        Harvard, Andrew : AssignmentsCudda Wudda Shudda: An Essay on 'Fifth Street'The history of architecture and urban design is made up of many different facets; one of these facets is the concept of a street. The street’s identity forms around guidelines such as sidewalks, street furniture, paving, and greenery. Each street has its own economic function and social significance. Some of the obvious purposes of a street’s existence are traffic, exchange of goods, and social exchange and communication. Since the sixth century B.C., streets have been used to transport people, goods, and services. Pedestrians jumped from roof to roof to get to their destinations. Then some time later narrow lanes on the ground appeared for pedestrians. The fact that there was a time period when streets didn’t exist seems foreign to us now. No matter where you go in this country, a large metropolitan area such as Los Angeles, California or a town like Round Top, TX, there will always be streets. Yes, of course there will be differences between them, but fundamentally, they fulfill the same basic role of transportation. It is the differences in these roles that give character to these two places and it’s by these same roles that the success of any particular street can be judged. Due to the fact of the recent reconstruction of 5th Street and its Bridge I have decided to analyze this specific street. The word street can be defined as a public space, a result of prior framework or subdivision of territory, a projection, a dimensional space with certain physical and material characteristics, an urban form with a particular volume and section, a space with multiple functions and uses, a social institution, and a theatre activated by human performance. It is these different roles and definitions that determine whether 5th Street is a triumph or a flop. The first aspect at which 5th Street can be evaluated is as a public space for the surrounding community. According to Kostoff’s, “The Street,” as a public space, the street is supposed to offer structure to the city, allow processions and parties, and add a sense of community to an area. Since 5th Street is a nexus between the Georgia Institue of Technology and the greater Atlanta area, it is not concerned with adding structure to the city but instead adds a strong link between the two entities. While Georgia Tech’s campus is essentially a separate entity from the rest of Atlanta it must be aware and active in the spaces surrounding it because of the reason that it is open to the public. Correspondingly, as a large contributor to the economy of Atlanta, the city must also be active and aware of Georgia Tech. Therefore, the design of 5th Street, especially the section that begins at bridge and continues on towards the Biltmore, should slide seamlessly into the character of the surrounding area of city. In this respect, 5th Street is relatively successful. For the most part, 5th street’s sidewalks are exceptionally broad and bounded by a wide red brick path on the street side. As the sidewalks approach the Biltmore they get narrower and about 100 yards from the corner of W. Peachtree and 5th, they lose the red brick lining entirely. As the sidewalk winds around each corner and heads down W. Peachtree, design remains consistent and in some places, the handicap ramps even retain the red brick design which ties them in with 5th Street and the overall scheme of Tech Square. One aspect in which 5th falls short is at the junction of 5th and W. Peachtree. The bicycle lanes abruptly end—although this is not a deal breaker it would still be nice to see the designers factor in the role of bicyclers into the equation. To successfully fulfill its role as a public space, the street must bring on a sense of a community. In this respect 5th Street is successful. On warm days, there are plenty of people sitting outside of the cafés and restaurants, in the park, and even in the courtyards. In addition, the installation of bike racks at intervals encourages people to stop and enjoy a cup of coffee or a look around the book store because they can be sure that their bikes will be safe. The failure of the Tech Square side of 5th Street is the arrangement and type of benches. Rarely do I come across people that are actually sitting on the benches in the Centergy Plaza. Because of their awkward placement in facing each other and not the street or stores and because they are cold and uncomfortable to sit on in chilly weather, they make for awkward obstacles instead of comfortable places to sit and chat or people watch as originally intended. 