List of Spaces • Adjacency Matrix • Criteria Matrix • Bubble Diagram
Even though my initial idea was to make a building for sport
activities, I now widened its use in order to promote wellness not of
individuals only but of a community in general. Swimming pool, for example,
will not be for competitive swimming and exercise, but for families, enjoying
time together with their children. Sauna will welcome anybody rather than
members of the facility (as the case with any YMCA). Outdoor relaxation space
will be of multiuse. Part of it will be adjacent to the cafeteria; big part
will face the water where some people may enjoy meditation séances (yoga,
prayers, and drawing classes); another side is facing the park and will serve
as a transition between the two, probably having children playground. Ramp is the backbone of the idea; it will not
only lead from point A to point B but will provide a space for interaction and
for the opportunity to reach a spot with amazing views and cold refreshments. People
may want to ride over the ramp to reach park, or they may leave bikes at the
parking space (where rent will be available as well) to explore this oasis of public
activities. Studios for Zumba and Yoga provide activities for a group of
people. Even Gym will not only house dumbbells, barbells and other equipment
for individual workout, but will mostly have cycling, gymnastic bars, climbing
wall for kids and other equipment which usually promotes collective gathering. Besides
the ramp, lecture hall and outdoor relaxation space will endorse socializing
between neighborhood communities and will make tourists feel at home. Finally, the
outdoor spaces for Tennis, Volleyball and Basketball, located on the roof, next
to the observation deck, will encourage visitors to take part in these
activities and enjoy the view at the park below and water.
PS: My calculations for the maximum square footage were made
to make me realize the scale of the site and the maximum building envelope (which
is not the limit). Except for the outdoor relaxation area, the rest of the
footage is probably minimum rather than average size.
Take a hard look at your program and compare it to a YMCA anywhere in the world. Your average YMCA has a better fitness facility by activities than you are proposing. Think long and hard about how to re-imagine fitness, how to link and activate the adjacent communities and park-lands, bicycle trails. Remember that your 2.0 FAR is only for "enclosed" building mass. You have the opportunity to program at least a 3.0 FAR by making the outside/roof of the building inhabitable. You can probably double that once again by programming activity/usage on the ground plane of the rest of the site. It goes without saying, but take the opportunity to really push the envelope of a fitness facility.
ReplyDeleteThink also about the act of exercise itself, could you program a building in a way that promotes fitness in the usage of the building? Could "forced" circulation become part of the workout itself, for example. Push past the usual conceptions of a 24 hour fitness. There are scads of hack architects to convert old supermarket sites in to that kind of gym.
Sorry for the confusion. Take a look at the update; I should've added the description right away.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your idea of your project, I start to think about how I would imagine a bath house, or Coney Island in its hey day, a town square, a gathering place, all are romantic ideas, that exist for me in books and movies and not really in America. I do think they exist elsewhere in the world to some point. This does not remind me at all of y YMCA, but more of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and their idea of landscape and neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI do think this project will be more about the community and the landscape rather than pieces of the program in a building. Do not put boundaries on which activities are inside or outside, as they may shift with the weather, or time.
Exciting....
Vlad,
ReplyDeleteThe diagram looks really good. I have a few questions though:
1. How many people are you expecting on a day to day basis?
2. Which spaces will run continuously throughout the year?
In 1996 I was visiting a gymnastic sport center in Belgium where alongside with the Olympic sized arena, on the other side of the wall, was located the pool with slides; definitely not for professional swimmers. I didn’t pay attention to this strange arrangement, but now I realize “why not”? I was also surprised not to see a lot of people there. In that case the key to protect the premise from overcrowding was the location, and membership. It was far enough from the center of the city, and available only by car. RedHook is the same kind of place; it is not heavily populated, and mass transit is not that convenient. Other than that, some other measures would have to be taken as well not to overwhelm the space with masses of people, and not spoil it for tourists, bikers, and joggers. One effective and unavoidable filter should be a membership to indoor facilities. That will work for all but tourists. For them (and others who don’t want to be a member) pay-by-visit solution may be appropriate. In order to encourage the use of spaces, and justify high price range part of the cost will be donated to charitable organizations.
ReplyDeleteI assume that tourist will visit this place at the rate of about 100 per weekday, and 500 per weekend; may be tenth of them will decide to take part in activities. There will be ten times as much members.
I suppose (as of now) that all indoor spaces and roof activities (being enveloped in glass) will run continuously throughout the year.
This is a very organized and detailed programmatic matrix. Now that you more or less "control" the programmatic needs free yourself.
ReplyDelete- Your program has a very poetic point of view. Your focal point is the human body. The way the user is initiated in such a space, the way he/she moves or stands, the relation between space and time are key components of your project. You will be designing spaces that are related with the human senses. Water, light, the human body, the building materials should later determine your design process. In that sense, try to define your programmatic manifesto thinking of alternative tourist development and community planning strategies, as well as the therapeutic character of your proposed spaces.
- The program of your building should be analyzed in multiple congenial entities that when arranged in adjacencies and grouped they form a larger multiplicity. In the diagram you have created try to now highlight bigger programmatic areas that also intersect with each other. The notion of "fluidity" could be helpful to have in mind.
Think also that "mechanical part" of your creation should later on work with and create a dual relationship with the "non- mechanical" entities.
Thank you for your comments. Indeed, as I start visualizing the massing, and try to fit programs inside, I realize that sticking to the plan might become an issue, and might render the building as a bulky thing with complicated circulation. My main goal though shouldn't be to stuff the building with programs, but rather to create an attractive point of destination, which visitors will appreciate from afar as well as from within.
DeleteRemember one word as you proceed: EXPERIENCE.
ReplyDelete