        Fenster, Rebecca : AssignmentsEdit Fenster, Rebecca : Assignments here.Rebecca Fenster 1060- History of Design Cudda Wudda Shudda: An Essay on 'Fifth Street’ November 26, 2007 Fifth Street: Success or Failure? For the past five years many different companies, including Georgia Tech, have been working on Fifth Street to make the space more beneficial to both Georgia Tech students and citizens of Midtown and Downtown Atlanta. The organizations outside of Georgia Tech are working to make it more marketable to non-Georgia Tech students, and Georgia Tech is working to make ensure a marketable city-like arena for Georgia Tech students, increasing Georgia Tech’s green space, and creating a smooth transition between historical frat-row and the modern tech square. Some would argue that the goals, set out by the different groups working on the project, have been achieved while others may disagree; however, there are many levels one must look at in evaluating the success of this project. In consideration of all the different companies working on the project, the over all goal of tech square has been achieved. The most efficient way to judge the success of Tech Square is by the scales in which it was built. For example, the first scale to consider is the prior framework. There were certain aspects that the planning committee of Fifth Street from Georgia Tech had no control over. One of those aspects is location; no matter how hard anyone tried it was inevitable that Tech Square would have to be located across the interstate. However, this area was not always part of the Georgia Tech Campus; it used to be just another part of the city. Georgia Tech’s main challenge in the development of Fifth Street and Tech Square was to make it feel as though one was still on the Georgia Tech campus once across the bridge over the interstate. I feel as though Tech has been fairly successful in doing this. Although Tech Square feels more in the city than the rest of the Campus, Georgia Tech has been successful in also making it feel like a part of the campus. By making the bridge over the interstate more aesthetically pleasing, it makes the transition from frat row to Tech Square feel more fluid and natural. Also, the materials used in Tech Square are uniform with those used on the main, more central, part of campus which makes it fit in with the rest of campus. The bookstore and the management building are both modeled very similarly to the newer buildings on tech’s campus, including the Klaus building and the renovations in the student center. The bridge looks like the rest of the Georgia Tech green space campaign seen throughout Yellow Jacket Park and a lot throughout west campus. When one visits Tech Square he or she can tell it used to be just another part of the city; however, he or she can also tell it is a part of the Georgia Tech Campus; thus Georgia Tech was successful in the development of Tech Square as the result of its prior framework. Another scale on which Tech Square’s success can be judged is the level of its multi-functional stores and centers. Tech Square is the location of the School of Management; however, this is not the only thing located there. It is also the location of many retail shops, restaurants, and service businesses. Aside from all the business and school related functionality of Tech Square. It also provides more common space for people to simply hang out. Ray’s pizza is a hot spot for tech students smoking Hookah. 5th street Bar-B-Que has awesome ribs and is occupied by students and citizens alike. Some of the businesses on Tech Square are Georgia Tech related; however some are outside the Tech arena. Tech Square is also a good link between Georgia Tech students and the Publix just a few blocks away. I would say Tech Square and the rest of the Fifth Street Renovation is very successful in creating a multifunctional space for people to use. Tech Square was also designed to be a social institution: a place where people could come to just spend time with their friends. The area has many qualities that could potentially make it a social institution. Restaurants are a great place for people to meet together and spend time with one another; Fifth Street provides many different types of restaurants where people can meet with friends to eat. This fact contributes to Tech Square’s success as a social institution. Along with the restaurants, Tech Square provides many different outdoor places and green spaces where people can meet up and spend time together, which also adds to the area’s success as a social institution. However, I feel despite all these efforts, Fifth Street is still not a great place for social interaction, mainly due to it’s location. There are many places on campus that possess these qualities: somewhere to go where they can be social with there friends. Many of these places are much closer and more central locations on campus making them more successful. For the non-Tech students there is nothing particularly special about Tech Square that would draw them there, over other places in the city, to meet with people. For students in the School of Management, Fifth Street is a great place to interact with peers and friends; for everyone else, it is not really the top choice. However, I think with more planned activities and promotions in Tech Square many more people would make use of the area, and that would make Fifth Street and Tech Square the great social institution it has the potential to be. For example, every year Georgia Tech puts on a movie in