All posts by Becca Newburg

Project Statement

Project Statement

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Located on the site in Brooklyn, NY, stands a long, low bus-washing building. It occupies the riverfront, facing the Manhattan skyline, and straddling a line between old industry and modern residences. Its scale and lack of specificity lends itself to adaptive reuse as a fire station. The overall geometry of the building was a rectangle with the corner closest to the residences and shops, missing. I completed the corner with a copper apparatus bay, making it contrast with the existing brick facade. The rest of the program is broken up into public and private areas. The public areas are located close to the apparatus bay. The private areas are elevated from the ground and separated from the public by a throughway which leads to the park.  On the far side of the building is the Monitor museum and a large public space. The facade of the existing building is treated a blank canvas, where the necessary openings are cut without regard for the existing condition and highlight the view of Manhattan. A new structure is introduced to support new uses and to further tie the old and new together.

 

Abstract 500w

Do We Need New Buildings?

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There is no real need to build new buildings. 

With so many unused and abandoned buildings, why are we still building new ones? Today, there is an abundance of buildings including factories, houses, incomplete construction sites, stores, and ghost towns available to be readapted. Adaptive reuse is better for the environment, is an answer to poor living conditions and is an interesting design challenge for architects.

The environmental and economic benefits of repurposing abandoned buildings are abundant. For one, there is less use of material throughout the project, as the skin and structure of the building already exists. This also allows for less demolition, material, construction time, and heavy-duty construction, reducing both costs and emissions into the atmosphere. Demolishing buildings creates an incredible amount of waste while also polluting the air with asbestos and releasing emissions into the atmosphere. Also, the energy and cost of shipping large, structural materials would be drastically reduced.

Cities such as Buffalo, NY, where a significant portion of housing is available to be reused, but it is not being utilized. While Buffalo is trying to solve this problem by selling old houses for one dollar with the understanding that they will be renovated, not many people are taking them up on their offer. We believe there need to be more policies in place to attract people to live in these areas like this. Places like this could also be an opportunity to positively affect homelessness and poor living conditions. With so many houses not being used, it only makes sense adapt them for the homeless and the needy.

It may sound easier for architects to chose to demolish and create their own design on an empty site. However, using abandoned or existing buildings creates interesting, compelling design challenges for architects. This kind of constraint will allow designers to create new innovations and solve the issue of respecting the history of the site. Architects give these buildings new life, new meaning, and new function while clearly respecting what went on before their project. This helps a design blend into the language of its surroundings while  still doing something new. This kind of work would not merely be renovation, the entire purpose of the building would be redefined to become whatever our society needs most.

In the end, there are more than enough buildings already existing today to fulfill our needs. We just need to utilize what we already have and stop wasting materials and money creating new buildings.

We are interested in this topic because it is the direction we see our lives heading to in the future. We do not see the point of demolishing a building that could serve the same function of a new one. The preexisting one could serve as a building block that many people ignore and decide not to use.  Building sustainably is such a no-brainer to this generation that adaptive reuse makes too much sense to us. Because of this, we respect reused buildings more than new ones.

Sources 

Environmental Impact of Demolition Waste – an overview of 10 years of research and experience (Josef O.V. Tränkler, Isa Walker, Max Dohmann. Feb. 1999)

Homelessness and the Low-Income Housing Supply. (Wright, James D.; Lam, Julie A. Social Policy, v17 n4 p48-53 Spr 1987)

Adaptive reuse and sustainability of commercial buildings (Peter A. Bullen, (2007), Facilities, Vol. 25 Iss: 1/2, pp.20 – 31)

Housing and Sustainability: Demolition or Refurbishment (Proceedings of the ICE – Urban Design and Planning, Volume 163, Issue 4, 01 December 2010)

Does demolition or refurbishment of old and inefficient homes help to increase our environmental, social and economic viability (Anne Power 2008)

EMPTY HOUSING SPACE: AN OVERLOOKED RESOURCE (William C. Baer, 1979)

Periodical Name: Blueprint

Assignment Posts, Theory Reading Posts

Why We Build Presentation

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 As a researcher of social issues, Kim Dovey, an architecture critic and professor, wrote Framing PLaces.   He references several author’s opinions in this text, some of his favorite being Michael Weinstein, Steven Lukes, and Clifford Geertz. This author’s thesis rests upon the idea that the “notion of power as the human capacity to imagine and create a better built environment.” This piece explains the power an individual can exert through a built environment with or without the notice of the subjects.  Dovey uses quotes and facts from a variety of authors to support his claim. I believe this evidence because he presents authors who have studied other subjects, not just architecture; therefore the claim becomes more well-rounded and unbiased. Rather than disproving or acknowledging competing explanations, Dovey chooses to instead bring light to facts that society completely ignores by giving thought to such matters. Explicit assumptions upon the belief that consciously or subconsciously all people are seeking some form of power over another person can be found in this piece.This work relates to architecture by giving categories to the different types of environments we build and showing the physiological implications of such. I feel this reading assignment teaches students that when we draw a line, we are also a drawing a wall, which will one day serve as a barrier that somehow oppresses the occupants of this space.

