Research

T H E H U M A N P R O J E C T …

Designing the communal + experiential Millennial future.

What does the realistic future of architecture hold? Are we moving towards SuperStudio’s vision for an architecture of reason? Showcased is a revolutionary and fast-growing generation, being the Millennials: the youth raised during the Persian Gulf War, and gripping on the edge of the technologic boom. Such a generation faces a constantly changing world, brought from the rise and mass spread of capitalism, to the devastating loss of stability in the 2008 recession. Will life ever be the same again, or will it remain a temporary condition, and instead value it experiences…like it’s noticeable and emerging architecture. The Human Project merges the current cultural values to ideas of housing and design of the near future.

THE HUMAN PROJECT

Designing the communal & experiential Millennial future.

The realistic future of architecture? The grid, influenced by Super- studio from the collages of the 1970’s, holds its relation of endless, typical spaces. The same cubic structure from the design of The Human Project, a futuristic design for the next ten year. What will be its further outcome for the situational future?

Any program goes... How does the realistic nature of architecture + design respond to new changing needs? How does this set continuous grid of building change for its inhabitants and use? There are a variety of showcased programs and scales: the thoroughfare throug the city scale, the farmers food market through the park scale, and the gardening through the small house, and eventually room scale.

The impermanence of a constantly changing world... The current era: Anthropocene, or otherwise known as, “The Human Era.” Anthropologists and sociologists alike agree on such a classification due to our humanistic priorities over the environment, or any other parallel, non-human cause. The current culture and emminent future has been heavily influenced by the economy, and has been furthermore popularized marked by the “hipster”, and Millennial culture. According to researchers, by the year 2025, Millennials are to be the face of 75%% of the American workforce, therefore their mark and trend is highly influential.

The “hippie culture” has re-emerged with a Situationalist take on architectural theory, based solely on experience, with the idea of “Walkwable Cities”, and the transcience of a set-location. However, the aspects of sustainability and quality of life are simultaneously being addressed, while caring for the community as a whole versus only the individual. However, following an anti-corporate trend, each structure has the widely incorporated option of a self-sustaining roof produce garden. Embedded technology over utilized resources (such as water) allows for instant temperature conduction, without any requirement of permenant sturcture.

Gathering as a whole... The Millennial generation is more compelled towards community, and is well-known for their involvement in the information era. Therefore, there is the integration of both visuality and sociability, The move-ability of such interactive walls, with embedded preferences for viewing selection. Additional outdoor/indoor sunroon housing additions further the outdoor ambiance.

A flexible culture, leads to a structural system fulfilling such a trend. A system of a wrap-around ribbon window track, allows for easy and convenient window placement, while additionally offering FlexGlare Wall Panels, that are able to be permanently placed to create a solid interior surface, or are able to be sensory-conrolled, but sun orientation, direction, strength, and direct-glare. The moveable walls offer additional flexibility within the structure, offering such significant layout options to every space except the bathroom, and limited options in the kitchen space.

B I C Y C L E H U B …

The purpose of this investigation is to re-organize the sentiment of urbanization away from the booming metropolises. With such industrial and quick-minded urban expansion all over the globe, rising city cores are clouding the urban environment. However, there is an ignored player and action that lies dormant outside each city boundary- suburbia.

Suburbia is an inevitable occurrence, since every urban core has a limit to its extent. However, it has remained a typically ignored aspect of urban design since it is plagued by miles of traffic, and doomed to the means of retrofitting. However, these are the growing most interesting areas, since this idea of retrofitting provide a challenge for those grappling with the ideas of urban design, as well as a thoughtful experimentation. Being experimental, as every urban challenge is, it continues to forge a means of design for the different, rising generations that follow.

MIAMI BICYCLE HUB

Miami, Florida is the dreamland of a tourist destination. It has the wavering coastline, and the transience of constant admiration. Additionally, in recent years, it has become the permanent metropolis and home to millions of locals. It has been paralleled to the panache and desirability of other great American cities. Reaching international notoriety, and an almost magical arrival of success, it has brought the marvel of architectural attention.

However, the city’s booming population since it early settlement at the turn of the twentieth century has brought an overabundance of locals and residents. With a busting city center of Brickell and the City of Miami’s Downtown District, locals have proliferated all to the way to the westward edge of the city, bordering the extensive habitat of the Florida Everglades. With such rising worldwide urbanization, and the context of a bustling and unique blend of metropolitan and suburban condition, Miami is currently a testing experiment for the possibilities of modern city infrastructure, community building, and the retrofit of urban design. Explored, are the analytical findings leading to such a myriad of data and information.

Through the 1980s Miami’s population growth was driven by an internal migration from other areas in the country. The flux of immigration to Miami from countries across the world kept on the rise - but it has reached a stasis in the last decade where the growth has been directly driven by the fast urbanization rate and vertical construction - which inevitably have reaised population densities in the core city regions. In the past ten years there has been an increase of around 2%% in one area of Downtown Miami. With \'densification\' comes a great deal of unknown infrastructures for Miamians such as better public transportation networks, pedestrian dominated locations, and the bike scene.

“The Miami Bicycle Master plan includes more than 280 miles of new or improved bikeways which comprises about 33%% of the City street network. At present, the City of Miami bikeway network includes 17.12 miles of Bicycle Lanes and Shared Use Paths/ Greenways which is only 1.6%% of the City street network. Thus, the 2030 plan recommends a comprehensive expansion and diversification of facilities to meet the needs of beginner, intermediate, and expert bicyclists. In total, seven different bikeway types are included. They include: Bicycle Routes, Shared Use Lane Markings (Sharrows), Bicycle Lanes, Shared Use Paths/Greenways, Bicycle Boulevards, Neighborhood Connections, and Scenic View Routes.” -Miami Bicycle Master Plan

The program will be comprised of a covered bicycle parking, shower facilities, fitness center, bicycle repairs workshop, retail, cafe, and office. In addtion, the junction will be the local host of the Citi Bike program which consists of 1000 bikes available across Miami distributed through 100 installed docking stations. Although the bicycle parking will not necessarily be in a conditioned environment, there is a gradient of thermal requirements for the range of programs. Showers, offices, workshop and cafe all have different climatic expectations, and a challenge for the studio will be to coordinate both the flow of people/bikes as well as the flows of energy, thermodynamics, light and water. The program will also be explorations of different speeds of movement - from the bike path to the stasis of a shower.