Design 5: The Urban Research Studio
Fall 2015
Design 5, the Urban Research Studio, focuses on placemaking within the city as it pertains both to the temporal and the permanent. Through a series of five projects, we were able to apply the comprehensive research we had compiled to inform a mixed-use commercial building at 1527 Walnut Street in Center City Philadelphia.
The semester began with an examination of urban systems including air, food, water, education, refuse, and the topic my group studied, transportation. A comprehensive study of a fifteen-block path through Center City, our transect, followed. The transect allowed us to examine a more in-depth cross-section of these systems as they pertained to our transect path and our site.
In late September, we embarked on a one-week design charrette under the guidance of two guest professors from Finland and in conjunction with our Building Technology course. This project was a temporary pop-up installation at 1527 Walnut which was to make use of both natural daylighting and artificial lighting strategies.
Our fourth project involved developing a program proposal for a permanent building on the site, something we had never done before. Seven teams of two developed proposals ranging from low-income housing to recreation centers, but the proposal the class decided on was a mixed-use commercial building we titled "Grow & Tell." The project is a combination of a food market, educational space, and a restaurant including both commercial and instructional kitchens. The purpose is to immerse the patron in the urban system of food through exploring its multifaceted aspects.
The program proposal and document was developed as a group but interpreted as individuals. My personal take on the program was that education should be present throughout, rather than solely in distinct spaces, and should be experienced by the patron as he or she rises through the space.
What follows is the process that the Urban Research Studio followed throughout the Fall 2015 semester.
