DesignThinking- thesis- FatemehShirpour

c o l e c t i v e l i v i n collectiveliving

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f atemehshirpour

D e s i g n Th i n k i n g Gines Garrido- Ben Arenberg

SamFoxSchoolOfDesign&Visualarts WashingtonUniversityInSt.Louis

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the spirit of a city the corporeal city the insoluble particle solution dilution site speculation program

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A city is the place of availabilities. It is the place where a small boy, as he walks through it, may see something that will tell him what he wants to do his whole life.

Louis Kahn

set model of the movie: REAR WINDOW

the spirit of a city

I

the spirit of a city > to share When human felt the need for sharing with others, he started living close to others and shaping the cities. people have always shared science, expertise, tools and beyond the primary needs, they have been able to share their deep personal feelings and thoughts in order to conduct a collective living. considering each person has a world based on his personal experience and imagination, collective living in a city lets uncountable number of worlds of residents, overlap and shape a maze of possibilities and availabilities.

Thus, the spirit of the city is the immaterial relationship in the air, which mostly indwells in between the buildings.

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the spirit of a city > social poetics collective living “provides members of the community with a sense of comfort, understanding and unity, but what makes it possible is “cultural intimacy”. social poetics could be thought of as an expressive form of cultural intimacy.

Herzfeld explains that what makes something socially poetic is the dynamic between the invention and the convention. in other words, it is the result of the creative attempt to break the rules (invention), without actually breaking it. in the practice of everyday life , Herzfeld’s concept of social poetics shows that the furthest one can go in taking risks in breaking the rules without actually breaking them, the more poetic the system of social interaction becomes.” - Non Arkaprasertkul, The social poetics of urban design Alfred Hitchcock in the Rear Window movie, has nicely pictured the vivid life of people inside their personal lives, which is pouring out from the windows of their homes, into the middle space, the city.

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panorama image of a scene of the movie: REAR WINDOW

scenes of the movie: REAR WINDOW

the spirit of a city > poetics in an industrialized city in the era of industry, the window which could give its warmth safety and light to the city, was suddenly alienated and the life of the building was imprisoned. as Edward Hopper illustrates this imprisonment in many of his paintings, he disciplines a world in which even the art viewer becomes a voyeur who must confront the fact that looking has become an invasion of privacy and an admission of estrangement. a world in which people are swallowed up by the forces beyond their control. instead of turning the modern Brooklyn bridge into a new Gothic cathedral of industrialization, hopper emphasizes its unheroic qualities and places a solitary pedestrian on the Manhattan bridge loop, thus dwarfing him with acres of concrete. the breadth of the picture acts as a wide- angle lens to emphasize the fact that cities can be uneventful and dehumanizing, while picturing “the loneliness of the large city.� - Robert Carleton Hobbs, Edward Hopper

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The morning sun, Edward Hopper, 1952

Manhattan bridge loop, Edward Hopper, 1928

Map of St. Louis 1790

the corporeal city

II

the corporeal city > St. Louis while the cities were organically shaped because of close settlements as a result of the need for sharing, American style cities, are shaped based on dividing.

On the new land of opportunities and resources, groups of people felt the need for dividing, to pursue the sense of ownership and belonging to the new place. A feeling which could make their footsteps deeper in this soil and through defining grids and separation could give them identity. moreover, considering the abundance of land and resources, could let the people own lands, as vast as they wanted. also, the coincidence of American cities establishment and the era of industrialism and the optimistic vision for it, fostered the growth of segregated cities. But today, in many different places, this separation has caused social and environmental issues, while there is still the possibility of sewing the buildings to each other.

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Old Map of St. Louis 1885

Old Map of St. Louis 1912

the corporeal city > city grain the fine miniature texture of the dwellings and the trees, whether dense or spread out, has the capability of allowing a natural collective living to happen, although not as simple as a dense fabric. but this grain is not the only particle of the city’s fabric.

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the corporeal city > industrial particles the fine grain of the houses and trees has become shredded by the street and enormous industrial areas which have placed most of the public buildings that people obviate their needs there. these complexes are built to be economical and beneficial to the industry more than human. therefore, these areas harshly hurt the connections and relations in the city. considering the buildings located in these areas and in an industrial scale and style, are mostly public buildings that people daily appear in them for obviating their needs, can be seen that the greatest chance for bringing people together is lost by these complexes change the collective living association. not only the basic daily needs, but the complex timeless mental and social needs of people could be obviated in the nodes of public complexes through the city, if they had considerations for human interactions.

