Carl Lostritto, Instructor
School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
BKern
Street Canopies
My initial idea is to have the fabric canopies move through the crosswalks of the street. These would provide covering for pedestrians while they cross the street, and a threshold for cars as they pass through the intersection. I am trying to use a Form-Z animation to show how these canopies move through the intersection. However, the color scheme I have now seems to be easy to read in the daytime, but I need to rethink the colors to be more legible at night. Also, the canopy in the daytime is different because there is no pedestrian traffic. The canopy will be moving through the night to accomodate people and cars, but will remain just for cars in the daytime clip. Other ideas I have are that the fabric undulates as it moves, it gets larger in scale as it moves, or the daytime canopy follows the truck. I will explore these ideas further and see if they have any value.
Threshold and Space
The intersection of Knox Road and Route 1 is a place containing a combination of automotive traffic and pedestrian traffic. The automotive traffic is due to Route 1 being a major avenue, but the pedestrian traffic is due to the type of buildings on this intersection. Cars inherently pass through this intersection to get to further destinations without fully experiencing this space. Their time in this intersection is fleeting; however, pedestrian tend to remain in the space longer. In order for cars to experience the intersection, they must enter a threshold first. Pedestrians need a more defined space to gather somewhere in the sidewalk area to experience the intersection. My intervention will include a threshold for cars, but a defined space for pedestrians. Looking at the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, a threshold and space defined by fabric appears to attract people. The Gates at Central Park are a good example of how a threshold can influence promenade. The intervention will explore how a fabric threshold and space will affect the way pedestrians and cars experience the intersection.
East Coast State Distribution
This set of conditions represents the percentage popularity of Obama vs. McCain in the states on the East Coast. The percentages range from 30 percent to 60 percent. These conditions are mapped over the time period of January to November 2008. The east coast states are shown as connected in this graphic to reveal the change in popularity of the two candidates as one travels down the east coast. I achieved this by creating a lofted shape of the popularity of Obama and the popularity of McCain. These shapes are connected to show one whole image of each candidate’s popularity. The intersection of the two images signifies a change in preference of one candidate over the other.
