

en Cav

Observation Site: The Roundabout next to MMU Business School

13

14 11

12

Observation Time: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m

8 6

Observation Content: Mark the four entrances and exits of the roundabout with serial numbers. The observation time is 10 hours in

4 2

4

6

5

4 2

10

9

9

10

13

9

9

13

13

13 10

10

9

8

6 4

4

6

4

3

2

3

3

0

total, and every 20 minutes is a unit time period. In the first 10 minutes, the flow of people at each entrance and exit is recorded, and in the last 10 minutes, a questionnaire (which is mentioned above) is conducted for

Peak Hours

people passing through the site.

Observation purpose: To study the route distribution when people use the site, and find out when the peak use of the site is.

9.40-10.10

11.20-11.30

8

12.20-13.10

13.40-15.50

Number of people using roundabout in different time periods

16.40-16.50

OBSERVATION AND RECORDING 2. The Space under the Mancunian Way in MMU campus (Type A, Type B)

0

John Dalton Building

230

3

28

46

54

34

6

12

26

24

MMU Library

210

Business School

Entrance of Buildings or Site

Circulation

Car Route

Observation Site: The Space under the Mancunian Way in MMU campus Observation Time: 2.00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m

Circulation

Buildings or Tunnels ObservationEntrance Content: of Record the starting point and destination of all people passing through the space under overpass in one hour Observation purpose: To figure out the route distribution when people use the site.

Car Route

OBSERVATION AND RECORDING 3. Noise under viaduct (Type A, B, C, D)

dB

91

89

91

dB

88

808479

85

82

75

72

84

7776 74 77 Type D

Observation Site: The Whole Space under the Mancunian Way

Type C

Type B

Type A

Observation purpose: The purpose of measuring the noise index is to check whether the space under the bridge is suitable for long-term stay

Observation Content: According to the previous classification, the average noise index was measured in the spaces of types A, B, C, D. In each type, 10 minutes are taken as a unit. The noise index is measured in the first five minutes, and have a rest in the last five minutes. The process is repeated three times, and the average value is taken as the result.

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Comparing the frequency of roundabout usage with the crossing path on the campus, we can find that 223 people pass through the roundabout in five hours of statistical time of ten hours.

Correspondingly, 661 people passed by in an hour on campus.Therefore, the roundabout site

4. The site is large in scale, but there is no space and activity for pedestrians to stay and gather. So few people pass by and no one stays here, which also leads to people's insecurity feeling.

has a large size and good greening conditions, but its utilization rate is very low.

About the Noise From the above observation and questionnaire survey, students are the most people who pass this roundabout. The biggest problem of the venue is that they feel unsafe.

Type A, B, C space is suitable for staying, but type D space can not stay for more than 30 minutes, otherwise permanent hearing loss will be caused. And we have to do something to prevent noise

So people think the site is unsafe, which leads to the extremely low utilization rate of the site.

About the "Barrier" Why do people think roundabout is not safe?

Many overpasses cross the conventional road vertically. For pedestrians, there are obvious psychological changes before, during and after crossing the space under overpasses. Before and after crossing the overpass, the streets are occupied by shops, restaurants, cinemas, schools, etc. However, when entering the grey space under the overpass, it is a completely different space atmosphere, grey and cold structure, dim light, and almost no functional space.

The existence of such a space breaks the continuity of the street .

1. Garbage Accumulation

2. Muddy Path

Before

During

The overpass on Oxford Road Car Route

3. Because there is a height difference of 3 meters between the site and the ground, people in the site can not see any the pedestrians outside.

Car Route

After

THE CONCEPT OF THIS DESIGN

The implication of this illustration is that the overpass can be more integrated with the surrounding environment through design, and the continuity on both sides of the bridge can be strengthened, so that it can be a ribbon that can freely shuttle through the city, rather than a barrier.

U: University S: Student Accommodation R: Residential O: Office

GENERAL STRATEGY

Divide the space under overpass into to layers

Organise the space with some boxes and bridge

In this way, the space under the bridge can be divided into four spaces with different characteristics to adapt to different kinds of functions.

