NORTHAMPTON URBAN GATEWAY | expressive structures The Dancing Armature spring 17 | graduate design studio II I professor Ray Mann
SITE | The project revolves around a site in Northampton as a canvas for the abstract exploration of the tectonic and stereotomic. The “site” is the transition between the railroad embankment and the Fitzwilly’s building as you enter downtown Northampton from the east on route 9. CONTEXT | Imagine that the year is 2025 and that while Climate Change is taking its toll, Northampton is still around more or less as it is, though in the intervening years the bike path and the rail line have become more popular. Bustling foot and bicycle-type activity wants to flow through the site. While continuing hydrostatic pressure from the buried riverbed under the site and proximity to the embankment make it difficult to build a stand-alone building, it has been determined that a light-framed addition to the side of the Fitzwilly’s building, connected variously to a dynamic semi-covered urban transition space such as you have been developing would be appropriate as a “gateway” amenity and connection into the downtown. PROGRAM | As a “liminal” space, the programming of this full condition is light but critical. Fiztwilly’s needs some supplemental egress/circulation to take pressure off its historic staircase and elevator, as well as new bathrooms (with showers), some additional rental space and public space/café for its inhabitants and visitors. The site has been identified as a possible location for a 3-season farmer’s market, and semisheltered space for parking bicycles and other small personal vehicles, including servicing and temporary storage is always in demand. The bike path and main street levels of the Fitzwilly’s bathrooms and elevator should be accessible in a controlled way from the bike path.