Thesis Book

Architectural and Urbanistic

networks Revitalizing Montgomery’s riverfront and urban core with the introduction of an intermodal center.

Nicholas Kading Purcell Submitted in partial fulďŹ llment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Architecture Degree.

Spring 2013 Auburn University School of Architecture Montgomery is a city with a rich history that has been cast aside leaving the remnants of its once great past as a transportation center within the South.

An Intermodal Transit Center Cities are built upon the premise of connectivity and are the thriving realizations of physical networks within society. In order for a metropolis to succeed, it must establish a hierarchical standard for the public. There must be a source of unification within the social construct that is achieved through the built environment. For Montgomery, a city dismantled by post-war development and civil unrest, this dilemma is met with a solution regarding transit. The city has spread outward due to suburban growth and lacks a system to unify and establish a built network within the cultural fabric.

Therefore, the proposal of an urban intermodal center in downtown Montgomery would benefit the city and region as a whole. Programmatically, the structure would facilitate light rail, Amtrak, streetcar, and regional/city bus transportation along with providing additional services for community gatherings within the area. The center would act as a gateway to the city, not only for tourists, but for the residents of the Alabama River region and operate as a connection between the river and the city. By reintroducing a transit hub in the downtown and reconfiguring the urban area to facilitate an influx of population, the city would regain its past achievement as a successful urban society. The Montgomery Transit Center is a proposal for growth and renewal within the region, and the following documentation is an exploration and analysis of the programmatic incorporation of such a structure within the environment.

Acknowledgements My architectural endeavors and achievements are due to those who have impacted my life the most: family, friends, professors and my savior, Jesus Christ.

Thanks to: Jeffrey Purcell

Helen Purcell

Lydia Purcell

Pete Taylor

George Purcell

Margaret Taylor

Wendy Evans Justin Miller

Kevin Moore

Robert Sproull

Christian Dagg

Margaret Fletcher

Rusty Smith

Robert Faust

Gaines Blackwell

Sheri Schumacher

Scott Finn

Paul Zorr To those at Church of the Highlands - Auburn and the Auburn Chapter of the AIAS. What is the solution to a city that lacks a thriving downtown?

Contents 7

Narrative Overview theses overview explorations

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08 10

The Architectural Network Thesis Research and Proposal

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Montgomery Site Analysis considerations and features nature and site adjacencies

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Zoning Code & Summary applicable codes smart code LEED checklist

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56 68 69 70 74

Aspirations explorations

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48 49 52

Building Type Research precedent studies tabular program spatial adjacencies spatial considerations site strategy

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32 40 42

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The Initial Design The Montgomery InterNet

105

The Final Proposal Intermodal Transit Center Mid Term Explorations Thesis Proposal

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Conclusion

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Bibliography

106 116

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

NARRATIVE OVERVIEW

“Cradle of the Confederacy and Birthplace of Civil Rights” Montgomery, Alabama is a city of contrasting ideologies and strong discourse, yet it is a cradle of modern civility and freedom. Several events have shaped the history of this southern city. The majority of them are beneficial towards humanity, but the scars of violence and revolution have left marks within the communal fabric. Today, the downtown—once a thriving hub for agrarian trade—is vacant and only occupied by the occasional tourist and governmental bureaucrat. There is a lack of public space, a need for something to unite the surrounding neighborhoods together. Therefore, a proposal for a regional intermodal center at the heart of the city’s rail district would prove beneficial to the community. The below statements lay out the thematic principles for this idea and offer several examples for implementing its conception.

Architecture is the material manifestation of the human psyche and an extension of the body designed with the intention of connecting individuals to further establish themselves outside of their personal parameters to engage society. It is an opportunity for uniting communities to bridge boundaries. Thusly, architecture stands as a gateway for daily discourse, habitual life, and public passage within the physical realm.

Harper’s Weekly Journal, 1860.

Months after the establishment of the Confederate States of America.

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Thesis Overview of the Montgomery Gateway/Artery

I. II. III.

IV.

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Society has a desire to connect to the greater context of existence and surpass the confinements of human form.

Eileen Gray and her fascination with the mollusk. Architecture is meant to be a form of branching outward and occupying space to create a ‘shell’ of humanity within the built environment.

Uniting peoples and places to form community. a. Everything is related to each other; and there is a greater desire to connect the individual with society. i. Each of the quantities is the whole and is related to the other. ii. Merleau-Ponty The World of Perception.

A successful city is one that engages the public a. Pallasmaa suggests the reflective and vision-obsessed architecture of modernity rejects human understanding, the building must be inviting and welcome the curious—much like the medieval passageways of hill towns. b. Buildings must be haptic and engaging: i. Pallasmaa The Eyes of the Skin ii. The City of the Eye – the Haptic City c. The creation of nodes and artiries to connect the city and its surrounding metropolis are discussed within The Image of the City. A further understanding of the connection between the city (through communication) and its inhabitants (through travel) will be assessed.

Transportation and Architecture a. The introduction of train travel changed the methods of how people interact and established time as a commodity. It created distances that could be calculated within the day and was a form of connecting societies. i. Marshall McLuhan Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man b. There has been a dissension in the social fabric of many cities due to the rapid suburbanization of the twentieth century. Reassessing the flaws of forced growth and engaging these communities with a positive approach would aid each neighborhood in creating cultural identity. i. Lars Lerup After the City

Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

The proposed station and community center will act as the hub of this interconnected network.

NARRATIVE OVERVIEW

V. VI.

Creation of a system of interconnected passages throughout the city and suburbs. a. Locating key areas that need to be revitalized for community growth. b. Programmatic design of ‘civic centers’ within each neighborhood for social enhancement.

How can an intermodal center improve the vitality of urban Montgomery? a. The inclusion of a unified transportation venue in the city will increase the amount of people within the area and allow for the various districts of the city to unify and network with each other. b. Designing the center as a gateway and civic area that engages the surrounding landscape and existing structures for the betterment of the city.

Cited Works: Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory, William Braham Urban Design Method and Techniques, Cliff Moughtin Boundaries of the City: The Architecture of Western Urbanism: Alan Waterhouse The Concise Townscape: Gordon Cullen Rivertown: Rethinking Urban Rivers: Paul Stanton Kibel The City Seen as a Garden of Ideas: Peter Cook Redesigning City Squares and Plazas: Francisco Asensio Cerver The Potteries Thinkbelt: Cedric Price The Question Concerning Technology: Heidegger Intermodal Center of Birmingham, GA Studio Atlanta Beltine, Georgia Transbay Center, California New Jersey Transit Line Moscow Metro Wes Jones Richard Rogers Miami Intermodal

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Further Explorations I will continue with this thesis and begin by exploring the design of an intermodal system of public transportation within Montgomery’s metropolitan area. Strategic nodes of focus will be assessed and a master plan with each town/transit center will be showcased along with the various systems connecting the city. One of these systems, a light rail network, will use the present freight lines of the city to unite communities and promote the reuse of current infrastructure.

The project will continue within the architectural realm and focus on the adaptive reuse of the Union Train Station in downtown Montgomery. This proposal will act as a gateway for the city and the region, exist as the main intermodal center, and reunite the urban core with the waterfront. Programmatically, the station will house a transit center, educational/learning complex, public facilities, and traveler accommodations. The building will interact with the landscape to engage the public with the Alabama River and connect Commerce/Coosa Streets with the shore. The goal of this architectural endeavor will be to centralize the needs of the commute/traveler within the city and perform as a gateway to the urban corridor of Montgomery.

The proposed center will act as a gateway for the residents of Montgomery and visitors within the city. It will breach the divide that has segregated the city from the riverfront and initiate a rebirth of cultural activity within the downtown.

How can the past engage the future and offer successful examples?

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

the Architectural Network

Architecture and the Built Environment as a Network Information is the basis for which our culture and society exchange data. It is something that is often conducted through a means of electronic immateriality which is written, digitized, catalogued and stored within a vast pool of collective resources. The internet is now the present means of sharing resources and has garnered support from the masses as the premier method of distributing and issuing knowledge in order to connect the myriad of cultures that blanket the planet. There is a great deal of diversity within society and in order to bring about cohesion amongst the distracting elements of mundane life, order through networking must be established. This will to branch outward and regain a connective fabric with humanity has been a continual theme within the history of our society.

Since the conception of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in the late nineteenth century, the spirit of innovation and the will to connect past known parameters has been a promising motivation for global unification. From mobile devices to internet databases, there is a continual network of communication that streams across the airwaves into our handheld devices. The world is now in the pocket of every individual and the limit is continually surpassed as the progression of human innovation evolves.

Through the use of technology and data sharing, the invisible and intangible qualities of information’s form are continually broadcast towards society without a materially or physical connection.

Hand-written letters have been replaced by generic, digitized emails and phone booths have been updated, and substituted by the latest smart phone application. The progress of machinery has led to a life that is rather mundane and abstract to our perceptual feelings and bodily senses. Materiality has been sacrificed for convenience and the communication field that surrounds the populace has lost the physical aspect regarding its design. The past two centuries were filled with thinkers and their respectable inventions intended for bridging the gap of distance between each other; and their ability to reform conventional methodologies has been greatly admired. However, there must be an acknowledgment made for the materialistic properties of early networking systems and the forms which were taken in order to produce a successful, or often imaginative, characteristic of connectivity. From the sensational interiors of Eileen Gray to Buckminster Fuller’s global architecture, designers during the twentieth century were supporters of the networking movement and established a series of themematic designs based on the notion of realizing the realm of connectivity and communication as a tangible property. There have been

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Initial diagram of the telephone device used by Bell and his technicians in 1874.1

the ARHICTECTURAL NETWORK

Union Station in Montgomery, AL was once the hub of an economic and social network in the southern region.2

many experiments in the areas of architecture and the relationship of society with the built environment. Buildings, in themselves, are manifestations of ethereal networks. Architecture provides a means for engaging others through a series of spaces that enable discussion, promote dialogue, and aid in the communal gathering of others. Design is a catalyst for communication and is the extension of the human conscious which promotes social growth among the masses.

