site observation 3.27.09 ‘mock’

Objectives

1. Research water treatment processes.

2. Begin to get an idea of the foot print of the preliminary design intervention within the site.

3. Simulate the design using Adobe Photoshop to create perspective images.

Process

As a part of my site observations, I took a tour of the water treatment facility on Gardere Lane, in south Baton Rouge.  My tour allowed me to see all of the processes involved with sanitary sewer water treatment.  Treatment occurs chronologically in the following filters: influent , preliminary, primary, secondary, trickling, and clarifying.  I was surprised to find out that storm water does not undergo any sort of treatment process.  Usually it is held in the canal that goes through downtown and on the north side of the LSU campus and straight into the Mississippi River.  I traced the end of the canal to the levee, but I could not pinpoint where the storm water daylights.

After the tour, I completed my site observation by driving stakes into the ground in the parking lot closest to George’s.  Panoramic photomerged images from this visit are the semitransparent  images superimposed on top of the site.

Contextual Panoramic Photos

 

The entrance to the Mills Avenue water treatment facility, located in the north part of Baton Rouge, close to Southern University.

panoramic view of the river road water treatment plant, as seen from the levee

 

presumably pipes that channel storm water into the Mississippi River

Perspective site mock-ups

 

splitter boxes

 

clarifying pool

digestive tank

trickling filter

Journal highlights

Taking a tour of the water treatment plant on Gardere Lane was very informative.  The scale of the facility required for such an operation is massive.  The personnel required to run a treatment facility has to be skilled and willing to come in for emergencies twenty four hours a day.  I do not know yet how these constraints will affect my design.  Having the first hand knowledge of the facility and the bordering neighborhoods, thresholds, etc. is important to have witnessed.

Potential areas of study

How can I accomplish water treatment on the scale of the Perkins Road Overpass? 

 

 

site observation 3.13.09 ‘annotate’

Objectives

1. Return to a significant observation point at the site and record temporal, spatial, and sensory conditons.

2. Organize thoughts and data gathered from observations and record using Adobe Illustrator, being mindful of the use of leader lines and graphic notation.

Impressions

I returned to the Perkins Road Overpass, where my previous site observations and projects 1.002 and 2.001 have focused.  

Interviews

While recording my observations, I struck up a conversation with Devon Overall, the engineer and project manager for the Perkins Road Overpass reconstruction.  Devon works for Coast Bridge Construction company, whose office is further down Perkins Road.  He pointed out several critical points where the overpass was going to fail if neglected.  Devon graduated from LSU, and had taken a survey course in the landscape architecture department.  He also offered to let our class look at the original plans for the Overpass from the 1930’s. 

Annotations Organized

 

Annotations organized into macro and micro scales

current site conditions and conditions/processes occurring prior to site visit

Potential Areas of Study

 Intense scrutiny and observation at a site is a luxury in terms of the design process.   How much time are professional landscape architects able to devote to such thorough investigation and research?  Also, organizing information in such a way that leader lines do not cross is a challenge. 

site observation 3.06.09 ‘robot’

Objectives

1. Find a visually interesting detail on the site, document with a photograph, and trace in Autocad.

2. Supplement image with contextual panoramic photos.

Base Image

Looking through one of the vertical orifices in the guard rail on the Perkins Road Overpass.

CAD rendering traced from the above base image.

 Contextual Panoramic Images

panoramic view to the east, as seen from the observation point

panoramic view to the west, as seen from the observation point

Journal Highlights

This particular vantage point is a major confluence of pedestrian, bicycle, vehicular, and train traffic.  In relation to the phenomenon of a resonance of presences, this location offers not only one of the highest elevated vantage point at Perkin Road Overpass.  Much behavior can be observed from this position.  Additionally, the crest of the hill of the Perkins Road Overpass marks the northern boundary of the site.