5th Street, as it winds past the Greek housing, does brings a sense of community with it. The use of trees and flowerbeds, as well as unified wall materials, makes the street feel more like a residential neighborhood than fraternity row. Although there is still great room for improvement 5th Street fulfills its role as a public space and the things that hinder it are easily fixed. Public space is a street’s authority – without it, there is no city. The bridge itself is a prime example of public space. The medieval practice of lining bridges with houses and shops began as a development that was designed to solve a problem. In the 1340s, Florence rebuilt Ponte Vecchio as a completely controlled environment roadbed lined by nearly fifty shops. The use of this hybrid construction sets a compromise between the vehicle and pedestrian. The history of both urban and rural walking is a history of freedom and of the definition of pleasure. But rural walking has found a moral imperative in the love of nature that has allowed it to defend and open up the countryside. Urban walking has always been a shadier business, easily turning into soliciting, cruising, shopping, loitering, and other activities that contaminate the high moral tone of the appreciation of nature that s brought about by walking on a “rural street”—a nature path in the woods. Another angle that 5th Street can be viewed at is that of a dimensional space with ¬¬¬a particular focus on physical and material characteristics and as an urban form with a particular volume and section. As stated before, one way in which Tech Square and the rest of 5th Street is distinguished, is by the continuation of the brick and concrete combination from one end of the to the other. This specific characteristic helps to define the space within the Georgia Tech campus just as the signs for the Tech Trolley define Georgia Tech’s campus within Atlanta. A different way of spatial definition is along Technology Square. Each of the businesses has a circular hanging sign at regular intervals along their storefront so that the name of the store is easily visible to the pedestrians on the street. Also, in Technology Square, both the sidewalk and the street are subdivided to allow for many different simultaneous activities. For example, the street itself is divided into driving lanes and bike lanes as well as turning lanes in the middle. The sidewalk is divided into the red brick portion along the side of the road to provide a buffer from the traffic, allow the pedestrian to feel comfortable, and allow passing room. Next to that, between the brick and storefront is a concrete area about the same width as the brick that is the main thoroughfare for pedestrians. Within these defined areas, there are also areas of seating, both in outside café forms and in benches along the street. An exception to this rule is along the 5th Street Bridge, where instead of benches there is just a large, elevated green space on one side and an arbor on the other. These green spaces help to define the parts of the bridge by first convincing the pedestrian that they are not on a bridge by buffering the sound of cars passing underneath and also by hiding the drop down to the interstate from view. In order to keep the feel of a small street life, the use of interior courtyards helps to break up the area and make it seem smaller. In this sense, they are successful because even though there are some classes in Technology Square, they are set off from the main road in courtyards and don’t encroach upon the neighborhood feel of the street. By dividing the street and sidewalk into different areas, continuing the pattern of concrete and red brick from one end of the street to the other, and by hiding large academic buildings in back courtyards, Georgia Tech successfully provides dimension as well as an urban form to 5th Street. The street should also be a space with multiple functions and uses that all fit seamlessly into one another. An example of this characteristic is Atlantic Station with its traditional neighborhood development (TND) approach to living. This is something that 5th Street has not accomplished. The closest that they have come is their integration of retail and academic buildings in the same block, but even then, the academic buildings are almost all set behind the retail. As an entire street, yes, 5th Street does include retail, housing, and academics but they are all divided up into three sections and do not truly describe the characteristic of multiple functions. Yet, 5th Street is functional. The Georgia Tech Barnes and Nobles serves not only as a bookstore, but also as a study area for many students. During football games, tailgaters use the green space of the bridge. Another attempt at functionality by the 5th Street developers is the emergence of outdoor cafés onto what was previously primarily a way for pedestrians. The sidewalk has since become not only for transportation, but also for sitting, talking, and advertising. Overall, 5th Street has not managed to successfully fulfill multiple functions and uses. The best attempt that the developers made towards this goal of multiple uses and functions is in the actual Tech Square area. Ultimately, 5th Street has aided in the Georgia Tech Master Plan mostly in thanks to the construction of the 5th Street Bridge. Even though Tech