Currently, design lies at a crossroads, one of permanence or change.

Typical modern architecture is lambasted with the changes and conflictions of rapidly-evolving technology. Interiors are transformed at an increasing rate to facilitate the modern needs of clients. This brings as sense of temperance to architecture. Are buildings supposed to adapt to their surroundings or are they required to stand as characterless voids used solely for the purpose of manipulation, a visage whose inherent properties are cast aside for future change? The solution to this problem is met in the middle. Architecture should stand the test of time and perform successfully to meet the needs of an ever-changing society. The building should act as a network, one which is structured for change. As program develops and initial uses transform, the internal shell of a structure’s design should remain the same and allow for the manipulation of space through time. This system is used within the realm of data and technological information sharing. The internet is a complex network ordered with a logistical overlay of categorization. The interface of each website remains relatively the same and is composed of several elemental features found throughout its structure.

Interfaces change and the graphic orientation of information varies for each location, however, it is this similar grid of order and cohesion that brings unity and allows for a seemingly complicated program to feature adaptability.

Architecture often succumbs to these challenges, but they can be resolved by the use of a similar system for bridging the boundaries of innovation and engaging society within the built environment.

Montgomery, Alabama is a city challenged with its inability to overcome boundaries and to connect the various communities that comprise the municipality’s symbolic heritage. From the early nomadic settlements of the region’s past to the commuting realization of suburban modernization, the area has always been on the move. The city is an area of contrasting ideologies and principles that has become the cradle for civility and freedom. The majority of the city’s movements have heralded from humble beginnings, but in turn, have caused violence and animosity leaving a series of scarred remains across a once communal fabric. Today, the downtown core of Montgomery—a past, thriving

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hub of agrarian trade—is vacant and only occupied by the occasional tourist or governmental bureaucrat. There is a lack of public space, a need for something to unite the surrounding neighborhoods together and restore the network that once existed. Therefore, a proposal for a regional intermodal center at the heart of the city’s former rail district would prove beneficial to the community.

Currently, Union Station lies dormant and is a visage of the past progress of a once physical nexus within an urban system. Networks thrive on the ability for humans to interact and engage each other, and transportation centers are the central nodes of architectural success within the built environment.

Architecture is the material manifestation of a network and its structural composition is an extension of humanity with the intention of connecting individuals with society beyond existing parameters. It is an opportunity for uniting communities and bridging boundaries—much like electronic communication performs—to achieve a physical form and give solidity within an era that is often characterized as digital and superficial. Thusly, architecture stands as a connection-point for discourse, habitual life, and public passage within the physical realm and is established as a series of nodes and volumes for interfacing with people across the distance of space to establish a tangible, built network.

Surpassing the Boundaries Society has an innate desire to surpass the conditions that typically block progress and connect with others regardless of what limits or boundaries resist this process. Within the physical form of humanity, a curiosity of knowledge and the will to gather information has existed from the beginnings of sensory development.

The ability to touch, hear, see and engage with a material, individual or space has led to the creation of various forms of technological innovation for interpreting volumes and connecting—past our bodies—to the exterior fields that surround. Eileen Gray, an Irish interior designer and architect, was known for her intimate spatial configurations and organically-inspired forms in most of her projects. She realized that humanity tends to extend past one’s own feelings and make space personable and meaningful. This was a dominant practice by her and the associates which aided in the design process. Often, Gray’s ideals would clash with those of her contemporaries. On several accounts, her obsession with

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Le Corbusier’s Modular was an ideal measuring system based on the proportions of humanity.1

the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

The mollusk creates a shell that acts as an extension of its interior environment.

The geometric regularities and proportions of its home creates a sense of order and unity within its connective tissue.2

individualistic expressionism fell in contrast with the mechanized uniformity of Le Corbusier. Architecture was seen as a mechanized allusion to technology.

Instead, it is an extension and the most successful form of organization according to Le Corbusier. As Gray stated, “A house is not a machine of habit (or a system for repeating observations of mechanized design), it is man’s shell, his continuation, his spreading out, his spiritual emanation.”1 Le Corbusier was interested in the universality of design and its overall relation to the operational progress of technology—a belief that was closely tied with the innovation of the period during the early twentieth century. However, it is Eileen’s fascination with the natural environment and the ability for organic components to unite and exist past their intended framework that relates to the themetization of network design. Architecture can act as a shell for humanity, it can extend past the parameters of the drafting board to become a place for personalization. Each room in a structure is a vessel for creativity and a place for individual freedom, However, for such a space to operate successfully, there must be an establishment of order.

Le Corbusier’s designs were based on order and regulation. Each architectural feature was based on the strict geometric composition of basic human proportions. This measuring system, called the Modular, was used to create a rational method for design. The diagram reaffirms nature’s ability to synthesize development through mathematical form. Le Corbusier’s observation of nature combined with the mechanized features of modern engineering allowed him to establish a system for analyzing architecture in a cognitive manner. The Modular’s design is based on the inner networks of the human body. The arm is attached to the shoulder, which is connected to the torso, following a proportional system of regulation to the exterior limbs.2 This exploration showcases the intriguing features of the human ‘grid.’ The grid is a system of unity that is utilized within the body allowing for organs to operate within a generalized field of order. Le Corbusier studied this system and utilized its design within the architectural functions of his buildings. He viewed architecture as a living network that permitted humanity to operate within it biomechanical structure.

Eileen Gray’s admiration for the organic characteristics of architecture 1. Ballantyne, Andrew. “Architecture, Life, and Habit.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2011): 4349. Print. page 45.

2. Ballantyne, Andrew. “Architecture, Life, and Habit.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2011): 4349. Print. page 47.

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and design were influenced by her research conducted through the natural habitats of animalia. Her exploration was achieved by thoroughly appreciating the growth characteristics of mollusks—a concept frequently used in her explanations. The mollusk is an invertebrate and a gastropod that develops a hard-line shell along its exterior membrane. This shell acts as vessel, a connective tissue of habitat for securing and safeguarding itself from the threats of life.

The creature forms a home that moves and operates as a transportation system within a living body. This ideology is what fascinated Gray and persuaded her to research the various systems of society to find a means of producing an architecture that allowed for the human body to forgo its form and create a space, an extended network of oneself.

The home is the extension of the body, it is the mollusks shell, as Eileen suggests, and is an opportunity for personalization within the physical environment.3 The home, in turn, becomes the established node within a community that creates a culture. Each city is comprised of various social frameworks and these constructs act as a network within the physical realm. People use this network by traveling to each other’s homes and viewing their intriguing, habitual lives. Architecture becomes the plaque for which our personas are broadcast to the world. Whether it is through the display of family photographs or the personalization of upholstery, these mundane features are extensions of our shells and billboards for communicating life.

Often, our homes become vessels of ourselves. An architect may specifically design a space to fulfill several functions and the form may be derived from a series of theoretical foundations, however, the final arrangement is comprised of a series of individualistic memories and artifacts of meaning that occupy space. We begin to express our unique behaviors and beliefs by showcasing them for the public. The spaces we occupy become a personal advertisement to display our qualities and make ourselves more present within 3. Ballantyne, Andrew. “Architecture, Life, and Habit.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2011): 4349. Print. page 46.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Times Square in New York City is an architectural solution for showcasing a network built on communication and data.

the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

The USA as one large city, a concept frequently showcased within the network-centered conferences by DOXIADIS.8

the world. This act can be seen as a form of networking; it is the beginning of our will to associate with others and to bring awareness to the various complexities of an individual’s character.

In Denise Scott Brown’s article Learning from Pop, an investigation of the relationship between art and the public is analyzed. In the realm of society there is a consistent radiation of information from the individual to the populace. Streets are lined with diner signs, littered with neon strip centers, and over occupied by an abundant amount of text. Architecture has given way to stylized insignias, and the buildings become billboards of information—to source from Robert Venturi.4 Architecture’s various programming is now exploited upon the facades of modern structures. However, this phenomena should not be degraded and cast aside as a flaw of society, instead designers should look into these various forms of media as an example of success within the communicative aspect of networking.5 Full-scale advertisements and hot lights on vendor stores are extensions of humanity and a physical manifestation of the system previously discussed. These methods act as way-finding and place-making features within a landscape and promote a structure’s use through a language easily understood.

If there is a desire for individuals to create a home, a vessel of space around them, there is also a process which draws these forms of media together in order to project a voice of creativity and uniqueness within society. This can be seen through the use of propaganda and commercialized marketing that blankets the freeway systems and covers the facades of New York’s Times Square.

Areas of architectural media, like New York, are adorned with information that engage society and act as a catalyst of communication within the public realm. This database of information extends past the oversized poster boards into the architectural realm. Areas of heavy traffic are interconnected by a series of dense infrastructure like the subway system of New York or the skyway bridges of Houston. These urban areas have to physically construct solutions of connectivity which are typically resolved by the use of automobiles in the suburbs. Physical interventions within space 4. Brown, Denise S. “Learning from Pop.” Casabella (December 1971): 15-23. page 16.

5. Brown, Denise S. “Learning from Pop.” Casabella (December 1971): 15-23. page 15.

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allow for a building to engage its site and extend past original boundaries into the architectural network. An extension of information along a corridor of communication is the realization of the network and is the systematic creation of nodes within the public realm used to engage others and hopefully act as a means for uniting a diverse society.