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Map of St. Louis 1885

the insoluble particle

III

the insoluble particle > nowheres A free America, means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.

Frank Lloyd Wright the scheme of the public buildings is always a box, in the middle of a parking (= nowhere). Mostly, having the net of highways and expressways around, embolden and widen the gap. even if we imagine the whole city is consisted of these public buildings, still, they don’t give anything to the city. they are in the scale of industry and serve the industry. human does not have any value for them. and in fact, people serve these industries, they don’t serve people.

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“NOWHERE”s, everywhere in the city

Out of Scale Industrial Complexes

the insoluble particle > solution awake in the days that insoluble industrial style buildings and automobiles were taking over the modern cities, Louis Kahn, designed a master plan for Philadelphia. “by designing a civic center in the heart of the city, Kahn hoped to restructure the ways in which urban environments were experienced and he also wanted to recreate social spaces that would provide citizens with a sense of dignity. by not allowing cars to enter the city, he envisioned that citizens would experience the city differently - through a slow walking pace, rather than the speedy movement of the automobiles, and there would be more meaningful communication. he had also envisioned a ‘labyrinth of pedestrian ways threading in the environment of great buildings and varied activities’ by making an interplay of vertical and horizontal planes in different heights to foster the communication of architecture and people for whom they were created. “ -Non Arkaprasertkul, The social poetics of urban design,

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the civil core, master plan for Philadelphia, Louis Kahn, 1957

traffic study, master plan for Philadelphia, Louis Kahn, 1957

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solution

solution > relationships “when the isolation of man from things becomes destroyed: in that moment we discover the wonder of relationship between man and things. the moment in which we become aware of the fullness of life by cooperative action... the relationship between things and within things are of greater importance than the things themselves. one can express this awareness of relationships and one can also predict how they may develop.” therefore, no matter dense or spread out, the collective living is about the relationships inside and between the buildings and not the physical forms”. - The CIAM discourse on urbanism, 1928-1960, Eric Mumford

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solution > pace CIAM Alger has studied the genuine desert settlements and has referred to it as examples of perfect fit between forms, spaces, lifestyles, and nature. describing their approach toward the foreign culture as humble, they started out with the goal to recognize in the inhabitant of the man himself and to get to know him profoundly, and to consider the problem [of human inhabitation]... in its total reality its forms its multiple expressions and its life. the Algiers architects argued that the squatter houses displayed the fundamental relationship between architecture and people: its embodied a spontaneous life... breathed with man, and maintained a dignity. in an implicit critique of European modernism, the team maintained that their search allowed them to find their own selves’ in the modest habitats in the settlement. - Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, Team 10

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Mahieddine bidonville, Algiers, from the CIAM-Alger grid

solution > scale organic irregularity in the overall configuration of all genuine settlements is a result of growth from the dwelling unit, the human cell. the design process should move from the dwelling to the city in order to avoid inhuman scale, uniformity, rigidity, and the crushing of individuality and to achieve a dynamic harmony. - Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, Team 10

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Cluster of fold houses in West Burton, Yorkshire

Cluster of fold houses in West Burton, Yorkshire

Old city of Dubai

Old city of Dubai

solution > movement “ Golden Lane is a piece of connective urban form of sufficient size to match in scale those last pieces of urban- form invention. Stemming from the Golden Lane, Alison and Peter Smithson have invented a connectively inclined buildings in which it is possible to make neighborly contact in calm safety. the sense of connection within modern architecture is achieved in the act of extending the polemic.

The sense of continuity resides in the transmission of the energy of the spirit; that is, in the pitch of achievement. out of this deep sense of connection grew such concepts as cluster, identity, patterns of association.� - Alison and Peter Smithson, the charged void

Ideogram of street- twig as a unit of district (Peter Smithson)

Painting Ideogram, Cluster thinking, Typical of 1955 (Alison Smithson)

solution > energizing the void “If a building or an element of city is to give intellectual access to its occupants, access to their affections and their skills , access to their sensibilities, the fabric must have special formal characteristics.

