Thursday, December 17, 2009

Final Boards

the Town and Gown project was always changing for me throughout the semester, and here are my final boards..

the site I spent the most detail on and I enjoyed working on was the Taco Bell site across the Pioneer Building (I called this my "New and Transportation" project)

the other two sites were the Taco John's location which was my "Infill" project

and the Union Storage site which was my "Renovation" project

each site is explained in the boards on how they incorporated my proposals for the "Should/Shall" lists for future developement in Fargo Downtown

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Fargo's Future..

Potential Design Guidelines

· Each site should have a zone of at least 30% green space

· Parking lots hall have illuminated sidewalks

· Each parking space shall be owned

· Set aside truck parking areas

· Shall offer parking lot buffer requirements

· Should offer a parking time limit plan for street parking and perhaps no parking near residential units

· Any lots vacant after demolition shall be paved and landscaped to ensure a dust-free surface

· Landscape buffers may be installed or preserved along lot lines adjacent to any zoned property

· Provide bus stop/wind shelter

· Allow the sense of time to show through for existing architecture while designing with a conscious mind for the future

· Each building shall maintain an understanding of past traditions of building self-sustaining architecture and try to incorporate a few concepts of sustainable architecture and topophilia in each space to encourage a healthy spirit in each place being built

· Determine the material palette for each building according to surrounding context

· Determine the scale for each building according to surrounding context

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Update on World Flavors Site Model...

Hello..
here is a little update on how the model is coming along..it may change here and there, but I just wanted to let you know how the building form is coming along and how I am dealing with the parking situations..

I will continue to work on developing this site along with the other sites..














the image above displays a skywalk connecting my site to Matt's site...we are still developing our programs in our buildings, and maybe this might be a cool connection for students to use between each project














above is an image that shows the green space I am still developing for the students to socialize...












the last image shows how where I am so far in this process, I am developing a parking garage next to my buildings...and am still working out a few circulation issues throughout the project..

Friday, October 2, 2009

Hulsing and Associates Firm














Here is the block containing the Lightbenders office and the current business of Taco John's. I feel this would be a good location for a design-build firm such as Hulsing and Associates. Aspiring students just still in school for architecture or just getting their degrees would be good candidates here. Also, this building is near a residential neighborhood, so making it a mixed-use building for apartments on the second floor I thought would be a good idea.

First Floor:
Front part "Design":
-design offices
-studios (for interns)
-conference room
-display room
-break room/kitchen
Back part "Build":
-construction company
-SHP Engineering

Second Floor:
-mixed-use apartments
-single-unit and multi-unit
-low income and middle income

Roof:
-HVAC
-mechanical

LLevel:
-mechanical
-storage

World Flavors




















This site where the old Taco Bell used to be would be a great site for a food court/general education building. The location near the business and architecture schools makes the spaces within it more usable to the students as well. A heated bus stop will be put on the corner of 2nd Ave N and 10th St, just across this site to help students get from their dorms on campus to their classes downtown - especially in the winter.

First Floor:
-Pita restaurant (Pita Pit) - w/drive thru
-Thai restaurant
-Chicken restaurant (KFC) - w/drive thru
-Pizza/Mexican restaurant (Pizza Hut/Qdoba) - Qdoba w/drive thru
-Coffee place (Starbucks) - w/drive thru
-middle eating area blending all restaurants
-internet cafe/lounge area

Second Floor:
-general education classrooms (12)
-auditorium















angle of drive-thru entries

Music Social














The Union Storage Building has a lot of great space around it that could be used as a concert space for artists passing through the F/M area. It is also sort of a split building that offers different uses and potential for socializing or parking.

First Floor:
The Box Space:
-Indoor Stage
-Concessions
The Social/Learning Space:
-merchandise
-gallery
-coffee shop

Second Floor:
The Social/Learning Space:
-music classrooms
-recording studios

LLevel:
The Box Space:
-storage
-mechanical
The Social/Learning Space:
-mechanical
-offices

Outside:
-stage for outdoor concerts

The Sites

Here is a summary of the sites that I have chosen for my Fall semester project.
  1. 10th St and 4th Ave N : Near site of current Taco John's restaurant and Lightbenders office. I am making this my "Infill" project. I believe it would be a good site for design-build firm that would give opportunities to the architecture students at NDSU. The firm I chose was the one that gave me an opportunity to intern for them my third year - Hulsing and Associates.
  2. 10th St and 2nd Ave N: Site of the former Taco Bell. I chose to make this my "New" site. I would like to see an food court that has international restaurants in it. I am thinking of calling it "World Flavors".
  3. NP Ave and 10th St: Current site of Union Storage Building. I am doing a "Restoration" project on this building. The plan here is to make this building into a Musical Social space that would allow people of all ages to come and either record music, learn how to play instruments, or go to concerts.