Design Accomplishments and Project Timeline

What I Hope to Accomplish

In Regards to Site:

Laurence Qarmar, Gateway Proposal

Refine the existing Eco district Urban Renewal plan into cohesive vision that takes into account an Educational Node as its catalyst.

Develop a future framework that shows the important role public transportation e.g. streetcar can play in providing the connectivity necessary for a functional eco-district.

Provide design solutions that are useful/respectful to the work PDC has envisioned for the gateway neighborhood.

Give Gateway a sense of place through form, functions and planning.

In Regard to Program:

emily arden wells: Green weave

Begin to blur the lines between High tech and High touch.  How can buildings and nature be synonymous?

Establish relationships between primary program and secondary program that enrich the learning environment and begins to showcase education as something we do together rather than individually.

Set a precedent for future building growth in the area, that provides the answers to self-sufficient building that foster a healthy balance of built and un-built, while placing importance on public interaction.

In Regards To Bio-Synergies:

daniel libeskind 54-story garden tower

Create/preserve habitat, examining how new development can begin to add to the vegetative fabric instead of subtract; something most urban environments lack.

Prove that strong metaphors derived from natural occurring systems/relationships can provide the necessary design solutions when applied to architecture in innovative and appropriate ways.

Demonstrate a clear understanding of what it takes to make a building/region environmentally conscious.  

Time Line:

Dec-Jan

Build large site model of Gateway, including topography, building massings, and cutouts for future model making.

Continue to look at precedence for Urban style campus/ large performance spaces

Investigate biosynergetic metephores in regards to site, program organization, building language, and the future development for the area.  Most likely Connectivity themed.

Begin planning Streetcar alignment (gateway/adjacent neighborhoods) and Master plan for the immediate Transit center area(Large shopping center area).

Jan-Feb

Refine Urban plan and Alignment.

Determine Best positions/ massing/ figure ground to support proposed programs and new urban plan

*Meet with James McGrath of ZGF/ Meet with Justin Douglas of PDC to review Urban plan

Feb-March

Get into Program

Work out Parti in relation to Transit/ Public spaces (interior)/ Education facility/ large public space (exterior)

Begin schematic design

Work with Grasshopper at its abilities for generating forms in regards to massing/skins

*Meet with James McGrath of ZGF/ Meet with Justin Douglas of PDC to building relationship to area

March-April

Design Development building scale

*Meet with James McGrath of ZGF to dicuss relationship of spaces

April-May

Design development case work scale

*Meet with James McGrath of ZGF to review details. Meet with Justin To discuss Building Aesthetic.

May-June

Work on Final presentation materials

Site model/

Drawing

Diagrams

Section models

Skin Studies

Renderings

June-July

Get Wasted Everyday

Looking at Biomimicry and my thesis

http://mmrc.caltech.edu/BB/Membrane%20bb3.png

So far nothing in the ecology world has really seemed like a good fit/mesh for my thesis project which involves people, transit, and learning.  Which probably due to my insufficient background in biology and ecology.

I feel like most of the stuff i've come across are just metaphors or form drivers, which are great but not very useful when it comes to bio-synergies.

I recently stumbled upon this idea of Artificial Photosynthesis, which has been around since 2000, but the concept can be traced back to the 50's.  The idea is simple: you use solar energy to divide water H20 into two parts...one part hydrogen the other oxygen.  There was a bit of discussion in the media when it comes to its application in fuel cell batteries and hydrogen powered cars.  The problem there was that if there were a collision there would be an explosion.

But this has me wondering?  Buildings dont ever get in wrecks with one another.

Could the hydrogen released from this process be used to power buildings? Could it give back and supply energy to other buildings?  Oregon could certainly supply the water necessary.

I will continue to research more.

Thesis Board

This board offers both diagrammatic and written information about my thesis.

Bolded words get the larger ideas across and are complemented with 2-3 sentence elaborations for those interested in reading more into it.

Programatic spaces and sqft. were added to give viewers a sense of what this building will contain and the scale I am going for.

