Below are a few of the 1000 photos I took at the partially demolished Solvay Coke and Gas site, the location for my thesis project.
Archive for October, 2009
Project Revisions
Work this week consisted of making revisions to my thesis statement and abstract, doing some site analysis and finding precedents. I also selected the Industrial Design School and Workshop as my program. I dismissed the School of Freshwater Sciences for three main reasons: a) the School of Freshwater Sciences shouldn’t abandon their existing infrastructure, b) given the political and personal interest in the project, I feel it is going to be distracting from my product as I am not interested in integrating polical manuevering, citizen concerns, and the universities budget into my project and c) the industrial design school works better with my manufacturing and industrial focus, and is more of a fitting tribute to the Solvay site.
Thesis Claim
Milwaukee is in desperate need of and economic stimulus. Since the 1960s, Milwaukee has seen a steady decline in its manufacturing base and the replacements in the service industry has not earned much respect. Milwaukee’s global images was, and now is, manufacturing. We build motorcycles at Harley-Davidson, motors at Briggs and Stratton, and we brew beer at Miller. Creating highly innovative technologies in the city will encourage job growth and reverse the exodus to business parks in the suburbs. Milwaukee has the potential to be a leader in innovative industrial design and production. The best way to bring notoriety and investment to Milwaukee’s renewed innovative spirit in the 21st century is to build a signature educational and manufacturing facility to draw international attention. The exemplar project ideally will be located in a formerly prosperous, but presently distressed part of the city combining design and production under one roof to serve as an icon and a catalyst for future growth.
Abstract
What is a city? On the physical level it is a collection of buildings, roads and infrastructure allowing people, on the human level, to live, work and play within this physical context. Each city is unique with regard to size, quality, features, landmarks, history and more. Milwaukee is a city rooted in its industrial past and currently struggling to adapt to the post-industrial present. By most metrics, Milwaukee is struggling. Auto manufacturing jobs have left for foreign countries, not to return. Steel and metal fabrication has declined. Breweries have
consolidated or shut down with Miller as the exception, who now brews most of the legacy beers. The result is a number of missing teeth in the city landscape. These vacant and dilapidated lots disrupt the city, punching holes in the urban fabric. My goal for my thesis is to design a project which repairs this fabric with a new program emphasizing integrated project delivery by streamlining design and production into a single facility to begin to restore Milwaukee image of education, innovation and manufacturing dominance.
Below are the slide thumbnails of the presentation, or you can view the PDF here if you prefer »
Some Precedents
Our assignment this week was to select several precedents to examine related to our project. Since I have narrowed my focus to either the School of Freshwater Sciences or an Industrial Design School and Workshop, obviously, both are higher acedemic structures, so that is where I began.
I found two excellent work by Sir Norman Foster, both uniersity buildings in the UK. I also found an unusual project called the Sami Parliament in Norway, which I really love the wood glue-lam interior spaces and the connection elements. Since it is more design related, rather than program, Prof. Krause wisely suggested I put it on the shelf and revisit it in the spring during the design phase.
Below are the slide thumbnails of the presentation, or you can view the PDF if you prefer »
