New Abstract / Rough Spring 2008 Schedule

Abstract:
The memory we have of a certain space gives meaning to its form and architecture, and consequently a significant place in our minds. As we think of the past, we often remember the places we have been in light of the occurrences endured there, associating a place with an emotion and a particular event. These memories are innately a part of every design process. The memories, in this sense, are not fixed, but are linked together. These links can form a type of architecture based on archetypes and memories, leading to a variety of innovative designs. The memories of an architect and those of a user or community can be combined with needs and trends of the present to form such a space, which will in turn be adaptable for the future.

In the architecture of adaptive reuse, some historic aspects of a structure; for example the façade and exterior massing can be fixed and thus preserved, while the interiors are retrofitted for a new use. The memory of what the structure once was in its civic sense is therefore preserved, while the interior spaces provide it with the flexibility of present and future adaptation.

As the former largest corporation in the world, the Reading Railroad, after closing down, removed the central portion and ‘heartbeat’ of Reading, PA. The remaining structures and tracks on the site are rarely, if ever, used. The Reading Yard now sits as an insurmountable void within the surrounding city, which lies bewildered and unsure of a use for the space. The adaptive reuse of the remaining structures and land can provide a means of survival through the memories of the railroad, while a continuously evolving programmatic layout can form new memories, creating a new cultural identity for the city.



Semester Schedule; Spring 2008:

Winter break:

Early January:
Begin site model
Scale site map, including topo maps, buildings and surr. City
Plot maps to scale
Mostly finished by end of break
Scale of interventions decided

End of January:
Site model complete
Architectural issues/schematic designs
Design strategies

Early February:
Adaptive reuse schemes
Schematic design continuation

Late February:
Schematic design completion
Technical design beginning

Early March:
Technical design continuation
Structural designs
HVAC/sustainability designs

Late March/Early April:
Technical design continuation
Final works beginning

Late April:
Final works
Jury

May:
Relax/graduate

Impromptu Meeting Reactions

This week:
Thesis papers - Due Monday Dec 10th
Spring Schedule - Something that we think we can stick to and complete, and that advisors can hold us to

Presentation Reactions:
Diagrams need to be more clear and explained
More diagrammatic analysis can be implemented
Further development of case studies needed
-More installation artists
-Further emphasis of size/scale of installations
Scale of interventions
-Overall plan and examples of specific situations
-Example of adaptive reuse of buildings
-Example of reuse of grounds, etc

Presentation needs more finesse
Thesis needs to be 'owned,' ideas need to be pushed more
-Show how fantastic this project and experience will be, it is located in a 'Megalopolis' and transport to and from the site is easy, therefore support facilities gain their purpose.
-Eastern U.S. does not have space for such installations, hence the use of the southwest... Needs to be conveyed that THIS is the place where these installations can be placed and this art can thrive and cater to the ever-growing scale of modern art.
-Push intervention areas, especially skew bridge, a structure built for a specific purpose in a specific place with specific parts, it means nothing now, but begs for intervention... especially a specifically designed intervention...
Identify what is to always remain on the site
-Obviously the structures/buildings will retain their appearances, as set aside by the Secretary for the Interior's standards for historic preservation and adaptive reuse, but maybe the pathways created by, or the tracks themselves can and will remain on the site...
'Making Strange' was lost in the presentations (didnt mention it because I thought it would be a dis-service to just read a few excerpts and not the entire piece, seems like I should have used it in some way though)... The site is an artistic expression in itself, so convey that and relate the site to 'Making Strange.'

Case study to look at:
City of Hue, did not attempt to heal over the wound, just left it alone and allowed the city to thrive and pulsate around it, preserving its memory from being lost.

More to follow this week.

