Architecture of Palimpsest

ARCHITECTURE

OF

PA L I MP S E S T

Ol

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Tr

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k

Hi Ag stor 18 ricu ical 58 l to tura Stru 19 l a ctu 02 nd r Me es o ch an f ic al

Fa

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Current Pool Historical Swimming Pool 1908 to 1936

Remaining Bear Pit

TUOXIN LI DESIGN THINKING 2017 FALL PROFESSOR: ANTONIO SAN MARTÍN TEACHING ASSISTANT: DOH YOUNG KIM

DESIGN THINKING | FORWARD

ARCHITECTURE

OF

PA L I MP S E S T FORWARD_ This is a book of my research in Design Thinking course in preparation for Degree Project next semester.

In

this

book,

I

am

studying

architecture

of

palimpsest. The history and social condition of St. Louis brought me into this study about palimpsest of St. Louis. The richness in the history of north St. Louis and the fairground park also contributed a lot to the potential of the idea “architecture of palimpsest”.

There are five chapter in this book: Discourse, Context, Program, Case Studies and Speculation.

In the Discourse, I will talk about how and why I came up with the hypothesis of “architecture of palimpsest in St. Louis”. In the Context, I will have the research about the history of St. Louis and the fairground park, and their layers of palimpsest. In the Program Chapter, I will discuss the programs I am proposing based on the context and the hypothesis, and the potential site location. In Speculation, I will discuss how will my programs change the area, and how will the proposal become the part of palimpsest.

December 2nd, 2017

DESIGN THINKING | TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORWARD TABLE OF CONTENT 01_DISCOURSE

01

02_CONTEXT

17

03_PROGRAM

53

04_CASE STUDY

63

05_SPECULATION

81

06_BIBLIOGRAPHY

93

(07_APPENDIX)

97

AFTERTHOUGHT

7/

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

DISCOURSE /01

ARCHITECTURE OF PALIMPSEST

DISCOURSE THE CITY OF PALIMPSEST

Palimpsest

is

the

rare

writing

material,

usually

refers to parchment, that has been recycled and used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased.1 The traces of old writing reappeared after the chemical agents, which were used in the recycling process to erase the writing, lose efficacy.2 The word was derived from Greek word “palimpsēstos” meaning scraped

again.1

A

number

of

ancient

works

have

survived only as palimpsests, thus it has strong bond 02/

with the history and has always been the resource for archeologists and historians to study the past.

St. Louis is a city as palimpsest that its land had been recycled, cleared and rescript. Some traces of historic structures were left as a record indicating the historic event and memory it had throughout the time.

1. Merriam Webster Dictionary: Palimpsest 2. The Chicago School of Media Theory

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

/03

HYPOTHESIS BUILDING FROM PALIMPSEST

Unlike south side city, north side St. Louis has been the target area for big developments, from the pruitt-igoe to Paul McKee’s plan. These big plans created moments of subtraction and reconstruction on the very same sites.

Like palimpsest, these erased layers are the hidden memories of the north side city and are waiting for decipherment.

04/

To expose these absence, and to vitalize the presence, the architecture will be building from the palimpsest

deciphering the hidden memories. These memories will be superimposed with the present to create the unique vigor for the north side.

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

/05

term 01

PALIMPSEST

Merriam Webster

1 :writing material (such as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier

noun

\ ˈpa-ləm(p)-ˌsest , pə-ˈlim(p)- \

writing has been erased 2 :something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface: Canada … is a palimpsest, an overlay of classes and generations. —Margaret Atwood too short a time to get to know the palimpsest of Genevan societies, let alone those of Switzerland —George Steiner

Wikipedia

In textual studies, a palimpsest (/ˈpælɪmpsɛst/) is a manuscript page, either from a scroll or a book, from which the text has been scraped or washed off so that the page can be reused for another document. Pergamene (now known as parchment) was made of baby lamb or kid skin (best made in ancient Pergamon) and was expensive and not readily available, so in the interest of economy a pergamene often was re-used by scraping the previous writing. In colloquial usage, the term palimpsest is also used in architecture, archaeology, and geomorphology to denote

06/

an object made or worked upon for one purpose and later reused for another, for example a monumental brass the reverse blank side of which has been re-engraved.

Etymology The

word

“palimpsest”

derives

from

the

Latin

palimpsestus, which derives from the Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos, “again scraped”), a compound word that literally means “scraped clean and ready to be used again”. The Ancient Greeks used wax-coated tablets, like scratch-pads, to write on with a stylus, and to erase the writing by smoothing the wax surface and write again. This practice was adopted by Ancient Romans, who wrote (literally scratched on letters) on wax-coated tablets, which were reuseable; Cicero’s use of the term “palimpsest” confirms such a practice.

Development Because parchment prepared from animal hides is far more durable than paper or papyrus, most palimpsests known to modern scholars are parchment, which rose in popularity in Western Europe after the 6th century.

Where papyrus was in common use, reuse of writing

6th century and 13th century (palimpsest), Source: Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

media was less common because papyrus was cheaper and more expendable than costly parchment.

Some papyrus palimpsests do survive, and Romans referred to this custom of washing papyrus.

The writing was washed from parchment or vellum using milk and oat bran. With the passing of time, the faint remains of the former writing would reappear enough so that scholars can discern the text (called the scriptio inferior, the “underwriting”) and decipher it. In the later Middle Ages the surface of the vellum was usually scraped away with powdered pumice, irretrievably losing the writing, hence the most valuable palimpsests are those that were overwritten in the early Middle Ages.

Medieval codices are constructed in “gathers” which are folded (compare “folio”, “leaf, page” ablative case of Latin folium), then stacked together like a newspaper and sewn together at the fold. Prepared parchment sheets retained their original central fold, so each was ordinarily cut in half, making a quarto volume of the original folio, with the overwritten text running perpendicular to the effaced text.

Modern decipherment Faint legible remains were read by eye before 20th-century techniques helped make lost texts readable. To read palimpsests, scholars of the 19th century used chemical means that were sometimes very destructive, using tincture of gall or, later, ammonium bisulfate. Modern methods of reading palimpsests using ultraviolet light and photography are less damaging.

Innovative digitized images aid scholars in deciphering unreadable palimpsests. Superexposed photographs exposed in various light spectra, a technique called “multispectral filming”, can increase the contrast of faded ink on parchment that is too indistinct to be read by eye in normal light. For example, multispectral imaging undertaken by researchers at the Rochester Institute

of

Technology

and

Johns

Hopkins

University

recovered

much

of

the

undertext

(estimated to be more than 80%) from the Archimedes Palimpsest. At the Walters Art Museum where the palimpsest is now conserved, the project has focused on experimental techniques to retrieve the remaining text, some of which was obscured by overpainted icons. One of the most successful techniques for reading through the paint proved to be X-ray fluorescence imaging, through which the iron in the ink is revealed. A team of imaging scientists and scholars from the United States and Europe is currently using spectral imaging techniques developed for imaging the Archimedes Palimpsest to study more than one hundred palimpsests in the library of Saint Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Recovery A number of ancient works have survived only as palimpsests. Vellum manuscripts were overwritten on purpose mostly due to the dearth or cost of the material. In the case of Greek manuscripts, the consumption of old codices for the sake of the material was so great that a synodal decree of the year 691 forbade the destruction of manuscripts of the Scriptures or the church fathers, except for imperfect or injured volumes. Such a decree put added

/07

pressure on retrieving the vellum on which secular manuscripts were written. The decline of the vellum trade with the introduction of paper exacerbated the scarcity, increasing pressure to reuse material.

