2. Typology [conditions]
n. The study and interpretation of types and sym-
bols, originally of a subject.
.1
Dead zones within the urban fabric are potential
rehabilitaion sites. These spots are left over lots,
parkings lots, brownfields, abandoned buildings
and other blighted areas that are under-utilized.
In Bakersfield, post-industrial downtown is full of
sites like these. Low to moderate income levels
are widespread in this area and food desert con-
ditions dominate forcing people to travel outside
of their neighborhood for basic needs. The street
furniture is unkept, cracked streets and unsafe
or unwelcoming sidewalks detour community
members from enjoying public space. For these
reasons alone it becomes critical that the proj-
ect seek to reverse these habits. Links should be
made to connect pedestrian pathways from the
commnity to civic activity and vise versa. These
blighted plots become activation points along
these paths for potential growth and play. By
placing projects that interject these paths own-
ership by the community begins to take place.
Bringing people outside of the house and onto
the street is one of the first steps to recovery.
4. Filtering Skins
Eliminating green house gases
As the buildup of green house gases gather in
the central valley, the pressure for change be-
comes more apparent. CO2 and Methane are
just of a few of these chemical compounds.
Like most gases, they are invisible. What can be
done about something in the air we can not
see to contain? Nature provides that answer.
What we see as potentially dangerous plants
see as food. Vegetation alone can absorb high
amounts of CO2, but then the question becomes
what about the other toxic chemicals in the
air? That is where modern technology can play
a significant role. By combining these two tech-
niques a prototype filtering skin can be designed.
Education
Systems of sustainability
This class of building are coming full circle with
their projects on renewable energies and com-
plete cycle decisions. They have become ex-
amples of what biology and technology can do
together.
5. Client.2
Public: City of Bakersfield
Objective [mission goals].3
Proposal
Currently, Bakersfield is the target of healthcare
organizations across the nation, and one of those
is the American Lung Association who label the
city “Dirtiest City in America”. Why is Bakersfield in
the condition that it is? The area’s geology makes
this clear. The city lies in the San Joaquin valley
putting it in a type of sinkhole, making the area
ideal for greenhouse gas buildup. This in turn leads
to many social and healthcare issues for the local
community. Through biology and technology we
can begin to see a reversal of the negative ef-
fects farming, oil companies and vehicular smog
have caused to the natural environment. Bakers-
field has great potential to be a clean power
source and in turn be beneficial for its commu-
nity members. A systems type approach based
around the idea of urban acupuncture is the
strategy. Networks based around rehabilitation of
communities can act as catalyst for the city by
cleaning the air and connecting communities.
Biomimicry may hold many of the answers to the
questions revolving around the healing of Bakers-
field. Most of the activity happening in the city
is self-destructive in nature. Massive amounts of
commuters traveling to and from LA County for
work each and everyday is just one example of
the disconnect from natural cycles. Biomimicry
teaches us that nature works in cycles and all
forms of energy and production should be avail-
able locally. Today’s linear thinking of birth-to-
death in the products we make and use only re-
sults in exponential amounts of waste. This means
6. we should be thinking about buildings sec-
ond life, adaptive-reuse and recycling
of waste and energy within a building.
This project should also seek to strengthen the
community as a whole and discourage suburban
sprawl. A successful project gives ownership to the
people, making local community members feel
connected to the project. The user must never be
forgotten in the design while considering these
goals. If the structure is more of hin drance than
benefit to human use, how can this be considered
anything beneficial to society as a whole? The av-
erage person spends close to ninety percent of
their day indoors and when you consider the psy-
chological effects the built environment can have
on an individual it becomes clear why it is impera-
tive that good design start with principles based off
well-designed structures revolving around the user.
By combining these two goals a sys-
tem can be developed with specific goals
and principals. These can then be applied
to dead-zones within the inner city acting to-
gether to re-establish connections with com-
munities and allow the city to breathe better.
7. .4
n. A particular position or point in space.
