CAROLINE ELLISBarnard + Columbia | Architecture
6054 AltschulBarnard College
New York, NY 10027
Contents
Chandigarh: Public Space CategorizedIntervention proposals to reclaim Chandigarh’s open spaces.
The New Town Field Guide.Photography.
Ice Device to Ice Cream ShopIce cream shop on the 53rd St. and Park Ave median
conceived from pedestrian traffic and wind flow analysis.
Billboard / GardenVertical garden in East Harlem that rises high above the elevated Metro North elevated railway
that uses advertising principles to create an environmentally and socially sustainable vertical community garden facility.
Traffic Patterns on 53rd StreetAnalysis of the traffic patterns on 53rd Street between Madison and Lexington Avenues
that uses hand drawing techniques to articulate pedestrian traffic patterns.
Trinity Churchyard Viewing PlatformA raised structure over the historic Trinity Churchyard
whose form derives from analysis of people’s lines of sight.
DISPOSING
NAPPING
PARKING
STORING
WALKING
POP-UP WEDDING
PLAYING
DIVIDING
DRYING LAUNDRY
Cha
ndig
arh
| Pub
lic S
pace
CAT
EGO
RIZ
ED
Much of the identity of Chandigarh’s sectors centers around its public space. As the greenest city in India, and coined as the “City Beautiful,” it is indisputable that open space abounds here.
But Chandigarh suffers infrastructural difficulties that keep its residents from capitalizing on all of the potential laid out in the original plans. To westerners accustomed to constant civic regulation and structure, the informal uses of the parks can be seen in positive or negative lights.
This project acknowledges the biases of the westerner, but quickly moves past judgment to make objective responses to the current public space conditions.
This project seeks to identify and define the characteristics of Chandigarh’s parks, and outlines possible interventions that might be undertaken throughout the city. The goal of these interven-tions is not to serve as set design schemes, but rather as a means to start a conversation with the residents and everyday users of Chandigarh’s parks, who are most familiar with the parks’ needs.
Originally presented in conjunction with a powerpoint presentation and a film interpreting the ground plane condition in Chandigarh; a powerpoint presentation of 7 New Towns from around the western world; and a publication of a New Town Field Guide detailing the conditions of the 7 New Towns and Chandigarh.
DESIGN III SENIOR STUDIOFall 2011Critic: David Smiley
First impressions of Chandigarh’s pocket parks documentation and classification
The initial reaction to Chandigarh’s green spaces might be characterized by shock. They deviate from the lush greenery connoted by Le Corbusier’s original sketches and plans for the prototypical sector. These drawings tend to assert themselves more strongly in one’s pre-conceptions of a city lacking Google Street View and whose current state remains relatively underdocumented on the Internet.The filter of one’s own western understanding of what a public space is, influenced greatly by Olmsted’s iconic Central Park and New York City more recent public open space renovations, is also likely to affect one’s expec-tations of the pocket parks. In Chandigarh, the difference in the definition of public and private behavior is exhibited in residents’ uses of the public parks. It is not uncommon to drape wet laundry on the fences sur-rounding the parks, and the ubiquitous playground equipment is often in a decrepit state, but typical western “acceptable” uses abound as well. The goals of the project was not to “train” Chandigarh’s inhabitants to view their pocket parks in the western sense, but rather to bring a greater order to the informal uses that make these open spaces what they are and to facilitate a more enhanced usage of the parks.
Alter your perception
Chandigarh’s public parks as seen through a negative / western lens
and through a positive / nonwestern lens
PARKING
MONDAY
PARKINGRotating system by which parking is permitted in certain parks, on on certain days
STORAGEShelving structures keep construc-tion materials off the ground
NAPPINGCots fold out from wall providing for local -siesta- culture
STRAIGHT PATHSPaved straight paths allow for streamlined through traffic of pe-destrians and small vehicles
TRASH DISPOSALFume hoods allow for trash burning while reducing harmful pollution
LAUNDRYA bungee system provides a tem-porary means for drying without compromising entire space
How can we intervene in Chandigarh’s public parks?
Chandigarh as one of 8 new towns:
the NEW TOWN FIELD GUIDE:
CHANDIGARH, INDIABRASILIA, BRAZILCERGY-PONTOISE, FRANCEMILTON KEYNES, UKRESTON, USAVALLINGBY, SWEDENPENDRECHT, HOLLANDVESHNYAKI, RUSSIA
SCA
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OM
PAR
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PRELIMINARY ANALYSES
Columbia
Manhattan
Pendrecht
Mayer Superblocks
Chandigarh Sectors
Mumbai Slum
Chandigarh, IndiaNovember 2011
Chandigarh, IndiaNovember 2011
The ice device advantage of the cooling effects of the wind to keep the ice cold. The ice cream shop on the median on 53rd and Park Avenue draws on the science of the ice device.
By placing the ice cream shop on an angle on the median and exploiting the ice device’s wind funnel shape, I redirected the path of the wind and 53rd street pedestrians to shape season-specific public spaces.
The interiors / programmatic spaces were derived from the negative spaces created by the form of the building.
The crux of the project lies in the paradox of exterior interiors, or environments that are insular but at the same time completely open to the environment.