Cultural considerations also motivated the creation of palimpsests. The demand for new texts might outstrip the availability of parchment in some centers, yet the existence of cleaned parchment that was never overwritten suggests that there was also a spiritual motivation, to sanctify pagan text by overlaying it with the word of God, somewhat as pagan sites were overlaid with Christian churches to hallow pagan ground. Or the pagan texts may have merely appeared irrelevant.

Texts most susceptible to being overwritten included obsolete legal and liturgical ones, sometimes of intense interest to the historian. Early Latin translations of Scripture were rendered

obsolete

by

Jerome’s

Vulgate.

Texts

might

be

in

foreign

languages

or

written

in unfamiliar scripts that had become illegible over time. The codices themselves might be already damaged or incomplete. Heretical texts were dangerous to harbor – there were compelling political and religious reasons to destroy texts viewed as heresy, and to reuse the media was less wasteful than simply to burn the books.

Vast destruction of the broad quartos of the early centuries took place in the period which followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but palimpsests were also created as new texts 08/

were required during the Carolingian Renaissance. The most valuable Latin palimpsests are found in the codices which were remade from the early large folios in the 7th to the 9th centuries. It has been noticed that no entire work is generally found in any instance in the original text of a palimpsest, but that portions of many works have been taken to make up a single volume. An exception is the Archimedes Palimpsest (see below). On the whole, Early Medieval scribes were thus not indiscriminate in supplying themselves with material from any old volumes that happened to be at hand.

manuscript

Visual

Thesaurus

palimpse st holograph

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

Encyclopedia Britannica

(manuscript)

Palimpsest, manuscript in roll or codex form carrying a text erased, or partly erased, underneath an apparent additional text. The underlying text is said to be “in palimpsest,” and, even though the parchment or other surface is much abraded, the older text is recoverable in the laboratory by such means as the use of ultraviolet light. The motive for making palimpsests usually seems to have been economic—reusing parchment was cheaper than preparing a new skin. Another motive may have been directed by Christian piety, as in the conversion of a pagan Greek manuscript to receive the text of a Father of the Church.

Encyclopedia Britannica

(under “valley in geology”)

...

Role of climatic change Because the Earth’s climate has changed profoundly during the Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary (roughly the past 65.5 million years), many landscapes are palimpsests—i.e., they are composed of relict elements produced under the influence of past climates and modern elements produced in the present climatic regime. The study of such landscape changes is sometimes called climato-genetic geomorphology. Some researchers in the field, notably Büdel, have maintained that little of the extant relief in humid temperate regions of the Earth results from modern relief-forming processes. Rather, they believe, much of the familiar humid temperate landscape is inherited from past climatic conditions, including periglacial, arid, and tropical. ...

/09

term 02

BOND

Merriam Webster

1 :something that binds or restrains :fetter • prisoners freed from their bonds • the bonds

verb

\ ˈbänd \

of oppression 2 :a binding agreement :covenant • united in the bonds of holy matrimony • My word is my bond.

3 a :a band or cord used to tie something b :a material (such as timber or brick) or device for binding c chemistry :an attractive force that holds together the atoms, ions, or groups of atoms in a molecule or crystal • chemical bonds d :an adhesive, cementing material, or fusible ingredient that combines, unites, or strengthens 4 :a uniting or binding element or force :tie • the bonds of friendship 5 a :an obligation made binding by a forfeit of money; also :the amount of the money guarantee • I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond —Shakespeare • The accused was released on $40,000 bond. b :one who provides bail or acts as surety (see surety 3) c finance :an interest-bearing certificate of public or private indebtedness • money that she had invested in stocks and bonds

10/

d :an insurance agreement pledging that one will become legally liable for financial loss caused to another by the act or default of a third person or by some contingency over which the third person may have no control 6 masonry :the systematic lapping (see 2lap 4a) of brick in a wall 7 :the state of goods made, stored, or transported under the care of an agency until the duties or taxes on them are paid • you may leave … tobacco in bond with customs —Richard Joseph 8 alcohol :a 100-proof straight whiskey aged at least four years under government supervision before being bottled — called also bonded whiskey 9 :bond paper

Wikipedia

In biology, a pair bond is the strong affinity that develops in some species between a pair

(Pair bond)

consisting of a male and female, or in some cases as a same-sex pairing, potentially leading to producing offspring and/or a lifelong bond. Pair-bonding is a term coined in the 1940s that is frequently used in sociobiology and evolutionary biology circles. The term often implies either a lifelong socially monogamous relationship or a stage of mating interaction in socially monogamous species. It is sometimes used in reference to human relationships.

Monogamous voles, such as prairie voles, have significantly greater density and distribution

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

of vasopressin receptors in their brain when compared to polygamous voles. These differences are located in the ventral forebrain and the dopamine-mediated reward pathway.

Peptide arginine vasopressin (AVP), dopamine, and oxytocin act in this region to coordinate rewarding activities such as mating, and regulate selective affiliation. These species-specific differences have shown to correlate with social behaviors, and in monogamous prairie voles are important for facilitation of pair bonding. When compared to montane voles, which are polygamous, monogamous prairie voles appear to have more of these AVP and oxytocin neurotransmitter receptors. It is important that these receptors are in the reward centers of the brain because that could lead to a conditioned parter in the prairie vole compared to the montane vole which would explain why the prairie vole forms pair bonds and the montane vole does not.

Wikipedia (Affectional bond)

In psychology, an affectional bond is a type of attachment behavior one individual has for another individual,[1] typically a caregiver for her or his child,[2] in which the two partners tend to remain in proximity to one another.[1] The term was coined and subsequently developed over the course of four decades, from the early 1940s to the late 1970s, by psychologist John Bowlby in his work on attachment theory. The core of the term affectional bond, according to Bowlby, is the attraction one individual has for another individual. The central features of the concept of affectional bonding can be traced to Bowlby’s 1958 paper, “The Nature of the Child’s Tie to his Mother”.

mortgage alliance bail

Visual

Thesaurus

attach

bail bond

tie bond certificate

bring together

bond paper

draw together

bind

hamper trammel

adhesiveness

bond

adherence

shackle attachment

adhesion stick Bond

chemical bond adhere

stick to

hold fast

/11

term 03

ABSENCE

Merriam Webster

1:a state or condition in which something expected, wanted, or looked for is not present or

noun

\ ˈab-sən(t)s \

does not exist :a state or condition in which something is absent • an absence [=lack] of detail • In the absence of reform [=without reform], progress will be slow.