Case Studies/12.03 Meeting

Grounds For Sculpture: Visited Saturday 12/1
Characteristics:
Sculpture garden facility of 35 acres
Interior facilities for extra sculptures
2-Dimensional art facilities
35 acres of sculptures
-Land forms created for spatial flow
-Sculptures placed around obstacles for experience
-Water features
-Natural and false plantings
-Framed views (natural and built)






LOOP - PS1 - My Studio
Installation for NYC, 2006

Based on 'loose fill' architecture
Complete coverage and porosity of site
Network of spaces to encourage social interaction
Creates a field for the unpredictable unfolding of social exchange
Part landscape/part infrastructure
'Jungle gym' type space for adults and children
Intimate to open spaces for clear definition of groups, yet open for complete interaction

Roden Crater - Arizona
Transformation of landforms
Sculpting of spaces and use of light
Use of sun, moon, stars, other celestial events

Above images from:
http://astajons.blog.is
http://vizproto.prism.asu.edu
http://podcasts.thestranger.com

11.26 Meeting Recap

Furthering of diagrams
PowerPoint presentation for Thursday
-Hopefully a rough draft tomorrow afternoon/evening
-Theory/thesis statement finalized
-Graphical analysis 'complete'
-Slide show in order
Analysis of connections
-2 sides meeting
(Berlin Wall/Transcontinental RR)
-3rd voice and interaction/intervention
User groups
-Further justification
-More concise uses and benefits of local population
-Tourism justification

-Case studies:
Loop; My Studio
Serra
Jansen
Tacha
MoMA
Mass MoCA
GFS
Beacon
Turrell (Roden)

Richard Serra

Richard Serra sculptures being installed at MoMa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1sBpsyRNfM

Today's Plot/Site Images

Not sure why it looks like a negative, but you get the general idea... Ill post more to the Snapfish site tomorrow and label the ones above.

11.19 Meeting Reactions

Site Investigation 'conclusions'
This week/next meeting agenda:
Complete/near complete diagrams of the following
Edge conditions
Interesting areas
'Nolli' map
Where I almost got hit
Where photos were taken
Why sites/details are interesting
Cultural pockets
All with muted palette/grayscale for clarity
Site images as they pertain to 'Making Strange'
Reading offering the total freedom of such a wide variety of sustained, continually changing artwork and infrastructure, as well as a tourist/community/cultural base to allow it to continue its redevelopment towards the center of the yard.


Note: Norflk Southern corporation actually had a similar site in Lancaster, PA that the director of PR was telling us about. The site divided the city into differing sides forming a large, detrimental void in what turned into a rough city. The heads/ higher-ups of NS Corp got together with some city and redevelopment committees and formulated a plan to solve this. The solution actually involved NSC moving their site approximately 2 miles to one side, allowing the city to 'heal the wound' the train yard had formed. A possibility to be pitched for the Reading Yard. The tracks can remain to allow for cargo/material/artwork transport, and, if successful enough down the road, the implementation of passenger lines to and from the city (and to other major cities) as a revamping of tourism and sustainable aspects of public transport. This can also help with the endlessly rising costs of fuel, etc.

Other things that may help/come into play:
"The walls between art and engineering [architecture] exist only in our minds."
-Theo Jansen

The 'scruffy' neighborhood of immigrants and artists is where the most diverse/'beautiful' specimens of urban art/spraypaint graffiti were lining the walls (Kreuzberg)
-Sounds a lot like the Reading situation, tons of graffiti, large immigrant population base, great possibility of artistic expression and cultural identity. Opens the door for artwork that can continually change with the changes in population base/incomes/economic influences, et.

These are pretty rough thoughts so far, but I will work out the kinks more tonight and this week/weekend.

Theo Jansen Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMqftVhOuTw

check it out its amazing stuff.

This Weekend

Further site analyses;
Edges
Comfort zones
Discomfort
Nodes
Restaurants/cultural pockets
Layers
Built forms
Voids
More on exterior/surrounding city near the yard
Site visit Monday 9 am
I have also been in contact with the owners of the locomotive repair shops at the Reading Yard (the large building forming the northwest edge of the site) in an attempt to enter/analyze the facility.

More case studies:
More on Berlin Wall, Athena Tacha, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, use of space and schedule of installations at Grounds For Sculpture
Dia Beacon

Approximate site size is 200 acres, give or take...

I will print my writings to this point for whoever is interested as well.

