Collages

Cold, Lonely, Wet, and Constricted: These words describe my impression of the site based on my first visit. The collage I created  visually expresses these words.

Cold - Glass of water with ice cubes.

Lonely - Lone glass of water with a shadow of a person that 
symbolizes "cold loneliness".

Constricted - The narrow/lone cobbled path.

Rain - Literal representation.

 Connection is the main topic of my second collage. I chose to go in a "scientific"  visual representation. My main components that represent connection in my collage are: Molecules, Satellite/Dishes, Visual Connection, Nerve, and DNA strands.

Molecules - represent connection in themselves.

Satellite/Dishes & DNA Strands - represent connection because even though they are far away from each other, they are still able to interact in a way that we cannot see but I represented the connection with DNA strands.

Visual Connection & Nerve - I chose to represent this with side x-rays of a head on opposite sides and showing the visual connection with a nerve which also connects and is what we need in order to make the visual connection.

   

My final collage is based on my program. I used the brain to represent the singular mindset that a Community Center tries to achieve and that is helping the community and its' residents. From that singular mindset comes the different components that aid in the process to actually achieve it. Since my Community Center is based in Red Hook, I represented it with a hook "tattoo" on one of the main arms but I also want to incorporate the other 4 boroughs of NYC and therefore represented them all of them with 5 main arms reaching for the singular goal.

 

Main Spaces

For this assignment, I analyzed the main spaces or spaces of major attraction in my program and researched a bit on how to design them. My research showed me the importance of scale, distance, positioning, and height of my spaces and/or objects within the space.

 

Matrix & Bubble Diagram

Waterfront Study

In order to have a better understanding of waterfront spaces and its development, we were broken up into groups and assigned a specific waterfront to research. The group I was part of chose the Seattle Waterfront.

 

Precedent Studies Summary

I have taken very few things from the Gleneagles Community Center. I like how the basketball court is the first room you see from the lobby especially now since NY is promoting being active and healthy but I feel like it lacks programs for helping out educationally.

 Kaufmann Community Center seems a bit less of a community center and more of a community theater. Its' dominating room is the theater on the second floor but it has nothing else to offer. I wasn't a big fan of the overall design and it really needs a more diverse program.

 

Karakida Community Center was a very peculiar case. It had a very weird shape with a dominant roof. It had a very diverse program that caters to anyone that visits from playing sports or just to study. What I took from Karakida was having a green roof but I want to not only have a green roof but design it in a way that visitors can walk on it and enjoy the feel of grass within a building.

 

L'empreinte was more of a hospitality building but since I was unable to find the second floor plan, I cant really say that it was only dedicated to that. It did kind of get me to start thinking on whether or not I should implement a restaurant or cafe in my program.

 

Newlands Community center looks very appealing. Even though its' floor plans seem very small, it still manages to have a diverse program. If I learned anything from Newlands, it was to make the most of every space no matter how small the site is.

 

Pensioners Community Center is more of a studying based center. From the plans and studies I did, Pensioners didn't have an outdoor playground or anything and it had no sort of green spaces. What I did like about Pensioners is that it had counseling offices which I think is a very important part of a program to help everyone of different ages.

 

Sunset Community Center was my favorite of all the community centers. Not only did it have a very diverse program, it also had a very interesting and appealing design. From Sunset, I learned different strategies of bringing natural sunlight into spaces from above and the sides. From all the community centers, Sunset will have a very big impact on my program and future design.

 

The program at Surry Hills was unique when compared to the others. It had a library which not only is an essential part of a community center but also an essential part of a community. It also dedicated a whole floor to a children's playground. If anything, I would like to include some sort of preschool or kids playground so that parents could bring their kids and at the same time take advantage of other programs offered.

 

Valley of Herault stood out because of its' courtyard. The way its' many buildings were organized to enclose a sort of "private" community center gave it a sense of closeness. One big thing that it had and that I would like to try to include in my program is a small medical center. Rarely any community centers had one and I feel that it makes the community center an even stronger presence in the community.

 

Williamsburg Community Center is an ideal depiction of what's big in Brooklyn, basketball. Its' dominating center piece is the basketball court in the middle and everything else branches out from it. I want to emphasize fitness in my program but I would like it to be more balanced and not one sided. One use that did stand out to me and that I want to implement in my design and program is housing certain venues. Williamsburg Community Center has hosted venues such as weddings, corporate parties and various others.

 

Overall, I have taken bits and pieces from every community center I researched and will be using them to design a community center that offers just about everything that everyone could use. It will have the best balance between education and fitness and it will also be useful to people of all ages in the community and hopefully the other boroughs.   

Circulation

Public vs Private Spaces