Portland Mediatheque

PDX MT Fall 2011

Kendra Hexberg

Table of contents

Concept Statement......................................3 Diagraming......................................6 3D Diagraming......................................7 Precedents......................................8 Floor Plans......................................9 Site Plan......................................21 Sections......................................22 Elevations......................................24 Perspectives......................................27 Study Models......................................30 Urban Plan......................................31 Post face......................................35

“I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.�

Jorge Luis Borges

CONCEPT STATEMENT The PDX M.T. (short for MediaTheque) is at the heart of Old Town Portland and is the hub for the up and coming new Old Town District. The MT will bring to the district life and prosperity.

Visitors will be greeted by the experience and adventure of the MT. A crystal like crevice runs off axis to the MT structure, From light core to Skidmore fountain. The formation of the crystal core will draw visitors from the entrance up the light core of the MT, and act as a guide for the users to ascend the MT. The crevice activates the space visually and creates a divide between public meeting spaces on level three and the programming directly related to the MT.

Three words describe the way users will interact with the PDX MT: Explore, Discover, and Experience. These three verbs will drive the user interaction in the ever changing PDX MT. At this mediatheque users will work together to explore, discover, and experience through the outlet of the MT. The PDX MT offers its users the chance to explore new and old media, and discover new interests, and explore all a mediatheque has to offer.

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PROJECT PROPOSAL Discover, Experience, and Explore at the PDX MT. Located in the heart of Old Town Portland it has the unique opportunity to help rebuild a struggling community.

The first challenge for this catalyst structure directly adjacent to Skidmore fountain and in the heart of a historical district is: how does the structure ground itself to what is already existing, without diminishing its presence? The PDX MT is visually organized towards Skidmore fountain in Ankeny Square. The cavernous mountain windowscape that runs from light well to entrance draws attention from the heart of the MT to the heart of Ankeny Square and vice versa.The MT also has a window wall that can be opened to allow the activites within the MT to spill into Ankeny Square, as well as draw the activities in the square into the MT. The sliding window wall is located directly across from the proposed sunken amphitheater allowing a direct passage from MT cafe to Amphitheater activities.

When a visitor enters the MT they are greeted by a diminutive reception that gives way to the versatile exhibition space. To the left is the cafe and MT store, and directly ahead is the main circulation and light core for the MT. The remaining space of the first floor, being lower than Burnside street which abuts the north facade of the building, is used to spaces that require less light and a quieter atmospere from the rest of the first floor.

Public Gathering spaces, public computers, and study spaces are located on the second level. This close proximity to the ground floor allows the public to utilize these facilities more effectively, and without having to ascend the entire MT. For those users that Adventure above the second floor, they will be met by the first level of stacks. These stacks are integrated media and book stacks and enhance user exploration of the information contained in the MT. This floor is the first floor with a vast view of the MT window crevice.

It splits the third floor into a public gathering space, and a space that functions much like a library. The space created by the division is an outdoor reading patio for those days that Portlanders feel the need to be outside.

The stacks are created by suspended shelves that will give the books the sense they are only occupying the space and not filling the space.Thus the stacks level will feel more open and less stuffy as many traditional library stack rooms do.

Ascending to the fourth floor brings users and visitors to the second level of stacks. Multimedia stations are scattered across this level for experiencing and discovering information and knowledge in a forms of media contained in the MT. For a group experience of Media, the first floor theater or

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group computer tables on the second level can be used to access the same media.

In stark contrast to the tranquility of the third and fourth level, the fifth level contains the children and young adult stacks. This level is given to the younger MT users to explore and discover without caution. The lower levels of the mediatheque offer few venues for childlike expression, and thus a floor exclusively for the young at heart will alleviate the stifling affects a traditional library might have.

The younger users are not shuffled to the side however, in order to reach their private level they must traverse the entire MT experience all the MT has to offer, before they reach their MT sanctuary. They are given full views of all of downtown Portland, and have informal seating spaces to allow for unencumbered exploration, and discovery.

The final floor of the MT is a private meeting room and green roof terrace. This space will be an exclusive place for the MT to use to impress. Special gatherings, fund raisers, and events can be held in small measure on this floor. This space also gives the MT an exclusive rental space for users looking to have a secluded area from the rest of the MT. Way finding in such an expansive space can be difficult and at times very frustrating. A simple color coded way finding was created to alleviated confusion of spaces and functions in the MT. In an otherwise ambiguous and ever changing space like a Mediatheque, way finding must be flexible to allow for changes over time as functions grow, contract, or disappear.

Thus a series of intense colors paired with muted overall colors give each space an identity and a visual cue to their function. Something as easily changed as a color gives the MT a way to evolve without being hindered by cumbersome signage or more solid architectural way finding structures.

The MT’s cohesive programming and open plan are developed to allow the MT to flex and grow within its own walls as media and users change over time. The future of the Mediatheque is uncertain, but the ability for it to be changed to meet its needs are not.

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The quote “ I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library” led to these initial concept diagrams.They were dealing with the inherent problem of any space, what needs light and what needs quite. A concept of an inside-outside space was developed around this question. It was seen as a place where people would have to exit the space they inhabited, going “outside” and having to physically change your surroundings and way of thinking before entering the new space. Originally my concept surrounding an interior courtyard that created an outside space they one must enter in order inhabit any other space. This outside space would transition the user changing their mind set and orienting them for the new area of interaction they were about the enter into.