New/Detailed Analysis of 'Making Strange'

I stood between them,
the one with his traveled intelligence
and tawny containment,
his speech like the twang of a bowstring,

and another, unshorn and bewildered
in the tubs of his Wellingtons,
smiling at me for help,
faced with this stranger I’d brought him.

Then a cunning middle voice
came out of the field across the road
saying, ‘Be adept and be dialect,
tell of this wind coming past the zinc hut,

call me sweetbriar after the rain
or snowberries cooled in the fog.
But love the cut of this traveled one
and call me also the cornfield of Boaz.

Go beyond what’s reliable
in all that keeps pleading and pleading,
these eyes and puddles and stones,
and recollect how bold you were

when I visited you first
with departures you cannot go back on.’
A chaffinch flicked from an ash and next thing
I found myself driving the stranger

through my own country, adept
at dialect, reciting my pride
in all that I knew, that began to make strange
at the same recitation.
–Seamus Heaney, “Making Strange”


Stanza 1:
I stood between them,
the one with his traveled intelligence - [history]
and tawny containment,
his speech like the twang of a bowstring, - [intellect]

Speaks of the Reading yard; Rich in history, experienced with the surrounding city, old, wise, etc. Image revealed of 'well-dressed intellectual,' articulate, yet unable to communicate with the city in a continual/adaptive manner

Stanza 2:
and another, unshorn and bewildered
in the tubs of his Wellingtons,
smiling at me for help,
faced with this stranger I’d brought him.

City of Reading, unsure, inexperienced with current state of the site and interactions with it, bewildered, in search of help and unable to decide its next move.

Line 8:
faced with this stranger I'd brought him.} Extensive void of Reading Yard, barrier between east and west

Stanza 3:
Then a cunning middle voice
came out of the field across the road
saying, ‘Be adept and be dialect,
tell of this wind coming past the zinc hut,

Intervention, connection between the two men (city and site) directions for where to go/what to do to address interactions and program.

Line 11:
saying, ‘Be adept and be dialect,} Details, vernacular, ease of speaking about site and program

Line 12:
tell of this wind coming past the zinc hut,} Winds show a change in program and layout, evolution and change, variety and spotlighting. Zinc: deterioration, reflection, staining, oxidation, etc.

Stanza 4:
call me sweetbriar after the rain
or snowberries cooled in the fog.
But love the cut of this traveled one
and call me also the cornfield of Boaz.

Speaks f the site and its age, as well as finding beauty and purpose within that age; a sweetbriar has a prickly stem, but beautiful blooms spotted by raindrops; the site as a gemstone.

Line 15:
But love the cut of this traveled one} - embracing of the void this site has created, and avoiding forced redevelopment, typical solutions.

Line 16:
and call me also the cornfield of Boaz.} - provision of sustenance for many people over many years. The railroad as the former heartbeat of Reading and a very important piece of industrial America / the world (international link to Philadelphia). Much has survived and grown out of this corporation though it no longer exists.

Stanza 5:
Go beyond what’s reliable
in all that keeps pleading and pleading,
these eyes and puddles and stones,
and recollect how bold you were

Line 17:
Go beyond what’s reliable} Surpass comfort zone and what is typical/expected to be placed on the site for economic renewal (hotel, casino, parks, golf courses, etc.)

Line 18:
in all that keeps pleading and pleading,} Pleading - conditions overlapping between city and site; a plea for help (specifically from the site, despite its intelligence and wisdom)

Line 19:
these eyes and puddles and stones,} Those on/near/connected to the site in some manner, and its built forms [stones] and voids [puddles] - Puddles filled with water for lack of program and misuse of site.

Stanza 6:
when I visited you first
with departures you cannot go back on.’
A chaffinch flicked from an ash and next thing
I found myself driving the stranger

Line 23:
A chaffinch flicked from an ash and next thing} Symbolizes his departure, percussive retreat from comfort and natural settings towards the unsure or strange.

Line 24:
I found myself driving the stranger} Departure

Stanza 7:
through my own country, adept
at dialect, reciting my pride
in all that I knew, that began to make strange
at the same recitation.