For example, No.1 space, with high space and large area, is suitable for sports activities. Due to the occupation of the box, space No. 2 has reduced the general floor height and is limited by the box columns, which is suitable for staying activities, such as rest. Space 3 is on the top of the box, which is as suitable for staying as space 2. The environment is private and the vision is more open. No. 4 space is the space under the bridge, which has the guidance and does not have the staying property, which promotes people to move quickly.

PLAN A

Table Tennis room Table Game room Informal Basketball Court

Type D

Stage Type C

Learning Room Meeting Room Exhibition Hall

Type B

Learning Room Meeting Room

Food Hall Coffee

Type A

Lounge Common Room

PLAN B

Table Tennis room Table Game room Informal Basketball Court

Type D

Skateboard Park Type C

Learning Room Meeting Room Exhibition Hall

Type B

Learning Room Meeting Room

Food Hall Coffee

Type A

Lounge Common Room

Open-air Cinema

Pop-up Market

Type C

Type C

Roundabout Plan C

Roundabout Plan D

SPECIFIC DESIGN —— ROUNDABOUT (TYPE C)

Why choose this roundabout?

Oxford Road Train Station

University

This roundabout is a very important node in the space under the whole

Office

Student Accommodation Office

Mancunian way. It connects various functional areas in four directions:

Student Accommodation

university student apar tment, University University residential area

University

office area, student apartment student apartment. At the same time, it is also

Site

the site with the best site conditions but poor actual use experience.

Residential

University

Residential

Student Accommodation

University Residential

So choose this roundabout to do a detailed design

DETAILED SITE PLAN OF THE ROUNDABOUT

Th

e

Sh e

d

John Dalton Building

The Shed

Cambridge Street Car Park

Unite Students ± 0.000

ite

ud St

Un

MMU Business School

Ca

mb

rid

Cambridge Street

Residential

Plan of the Roundabout

The Way People Walk through the Site

Current Situation of the Site

U

M

M

ge

St

re et

s Bu

c sS

es

in

ts

en

- 3.900

Residential

ol

ho

Car Park

CONCEPT

Based on the previous research, we plan to introduce four functions into the roundabout: pop up market, skateboard park, open air theatre, leisure park. I hope that the passers-by can find some interesting things, such as they can build their own structure with some devices and unit components, so as to achieve a certain degree of flexibility.

Icon

Function

Core Elements

Combination

Common Elements

A Unit Component

Level Ground

Pop-up Market

or

Interior Space

Stage

Green Space

Interior Space

Skateboard Park

Interior Space

Steps

Path

Smooth Slope

Through a construction method

Steps

Open-air Theatre

and

Smooth Slope

Steps

Street Furniture

Stage

Leisure Park

Installation

Installation

Level Ground

Sound Insulation Facility

A Unit Component

This is a method to design a unit component. This construction can create a structure that adapts to different functions through different combinations to realise the flexibility.

Roundabout

SOME RELATED CASE STUDY Pop-up Market 1. British Pop-up Market British pop up market sells a variety of goods in various forms. But in most small and medium-sized markets, people buy food, and there is no place to sit down and enjoy their food. Of course, large markets, such as the Christmas market, will have concentrated rest places.

Makers Market in Manchester

So what I want is to combine the dining area with the shops, which can attract people to sit down for a long time and form a kind of social place. If this strategy is applied to roundabout, it will increase people's stay time, thereby reducing the insecurity feeling of passing people.

Makers Market in Instagram

Site: Square, the space under some building structure, street.

Form: Carriage, sales desk, temporary simple structure.

Product: Handiwork, Handmade food, fresh fruits, plants, vegetables,.

2. Japanese Pop-up Market

Japanese Street Food Vendor

Advantages:

Application

Japan has strict management and rules for vendors:

In this roundabout, vendors can

1. The area shall not exceed 3m*

own vending carts and selling

5m, and the actual booth area shall not exceed 2.5m *3m, half of the

spaces with dining areas.

area is reserved as open space, as a buffer space for the pedestrians.

