2015 AIAS Design Excellence Honor Award

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

AIAS DESIGN EXCELLENCE HONOR AWARD SUBMISSION - FIFTH YEAR

KYLE PALZER SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE COLLEGE OF DESIGN UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SPRING 2015 MODULE 1 PROFESSOR JAMES GARRETT JR.

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AIAS NOMINATION LETTER FACULTY NOMINATION LETTER

SITE CONTEXT - CULTURAL - SUSTAINABLE CLIMATE - HISTORY

PRECEDENT - USER INTERACTION -COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN -WAY FINDING -MIXED USE

PROPOSAL -AMENITIES -DOCUMENTATION -SITE CONTEXT -CONCLUSION

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

AIAS NOMINATION LETTER - KYLE PALZER

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

FACULTY NOMINATION LETTER - JAMES GARRETT JR, AIA

SITE CONTEXT - CULTURAL

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

NEGATIVE SITE EMOTIONS

POWER

AUTHORITY

INCARCERATION

PROTEST

URBAN SCALE ANALYSIS PEDESTRIAN SCALE -DETAILS -HUMAN SCALE -INTERACTION

BUILDING SCALE -MASSING -STREET SCALE -ANTI-INTERACTION

BLEAK URBAN ENVIRONMENT

SITE CONTEXT - SUSTAINABLE CLIMATE SOLAR STUDY

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

8 AM

DEC

NOON

5 PM As part of our studio precedence and learning we met and interviewed Daniel Williams and Rebecca Lundberg coowners of Powerfully Green, a local solar panel installation company.

We learned about the pros and cons of both solar and wind powered technologies. Daniel and Rebecca have first-hand knowledge of what works well since they have installed and maintained solar panels for over 10 years.

MAR

JUN

Ultimately, due to the solar studies (left) that we preformed, we determined that solar power would only work as vertical surfaces, due to the amount of shade created from surrounding tall buildings.

We did however learn, that new technologies are emerging that will allow for wireless charging in the near future, so a solar panel at the stop across the street could potentially power our bus shelter.

MICRO CLIMATE ANALYSIS WATER FLOW WINTER WIND

SEP

SUMMER WIND We visited an installation by Powerfully Green

SITE CONTEXT - HISTORY

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

UNDERSTANDING FORM Realizing that the existing street felt isolated and cold, I looked to the historic buildings in the area for inspiration for their lasting success. I discovered that people generally like forms from nature, such as curves, as it is less rigid then sharp angles and lines. Using these forms, combined with an understanding of how people previously engaged with one another through trading and civic dialogue were valuable lessons learned that were incorporated into the final design proposal.

UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE & PLAZA

CURVED FACADE DETAILS

MAN-MADE CURVED FORMS MINNEAPOLIS GRAIN EXCHANGE MINNEAPOLIS CITY HALL SITE

HISTORIC ENGAGED USERS

ROUNDED BUILDING EDGES

CURVED COURTHOUSE FACADE

REPRESENTATION OF NATURE

NATURAL CURVED FORMS

PRECEDENT - USER INTERACTION

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

REDUCE WAITING PERCEPTION

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

When interviewing Metro Transit to learn more about their needs, it became clear that the largest number of customer complaints come from the bus being “late”. Having done further research on this issue, they explained that buses weren’t as late as customers thought, rather it was the perception of time waiting that frustrated customers. By providing waiting transit riders with activities to occupy their time, this “long waiting” perception can be mitigated, thereby decreasing customer complaints.

SYNCHRONIZED AUDIO & USER COLLABORATION

COMPETITION GAMES WITH OTHER BUS SHELTERS

MONTREAL, CANADA

NIGHTTIME SITE ACTIVATION

SOLAR POWER GENERATION

PRECEDENT - COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN PORTLAND, OREGON

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

UNIFIED DESIGN Urban street furniture such as planters and bike racks were another problem Metro Transit had to deal with at a number of bus stops. These features clutter the walkway and waiting areas making it hard for all to use the sidewalks eectively. By confining these elements and unifying their look, it would free up the through-ways on sidewalks and enhance the bus waiting areas simultaneously.

