REASSEMBLAGES
[M.Arch Thesis Project, 2007]
Introduction
“The evidence [here] supports the idea that an environment should allow for active individual participation in its building. What this last point partly means in visual terms is that the environment should preserve a record of past action, so that present and future actions may become intelligible.”
Charles Jencks - Adhocism: The Case For Improvisation
The intent of the thesis project was to explore a means of establishing an environment with properties that promote autonomous input and control from the inhabitant(s) over time. Through the study of postmodern architectural theory, Situationist International theory, Lucien Kroll’s student housing projects, Surrealist exercises, banal office furniture, and documentation of contemporary artists’ squats and collectives in the Netherlands and the US; a theory regarding user autonomy within the confines of design was created. The project poses the question: Is there a means of design that is essentially open source? Instead of creating a product with a finality and eventually a decay, how can one create a product with continual overlapping input built in to it? This brought about a notion of designing a ruleset instead of an object.
Program and Site
Northeast Minneapolis is currently going through a transformation. The artists that once inhabited the now-gentrified Warehouse District are moving into the area due to low rental and ownership costs as well as an abundance of underutilized flexible space. The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) is in the middle of a five year plan to both revitalize the pedestrian life of Central Avenue as well as strategically position cost-locked properties throughout the area in an attempt to stabilize it as an arts district.
• Current artists in the area include potters, tile makers, painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, glass blowers, printmakers, and textile designers.
• The five year growth plan of the NEMAA includes extending the arts district’s presence to the underutilized portion of Central Ave.
• First and foremost on the list is to accommodate the programmatic pieces outlined in the list below - particularly highly visible, and flexible, studio and live/work space for artists as well as provide an impetus for pedestrians to inhabit Central Ave past regular business hours, reconnecting both the new and old circulation corridiors and the the flanking residential zones back to the commercial corridor.
• Another goal is to create spaces where residents and visitors can gather during day and evening hours.
• The plan is to provide an opportunity for artists to co-mingle their art with conventional commercial spaces, making it more visible to the public other than during current sanctioned events (Art-A-Whirl).
• In the case of new construction - the creation of an “arts campus” where an owner/renter group of artists can congregate and share resources has been discussed.
• Another goal is to create a cluster of attractions within walkable distance that encourage pedestrian traffic, zones.
• A final goal is to inject the current dearth of performing arts and theater spaces in the area with opportunity for growth.
The Project
The project consisted of three sets of parts, each at a different scale.
The largest is the live/work housing block for artists, new construction. It is a four story (although that is confined to the scale of the streetscape, it is based upon an open-ended module) shell within which a set of interior and exterior pieces are put into play by occupants. Space and boundary between occupants is contingent upon negotiations between and among NEMAA and the occupants. The basic unit module is 40 feet by 20 feet, which is further subdivided into 4 foot squared modules for spatial manipulation within. The pieces in play are designed to plug and play over multiple tenants and configurations. If ever the use of the building were to change and the pieces rendered obsolete, they can be easily disassembled and the remaining shell can be retrofitted to other uses.
The mid-size piece is a framework that is insertable into existing vacant infill along Central Avenue. NEMAA program other than that related to live/work housing and exterior activities would take place within these nodes and the building interior would morph according to what is to take place. The renderings shown display only two possible configurations out of a myriad of possibilities.
The smallest piece was one step in what would become the entry to the TOGS Austin competition, although quite similar in execution. A human-scaled artmobile that could be configured and stationed throughout the Northeast to house any number of temporary performances or exhibits. The link to graphic information regarding this can be found here.
