Final Review Boards

Progress Images

Restatement of Design Intent

I received some fantastic comments as a result of my previous SD Bubble Diagram post. Perhaps the best was from Eric Stark, a Professor of Architecture at the University of Maine at Augusta, and a past instructor at the BAC (I have included some of his comments below for all to read).

To summarize, Eric raised the concern that my design intent was not clear through my latest posts. Of course, much of this is because of the nature of this coursework. Visitors to the blog are at a disadvantage at times seeing bits and pieces of the project but not being able, or having the time, to go through all of the posts to follow all of the progress. But, nonetheless, that is no excuse for my design intent not to be crystal clear to anyone who visits my blog. It should be the first thing that visitors see, providing a rubric for my work to be judged by. So, I felt that this was a great opportunity to revisit, refine, and repost my design intent.

As Eric puts it, Intention comes in 3 parts. Why? What? How?

Why? (Why am I doing this project?)
Bangor is the cultural center of much of northern and eastern Maine, yet it is lacking any signature piece of civic architecture to reinforce its status as the nucleus of this large and geographically dispersed region. This project aspires to address that need, and to create something that the region can take pride and claim as its own.

What? (What is my intention? What drives my design work?)
The intention of this project is to capture the spirit of this proud region in a piece of civic architecture which will be embraced by the community; to design a place which will serve as a symbol of the area, and emphasize Bangor’s role as the center of the northern and eastern Maine region.

How? (How will my intention be achieved in my design work?)
The intention will be achieved by creating a place which is inspired by the identity of this region in its materiality and architectural character, locating it on a site of historical significance which is physically and visually accessible, and which fosters a sense of pride and community in the region.

Peter,What I am missing is your intention for the project. I do not know how to judge which bubble diagram is the 'better' one b/c I don't know YOUR parameters. The link to the water might be a good move in one scenario, but exactly the wrong move in another. I would suggest that you need the intention to start making these important decisions.

My thoughts on intention:It comes in 3 parts, Why? What? How?

Why: this explains (in 1-2 sentences) why you are even doing the project. This you have in your early writings.

What: this is the intention. What drives your design work? What makes your project YOUR project, and not just the design of the civic center? (ideally 1-2 sentences)

How: how will your intention be achieved in the design work? Not specifically (b/c you don't know that yet) but rather what architectural tools do you plan to use to achieve the intention? (view, connection to landscape i.e. river, invitation to community). Ideally these have some relationship to the ideas of the intention. (1-2 sentences)I would suggest thinking of this piece as a basic description of the project. If you were not the designer, but if another designer were going to do this work, what would you give him/her as a guide toward your intention and ideals?

Maybe most of this is somewhere in the postings, and I just don't see it. But I would argue that it wants to be evident, both for critics, but especially for you.Program needs analysis. If you are making bubble diagrams you are speaking to relationships (don't forget that the site, the festival, the river are also part of these relationships). I believe you need to analyze at least the major relationships to best understand how they are working. The relationships are not just bubbles in plan.

Schematic Design-Site Layout 1

Schematic Design-Bubble Diagrams

Site Analysis

The "Folk Festival"

Every summer, there is a huge music festival that takes place along the Bangor Waterfront. Check out this link for more info if you are interested http://www.americanfolkfestival.com/

This picture shows a large congregation of people right on my proposed site. My building design will definitely have to work very well with the festival. Best case scenario, it will enhance the festival experience.... In fact, the festival is so important to Bangor, if my design detracts from the experience at all, it would be a failure...

Preliminary Building Program

Below is my first attempt at a building program for the new Bangor Arena and Civic Center. In developing this program, I attempted to analyze and reconcile information from 3 main resources. These are;
1.)The recommendations from CS & L's market feasibility study
2.)Program needs conveyed to me in a meeting with the present Facilities Manager, Mike Dyer (Thank you Mike!)
3.)Industry standards ("Architectural Graphic Standards," "Timesaver Standards for Building Types," and the "Architects Portable Handbook" to name a few)

According to this program, I am looking at a roughly 150,000 square foot facility. As a check, I scaled the footprint from the HOK conceptual designs and I got a positive result. HOK is using a building footprint of roughly 150,000 square feet as well and that is prior to any actual programming.

Below the program I have posted a bubble diagram which conveys basic spatial proportions and adjacencies as they stand right now.

This program is a first draft and remains flexible. While I am planning on using it to start thinking about my building design, I am asking members of my team, from both the City and the Design side, to review it and get back to me with comments and recommendations.

Site Model Progress Prints

Below are some early images of my intended site. Using sketchup, cad, and some hi-res aerial photos, I have created a 3-d virtual model of the Bangor Waterfront, including much of downtown. The highlighted area is the intended site for my project. This is a shift from what I had anticipated earlier, but I believe it is for the best. Early in the process, I was thinking of a more wooded site, but as my research unfolded, I began to see the importance of the Penobscot river in this region. Bangor wasnt put on the map because it was in the forest, but instead because it was on a river that enabled it to utilize the timber from the surrounding forests. Furthermore, this site is accessible from major roadways, railway, and the river. This type of accessibility is vital for a building aspiring to become the center of the region.

Stay tuned....there will be much more to come over the coming months. I anticipate posting a building program progress print, as well as a more formal site analysis within the next week or so...

The process of the "Sawmill" as a symbol

As my research goes on, I am beginning to see the relevance of the “sawmill” as a symbol for the region. Not so much literally, but figuratively. Afterall, it wasn’t trees that put Bangor on the map, but lumber. The sawmill is an interesting place. It is a collector, a transformer, and a distributor. Logs came from all around the state via rivers, trucks, and trains. They underwent a transformation within the mill. They were then distributed out into the world. Is this a metaphor for what could/should be accomplished within my civic center??? People gather from all around in this place where they are “transformed” by new knowledge, experiences, sense of community, etc. They are then disseminated back out into the world? I am excited about the potential richness of this symbolism. If I could boil the sawmill down to its main components, collection, transformation, and distribution, I could use these to guide my design.

Research Topic 2 - Timber and Logging History

Research Topic 1-Market Feasibility & Site Selection

Research-Precedent 3

Research-Precedent 2

Intensive #3-Final Presentation

These are the boards that were presented during the final day of Intensive #3. I am now immersed in case studies, and other general research. I will be making posts weekly over the next few months...Stay tuned..

Thesis Aspiration Synopsis

Can a piece of architecture serve as the nucleus of a geographically dispersed rural area? In a part of the country where a majority of the residents are spread out over a vast area of land, can any one building come to symbolize the center of that area? Can that building, thru its design, instill a sense of community or architectural pride, in a place currently lacking such traits? Would such a building have to be located in the geographic center of this area to be effective, or could it be merely the symbolic center? What would the function, or functions, need to be to appeal to the most members of the targeted demographic? Could this building, if successful, serve as the benchmark for future architecture in the area to measure up to, and be the catalyst which begins a new era in the design of the built environment for this region.
The questions asked here have as many socio-economic implications as they do design ones. Thru research into historical precedents set by similarly rural communities, and beginning to understand the served demographic and their tendencies, I believe that some of these questions can begin to be answered. By bringing to light the economic hurdles and benefits that such a facility must both overcome and take advantage of, its feasibility can be determined. By creating a program for a building which is tailored specifically for the purpose of bringing community together, and locating the building where the infrastructure and region will most support it I can ensure the chances that it will be successful.
I contend that a building such as this, provided that the necessary research is performed, can truly become the “center” of a place and can symbolize a watershed moment for architectural design standards and development in that region.