P unctuated Mat
A H eterotop i c Soc i al C ond ens er | P rog ram : P ub l i c Hy b r i d / Po ro u s E n cla ve The Del m ar L o o p , S t . L o u i s , M i ss o u r i Socially and urbanistically, Punctuated Mat is a strategy for increasing density and uniting disparate communities on a contested site. The Delmar Loop in St. Louis—a typical example of “Main Street USA”—is the city’s dividing line between low income African-American residents (to the north), and upper class and [upwardly mobile] middle class residents (to the south). A third community, a transient student population, lives along the Loop, and in the past twenty years a local university has purchased significant amounts of real estate on the north side of the dividing line, re-purposing this property as student housing. These 3 communities, augmented by suburbanites who visit the Loop as a weekend or evening destination, mix and often clash, resulting in increasing degrees of regulation on and around the Loop, which are directed primarily at the low income residents to the north. Architecturally, the mat-building type is utilized for its ability to fill in voids within the urban fabric, and as a field-like framework that can accept and mediate diverse programs, activities and users. Early conceptual models focused on finding reciprocity between distinct systems within a cubic matrix. The relationships developed in the cubic studies informed the spatial and organizational qualities of the mat.
Plan 00
Plan 01
Opaque Black + Translucent Red
Translucent Corrugated White
Translucent Blue
Opaque Perforated White
Roof Plan Material and Spatial Systems Integration