2 a: a failure to be present at a usual or expected place :the state of being absent • an unexplained absence from work • His absence was noted by the teacher. • The meeting continued in his absence. [=without him being present] • They were conspicuous by their absence. [=it was very noticeable that they were not present] b: the period of time that one is absent • She recently returned to work after a long absence.

3:inattention to present surroundings or occurrences —usually used in the phrase absence of mind • blamed the error on absence of mind

12/

Wikipedia

Evidence of absence is evidence of any kind that suggests something is missing or that it

(Evidence of

does not exist.

absence)

Per the traditional aphorism, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”, positive evidence of this kind is distinct from a lack of evidence or ignorance[1] of that which should have been found already, had it existed.[2] In this regard Irving Copi writes: In some circumstances it can be safely assumed that if a certain event had occurred, evidence of it could be discovered by qualified investigators. In such circumstances it is perfectly reasonable to take the absence of proof of its occurrence as positive proof of its nonoccurrence.

— Copi, Introduction to Logic (1953), p. 95 Overview The difference between evidence that something is absent (e.g. an observation that suggests there were no dragons here today) and a simple absence of evidence (e.g. no careful research has been done) can be nuanced. Indeed, scientists will often debate whether an experiment’s result should be considered evidence of absence, or if it remains absence of evidence. The debate is whether the experiment would have detected the phenomenon of interest if it was there.

The argument from ignorance for “absence of evidence” isn’t necessarily fallacious, for example, that a potentially life saving new drug poses no long term health risk unless proved otherwise. On the other hand, were such an argument to rely imprudently on the lack of research to promote its conclusion, it would be considered an informal fallacy whereas the former can be a persuasive way to shift the burden of proof in an argument or debate.

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

In carefully designed scientific experiments, even null results can be evidence of absence.

For instance, a hypothesis may be falsified if a vital predicted observation is not found empirically. (At this point, the underlying hypothesis may be rejected or revised and sometimes, additional ad hoc explanations may even be warranted.) Whether the scientific community will accept a null result as evidence of absence depends on many factors, including the detection power of the applied methods, and the confidence of the inference.

Proof and evidence The Pyrrhonian skeptic, Sextus Empiricus, questioned the apodicticity of inductive reasoning because a universal rule cannot be established from an incomplete set of particular instances: “When they propose to establish the universal from the particulars by means of induction, they will effect this by a review of either all or some of the particulars. But if they review some, the induction will be insecure, since some of the particulars omitted in the induction may contravene the universal; while if they are to review all, they will be toiling at the impossible, since the particulars are infinite and indefinite”.

Proving a negative In

1992

during

a

presentation

at

Caltech,

skeptic

James

Randi

said

“you

can’t

prove

a negative”. He claims that it is impossible to ‘prove’ a negative assertion (such as ‘telepathy does not exist’). He contends that induction is often used as a mode of proving a thesis, but if an individual assumes that something is or is not, then the person must prove so. Further, he says, he does not take an advocacy position, as a lawyer would. He says that he cannot prove that a negative is true, but he could attempt to use evidence and induction to support a claim that he is biased toward, such as a claim that something does not exist.

Philosopher Steven Hales argues that typically one can logically be as confident with the negation of an affirmation. Hales says that if one’s standards of certainty leads them to say “there is never ‘proof’ of non-existence”, then they must also say that “there is never ‘proof’ of existence either”. Hales argues that there are many cases where we may be able to prove something does not exist with as much certainty as proving something does exist.

absent Visual

Thesaurus

deficiency want lack

presence

ABSENCE

time interval interval absence seizure

/13

The School

of

Chicago

The terms absence and presence describe fundamental states of being. For this reason, they

Media

are difficult to define without referencing the terms themselves. The Oxford English Dictionary

Theory

definitions of both terms are self-referential: “the fact or condition of being present” and “the state of being absent or away.” The difficulty of these terms stems from the fact that

Absence/ presence

they are dependent upon the notion of being. The OED cites the primary definition of being as “to have or occupy a place … somewhere … Expressing the most general relation of a thing to its place.” According to this definition, then, being is not inexplicable or transcendent, but exists within a framework or state. Therefore the definitions of presence and absence explicitly rely upon the states within which they are found. Some examples of these states could be the world, images, and representations. Throughout history, scholars have debated the relative absence and presence within such states. At the heart of this issue is the question of whether truth and presence are absolutely linked. For instance, in Phaedrus, Plato argues for unmediated truth of speech over the mediation of writing. The unmediated truth of speech comes from the presence of the speaker, while the writing mediates this presence. Therefore, representations in the form of images or writing present presence through mediation. According to Derrida, however, these mediated forms are the only available forms of presence because meaning cannot appear outside of a medium.

14/

Discourse centered on the terms absence and presence engage the valuation of images and presentations. Beginning with ancient philosophy, Plato and Aristotle raise questions about the valuation of the proximate imitation or mimesis of representations. Plato takes up this question in his text “Allegory of the Cave,” where he points out the false quality of appearances. For Plato, the illusion of appearances draws the mind from the “contemplation of true being,” where “true being” is the ultimate form of presence (Plato 524). Implicit within his discussion of mimesis or representation is a belief in a “true being” or unmediated, present state of being of representations. Aristotle, on the other hand, engages this world of illusions by denouncing pure being. He sets forth the belief that there can be no unmediated forms, but rather being cannot be extracted from representations. Therefore, Aristotle affirms representation.

Until Martin Heidegger’s revision of metaphysics, the term presence seemed to be crystallized in its privileged position next to reality and truth. According to Heidegger, philosophers conventionally attributed presence to being without questioning what gives being over to presence. Therefore, he questions the proliferation of this metaphysics of presence in modern life. He claims that while disciplines like science and technology do not explicitly affirm their quest for first principles, they attempt to answer some form of a transcendent question of being. In response to this problem related to being, Heidegger questions the conditions of

DESIGN THINKING | 01 DISCOURSE

being that implicate its presence. In his unfinished work, Being and Time, he develops three ontological categories of being that attempt to recognize the conditions of being: falling, thrownness, and findingness. Findingness (Befindlichkeit) describes the state of being as always already in some current situation. Thrownness acknowledged the linearity of time, where being can only go forward. Falling explains being’s understanding of itself. These three different categories explain the conditions through which being maintains and makes possible its presence. ...

Amanda Bell https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/absence-presence/

/15

FA NORTHSIDE DELMAR

DIVIDE

16/

SOUTHSIDE

IR G PA ROUN RK D

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

CONTEXT /17

DECIPHERING THE PALIMPSEST

CONTEXT LAYERS OF THE NORTH SIDE

The segregation, injustice, and negligence.

The south side has Cherokee street, Soulard, South Grand, The Grove. Many of these urban renewal started from grassroots.

But why they didn’t do that in the north side?