2. The business hours shall not exceed the range from 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.

3. Do not leave any garbage or pollute the ground.

4. It can gather people to stay there and form a social occasion.

use unit components to build their

SOME RELATED CASE STUDY

Theatre Strategy

Theatre

1

Separated from the busiest single-lane road in Europe by a curtain, it allowed for both c o l l e c t i ve e s c a p i s m and created a public spectacle on the street for passers-by. At the end of the film the curtain rose, pushing the audience from the imaginative world of the film to the everyday theatre of the street.

Open-air Theatre

Cl a s s i c e l e m e n t s we re re created for the roadside setting using cheap industrial, reclaimed or donated materials.

Flip-up seats were made from scaffolding boards, the foyer was furnished with formica-clad school chairs and tables, and the auditorium was enclosed by a curtain, created by handsewing about three kilometres of seam in roofing membrane.

Stage

Auditorium

Curtain

The backstage needs to be placed between the stage and the road, on the one hand to serve the stage and serve as the background of the stage, and on the other hand to isolate the road noise.

2

Underground Theater

Because of the strong wind in Manchester, curtains need to be able to resist the wind. Therefore, curtains need to be supported by hard wood structure or bamboo structure, and the design of these structures should take into account the flexibility while ensuring the strength. Small holes is arranged on the ground to fix the curtain structure and reduce the influence of wind on the curtain stability.

Underground Theater

Leisure Area

The seats are concealable, so they can be used as a gentle slope for skateboards during theater breaks.

Although curtains can resist noise to some extent. But the theater is designed for activities that are not sensitive to noise, such as band performance, dance performance and celebration .

This underground theater is designed for activities that are more sensitive to noise, such as lectures, movies, classical music performances, etc.

GENERAL DESIGN STRATEGY Operating System

Provide Unit Component

Workshop

Combine Unit Components

Roundabout

Roundabout with Various Functions SITE

Workshop

Workshop

This project is divided into three stages, labeled 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The first stage and the second stage must be completed, and the third stage can be decided whether to continue according to the needs and time.

Service

The car park next to roundabout and the space under the sideway will also be included in the site as workshop and warehouse to form a service and served space.

Red one is the service space,and black one is the served space.

The workshop is combined with one of the entrance of the site to make the landmark building of the main entrance of the site.

Part of the original parking lot is used as the entrance of vehicles and goods.

Workshop and Skateboard Area

In terms of architectural form, buildings on both sides of roundabout road form a similar falling trend. Flat floor is laid on the roof of buildings in roundabout, which is used as the slope of skateboard.

Skateboard Area and Underground Theatre

Under the skateboard area, an underground theater will be built to hold some activities sensitive to noise, such as classical music, lectures, graduation ceremony, etc.

Meeting Room and Underground Theatre

Meeting room is a sound sensitive function, so it is placed underground. At the same time, acoustic panel is made in the upper part to resist noise to a certain extent. In addition, acoustic panel also contributes to the space light.

COMBINATION MODE

UNIT COMPONENT

500

250 A 500 250

B 250 500

Type B

Type A

Wood Panel

Glass Panel

Connection between the Steel Structures

Soft Material

Connection between Structures and Panels

Fixing Piece A

Fixing Piece B

Fixing Piece C

All fixings are connected by magnetic force, which is easy to install and does not need tools, so it is suitable for citizens to install independently. All connections are strong magnets and may need to be removed with the aid of tools. Therefore, there needs to be a special person to operate in this roundabout.

UNIT APPLICATION

UNIT APPLICATION

500mm Unit + Soft Martial

500mm Unit + 250mm Unit + Wood Panel

Chair

Table 500mm Unit + Wood Panel

Skateboard ramp

Light

500mm Unit + 250mm Unit + Wood Panel + Soft Martial + Light

Vendor

500mm Unit + Wood Panel

Slide

UPPER GROUND FLOOR PLAN

Flexible area means that site users can build pop-up market or leisure

C Car park

park with unit components by themselves.

