Model Progress

I have been working on an overall model of the site and surrounding area.  Looking at the surrounding landscape, buildings etc. will help to reveal new or unrealized possibilities. One of the main comments during the web-ex review was that I need to explore the potential of how large or far - reaching this idea can be.  he notion of the pedestrian experience is centralized in suburbia to consist of the parking lot and building.  Here, looking at a series of isolated spaces, there may be an opportunity to form connections using the spatial concepts outline earlier.

The model basically shows an almost 2 mile stretch along I-71 between two major exits.  My site lies between these two exits.  Within this area is also several gas stations, restaurants, Kings Island Amusement Park, several strip malls, a movie theater, an indoor water park, office buildings and a professional tennis center and golf course.  Likewise, there is a great deal of open space and asphalt parking.  The photos shown here are basically 1/2 of the model - 24x36 size - i will be finishig up the other half this weekend.  Put the two pieces together, I can get a snapshot of the area that other can visualize and understand.  I can then zoom in and create larger snapshot models or drawings and sections of areas, nodes, interesections, etc. that are key.  More to come..

Moving Forward...05.10.11

Going forward, I am looking to follow some of the suggestions brought up during the web-ex review.  There were three main suggestions that I will be following over the next three weeks:

1.       Explore precedents

2.       Truly understand the site and context

3.       Expand the scale and physical reach of the intervention on site

I’ve first started to look at some precedents that are relevant to the idea of a pedestrian experience within the suburban realm.  One of the suggested sites was the Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie, Illinois.  The shopping center was first opened in 1956 and it is unique in that it is an open air shopping center in which the pedestrian paths are oriented towards the interior of the site.  The buildings act as a buffer between the parking lot and circulation spaces.  This is interesting for several reasons.  First, the car is still, and will always be, the primary tool for accessing the site.  Once on the site, we exit the car and then proceed towards the interior spaces.  I am interested in how we transition from the car to the interior.  This process will influence and dictate the continuation of the pedestrian sequence going forward.  Another aspect of the site worth understanding is how the buildings and pedestrian paths work together.  The manner in which paths narrow and expand or how paths continue covered or uncovered offers visual variety to the user.  visual variety alone does not necessarily make a unique space, however it can serve as the foundation.

While looking at Old Orchard, I started thinking about some of the car-building experiences I’ve had in Cincinnati and did a quick study of 3 similar, yet very different pedestrian experiences.  Some parking lots provide defined paths to shelter and move us from one area of the lot to another.  Other lots offer nothing more than some striping on asphalt.  Is one experience any better than the other?  More importantly, I am interested in this first step in accessing the site / building - how does the building reach out and engage us and then lead us on a processional or sequential path?