The South Side Spaces is an organization renovate old vacant buildings and providing the convenience of modern amenities in the south side. Jason Beem was the owner of “South Side Spaces“, established in 2004. At the time, he also tried to buy properties in the north side, but it turned out to be the north side is already secretly under Paul McKee’s NorthSide regeneration plan.

18/

“Politicians and (Paul) McKee proponents told us that the north side was a wasteland and that the only solution was to start over ... The north side was already beginning to see grassroots regeneration on it’s own before that momentum was halted by McKee. In addition to the damage done to properties he acquired, there’s been considerable collateral damage to quality of life and property values of adjacent properties. It’s clear that McKee only ever valued the land. Not the buildings, people, history, or culture of the north side. The NorthSide development project is 1,500 acres, within which McKee purchased approximately 1,000 lots via shadow companies.”1 Just few blocks north from the NorthSide Regeneration study area, the fairground park sat at the conjunction of four dense neighborhood with a lot of vacancy. With the new North-South metrolink connection, and being outside of Paul McKee’s plan. It’s a place for the people of north side to bring it back, and a place of opportunity for the city to rethink the north side.

1. Jason Deem, “A Decade of NorthSide: Land Assemblage, Abandonment and Vacancy”, Next St. Louis, June 15, 2015 https://nextstl.com/2015/06/a-decade-of-northside-land-assemblage-abandonment-and-vacancy/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

Racial

makeup 98% home va Black lue $ 7 Median income 3,000 $ 1 Bachelo r’s deg 8,000 rees 10% NEIGHBO RHOOD D IRECTLY NORTH Median

NEIGHBO

RHOOD D IRECTLY

Racial

SOUTH

N/S Metro Alignment

The Fairground Park

NorthSide Regeneration Area

makeup 73% home va White lue $ 33 Median income 5,000 $ 5 Bachelo r’s deg 0,000 rees 70% Median

/19

1 dot = 100 people African American White Other races

// HISTORY TIME-LINE OF SAINT LOUIS Maps of the historical population decline and racial distribution (data from IPUMS National Historical GIS)

20/

1950

1800

1810

1820

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1855

Missouri comprise allows slavery

Streetcar Operated; Botanical Garden

Agricultural and Mechanical Fair established

German brought in brewing and storage Open upriver and harbor; Peak in population

Anti-immigration arrest

French bought in mining tech 1891

St. Louis County establishment

1880

America bought Indiana from France 1808

Immigration from Germany & Ireland

1876

Part of new U.S. State of Missouri

1890

Fourth City Status

1859

1821 Establishment of the city

1820

1808 1804

1768 1764

Spanish domain

Rudiment of the city

1830 The Great Migration

1850

1790

Early History

1844

1780

1840

1770

1840

1760

1970

Wainw Build

“Great Divorce�; Forest Park; Zoological garden added i Fairground Park

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

1 dot = 100 population White African-American

/21

1990

1920

1930

1950

1960

1970

1964

Second migration; White flight

1954 1926

1908

1st public pool in Fairground Park

Transatlantic flight

2010

2017

Recent Development

1993

1949

Residential segregation ordinance

2000

Civil Rights Act; Gateway Arch

Pruitt-Igoe first occupied; Civil Right Movement started

1871

1916

Black population migrated for jobs

1990

Fairground Park Race Riot

Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport 1940

1930

1904 1902 1900

Agricultural and Mechanical Fair ended

1980 The Era of Revitilization

The 3rd Olympic Game; World’s Fair in Forest Park; St. Louis Zoo opened;

wright ding

in

1940

World's Fair and the Decline of inner city

2017

1910

Demolition of Pruitt-Igoe

Metrolink; The Great Flood

2014

1900

2010

NGA; Former Police officer was acquitted in the 2011 shooting death of black driver

Shooting of Michael Brown @ Ferguson

CONTEXT LAYERS OF FAIRGROUND PARK

I Annual Agricultural and Mechanical Fair Fairground Park is in north St. Louis city. Began with a private park hosting annual Agricultural and Mechanical Fair, the park was fully structured with fair ground, race track and a zoological garden. The fair was interrupted by the Civil War when the Fairgrounds were used as a Union encampment known as Benton Barracks. The Fairground Park historically held the annual Fair of Agricultural and Mechanical Association. The fair had all kinds of exhibiting, sharing and communicating. The Agricultural and Mechanical Association advocated the idea of collaborating and sharing ideas, skills, technologies, and products, especially for “humble, poor genius” that couldn’t afford to get enough assistance by themselves.1 The annual exposition has been supplanted in 1902 as preparations for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

22/

1875 “Pictorial St. Louis” Maps, Plate 81

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

II Swimming Pool and High School for White Only After the park became public in 1908, most of former structure has been removed, and city started to construct a swimming pool on the site of the former fair’s amphitheater.

The swimming pool is 420ft in diameter, it has been the largest outdoor swimming pool in the world.

The Beaumont High School located across the street from the swimming pool was the second white only high school opend in 1926 due to the limited space at Yeatman High - the city’s only high school for white on the north side. By 1933, the school had more than 2,800 students, and by 1937, it had increased to 3,100 students.

/23

The Pool at Fairground Park when the temperature reached 96 degrees, July 1921

// LAYERS OF FAIRGROUND PARK (CONT.)

III Integration and re-segregation In 1949, the St. Louis city officials decided to open the pool to the city’s black residents in response to the 14th amendment. This intended integration caused a race riot fomented by white youths. The swimming pool remained as white only for another few years before the white flight. In 1958, the circular pool was refurbished and replaced by a small rectangular pool.

The Beaumont High, formerly an all-white school, was among the first to desegregate after the Brown v. Board of Education decision in May 1954. After its racially integration, the high school experienced violent racial conflict. The Beaumont High became re-segregated during the 1970s to become an all-black high school due to increasing racial conflicts.

A Academy Award Nominated short film “A City Decides”, directed by Charles Guggenheim in 1956, reenacted the event of desegregation of Saint Louis Public School that was taken at Beaumont High and Fairground Park Swimming Pool.

24/

Above: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Feb. 21, 1977 Public School Scrapbook Vol.II, Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center Right: The St. Louis Star and Times, Jun. 22, 1949

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/25

// LAYERS OF FAIRGROUND PARK (CONT.)

IV The Fairground Park now are basically used for sports and fishing. It has 5 baseball fields, 2 basketball courts, 3 football fields, a soccer field, 5 softball fields, 8 tennis courts, a playground, a skating rink and a swimming pool. These facilities are mainly located on west part of the park, but lacking of maintenance.

The Park occasionally host events like St.ART earlier this year, which is a “A two-day free festival will bring some top street artists together in St. Louis — and create large-scale works both north and south of Delmar” 1 The Beaumont High School was closed in 2014 and now using as a transitional high school for youth with behavior problems. The enrollment now is around 450 per year, which was once up to 3,100 in early 1930s.

