VOTE4CENTRIPETAL

vote here!

...with a little help from my friends

summer? what summer? it seems i'm not getting one this year. at least in the traditional academic sense of a summer ["break"]. long work days gave way to late work nights. lots of research, illustrator, photoshop, and tweaking rhino models [thanks to peter's processing power!]

following up on competition 1 of 4, here it comes...
straight from the pdf print shop.

#2.

another ideas competition meant our imaginations took the reins and ideas of celebration, unity, festival and broadcasting took over... holy rollers with joo-joo eyeballs. an information pavilion, yes, but also a advertisement to the city at large. kite power. water collection. bringing people together under one roof.

through muddy waters we mojo filtered... this is,
come together, right now [c]over me.

The Olympic Games unify the world in the spirit of healthy competition; inspired by this founding principle, "Come Together..." abstracts the symbolism of the interlocking rings, forming five bands which twist and merge into a unified composition. As a formal gesture the pavilion serves as a funnel, inviting spectators from the city into the charged interior; the reception desk, souvenir shop, and administrative facilities are housed under a twisting canopy, while the cafe spills out to engage the steps of the National Gallery- a place familiar to sitting and collecting.

The exterior of each band is populated with the flags of participating countries, forming a skin which reinforces the idea of cooperation and international competition. The interior is clad with printed and electronic display panels which aggregate on the underside of the cantilevered canopy, creating a large screen for live event display, replay, news, and interviews. The pavilion effectively communicates Olympic activities at the local scale and acts as a kinetic signifier at the urban scale, broadcasting the winner of each event to the city at large through the deployment of embroidered kites whose elevation is indicative of that countries respective ranking.

"Come Together..." employs sustainable design techniques in all aspects of the proposal; the structure is made of reclaimed aluminum, while the flags and kites are woven with a nylon/polyester blend made from recycled PET plastic bottles. Rainwater is channeled from the canopy down the walls and deposited into a water tank underneath the walking platform. Our renewable resource strategy capitalizes on the opportunities presented by this unique locale- the UK, situated in the high speed jet stream, is the eighth largest producer of wind power worldwide; in response, the pavilion is conceived as an energy-generating kite farm which holistically integrates concept and function while broadcasting to the city, celebrating the accomplishments of an international athletic competition.

"dualities in repose"

We're off an running for a crazy summer of competitions/collaborations. Here's the first in a 'quadfecta' of work that will [hopefully] get pushed out this summer - with some stellar results. First on the docket, I have joined Corey Gaffer of Gaffer Photography [and amateur landscape design] in a collaborative effort to create an imaginative design for SLANT.eu, an international competition on Landscape Architecture. This is our submission to the competition:

"Sitting on the bend of a river, a plot of land

lies vacant. Overgrown and derelict, the possibility for

regeneration is palpable as an engine for change and

growth. As the river cuts, a park will connect. Industry

and culture coalesce, through creativity, innovation and

active participation sprouting a green economy and

joining communities with healthy local food and access

to art while improving the ecological health of the river.

The park softens hard edges created by urban residences to the west, large cultural complexes to the east and the river embracing the site perimeter. The resultant softening creates a multitude of new relationships and accessibility with the waterfront. Physical access to the river, access to education and information regarding river ecology and access to jobs through community gardening reengage residents with water as a resource in a full range of social and recreational activities.

Strategic planting restores and refreshes the soil on site and filters runoff before entering the river maintaining and improving the health of the river as an amenity. Embedded within the comprehensive bioremediation strategy, implied program hugs the water’s edge. Soft delineations are marked through unique relationships to the riverfront; community garden, beachhead, and art island. The passive characteristic of the river reemerges in an active dialogue with the park user.

Conceptually, the park draws from the diverse strengths and unique potentials in the surrounding context to activate new public space: a confluence of culture, economic innovation and individual repose. Strategic design emphasizes the relationships between greater natural, social, civic, and economic ecologies: where dualities exist they are reinterpreted as strengths and harnessed to emphasize the unique characteristics of the site’s surrounding context.

The north end of the park extends the museum’s impact through the introduction of an outdoor sculpture park. Set among waving grass a prairie is peppered with sculptures to be discovered, viewed, engaged, and reflected upon. To further heightening views, an island creates a new platform for viewing one’s surroundings from a vantage point encircled by a wetland marsh. The sculptures occupy an ecotone from prairie to marshland: an extended threshold. Here birds, frogs, lizards and snakes call home.

The south end contrasts the individual intellectual experience with a community based garden and market. The transition is dappled with trees opening to terraced modules creating a tapestry of gardens and ponds aiding the cultivation of local food sources. Physically engaging with earth reconnects residents to natural processes and cycles of growth strengthening community and improving health for residents across the river. Through this haptic engagement, the community gardens create a new micro-economy for residents by growing and selling healthy, local foods.

Linking both ends,a primary path wends through the site amplifying the gesture of the linear park. A thick forest hugs the path offering a visual and acoustic buffer from the urban fabric. The path creates new connections and opportunities to experience the neighborhood along and down to the waterfront as one navigates the dualities of culture and industry. The result is a park where dualities converge in an area of tranquility to experience, appreciate, reconsider, enjoy and grow.

surplus to the rescue

while devastating in scope, a great opportunity - even necessity - exists to put concept to action. below is a terrific diagram from SEED, a group of researchers from clemson university, illustrating the surplus of shipping containers found throughout the caribbean.



their research is very graphic, informative, visual, and clean. great examples of innovative thinking. great opportunities available.

midway furniture project

as i alluded to in a previous post. russell mahoney is a recent graduate of the frank lloyd wright school of architecture. it's has been a long standing tradition for the apprentices to design and build structures to live in down in the desert. taking that mentality into midway's failing silo structure, he has designed a series of platform based on the principles of tinker toys. over-designed components allow platforms to be interchanged and elaborated as the need arises.





russell has been sympathetic to the historical fabric/enclosure that is the silo. light filters in through the clerestory windows near the top of the structure and filters down through layers of platforms creating a soft, pleasant and comfortable atmosphere for studying, reading and sleeping.



to elaborate on the education post by jessie [see below]. i feel like this is an excellent exercise for students to really engage in designing and building; something lacking, at least, in the education at uwm.

[ Photos copyright 2009 Russell Mahoney + Eric Oxendorf ]