thesis - ”node+path”
Professors - brian squillace & sofia austrins
BORA thesis comprehensive studio 2018/2019
Portland is struggling with the consequences of its success. Rising housing costs are forcing our underprivileged and under-serviced residents to relocate to more affordable parts of the metro area, with a significant portion to “East County” - Rockwood, Gresham and other communities east of the city boundaries.
This project will take two building types that are essential for successful communities - affordable housing and libraries - and plan a hub site in East County to spark future investment in healthy urban development. The project aims to develop a holistic campus that anticipates what the future holds for these building types in our rapidly evolving modern society.
As this project aims to take on two building types; at the beginning of this year long process, I decided to team up with hopes to be able to tackle this giant project successfully. We felt that this project deserved more, it We felt that in order to be able to fully develop the site and successfully execute our holistic campus vision, it would be more strategic to each focus on one specific building type and work together with site development and concepts.
Site CONTEXT
Rockwood is a neighborhood located in the northwest section of Gresham, OR. The Rockwood neighborhood is situated in the zip codes 97233 and 97230. This neighborhood makes up much of the westernmost boundary of Gresham as it connects to Portland. The income range/ household median income falls below the average income for the Multnomah County area where it is located. Within the county, the areas in Rockwood are within the 10 lowest income zip codes east of the Willamette River.
Why is there a need for opportunity in this neighborhood?
Median Household earnings are 23% lower than other areas in the Portland Metro Area
In the last 20 years, 6 major chain grocery stores have closed.
Growing housing affordability crisis leads to renewed pressure on market rates, in an area where already 34% spend 50% or more of their income on rent.
To find out more about the neighborhood of Rockwood, you can visit the community research website I made at the beginning of this thesis studio.
DESIGN INTENT
What we strive to do:
Rethink the function of libraries as community hubs, in a new technology based world
Form a node that paths flow through and people gather
Establish an integrated living site where every resource needed can be found within walking distance
Create a sense of community
Initial Form Concepts
Form Finding - “Library as a Node”
TECHNOLOGY AT THE LIBRARY’S CORE
Technology is rapidly changing how we interact with not only each other but with spaces as well. With the help of technology we can find opportunities where it can enhance experiences or help users with specific tasks. One way to do that is to take advantage of data that is already available from the library.
The circulation core is one example of how interacting with technology can be used to enhance users experiences and encourages a “choose your own adventure” opportunity while still providing a fully accessible form of circulation.
01 - The ramp section of the circulation core would serve as the technology hub that would feature interactive screens. The screens would display data provided by the building, such as an interactive building map, “most popular books this week”, new things added to menu this week, etc.
02 - The stairs section would house some built in stacks - the stacks would be on a rotating cycle, featuring a new category of books each week.
Other Opportunities for Visualizing and Interacting with Data could be:
Immediate booking of private rooms through interactive screens, Checking out books, Interactive projections for teaching opportunities and Immediate response book way-finding.
Possible data that could be displayed:
Community calendar, Events happening at other library locations, available rooms, desks, etc, Number of books checked out today, Amount of people that have come in today, Specials at the cafes, etc.
EXPERIENTIAL INTENT
Section Vignettes
Materiality