The building was built in 1926 cost $1.5 million. It was designed by architect Rockwell M. Milligan, who served as Commissioner of Buildings for the Board of Education along with William B. Ittner during the first few decades of the twentieth century. “The buildings that Ittner and Milligan designed are among St. Louis’s greatest physical assets, bringing a unified style of school design to neighborhoods across the entire city.” 2

26/

Due to the low enrollment rate, the school building was currently underutilized. It has a great potential to host more educational programs.

The Fairground Park, which has more than 100 acres, is an asset to surrounding neighborhood and the city, but the lack of maintenance and the large unprogrammed open lawn were also contributing to its decaying.

1.

Bill Loellke, “New Festival, St.ART, Will Bring Street Artists to Two City Parks This Fall”, RFT, May 5, 2017

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/artsblog/2017/05/05/new-festival-start-will-bring-street-artists-to-two-cityparks-this-fall 2. Built St. Louis, “The Ittner / Milligan Legacy” http://www.builtstlouis.net/schools/ittner00.html

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/27

The Beaumont High and The Swimming Pool Field House in Fairground Park @ Oct 21st, 2017

// HISTORY TIME-LINE OF FAIRGROUND PARK

1875 “Pictorial St. Louis” Maps, Plate 81

Benton Barracks,

1885

Parade March Poster, 1862

Before 1908 Private Owned

1908 Public

28/

1856-1902 Fair

1862

Inaugurated

1856

and

sponsored

the

Agricultural

1911

in

Site

Civil

The first air mail in the world was

by

War. 23,000 men were stationed here in

flown from Kinloch Park to here in

April of 1862.

October

In December, the amphitheater was taken

1912

and

Mechanical Association.

of

Benton

Barracks

during

over by the government for a hospital where

nurses

Sanitary

provided

Commission

by

cared

the for

Western 6,140

patients.

It

was

considered

as

potential

site of Saint Louis Zoo. In 1912 City

began

construction

of

the

first municipal swimming pool on the

site

of

the

former

fair’s

amphitheater, this 5 acre swimming pool

was

the

largest

artificial

pool in the world at the time.

The bear pits built in 1876

Facade of the old bear pits

Photo taken around 1880

Photo taken in 1909

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

The Swimming Pool, July 1912

June 21, 1949

/29

1936 The

1949 pool

refurbished

1958

was

St.

Louis

as

the

pool

city to

officials

the

city’s

decided black

to

open

The

residents

with

After pool a

was

replaced

smaller

modern

a Works Progress

in response to a federal court’s holding

pool designed by Kramer

Administration

that prohibiting blacks from using public

& Harms.

(WPA) project in

golf courses was a violation of the 14th

the mid 1930’s.

amendment.

1955

On June 21, 1949, after the pool was to be

The 1955 Bond Issue funds for

integrated, 40 black youngsters tried to get

recreational facilities have

into the pool, but were rebuffed by a group

improved Fairground Park with

of 200 white youths. Subsequently, there was

floodlighted

a race riot that was fomented by the close

hard surface tennis courts,

proximity to Sportsman’s Park, the home of

and a new field house with a

the baseball Cardinals and Browns. Several

swimming pool

people of both races were hospitalized, but no-one was killed.

The next day the pool as again segregated, this lasting for about one year when there was a judicial mandate to integrate the pool.

The white swimmers left the pool, attendance plummeted, and the large original pool was replaced with the present pool.

ball

diamonds,

2010s

// CONTEXT - FAIRGROUND PARK Agricultural & Mechanical Annual Fair 1856-1902

“Before St. Louis was nationally and internationally recognized for Forest Park and the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the city hosted the annual Agricultural and Mechanical Fair (1856-1902), drawing crowds from around the country. The 132-acre Fairground Park is situated in north St. Louis at the intersection of North Grand Boulevard and Natural Bridge Avenue.” 1 1. Kate Boudreau, “Fairground Park: What History Remains”, NextSTL, November 18, 2010 https://nextstl.com/2010/11/fairground-park-what-history-remains/

30/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/31

32/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/33

1895 Whipple’s fire insurance map of St. Louis, Mo.Volume 4,1895, http://digital.wustl.edu/whi1895.1895.401

// CONTEXT - FAIRGROUND PARK From a Private Park to the First Municipal Park ( For White) 1908

“In 1908, six years after the last fair was held on these fairgrounds, the city purchased the land for use as a public park. The renowned landscape architect,

and

the

designer

of

the

grounds

for

the

Louisiana

Purchase

Exposition, George Kessler, was responsible for the design of Fairground Park. While most of the fair’s structures were removed, the façade of the bear pit from the city’s original zoo remained as part of Kessler’s park design. Despite the dismantling of the old zoological garden’s structures, between 1910 and 1913, Fairground Park was considered as a potential site on which the Zoological Society of St. Louis might have established the Saint Louis Zoo that area residents know and love today.”

1

“In 1912, three years after Fairground was dedicated as a public park, the city began construction of a swimming pool on the site of the former fair’s 34/

amphitheater.

It was the first municipal pool in the city of St. Louis and,

just as the amphitheater had been the largest in the country, the original Fairground Park pool was the largest in the world. It had a diameter of 440 feet, almost one and a half times the length of a football field, and hosted between 10,000 and 12,000 swimmers per day.”2 1. Kate Boudreau, “Fairground Park: What History Remains”, NextSTL, November 18, 2010 https://nextstl.com/2010/11/fairground-park-what-history-remains/ 2. Kate Boudreau, “Fairground Park: The History We Choose to Forget”, NextSTL, December 1, 2010 https://nextstl.com/2010/12/fairground-park-the-history-we-choose-to-forget/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/35

36/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/37

circa 1926 Historic Aerial Photo from USGS EarthExplorer https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

// CONTEXT - FAIRGROUND PARK The Attempt of Integration and the Race Riot

“For 37 years the pool provided an escape from the summer heat, but only for white patrons. In 1949, St. Louis city officials decided to open the pool to the city’s black residents in response to a federal court’s holding that prohibiting blacks from using public golf courses was a violation of the 14th amendment.

On June 21, 1949, opening day for the city’s pools, about thirty African American children entered the pool and swam with white children without incident. However, as they were swimming, a group gathered outside of the pool’s fence shouting threats at the African American swimmers. City police were called in to escort the black children out of the park when the swimming period ended around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Conflicting eyewitness reports suggest simultaneously that the children were not subject to violence while 38/

they were under the police escort and that despite the police escort, white teenagers would periodically strike the black children without police reprisal. Reports of violence against African American youths were called into the city police throughout the 3 and 4 o’clock hours on this day. .... The mayor immediately reinstituted segregation policies in order to minimize the potential for future violence..... ”1 1. Kate Boudreau, “Fairground Park: The History We Choose to Forget”, NextSTL, December 1, 2010 https://nextstl.com/2010/12/fairground-park-the-history-we-choose-to-forget/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/39

