Reynolds, Jake : Assignments

Reynolds, Jake : Assignments

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Fifth Street: A Connection Between City and Campus

As I make my way down Fifth Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, I can’t help but notice all the shops, restaurants, buildings, people, and cars that bring Fifth Street to life. Beginning at the old Biltmore Hotel and ending at the new Klaus Advanced Computing Building on Georgia Tech campus, one can begin to notice the purpose and function of Fifth Street as a connector between the city of Atlanta and Georgia Tech. Fifth Street, however, did not always serve this purpose. So then why has so much time, effort, and money gone into transforming Fifth Street into becoming a gateway into the Georgia Tech campus? When one begins to analyze Fifth Street through filters such as the street as a public space, a social institution, a space with multiple functions and uses, and the street’s physical and material characteristics, one can begin to see how Fifth Street serves as a connection between the city and the campus. By just looking at the starting point and the very end of Fifth Street, one can begin to reveal its purpose. Beginning at the historic Biltmore Hotel and ending at the very modern and technological Klaus Advanced Computing Building, one can see how the street serves as a connection portal between the old and the new; between the city and the campus. The old Biltmore has been an historic Atlanta landmark for years, while the Klaus Advanced Computing Building was just recently built on Tech campus with the latest technological innovations throughout the building. The one thing that connects them both though, is Fifth Street.

Walking down Fifth Street one can see that it is obviously a public space. There are all different kinds of people walking up and down the sidewalk and cars driving, turning, and parking on the street. The entire street is a mass of people during the busiest hours of the work week. I visited Fifth Street at the beginning of the day at nine in the morning. The one thing that I noticed was the difference between the two different ends of the street separated by the interstate. On the west end of Fifth Street I noticed it was a more college-like atmosphere. There were students walking up and down the street, backpacks on their backs and books in their hand. Some where waiting for the bus and others were conversing with their friends. As I made my way over the interstate I noticed the street was filled with a more diversified group of people. The students were still there, however, there were also business men and woman making their way to work with Starbucks coffee in hand. There were homeless people begging for change and other people making their way through the day. This difference in types of people from one end of the street to the other begins to show the connection between city and campus. A transition in types of people can be seen as one makes their way down the street. This is an interesting aspect of Fifth Street in that the urban planners and the street designers cannot plan for it. It is a consequence of the buildings that surround the street and the reactions of the people to those buildings.

On the east end of Fifth Street I noticed the sidewalks are unusually large. I began to ask myself, why are the sidewalks there and how come they are so large compared to the other surrounding sidewalks? The main function of a sidewalk is to serve as a separator between pedestrians and traffic on the roadways. The sidewalk on Fifth Street, though, has many other purposes. Its wide form is designed for the amount of foot traffic in the mornings. As I stated earlier, the east end of the street is filled with a more diversified group of people, causing the need for more room on the sidewalk. Also on the east end of Fifth Street I noticed many different shops and restaurants lining the sidewalk. The one thing that jumped out at me the most was the uniformity of the buildings down Fifth Street. Each building is perfectly inline, neither protruding nor recessing further away from the street than the building next to it. This causes the street to look straight, linear, and uniform as one makes their way down the sidewalk. The linear direction of Fifth Street adds an aesthetic value to it and causes the street to better serve as a metaphorical connection between the city and the college campus.

The shops and restaurants that line the east end of Fifth Street are a major attraction for the students of Georgia Tech and other Atlanta citizens alike. Looking at these establishments I wondered why the businesses that are there…are there. The buildings that these businesses are in are owned by Georgia Tech. So the college had a say into what type of establishments can occupy their space. The shops and restaurants that are there all tend to have an appeal to a young college student. A pizzeria that serves beer on tap and offers hookahs to enjoy while you wait, a Southwestern burrito style restaurant with a youthful atmosphere, a nail salon, and a Starbucks coffee shop are some of the businesses that line the east end of Fifth Street. Each one of these has a specific appeal to a college student. Whether to enjoy a beer and a slice of pizza after class, or a grande latte at Starbucks to kick start a Monday morning. Even though these shops are open to the entire city of Atlanta, they still tend to cater to a young college crowd. This begins to materialize as another example of the connection between city and campus that Fifth Street offers.

As I began to walk away from the shops and restaurants and towards the campus of Georgia Tech, I began to notice some differences in the buildings that line the sides of Fifth Street. On the west end of the street fraternity and sorority houses align the sides rather the shops and restaurants at the east end. I began to notice how different these buildings appear to the passerby. The shops and restaurants have large windows that allow one to look inside and see either the objects they are trying to sell and/or the atmosphere they are trying to portray. For example, Ray’s Pizzeria has large televisions on the wall playing football games and beer taps on the wall. You get the sense you are being invited in and as if the building is saying to you, “Hey, come on in, have a seat, spend some time with us”. However, as I passed the fraternity houses on the west end of Fifth Street I did not get the sense of openness and invitation. The windows on the buildings were much smaller, and the windows they did have were mostly covered up by blinds, allowing no one to see what was going on inside. It gives a sense of privacy and keeping what is inside in and what is outside out. This is just another example of how Fifth Street transforms from a city street to a college campus street.