Architecture has surpassed its initial boundaries of design. There are no longer walls that hinder an army from laying siege, or doors that permit one from entering a space. Movement is performed in an invisible space and done so digitally. Therefore, our physical structures should respond to the social evolution of communication that abounds. Mark Wigley, an architectural theoretician poses the same question in response to design within the text Network Fever.

He displays the evolution of architecture by stating that, “The idea of a space occupied by networks or superimposed by them has been replaced by that of overlapping networks within which physical space only appears as a fragile artifact or effect.”6 Architecture operates like the digital systems described. Each digital database is housed at a central hub; a program of servers marks it establishment and acts as the heart of a system. From that point, the networking grids radiate outward into a landscape of connectivity. Urban systems conduct themselves in a similar way by housing a central core—one typically of trade and commerce—that spreads horizontally to outlying communities. Architecture responds to this network by connecting programmatic spaces both vertically and laterally with the intention of uniting the various functions of a building within a collective body. As Marshal McLuhan suggests, architecture has become so expansive and technologies have surpassed the human body at a point where the planet has begun to shrink to the size of small village.7 Technology has allowed society to break the boundaries of distance and time to communicate. Architecture becomes the vessel for these actions and must respond accordingly by permitting the use of these systems and by enabling occupants with an ability to connect to this network. A city must develop itself within an organized arrangement

6. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 83.

7. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 86.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

The Genzyme Center operates as a network; a system that universally operates within the structure and relates each part with the whole.11

the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

link its various entities with a uniformed center.8 Just like the mollusk, cities are architectural shells and their various organs of operation must permit an atmosphere of beneficial growth. The typical hectic design of cities and their sprawling suburban developments defeat this purpose and string an unorganized web across the landscape. This dilemma must be resolved by the implementation of a united community, both regionally, locally, and architecturally.

A Community United

Buckminster Fuller experimented with the visible global network by hanging a triangulated web over a series of strategic nodes or cities.12

Societies are formed by a myriad of unique communities comprising a united identity. Groups of people form together through the collection of a family, and then unite with others along a string of systems to define distinguished cultural bodies among the masses. Individualism is showcased on the macro scale because of the influential characteristics of each society. It seems that everything grows and emerges from the other; as if there is a continual progression/connection within the social evolution of every establishment.

Marleau-Ponty, a conceptual theorist on the realities of objects, expounds on this topic within his text The World of Perception. In the work, the author focuses on the realization of social constructs and their relationship towards other systems, “The unity of (an) object does not lie behind its qualities (like the sweet characteristics of honey), but is reaffirmed by each one of them: each of its qualities is the whole.”9 It is obvious that Ponty is fascinated with the relationship of the individual with masses. The sensible attributes of honey are typically associated with taste, but it is the tangible qualities of the substance that form the entire experience. This natural phenomena is an example of networking on the micro scale. Our ability to perceive the world through the five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) is what permits each individual to understand his/ her surroundings, record them, and share them with the others. There is a definite network of connectivity within society that is reflected within the way material things are created. Objects are designed to meet the needs of various tasks and to fulfill the desires of a specific individual or group. Everything is related to 8. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 87.

9. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The World of Perception. New York: Routledge, 2008. page 48.

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the other; and there is a greater desire to connect the individual with society.

Or as Ponty would exclaim, “Human life confronts itself from one side of the globe to the other and speaks to itself in its entirety through (various forms of media).”10 Architecture responds to this challenge in a similar way and acts as a visual communication of a social conditions, furthermore, with the hope of broadcasting them to the world.

If one studies the relationship of the part with the whole, an entire revelation is made within the greater context of nature and material objects.

When one is thirsty, the typical cup is used to act as a means of extension for the human body to achieve a task. The handle of a pottery vase provides the ergonometric form needed to facilitate movement and structure during the process of ladling water. Objects are designed in order to aid humanity in achieving tasks and improving life. The modern mobile phone device operates as a surrogate for communicative purposes and has replaced the need for written and hand-delivered information between a myriad of sources.

These devices connect us with reality; they amplify the perceptive abilities of individuals with the intention of improving one’s own being. People are able to use buildings in a similar way. Architecture can operate as an extension of man and facilitate health by establishing itself as a symbiotic structure within a system. Components of a building, whether mechanical, electrical, or material can operate in tandem by responding to challenges in a cohesive manner. The Genzyme Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts—a private research laboratory—is modeled on a similar system. The building operates as a vertical city and creates a series of spaces that are integrated with natural light throughout the entire structure.11 Offices and employee workstations are illuminated by a series of re-directional blinds controlled by a top-lit central atrium. A prismatic ceiling reflects the light and diffuses it within the various interior spaces. Other entities within the building, like the cooling and heating system, operate with other programs in order to fulfill desired thermal effects.

This structure performs as a network, one that is based on the regulation of an organizational hierarchy that works simultaneously with other systems and occupants to create an atmosphere conducive for success.

Naturally, the idea of connectivity is observed through the process of the biologically-diverse formation of the planet. Organisms have developed a series of parts that operate in order to fulfill activities that demand the operating capabilities of several features. The human body, for example, is designed to function with the assistance of several organs that enable the bio-mechanism to facilitate growth and life. The body cannot exist without its counterparts 10. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The World of Perception. New York: Routledge, 2008. page 83.

11. Behnisch Architekten. “Genzyme Center.” http://behnisch.com/projects/104.

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the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

and subcomponents that enable the flow of systems and cerebral health. Networks are part of this system and the Delos meetings held in the later-half of the twentieth century concluded that they, “…proliferate and interlock, crossing every barrier, physical and political, that has previously divided man… Networks are the key to the making or breaking of cities.”12 There was an observation made that networks are the basis of humanity and are the decisive element of an individual’s well-being. If this method is associated with the operating capacities of communities or cities, then a realization of the needed enterprises within the civic arena are assessed. Networks must surpass their social and digital stereotypes to engage society through the built environment and allow architecture to operate similarly, just as the Genzyme Center performs.

Cities and architecture are only functional if they are able to run themselves within a series of organizational strategies aimed on the inclusion of its various components. There is a diverse arrangement of structures within a city and each attribute needs to be united to create a thriving social, natural and economic network within the area. There must be desire, a need for intervention, within the architectural community to enable people to realize their importance in the organizational success of these pieces. Everything is connected to the other, and each piece is related to the whole. Merleau-Ponty professed this crucial observation and his statements hold true to the nature of networks within the cities of our social constructs.

(Top) Le Corbusier’s

An Engaging Architecture within the City

proposed skyline for

There is a modern dilemma with the current structuring of systems within the architectural community. Often, a design is sacrificed in order to bring about a more economical objective, which in turn, becomes harmful within the fabric of a city. Pallasmaa, author of the Eyes of the Skin and the Thinking Hand, suggests that the majority of modern architecture rejects human intercommunication. The modern city is one that is viewed at a

Buenos Aires in 1929, juxtaposed against the medieval city of Casares, Spain (Bottom) which offers a variety of engaging views and network connections.13

12. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 91.

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distance, as one intricately-placed composition.

Whereas, the urban space should be interpreted as a haptic city intended for engagement through multiple events and views.13 Pallasmaa evokes the perfect city as once where the architecture is related to the human scale, where the physical environment is related to the network of mankind and is based on these rational proportions. The Medieval cities of Italian hill towns portray this theme; Pallasmaa describes his experience in one of Casares, Spain, “I confront the city with my body; my legs measure the length of the arcade and the width of the square; my gaze unconsciously projects my body onto the façade of the cathedral, where it roams over the moldings and contours, sensing the size of recesses and projections… I experience myself in the city, and the city exists through my embodied experience.”14 Architecture is the extension of human understanding and it allows others to connect with each other. Ancient cities permitted the use of festivities and were free to the haphazard freedom within their urban cores. Today’s cities are planned as one unit, and often ignore the unique characteristics of each neighborhood. Zoning and mundane uniformity has lead to a dystopian city with lackluster existence. The building, instead, must be an inviting space which allows for sensory engagement. This should continue out into the public realm.

The use of organizational features, like zoning and ordinances, are useful only if they allow for a system to display its unique attributes. Similar to how the internet operates—with its interconnected, global computer network—there is a regulation of data juxtaposed to an interface of freedom where the designer is allowed to display information and creativity in a variety of forms.15 The creation of nodes and arteries within a city or building allow for a metropolis to act as one body, with a myriad of operating organisms within its composition.

13. Pallasmaa. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. 3rd ed. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley, 2012. pages 36-37.

14. Pallasmaa. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. 3rd ed. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley, 2012. page 43.

15. The Opte Project. 2012. http://www.opte.org/.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

This diagram is a visual document of the connection points made by computer servers on the internet. Cities operate in a similar way by branching vertically and horizontally across the landscape.15

the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

Connectivity

Japan and Tokyo Bay as a continual city networked by a vast road system.18

The introduction of train travel changed the methods of how people interact and use resources. Time became a commodity, the ability to move in-between space was a regulated and no longer free to random quantities without a means for reason. Cities began growing outward as rail surpassed previous boundaries. Suburbs grew in number, so did the need for roadways and transportation routes for servicing the expanding population. The network expanded and, in many ways, began fragmenting itself along the landscape.

Gordon Cullen, published the Townscape series that focused on the need for interventions within the modern landscape. His observations were made on the basis of giving a “…visual coherence and organization to the jumble of buildings, streets, and spaces that make up the urban environment.”16 These connections accentuated the prime nodes within a city that act as civic features.