Place [location]
san francisco
los angeles
Bakersfield is what is known as the pit-
stop town on the way to Los Ange-
les. It was the only place along the long
valley stretch wtih a developing center core in
the early part of the 20th century. Discovered in
the late eighteen hundreds, the area was origi-
nally a tule-reed covered marshland. The climate
is long hot summers followed by cool, wet and
foggy winters which are ideal for a wide variety
of crops. Around the same time crops and farm-
ers started showing up, oil was discovered and
the population boomed. Today, agriculture and
oil still dominate the region but the effects of ex-
ploiting non-renewable resources has begun
to show face. Suburban sprawl and mass com-
muter transport have taken effect as a result of
being on the periphery to higher paying jobs.
8. Within the city core, three redevelopment plans
are in place. The Downtown redevelopement,
the Old Town redevelopment and the South-East
redevelopement plan. Of these three areas, the
Old Town site has all the right conditions for a
catalyst to take shape within the urban fabric. It
is a food desert, lacks public space, lacks art and
community and is full of voids left over from the
industrial age. These conditions give rise to adap-
tive reuse and lies between the core and housing.
City
People
9. Two existing lots lie on the circulation path of
Mill Creek which intersects major anchors to the
area.
10. .5 Space [location of spaces, ]
Should the relationship of the
building to the street and
surrounding context open
vertical or horizontal? What are
the circulation routes across the
site and do any of these
influence the form through
stacking, twisting, splitting or
detached? Should certain uses
be grouped or isolated? What
kind of materiality and assembly
is appropriate to the site? Are
there conditional restrictions to
the site? These are questions that
improve quality of space and
give ties from the building to the
community at large.
11. Vertical vs. Horizontal
Why vertical?
Vertical has density benefits.
One of the main factors
breaking down a community is
lack of diveristy and density. A
vertical form provides space for
various income types and
multi-use space. The down side
to this form is the disconnect
from high space to lower space.
The vertical form can be
unapproachable in monolithic
representation.
12. Vertical vs. Horizontal
Why Horizontal?
Horizontal has a physically more
appealing form in relationship
to the surrounding context. Very
few buildings rise above four
stories in the old town dis-
trict meaning a mid-rise would
feel alien to its environment.
Horizontal structures innately
relate to the pedestrian by be-
ing on the human scale making it
approachable.
13. MILL CREEK PARK
Grouped vs. fractal
Why grouped?
Programs which have an isoated
nature tend to exclude other op-
portunities for haphazard user in-
teraction. The designer may have
intentions for a spaces use but ul-
timately the space and function
over time and for various reasons
changes allowing for new
possiblities. These possibilities
allow for an evolving
architecture, some-
thing dead space left out.
14. MILL CREEK PARK
Materiality
This project revolves around
adaptive reuse of existing
structures. With this in mind,
materiality should focus on
retaining materials on site that
can be put to a new use or
remain structurally sound. The
second phase is to incorpo-
rate local materials that are
reuseable, biodegradable and
do not have negative effects on
the environment in its process-
ing or embodied energy. De-
signing in this fashion ensures a
sustainable educational
environment.
15. Conditions
There are certain restrictions and
parameters with which the proj-
ect can revolve around. The
main focus is connecting the site
with existing circulation paths. A
dominate feature is the water
canal running from the central
park down to the civic area of
downtown. This is a perfect op-
portunity to tie into and link the
project. Other conditional cri-
teria like low to modern income
in the area begin to determine
program. Because the focus is
adaptive reuse this sets anoth-
er restriction on site location. All
three of these conditions alone
tells us where and what type of
architecture the site calls for.
![Typology [conditions]
n. The study and interpretation of types and sym-
bols, originally of a subject.
.1
Dead zones within the urban fabric are potential
rehabilitaion sites. These spots are left over lots,
parkings lots, brownfields, abandoned buildings
and other blighted areas that are under-utilized.
In Bakersfield, post-industrial downtown is full of
sites like these. Low to moderate income levels
are widespread in this area and food desert con-
ditions dominate forcing people to travel outside
of their neighborhood for basic needs. The street
furniture is unkept, cracked streets and unsafe
or unwelcoming sidewalks detour community
members from enjoying public space. For these
reasons alone it becomes critical that the proj-
ect seek to reverse these habits. Links should be
made to connect pedestrian pathways from the
commnity to civic activity and vise versa. These
blighted plots become activation points along
these paths for potential growth and play. By
placing projects that interject these paths own-
ership by the community begins to take place.
Bringing people outside of the house and onto
the street is one of the first steps to recovery.](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)