Dt final book by YIJIN ZHAO

Solidify Voids Yijin Zhao

Solidify Voids

Premise Varieties types of void space are here in St. Louis. For instance, the vacant lands and the empty space are created from demolished buildings. Moreover, the emerging of numerous of infrastructures also affect the space within the city. They are tunnels, culverts and arches of bridge for their own usage and also influence the space around them. And intense intersections are formed by layers of different kinds of infrastructures, where void spaces take place and has high potential to form interesting space. I start with making new definition of solid and void space and looking into intersections of infrastructure to find the void space. Then I take advantage of the void space and solidify them into new programs to bring people in and re-active the abandoned area.

Site Studying of infrastructures in St. Louis city, there are 4 areas where have most number and layers of light rail, railroad, highway and underground channel. Chouteau’s landing is the site because it has the most dynamic space compared to others. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in St. Louis. From 1900s, however, the residents began to move away, leaving mostly factories there. The opening of the bridge in 1917 brought traffic in but not people. And the new highway built after World War II cuts the neighborhood off from downtown. Now Chouteau’s landing is a picture of all types of infrastructures, abandoned factories and demolished buildings. It is a blighted area and needs to be revitalized.

Program The program is dinners and bars with music venues, permanent and movable food trucks and food service center. The program continues and extends the function of the neighborhood — dinners and bars. Locating at the south of the Arch, it could be a part of Arch landscape. And it would organize the surrounding area as a truck service center.

The void rather than being nothing is something â&#x20AC;&#x201C; where its otherness is rich with imagination and possibility. A space that can be intimate or sublime, it is the formless field that allows things to dwell or move, as well as the space in between or the hollow contained within. The void suggests both absence and presence and is a process involving negation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; towards nothing, zero, entropy, erasure, tabula rasa. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Miraj Ahmed, Martin Jameson

Washington University in St. Louis Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design Design Thinking :: Spring 2017 Instructor: Derek Hoeferlin Teaching Assistant: Tiffin Thompson

Contents

Discourse Speculation Context Program Precedents Bibliography

Re-combination of space study model

Discourse Speculation Context Program Precedents Bibliography

The urban context and architecture itself are composed by different combinations of solid and void space. The void space which comes in varieties of form is vital to the overall experience of people. Sometime it creates a buffer area inside the intense solid buildings, and sometimes it connects several solid parts. For the most of time, the public space which is created from void makes the space more versatile. However, there are many questions about the solid and void space. What is the definition of the solid or the void? They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always have a clear line between each other. And there are different types of void space in terms of occupation, accessibility, transparency and form. How to make transitions between these spaces? How to create interesting space out of the solid and the void space.

1. Seagram Building, New York. NY The Seagram Building set back from Park Avenue by a large open granite plaza. This void space becomes a very popular gathering space despite the luxuriousness of the idea. The void creates breathing area between the intense solid buildings. 2. Farnsworth House, Plano, IL The glass house seats in a large void area and it could be considered as another kind of void space since it has high transparency itself. It is one of the reasons why the house fit into the nature so well. 3. Central Park, New York, NY The Central Park creates large void area inside high-density city. 4. Hackesche Hรถfe (a notable courtyard complex), Berlin, Germany The void courtyards connect solid parts and creates public space for people.

The solid and the void do not have particular shapes, but they are defined by each other. One does not exist without the other. And they are the key components of space. The boundary between the black and the white â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the solid and the void â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is a transition stage that has many possibilities of different kinds of space. In other words, the transition parts could be considered also as different types of void spaces. Sometimes there is a clear line, but most of the time, there is no clear line between the solid and the void. And solid and void become comparative and interchangeable, which means there is no absolute solid and no absolute void.

1, 2: The Dynamics of Architectural Form, Rudolf Arnheim, Chapter 3 Solids and Hollows, Figure 37. Shapes after a composition of Jean Arp. 10

5 3

5 4

6 1

Steinberg Hall and Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis 11

The study models are made based on spaces in Steinberg Hall, Kemper Art Museum and the courtyard in between.