The precedent from San Antonio shows how these elements can be grouped and unified in a way that also addresses and highlights the community culture. Likewise, the Portland proposal for a urban installation addresses how to provide amenities while freeing up sidewalk space.

AMENITIES HAVE CONSISTENT DESIGN

SUBSTANTIAL URBAN PRESENCE USING HEIGHT SCALABLE DESIGN & VENDING INTEGRATION

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

WELL INTEGRATED BIKE STORAGE

PRECEDENT - WAY FINDING PARIS, FRANCE

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

ADDING CLARITY The extent of way finding and bus arrival notifications on the site involved a bus stop sign and a small placard with the route numbers of buses that stopped there. In a 21st century society that is surrounded by technology that can provide us with GPS tracking of buses and updates on delays, this antiquated style of route information is no longer adequate.

Similarly, the need to communicate information to people with hearing and vision disabilities as well as people who speak foreign languages is vital to transit ridership.

Learning about how Paris has begun to communicate information in a variety of ways was useful in terms of thinking about a design proposal .

DISPLAY BUS ROUTES AND ARRIVAL TIMES

ROUTE MAP FRIT

DIVERSITY OF WAY FINDING MEDIUMS

SEOUL, KOREA

ABILITY TO CHANGE COLORS

PRECEDENT - MIXED USE MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

MORE THEN A BUS STOP Since the site for this project is located in Downtown Minneapolis, the central users of the stop are daily commuters into and out of the city core. Besides morning and evening, the shelter would remain empty and unused. Realizing the need for multiple uses in order to add “eyes on the street” focused my precedent search to discover ways in which this has been done around the world.

While conducting research I discovered that a fellow University of Minnesota student Jessie Bauldry, had proposed an installation as part of a studio class from early 2000’s that mixes food vending, newspaper and bus waiting. Similarly, looking back at Paris, they found a way to mix a lending library, food and bike storage into a consistent design.

LIBRARY

VENDOR BIKES

BUS SHELTER PROGRAM

VARIETY OF WAITING AREAS

SEPARATION OF PROGRAM AREAS

PARIS, FRANCE

LITTLE FREE LIBRARY AT BUS STOP

PROPOSAL - AMENITIES

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

MILLENNIAL SHELTER The proposed shelter design does a number of things to address issues raised by Metro Transit and site challenges. First, it features three related programs: food vending, bus waiting, and bike share to add constant activity to the site. Second, it incorporates interactive features such as a reflective ceiling, interactive pin art and digital projected gaming to address perceptive wait times. Finally, the shelter features color changing LED’s and audio announcements that notify users how long until the next bus arrives. This feature allows anyone to identify how long it will be until the next bus comes, no matter what language a person may speak as a universal design solution.

LED INTEGRATION

TRANSLUCENT STRUCTURE REFLECTIVE CEILING

HUMAN PIN TOY

VERTICAL SOLAR PANEL

STRUCTURAL GLAZING

INTERACTIVE GROUND PLANE GAMES

BIKE SHARE

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

PROPOSAL - DOCUMENTATION

FRONT SECTION

REAR ELEVATION

EXPLORATION OF FORM AND PROGRAM

RIGHT SECTION

LEFT ELEVATION

RIGHT ELEVATION

PROPOSAL - SITE CONTEXT

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

REDEFINING THE NEIGHBORHOOD To counteract the negative site emotions (power, authority, incarceration, protest) identified during analysis, I developed four new concept emotions for the site. By allowing users to be playful and interactive it gives them new freedom that the current environment prohibits.

Similarly, empowering all people to get the information they need is an uplifting human experience. Finally, by having constant activity through a mix of program and interaction possibilities the bus shelter is able to move beyond simply being an object in the urban environment. It becomes a neighborhood activity node that allows the community to come together and form relationships with one another.

INTERACTIVE

INFORMATIVE

ACTIVE

10 MINUTES 5 MINUTES

15 MINUTES

PLAYFUL

“NORMAL”

SHELTER LIGHTING AT NIGHT

METRO TRANSIT MILLENNIAL BUS SHELTER STUDIO

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION!

VIEW OF SHELTER FROM 4TH STREET