Advice taken from middle voice

Lines 25 & 26:
through my own country, adept
at dialect, reciting my pride} Telling of memories and conditions, preserving / surviving through them - "Fuses, rather than conjoins an intimate vernacular with cultural sophistication." (Cadwell, xviii)

Does not give 'adept at dialect a description [voice], this is what the program will become and ultimately address for the site and city.


**"New voice will not make a world intelligible by returning it to the familiar or by linking it to an existing order. New voice will render a new imaginative territory compelling by conserving [preserving] its strangeness" (Cadwell, xviii-xix).**

Response to Comments

Earlier this week (late Sunday night) John posted one of numerous quotes addressing the site pictures I had posted. In the comment, he mentioned the diversity of the site, the gentle scenes created in the residential area, the trees, the grass, the homes, but also the street being 'sucked' below the site, exposing many layers. He asked the question of how will this diversity be addressed within the program. I guess, as I mentioned last pin-up, the aim is to provide a continually changing appearance/layout/possibly program, to provide for a constant movement throughout the site. This calls into question the issues of temporality and flexibility. Installation art provides both of these conditions within its adjacent context. True, some installations are, or seem to be permanent (Smithson, etc.) but most remain on constant tours of many museums and other facilities world wide. Edge intervention that parallels that of, or even becomes a type of installation art, is a way of dealing with the diversity of the site. Change, continuous movement, spatial flow and other elements and temporary forms convey the notion of diversity.

Just a quick thought while stuck on my narrative...

Pin-Up # 3 Reactions

New case studies: Upside-down trees, Mass MoCA
Large-scale artists: Michael Heizer
Robert Smithson
Richard Serra
Andy Goldsworthy
Theo Jansen
Sci-Arch - adaptive reuse
Berlin Wall
Continuation of Grounds For Sculpture
Visit to facility
Site visit for next week (possibly, since visit is monday am first thing)
Visits of site in Philadelphia area for railroad images in the absence of an actual site visit thus far

Site visit acquisitions:
Plotting of areas of interest in and around the Reading Yard
Restaurants
Cultural areas
Neighborhoods
Groups of users
Comfort zones
Interesting nodes/nichés


Site does not need an actual 'monument' per se... ie Berlin Wall. The wall is no longer there, and there is no physical element from it standing in its place, yet it is still immortalized or preserved in books, films and photographs. The memory of it is powerful enough, and once it begins to outgrow the times, it will evolve and obtain a new meaning and definition for itself.
More to follow tomorrow.

Thesis Prep. Summary - 11/8/07

Beginning as a way to preserve the memories of the Reading Railroad as a way to reestablish the heartbeat of Reading, the focus has begun to switch towards a form of survival through, instead of preservation of, memories. The site, formerly one of the busiest areas of the city, has emptied out along with the closing of the Reading Railroad, forming a void in the central part of Reading and dividing the area in two. The populations on either side of this void are heavily disconnected, having only 3 points of physical connection and little visual access across the vast rail yard. The working class has moved on and given way to large, poverty stricken immigrant influx. As a way to preserve, if not improve the current status of the city, program will address the edge conditions of the yard to serve as a catalyst for improvement to push its way in towards the center. Case studies are focusing on large-scale art installations as well as the concealing of familiarities through different methods / artificial skins, as well as the reuse of brownfield sites for introducing new investment and employment opportunities to improve local economy.

Though I am not sure I am prepared for programmatic closure just yet, I have been working towards a large-scale art installation facility as a push towards program.

I. Analysis of edge conditions

1. Community conditions bordering the site

A. Isolation of east from west along site

- Lack of visual and physical connections

2. Edge conditions of the site itself

A. Activities on premises

B. Structures of site

- Built and natural forms

II. Needs of the local community / benefits of intervention

1. Public/open space

2. Identity (cultural and historical)

3. Reestablishment of heartbeat for Reading

4. Employment opportunities

5. Reclaiming of historic / brownfield sites

6. Maintenance of history / site bridging

III. Groups of people / users

1. Local population

A. Large, poverty – level immigrant population

2. Tourists

A. Families

B. Art enthusiasts

C. Students

IV. Design potentials

1. Catalyst / prototype for improvement of site / city / economy

A. Covering / concealing of the site

B. Bridging of the yard

- Visual

- Physical

C. Temporary forms

- Spotlighting elements

1. Continual change in design / appearance

Site Pictures Added

Link on right side; Site Pictures; Edges/Exteriors

More to follow later on...

