"In a well designed project, residents cross paths as they come and go, and opportunities to socialize arise. Situations can be created that become settings for interaction, specifically through the design of common spaces and the arrangement of units opening onto them. This is the most important role design can play in encouraging a sense of community, and the nature of those spaces can make the difference between an alienating structure and a fully functioning community. It is the entry situation, that transition between the moment one enters the complex and the time one enters one's unit, that provides the greatest opportunities for interaction."
-Thomas Dolan of Thomas Dolan Architecture
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-thesis-summer 2008
The design of my thesis is in full swing! I chose the site of my design to be in the new urbanist community of Ivy Hall, located in Chicago, Illinois. Ivy Hall is located adjacent to the University of Illinois, and consists of 152 condominiums, 31 town-homes, 36 single-family homes, commercial/retail/restaurant facilities, and part of the student housing for the university. The location and design of Ivy Hall has an efficient impact within and outside of the community, as transportation is cut down, and community gathering is emphasized. For my thesis, I am focusing on the student housing buildings, which are located in Ivy Hall, but are owned by the university. The buildings are located on the historic Halsted Street, home to the start of the Blues Brothers! When Ivy Hall was designed and constructed, many challenges were taken to preserve the structures and materials that the local community had grown to love throughout the years. The facades of each building were restored to resemble the originals, and the unused bricks of each facade were laid among the streets of the community. Currently, each student building consist of four levels, with retail on the first level and student apartments on the second, third, and fourth levels. I am converting the third and fourth levels of the building into a series of live/work lofts that will facilitate entrepreneurs who have businesses that directly relate to the specific majors offered at University of Illinois. Therefore, each loft owner must offer a mentoring program to accommodate specific field-related students at UIC.
My thesis will focus on the following studies:
Conceptual Elements: stemming from a core
Mobility [macro to micro] in the following parts:
New Urbanism/Mixed-Use Design
Qualities and Successes of live/work lofts
Learning Theory [learning from mentors and education]
Friday, May 23, 2008
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