5 4

1 5

The 6 different kinds of spaces are defined in terms of occupation, accessibility, transparency and from. And they are shown with different materials. There is no absolute solid or absolute void but relatively solid or void.

6 3 4

5 1

6 4

4 3

1. barely used public space 3

2. frequently used public space 3. public circulation core 4. public passage way/ room 5. private space with passage way 6. enclosed private space

model of Steinberg Hall and Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum 12

Traditional Definition of Solid and Void

SOLID

VOID

New Definition of Solid and Void —— diagram from the model above

occupation

accessibility

transparency

form VOID

SOLID From the study above, OCCUPATION, ACCESSIBILITY, TRANSPARENCY and FORM are key aspects to the space in terms of SOLID and VOID. 14

Combination of different kinds of space

Discourse

Speculation Context Program Precedents Bibliography

Apply the new definition diagram to places in St. Louis In Saint Louis, there were a number of industrial and commercial buildings in history and many of them are demolished over time. And varieties of infrastructures appear and start to interact with the space in the city. From the diagram of new definition of solid and void space above, there are 6 types of different spaces. Applying them to the place in St. Louis, it seems that the city is made of different types of void space and more types of space could be found within infrastructures.

Space Possibilities 18

Bring the infrastructures and city together Infrastructure always goes around the city or simply cut city in half. Then there is something think about â&#x20AC;&#x201D; what if the bridges, highways and rail roads all happen inside city and interact with people in the city. Some places could become public space which bring people together.

Infrastructure within the City 20

Solidify the void places in St. Louis There are plenty of void space in St. Louis and influenced by infrastructure. How to occupy these spaces to bring people in efficiently? What kind of activities could reactive the city?

Occupy the Voids 22

Chouteauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; most intense infrastructures most types of void spaces

Discourse Speculation

Context Program Precedents Bibliography

The city of St. Louis contains four interstate highways that connect to a larger regional highway system. Interstate 70, an east-west highway, runs roughly from the northwest corner of the city to downtown St. Louis. The north-south Interstate 55 enters the city at the south near the Carondelet neighborhood and runs toward the center of the city, and both Interstate 64 and Interstate 44 enter the city on the west, running parallel to the east. Two of the four interstates (Interstates 55 and 64) merge south of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and leave the city on the Poplar Street Bridge into Illinois, while Interstate 70 crosses into Illinois via the newly built Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge north of downtown. Interstate 44 terminates at Interstate 70 on the western end of the Stan Musial Bridge. Light rail service in the city of St. Louis consists of two lines operating on double track servicing the same stations in the city, although branching to different destinations outside the city. Both lines enter the city north of Forest Park on the western edge of the city or on the Eads Bridge in downtown St. Louis to Illinois. All of the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tracks are in an independent right of way, for both surface level and underground subways track in the city. All stations have independent entries, while all platforms are flush-level with trains. Rail service is provided by the Bi-State Development Agency (also known as Metro Link), which is funded by a sales taxes levied in the city and other counties in the region. The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center acts as the hub station in the city of St. Louis, linking the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s light rail system, local bus system, passenger rail service, and national bus service. These different types of infrastructures, active or non-active, form the city in their own way. The space of the infrastructure itself and also the space around them are affecting the city in a significant way.

Highway Railroad Light Rail Underground Channel Channel Bus Station Light Rail Station

Infrastructure Study

Different types of Infrastructures go around the city. They create spaces of their own and also affect the space around them. The tracks, tunnels,stations and so on are for their usage. The space under the arch of bridges, the space between rail road and buildings nearby and the space between two roads which go across each other are the void spaces they created. They are all enrich the types of void spaces in the city.

years of construction of various kinds of infrastructure 30

1. Manchester Ave

Intersection of Highway, Railroad, Underground Channel

3. Lacledeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Landing