As you make your way across the Fifth Street Bridge from the east end of the street to the west end you begin to feel as if you are entering into the Georgia Tech campus. The bridge itself is a marvelous feat of design and engineering and serves many purposes as well. As I walked across the bridge though, I began to wonder why so much money was poured into this project when there was a perfectly functional bridge here in the first place. Looking at pictures of the old Fifth Street Bridge I noticed how old and decrepit the bridge looked. It seemed too old and maybe too city-like. It just did not have that college campus feel that the bridge has now. When the entire street serves as a connection between the old and the new and the city and the campus, the street has to have a bridge that incorporates that metaphor as well. The main change for the bridge is how wide it has become. When I walked across the bridge I noticed I could not even see the interstate below me. I believe this helps to incorporate the metaphor of city to campus. You get the sense you are leaving downtown Atlanta and entering Georgia Tech. If you could see the one thing that screams “city” below your feet, that feeling would be lost. The wideness of the bridge also seems to aid in noise reduction. The sounds of the cars speeding below are not as deafening as they are on the North Avenue Bridge. Again, facilitating the feeling you get as you walk across the bridge. Other additions to the bridge are the plants, benches, and artistic structures that line the sides of the bridge. The plants have a definite anti-metropolitan city aspect to them and a more college campus feel. The structures that align the sides of the bridge resemble a covered walkway; however they are not covered at all. I am not sure that they serve any functional purpose at all other than an aesthetically pleasing object to look at while you cross the bridge.

An interesting time to visit Fifth Street is during a home football game. It is interesting how the street is completely transformed during a festivity of this kind. The street is closed off to through traffic and many people walk in the street rather than on the sidewalk. The separation of pedestrian and traffic has been completely eliminated. The grass along the sides of the bridge serves as a gathering point for tailgaters and also helps incorporate the college campus aspect of the bridge. The restaurants are filled with friends and family and the bookstore is packed with Georgia Tech fans young and old. Game day on Fifth Street looks more like a campus street than a city street than any other day of the year. Almost everyone walking up and down the street has gold shirts, yellow wigs, and Georgia Tech apparel galore. It is a complete one hundred and eighty degrees from a busy Monday morning.

After observing Fifth Street at all these different points in time, I began to explore Fifth Street as purely a dimensional object with physical and material characteristics. The street itself is made of asphalt, as all major streets today are. Asphalt is the ideal material for a roadway because it is flexible enough to withstand the weight of the cars and trucks riding over it everyday. It is also impervious to water which allows it to resist deterioration due to rain, and the smoothness of the asphalt is ideal for the driver also. The sidewalks that align the sides of the street are made of a few different types of material. There are bricks that make for a decorative walkway, along with concrete that produces a pleasant contrast with the bricks along side it. Any street in America has some sort of regulations also. One of the regulations that make up Fifth Street is the width of the street itself. It has to be a certain width for cars to drive by each other, while having enough room for cars to park in the designated parking spaces along the side of the street. There are metered parking spaces that allow only one car to park there a specific amount of time, as well as bus stops that allow the trolley to get out of the way of traffic to pick up and drop off students. There are stop lights that prevent traffic accidents, pedestrian crosswalks and crossing signals, street lights to light up the sidewalks at night, and signs and maps to help people find their way around the city of Atlanta or the Georgia Tech campus. Another interesting regulation of Fifth Street that I found was the fence around the restaurants’ outdoor seating areas. I wondered why that was and found out it was a Georgia state law. If an establishment wishes to serve alcohol outdoors, there must be a designated fence that borders off the area of service. I believe these fences also perform other duties as well. It gives the sense of inclusion while you are eating at these places, and the sense you are bordered off from the rest of the street even though it is merely a step away. These outdoor seating areas are an important part of the makeup of Fifth Street. They give it a feel of a street in Europe with all the fashionable outdoor cafes with people conversing over a cup of coffee, and all the trees and shrubbery that align the sides of the street.

Fifth Street is a marvelous place to explore at any time of the day. It is one of those places in downtown Atlanta that has undergone an enormous amount of change within the past few years. An incredible amount of time, effort, and money has been utilized to change Fifth Street into something city and campus planners feel is very important. But what is that something? Exploring Fifth Street through several filters such as the street as a public space, its material and physical characteristics, and how humans interact with the street on a day to day basis, one can begin to reveal its true purpose. Fifth Street itself is a metaphorical connection portal between the city of Atlanta and the Georgia Tech campus. Although the street is well on its way to accomplishing this goal, there is still construction being undergone on Fifth Street to this day. The jury is still out on whether or not Fifth Street will be complete after this next phase of construction is finalized, however, I believe its ultimate goal of becoming a connection between the city and the campus has been successfully achieved.

