| bc on Tue, 31 Dec 2002 19:26:55 +0100 (CET) |
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| <nettime> WTC design notes w/images (2/2) |
[BCC'd to architects involved in the latest WTC proposals] This e-mail culminates the general feedback from the newest WTC planning proposals for redevelopment. In the Long Notes, each proposal was evaluated in terms of its positive and potentially negative aspects, in addition to what the proposals shared in common. It can be found online in the Design-List archives [1]. First, a bullet list of short notes is presented, followed by a visual critique of 'the reinvention of the skyscraper' with respect to the former WTC site, known as ground- zero. It compares what the WTC was like on the site, with the proposals, and asks a general question about the utility/ability of very-tall buildings, as a typology on this specific site, to be able to convey intended meaning. A hybrid architecture, developed using the most innovative aspects from each WTC proposal, is proposed as counter- point to the skyscraper typology, with the addition of the 'skyscraper' as a dual-use linking device, benefiting inter-building safety and multi-zoned programming. [2] =========================================== I. general design issues: towards hybrid architectures =========================================== * idea of linking many buildings into one * WTC footprints proportional to buildings * collaborative, many architects/architectures * open development/open architectural design * skyways used for safety and city networking * mid-height buildings better for viewing footprints * park extends around WTC building footprints * new buildings around the periphery of site * corner placement/directionality of site plan * design below-grade, at-grade, above-grade * phased zoning, from memorial/park outward * above ground promenade/walkway/bridges * mid-sized buildings with introverted crowns * skyways/skybridges for inter-building transit/safety * mixed-use zoning/programs across multiple buildings * memorial above/below ground voids, translucent pools * ramp element symbolic, related to procession * sustainable design with light, wind, water * landscaping of both inner/outer environments * public park amphitheater as cultural place * wilderness park structurally elevated above site * transformative development, over time/decades =========================================== II. sections & elevations of new hybrid architectures =========================================== [Preface: using a mouse and Photoshop LE seemed the easiest way to share these ideas. Thus, they are not very precise in terms of scale or precision, but are approximate to the question of the WTC site, and the recent proposals. This general exercise was undertaken to demonstrate how traditional skyscrapers relate to an openly-wounded site, and its intimate embrace and regeneration, versus that of an impersonal scale of modernistic machine proportions.] -- a) former World Trade Center section with backdrop elevation <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/wtcsectionelevation.gif> b) the current, empty ground zero site, section & section/elevation <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ground0section.gif> <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ ground0sectionelevation.gif> -- c) generic skyscraper 1 components: multiple buildings around periphery <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/generic1section.gif> d) generic skyscrapers 1: relation to the memorial site and rest of NY city <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ generic1sectionelevation.gif> -- e) generic skyscraper 2 components: bridges between multiple buildings <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/generic2section.gif> f) generic skyscrapers 2: relation to the memorial site and rest of NY city <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ generic2sectionelevation.gif> -- g) generic skyscraper 3 components: medium buildings with sloping crowns, walkway/promenade above streets, unoccupied 'tall' (antenna) corner building <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/generic3section.gif> h) generic skyscrapers 3: relation to the memorial site and rest of NY city <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ generic3sectionelevation.gif> -- i) generic skyscraper 4 components: elevated park with built transparency <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/generic4section.gif> j) generic skyscrapers 4: relation to the memorial site and rest of NY city <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ generic4sectionelevation.gif> ------------------------------------------ At this point, to sum up the above examples, the effort to place a very tall building on the site tends to create a 'peak' as a central focus, and the scale tries to match that of the former WTC towers. A general strategy is found when placing buildings on the outer edge of the site, with a below ground memorial. Transparency in the building allows the rest of the city to enter into the site. Bridges allow communal aspects between buildings on the site in addition to safety aspects. The 'crowns' or tops of medium-sized buildings that slope in towards the site bring focus to the memorial below. Yet, it is the skyscraper buildings which dominate the memorial