For an urban area to function as a proper network, Cullen examined that the essential function of a city must be visible from its plan. There should be lines of force which represent the circumstances that created the town and gave its unique intelligible and characteristic form existence.17 When studying the plans of cities like Paris and London, the cities’ form tells a tale of cultural hierarchy and importance. The location of a church in relation to a civic square at the central axis of a city displays the emphasis of faith within a town. The plan begins to read as a network; one which ranks the relevance of a structure within a field. Architecturally, a structure performs the same tasks by placing spaces in relationship to those which are deemed public against those for private use. The façade of a structure may act as a device for communicating its program by establishing an order of volumes in relation to planes.

The larger the opening, the more public the space is—in a typical setting. Therefore, the architectural features of a structure act as a node within the network for communicating the importance of a building’s design and showcasing its cultural identity.

The outward growth of the suburbs has an internal effect on the architectural designs of modern structures.18 Program has spread and increased in size; what was once deemed appropriate 16. Cullen, Gordon. Townscape. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1961. page 194.

17. Cullen, Gordon. Townscape. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1961. page 111.

18. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 103.

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for the size of a bedroom has tripled by the twenty-first century. There is a higher demand for more space, and in turn, the distance between volumes has become so great that a disconnection has formed among its design parameters.

America has had a desire to move westward ever since the formulation of Manifest Destiny. This grand idea has given form to many great networks like the Interstate Highway System; however, many of these entities have been abused by negligent planning and a ignorance of social construct. Social fabric cannot be cast aside for future infrastructure as Lars Lerup suggests in the suburban-study of Houston, Texas titled After the City, “The palimpsest of habits, practices, physical traces, accretions and subtractions and overlays of memories—as fertility, (exist) as the growing ground of urban culture.”19 These cultural ties to buildings—whether it is a historic church or monument— exists within the city as a point of importance, one that communicates the city’s personality to society.

These cultural aspects within architecture are organized within a moving system. A system of change and cultural evolution propels the physical aspects of man-made environments into the future. The organizational features of cities have to be determined by architects, who no longer form the central role of making single interventions within the network (like a building or a public square). Instead, the designer must operate with the entire grid of the city and landscape in mind. All networks from roads to telephones, and metro systems to subdivisions must be coordinated with a logic based on extending the human body rather than excluding it—which is often the case in car-dependent road networks.20 Traffic and architecture should operate in tandem to bring the three components of living, working and playing together in a symbiotic relationship for social interchange.

Networks operate as a moving vehicle within the landscape. They are a combination of features brought together by architectural and urban design amidst a changing human transportation system.

Rivers were once heavily used for connecting societies across great lengths. However, as water commerce and industry declined in the latter-half of the twentieth century, land that was once used for warehouses and loading docks have given way to brownfield sites void of people.21 Montgomery suffers from this dilemma. With the rare exception of a riverfront park, the city has disregarded its waterfront ecosystem and disconnected itself from the natural network that flows through the

19. Lerup, Lars. After the City. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. page 159.

20. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 94.

21. Kibel, Paul S., ed. Rivertown: Rethinking Urban Rivers. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. page 11.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Houston, Texas is a city full of transit-related networks.

Its suburban metro spreads across the landscape into the horizon.20

the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

Intermodal systems would connect the various facilities at the Potteries Thinkbelt.23

region. This problem is faced by many American cities, and some of them, like Chicago, have met the challenge by initiating public awareness and policy to reengage the natural features of the city. The riverfront has been reopened on the southern edge of the Chicago River and many derelict structures have been revitalized to create a series of nodes within the suburban watershed.22 Natural and artificial networks abound in the architectural world. These systems allow for the average worker to commute to the office or for trade to travel from the eastern to western-side of a city. Nodes along this web of interconnectivity are the factors behind the physical network and are outward extensions of the inner organization within a building.

The Building as a Network Architecture operates as a network within the micro scale. Materialistically, the structure is comprised of a series of elements that work mutually to provide structural stability within an ever-changing environment. The connections of beams and fenestrations of curtain walls are components within the whole that enable a system to operate. Spatially, the same is true for the volumetric forms of architectural surroundings. Each programmatic room is related to the entire structure, whether it is the relationship of a bedroom to a corridor or a corridor to an entry. There is a hierarchal strategy used in architecture and an underlying networking process performed within these spaces. A tree, for example, has inherent qualities that enable the organism to survive.

The core is separate, yet united, to the rest of the branches and the various members that extend into its habitat. Architecture follows this organic principle and is a physical manifestation of humanity’s desire to unite society.

Cedric Price’s project for revitalizing a north London suburb, titled the Potteries Thinkbelt, was one of the first modern explorations within the realm of urban networking. The design was based upon an adaptive reuse of pottery warehouse rail lines that connected several industrial facilities within a nine-mile radius. The proposal involved the creation of several educational centers for occupying the former mills, along with a rail network to link these systems together.23 The program of the

22. Kibel, Paul S., ed. Rivertown: Rethinking Urban Rivers. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. page 12.

23. Price, Cedric. Cedric Price - The Square Book. Seattle: Academy Press, 2003. page 12.

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teaching facility would be spread across the landscape and engulf an entire community. Now, the network would comprise a village and extend the interior functions of each structure outward into the landscape rather than remaining within the confines of a single building. The Potteries Thinkbelt was to be a fusion of university, laboratory and factory, where learning, doing and making were integrated. This was the first social experiment of its kind and one of the earliest-known examples of an adaptive reuse of a brownfield site. Price’s works, though unbuilt, went on to influence the idea of kinetic and operable architecture within the design world.

As integrated networking began to infiltrate the discourse of architectural professionals in the 1970s, other designers took on the principles of systematic themes within their buildings.

The Pompidou Centre in Paris, France was a collaborative effort by Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano to design a structure that showcased the inner-workings of its program.

Mechanical systems were highlighted, structural members were displayed, and the entire skeletal feature of the building was reversed for the public to engage with. This structure acted as a public realm within the old city for arts and theatre.

The Centre created a space for pedestrians to congregate and witness architecture and art on display. Museum designs of the past had been formed on the notion of formidability and were relics placed on a plinth separated from the common individual. The Centre rejected these precedents and engaged the area by creating a place of “social and cultural exchange, woven into the heart of the city.”24 Architecture that breaks the boundaries and establishes itself as a node within a civic space is acting upon this theme of networking. It is the process which begins a symbiotic relationship between the occupant (user) and the building (program).

The theories of design have continued onwards into the possibility of organic/digital architecture. As computer programs and technology evolve, there is a constant study of the association of organic circuitry with modern building designs.25 J.C.R. Licklider, an engineering psychologist, performed a series of experiments that looked into the relationship of man and machine.

He studied the use of prosthetics and how they respond to the cerebral network of the human nervous system. The two, he predicted, would become one in the future and later be interwoven within an electronic network.26 This is already true with the use of bionic limbs, and architecturally, it is in progress by the 24. Pogrebin, Robin. “British Architect Wins 2007 Pritzker Prize.” The New York Times. 2003. http://www. nytimes.com/2007/03/28/arts/design/28cnd-pritzker.html?hp&_r=0.

25. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 106.

26. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 102.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

The exterior network of the Pompidou Center acts as bridge between the urban fabric and its interior environment.24

the ARCHITECTURAL NETWORK

(Top) Archigram’s “Walking City.” (Below) The Kunsthaus Graz mirrors past influences by the firms earlier endeavors.27

presence of interior databases and systems for occupants to connect digitally and operate within a structure.

Networking architecture was the central theme with the 1960s design group Archigram. This British enclave of unorthodox creations were based on designing architecture that strayed away from the traditional cannons and reached for a sense of modern structure which engaged the human landscape. Walking cities and operable structures were typical features within Archigram’s compositions. The Kunsthaus Graz is a modern interpretation of the firm’s goals and was designed, in part, as a collaborative effort with Peter Cook—a charter member of the ‘60s team. Cook designed the urban museum/ community/café center as a “quirky, folk, alien” hovering over the city of Graz, Austria.27 The violet, anthropomorphic orb is full of a spiraling-tubes which filter light across the curvilinear, exterior membrane. Acting as a public venue, the center has a series of galleries which feature installations for viewing art from various angles, along with connection ‘nodes’ for engaging the building in a mobile or static state. The center acts as hub within the city’s urban network and broadcasts the interior program through the use of a communicative display which digitally showcases the building’s activities within. Performing with social intentions, the Kunsthaus has “total visual connection between the inside and out… and is a serious, porous, urbane architectural creature.”27 Architectural structures like the Pompidou Centre and Kunsthaus Graz are reflections of past design endeavors which dealt with the inclusion of technology within the social aspects of design. They are illustrations of how designs can utilize the networking systems that abound in modern culture.

Network Fever in Montgomery Societies are constructed on their ability to connect with each other. Families merge to form towns, which in turn, grow to encompass entire cities and regions. Within these networks are the physical attributes of their existence. Architecture stands as the tangible reality of social networks and is a palpable presence within the landscape. Marshal McLuhan elaborated on this subject by stating, “People say that the 27. LeFaivre, Liane. “Kunsthaus Graz.” Architectural Record. 2003. http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/museums/0401_kunsthaus/overview.asp.

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organizational man is alone, but even more alone is the man who is separated from this network. It is in order to connect themselves to this network that people gather in the cities.”28 Individuals have to reach out to others in order to form a more perfect union, and the built environment has to respond to this condition by creating an architecture which enables community, change, and stability. Architecture has to respond accordingly, and in instances where the cultural fabric of a city has degraded—like the area encompassing Montgomery—design strategies for improvement must be proposed.