Square was an essential part of life for many students, the natural settings created by the bridge promote increased use of the bridge. Fifth Street is just a small part of a large campus wide project, and this campus wide project is embedded into the city of Atlanta’s constant move towards improvement. In the national scale, Atlanta is a continuously growing community, competing with cities like Chicago, L.A., and even New York City. The nation, within the world represents freedom, capitalism, and international relations. Thus, in essence, the entire world is striving to thrive, maintain healthy relationships between countries, and sustain the healthiest environment possible. With a healthy world, come healthy people – all of this starts from the smallest of improvements. Looking from a global scale, the 5th Street Bridge appears to be trivial, but that is where improvement originates. People will always have differing opinions on the topic of the success of a street even if the interpretations of 5th Street are based on investigation. The street is defined as a public space, a dimensional space with physical and material characteristics as well as volume, a multi functioning space, and a theater for human interaction. Even though these definitions that are given are concrete, there will always be people interpreting the objective definitions subjectively. To me, the redevelopment of 5th Street is an overall success because the only real way to determine success or failure is by whether or not the changes that were made are actually being taken advantage of. The success of 5th street can be attributed to developers because they noticed many things that needed to be changed and they changed them. These developers can truly be called designers of the built environment because the overall purpose of a designer is to recognize problems and develop solutions to those problems. Assignment 10.12 - Library 101 assignmentBibliography Anonymous. “After the Flood,” The Nation (2007): Vol. 285, Issue. 7; Page 3. Asset Securitization Report (2006). Baade, Robert A., Robert Baumann, and Victor Matheson.” Urban Studies (2007): Vol. 44 Issue 11 2061-2076. Becker, Christine. “New Orleans Students Design Playground to be Built During Congress of Cities.” Nation’s Cities Weekly (2007): Vol. 30 Issue 39 1-12. Bergeron, Angelle. “Morphosis Unveils Plan for Downtown New Orleans”. Architectural Record (2006) July, Vol.194 Number.7; Page.25. Carson, Wendy. “After Katrina: The Depopulation of New Orleans,” Objector (2006): p.3. Curtis, Wayne. “Urban Renewal: The Demand for Low-income Housing is soaring in New Orleans - So why are Historic housing projects facing the Wrecking Ball?” Preservation: The Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (2007) Mar.-Apr., Vol.59 Number.2; Pages.13-15. Dugan, Bridget. “Loss of Identity in Disaster: How Do You Say Goodbye to Home?” Perspectives in Psychiatric Care (2007): Vol. 43 Issue 1, p41-46. Dunham, Kemba J. “Most Affordable Housing in New Orleans Is in Jeopardy,” Wall Street Journal (2007): Vol. 249 Issue 84. Eaton, Leslie. “Katrina Victims Find a Solution: Modular House,” The New York Times (2007): Pg. 1. Ettlinger, Nancy. “Bringing Democracy Home: Post-Katrina New Orleans,” Antipode (2007): Vol. 39 Issue 1, p8-16. Gill, Duane A. “Disaster Research and Hurricane Katrina: Guest Editor’s Introduction.” Sociological Spectrum (2007): Vol. 27 Issue 6, 609-612. Gordon, Susan H. “New Orleans Musicians get Sound new Housing” Architectural Record (2007) June, Vol.195, Number.6; Page.42. Hart, Philip S. “Minority Developers and New Orleans” Urban Land (2006) Oct., Vol.65 Number.10; Pages 155-159. Heath, Brad. “Katrina Evacuees Feel Money Pinch.” USA Today (2007): News Section. Ilel. Neille. “A Healthy Dose of Anarchy I,” Reason (2006): Vol. 38, Iss. 7; p. 49. Katz, Bruce. “The State of New Orleans,” The New York Times (2005) Wednesday, Section A; Column 1; Editorial Desk; Op-Chart; Pg. 33. Krane, N. Kevin. “Medical Education in Post-Katrina New Orleans,”. Journal of the American Medical Association (2007), Vol. 298 Issue 9, p1052-1055. Lewis, Pierce F., et.al “New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape” Arris: Journal of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (2006) Vol.17 Page. 67. Littlefield, Robert S. “Crisis Leadership and Hurricane Katrina: The Portrayal of Authority by the Media in Natural Disasters,” Journal of Applied Communication Research (2007): Vol. 35, Iss. 1; p. 26. Lukensmeyer, Carolyn J. “Large-scale citizen engagement and the rebuilding of New Orleans,” National Civic Review (2007): Vol. 96 Issue 3, p3-15. Maret, Isabelle. “The New Orleans Experience: Can we Rebuild a Fair Education System?” Archithese (2007) Mar.