the park and raises a big screen in Tech Square. Both tech students and non-tech students are invited to attend this event. More of the events would help promote Tech Square both in and out of Georgia tech. The last main characteristic that Fifth Street can be judged on is its success as a public space. Georgia Tech and the other organizations funding the Fifth Street renovation wanted to make Fifth Street accessible and welcoming to everyone, not just the Georgia Tech student body. I feel the coordinators of this project were very successful in this area. Although the Tech Square and Fifth Street area still feels like a part of the Georgia Tech campus, it does not feel like a part of campus so much that someone who isn’t a student at Georgia Tech would feel out of place. The area still feels like a part of the city for anyone to enjoy, and take part in all it has to offer. The planners of the project did a very good job of making the area welcoming to both Georgia Tech students and non-students, therefore making Fifth Street successful as a public space. Overall, the Fifth Street renovation is a success. It achieves almost all of the goals set forth by the planners of the project. The area along Fifth Street has many different businesses allowing for a wide variety of people to make use of the space. The Fifth Street and Tech Square area also provides a place for students and residents of the downtown-midtown area to come to spend time with friends, as well as a place where they can get away to get in some quiet study time or just some alone time. It also provides much of the function that a normal street is meant to provide. It works off of its prior framework very well which allows for a more welcoming vibe to those who are not students at Georgia Tech. For those goals and functions that the street does not fulfill it is not a lost cause. Georgia Tech and the other companies on the project have been working hard to make it a success on all levels and the area is still capable of reaching all of its goals; the areas which are not quite there yet simply need a little more attention and careful planning, but with a little more work Fifth Street can be a great success on all levels. Assignment 7 Assignment 7 10/29-City: Prior Frameworks Playback: In the lecture on October 29 Douglas Allen came in to talk to us about how the cities we have today came to be, where there plans and set-up came from, etc. He first talked about the southwest, and the 3 major building types that started there: the presidio, the mission, and the pueblo. This idea was taken from the Spanish who settled this area. In cities in the southwest, specifically San Antonio, they had these three buildings that eventually lead to the coming together of these buildings to form a city or small town. He then moved on to talk about the planning of New Orleans. New Orleans was built on a grid that was planned around the Mississippi River so that the city would extend all the way to the river. This plan came from the French who settled New Orleans. Mr. Allen then moved on to talk about the Northeastern states and how they were formed much differently from these southern states. The English Colonies focused around a common ground that everyone in the town used for their cattle to graze on and then they built their homes and important buildings around that common ground. The landscape of New England was much like that of England so it was not hard for the settlers to build their cities, however one thing that was different was the harsh winters. Because of these winters the settlers learned to build their towns fairly close together so they could be easily accessible during the harsh winters. All of this planning was very unsystematic so finally in 1785 a land ordinance was established. This ordinance broke the country up into square blocks, which were to be settled. This allowed for a much more systematic way of establishing the land. Look-Up: Presidio- The presidio was a type of fortress built by the Spanish. It was originally used in North Africa to keep the pirates out; the Spanish then brought it to America to keep other invaders off of their territory. It started out as it's own building however, over time it came to be incorporated into the Pueblo. Gunter Chain- The Gunter Chain is a 100-link chain that measures 66 feet, and was originally used as a tool for surveying land in the U.S. National Land Ordinance of 1785- a way of breaking up the unsettled land of the U.S. in an organized matter. The ordinance also provided a way to raise money through the sale of land since the government at that time did not have the power to tax landowners. Speculate: How did the land ordinances established to break up the land effect the already established parts of the U.S. such as San Antonio, New Orleans and New England? Despite the more organized break-up of land, did the way cities were established or built change? Were the foreign settlers opposed to the land ordinances? 