What type of power over do you find most prevalent in architecture today? (Force, coercion, manipulation, seduction, authority)

The author of The Edifice Complex is Deyan Sudjic,  a design and architecture critic. In his piece, he included a story by Adolf Loos, an influential modern architect. Sudjic’s thesis is “Architecture is about power” as an answer to why we build. This piece explores an overdone subject by using modern examples to show that power in architecture is still relevant today. Sudjic uses examples of recently built structures like the Mother of All Battles Mosque as evidence to support his claim. He backs up these examples with relevant historical and social context, along with other examples of architecture. Sudjic acknowledges an opposing opinion that architecture cannot be design without political meanings. While it can be neutral, over time a building has the potential to acquire a political aspect. He makes an explicit assumption when he imagines Zaha Hadid designing Hussein’s mosque. This assumption supports a broader assumption that architects are defined by their clients’ political beliefs and can be affected by them. This piece matters in the field of architecture because it shows that the reason behind building hasn’t changed, but makes that old idea relevant once more. I think this reading was assigned to make us aware that architect’s design symbols of power. Our designs are not just functional; they are the statements of our clients.

What makes a building a symbol of power? (the physical form, the intent behind it, the client’s position in society, etc.)

 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JOXwXa7hYnPWDxe0uB6vRCQEAxq2f7NyISdtD_R1mxk/edit#slide=id.gc85b58a2e_2_22

Assignment Posts

5 Theses: Becca Newburg & Caroline Wilson

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  1. There is no real need to build new buildings. 
    1. Building adaptation (by Douglas, James, 2006, 2nd ed.)
    2. Master,Abandon Or Rehabilition:The Study on Renovation and Adaptive Reuse of Old Industrial Buildings (Liu, Feng Hui., 2003)
    3. Industrial abandoned buildings reuse (Zeng, Ming Ke, 2006.)
    4. ADAPTIVE REUSE AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN: A HOLISTIC APPROACH FOR ABANDONED INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS (David Niland, 2003. <https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ap/10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:ucin1053607193>)
    5. Old buildings, new designs: architectural transformations (Bloszies, Charles, 2012, 1st ed. )
    6. Re-architecture: old buildings/new uses (Cantacuzino, Sherban, 1989, 1st American ed. )
  2. Architecture should be built to last rather than built to be disposable.
    1. Architecture as ongoing art (greene, herb & Nanine Hilliard, 1982)
    2. Meterial architecture: emergent materials for innovative buildings and ecological construction (Fernandez, John, 2006)
    3. building with earth: design and technology of a sustainable architecutre (Minke, Gernot, 2006)
    4. Space on earth: architecture: people and buildings (Knevitt, Charles, 1985)
    5. Architecture transformed: new life for old builidngs (Greer, Nora Richter, 1998)
    6. Here tomorrow: preserving architecture, culture and california’s golden dreams (Dineen, JK, 2013)
  3. Cardboard is a viable building material. 
    1. Elastic behavior of corrugated cardboard: experiments and modeling (Z. Aboura, 2003)
    2. Shigeru Ban: paper in architecture (by Ban, Shigeru; Miyake, Riichi; Luna, Ian; Gould, Lauren A, 2009)
    3. Cardboard Cathedral. (Pollock, Naomi R.)
    4. Cardboard as a construction material: a case study.( Cripps, Andrew)
    5. Portals to an Architecture: Design of a temporary structure with paper tube arches (Steven J. Preston, 2012)
    6. CARDBOARD IN ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING : A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO CARDBOARD BUILDINGS IN ARCHITECTURE (ÖZLEM AYAN, 2009)
  1. Living in a tiny house is better than living in a large house. 
    1. Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter (L Kahn – 2012 – theownerbuilder.com.au)
    2. New Small homes (Cuito, Aurora, 2001)
    3. The Very small home: Japanese ideas for living well in limited space (Brown, Azby, 2005)
    4. The new American Dream: living well in small homes (Gauer, James & Tighe, Catherine, 2004)
    5. The small home of tomorrow (Williams, Paul R, 1945)
    6. Energy Free: homes for a small Planet (Edminster, ann v., 2009 1st ed)
  2. Museum architecture and layout directly affects your experience. 
    1. Designing for the Museum Visitor Experience (Roppola, Tiina, Routledge Research in museum studies, 2012)
    2. Movement in Museums: Mediating between Museum Intent and Visitor experience (International bibliography of art, 2014)
    3. Museum Architecture: Its Impact on Art Museums in the United States and the Public Experience
    4. Reshaping museum space: architecture, design, exhibitions (Macleod, Suzanne, Museum meanings, 2005)
    5. Museum design: planning and building for art (Darragh, Joan; Snyder, James S, 1993)
    6. Art museums, an experience in light: The role of light in the experience of the art museum (Liapi, Katherine Anastassios, 1994)