This diagram shows the relationship between the proposed site for the art forum, the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Science Center. It is located at the southern end of Hartford next to the Colt Factory building (which is currently being renovated into apartments).
This map shows the Colt Factory on the southern edge of the city in 1877. Since then Hartford has grown and this site is very much a part of the urban fabric.
This was a drawing on the same map of a close up view of the Colt Factory building looking from the Connecticut River. The original office building has been replaced by the one seen below.
This is a bird's eye view of the current abandoned office building on the Colt Factory campus. This is looking south.
This is the view of the current building on the site from the highway. As it is a two story building only the very top of it can be seen from the elevated highway.
This is the view looking south on Van Dyke Avenue. The section cut shows that you can potentially see underneath the highway to the waterfront, which is off to the left of the photo. I have not been to this part of Hartford, so I am not sure if the different levels of the highway begin here and block the view or not.
This is the north edge of the site. From here you can just barely see the tip of the dome over the current two story building.
This is a view from the Blue Onion dome in 1918 looking north looking towards the Travelers Tower under construction.
This is a view looking east at the 1938 flood of the Connecticut River. The Colt Factory can be seen to the far right.
Alicia:
ReplyDeleteI think you can find a site in Hartford and as I have never been to the city I'll try to help you decide upon the appropriate site. Since you want to look at landscape elements if I were you I would want to be on the river or at least be able to make a direct connection to the river. Your program of aesthetic, productive and recreational landscapes gives you rich program elements to guide your design decisions. I'm not sure the site you selected is large enough to incorporate elements of these. I'm imagining large exterior spaces easily accessible from your site. What is the sf of the selected site? How much would your building program occupy of the site and how much of the other landscape elements would have space to incorporate into the project?
I would do a series of diagrams of looking for "green" spaces in the city and compare that to impervious areas or parking lots or non-"green" areas of the city. You need to be sure the sf of your site is large enough to accommodate all you are interested in exploring.