Layering has such characteristics, for between the layers there is room for illusion as well as activity.� - the charged void, Alison and Peter Smithson

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Wedding in the city, Alison and Peter Smithson, 1968

solution > precedents In a contribution towards the repair of Worcester, MA, Alison and Peter Smithson have extended the existing and new passages to open possibilities for fresh uses that are yet to be found for places in disuse, the need to magic a change from abrasion by movement to new pleasures of movement.

The Pahlavi National Library, by Alison and Peter Smithson, is built on a set of public passageways that connect different parts of the city, providing a balanced internal climate for the public, while showing off different spaces of the library.

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Pahlavi national museum, Alison & Peter Smithson

The dray passages, Alison & Peter Smithson

dilution

V

VI

site

site > selection the Mark Twain and Walnut Park neighborhoods have been selected as the site. their fine tissue of the houses has a bold contrast with the very large scale cemetery and industrial complex that have surrounded them. this contrast, very well illustrates the concerns of this thesis.

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site > statistics the total of 9000 residents of these two neighborhoods are consisted of 99% African- American and 1% of white. the median income for residents (age 24-45) is about 28000. the total crime risk in this area is 622 which is 522 above the national average (100).

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Bellefontaine Cemetery established in 1849 314 acres Walnut Park Neighborhood 4130 residents

Mark Twain Neighborhood 4,936 residents

Mark Twain I_70 Industrial Complex

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site > life the neighborhoods, are very quiet while the residents can be seen, sitting on their porches or walking in the streets. little kids also hang out in front of their yards or at the only park of the neighborhood. many of the houses are abandoned. some of which are clean and normal, with only covered windows or doors, while on some, the sign of fire and destruction can be easily seen.

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Typical Houses in the Neighborhood

One of many Abandoned Buildings

Kids playing in sidewalks

Davis Park, the only park in neighborhood

site > public realm there are many public buildings located all over these neighborhoods which are mostly churches and schools.

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Prospect Hill Baptist Church

Baitul Hafeez Mosque

Northwest High School

Gregory J. Carter Park

Emmanuel Temple Church of God

Jubilee World Music Center Walnut Park Elementary School Smiley Manor Retirement Home Walbridge Elementary Community Ed. Messiah’s Tabernacle Mark Twain Elementary School North City Church of Christ

site > public buildings the school buildings, seem to be in good condition, but as many other public buildings in St. Louis, they are located in the middle of a large open space, and there cant be seen any activities around them. while the small commercial buildings have all the time several people around them, shopping or only interacting with each other.

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Walnut Park Elementary School (Author)

Slps Trans and Law Academy (Author)

site > Jubilee World in the middle of the neighborhood, the most eye-catching building is located which has been an orphanage for the girls. according to a history dating from 1899: this asylum, which is in charge of the Sisters of Charity, was founded in 1843. this complex operated as St. Mary’s Orphanage until 1952 when it became St. Mary’s Special School for Exceptional Children. In 1996 San Francisco Temple purchased the building to serve the North St. Louis City community. at this time, this building has been bought by an international non- profit organization, named: Jubilee World, which is a center for music and performing arts. on the same block, there is an elementary school and an elderly living building. - William Hyde and Howard Louis Conard, Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis

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Jubilee World Music Center Walnut Park Elementary School Smiley Manor Retirement Home

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site > the old building the property includes approximately 165,000 s.f. on 8.24 acres of fenced and gated land. This building consists of a main multi-level building, school house, power house, garages, pavilion, Olympic sized swimming pool, football field, gymnasium and field house with locker rooms, commercial kitchen, elevator, sanctuary, a multitude of bathrooms, fireplaces, kitchens, parking for 100. hot water heat and central air conditioning as well as modern updates make this property ideal for adaptive re-use as a school, non-profit, day care, wellness center, educational or religious organization, retreat center, assisted living, nursing or retirement Home.

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VII speculation

speculation following the ideas expressed through this book, about how the life of a building can pour out from it, make a middle space and inspire the city in many ways, the speculation, illustrates how this idea would work on this specific site.

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Jubilee World Music Center

Messiah’s Tabernacle

I Mobile Phone Shop

Union Market

Family Dollar Walbridge Elementary Community Ed.