40/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/41

1968 Historic Aerial Photo from USGS EarthExplorer https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

// CONTEXT - FAIRGROUND PARK The Park Today

42/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/43

44/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/45

2017 Aerial View from Google Earth

46/

1895 1930 1968 2017 0

100

200

300 Feet

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/47

// SITE PHOTO

48/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/49

The Bear Pits @ Oct 21st, 2017

// SITE PHOTO

50/

DESIGN THINKING | 02 CONTEXT

/51

The Swimming Pool @ Oct 21st, 2017

ADVOCATING ENGAGEMENT

INJUSTICE RACE

DISCRIMINATION ACTIVIST

52/

COLLABORATE IDEAS

NORTHSIDE COMMUNITY YOUTH

NEGLECTION TECHNOLOGY

SHARING

DESIGN THINKING | 03 PROGRAM

PROGRAM /53

SOCIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION CO-WORKING SPACE

SOCIAL JUSTICE CO-WORKING EDUCATION CENTER

The history of the Agricultural and Mechanical Fair indicates the absent quality of this park - the equity, sharing and collaborating. And the race riot at the pool revealed not only the racial discrimination, it is also reflecting the injustice in the policy system. The park is now quietly sitting in the long-time neglected northside city, surrounding by four lowdensity black neighborhoods with high vacancy rate. The infrastructure and amenities are lacking of maintenance, and the whole area has been long-time underinvestment.

The idea is to expose the forgotten history of the park, and bring vigor of sharing back. By doing that to advocate for justice, and evoke public consciousness in north city.

54/

There will be a “headquarter” for advocacy organizations of justice to work and communicate; a space of idea or opinion sharing - a co-working space - for both organizations and northside communities; and a magnet school dedicated for at-risk kids and youth in northside community.

Using the park as an significant asset to the north side, the “headquarter” will host an annual outreach fair in the park. The theme of outreach fair might be changed every year, but the main idea will be justice, share, inclusive, and community building.

1. “Ninth Annual Report of the St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Association / prepared by MAJ. GEO. W. GILSON”, Missouri Democrat Book and Printing House, St. Louis 1871 (Access from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3773569)

DESIGN THINKING | 03 PROGRAM

SHARING + INJUSTICE +

NEGLIGENCE

/55

// PROPOSED PROGRAMS

Outdoor Space

Social Justice Center: (10,000 ft2) NGO Offices – for Social Justice Advocating NGO Civilian Advisory Board Office

Coneference

Northside Community Justice Advocacy Office

Hearth

Multi-culture/ Woman/ Minority(race)/ LGBTQ Groups/ Human Right

Coneference

offices

Conference Room Outdoor speech space

Studio

56/

Gym/ Stage

Magnet School/ Education Center: Classrooms Workshops/ Studio

Sports Fields

Multi-purpose Room

Classrooms

Logistic

Kitchen

Community Garden

Gym / Sports field Community Garden Community Traning Program Type II Office

Co-working Spaces: (25,000 ft2) Individual Offices for rent

Type II Office

Type I Office Type I Office

Shared Office

Meeting/ Conference Rooms Community Space Logistics (cafe, printing room, etc) Gallery

amenities Community Space Gallery

DESIGN THINKING | 03 PROGRAM

WOMAN JUSTICE ADVOCACY OFFICE

WORKSHOPS

CO-WORKING SPACE

MULTI-CULTURE JUSTICE ADVOCACY OFFICE

AT-RISK YOUTH ADVISORY OFFICE /57

CLASSROOMS

LGBTQ JUSTICE ADVOCACY OFFICE

COMMUNITY JUSTICE ADVOCACY OFFICE

COMMUNITY PROGRAM/ EVENT

CO-WORKING SPACE

COMMUNITY MAGNET SCHOOL

PLAYGROUND/ SPORTS FIELDS

// MAPPING THE PROGRAMS IN THE CITY The advocacy organization offices/ Schools, vacant schools/ Co-working Offices

Currently, almost all the advocacy organizations set their offices south of Delmar or out of the city, and there is a small concentration at St. Louis University.

The co-working offices are mainly locate along the central corridor, and

there

is one in Cherokee district.

There are only one school in northside rated above 7 (according to GreatSchools Rating), two between 4 to 6. There are a large amount of public school became vacant in northside, the deficiency in education resource is significant comparing to south side.1 The city of St. Louis recently gave the green light to the Northside/ 58/

Southside MetroLink Expansion, which signals increasing focus on st. louis infrastructure and an vague idea of increasing the North-South connection.

The new line will run from Fairgrounds Park on the north side to Cherokee Street in the south.2

1. Data from https://www.greatschools.org/ 2. Liz Austin, “As Soccer Fans Mourn, Approved Metrolink Expansion Signals Increasing Focus On St. Louis Infrastructure�, Green Street STL, May 9 2017 (http://greenstreetstl.com/approved-metrolink-expansion/)

DESIGN THINKING | 03 PROGRAM

Metrol

Me

tr

d Line ink Re

ol

in

k

1 mile

N-

S

Al

ig

nm

en

t

Fa

0.5 mi le

ir

gr

ou

nd

Pa

rk

Delmar

Metrol

ink Bl ue Line

Forest

Park /59

Advocacy Organizations Co-working Office Schools with score of 7 to 10 Schools with score of 4 to 6 Schools with score of 1 to 3 Vacant public schools

// POTENTIAL SITE AREA

Ra

di

us

80

0’

Site of historic amphitheater and circular swimming pool

Fairground Park

5 acre (217,800 ft2)

Swimming Pool 9,800 ft2

60/

Natural Bridge Ave

Beaumont High School 4 stories / 420,000 ft2 built 1926 Grade 09-12 2001 Enrollment: 1,492

Vandeventer Ave

2017 Enrollment:

456

DESIGN THINKING | 03 PROGRAM

SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTERN G OFFICES FOR ORG.

Natural Bridge Ave

EDUCATION PROGRAM

COMMUNITY SPACE

I K R CTRAINING E O CENTER A W P S CO

/61

62/

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY /63

FOR PROGRAM AND SPECULATION

// PRECEDENT - THE EXCAVATION El Born Centre Cultural, Barcelona, Spain

64/

Image from Viatges amb cartabó, El Born Centre Cultural: història, arquitectura i urbanisme https://viatgesambcartabo.com/2013/10/30/el-born-centre-cultural-historia-arquitectura-i-urbanisme/

El Born CCM is a space created for the city to encourage and promote the remembrance of local and national events, as well as those affecting communities around the world.

Four areas of activity make this aim possible: carrying out neighbourhood activities to foster information about the events that have left their mark on urban memory and local history; organising events and debates at the headquarters in El Born; providing continuous training; and offering a range of cultural and artistic events that promote national programmes and international projects relating to memory and intangible heritage. http://elbornculturaimemoria.barcelona.cat/en/the-center/

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

/65

// PROGRAMS PRECEDENT - SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTER Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, Kalamazoo, MI / Studio Gang

66/

© Steve Hall for Hedrich Blessing

Owner:

Kalamazoo College

Area:

10,000.0 ft2

Project Year:

2014

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

/67

© Steve Hall for Hedrich Blessing

“The Center’s architecture supports this work in several important ways.