A Few More Site Images/Thoughts/Definitions

A few more images from the bridges on / near the Reading Yard... The first and second images show a bridge on the south side of Reading, where trains moved to and from Philadelphia, among other locations. Only one side of the bridge contains a keystone arch, while the underside is ribbed following the slant of the street and angled tracks.

The third and fourth images show the skew bridge, considered the best example in the United States. Constructed in 1857, the arches contain no keystone, and each block of stone was custom cut to fit the particular specifications of the ellipsoidal curve required to carry the immense weight above with minimal vibration and sway. The innovation displayed throughout the entire Reading Yard and its structures, especially the bridges, suggest an important location for intervention due to the need for a visual or physical connection between the divided sides of the city.

More to follow later today/tonight on this matter...


A few more case studies include: the works of Christo and Jeanne - Claude;
The Central Park Gates, The Surrounded Islands, Wrapped Trees XVI, Wrapped Pont Neuf, etc.

Grounds For Sculpture; Central New Jersey modern art museum / outdoor sculptural / installation displays set in a well-balanced landscape of human intervention and natural forms.

Mass MoCA; Installation art

More resources: Strange Details (examples from 11/7/07 post)

Definitions:
Skin- 1. The membranous tissue forming the external covering or integument of an animal and consisting in vertebrates of the epidermis and dermis.

2. An animal pelt, especially the comparatively pliable pelt of a small or young animal.

3. A usually thin, closely adhering outer layer.

4. A container for liquids that is made of animal skin.

5. V. To cover with or as if with skin.

Synonyms: clad, cover, face, sheathe, side

Antonyms: body, core, interior, middle

Artificial- 1.Made by humans; produced rather than natural.

2. Brought about or caused by sociopolitical or other human-generated forces or influences.

3. Made in imitation of something natural.

Synonyms: synthetic, ersatz, simulated, manufactured, plastic, facticious

Antonyms: genuine, natural, unaffected, unpretentious, real.

Conceal- 1. To keep from being seen, found observed or discovered; hide.

2. To cut off from site: block (out).

3. To prevent from being known: cloak.

4. To put of keep out of site.

Synonyms: hide, obscure, obstruct, screes, shroud, mask, vei, bury, cache, ensconce, occult, secrete.

Antonyms: disclose, divulge, expose, lay bare, let out, open, reveal, show, tell, uncover.

Site Images and Details - 11/07/07

Just a few images from traversing the edges of my site today... there is a great amount of very interesting information regarding current site conditions and the conditions of the surrounding areas. The first image shows the Reading 'Subway' where the city's traffic moves underneath one of the central portions of the site. On either side, Spring street climbs steeply up the east and west sides of Reading, while the level of the railyard is continued out to meet the slope of Spring Street. This could serve some potential for where the current state of the city meets the former state of the city.

The second image shows the massive locomotive repair shops from the Reading Yard. The complex of buildings forms (or used to form) one large building stretching the better part of four city blocks and was connected between with a large crane and boom. It is indeed the largest structure left on the site from the former railroad, and is a fantastic expression of architecture from industrial America.

The third and fourth images are more like metaphors, rather testaments to the current state of the site. The third is the column of a bridge carrying the tracks over part of the city, where the concrete has worn away exposing the hundred or so year-old re-bar. The fourth image is an old mill adjacent to the site that was turned into part of the Reading Outlet Center, which has since been shut down and is now being slowly pulled apart. Most of the windows are pulled out and the doors are nailed and boarded shut in their vacant state.

Another detail of the site are the keystone-less archways of the bridges surrounding the site. The 'newer' structures (without keystones) have replaced the older ones constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, due to their inability to prevent sway from the immense weight of the engines and cars above. In order to support the wright, the stones on the inside face of the arch not only curved to form the arch, but were angled to the weights from above to the ground.

More images and posts to follow soon.

