DESA1002 'Continuous City' Karen Ho

Abstract

The design college for New York City focused on key characteristics of the city such as integration and innovation. New York is known for its diversity and was something that I was inspired by when I visited the city. I wanted to use the curved form to contrast the typical nature of the existing rectangular buildings. The design college includes studios, metal work rooms, a public art gallery to display student work, library, computer rooms and sewing rooms. I thought circulation was important as the movement of the students would affect the level of interaction. After researching what made design schools effective places to learn, I discovered interdisciplinary communication helps to develop enables greater understanding from more than their own discipline so that became the idea for developing the program for the building. Various student areas have been placed in the building to enhance this idea. The building is divided based on public and private space. This was for both economic and safety reasons. As space in New York is valuable, utilising the building space and functions after hours would be practical. However, as it is still a learning institute, the safety of the students and their work must be considered. The bridges linking the two sides act as interaction spaces. The cladding for the building was inspired by caves as the entry to the building based on the site was reminiscent of cave openings. The approach to the building would be similar in experience with the walls closing in as the space becomes narrower. When inside, there are glimpses of sunlight and the space opens out once again. Glass has also been used to allow for sunlight from the south which helps to create a more pleasant working environment. On the public side, the cladding reveals only slits of light due to the art gallery and its need to monitor the environment of the interior for the art work.