11/7- City: Beltline, Peachtree Street I was sick the day this lecture was given. I went online to download to the PowerPoint; however, my computer was not compatible with the file or something so I was unable to look at it. 11/12- Campus Playback: In the lecture on November 12 Howard Wertheimer came and talked to us about the Master Plan for the Georgia Tech campus. The main focuses of the plan are sustainability and accessibility. To achieve sustainability and livability the plan includes adding lots of green space to the Tech campus. The plan involves turning much of the current parking that is in the middle of campus into green space. There are also plans of building a women’s softball field and working on the North Avenue apartments to make them feel more accessible to the students. There are also plans of turning the Burger Bowl into a challenge course, ropes course type thing. Look-Up: Sustainability- capable of being kept-up with Green-Space- the idea of replacing much of the built, unnatural tech environment, with grassy more natural open spaces Livability- sustainable for human life, in this case, sustainable for college students, creating a comfortable, enjoyable environment Speculate: Is the master plan an ever-changing thing? It seems as though Georgia Tech will do something to accommodate the plan and then a few years later it will completely change what it did originally to make it “better”, will the plan ever be complete? Is Tech doing anything to make-up for the parking and built spaces lost from adding green space to the campus? Assignment 3 9/10 A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Disability Research Playback: In the lecture we had on Monday September 10 the director of the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access (CATEA), Stephen Sprigle, came to talk to us about his department. CATEA is an applied research center. Along with doing research they also provide outreach activities. Their job is to make sure that those who are disabled have the same benefits as though who are not and that they can live and learn in the same environment as though who aren’t disabled. The department doesn’t include just architecture it also makes use of engineering; education technology; web design and programming; physical, occupational, and speech therapy; and industrial design. All these different fields work together to come up with disabled accessible learning and living environments. Look-up: Distance Education is a way of delivering education to those who cannot be physically “on-site” for the learning process. This is relevant because many disabled students are unable to participate in class the same way those who aren’t disabled can participate and learn. CATEA largely uses the internet for distance learning activities. Barrier Free Education is education that is just as easy for disabled students as regular students. It makes use of distance learning so the disabled students can have the same benefits as other students. It is something that CATEA works very hard to create in the Georgia Tech community. Universally Designed products are things which are handicap accessible but also usable for those without disabilities. Universally designed products make it easier for disabled people to fit into the environment without much hassle. Speculate: How does distance learning effect how one learns? Does it create a different understanding of the material since the student is not taught or learning in the same environment as other students? Aside from research and design what other professions can one do, which involve development of disability friendly places? Why is web access such a major concern for CATEA? Mr. Sprigle talked a lot about web access, do a lot of disabilities create difficulty in using the internet or just certain ones? 9/12 AEC Integration- A View from the Center Playback: The lecture on Wednesday talked about the construction industry: statistics, different areas, the main characteristics, and the history. The first thing he went over was what it was classified as, a sector of the economy rather than an industry. He talked about the different areas of the construction business: residential, non-residential, and civil/infrastructure. He then went over 10 specific characteristics of the construction world. He also quickly went over its history. The medieval ecclesiastical boom mainly laid the groundwork for the construction world. The industry remained as it did in medieval times for the most part until the industrial revolution. Look-Up: Fragmentation is one of the main characteristics of the construction world. The word means to be broken up into many different parts. This is sort of what I thought it meant. I thought it meant more of just initially being in many different parts or sectors but the definition alludes to something being broken up into different parts or disintegrating. Lean Construction is a term used in construction. It sounds as though it is a method of construction minimizing the resources used. The actual definition of the term is the pursuit of improvements in all dimensions of the built and natural environment. Turnkey is something I honestly had no idea what it could possibly mean; I thought perhaps it was something (or the idea of something) that can lead to many different options. The definition I found described a turnkey as a project in which separate entities are responsible for setting up a plant or equipment and for putting it into operation. Value engineering is a systematic method to improve the value of goods and services by using an examination of function. Speculate: Seeing as the construction industry has only gone through 2 major changes in its existence, is it still changing today? And is the changing being made large enough that eventually the industry will operate in a totally different way than it does currently? Seeing as the construction business is so lucrative to our economy, what will happen once we have developed all the area we can develop and there is nothing left to really be built? Is the industry straying from using ephemeral teams and going more towards the direction of continually working with the say team members? How is construction effected by the idea of being green? 