site, and if sectional space were air, there is little of it to breath. If one were to stand below these 1000 foot structures, on the site and look up from a memorial, it would be a sense of imposition and the relation of an individual to a modern architecture of steel, glass, and technology, not of humans and the tragedy of 9/11, which should be the focus. Not the skyscraper as building type. Therefore it is proposed that in mixing these positive elements, a hybrid architecture could be proposed which approximates how these different elements might work together for a unique collaboratively designed architecture, where many architects and architectures, developers, planners, and engineers can work together in an open architectural development, working in the realm of sketches and improvisation, to ask questions...] Note: Peaking versus Valleying in this hybrid city-architecture... a) WTC as (filled, human-made) peak as its symbolic-value... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/wtcsectionelevation.gif> b) Ground-Zero as Valley (emptiness) as its symbolic value... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ground0section.gif> <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ ground0sectionelevation.gif> ------------------------------------------ new hybrid architectures ------------------------------------------ k) hybrid architecture components: 2 story elevated park with memorial footprints and below-grade voids, small immediate buildings, small-medium buildings directionally step backward around periphery of the site, keeping the site empty, preparing it as a giant volumetric square... walkway bridges street traffic... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/hybridsection.gif> l) hybrid: buildings around the immediate site are also related to it <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/hybridsectionelevation.gif> m) hybrid: employing 'skyways/skybridges' [2] for safety, transport, and commerce, the different buildings and communities around the site link together as a network city, offering new zoning possibilities... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/hybridgroundzerosite.gif> n) network city: the new city as network grows through new linkages... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/hybridcityskyscraper.gif> o) network city: over time, these structural links transform the city... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/hybridnetworkcity.gif> p) network city: decentralized zoning/building programs develops... where buildings/people are networked together w/others elsewhere... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ hybriddistributedzoning.gif> q) hybrid architecture: an elevated multi-tiered city-park of roof gardens... linking into larger networks and park systems using inside/outside paths... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/ hybridtieredcityparksystem.gif> r) skyline: night view of the network city and its hybrid architecture, using strips of light in common on buildings, new and old, to glow with a light regenerated in the valley, a city becomes a skyscraper... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/skyline1.gif> s) the symbolic WTC, a memory to many, now memorialized... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/inversion.gif> t) skyline: the below-ground memorial voids glow with light through translucent pools, on overcast nights faintly touching clouds above... <http://home.earthlink.net/~aetherica/hybrid/skyline2.gif> ------------------------------------------ It is possible that by questioning the skyscraper as a building type, just as with other highly-centralized planning systems, that an inversion of this traditional model, in a decentralized network that links together various buildings, could approach the issues which are to be addressed in a multi-community,-phased, -zoned, -designed redevelopment plan for the ground-zero memorial and surrounding area, with economic, social, and cultural factors of highest importance. Please consider the hybrid architecture model as an alternative to the skyscrapers that are ubiquitous in your designs and future decisions. It is a sketch, a question, not an answer. It does not seek to fill-in places already full with meaning, but to revere a special place build around it. bc <http://www.electronetwork.org/> initial WTC Memorial Park redevelopment proposal <http://not-ground-zero.org/bc/brian-carroll.htm> =========================================== [1] The original 'Re: WTC design reflections (long notes)' e-mail resides in the Design-List for art & architecture archives, at: <http://lists.psu.edu/archives/design-l.html> Each proposal is referenced/evaluated by specific slides: <http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0212&L=design-l&F=&S=&P=11746> [2] An e-mail about how skyways and skybridges could be used for both new and old buildings, for fire safety, building evacuation, multiple zoning, and new transit and building-to-building relationships (networking) can also be found in the Design-List archives, at: <http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0212&L=design-l&F=&S=&P=12294> -- [copyright free 2002. open-design/development. images are temporarily online, if archiving, please download.] # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net