Quick Excerpt from 'Strange Details'

I stood between them,
the one with his travelled intelligence
and tawny containment,
his speech like the twang of a bowstring,

and another, unshorn and bewildered
in the tubs of his wellingtons,
smiling at me for help,
faced with this stranger I'd brought him.

Then a cunning middle voice
came out of the field across the road
saying, 'Be adept and be dialect,
tell of this wind coming past the zinc hut,

call me sweetbriar after the rain
or snowberries cooled in the fog.
But love the cut of this traveled one
and call me also the cornfield of Boaz.

Go beyond what's reliable
in all that keeps pleading and pleading,
these eyes and puddles and stones,
and recollect how bold you were

when I visited you first
with departures you cannot go back on.'
A chaffinch flicked from an ash and next thing
I found myself driving the stranger

through my own country, adept
at dialect, reciting my pride
in all that I knew, that began to make strange
at that same recitation.

–Seamus Heaney, "Making Strange"

Not to get all deep and 'emo' or whatever you want to call it, but as broken down by author Michael Caldwell, this somewhat parallels what I am going for thesis wise in a metaphorical way.

"Heaney writes "Making Strange" in the first person and recalls a visit to a familiar village, perhaps the village of his youth. As the poem opens, we find Heaney standing between an intellectual colleague "with his traveled intelligence and tawny containment" and an old acquaintance, "unshorn and bewildered in the tubs of his wellingtons." Although the former is more articulate – "his speech like the twang of a bowstring" in contrast to the latter's mute "smiling at me for help" –it is a third voice that calls to Heaney. This "cunning middle voice" has an indeterminate origin, from "out of the field across the road." We know that it comes from neither the acquaintance's village nor the colleague's milieu, and we sense that it might negotiate between the two. The ensuing lines support our intimation. The voice conjures a pastoral of zinc hut, sweetbriar, and snowberries and links the scene with the Old Testament story of Boaz and Ruth. With this linkage, the voice conjoins Ireland with a biblical terrain where a salubrious landscape also masked generations of conflict. Heaney not only stands between personifications of native intelligence and cultural sophistication, but also must provide them with a unifying poetic vision."
(Cadwell, xv-xviii)

Anyway, as I see it, the site seems to be alot like the acquaintance, in that it is sitting idle, waiting patiently for some sort of help, with a half hearted smile, and the intelligent (used loosely, in this sense) colleague is a metaphor for the area surrounding the site. It may even be suited to reverse this, and envision the site as the intelligent colleague (due to its long history, etc) and the surrounding city the acquaintance, smiling weakly waiting for some sort of direction or assistance. Anyway, the third voice can be seen as the intervention between the two. I will post more later concerning the site visit and documentation i did today, but thats all I have for now.

A Few Definitions

Edge Effect: The effect of the juxtaposition of contrasting environments on an ecosystem

Edge: 1: The line of intersection of two surfaces

2: A rim or brink

3: The point at which something is likely to begin

4: A dividing line; a border

Synonyms: border, borderline, brim, brink, edging, fringe, margin periphery, rim, verge, threshold

Connection: 1: One that connects; a link

2: An association or relationship

3: Reference or relation to something else; context

4: A means or channel of communication

Synonyms: coupling joint, junction, juncture, seam, union, connect

Threshold: 1: An entrance or doorway

2: The place or point of beginning; the outset

3: The point that must be exceeded to begin producing a given effect or result or to elicit a response

Synonyms: borderline, brink, edge, point, verge

Case Study

The Sands Bethworks:
Sands Bethworks:
Sited on the Bethlehem Steel site (126 acres, largest brownfield site in the US)
'Smartgrowth' reevelopment - redevelopment of the brownfield site to stimulate reinvestment and create new investment and economic opportunities for the city and its residents and business owners.
-Reestablish the site as a city center and 'heartbeat' intended to ease itself back into the urban fabric of Bethlehem

-Respecting the history and richness of the site through the maintenance of the industrial setting
-Blending the old with the new through the adaptive reuse of structures and machinery and use of original materials and styles to recreate the familiar glow of the site
-Transforming the abandoned site into a city center with many job opportunities for its citizens while creating much needed state income to boost the local economy - rebirth of the site and creation of a new 'heartbeat' with a familiar design
-Features: Casino, Hotels, Residences / Lofts, Restaurants, Retail space, Community Centers, Broadcasting Stations, National Museum of Industrial History, Performing Arts Center, etc.