Architecture: The Discipline, the Profession, the Program at GT
Some of the key concepts presented in the Architecture lecture are mentioned on the first few slides. “What distinguishes a work of Architecture from an ordinary building?” She goes on to ask two important questions to try and answer this topic: “How should we build here and now?” and “What kind of world are we shaping?” The last question is an important one and ties in with Churchill’s famous quote, “We shape our buildings, and then they shape us”. When we build a building we are not just placing a slab of wood and concrete on a piece of dirt, we are shaping the world around us, shaping how we see this particular area, and shaping the world around us for generations to come.

Churchill’s “We shape our buildings, and then they shape us”: He said this famous quote after the town of London, and Parliament itself, was almost completely destroyed by German bombers. The government wanted to rebuild Parliament and make it not so crowed and more like America’s Senate. However, Churchill said that the way Parliament was built has shaped the way England became today. The original design of Parliament was rebuilt.
Chateau: The way the town is built is very interesting. As the lecture states, the “radial axes reinforce the absolute power of the King.” The palace is the central focal point of the town where the King has the best possible view of the town and of the gardens behind the palace.

University of Virginia: I did not realize the entire campus was first designed by Thomas Jefferson. The design reminds me somewhat of the town of Chateau in that there is a central focal point to the campus: the library. Instead of power and prestige being the focus of the plan, education was the focal point.

The primary disciplinary and professional issues of the Architecture program are, I think, intense creative thinking spread out over numerous years of school, study, and internships. To become a great architect seems to be one of the hardest things to do next to becoming a surgeon. You must think of not only the design, structure, and safety of the building you are designing, but also how this building will shape the world we live in for generations to come; whether it’s a two story house in suburbia or a giant skyscraper in downtown Atlanta.

Building Construction Program
The very first concept presented is Design – Build. Most people think that’s all the Building Construction industry is involved in. However, he goes on to elaborate more on the topic and add even more concepts and processes. The final process is: Urban Planning and Regulatory Agencies – Owner – Develop – Design – Build – Operate. He goes on to emphasize that all these processes must work together effectively to get a project done on time, and on budget. Good communication is key to the achievement of this goal.

Urban Planning and Regulatory Agencies: I wasn’t real sure what regulatory agencies meant but I did have an idea of what urban planning was about. Urban planning is, simply put, the design of a city. Regulatory agencies are those in the construction industry that deal with building permits, building codes, and zoning restrictions. Regulatory agencies are, specifically, the state and local governments.

Owner’s Duties and Responsibilities: At first I just thought the owner was the guy that came up with all the money to hire a GC and Architect to design and build him a building and that’s it. However, the lecture states that the owner “accepts bids, controls quality, and funds projects”. The owner must look at several different factors before he invests in a project. Is it economical? How can it be completed in the shortest amount of time? What is the safest method to construct the project? Is it environmentally and socially acceptable?

Types of Construction: The types of construction projects include residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, and engineering. Residential are those that include single family detached housing, apartment complexes, and condominiums. Commercial are business buildings that can be high rises, hospitals, or hotels. Institutional are schools, college campus buildings, and religious structures. Industrial can be warehouse, power plants, or chemical plants. Finally engineering facilities could be tunnels, dams, or bridges.

The primary disciplinary and professional issues for the Building Construction program are making sure there is excellent communication between the phases of completing a project. Whether it is communicating with the architect during the design phase of the project, or communicating with the owner prior to the signing of a contract. Communication is key, and without it the project is doomed to failure.

Industrial Design Program
The lecture starts out by defining the broad term “design”. What is design? According to the lecture, design means “considering the aesthetic, functional, and many other aspects of an object, which usually requires considerable research, thought, modeling, iterative adjustment, and re-design”. When you design an object you must not only consider the way it looks and how it will appeal to customers, but you must also take into consideration its functionality and how it will interact with whom or what is utilizing it. The lecture than goes on to define the concept of Industrial Design, it states that ID is “the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer.” The key concept that I picked out of this definition was the “mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer”. I thought it was an interesting way of looking at industrial design. A designer, in fact, must take into consideration how the product will benefit the company he or she is working for, but also how it will benefit the user. There seems to be a delicate balance between the two.

Industrial Design: I had an idea of what industrial design was about but I didn’t really fully understand it. The definition that he gave clearly showed me what the program was all about. Designing a product deals not only with the customer, but also with the manufacturer. It can be a broad range of products from the chairs we sit in to the cars we drive.

Product Design: Like industrial design, I had somewhat of an idea of what product design was. I thought it just involved designing products that we, the consumer, can use for our benefit. However, the term product design is defined more specifically by Abir Mullick as the “design of manufactured things (not necessarily mass manufactured) that adds value, increases usability and simplifies life through improved human-product interaction”.

Work of Industrial Designers: Industrial design can cover a broad term of topics. My main question was: What do industrial designers design exactly? In the lecture it covers a list of fields an industrial designer can venture into; including consumer products, electronics, toys, medical products, transportation, furniture, computers, and many other things as well.

The main disciplinary and professional issues that Industrial Design faces I think are, like architecture, intense creative thinking over a long educational career. Thinking of ways to design a product better than the one already on the market or one that doesn’t even exist seems like a near impossible task at this moment. However, through years of learning and training at a top institution like Georgia Tech, I believe one can come out of the Industrial Design program a very capable designer.

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