Blog updates and evolution

silver lake reservoir

Two summer internships, two new cities, one urban design charette, and a gothic tower later, I’m finally ready to re-start the blog.  I’ve swapped the layout of the blog to something I hope will be cleaner to navigate and updated the “About” page to better reflect where I am in grad school.  Which, is both a good and a bad place to be.  One the one hand, I’m only four months from graduation and have completed 11 studios during the course of my seven year degree program.  On the other, I’ve only got four more months of what is supposed to be a 10 month thesis, but I’m not anywhere near the point of production that might suggest.

So here’s to restarting the blog for a distraction and an outlet to better understand my interests as I mix thesis research, Atlanta-rediscovery (being away for 4 months and then tucked into studio for another 4 really makes you loose touch where you came from), and job hunting this semester.

The new blog header photo is an aerial view of the SilverLake community I’m using for thesis research.  My thesis statement goes as follows:

Building multifamily housing side by side singe family housing in singularly zoned neighborhoods contributes to neighborhood richness by promoting sustainable urbanism. A mix of housing choices increases a neighborhoods density, diversity and affordability.

The Silver Lake community typifies this largely because it was built pre-Euclidian zoning, allowing apartments to co-exist with single family homes.  Its density is one of the highest in the city of Los Angeles, yet its one of the most prosperous.   This is due to the variety of housing choices available within the community that allows individuals in all stages of life to find affordable housing options suited to their needs.

 

Programming a vertical city.

From “Re-inventing the Skyscraper”, diagrams on vertical theory:

Starting to think about the skyscraper in terms of ‘variable linkages’ instead of shelving is helping tremendously. Using Kevin Lynch’s traditional paths, edges, nodes, landmarks, and districts in terms of vertical inhabitation will be useful for the massing stage we’re now in.

	What works is the idea of pulling traditional, horizontal urbanism, vertical; with linked, open spaces.
What doesn’t is the author’s literal transition of a historic city grid into a theme’d skyscraper. Eeeee gad! Officially creepy.

• Programming the variety of a city block into the sky,
• The elevator as the equivalent of the metro system,
• Visual connections at multiple levels instead of a singular, observation deck,
• Spatial folding to enable local conditions,
• Vertical land use mapping, a high rise matrix,
• Transitional areas switching between modes of circulation as where the opportunities lie.

Very useful.

 

koolhaas’ version of Dubai

  . . . includes a perfectly square grid, surrounded by a moat (from the NY Times article).  Need I say more?  In its isolation, this ‘urban block’ (ha) will only attract the global elite.  But maybe this is Dubai’s fuction.  It hasn’t yet been defined, but even so, those that work in services still need somewhere to live.  And that type of social density is born over time, not created through a single, grandiose architectural vision.   However, that being said, his version might induce less whiplash than what is currently on slate for construction.  In response to his research on the ‘generic city’ (here’s a student thesis project on the topic), OMA’s plan makes a point to include both generic, similarly massed towers that are juxtaposed with moments of pure gluttony.

One thing I agree with for certain:

 ’We always have to keep up a high alertness around a problem until it becomes more clear.’

-Koolhaas in his office, 2006.
Rem Koolhaas, Al Manakh, the 2007 edition is described as the first comprehensive guide to architecture and urban design in the The Gulf.

From the developer’s webpage:

Waterfront will transform an unprecedented 1.4 billion square feet of empty desert and sea into an international community for an estimated population of 1.5 million people that is twice the size of Hong Kong Island. Waterfront is being developed on the last 15km of natural coastline in Dubai.  This mixed-use development of commercial, residential, resort and amenity areas offering 250 master-planned communities . . .  will help Dubai in setting the standards in property development.

Thats for sure.   Does anything about that insta-mega polis just absolutely terrify you? Or am I just the wimp . . . ?

 

Ali Rahim is sex appeal

Residential Tower in Dubai, spaces sold “volumetrically” rather than “planmetrically”, just what the doctor ordered.

I’m seein’ some gothic in those curves . . . .