Potential Areas of Study

Much activity transpires at this particular location, and as a result, many traces of presences.  Other vertexes of overlapping phenomenon could be marked on a site map.  Once these vertices are plotted, connections between them may be drawn.

site observation 2.27.09 ’synth’

Objectives

1. Learn Photosynth software

2. Build knowledge base on sites used in project 1.002

Process

Working in pairs, Lance Fulton and I documented the areas of focus from project 1.002.  These areas included Chelsea’s, DiGulio Brothers, Duvic’s, and Brent Anthony’s.  Lance created photosynths for the latter two areas and I chose the former two areas.  The buildings outlined in black indicate Lance’s synths; a red outline designates my areas of focus.

Sites Observed

 

Chelsea's restaurant at Perkins Road

 

DiGulio Bros restaurant

Duvic's bar

Synths

 

This photosynth depicts Chelsea’s, a local restaurant and entertainment venue, at night. The time of day was chosen in order to better illustrate the environmental conditions addressed by project 1.002.

Journal Highlights

Photosynth is a visual database that compiles 2D images and creates a virtual 3D world from them.  The urge to create a photosynth for every environment that I encounter is limited only by the storage space provided by Microsoft.  Due to the early stages of development, Photosynth could improve its edting process.  When Photosynth generates a synth, it is always a gamble whether a single synth or multiple synths will be created.  There is currently no way to designate keystone images within a synth and then stitch multiple synths together based on those keystone images.  Also, if a user would like to add images to an existing synth, the user must recreate the synth in order to update it.  Lastly, increasing the storage space would be much appreciated.  Save these few criticisms, the possibilities of Photosynth are endless.

Potential area of study

Photosynth offers many creative potentials for landscape architects.  This software could be used to simulate a walk through of a site within a specific set of conditions or time period.  In terms of applications, marketing and documentation come to mind.

 

 

 

Change in Phenomenon

 Project 1.002 began as a combination of the phenomenon of safety and the phenomena of rhythmic patterns, but when the forthcoming ideas became too muddled, the phenomenon of rhythmic patterns was chosen.  This reduction of ideas and narrowing of focus led to the reconsideration of the phenomenon studied from previous projects.  Examining the same conditions that led to a study of safety and comfort produced a new phenomenon, the resonance of presences.

 The inspiration for this phenomenon came from a science fantasy book by Robert Silverberg, The Majipoor Chronicles.  This book is the second in a trilogy, preceded by Lord Valentine’s Castle and Valentine Pontifex  The main character of this book is not Lord Valentine, but his young disciple, Hissune.  Hissune has been appointed a position as a governmental clerk in the House of Records.  He ventures into an office nearby, and discovers location of the Register of Souls, a database that holds memories from all residents of the planet from the last fourteen thousand years.  The citizens are allowed to deposit a memory “every ten years, beginning at the age of twenty, to contribute to these vaults” (Silverberg, xvi).

 

Silverberg, Robert. "Majipoor Chronicles" Arbor House Publishing: New York. 1983.

An odd connection or inspiration, but my previous phenomenon had ran its course.  I had produced this site model/ diagram early in the iterative study process of project 1.002.   Since project 1.002 continued in a different direction, I thought it best to revisit earlier work for inspiration.  

Diagrammatic site model indicating connections, in red, of presences, in black.

  Several potential connections began to correlate.  

 

A bubble diagram mapping the thought process behind the change in phenomenon.

 

 

  Project 2.001 will take sensing technology to gather data, processing technology, in my case, Processing, and translate it into visual output, displayed on photo luminescent sheets.