In order to overcome the migrating population and disconnect that suburban growth is forcing on the urban core of Montgomery, an intervention—one of transit and network-centered objectives—should be considered. The InterNet, or Intermodal Transit Network is a solution to this dilemma. This proposed project is based on the premise of creating a central axis within the core of Montgomery where a series of nodes (each with their own specific interventions) will unite the various communities of the city. The central station will act as a hub for an interconnected network of transit and culturally-inclined points throughout the region. Each unit will be equipped with a similar program of regularities to create a physical network. No longer will the use of one building be limited to its isolated position. Instead, the program of the InterNet will spread across the cultural fabric and house unique nodes of connectivity within each station. This project will be the realization of a network in physical form. The design will mirror these themes and will act as a communication device for the city within the landscape to enhance to architectural character of Montgomery.

The built network is one that acts a system of interrelated buildings, stations, and nodes throughout the region to engage the environment on a micro and macro scale. This system performs with the intentions of bettering the connections between the built environment and the social orders that comprise them. Buckminster Fuller argued for an architecture of transparency, one that had a “… fundamental continuity between the visible and invisible.”29 A consolidation of these architectural features will produce a connection-forming architecture and successfully establish a proper network within the community and region at large.

28. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 105.

29. Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. page 112.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

This Spaceship Earth, or Buckminster Fuller’s assessment of the physical, global network.29

Montgomery Site Analysis

Montgomery lies at the heart of the southeastern region of the United States and is the capital of the state of

Above: Montgomery is located in the central region of the state of Alabama along the Alabama River region.

Right Top: Figure Ground of Downtown Montgomery: The city has lost much of its urban fabric due to a declining urban population, however, the implementation of a new transit center would help reintroduce people and structures into the area.

Right Bottom: The Interstate System divided the city into quarters and has stalled growth on the inner core.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Alabama.

SITE ANALYSIS

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Considerations and Existing Features The existing train station and additional programmatic site spans the southern riverfront of the site and includes the redesign of a current surface parking lot. The area is adjacent to the downtown business district and old Alabama town.

Alabama Town and Business District

Proposed Site (Blue) in its existing context of Old Alabama Town (White).

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

SITE ANALYSIS

Currently, the existing city bus transit center is located in a parking structure along Tallapoosa St. Re-housing the center within a uniďŹ ed structure would consolidate the transit system of the city along with an adaptive reuse of the Union Train Station to meet the needs of the program.

Bus Station

Parking and Streetcar

The Site (Blue), Streetcar system (Light Blue) and current programmatic buildings (White).

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Traffic in Montgomery runs between the typical nine to five workday and is vacant for the majority of the weekend. The corridors (blue) of the city that run adjacent to the site are frequented by tourists, travelers, and the bus lines that merge that depart from the station.

Traffic Considerations near the site and their Direct Paths.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

SITE ANALYSIS

From lush riverfront deltas to the twentieth century street fronts, Montgomery is full of intriguing views.

Views from the site towards the historic Riverfront and Streetwalls of Coosa and Commerce St.

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200’

150’ 100’ 50’ The site’s location along the riverfront gives way to a steep embankment that runs from the river to the downtown.

Transverse Section along the site from the River to the Downtown exposing the Topographic Relationship of the Site

site

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

SITE ANALYSIS

Topographic Elevation

Flood Plain Zone

National Registry

Historic Structures

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The Site’s location along the riverfront offers a solar impact that is off the cardinal grid.

Instead, the canted site receives prevailing winds from the northwest along with a warm, humid summer and mild, dry winter.

December 21 March/September 21

5 mph Northwest Prevailing Winds

June 21

80*

70*

60*

50*

40*

30*

Sunrise 6:43 Sunset 16:44

Sunrise 6:20 Sunset 18:20

Sunrise 5:39 Sunset 19:55

Due to the situation and placement of the site, the proposed structure will have to meet the needs of two facades that will be impacted by solar radiation during the morning and evening. However, the elevation that receives the most sunlight also gains from the prevailing winds that sweep across the region.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

20*

10*

SITE ANALYSIS

Montgomery’s climate is relatively humid and warm due to its location in the Black Belt Region of the Southeastern United States. Therefore, the proposed center will need to block moisture while enhancing/ concealing the sunlight for each facade.

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Nature and the Site The site is a collection of riverfront foliage juxtaposed with a former brownfield area.

Several native tree and wildlife species once called the area home, however, through industrialization much of the original natural character has changed. The new intermodal center would look at reincorporating former flora into the landscape with the potential of being a future bird sanctuary.

Willow Oak

American Sycamore Laurel Oaks and Northern Catalpa trees are the most prevalent natural canopy tree in the area along the water’s edge.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Southern Red Oak

SITE ANALYSIS

The riverfront once acted as Montgomery’s economic gateway during the nineteenth and twentieth century’s. Barges were loaded and carried downstream while trains full of cotton would export goods from the area.

African American workers labor in the cotton fields east of the city.

Below: tucks unload cotton that is planned to be shipped through rail in 1930s Montgomery.

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Adjacencies The proposed site is adjacent to the existing Union Station which currently houses the visitors bureau and the branch bank office. The surrounding structures are predominantly law offices with the exception of the Embassy Suites hotel and the anchor of the site -- a mid-rise Renaissance hotel and convention center. The existing parking lot would be repurposed to facilitate a public gathering space.

Commercial Offices

Embassy Suites Hotel

Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center

Union Station

The local vernacular has an array of brick and terra-cotta buildings lining Commerce St.

42

Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

SITE ANALYSIS

Montgomery’s riverfront was once active with trade and commerce. The proposed intermodal center will reinvigorate the downtown and return the urban center that once existed.

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City Hall, 1890

State Capitol Building, 1905

Montgomery has a strong history and prominent collection of civic structures throughout the city that showcase the vernacular language of the region.

Bell Building and Court Sq., 1925

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

SITE ANALYSIS Garett Coliseum, 1958

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The former train shed and platform is used as parking facility and has lost the purpose of acting as a public station. A reintroduction of passenger rail and light rail within the structure, along with additional program, will better enhance the structure to meet the needs of an underutilized transportation system.

Riverfront

Parking and Convention

Union Station houses the CV&B for Montgomery along with a store. The building is underutilized and needs to incorporate program that once made the structure valuable.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Zoning Code

& Summary

Applicable Codes The City of Montgomery mandates that all potential structures follow the building guidelines outlined in the International Building Code (IBC) document along with several other formats: one of these is the Montgomery Smart Code zoning system that has been recently adopted by the planning department.

Building/Dwelling Code; IBC 2009; No amendments Applies to 1) State owned buildings, 2) Schools - public & private, hotels, theaters. Al has also adopted the ICC for storm shelters.

Structural Code; IBC 2009; No amendments Applies to 1) State owned buildings, 2) Schools - public & private, motels, theaters.

Plumbing Code; IPC 2009; No amendments Applies to state-owned buildings, schools, hotels and theaters.

Mechanical Code; IMC 2009; No amendments Applies to state-owned buildings, schools, hotels and theaters.

Electrical Code; NEC 2008; No amendments Applies to state-owned buildings, schools, hotels and theaters.

Fire/Life Safety Code; IFC 2009; No amendments Applies to all buildings except federal properties.

Accessibility Code; ADAAG - 2004 online; No amendments Applies to all public & private projects.

Energy Code; IECC 2006; Alabama Building Commission Applies to state-owned buildings over 4,000 square feet.

Gas Code; IFGC 2009; No amendments Applies to state-owned buildings, schools, hotels and theaters.

Other Codes: The Alabama Building Commission regulates the Alabama State Building Code which applies to state-owned buildings, schools, hotels and theaters. The Alabama Building Commission can be reached at (334) 242-4082, Phone; (334) 242-4182, Fax.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

ZONING CODE & SUMMARY

The Montgomery Smart Code:

The implementation of a Smart Code zoning systems within the City of Montgomery is promoted with the intention of crating positive growth within the local and regional areas. Walkable neighborhoods are zones alongside several features that fold zoning, subdivision regulations, urban design, and basic architectural standards within each program. The ordinance is planned with specific strategies dependent of the location of every particular place. It is meant to be a locally-calibrated plan by professional architects, planners and attorneys. Montgomery’s plan is focused on urban renewal, redeveloping the downtown, and adaptive-reuse infill. Rather than building up, the city plans to stretch outwards to encompass the vacant structures that occupy the downtown.

The site for the proposed intermodal center is within the T-5 district of the master plan. Within this zoned area several design principles have been produced in order to positively impact the pedestrian and automobile user. Introduction of block buildings configurations, civic thoroughfares and neighborhood catalyst programs are intended as means of improvement within the city. The T-5 section is comprised of several guidelines and regulations towards the Smart Code initiative, however, if there is a reasonable plan for improvement that does not correlate with the original plan, but improves to quality of the environment an exception can be made.

Transit-Oriented Development that follows an existing network shall be redesignated and allowed additional density if needed. All lanes and street ways will provide adequate parking along the frontage of the site. Additional parking or structures for parking will only be permitted if high traffic volumes surpass the existing traffic studies.

Thoroughfares shall work to design and infill existing blocks to connect adjacent sites.

Every site should also included a series of trails, routes, and bike lanes for community navigation.

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General Architectural Standards Buildings should de designed to meet the street grade and engage the public. All openings should be square and vertical and meet the sidewalk area. Doors and windows that operate as sliders are prohibited within the site unless they meet standard commercial-grade specifications. The landscaping requirements should continue the language used along the existing street. Shade trees and other forms of vegetation are beneficial to the community as long as they are relevant to the local vernacular and climate.

Building Design Specifications The majority of the building, 70% of the footprint, should be built parallel to the street setback and allow for pedestrian frontage. Parking is permissible along the street and by interior causeways with access to an existing or proposed garage.4.6.5 Building materials should reflect the local vernacular and the use of wood, siding, brick and other traditional materials is highly favored.4.6.6.

Landscape Standards: In addition to the gerneal specifications laid out in Section 4.2.7, the first layer as shown in Table 16D shall be landscaped or paved to match the enfronting Public Façade. Trees shall be a species with shade canopies that remain clear of building frontages.