Wrapped Reichstag/Red Trevi Fountain

Images from faculty.evansville.edu and telegraph.co.uk

Program Narrative Outline

Program types currently under investigation:
Commemorative Railroad Muesum
Anthracite Museum
Museum of Industrialization
Community center
Secondary school
Community art center

Needs of the public/population
Public/open space
Cultural identity
Historical identity
Reclaiming of old sites
Maintenance of history
Bridging of site
Acknowledgment of site as the former heartbeat of the city

Groups of people
Large immigrant and minority population
High poverty levels
Generations of families
Reading residents
Tourists
Educational facilities/students

Influences
Anthracite region
History of railroad and uses
History of Reading and Northern PA
Center of transport hub
Legacy as industrial giant
Coal and passenger lines
Corruption
Greed
Abandonment
Wealth
Poverty
Industrialization
Decline
Working conditions

Investigations
Communication between buildings on the site
Built forms and voids
Surrounding areas of the city
User/laborer/pedestrian activities
Historical forms
Vernacular
Benefits to local area
Tourism increase
Boost in economy
Redevelopment of land
Investment opportunities

Other programmatic possibilities
Large scale art center/recreation system
Large site provides for large installations (i.e. Reichstag) that
will cover up various areas of the site for given periods of time, thus covering the stain and hardships resulting from the recession of the railroad boom
Uncovering/removal of installations and temporary architecture
can show continual rebirth of the site and its elements/features and buildings
Changing of the installations will provide continual variations in
the site and its overall forms as a metaphor to parallel the continual changing, and eventual removal of the Reading Railroad itself

Can also provide for a bridging of the site to connect the two
somewhat disparate sides and create a communication on an otherwise silent site

Case studies
Reichstag wrapping; Christo
Is something more present when it all of a sudden disappears?

Reminder of a failure (can be implemented on to
Reading Railroad)

Wallpaper used to cover the cracks of damaged government and
or society; removal of the wrapping symbolize the rebirth or re-emergence of of the structure and its society
Dramatic, sudden alterations of existing structures with their
own previously established identities draw new attention from users and provide a new vision on an old, possibly abused site

Red Trevi Fountain
Another case of a sudden/dramatic alteration gaining the
attention of the many local residents

The Sands Bethworks
Adaptive reuse of the Bethlehem Steel site including mixed use
facilites; commercial, casino, residential etc. using the
language and existing elements of the site infused with
the rich history and influence of Bethlehem Steel