Project 1.002

With accomplice and design colleague Lance Fulton, we are gearing up for a two week installation, situated in the northern portion of the Perkins Road Overpass site.  Our area encompasses the businesses that are most active at night and is bounded by the intersection of the Perkins Road Overpass and the railroad to the north, the I-10 Overpass to the south, Brent Anthony’s and Duvic’s to the west, and George’s to the east.  The focus of the installation examines the rhythms of vehicular traffic and its influence on the peripheral pedestrian areas.  Three different site-specific environments, including Chelsea’s, Duvic’s and Digulio Brothers, are created by populating the areas with multiple copies of a datum, an automaton that senses and generates light.  The sensory device is comprised of a receiver, emitter, weather vane, light display, and power supply.  The detector is mounted on the top of the automaton so that it may receive a signal from a 360 degree range.  The power supply is preferably self generating, either solar or wind, but if neither of those options are available, then it will be battery operated.  The emitter, light display, and weather vane are mounted on a revolving shaft whose orientation is determined by the wind directing the weather vane.  

  Automaton registers line Perkins Road and Kalurah Street.  These particular automatons are static; their lights are triggered by vehicular traffic striking a pressure hose.  The other automatons, populating the site specific areas of Duvic’s, Chelsea’s and DiGulio Brothers are not fixed; their orientation is determined by the changing wind currents that caused by passing traffic.  The sensors of the dynamic automatons are only set off when it receives a signal from an automaton that is closer to the static automatons lining the road.

  Once a vehicle passes through a zone on Perkins Road or Kalurah Street, it trips the pressure hoses connected to the static automatons.  The signal from the pressure hose is transferred to the light display and sets off the light emitter.  The wind current generated by the same vehicle directs the orientation of the movable, dynamic automatons by guiding their weather vanes.  Once the signal from an emitter of a static automaton reaches the detector of a dynamic automaton, the process is repeated and the signal is transferred onto subsequent automatons.  The result is a cascading glow of light that is passed on from one automaton to another in a pulsating domino affect.  The duration of the light display’s glow after one received signal to the automaton’s detector is five seconds.  Repeated signals sent to the detectors result in a sustained glow of the lights.  Our intention is to create a system that is self-generating and infinitely changing.

Site Observation 2.13.09 ‘measured’

Looking eastward at the east and west bound traffic on I-10

Objectives

 

1. Document established pedestrian and vehicular circulation patterns on the Perkins Road Overpass site

2. Focus on textures and nuances specific to each circulation system

Pedestrian Circulation

PDF created from Autocad. Magenta color indicates the established pedestrian circulation patterns on site. The majority of the paths are on pavement or concrete sidewalks. Occasionally shortcuts through vegetation occur. There is a major pedestrian thoroughfare across the railroad tracks; this is used by not only the homeless population, but also runners.

 Vehicular Circulation

PDF created from Autocad. Royal blue color indicates the established vehicular circulation patterns on site. The primary vehicular traffic is concentrated on Perkins Road, secondary traffic is on the side streets, and tertiary traffic is located in the parking areas. The most interesting patterns occur in overpass parking area, where there are no clearly defined zones for parking or traffic.

Looking southward down Ferndale Avenue.

Pedestrian sidewalk connecting Chelsea’s parking with the Perkins Road Overpass.

 

At the intersection of the I-10 entry and exit ramps and Perkins Road. At this moment, the pedestrian and vehicular traffic systems overlap where they change from being parallel to perpendicular.

 

Threshold of parking/ tertiary and secondary vehicular traffic systems under the I-10 overpass and Ivar’s.

site observation 2.06.09 ‘measured observation’

 

Objectives

1. Accompanied by partner Paul Toejenes, complete an inventory of the buildings and building heights within the northernmost area of the site.

2. Observe phenomena in light of the feedback from Wednesday’s review.

Site map of the Perkins Road overpass site; the area rendered in color is bound by the railroad tracks to the east to the southeast, Perkins Road to the northwest to the west, and Christian Street to the southwest. The area rendered in black and white designates the larger context of the site. Each of the buildings measured in this site observation are outlines in black.

Journal Highlights

While dividing the site into zones in class, Emily make it known that she did not care to take measurements at this part of the site.  This is part of my phenomenon of perception of safety and comfort, coupled with clearly defined zones of use.