ICEdevice to ICECREAMshop
DESIGN I STUDIOFall 2010Critic: Janette Kim
windflowthroughicedevice
PLAN 1/32”=1’
PARK AVE
park ave
52ND ST
53RD ST
building building
53rd st
53rd st
53rd st
53rd st
SEAGRAM BUILDING
RACQUET CLUB
LEVER HOUSE
Win
d fl
ow p
atte
rns
Park
Ave
nue
and
53rd
Str
eet
seagram building
racquet club
park ave plaza
SECTION 1/32”=1’
park ave
park ave
52nd st
building building lever house
SEAGRAM BUILDING
PARK AVE PLAZA
RACQUET CLUB
SEAGRAM PLAZA
WIND PATTERN
POTENTIAL PEDESTRIAN PATHS
HEAT FROM SUNKEN PLAZA
cross section1/8”-1’
up
up
downdooownn
locationmedian between 52nd and 53rd streets on park avenue, at the intersection of mies van der rohe’s seagram building, s.o.m.’s lever house, and mckim, mead & white’s racquet club.
goalto design an ice cream shop comprising of multiple microclimates and keeping with the circulatory nature of the median
challengesnature of the median as a stop-off point rather than destination; crosstown traffic flow decreases a good deal moving east of park avenue
productan open building with interiors and programmatic spaces derived from the negative spaces created by the shape of the structure. the wind funnel shape functions is a means of redirecting both pedestrian pathways and cooling air flow. the microclimates pro-duced allow for season-specific spaces: “summer” spaces such as an outdoor movie theater on the roof and a sunken, heated “winter” courtyard nestled below the apex of the building.
structurepoured concrete with steel infrastructure
up
up
downdooownn
winter conditions
summer conditions
plan1/8”-1’
plan1/8”-1’
cross section1/8”-1’
up
up
downdooownn
locationmedian between 52nd and 53rd streets on park avenue, at the intersection of mies van der rohe’s seagram building, s.o.m.’s lever house, and mckim, mead & white’s racquet club.
goalto design an ice cream shop comprising of multiple microclimates and keeping with the circulatory nature of the median.
challengesnature of the median as a stop-off points rather than destination; crosstown traffic flow decreases a good deal moving east of park avenue.
productan open building with interiors and programmatic spaces derived from the negative spaces created by the shape of the structure. the wind funnel shape functions as a means of redirecting both pedestrian pathways and cooling air flow. the microclimates pro-duced allow for season-specific spaces: “summer” spaces such as an outdoor movie theater on the roof and a sunken, heated “winter” courtyard nestled below the apex of the building.
structurepoured concrete with steel infrastructure.
up
up
downdooownn
winter conditions
summer conditions
plan1/8”-1’
plan1/8”-1’
Billboard / Garden
DESIGN I STUDIOFall 2010Critic: Joeb Moore
design 1, project 2, fall 2010
SITE | Above and below the elevated MetroNorth railway on Park Avenue bet. 111th and 112th Streets
East Harlem is a neighborhood where fresh produce is extremely difficult to attain. However, it is not lacking in residents striving for healthier lifestyles. This vertical garden draws from its unique location between a school and a community garden. It is sustain-able both because of its garden aspect and for its teaching of healthier food habits. Building on the motif of billboards throughout Manhat-tan, the growing walls of the garden also function as billboards advertising and advo-cating for the garden.
lect
ure
hall
clas
sroo
m
com
mun
ity
kitc
hen
outd
oor g
arde
n
mov
ie th
eatr
e
PLACING-PROGRAM INTO RAMPS
PLACING GROWING SCREENS INTO TRUSSES
Cross section 3/32”=1’
Cross section 3/32”=1’
Sectional perspective
Plan 3/32”=1’
53rd Street
Park
Ave
nue
Lexi
ngto
n Av
enue
Madi
son
Aven
ue
TRAFFIC PATTERNSon 53rd Street
ABSTRACTION STUDIOFall 2009Critic: Todd Rouhe
At four points along 53rd Street between Madison and Lexington Avenues, a 3-foot wide roll of common white paper was rolled out on the sidewalk perpendicular to traffic.
Data was collected to examine the pedestrian traffic flow when the paper was rolled out without explanation, and when a person holding a clipboard and asking -survey- questions stood on the paper. Footprint data was collected by spraying the paper with water before and throughout the experiments.
On site, the speed of the people passing over the paper was approximated and noted. Their behavior was also noted. Off site, the footprints left behind were examined.
Pedestrians were wary of the paper.Many stopped at the paper and pondered its purpose.Several jumped over it.A few redirected their paths into the street to avoid the paper.Many sped up to cross over it.
A few stopped to answer questions. Fewer still inquired about the paper. Most veered away from the clipboard-wielding person. Many sped up to avoid the clipboard-wielding person. Clipboard person seemed the distract people from the paper’s presence.
53rd Street between Madison and Park Avenues
53rd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
plan
walked over at same speed
REACTIONS OF PASSERSBY TO PAPER AND SURVEYTAKER
53rd Street between Madison and Park Avenues
53rd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
passed over with longer stride
attempted to jump over but landed on paper
jumped over completely
Trinity Churchyard-VIEWING PLATFORM
This device was invented to measure the angles of people’s heads around the Trinity Church cemetery. It was used to assess the most popular sights viewed from the church-yard.
From this, the viewing "funnels" integral to the design of the platform were determined.
The platform sits in a controversial position above the graves in the southern section of the historic cemetery.
PERCEPTION STUDIOSpring 2010Critic: Nicole Robertson