Signage Standards: A single sign band may be applied to the façade of each building, providing that such a sign does not exceed 3 feet in height by any length.

The Smart Code is designed to engage the built environment

What is the T5 Zone?

The Urban Center Zone is the equivalent of a main street, including building types that accommodate retail, offices, row houses and apartments. It is usually a tight network of streets, with sidewalks, steady street tree planting and building set close to the frontages.

Street Frontage for the Site This frontage has raised curbs drained by inlets and very wide sidewalks along both sides that are separated from the vehicular lanes by separate treewells with grates on both sides. The landscaping consists of single tree species aligned with regular spacing where possible but clear the shopfront entrance.

Under the T5 district, the use of forecourts, stoops, awnings, galleries and/or arcades are permissible within the building design as long as they do not engage the sidewalk and purge past their original jurisdiction.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

with the public in a logical and sustainable manner.

ZONING CODE & SUMMARY

Street Frontage for the site should encompass the front portion of the zone in order to establish a more unified entry.

Building Heights and Specialties (z03) (z04) Structures within the T5 zone are permitted to have a maximum of four floors—with the exception of an additional level or roof.

Buildings dedicated to manufacturing and transportation, such as factories or airports, are often distorted by the trajectories of machinery. Civic buildings, which may express the aspirations of institutions, may be included.

In regards to the development of a new public plaza on the site of the existing surface parking lot, the code suggests that an open space available for unstructured recreation and civic purposes may be permitted as a “square.” A square is spatially defined by building frontages. Its landscape shall consist of paths, leaves, and trees, formally disposed. Squares shall be located at the intersection of important thoroughfares.

Due to the site’s specific program of a transportation center, driving thoroughfares must allow for side parking—whether it is parallel or angular—as well as drives for bus, motorcar and other transit systems. If there is a need for additional parking, then a parking garage can be proposed that will facilitate civic and transit-oriented tasks.

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LEED Checklist The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Checklist is designed to aid architects and planners in the development of a sustainable design for upcoming structures. In regards to the proposed Intermodal Center, due to the incorporation of existing structures and green-minded design, the project should perform as a LEED Platinum building due to its high score of 92.

LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations Project Checklist

1 Sustainable Sites

25 Y

?

Y

Y

Prereq 1

1 5

Credit 1

6 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8

Credit 2

1

Credit 3 Credit 4.1 Credit 4.2 Credit 4.3 Credit 4.4 Credit 5.1 Credit 5.2 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2 Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2 Credit 8

Prereq 1

4

Credit 1

23 Y Y Y

15 7 3 2 13

2

Credit 2 Credit 3

Prereq 1 Prereq 2 Prereq 3

4

Credit 1 Credit 2

2 2

Credit 3 Credit 4 Credit 5 Credit 6

Prereq 1

1

Credit 1.1 Credit 1.2 Credit 2 Credit 3

2 to 4 2 2 to 4

Possible Points: 35

Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems Minimum Energy Performance Fundamental Refrigerant Management Optimize Energy Performance On-Site Renewable Energy Enhanced Commissioning Enhanced Refrigerant Management Measurement and Verification Green Power

1 Materials and Resources

1 5 1 6 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Possible Points: 10

Water Use Reduction—20% Reduction Water Efficient Landscaping Innovative Wastewater Technologies Water Use Reduction

8 Energy and Atmosphere

Y

2 2 2 2

Construction Activity Pollution Prevention Site Selection Development Density and Community Connectivity Brownfield Redevelopment Alternative Transportation—Public Transportation Access Alternative Transportation—Bicycle Storage and Changing Rooms Alternative Transportation—Low-Emitting and Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Alternative Transportation—Parking Capacity Site Development—Protect or Restore Habitat Site Development—Maximize Open Space Stormwater Design—Quantity Control Stormwater Design—Quality Control Heat Island Effect—Non-roof Heat Island Effect—Roof Light Pollution Reduction

2 Water Efficiency

Y

4

Materials and Resources, Continu

Possible Points: 26

N

Possible Points: 14

Storage and Collection of Recyclables Building Reuse—Maintain Existing Walls, Floors, and Roof Building Reuse—Maintain 50% of Interior Non-Structural Elements Construction Waste Management Materials Reuse

1 to 3 1 1 to 2 1 to 2

N

2 2 1 1

Credit 4 Credit 5 Credit 6 Credit 7

Y Y

Prereq 1 Prereq 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 92

Recycled Content Regional Materials Rapidly Renewable Materials Certified Wood

Indoor Environmental Quality

15

4 1 to 19 1 to 7 2 2 3 2

?

Credit 1 Credit 2 Credit 3.1 Credit 3.2 Credit 4.1 Credit 4.2 Credit 4.3 Credit 4.4 Credit 5 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2 Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2 Credit 8.1 Credit 8.2

Minimum Indoor Air Quality Perfo Environmental Tobacco Smoke (E Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring Increased Ventilation Construction IAQ Management Pl Construction IAQ Management Pl Low-Emitting Materials—Adhesive Low-Emitting Materials—Paints a Low-Emitting Materials—Flooring Low-Emitting Materials—Compos Indoor Chemical and Pollutant So Controllability of Systems—Light Controllability of Systems—Therm Thermal Comfort—Design Thermal Comfort—Verification Daylight and Views—Daylight Daylight and Views—Views

2 Innovation and Design Process Credit 1.1

1 1

Credit 1.2 Credit 1.3 Credit 1.4 Credit 1.5 Credit 2

Innovation in Design: Specific Tit Innovation in Design: Specific Tit Innovation in Design: Specific Tit Innovation in Design: Specific Tit Innovation in Design: Specific Tit LEED Accredited Professional

Regional Priority Credits Credit 1.1 Credit 1.2 Credit 1.3 Credit 1.4

Regional Priority: Specific Credit Regional Priority: Specific Credit Regional Priority: Specific Credit Regional Priority: Specific Credit

18 Total Certified 40 to 49 points

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

Silver 50 to 59 points

G

ZONING CODE & SUMMARY

n and Major Renovations

Project Name Date

Materials and Resources, Continued

Possible Points: 26 Y

on

1 nnectivity 5 1 portation Access 6 age and Changing Rooms 1 g and Fuel-Efficient Vehicles 3 acity 2 abitat 1 e 1 1 1 1 1 1

Possible Points: 10 2 to 4 2 2 to 4

Possible Points: 35

1 to 19 1 to 7 2 2 3 2

Possible Points: 14

Floors, and Roof Non-Structural Elements

1 to 3 1 1 to 2 1 to 2

N

2 2 1 1

Credit 4 Credit 5 Credit 6 Credit 7

Y Y

Prereq 1 Prereq 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 92

Recycled Content Regional Materials Rapidly Renewable Materials Certified Wood

1 to 2 1 to 2 1 1

Indoor Environmental Quality

15

4

Energy Systems

?

Credit 1 Credit 2 Credit 3.1 Credit 3.2 Credit 4.1 Credit 4.2 Credit 4.3 Credit 4.4 Credit 5 Credit 6.1 Credit 6.2 Credit 7.1 Credit 7.2 Credit 8.1 Credit 8.2

Possible Points: 15

Minimum Indoor Air Quality Performance Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring Increased Ventilation Construction IAQ Management Plan—During Construction Construction IAQ Management Plan—Before Occupancy Low-Emitting Materials—Adhesives and Sealants Low-Emitting Materials—Paints and Coatings Low-Emitting Materials—Flooring Systems Low-Emitting Materials—Composite Wood and Agrifiber Products Indoor Chemical and Pollutant Source Control Controllability of Systems—Lighting Controllability of Systems—Thermal Comfort Thermal Comfort—Design Thermal Comfort—Verification Daylight and Views—Daylight Daylight and Views—Views

2 Innovation and Design Process Credit 1.1

1 1

Credit 1.2 Credit 1.3 Credit 1.4 Credit 1.5 Credit 2

Possible Points: 6

Innovation in Design: Specific Title Innovation in Design: Specific Title Innovation in Design: Specific Title Innovation in Design: Specific Title Innovation in Design: Specific Title LEED Accredited Professional

Regional Priority Credits Credit 1.1 Credit 1.2 Credit 1.3 Credit 1.4

1 1 1 1 1 1

Possible Points: 4

Regional Priority: Specific Credit Regional Priority: Specific Credit Regional Priority: Specific Credit Regional Priority: Specific Credit

18 Total Certified 40 to 49 points

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1

Possible Points: 110 Silver 50 to 59 points

Gold 60 to 79 points

Platinum 80 to 110

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The Smart Code and implementation of LEED/Energy-related design was inuenced by the urban strategies of past Montgomery projects. Below is a concept for the riverfront and the proposed site of the intermodal center. In this 1990s plan, the parking lot would be reconďŹ gured into an urban park along with mixed-use residential.

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Building Type Research

Precedent Studies Due to the site’s overall programmatic elements and its performance as an intermodal transit center, various studies were made of existing and theoretical plans that have a similar themematic design.

The Atlanta BeltLine is a planned greenway which connects several outlying communities in the area with a park and light transit system.

Cedric Price’s concept for reengineering the derelict rails of central England for educational purposes has been an example for design since the 1960s.

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

Proposed Streetcar and Existing Bus Network of Montgomery.

The Fun Palace,

by C. Price, is also based on the principle of movement and adaptability. Such a theme would be helpful in the design of an intermodal center that has to constantly change in order to meet the needs of a transitoriented program.

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Tempe Transportation Station Arkiteckton Studios Tempe, Arizona; $18.9 million; 40,300 sq. ft.