Inside, the building’s visually open and day-lit interior is designed to encourage “convening” in configurations that begin to break down psychological and cultural barriers between people and help facilitate understanding. The presence of a living room, hearth, and kitchen for sharing food at the center of the building creates the potential for frequent informal meetings and casual or chance encounters.”

http://studiogang.com/project/arcus-center-for-social-justice-leadership

68/

© Site Plan - Studio Gang

Square footage: Hearth

~2550 ft2

Seminar

~570 ft2

Workroom

~1090 ft2

Office

~730 ft2

Bathroom

~470 ft2

Cascade

~2730 ft2

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

/69

© Iwan Baan

“Many decisions that architects must make about space—addressing, for instance, issues of accessibility or gender identification—have social justice repercussions. The integration of equitable practices directly into its design enables the Center to instigate positive social transformation at every scale. The building is likewise designed to respond sensitively to its distinct yet adjacent physical contexts: a residential neighborhood, the college campus, and a native woodland grove. Its tri-axial plan addresses and unites all three contexts with large transparent facades connected by concavely inflected arcing walls that embrace the interior space.”

http://studiogang.com/project/arcus-center-for-social-justice-leadership

// PROGRAMS PRECEDENT - CO-WORKING OFFICE Nebula Co-working Office, St. Louis MO

70/

Nebula St. Louis Coworking - Cherokee Area: 25,000 ft2 (Three Facilities)

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

Facilities

Kitchenette

Shared workspace areas

Bike sharing

Shared community space

Recreation area

Conference room

Pet friendly Off-street parking

Amenities Free printing and copy center

Hours

Internet

Members have 24/7 keycard access.

Optional mail service Lockable storage

Events

Listing in website directory

Nebula hosts a variety of monthly

Exclusive member discounts

events like a third Friday happy

Invitation to all internal events

hour and Mixer Mondays.

Access to event space

/71

// PROGRAMS PRECEDENT - CHARTER SCHOOL City Garden Montessori School, St. Louis | UIC

72/

City Garden Montessori is a public charter school located in the Botanical Heights neighborhood of St. Louis. Founded in 1995 as a preschool in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood of St. Louis, the school’s mission is unique to the students and communities it serves. City Garden was founded by a set of parents who live in these neighborhoods and were determined to create an excellent, diverse community school. In 2008, City Garden began offering an elementary educational component through the sponsorship of nearby St. Louis University. As a public charter institution, the school offers a tuition-free elementary school education in addition to a sliding scale fee-based preschool program.

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

/73

Drawing © Patty Heyda, Rebuilding the American City

“Nonetheless, in bringing educational quality where it did not exist before, the school aspires to set the stage for meaningful structural change benefiting residents new and old, marking the neighborhood’s redevelopment as more than a facelift.”

Gamble, David; Heyda, Patty. Rebuilding the American City: Design and Strategy for the 21st Century Urban Core (p. 106). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition.

74/

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

/75

Square footage: (~21,000 ft2) Classroom(total)

reception

~500 ft2

multi-purpose

~405 ft2

office

~720 ft2

conference

~300 ft2

~860 ft2

meeting

~920 ft2

mechenical room

~700 ft2

1-3th grade

~3,100 ft2

library

~1,240 ft2

storage

~300 ft2

4-6th grade

~3,100 ft2

gymnasium

~3,500 ft2

bathroom

~940 ft2

7-8th grade

~2,000 ft2

kitchen

Pre-school Kindergarten

~10,660 ft2 ~1,600 ft2

~300 ft2

// PROGRAMS PRECEDENT - LAW CENTER The Southern Poverty Law Center, Montgomery AL / Erdy McHenry Architecture, LLC

76/

“The SPLC is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.” https://www.splcenter.org/

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

Alabama State Bar HQ

Lurleen B. Wallace Gov. Bldg.

Dexter Ave

Dexter Ave. King Memorial Baptist Church Alabama Edu. Assn.

Supreme Court & Law Library

Alabama Attorney General Alabama State Capitol Grounds

Washington Ave

Dexter Ave. King Memorial Legacy

Civil Rights Memorial Center Alabama Dept. of Econ. & Community Affairs

Alabama Dept. of Archives and History

Context Siteplan

/77

// PROGRAMS PRECEDENT - OUTREACH FAIR Annual ALA Diversity and Outreach Fair, Chicago, IL

Twitter bibliotheca@smartlibraries, @ Sep 8, 2017 bibliotheca sponsors the GLBT Round table at #alaac17! #allarewelcomehere @hclib @GLBTRT http://ow.ly/IFmb30f13Jp

78/

“Each year, the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services invites library professionals from all kinds of institutions to submit proposals to participate in the ALA Diversity and Outreach Fair, which is held during ALA’s Annual Conferences.

Generously sponsored by DEMCO, he Fair highlights library services to underserved or underrepresented communities, including people with disabilities; people experiencing poverty and homelessness; people of color; English-language learners; gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people; new Americans, new and non-readers; older adults; people living in rural areas; incarcerated people and ex-offenders; and mobile library services and bookmobiles.

The theme for this year’s fair is “Inclusive Outreach: Providing Services to the Underserved and Marginalized.”

Selected presenters will develop and facilitate a poster session to be held during the ALA Annual Conference in the exhibits hall.

In addition, the

participants are encouraged to submit, in digital format, information and resources from their program.”1

1. http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/olos/divfair/diversityfair

DESIGN THINKING | 04 CASE STUDY

/79

Past Fairs 2016: Theme - Libraries Transform: Outreach in Response to Civil Unrest 2015: Theme - Library Services for People Experiencing Poverty and Homelessness 2014: Theme - Family Literacy 2013: Theme - Removing Barriers to Service for All: Creating Meaningful and Integrated Library Experiences for People with Disabilities 2012: Theme - Building Community Connections 2011: Theme - Family Literacy 2010: The - 20th Anniversary of ADA

80/

DESIGN THINKING | 04 SPECULATION

SPECULATION /81

PROJECTION WITH THE PROGRAMS

// SPECULATION Fairground Park + Social Justice Center

Potential Strategic Partners & Stakeholders

82/

DESIGN THINKING | 05 SPECULATION

As the major component of the project, it’s aming to serve the north side St. Louis city.

The social justice center will be the anchor of north-side city, demonstrating and advocating for social justice within the city.

The social justice center envisions to aggregate advocacy organizations for vulnerable groups in St. Louis region to work and meet together in north

side

city.

The

aggregation

and

location

will be more intimate and more accessible for vulnerable groups.

With community services and public programs for at-risk youth, women, minority, homeless people and

long-neglected

community,

the

center

will

also work closely with north side community to help thriving the north side.