Issues Raised

In completing the inventory, we confirmed some businesses, which had previously appeared to be in viable, as being vacant, most notably Rama Thai Cuisine and the Health Food store.  What makes the difference between survival, prosperity, and struggle?

Interviews

Conversations ensued with three main individuals, Randy, Pete, and Leslie, in the designated area with in the site.  I had briefly met Leslie on the Sunday on the second site observation; however, this site observation allowed for names to be exchanged.  He seemed pleased to have us on his site.

Randy rents from Leslie, the property owner for the area, and runs a furniture making business, Breland Woodworking.  Randy had informed us that Leslie was once a landscape architecture student at LSU as well.  Randy also continued to tell us that the entire area is zoned “M1” for manufacturing, which apparently gives the owner of the property lots of flexibility in terms of land use.

Pete was painting some quarter round at the northernmost warehouse in Leslie’s property.  Pete was prepping the molding for a business outside of the Perkins Road Overpass that he was remodeling. 

Most eveyone that Paul and I met asked us if we were working on refurbishing the bridge.  The only exceptions were some young adults sitting outside of Chelsea’s.

Breland Woodworking

Building 1 in the M1 property zone.

 

Around 4:30 PM, all of the men in the site congregated around he tables and chairs here and enjoyed a few beers. This area is clearly defined for recreation. Based on today’s observations, this area is predominantly utilized as a sort of men’s club.

 

This sign is mounted above the doorway to building #1. It is ironic considering the aesthetic surroundings, yet very poignant to the greater context of the businesses within the Perkins Road Overpass.

Potential Areas of Study

These stick tights were removed at the end of the site observation.

The thistle-like leaves on these seeds are quite sharp; this adaptive trait gives it an edge in the competition of seed dispersal over other plant species.  The structure of these stick tights is worth investigating as a form.

 

Site Observation 1.30.09 ‘phenomenon record’

Inventory and Perceived Properties

 

Objectives:

1. Complete an inventory of the buildings and building heights within the site boundaries and plot on site map

2. Observe perceived ownership of real estate of land under the overpass.

3.  Increase my awareness and orientation of the building on site.

4. Observe aspect and site specific phenomena dealing with climatic conditions.

5.  Continue to observe phenomena.

Map montage from Google maps with labels on businesses and corresponding estimated building heights.

 

Ivar's is one of the businesses that claims and actively cleans an adjacent area under the overpass.

Freedom Fuel, as well as the Shell station beside the I-10 entry and exit ramps, have an elevated cover over the pumps. These covered areas are taller than most of the businesses in the Perkins Road Overpas area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observed phenomenon

Atmospheric conditions most certainly affect a user’s experience at a given site.  In a general sense, fair weather causes the user to be more likely to ignore existing programmatic problems within a site and inclement weather augments those issues.  The key to a good design is to hone in on the problems and retool them into new and positive experiences for the user.  The challenge is realizing atmospheric conditions  and a their affects on a viewer’s perception of safety and comfort into a design for the Perkins Road overpass.

Interviews

1.   After completing the site observation, a conversation ensued with a graduate student who’s tenure at LSU exceeds that of the author’s.  Questions posed to the graduate student were to “describe your first experience at the Perkins Road Overpass” and “what do you think needs to happen to the area?”   The responses summarized:

“The best thing about the Perkins Road Overpass is that you never know what is going to happen.  Are you going to stay up partying until 4 AM or are you going to get mugged?  As soon as you pull into the site, you see garbage strewn about, and it is hard to discern whether it is garbage or a person.  If I had to sum it up one one statement, the worst thing that you could do to that area would be to change it for the ‘better.’  The very elements that make going to Perkins Road ‘an experience’ are the same elements that keep the yuppies out.  The same people that leave Chelsea’s at 7 are at the farmer’s market at 7 the next morning.”

2.  I spoke to Andrew briefly, just after I arrived on the site.  He asked me for a smoke, which I had to remind him that I did not partake.