-Apr., Vol.37 Number.2, Pages.58-61. McKee, Bradford. “New Orleans Recovery Plan Released” Architect-Washington, D.C. 2007 May, Vol.96, Number.6; Page.20. Olshansky, Robert B. “Planning after Hurricane Katrina” Journal of the American Planning Association (2006) Spring, Vol.72 Number.2; Page.147-153. Penick, George. “Katrina: A Year Later; Mississippi Comeback,” Los Angeles Times (2006): Part M; Pg. 3. Picou, J. Steven. “Social Impacts of Hurricane Katrina on Displaced K-12 Students” Sociological Spectrum (2007): Vol. 27 Issue 6 767-780. Pyburn, Allison. “Insurance industry, FEMA absorb post Hurricane Katrina losses,” Rozario, Kevin. The Culture of Calamity: Disaster and the Making of Modern America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. Simpson, Jeffery. “New Day in New Orleans: Post-Katrina, The City's Antiques Dealers exhibit resiliency seasoned with Uncertainty” Architectural Digest (2007) Mar., Vol.64 Number.3; Pages.40,44,46,50,52. United States Congress, House, and Committee on Energy and Commerce. Hurricane Katrina’s Effect on Gasoline Supply and Prices. Washington D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 2005. Ward, Jon. “Democrats to push Steele-Katrina link; Party aims to secure black vote,” Zell, Jennifer. “Visions of Green: What role will Parks and Open Space play in a Rebuilt New Orleans” Landscape Architecture (2007) Mar., Vol.97, Number.3; Pages100-103. Zuckerman, Mortimer B. “Uncalm After the Storm,” U.S. News & World Report (2005): Vol. 139, Issue. 9; p. 60. Assignment 09.30 - Critical Listening: Learning to Ask Good QuestionsLecture One: Architecture, Culture, & Behavior Playback Craig Zimring focused on how design can help better a person’s health in the organization of architecture, culture, and behavior in the built environment. He explained how certain things such as lighting and larger doors can help make a hospital room a healthier and safer place. He structured his lecture by mentioning the effects of obesity in our society, listing ways that architects can induce some physical activities within buildings, showing the environmental factors of this issue. Some important concepts he used were activity-friendly settings, space syntax, caregiver zone, family zone, patient zone, analgesic use, obesity, and clear way finding. Look Up
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Lecture Two: Photography Playback Ruth Dusseault documented the seven year process of the destruction of the old Atlantic Steel Mill and the construction of the Atlantic Station shopping center. She began her lecture by showing a video of the destruction of the Atlantic Steel Mill, and then showed a PowerPoint of several pictures she had taken which showed the stages of construction. The speaker also touched on how this project was a utopian construct with the idea of restoring the history of the land. Some important concepts she lectured over were utopian architecture, progress of modernity in the south, industrial design, environmental remediation. Look Up
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Lecture Three: How to Look at Palladio Playback In this presentation, Sonit Bafna focused on the famous architect, Palladio, and his Greco-Roman style villas. He also talked about how Palladio was successful in his time and how the plans of the house involve very intelligent mathematical proportions. Through photographs of his villas and drawings of the floor plans, we understood Palladio’s style and the depth of his creative knowledge as an architect. Some important concepts and terms to consider are geometry, proportions, symmetry, impediments, orthographic projections, elevations, ratios, and music theory. Look Up
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Assignment 09.16 - Critical Listening: Learning to Ask Good QuestionsLecture One: Disability Design and Research Playback Dr. Sprigle presented a lectured that was focused on making everyday life easier for people with disabilities. He began his lecture by defining key terms like disability and Assistive Technology. He showed pictures of previous projects that his company had done and explained how they approached the problem with a multidisciplinary approach. He stressed client relations and sufficient research and development. Throughout the lecture he brought up important concepts that included anthropometry, ambulation, universal design appeal, and specialized assistive technology. Look Up Anthropometry—refers to the measurement of living human individuals for the purposes of understanding human physical variation. Ambulation—the act of walking about or moving from place to place. Universal design appeal—to create environments that are supportive of all people, ages and abilities. Specialized assistive technology—product that a designed to assist people with disabilities. Speculate When it comes to assembling a design team do the projects determine who is called to the team or does the team determine the project? How much must do different disciplines cooperate when designing one common project, and how do they do so? What role do architecture and building construction students play in researching assistive technology? Which specialist actually produces