Review Recap
Spring is in the air here in Ames--the sun is shining, the icy sidewalks are thawing, the temperature is climbing up to the 40s and beyond, and today, I walked to class in a light jacket instead of a heavy down coat. Between this glorious weather, the search for a summer internship, making plans to visit old friends, and the end of midterms, everything seems to be full of promise and potential. And our studio project is no exception.
On Friday, we presented the development of our proposal so far, both to Ken and to guest reviewers. Most of our feedback was positive, but there are clearly a few kinks to iron out.
One of our major design problems is that the site location is a little...unattractive. The four borders of the site connect to a parking tower on the north, a county jail on the east, the backside of City Hall to the south, and a giant parking lot to the east. Although we are trying to increase density by adding more housing, this is a hard sell in many ways because who wants to wake up every morning and look at a parking garage? The obvious answer is that the activated alleyway we are proposing will provide amazing views, but this is problematic in terms of urban design--we cannot turn our backs on the surrounding environment; we must embrace our context. So how do we handle it instead?
So far, we have tried to address the views issue by sensitively organizing the housing. By putting circulation on the east side for apartments along that street, we have ensured that no one will need to gaze out their bedroom window at the jail. By solidifying walls on the west side, we have created views of the social club and of City Hall instead. It's better than nothing, but it's still not perfect. However, I personally believe that if the alley is interesting enough, and the apartments necessary enough, then we will be able to make potential users very happy.
We had a few other minor points of modification--our eastern facade needs to be more engaged with the city; our presentation didn't show enough context (or show it clearly enough). Another problem we're running into is the transformer on-site. One reviewer recommended that we turn it into public art; another suggested we just cover it up completely. Again, as in the case of the jail, there is a question as to who wants to live by a transformer. But again, I feel that this simply goes with the territory of living in an urban environment, particularly in the downtown core. If we make the apartments beautiful and functional and fill the community's need, I think there will be many people who want to live there. The question is getting the design to that point.