The practicality of this outside space dividing all of the interior spaces was found to be impractical for at mediatheque that would contain books. The idea of the spaces being divided by areas of private, open, inside, outside was however continued with till the final stages of the project. This place of outside and changing ones state of mind is an intriguing place and has possibilities in the final design. The light core with central circulation acts almost as the outside space as each floor transitions between each flight of stairs. Further development of the “outside” space is always possible in the future.

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BLUE Swim down a river of information swift and steady. An unending flow of knowledge engulfs the visitor.

RED A continuous lava flow, an eruption of knowledge. Activity and interaction drive visitors to information.

GREEN To descend through a dense forest of information knowledge fills the canopy that shelters the visitors

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Level one began and stayed as the hub of public and outside interaction for PDX MT. It evolved into a place that also integrates the MT into Ankeny Square. Its diminutive reception, open cafe, store, and exhibition space create the informal atmosphere of the first floor. The movement of the Secure media studios to this floor was done for the better acoustics when the rooms were place up against the sunken wall adjacent to Burnside street. These secure media studios create the Media discovery space for the mediatheque, where users are encouraged to come as a group or alone and record, listen, and interact with all forms of media. The theater located on this floor is for private showings as well as small screenings for the users of the mediatheque.

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Level 01

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Level two is the Public interaction floor. A space that is buzzing with user ineraction and activity. This floor offers users spaces to explore and discover individually or in a group. It originally began as the digital media floor, and evolved into the interaction floor, for not only digital media but analog as well.

Individual public computers are available as well as group computers that are linked for easier group work. The small scale study spaces include individual study desks as well as group study tables. All tables in the study areas are easily used with lap tops and other digital media.

The final programming on this floor for the public is the childcare space. Located on the second floor for convenience of the users and visitors of the mediatheque.

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Level 02

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Level three began divided between digital media and analogue media. It evolved into an integrated space with a large reading room space. It was important at one time to keep digital and analogue media separate, but by the final iteration of the MT it was clear they should inhabit the same space. Thus the integrated stacks span the third and fourth floors of the mediatheque.

The obvious difference is in size of space between the third and fourth floors. The programming difference is the reading room and the multimedia stations.The third floor lacks the multimedia stations and the fourth floor lacks a formal reading room.

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Level 03

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Level 04

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These upper floors, 4-6 mark a floor plate change that is the ascending mountain that is the PDX MT. The fifth level contains the young adult and children stacks. This private floor gives the young MT user a place to explore and discover without interference. They gain exposure to the MT as they make their way up the MT to the fifth level. Yet, the MT does not stifle their personal expression and exploration of media. This space gives the young user the change to expand their interests without the stifling affects of the traditional library.

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Level 05

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The sixth floor is the apex of the MT. It was developed to complete the ascending shape of the MT. Without this last step up, the MT is visually truncated on the exterior.This gave the MT an opportunity to have a completely private floor. This floor can house small fund raisers, private meetings, and small outdoor events.The green roof terrace and the glass enclosed meeting space have the best views of the entire mediatheque.

The downtown Portland skyline will make this space even more desirable for small private events and when not in use a place for visitors to view all of Downtown Portland.

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Level 06

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Section 1

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Ankeny Street- Elevation

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First Street- Elevation

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Burnside Avenue- Elevation

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NEW DEVELOPMENT MAX LINE ROUTES ADDED SIDEWALK / SEATING MAX STOP SHELTERS 1. MEDIATHEQUE 2. MARKET AND CO-OP 3. RESTORED THEATER 4. PORTLAND ART MUSEUM

Urban Plan Ankeny Square occupies the center of the Old Town- China Town and Skidmore City Districts. As such it must command a presence in Portland or risk being forgotten forever.The Urban Design renewal for Ankey Square and Ankeny Street is 3 part. This renewal will give Ankeny square a foothold in downtown Portland and as a destination.

The first phase of this urban renewal are the four catalyst buildings:The Portland Mediatheque,The New Market Theater, An indoor public Market, and the New School Museaum- Portland. These four sites will bring life and activity throughout the day, to this struggling neighborhood. The key to this urban renewal will be the New Museum which will anchor Ankeny street to downtown via the 5th street corridor.

The second phase is a reorganization of the pedestrain, car, and mass transit into and around Ankeny Street and the main square. Car traffic along Ankeny will be removed completely opening Ankeny to be a completely pedestrian thoroughfare from Downtown to the Waterfront. In addition One Max line will be diverted to Naito Parkway to make the first street corridor more pedestrian friendly and to open a lane on first for car traffic. In this pedestrian way there will be the creation of two piazza like spaces. Created using landscaping and small architectural elements. These two Piazzas border first street on either side. The third phase will be infill of mixed-use buildings into the open parking lots and a sunken amphitheater to be used by the New Market Theater and the Portland Meadiatheque.

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The countless examples of Urban Renewal projects could not be all included as precedent images for this urban renewal project, and thus a few images of specific ideas were included to convey the atmosphere that was intented.

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Post Script

The development of the PDX MT was very difficult. To change from space planning to space creating was more challenging than originally anticipated. The new process developed during this project should help to inform and enhance future projects.

Architecture has always seemed as an outside-in process, but now it seems to have other possibilities. It was mentioned that allowing the interiors to inform the exteriors is a legitimate process for developing a structure. It was mentioned too late in the process of the Mediatheque to utilize this new way of thinking fully, but future possibilities could be endless.

A crash course in building envelopes may be necessary as well in the future to fully develop an architectural style.

Here’s to the future possibilities created out of this studio.

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