Steamtown, Scranton PA

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art

North Philadelphia

Site aerial

In Search of Program

First off, my apologies for the recent lack of submissions due to jury, but i have been doing some research and trying to sort things out. After last week's meeting, I am pretty stuck and confused as to which way to go program wise. I was originally leaning towards a singular building on the site (not sure which one) but turning it into a commemorative museum and recreation/park system to acknowledge the rich history of the area. Possibly a railroad museum, anthracite museum or maybe overall museum of industrialization. however, it was brought up that this may not be justified and proper for the site, nor be able to serve as a catalyst for the immediate area, or even city's turn around. Several things have been suggested by John Lisa and Andrew, such as a form of temporary architecture as communication between the opposite sides of the site and as a way to view the area due to its closed state. The main theme that seemed to appear, and seems the most relevant/interesting, is maintaining the site as a void, therefore preserving the memories of it in a literal sense, and allowing it to be remembered as the former industrial giant that it is.
A few case studies I have been looking at include the wrapping of the Reichstag by Christo. This project seems to have served as a metaphor symbolizing the rebirth of German government, or maybe even the 'wallpaper that covers the mistakes and cracks' of German history. It showed, or maybe just suggested that a structure this large, and of such importance, all of a sudden became more relevant and important to te society when it 'all of a sudden disappeared.'
This case study got me thinking back towards an art community of sorts. The site is massive, obviously, and will be a great challenge to deal with, but what if the layout of the site is continually changing at the hands of many different users. Possibly a large-scale art installation site? Larger installations will be easily fit into the site, and will also revert back to the covering up of the area. Installations can be constructed as, and integrated with, a temporary architecture, which will be constructed, thrive, and eventually move on, much like the railroad and its legacy. In this sense, the site can be concealed for a given length of time, users can traverse the land, separated from the railroad, and return to find a different layout than the last visit.
This can play into the shock and awe of a drastic alteration in the urban fabric, and be used as a way to bridge the gap created by the rail yard. Also, with the installations forming themselves around the site, the daily activities and operations can be continued, and the area tied together, while still increasing tourism and rehabilitation of the city.
Other suggestions, such as the semi-joke of a cemetary for veterans and housing for their families, seem a bit morbid for what is needed in the city, aside from the fact that these is a large cemetary immediatly adjacent to the Reading Yard.
More recent case studies include the previously mentioned Reichstag wrapping, the Trevi Fountain (with red water), The Sands Bethworks (master plan for the Bethlehem Steel, casino, retail and housing), Steamtown, Scranton, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Philadelphia (and its former greatness), etc.
As far as site investigation, I still havent gotten a call back for site access, so I am calling more potential sources tomorrow and going to Reading Friday to attempt to speak with someone in person. Until then, more case studies and research.

Abstract/case studies and design potential

The Preservation of Memories Through Adaptive Reuse Abstract

The memory we have of a certain space gives meaning to its form and architecture, and consequently a significant place in our minds. As we think of the past, we often remember the places we have been in light of the occurrences endured there, associating a place with an emotion and a particular event. Sights, sounds, actions and even smells can trigger these memories and carry us on a journey through time. These memories are innately a part of every design process. In this sense, the memories of a certain place are not fixed, but are linked together. These links can therefore form a type of architecture based on archetypes and memories leading to a variety of innovative designs. The memories of an architect and those of a user or community can be combined with needs and trends of the present to form such a space, which will in turn be adaptable for the future.
In the architecture of adaptive reuse, some historic aspects of a structure; for example the façade and exterior massing can be fixed and thus preserved, while the interiors are retrofitted for a new use. The memory of what the structure once was in its civic sense is therefore preserved, while the interior spaces provide it with the flexibility of present and future adaptation.
We think of memory as belonging to the realm of human mentality and therefore being subject to the affect and nostalgia of patrons, spectators and consumers, but it is through adaptive reuse and historic preservations that cities take on their own forms of memory, thus retaining an identity. The city is seen as a landscape and collection of objects and structures that represent the past through the constant building and rebuilding of its structures. The retention of these historic structures, sites and environments give clues as to how a city and its inhabitants functioned, were structured and moved about the streets living their everyday lives. In this aspect, the preservation of a city’s memory parallels that of a human’s. Using variations of common adaptive reuse techniques, as well as the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation, inherited traditions, vernacular architecture and memories can be integrated into existing structures with modern technologies forming a variety innovative architectural programs, thus preserving the memories of a city.

Case studies include the transformtion of the Bankside Power Station into the Tate Modern by H&deM, the Nationale Nederlanden building by Frank Gehry, the Jewish Museum, Berlin by Daniel Libeskind, Museo di Castelvecchio in Verona by Carlo Scarpa, etc.

Design info:

The implementation of adaptive reuse in this situation is mainly site based. Heavy reliance is placed on the features of the site as well as the surrounding area including environment, vernacular architecture and most importantly local history, in order to extract design information. The former Reading Corporation had numerous facilities constructed throughout the tri-state area (PA, NJ, DE) during its empire, yet the focus remains on its home city of Reading, PA and the famed Reading Yard located between 7th and 9th Streets from Greenwich Street to the newer Warren Street Bypass. The empty lands and vacant structures left behind after the closing of the Reading Railroad tell of the history of the once great corporation and serve as reminders and historic / cultural reservoirs waiting to be tapped for the enhancement of the local identity.