Exhibition Area A

Workshop

±0.000

-3.800

Skateboard Area

B

-1.500

Flexible Area Open-air Stage

Flexible Area Auditorium ±0.000

Flexible Area Flexible Area

±0.000

Food Hall

B

Flexible Area

Flexible Area

C

A

0M

10M

C

LOWER GROUND FLOOR PLAN

Toilet Workshop

A

Multi-functional Space

Storage

B

Component Storage Flexible Area

Foundation of Bridge

Flexible Area Foundation of Bridge

Flexible Area Foundation of Bridge

Flexible Area

B Flexible Area

A

C

0M

10M

C A

BASEMENT PLAN

Underground Theatre

B Toilet Toilet Backstage

Meeting Room Meeting Room Meeting Room

B

Meeting Room

Toilet Toilet

Meeting Room Landscape

C

0M

10M A

Storage

SECTION A

Multi-functional Space

0M

10M

Underground Theatre

Skateboard Backstage Roof

Slide Composed of Unit Components

Meeting Room

U n d e rg ro u n d Landscape

SECTION B

0M

10M

Underground Tunnel

Food Hall and Rest Area

Children's Ramp

Spectator Spectator Seats Seats Composed of Unit Components

Stage of Stage Open-air Structure Theatre Composed of Unit Components

SECTION C

Outdoor Exhibition Area

Workshop

Multi-functional Skateboard Space Roof

Underground Theatre

Backstage

Food Hall and Rest Area

Underground Tunnel

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING

PERSPECTIVE VIEW Main Entrance of the Site This is the main entrance of the site, and also a workshop to provide unit components for the site. With a guiding shape, as a sign of the site, to attract pedestrians.

Look at the Main Entrance from the Car on the Overpass This workshop gives the site identity, so the traffic can see it as a kind of advertisement.

PERSPECTIVE VIEW

Skateboard Area and Leisure Park This skateboard area is located on the roof of the multi-function hall, which can not only save space, but a l s o g i ve s k a t e b o a rd e r s g re a t e r slope and length to increase the p l ay a b i l i t y. A n d u s e r s c a n b u i l d enter tainment facilities with unit components to increase the interest.

Open-air Theatre with car lights This open-air theatre serves a variety of activities that are less sensitive to noise. It can be trivial.

For example, people passing by with friends after work feel that the pressure of the day needs to be vented. They can go to the stage to sing, dance and even scream. It can be very grand. There will be independent rock bands to perform. Most of the themes of these rock music are about the hardship and pressure of living in the city.

Because of the special position of this stage, the background is a modern city with a lot of traffic.

There are car lights to provide lighting for the performance. So this scene is like a singer standing in the center of the city telling the story of the city.

PERSPECTIVE VIEW

Pop-up Market and Leisure Area in Flexible Area Vendors and site users can use unit components to build their own facilities.

Entrance of Meeting Room Meeting room is a sound sensitive function, so it is placed underground.

At the same time, acoustic panel is made in the upper part to resist noise to a certain extent.

PERSPECTIVE VIEW Meeting Room The meeting room is divided into two parts: indoor and outdoor. It provides students in the surrounding universities and student apartments some space for study and group discussion, or some small tutorial can be held.

LIMITATIONS AND PROSPECTS Limitations: 1. There are some limitations in using the results of questionnaire survey as the guidance of design function, because it is a multiple choice question rather than a subjective one.

However, the reason for this form is that I tried to do the subjective and objective questionnaire before, but the interviewees could not give clear suggestions. For example, if the venue can be transformed, what function do you want it to be. Most people just said that they want it to be cleaner, greenery better, add streetlights, repair the handrails, and make it more heated and noisy. So in the second questionnaire, based on the previous feedback and some of my own case analysis, I summed up five functions for them to choose, so this is a little limited.

2. Due to cultural differences, I may have a slightly different understanding of the use of some functions and the way of crowd gathering, including how to make people stay so as to make the environment feel safer.

Prospects: In the developed modern cities, there is a large amount of space under the viaduct. Although some space has been actively used, there are still a large number of space has not been rationally used and developed. Therefore, this design is only a simple exploration of the space transformation under the viaduct. In the future city, this kind of urban fragmentary space will be paid more and more attention.