Architekton’s Tempe Transportation Center is a place designed for interaction and community. The architectural form reects the special nature of gathering spaces juxtaposed against the efďŹ cient, rational organization of uses that serve city residents and the Phoenix metropolitan region.

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

The Tempe Transportation Center is the centerpiece of Tempe’s award-winning transportation program, geared to becoming the social and transportation hub. The complexities of this triangular urban site include a busy light rail platform, Hayden Butte, ASU Sun Devil Stadium and the Tempe Police/Courts/Jail complex. The historic downtown and expansive ASU campus (69,000 students) are served by the amenities and transportation options of the Transportation Center, a strategic hub for the new 20-mile METRO light rail system, local and regional bus, Zipcar, and Arizona’s first bike station.

The program is divided into three zones. The lower level is public, sandwiched by private, and then communal offices are located on the top floor overlooking the vicinity.

With the use of sustainable building materials and various local elements, the complex is designed for efficiency in both the solar and water categories.

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The 40,300 sf, three-story building houses the city’s Transportation Offices, Traffic Management Center, Community Room, Transit Store, and Arizona’s first bike station.

Ground floor retail and food service provide amenities for bus and rail patrons, ASU students and visitors. The Bicycle Cellar provides bike racks and four changing rooms with showers and lockers, offering bike sales, rentals, repairs and accessories. This successful design can be replicated at future multi-modal sites to reduce carbon and support community health.

A myriad of bus pavilions service the center and allow the public to engage the open plaza.

The Tempe Center hoses a community center, city bus, light rail and regional bus transportation along with a public plaza for the neighboring university.

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

Birmingham Intermodal GA Studio Architects Birmingham, Alabama; Proposed The Birmingham Intermodal Center is an adaptive reuse project along with an additional structure that consolidates the city’s bus, charter and regional rail into a combined structure. The two-storey facility is designed to welcome guests and riders into the lower level, then as the train arrives, usher passengers upward to the train platform.

The ticketing and information stations are located on the lower level and front the street, while the support systems are in the rail zone near the rear.

2nd Level houses the Amtrak platform and control room.

1st Level is comprised of the ticketing, information, and bus departure zones.

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MATA Intermodal Facility Brg3s Architects Memphis, Tenessee; 68,000 sq. ft.

Designed to be environmentally sustainable, the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) South Intermodal Facility is situated at the corner of Airways Boulevard and Brooks Road in Memphis, Tennessee. This 30,000 square foot building is a satellite center, built to decentralize the existing routing pattern to a hub and spoke concept. The facility is seeking LEED Silver certiďŹ cation.

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

The building’s main function serves as a shared waiting room with access to a food service counter, vending machines, a video game area, and large public restrooms. The building also includes 36 canopy-covered bus berths, 70 parking spaces, a ticket and package handling area, driver operations area, and administrative ofďŹ ces, and leasable spaces for vendors. The facility also includes a new home for Greyhound Lines Inc. which provides national interstate bus service. The west side of the building has a 30 foot deep roof overhang covering nine Greyhound bus spaces for passenger arrival and departure.

This canopy has a continuous skylight roof monitor to bring natural light to the walkway next to the building.

Programmatically, the intermodal center has all of the public components on the lower level along with administration.

The linear design of the structure allows for the building to act as a transparent gateway for passengers.

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Other tenants include a small police station and a retail lease space on the south end of the building. In addition, the site design allows for the possibility of a future light rail transit stop connecting downtown to the airport.

The MATA center has a free plan that allows for maximum exibility when programmatic changes need to be made.

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

Tiger Transit Station Auburn University Auburn, Alabama; 2,900 sq. ft. covered Based on a pavilion design, the Tiger Transit Station is an exposed shelter that acts as the main departure and arrival structure for passengers on the university bus line.

The arcade fronts a large green that doubles as a sporting venue on game days. The strategies used in this building can be implemented within the design of the Montgomery intermodal center due to the site’s adjacency to the river and public park.

Due to the pavilion’s open design, the structure is able to maintain a continual stream of traffic from the bus system.

Passenger waiting is held on sheltered

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Additional Studies

Passenger Circulation

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

Platform Height This spread offers

Bus Pull-Thru

examples of several dimensional studies regarding existing bus and rail platforms and their relationship to passengers.

Types of Rail Systems

Platform ConďŹ guration

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Tabular Program The below estimated ďŹ gures were gathered from a series of assessments made from the case studies previously mentioned. The percentage of spaces and their square footage was tallied and compared to what was needed for the proposed Montgomery Intermodal Center.

381,876

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

Spatial Adjacencies Retail Lease Space Technical Restrooms

Control Room

Support

Restrooms

Conference

Offices

transportation administration Amtrak/light rail

Visitors Center

mechanical

storage Bike Station

Restrooms

ticketing

Restrooms

Waiting

Leaseable Office Info

Rail Platform

Bus Pavilions

Major Adjacency Minor Adjacency Entry

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Spatial Considerations A series of charts analyzing the site and heights of each room: Below are a series of spatial diagrams that analyze the needed square footage and ceiling heights per room for the programmatic spaces that are deemed special, unique or vital to the structure. There are no diagrams for restrooms or other features that are generic to an overall scheme.

5

x

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Transportation, Administration, Amtrak. and Bus OfďŹ ces Square Footage_ 9,566 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 10 ft.

Views_ rail platform, control areas, riverfront Lighting Types_ southern and western light Material Suggestions_ natural light Required Adjacencies_ support, technical, and control Number of Occupants_ 1-200 + adults

These diagrams are made on the bases of past precedent studies and their relationships to the occupants/users of the building.

5

x

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Retail Lease Space Square Footage_ 4,900 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 10 ft.

Views_ public plaza and riverfront Lighting Types_ southern and western light Material Suggestions_ natural light / artiďŹ cial Required Adjacencies_ public plaza, visitors center Number of Occupants_ 1-150 + adults

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4

x

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Community Conference Square Footage_ 4,096 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 14 ft.

Views_ riverfront and plaza, views towards downtown Lighting Types_ northern and eastern Material Suggestions_ natural light / artificial Required Adjacencies_ support, visitors center Number of Occupants_ 1-200 + adults

8

x

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Leaseable Office Square Footage_ 8,000 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 10 ft.

Views_ riverfront and plaza, views towards downtown Lighting Types_ northern and eastern Material Suggestions_ natural light / artificial Required Adjacencies_ support, visitors center Number of Occupants_ 1-100 + adults

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Visitors Center Square Footage_ 2,900 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 20 ft.

Views_ Public Plaza Lighting Types_ northern and eastern Material Suggestions_ natural light / artificial Required Adjacencies_ platform, ticketing, bus Number of Occupants_ 1-250 +

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Room Size

Ceiling Height

Waiting Square Footage_ 5,616 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 20 ft.

Views_ Public Plaza, platform, departure/arrival Lighting Types_ southern Material Suggestions_ natural light / artiďŹ cial Required Adjacencies_ platform, ticketing, bus Number of Occupants_ 1-250 +

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Light Rail / Amtrak Platform Square Footage_ 17,000 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 13 ft.

Views_ riverfront, waiting, lobby / visitors center Lighting Types_ northern Material Suggestions_ natural light / artiďŹ cial Required Adjacencies_ platform, ticketing, bus Number of Occupants_ 1-250 +

Additional Program Other zones within the building will follow a standard 10 ft. grid and will adhere to the standard dimensions of their type: i.e. restrooms, closets, mechanical, etc.

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13

x

Room Size

Ceiling Height

Bus Pavilion Square Footage_ 20,020 sq. ft.

Ceiling Height_ 11 ft.

Views_ Public Plaza, visitors center Lighting Types_ southern Material Suggestions_ natural light / artiďŹ cial Required Adjacencies_ visitors center, entry Number of Occupants_ 1-250 +

Bus Depot Bus Departure / Arrival

Rail Platform

Public Plaza

Main Intermodal Center

Streetcar Station

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Site Organizational Strategy The majority of the program anchors the northeastern corner of the site along the historic district, while the vehicular transportation and bus terminal lie on the southwestern zone creating a gridded network within the urban core.

Intermodal Center

Bus / Vehicular

Conference OfďŹ ces; admin, travel Support; control, tech Retail Lease Ticketing Waiting Restroom; servicing Rail Bus

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BUILDING TYPE RESEARCH

Riverwalk Stadium

Renaissance Hotel

Embassy Suites Hotel

Parking

The intermodal center will act as a gateway for the city by connecting the riverfront with an urban plaza and by providing a myriad of communal and transit-oriented facilities to the downtown.

Law Row Historic District

Union Station Urban Plaza

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The intermodal center will hopefully act as a catalyst to unite the citizens of Montgomery while spurring growth and community within the region.

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Aspirations

Explorations Programmatically, the intermodal center will facilitate several transit and communityoriented features, however, the structure will operate architecturally as a network that unifies the various elements of the building as well as the surrounding communities of the city.

The Fun Palace by

The building will

Cedric Price is an

act as GateWay

example of design

and move people

for change. Due

in and through the

to the intermodal

structure. Following

center’s need to

with this theme, the

adapt to movement

plaza will become

and alter itself when

a civic cistern and

needed, the Fun

showcase the city’s

Palace is a beneficial

culture.

example to study.

The structure will respond to the urban context by hovering over the landscape and promoting movement in and through the system.

c. 1960

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ASPIRATIONS

Embassy Suites

Plaza

Union Station

Intermodal GateWay

Streetcar Station

Riverwalk Stadium

Riverfront Park

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Transverse Section through Union Station

Pompidou Centre was created upon the premise of modularity and movement and was heavily inuenced by the Fun Palace.