9/14 I was not in class on Friday September 14 because I was in Savannah observing Rosh Hashanah with my family. Therefore I was unable to complete this section of the homework. Assignment 2 8/29 M.S. Classical Design Curriculum-Classical Architecture Playback: The Classical Design masters program is a fairly new one at Georgia Tech. In this lecture the seven students working on their masters in this program came in and talked to us about what they do or had been doing before they came here for this program. All of the students work for a firm, which does some form of Classical Architecture. They all worked on many different scales. Some worked on just interiors, some worked on remodeling and additions, some worked on building houses and some designed whole communities. Some important terms and concepts that came up were the method of development and design. Stephanie Wahl talked about the different ways buildings were designed, some being hand-drawn, some were painted with watercolors and others were designed totally on the computer using systems such as CAD. Lookup: Piazza- an open square in a city found in Italy Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND)- a neighborhood planning system which includes a variety of houses and land uses in a designated area, the variety allows for homes, schools, commercial buildings, etc. so the neighborhood can be self-sustaining; a TND also creates pathways where both cars and pedestrians can walk so that residents have the option of driving, walking, or even biking to get around their neighborhood Speculate: Seeing as all the students in this program are already working with firms that do classical architecture, once they finish the program what will they be able to do that they were unable to do before? It seems as though in suburban America we have lost the beauty of neighborhoods where all we need is right in our backyards (literally), is the idea of “Traditional Neighborhood Development” fairly new or is it an old idea coming back into play? And is it a growing area to be working in? 8/31 Solar Decathlon Playback: The solar decathlon is an international competition between colleges all over the world. The idea behind the contest is to build a zero-energy home, which runs totally on solar power. The house is designed and built by students, however, not just architecture students participate, and it includes all majors because they all can play a role in the project. Some important ideas which are considered when designing the house are common spaces versus private space and how they should be designed differently; lighting, the most efficient and effective ways of lighting the house; heating; water use, reusing water and also gathering rainwater to be used in the house. Lookup: Chassis- the framework of an inanimate object Grey water- non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic processes such as washing dishes, doing laundry and bathing; the Solar Decathlon team looks for ways to use grey water in the house Speculate: Outside of the decathlon, are people making use of the ideas put into practice at the competition such as using grey water, using “translucent walls” to allow for more light, etc? The houses in this competition are very small, is it possible to have a larger house that can run totally on solar power? And if so is anyone doing that, or are more people just using some of the techniques to cut back on energy use while using some of the older less efficient techniques? 9/05 CAD/CAM Playback: CAD stands for Computer Aided Design and CAM stands for Computer Aided Manufacturing. Both of which are ideas that are greatly changing the process of design and production. In the 20th Century the traditional design process was linear, it ran straight through. However, today in the 21st Century the process is iterative, meaning it relies on loops that allow for feedback on different processes and designs. Lookup: G-Code- the name of the programming language which controls CNC machines, the machines which are being used in design and manufacturing Master Builder- Local Variability Versus Global Variability- looking at the different pieces of a project versus looking at the different positions of those pieces in the project Speculate: With all these new processes and ideas arising using technology, is anyone still relying on the old ways of design and production? How are these new processes of design and production affecting the new products? Are they any more or less practical, long lasting, etc? Assignment 1 Installation 1 Scale of Site: The installation is placed outside of the Architecture West building. It is made up of some sort of bendable plastic such as plexi-glass, but it also makes use of the surroundings; the brick and concrete ground, concrete pillars, and the building itself. It uses items such as steel wire anchored on the building to hold the structure up. The shape of the site is a rectangle formed by the building and the middle concrete pillar. This rectangle is further divided into two smaller rectangles. These two rectangles sort of divide the piece up into two parts. The more organized and methodical part is on the right where as the less structured and more creative part is on the left. This installation has different effects depending on its surrounding conditions. For example, when it is bright outside the plastic part pops more