How can I propose an iconic structure that emerges from and embeds itself into the urban fabric of Providence?
This question arouse when I visited the site in hopes of experiencing a feeling of place. I was searching for subtitles in the landscape to guide me towards what the mission of my proposal should be. What would provide the greatest upgrade from the cracked parking lot? I kept in mind this quote from Christopher Alexander in A New Theory of Urban Design:
"Every project must first be experienced, and then expressed, as a vision which can be seen in the inner eye. It must have this quality so strongly that it can also be communicated to others, as a vision."
These priorities emerged:
Improve traffic efficiency and accessibility through the city
· Portal between neighborhoods across river and downtown
· Hub that connects many different places by pedestrian paths and lines of sight
Increase the variation of places of temporary public habitation
· Become a place of solstice and discovery- not just a short cut
· Building edges for pedestrians (rain, sun, access)
· Feel truly public
Provide a conceptual gateway to a new view of the city that is visible and tangible from the site
· Design moments and orient project to unite a system of domed buildings in the greater city scape
Perspective of downtown end of portal reflects Superman building in downtown Providence. How? From the doorway one can see the Superman building towering above the rest of the skyline. The prisms cantaleevering from the "tunnel" of my intervention reflect the massing of the Superman building in the water below. The pathway through the water to the door follows the line of the spire, allowing one to "walk the spire" in and out of the portal.
The river side portal includes spherical depressions in the earth and a convex lens. The spherical depressions can be walked like a clock to reveal allignments with the Old Stone Bank dome and the Christian Science Church dome. The convex lens literally reflects pedestrians, buildings and the river through its mirriorized material.
Partial sketch of the street and building edge design on the river side.
View from inside tunnel looking towards riverside portal exit from behind lens.
