Eventually being surrounded by a major highway, the site is an island, a dead zone for urban noise. The area between Second and Third Street has become an unfortunately starch buffer between the downtown area and the neighboorhood community.
This project’s stirring design transforms the site into a thriving urban space activated not by the highway traffic, but by the pedestrians and their journey through the site. By creating a mixed community that thrives primarily off of pedestrian traffic, the site and thus the surrounding area, becomes activated.
The building itself opens up to pedestrian traffic flow and the outside city life. Nonetheless it is strictly protected from outside noise, light, and weathering by exterior concrete panels. These concrete panels act both as insulation and as a louver system that allows for air ventilation and strategic sunlight penetration.
This project design earned Second Place in the SOAD Competition for
“Outstanding Building Design” as the University Academic Scholarship.
Status: Unbuilt
My Role: Project Designer