Mark Twain Elementary School

North City Church of Christ

Smiley Manor Retirement Home

Baitul Hafeez Mosque

Prospect Hill Baptist Church Emmanuel Temple Church of God

Walnut Park Elementary School

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VIII program

speculation holding on to the programs and the existing buildings on the site, the proposal would try to overlap the activities on the block as much as possible. with having the music center as the core of this complex, the scale of the empty space of the block and also the buildings would be broken to resemble the scale of dwellings in the neighborhood. defining a new relationship between the buildings on this block and between this block with the rest of the neighborhood, the space in the middle of the buildings will become a public space which would always have the live music, being played in the music center, as an event. at an edge of the block, a strip of small stores would be placed, which will also communicate with the rest of this complex and provides a different experience for the residents.

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performance hall 15,000 sf school sport spaces 10,000 sf parking

elderly living free music semi- open space practice 5000 sf 1000sf

free music practice 1000sf

public open space 20,000 sf commercial 30 stores 15,000 sf

text sources (in order of appearance) pg 14. Non Arkaraprasertkul (2016) The social poetics of urban design: rethinking urban design through Louis Kahn’s vision for Central Philadelphia (1939–1962), Journal of Urban Design, 21:6, 731-745 pg 16. Robert Carleton Hobbs, Edward Hopper, 1946- National Museum of American Art (U.S.) c1987 pg 32. Non Arkaraprasertkul (2016) The social poetics of urban design: rethinking urban design through Louis Kahn’s vision for Central Philadelphia (1939–1962), Journal of Urban Design, 21:6, 731-745 pg 40. Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, CIAM IX, discussing the charter of habitat, Team10, NAi publishers, Rotterdam, pg 277 pg 42. Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, CIAM IX, discussing the charter of habitat, Team10, NAi publishers, Rotterdam, pg 277 pg 44. Alison & Peter Smithson, The Charged Void, New York : Monacelli Press, 2001 pg 45. Alison & Peter Smithson, The Charged Void, New York : Monacelli Press, 2001 pg 82. William Hyde and Howard Louis Conard, Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis: a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Volume 4, The Southern History Company, 1899 pg 84. http://www.berkshirehathawayhs.com

image sources (in order of appearance) pg 10. set model of the movie: REAR WINDOW, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, made by Marialuisa Pacini pg 15. panorama image of a scene of the movie: REAR WINDOW, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, made by Jeff Desom pg 15. scene of the movie: REAR WINDOW, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1954 pg 15. scene of the movie: REAR WINDOW, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1954 pg 17. The Morning Sun, Edward Hopper, Robert Carleton Hobbs 1946, National Museum of American Art pg 18. The Manhattan bridge loop, Edward Hopper, Robert Carleton Hobbs 1946, National Museum of American Art pg 21. map of St. Louis 1885, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Online Resources pg 21. map of St. Louis 1912, Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas Online Resources pg 33. the civil core, master plan for Philadelphia, Louis Kahn, 1957 pg. 33 traffic study, master plan for Philadelphia, Louis Kahn, 1957 pg 36. CIAM IX, discussing the charter of habitat, Team10, Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, NAi publishers, Rotterdam, pg.26 pg 41. Mahieddine bidonville, Algiers, from the CIAM-Alger grid, 1953; Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris pg 43. Cluster of fold houses in West Burton, Yorkshire. shown at La Sarraz 1955 pg 43. Old city of Dubai (the Bastakia) Source: UNESCO 1981, p. 27 pg 45. Ideogram of street- twig as a unit of district, The Charged Void, Alison and Peter Smithson, pg. 84 pg 45. Painting Ideogram, Cluster thinking, Typical of 1955, The Charged Void, Alison and Peter Smithson, pg. 84 pg 47. Wedding in the city, Alison and Peter Smithson, 1968, Team10, Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, NAi publishers, Rotterdam, pg.161 pg 49. Pahlavi national museum, Alison & Peter Smithson, The Charged Void, New York : Monacelli Press, 2001, pg. 429 pg 49. The dray passages, Alison & Peter Smithson, The Charged Void, New York : Monacelli Press, 2001, pg. 433

A city is the place of availabilities. It is the place where a small boy, as he walks through it, may see something that will tell him what he wants to do his whole life.

Louis Kahn

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