Issues Raised

In completing the inventory, buildings that had previously appeared to be in business and viable were confirmed to be vacant, most notably Rama Thai Cuisine and the Health Food store.  What makes the difference between survival, prosperity, and struggle.

Journal Highlights

The owners of Ivar’s make it a point to pick up litter under the overpass.  The area that is maintained by Ivar’s exceeds the normal visual limits corresponding to the building facade.  Mud and Metal, the business located between the new construction and the east side of the overpass, also utilitzes and maintains a large area under the overpass.  Chelsea’s is another establishment that maitains its portion of the overpass.  There is a common thread amongst these watchdog businesses.

Potential Areas of Study

Now that an inventory of the businesses on site is complete, another map or diagram of perceived boundaries could be generated.

An further investigation of perceived properties may also include maintenance to the buildings and litter pick up.

Site Observations 1.24-1.25 ‘initial phenomenon’

Close Encounters with the Homeless- In Kind, Mostly…

Objectives

1.  Map the location of the columns supporting the overpass relative to the viewer’s pace.

2. Establish and document boundaries between the cardinal limits of the site.

3. Visit the site at a different time of day in order to gain a different experience.

4.  Further explore and document the railroad as a boundary.

5. Navigate the site as a cyclist and pedestrian.

6. Further observe phenomenon.

Reactions

1. Addressing the first objective, I measured the distance between each of the columns under the overpass by pacing and recording on a sketched map.  This exercise helped me to gain a better idea of scale, weight bearing limits of the columns, and in general bettering my orienation of the site.

Column Plot

 

 

2. I walked the entire borders of the site, taking a photograph approximately every 20 feet.  Panoramic photographs from this exercise will be in the next posting.

Journal Highlights

This site observation was made over the course of two days, a Saturday morning and a Sunday morning.

The journey to the site on Saturday was completed on a bicycle to approach and navigate the site from a different mode of transportation.  This choice of transportation led to a conversation with a homeless man, Andrew.  He did not ask for money, but did offer a unique perspective to the site.  His residence is above the west boundary of the site, near an abandoned truck.  Andrew spoke of his previous employments and his health.  Just before he departed on his bicycle, he obliged to have his picture taken, but was very cautious and inquired how it would be used.

Two other panhandlers posed for photographs.   They were quite friendly and gladly paused in their search for materials to make a sign, especially after being given a dollar.  The weather was fair and quite warm, with a few clouds in the sky and a slight breeze.

Sunday’s weather was not as pleasant.  A cold front had moved into the area, causing the temperature to drop and the breeze to turn into a cold, stiff wind.  Accessing the railroad required traversing a recently leveled site, and crossing a small stream by stepping onto old tires and debris.  Walking along the tracks, two makeshift camps were located, one within two tenths of a mile from the point of entry on the southwest side of the tracks and the other just after the Perkins road overpass, on the northeast side of the tracks.  The former’s occupant was hostile, the latter’s resident was docile.

Issues Raised

The homeless population will exist, under the I-10 overpass at Perkins road or elsewhere.  Any sort of design intervention will involve moving them elsewhere.  While the site may become gentrified, ‘cleaned up,’ or otherwise made safer,  ignoring a subculture of people does not solve any problems and pushes aside the larger, social issues  to be trumped by aesthetic concerns.

Potential Areas of Study

A comparison between wildlife and the homeless population is strikingly apparent.  The birds, pigeons specifically, take refuge in the horizontal supports near Chelsea’s.

Weather certainly affects the viewer’s experience.  Aside from the obvious correlation between fair weather and good spirits and foul weather and bad demeanor, the architecture of the site provides refuge.  Wildlife and the homeless have adapted to this environment, responding to it, rather than dictating or shaping it.  Such issues beg to be addressed.

Hobo Camp

 

Homeless Man

 

Homeless Pair

Phenomena:

1. Light

2. Color

3. Safety or sense comfort, and how light and color affect it

4. Concentration and frequency of transients.