Sculpting Bio-Synergies (UO Thesis Work): Week 2: Update

My Urban Plan is going slower than anticipated, but after reviews on wednesday/Friday I am very thankful for the feedback and useful criticism from classmates/professors. I feel like my urban plan and vision for gateway work best in diagram and narrative. However once I began taking a stab at the massing and urban forms my vision became one that was too utopian. Tall mixed uses buildings interwoven with habitat one after another towering down on the gateway neighborhood were offensive and insensitive.

I guess that is where I need the most work: Turning my diagrams into architecture. As it stands I don't really have an architectural language that I am leaning towards when it comes to giving shape to my urban plan.

I have taken a second stab at a plan and my new diagram works much better and is starting to make sense as I mass it out. This Urban Plan focus on developing the most density at the transit node and then gradating down to a street that connects with future streetcar transit. Now that I have a functioning fabric I have been able to start massing out a couple of schemes for my facilities located adjacent to the Transit Center. Im not totally thrilled by anything just yet, but as time carries on I am sure I will find something that sticks.

track straddler

Connected awning

Dynamic position

I have been making a lot of progress with my material study. I am looking at how the digital Fabrication process can begin to lend itself to the out-putting of form work for cast-in-place concrete. So far I have been successful in modeling a 3d object (a Wall) and then use grasshopper to make the form work for it. I just need to finish writing the script so that it will allow me to layout the pieces for cutting.