and fabricates the design? Afterwards, will the patent be sold to a mass-producing company for profit? Lecture Two: AEC Industry Playback Brian Bowen’s presentation begins with the introduction of AEC Industry. He speaks on the integration between architects, engineers, and constructors. The history of construction practices is explained by way of transitioning from classical to modern times. He mentioned the obstacles to integration that are caused by vast developing social trends. Some important terms mentioned in his lecture were turnkey, supply chains, extended enterprise, and alliance contracting. Look Up Turnkey—a project in which separate entities are responsible for setting up a plant or for putting it into operation Supply chains—logistics network, or supply network is a coordinated system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service in physical or virtual manner from supplier to customer. Extended enterprise—a company is made up not just of its employees, its board members, and executives, but also its business partners, its suppliers, and even its customers. Alliance contracting—is a commercial General Contractor that provides design-build, general contracting and construction management services Speculate How much of a disadvantage is it to be completely specialized in one area as opposed to being well-rounded but never narrow? How will the integration of disciplines affect the curriculum for graduating with a specific degree? What groups are trying to integrate the construction industry? Could integration possibly slow construction down? Lecture Three: GIS Playback Dr. French structured his lecture to focus on the discovery and application of geographic information technology. He started with different type of photos that were analyzed to determine the suitability of the land for habitation or construction. The use of this technology produces the idea of urban planning by allowing them to plan ahead to create urban areas that are environmentally friendly. Some important terms that were discussed are remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), lidar, and air quality. Look Up Remote sensing—short or large-scale acquisition of information of an object or phenomenon, by the use of either recording or real-time sensing device(s) that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object. Geographic Information System (GIS)—system for capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the earth. Lidar—an optical remote sensing technology that measures properties of scattered light to find range and/or other information of a distant target. Air quality—the composition of air with respect to quantities of pollution and is routinely compared with "standards" of maximum acceptable pollutant concentrations. Speculate What training or education is needed to enter the field of geographic information systems? Outside of architecture, engineering what other disciplines are involved within the development of geographic information? Is it common to update older models and applications with new data when newer data is received with GIS? How can this technology be applied to urban technology, and how could collaboration benefit this application? Assignment 09.09 - Critical Listening: Learning to Ask Good QuestionsLecture One: Classical Architecture Playback The lecture on Classical architecture was given by seven different speakers that came from within the M.S. Classical Design program. Each speaker introduced themselves by discussing which firms they worked for and what projects they had done at those firms. They expressed the diversity of classical architecture in the contemporary built environment. The speakers revealed some new terms which included TND’s and Mixed Use Neighborhoods. Look Up TND—A Traditional Neighborhood Development is a comprehensive planning system that includes a variety of housing types and land uses in a defined area. Mixed Use Neighborhoods—they are neighborhoods that consist of housing, employment, schools, parks, recreation, and shops. Speculate Is the Classical Architecture movement stronger than the Modern Architecture movement? Is there more of a demand for Classical Architects in different regions of the country? Is there a movement that fuses Classical with Modern Architecture? Lecture Two: Solar Decathlon Playback The Solar Decathlon is an international competition that is held in Washington D.C. The premise of the competition is create a solar powered zero energy home. Georgia Tech has competed in the past and is going up in a few weeks again. The team is composed of diversity students that span many different majors. The presenter spoke about the design and fabrication processes, and he also introduced some new terms which include grey water and off the grid. Look Up Reclaimed lumber— Wood that is salvaged from old buildings. It can be used in its current state for an antique finish or it can be re-milled to reveal different characteristics of