Though the program for this structure is for art, the principles used -- showcasing movement and technology -- can be implemented within the intermodal center.

c. 1970

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ASPIRATIONS

Early Concepts

Movement, ow and versatility will be elements of the intermodal center which will expose the transitoriented function of the project while incorporating the pedestrian’s pathway into the design.

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the Initial Design fall 2012 / Prof. Randal Vaughan

The main intermodal station is only the beginning. The center acts a hub for an interconnected network of transit and culturally-inclined nodes throughout the cities of Montgomery and Prattville, Alabama. Each unit will be equipped within the gridded regularities and format created for the network. However, each station will carry a unique programmatic feature that will spread the use of the InterNet across the region. No longer will the use of a building be conďŹ ned to its solitary position.

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INITIAL DESIGN

This light rail transit system services the main communities of Montgomery. Following the existing routes of operating and/or derelict freight lines, the system provides an efďŹ cient means of transportation.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Downtown Intermodal Center Maxwell-Gunter AF Base - Child Care Eastdale Mall - Library Shoppes at East Chase - Market Taylor - Play Space Montgomery Mall - Theatre Selma Highway - Museum Maxwell AF Base - Cafe Sheridan Heights Greek Park Prattville

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The proposal for a Montgomery transportation center is based on the notion that architecture is the physical manifestation of social and cultural networks and can, therefore, act as a catalyst for urban growth and connectivity within the building, city, and region.

The InterNet : An Intermodal Solution for Engaging the Cultural and Architectural City Network.

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INITIAL DESIGN

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Modeling Explorations

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INITIAL DESIGN

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First Level: The ground oor is comprised of an entry plaza that sweeps into the Riverwalk creating a strong gateway between the two. Ticketing, waiting, information, streetcar, rail, and bus are all accessible from this level.

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(Top) Second Level: The upper oor is where the main administration, community, and outreach ofďŹ ces are located. (Below) Southwest-facing Section.

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(Top) Southwest-Facing Section. (Below) Sections over the Community Wing and Rail Platforms facing Southwest.

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(Top) Southeast-Facing Section. (Below) The site can be seen as a central artery that connects the various modes of transportation in the city: Amtrak rail, Light rail, Streetcar, and both regional/city bus.

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The central waiting space levitates above the continually-moving train lines beneath. A light well and solar diffuser allow for the natural atmosphere to enter the space. The continual repetition of linear piers and the overlapping characteristics of the facade intersect the interior space to create a continual representation of material networking. The building will also communicate and represent time, current events, and other cultural happenings by the use of a kinetic skin.

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A streetcar station, passenger drop off and taxi services are easily available at the Commerce Plaza entrance. The building engages the site to connect with its surroundings by extruding the entrance into the plaza along Commerce Street.

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INITIAL DESIGN

Modularity, repetition and the efďŹ cient use of a grid allows for various activities to take place within the structure. Occupants are inuenced to participate with the various programs and connect in the many regulated spaces, whether is for social need, knowledge or leisure.

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No longer will the once-used rail network of Montgomery pass by the city in guise. The new intermodal center will equip commuters and travelers of the region to access the capital city with ease and network along its vibrant landscape.

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INITIAL DESIGN

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The traditional aspects of train stations will inuence the modern implementations for the Montgomery Transit Center. This will allow the past to respond to the designs of the future.

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the Final Proposal spring 2013 / Prof. Behzad Nakhjavan

Civicness Through Scale: Mid-Term As the project continued from the previous semester, my focus shifted towards creating a space (entry) for the public that would act as a gateway between the riverfront and plaza. The new circulation hall would be a showcase of transit and movement. People would gather views of the passing trains while catching glimpses of the continual ow of pedestrians throughout the structure. This exaggerated circulation allowed for the train station to become a place for conversation and engagement.

Ground Level

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

Original view of Circulation Hall

2nd Level

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These preliminary drawings are intended to explain the sense of scale and height that would become one of the themes throughout this project. The structure of the building would allow for interactions to take place throughout this programmatic space and create a third place for the public.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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Studies of the cladding and skin systems of the structure.

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Original section through main circulation hall over the platform and track systems.

The language of the train station is reminiscent of the monolithic and volumetric forms of industrial age. This responds to the various existing buildings with a modern methodology.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

Left: Original three-dimensional massing studies of the pier system and circulation ramp that would connect the various zones of the train station.

Right: Inuences from the technological manifestations of Wes Jones with the permanence of the Italian Futurist Movement were present within this proposal. Many of these concepts challenged designers to think of how a building could relate to humanity and express information.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

Large-scale models were needed to better understand the massing of this grid that became realized as substantial architecture in vertical form. The sky monitor was originally intended to allow for light to ďŹ lter in from the exterior, however changes were made in the design to create a canyon effect on in the circulation space.

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Final Thesis Proposal The central circulation center of the intermodal complex became the billboard for the community. Operable screen systems and a digital display board allows for the building to communicate with the city and act as a modern, physical center for information, gathering and embarkation.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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The intermodal center engages with the site and connects various public centers together to create a physical network within the historic riverfront district of downtown Montgomery.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

Ground Level: Ticketing, Departure and Arrivals, Information, Visitors Center

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2nd Level: OfďŹ ces, Break-Out Rooms, Cafe, Commons, Waiting Room

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

3rd and 4th Level(s): OfďŹ ces, Administration, Roof Terrace

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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Diagrammatic Overview of Intermodal Center

The intermodal center acts as a network for the community by linking the past with the future and by providing a means of transportation/ gathering to a region that is often isolated by individualism.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

the FINAL PROPOSAL

The skydeck runs parallel to the train platforms creating a covering for the various commuters while doubling as a space for the public to leisurely walk and receive an elevated view of the Alabama River.

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The urban plaza will act at the forcourt for the city of Montgomery. This space will become a park for the public to interact and house festivals. It will also be the distribution point for those traveling by streetcar and/or bus.

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

the FINAL PROPOSAL

A series of ramps and circulation zones would connect the community center with the main train station and allow for the public to engage the riverfront. These districts also create a terminus for each street and a gateway linking the water with the ďŹ gure ground.

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Both the elevations and sections of the proposed transit center respond to the existing language of the site and create and interactive presence along the northern district of Montgomery.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

Above and Left: Facade and interior study model exploring the relationships among the piers, screen and skin system of the transit center. This concept showcases various designs for an operable roof and evolved into a canvas system for adaptability and light control.

The grid system creates repetition and order for possible modiďŹ cation in the future. This building is meant to be a forum and one of permanence, but change, since the network of Montgomery is one of constant transformation.

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Southwest-Facing Section towards Union Station through the Riverwalk Tunnel, Entry Hall, and Riverview/Waiting Room.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

View looking toward the ramp of the main entry hall. This zone would be space for the public to gather, congregate and converse through the various exaggerated circulation paths of the transit center.

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Northwest-Facing Section through the main Entry Hall, Administration Lofts, and Circulation Ramp.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

the FINAL PROPOSAL

View through the ramp and waiting/commons space of the transit center. Here views toward the river and lounging space would create an engaging space to view people traveling from the skydeck to the waiting space and through to platform docks.

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Northwest-Facing Section through the Lounge/Skydeck zone of the Transit Center.

Passengers would embark on their travels under the canopy of this interactive structure.

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

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Architectural and Urbanistic Networks

the FINAL PROPOSAL

View of the facade facing the riverwalk. The center performs as a link between the city and the waterfront by engaging the site and creating a sense of permanence, bur adaptability within the structure. The skydeck gives panoramic views of the city and Alabama River region.

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Section of Pier and Screen System

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the FINAL PROPOSAL

Conclusion As our society becomes more transient and digital, it seems the civic structures of the past become irrelevant to our future. This is beneďŹ cial for progress, however, many cities lack an element of grandeur and scale, something that connects their place of residence with work. This project focused on creating a third place for the community and a gateway to the downtown. A project, such as this, is not complete because it formulates a discussion regarding the idea of what a train station is to Americans. We do not have the cultural-ties to rail that Europe and other nations have. Therefore, our generation has to deďŹ ne what a transit center is to become for the country...

Is it one of permanence or change? I argue that it is both, and this conversation will most likely continue on to challenge the notion of civic architecture and urbanistic networking within our cities.

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Bibliography

Ballantyne, Andrew. “Architecture, Life, and Habit.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (2011): 43-49. Print.

Behnisch Architekten. “Genzyme Center.” http://behnisch.com/projects/104.

Brown, Denise S. “Learning from Pop.” Casabella (December 1971): 15-23. Print.

Cullen, Gordon. Townscape. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1961. Print.

Cerver, Francisco A. The Architecture of Stations and Terminals. New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1997. Print.

Griffin, Kenneth W. Building Type Basics for Transit Facilities. New York: Wiley, 2004. Print.

Kibel, Paul S., ed. Rivertown: Rethinking Urban Rivers. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. Print.

LeFaivre, Liane. “Kunsthaus Graz.” Architectural Record. 2003. http://archrecord.construction.

-com/projects/bts/archives/museums/0401_kunsthaus/overview.asp.

Lerup, Lars. After the City. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. Print.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. The World of Perception. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.

The Opte Project. 2012. http://www.opte.org/.

Pallasmaa. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. 3rd ed. West Sussex, United King -dom: Wiley, 2012. Print.

Pogrebin, Robin. “British Architect Wins 2007 Pritzker Prize.” The New York Times. 2003. http:// www.nytimes.com/2007/03/28/arts/design/28cnd-pritzker.html?hp&_r=0.

Price, Cedric. Cedric Price - The Square Book. Seattle: Academy Press, 2003. Print.

Wigley, Mark. “Network Fever.” Grey Room 4 (2001): 82-122. Print.

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The proposed station and community center will act as the hub of an interconnected network.

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Nicholas Purcell BArch Thesis Spring 2013 Auburn University Shool of Architecture