I regret to say that the board does not include any precedent and I apologize.  I will have a few precedent studies posted by the end of the week.  

Interview 2

On Thursday of Last week I met with James McGrath in the Urban Department of ZGF to discuss where I am at with my thesis project.

During our meeting we discussed the possible location for a future Streetcar Alignment and came to the conclusions that

1. It should engage the two couplets (Halsey/Weidler and Washington Stark)

2.  Doesnt need to be directly adjacent to my site and would work best down 102nd Ave.

3.  Should cross the 205 and connect Gateway with the Monticello neigborhod.

4. Develop a pedestrian corridor from 102nd Ave to site.

We also discussed what diagrams would be best to generate that would help start to make it clearer where to place the new alignment.

Lastly we discussed the program I have selected for the site.  From my discussions with Nancy and James it seems like the program I have selected (TED Forum) needs some kind of backing and it is not strong enough to support itself as a stand alone edifice.  I have taken this input and have decided to propose an educational Hub for Gateway TC that acts as a link for High-school student into a Professional career.  A large public component for this facility that would make it a destination for those outside of the area would be the TEDx Forum with exhibition and event spaces.

Interview 1

Today I met with Justin Douglas at the Portland Development Commission (PDC).  Justin is deeply involved with the Gateway Urban Renewal Area and was able to share a ton of information and proposed design work.

This interview was really helpful in that it gave me a kind of insider view of the existing status of the neighborhoods as well its rich history.  It really felt like a lot of the decision I have been making intuitively were spot on and in keeping with the goals and priorities of the Gateway community.

A few fascinating tid-bits from the meeting include:

Gateway was annexed into Portland city in the 1980's

The shopping center adjacent to the Transit center was the first shopping center in Oregon and was coined gateway by Fred Meyer with his gateway Fred Meyer.

Gateway has been zoned with no minimum parking requirements.

Gateway priorities :Infrastructure streets, Economic development, Parks, Education

East Portland is composed of a large diverse group including Latinos, Eastern Europeans and Russians

Several Schools have been looking at sites in GW for a satellite campus, PSU and Mt. Hood

PDC owns the air rights to the Oregon clinic.

I have about three pages of notes that will nicely add to my research and am excited to start developing the area.

Assignment Five: Site Diagraming Comparison

Morphosis: Research Madrid Now

VS.

Project 360 by Franke Dresme | Psychogeographic Map

Madrid Now is a widely recognized urban research initiatives, which was completed as part of a special studio seminar at the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design.  Is an ambitious housing proposal to deal with the large population influx that has occurred due to increased immigration and economic growth.  On Morphopedia (link below) you can read and download the entire book of Madrid Now.  In this document one will find clear and inventive ways of diagraming and showing statistics together.  Morphosis's diagrams are always very well tailored and legible.  It was difficult finding a site analysis diagram from them that was at a scale similar of a thesis project.  Most of the time Their site diagrams are more proposals or ways of displaying design intent rather than functioning as raw site  analysis.  Either way their graphic language is one that is evocative and makes looking at diagrams a real treat.  I would encourage everyone to take a peek at Morphopedia to get ideas for future diagraming whether its site analysis or building diagrams.  

http://morphopedia.com/projects/madrid-now-1

The second examined style of site analysis is less quantitative and more qualitative.  Allowing the visitor the freedom to interpret a setting in a way or means that is in my opinion based more on intuition and interpretation and less on pragmatics.   It is often hard to create graphics or diagrams based on this type of analysis, but the well executed ones tend to stand out.  The above one is one of the better ones ive seen in a while.

Psychogeography:  was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals.

"Part of the works find new ways of looking at cities.  Rather then over produced glorified 3D graphic renderings Franke Dresme's Project 360 meshes photos, sketches, and signs into a "collage of constructs" that focus on an urban section as a whole rather then one point of interest.  His production of psychogeographic maps is a similar representation of the more real and personal experience of traveling through the cityscape."

http://www.designundersky.com/dus/tag/graphic-design