Program Thoughts

Activity over Time

Systems: Restoring Productive Landscapes in Urban Environments

Nature: The natural landscape results from human manipulation and forces that are out of our control.  Both cities and wilderness can be considered nature.  Cities are natural because we congregate instinctively.

Aesthetic Landscape: This land has been cultivated to look good.  Gardens, cemeteries and hiking trails are examples of this.  It has no functional use.

Recreational Landscape: This land has been cultivated to create a space for people to play or to simply enjoy being outside.

Productive Landscape: This is land that is used to grow plants, graze animals; essentially it exists to make things.  If it is also aesthetic, it’s purely coincidental.

Thesis:

The way landscape has been cultivated for use in the past 100 years has been for aesthetic or recreational purposes.  Parks such as Central Park and the High Line are examples of this.  In the post-industrial 21^st century, humans need to make the most of land in densely populated urban areas.  Brownfield sites need to restored and put to use again, while also providing spaces for recreation.  With the pollution that has built up both in the air and in the ground and the technology humans have acquired it is both reasonable and necessary that architecture today goes beyond the rooftop and below the foundation.  It must act as part of a greater system.  Productive landscapes could be restored if buildings were able to eradicate toxins within the soil using rainwater and natural means.  Simultaneously these buildings would also fulfill all programmatic needs of their occupants.

Program Statement:

As I am using my building to clean and restore the landscape on a former industrial site, it seems only fitting that the buildings serves the public as a place to restore or cultivate culture.  I propose a performance space that acts as both a place for kids to go after school to dance or practice martial arts as well as a place for professional performances and schools to use.  This will act as inspiration to the up and coming performers as well as draw in other members of the community for shows.

Narrative of Spaces:

This performance studio will be a place for all members of the community to retreat to on the regular basis.  Young children will practice here in rooms in spaces adjacent to the much older performers.  Lounges geared toward different age groups will be available as places to socialize and take a breather between practices and rehearsals.  This series of spaces should be made available to connect.  Various changing facilities and practice rooms will be found through out the building as well as a kitchen area.  In addition to this there must be offices and seminar spaces.  At the center of the space will be the main performance space.  This is where shows for lectures, dancing, martial arts, comedy and theater will be held.