Community Space
Paul Folger, Spring 2010
This building took the typical urban mixed-use program and turned it on its head. Rather than placing private (housing) atop public (gallery/ retail), each of these programs became distinct entities placed next to each other. Public space is also dispersed throughout the housing block. In doing so, the residents residential become firmly connected with the life of the city, the public block was conceived as live/ work studios for temporary artists-in-residence, but may accommodate any number of uses.
While the building appears anti-urban (set far back into the lot) and anti-environmental (running north-south), it defies these initial assumptions. Adjustable vertical fins on the west side block unwanted afternoon sun in the summer, and perforated steel facade screens open-air circulation and public space that provide a buffer zone between the elements and residential units.
Diagrams, Perspective Image
(L to R): Massing Diagrams. Circulation (yellow) connects public spaces (blue). A stairwell within the perforated steel facade provides direct access to the building's common spaces.
Section, Plan
Efficiency studios, two-bedroom apartments, and premium lofts are available in up to eleven units per floor. A live-in artists' studio and gallery is appended to the apartment building, and a fifth-floor connector allows co-mingling of public and private.
Perspective Image
View from 20th Street looking west.