/83

// SPECULATION Fairground Park + Co-working Shared Space

le 1 mi

Population: Business Number: Number of Employes: Number of Restaurant: Number of Fast Food: Number of Neighborhoods:

17,183 153 1,861 1 12 (3 within 1/2 mile) Four

Fairground Park

84/

- Attract employees from

O’fallon

Fairground

central corridors to work in north-side with lower rent - Provide opportunities for start-up enterpreneur to stimulate local businesses

Jeff Vanderlou Greater Ville

- By placing it in the park, it could generate tax for park maintenance - Provide shared space for local community members to communicate and share ideas

CWE/SLU

Downtown CBD

DESIGN THINKING | 05 SPECULATION

Beaumont High + New Charter School

1400

Underutilized Beaumont High School under-enrollment

+

Total Enrolled

1200 1000

30%

800

only of enrollment in 2001

600 400 200 0

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 Year /85

By adding a charter school into existing Beaumont High School to New Charter School

- Fully utilize the building - Increase enrollment every year - Provide quality education to adjacent community - Provide education program for at-risk youth of North-side community - Leverage resources of both institution within one building to achieve better performance

New Beaumont School

// SPECULATION The Palimpsest of Three Programs

The co-working space will be a innovation incubator for school kids, youth and young entrepreneur

A charter school with better quality will attract more families from all over the city and improve the community environment. Thus to make the co-working space more profitable.

have specific event and forum in shared space to better demonstrate the concern and draw public awareness

SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTER

provide educational program in social justice center to have more engagement with community

CO-WORKING OFFICE

BEAUMONT HIGH + NEW CHARTER SCHOOL

86/

provide professional assistance on curriculum about social justice issues in St. Louis

By having more low rent offices and rentable shared space to attract more people and organizations from south side city and central corridor to encourage public engagement.

SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTER

nt me

lic

nin g

Pub

/87

rai

Eng

age

um

nts

Fo r

Eve

/T

EDUCATION

lum

on

cu

ati

rri

uc

Cu

Ed SOCIAL JUSTICE

-W OR KIN

Innovation

F GO

Incubator

FIC E

Community

+ N BEA EW UM CH ONT AR TE HIGH RS CH OO

L

CO-WORKING SPACE

CO

e

DESIGN THINKING | 05 SPECULATION

// OVERLAPPED MAP OF FAIRGROUND PARK

Soccer Field Race Track

F a i r

Diamond Decaying Baseball Baseball Baseball Diamond Diamond

L e x i n g t o n

A v e W a r n e

A v e

Sport Sport Courts Courts Sport Courts

C l a y

88/

A v e

Fairground

P a l m

S t

A v e

L e x i n g t o n

A v e

A v e E

P r a i r i e

DESIGN THINKING | 05 SPECULATION

K o s s u t h

A v e

Skating Rink

Playground

e

Park Lake

G r a n d

n

t

e

r

A

v

B l v d

e

Fair Structures

e

v

amphitheater

a

n

d

zoology garden

/89

N

V

circular swimming pool

Bear Pit

swimming pool

Beaumont High

N a t u r a l

B r i d g e

A v e

A v e S p r i n g

P r a i r i e

A v e

American Baseball and Athletic Exhibition Co.

P a l m

S t

N

E

0 North

100

200

300 Feet

L e x i n g t o n

A v e W a r n e

C l a y

A v e

F a i r

90/

A v e

// PROGRAM LAYOUT SPECULATION

P a l m

S t

A v e

L e x i n g t o n

A v e

A v e E

P r a i r i e

DESIGN THINKING | 05 SPECULATION

A v e

n

t

e

r

A

v

B l v d

e

K o s s u t h

v

e

d

n

/91

N

V

a

G r a n d

e

Fair Site: Tracing on circular swimming pool (amphitheater site) Re-apply the structure from agricultural and mechanical fair

Complex: The social justice center, co working space and educational space aligned with the swimming pool and Beaumont High, connected to the Fair Site

A v e

A v e

B r i d g e

S p r i n g

P r a i r i e

A v e

N a t u r a l

P a l m

S t

N

E

0 North

100

200

300 Feet

92/

DESIGN DESIGN THINKING THINKING | 06|BIBLIOGRAPHY 07 APPENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

/93

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Plato. Timaeus. 360 B.C.E. Translated by Benjamin Jowett (Access from http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/timaeus.html)

Wiggleworth, Sarah, and Jeremy Till. “Increasing Disorder In A Dining Table” Digital image. 1997. Accessed September 26, 2017.

Eisenman, Peter. Moving arrows eros and other errors: an architecture of absence. London: Architectural Association, 1986.

Findley, Lisa. Building change: architecture, politics and cultural agency.

London: Routledge, 2006 Gamble, David, and Patty Heyda. Rebuilding the American city: design and 94/

strategy for the 21st century urban core. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016.

Jason Deem, “A Decade of NorthSide: Land Assemblage, Abandonment and Vacancy”, NextSTL, June 15, 2015 (https://nextstl.com/2015/06/a-decade-of-northside-land-assemblage-abandonment-and-vacancy)

Kate Boudreau, “Fairground Park: What History Remains”, NextSTL, November 18, 2010 (https://nextstl.com/2010/11/fairground-park-what-history-remains)

Kate Boudreau, “Fairground Park: The History We Choose to Forget”, NextSTL, December 1, 2010 (https://nextstl.com/2010/12/fairground-park-the-history-we-choose-to-forget)

Maj. Geo. W. Gilson, “Ninth Annual Report of the St. Louis Agricultural & Mechanical Association”, Missouri Democrat Book and Printing House, St. Louis 1871 (Access from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3773569)

DESIGN THINKING | 06 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Balfour, Alan, Peter Eisenman, and Jean François Bédard. Cities of artificial excavation, the work of Peter Eisenman, 1978-1988:. Montréal: Centre Canadien dArchitecture, 1994.

Liz Austin, “As Soccer Fans Mourn, Approved Metrolink Expansion Signals Increasing Focus On St. Louis Infrastructure”, Green Street STL, May 9 2017 (http://greenstreetstl.com/approved-metrolink-expansion/)

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DESIGN THINKING | AFTERTHOUGHT

AFTERTHOUGHT_ After this research, I found the palimpsest of St. Louis is substantial.

The layers hidden from us are critical to city. I am looking forward to my degree project next semester.

I had some comments and discussion from final review to work on during the winter break: 1. Do I need the project to be on both side of Natural Bridge Ave? (Both inside the park and outside the park) – It’s good to be on both side, park is a safe place for the experience of the palimpsest of architecture, to expose things that are there. The street is the challenge, to change street may have impact on how city is organized.

2. Emphasize the condition and importance of Natural Bridge Ave. (It is the most dangerous road) – maybe not always through architecture, maybe through landscape to have the understanding of different layers.

3. What’s the occupation, condition of the high school? More about the school.

4. The precision of the proposal. The vision of this new community – people, daily routine in this area, activites etc., how all these start to operate as a campus or an anchor.

5. The position of my proposal, the priority of the street?

Many thanks to my professor Antonio and TA Doh Young for their semesterlong help with my design thinking.

Dec. 16th, 2017

TUOXIN LI

DESIGN THINKING 2017 FALL PROFESSOR: ANTONIO SAN MARTÍN TEACHING ASSISTANT: DOH YOUNG KIM