due to the bright exposure and the dark interior of the architecture building behind. However, when it is grey outside the framing becomes much more apparent. Scale of the Object: The object itself is made up mainly of plexi-glass with screws along many edges to join the pieces of plexi-glass. Although the object has no specific shape it uses many lines, both overlapping and parallel, to create the piece. Going from right to left, the piece starts out very organized and thought out with lines parallel to one another; slowly as you move to gaze to the left these lines stray from being parallel to wavy but not overlapping. They continue to the left until eventually the waves become bigger and the lines overlap and intertwine with each other. In different light conditions the object takes on a different view. When light is shown at different angles onto or rather into the object, the light bounces off of and through different pieces of plastic differently. Also when the object becomes wet different pieces are affected differently. For example, in the “tangled” portion water would run down many different paths even if the water were continuously falling in the same spot. Scale of Detail: The details are made up of overlapping pieces of plexi-glass held together with screws in some places, and nuts and bolts in others. The overlapping of this plexi-glass creates many vertical ovals. Although they are the same general shape they all have different sizes. Some are closer to circle shapes and some much taller than they are wide. These details also change in the rain. Water can get under the pieces of overlapping plastic causing many different shapes and designs. How light passes also changes depending on the number of layers of plexi-glass there are in an area. Speculation: I think movement motivated this installation. Although the piece is not moving it imitates movement with the fluid lines created by the bent plastic. Although this piece looks as though it digresses into random overlapping of plexi-glass, I’m sure it took much careful planning and hard work to create the image it does. If I had to name this piece I would call it “Water Hose”. The way it starts out compact and organized, and then progressing to little or no organization makes me think of the way water shoots from a hose. Installation 2 Scale of Site: The site of installation two makes use of the floor and concrete openings in the atrium of the architecture building. The second and third levels are used as supports for the piece. The third level also frames the piece the way it juts out alongside the edge of the installation. The sire is a rectangular area. The main thing that makes it rectangular and not just open is the balcony type area of the third floor. The site changes based on many outside factors, one being how dark it is in the space. When the building is dark the top of the structure becomes more noticeable because that is where the most natural light can still get in. Scale of the Object: The object itself is made up of mainly wood, thicker in some places and thinner in others. It also uses metal rods to hold all the wood together. Shorter rods are used to gather the wood in some places to create large gaps in the piece. The object is more of a uniform outline with a straight rectangular shape when simply facing it head on. Looking at the piece it’s made up of mostly parallel lines; however, some of the lines do curve, although they never intersect. These curved pieces create large oval gaps in the piece. Although from the front it is a rectangle, the piece does also bend forwards and backwards so when looking at it, one can see that the installation does not lie flat. When looking at the piece, although it physically does not change it appears to be thicker wood in some places and thinner in other depending on how dark the surrounding areas are. Scale of Detail: Where the vertical pieces of wood are connected, there are not only wood, but also metal plates and screws that attach the pieces of wood to each other. At these sections where the wood is connected the wood is thinned out, creating right triangles. There are also the rectangular metal plates that are holding the wooden pieces together. This detail changes depending on the angle at which one looks at the piece. When standing in front of the piece, dead center only about a third of these triangles can be seen; the same happens if one stands off to the right. When one stands in front of the piece to the left side only one or two of these triangles can be seen. However, when one stands behind the piece almost all of these little triangles can be seen. Also one can feel a difference at these sections because the wood is thinned out to form these triangles. Speculation: I think movement also motivated installation 2. The bending of the wood conveys the idea of movement even though the piece is clearly stationary. I also think this installation could be seen as an artistic and practical piece because it provides a bench at the bottom of the piece on the floor of the atrium. I would call this piece “Wooden Waterfall”. It reminds me of water the way it flows down through the building. The larger, oval gaps in the pieces of wood could be seen as representations of rocks jutting out behind a waterfall causing the water to change paths, and the bottom bench is like the bottom of a waterfall where the water is white and thick from the pressure of all the water landing in the same area. Link to this Page
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