the wood. Grey Water—Non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic processes such as washing dishes, laundry and bathing. Speculate Will the same concept apply to larger more traditional styled homes? How difficult is it to retrofit an existing antique house? Does the political term “global warming” influence the reason for the competition? Lecture Three: Digital Design and Manufacturing Playback The lecture’s primary purpose was to show how computer aided design is changing the designed and built environment. The presenter began by explaining the old fashioned way of using a linear design process. He then transitioned into how digital design and manufacturing bent the linear design and made it into a logical loop by computer simulation and rapid prototyping. Some new terms included g-code, 3 axis router, 5 axis router, local variation, and global variation. Look Up G-code—a common name for the programming language that controls NC and CNC machine tools by translating geometric data into a language that the machine can understand. CNC—computer numerical control, and refers specifically to a computer "controller" that reads G-code instructions and drives the machine tool, a powered mechanical device typically used to fabricate metal components by the selective removal of metal. Speculate How do the technologies change the relationship from the architect to the contractor? Is the term of Master Builder reemerging in the 21st Century? How do the technologies influence 20th century style? Installation One Description The clear polycarbonate structure is located on a brick patio directly outside of the College of Architecture West building. It starts on a concrete strip in a neat stack and then begins to expand into a fanlike structure. It then wraps around to the contour of the column and unravels into a mass that resembles an unraveled roll of ribbon. It continues to soar upwards until it is subdued by a horizontal concrete support beam. The polycarbonate beast is anchored to a horizontal support beam that is located directly above the other beam. The whole structure is made up of individual polycarbonate strips that are attached by rivets, nuts, and bolts. The differing shapes of the strips allows for a distinct change in appearance in different lighting conditions. In the morning and afternoon it has a dull luster and at night time it cast a heavenly glow on the surrounding buildings. Speculation I believe that the plastic structure was created to research effective abstract computer aided designs. The initial motivation of this project was to use a material that would produce different appearances at different times during the day. The use of clear polycarbonate allowed for the structure to be chameleon like. When I look at the installation I can visualize a few different objects. At times it appears as a coke bottle that has been melted, stretched, and twisted; at other times it looks like a grape bag that you would buy in a grocery store. If I had to give it a name I would name it the revolving coke bottle. Installation Two Description The three story wooden structure is located in the College of Architecture West building. It resides in a three story atrium. The structure appears to be a bench from the first floor; from the second floor, a wavy wooden canopy; from the third level, a soaring wooden comb grasping for dear life with a claw like grip. The structure itself is made out of half inch finished plywood. It resembles voluptuous wavy blonde hair that flows down from the third floor in a waterfall like manner. The structure is composed of 80 ribs each measuring a half inch thick. When it is viewed from the front it becomes translucent, but when viewed from the side it becomes a four inch wide block. Each individual three story high curvy rib is made up of a number of shorter sections that are connected at lap joints. Each shorter rib is cut with a different curve. The differing cuts on the small ribs make the whole structure conform to the ledges of each story as fabric would. Along the structure are metal rods that horizontally apply pressure to bend the ribs which results in an effect that looks as if someone is spreading a curtain slightly just to take a peak. Speculation I think that the wooden structure was erected to answer the call to create an installment that affects the whole building. However constructed, the structure must be continuous and connected. It must also have distinct differences at different locations but still appear to be a part of the whole. The design process was a collaborative effort. It was used to research people’s opinions on the use of wood in a designed and built environment. I think that the wooden structure most resembles a waterfall. I would name the wooden structure the falling bench. The name would fit because the legs for the bench appear to be compressed as a result of a rapid descent. Link to this Page
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