Downtown Memphis Part 1

Downtown Memphis Part 1        

By: Andrew Ewing

Memphis is another river city where the downtown has seen a major revitalization project take place.  "We envision a thriving Downtown is the heartbeat of the region, built on Memphis unique character and authenticity, attractive to residents, workers, and visitors from all walks of life"(Kitsinger)  The community goals Memphis established for a downtown are:

-Is safe, attractive and livable.

-Is a thriving regional economic hub.

-Is inclusive and diverse

-Is an asset that is valued and supported by the entire region.

-Exemplifies Memphis' unique character and authenticity. (Kitsinger)

       

The City Center Commission Board that saw this project to fruition consisted of a 16 member panel. On this panel are 10 private-sector members, a city and county mayor representative, one city council member, one county commissioner and two state legislators.  All 16 member have a tie to the community and a desire to continue reshaping the downtown. 

        

Like most major projects, funding was a major issue. With 10 private-sector members involved they are already financially invested in the community. As a result, the greater success the downtown has, the greater success their business will probably have.  Another way this project was financially successful was because of the Center City Revenue Finance Corporation. The CCRFC is "A state-chartered industrial development board comprised of nine volunteer board members, nominated by the mayors and approved by the City Council and the Country Commission for 6 year terms."(Kitsinger)  The CCRFC can do several things:

-Grant Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) tax freezes to property owners who plan to improve or redevelop their property.

-Issue Bonds to provide financing for public interest projects.

-Finance, own, lease and dispose of properties. (Kitsinger) The tax breaks or tax freezes encourages new or current business owners to update or build new facilities.  Bonds are an excellent way to provide outside interest groups or people a way to invest in public project that take place in any project.

The last group is the Center City Development Corporation. This group:

- Acts as a developer for key Downtown projects.

-Offers low interest development loans to property owners who renovate, redevelop, or stabilize property in the CBID.

- Administers a retail incentive loan program to encourage new retail.  A couple other Business investment incentives the City of Memphis offers is:

-Development Loan Program: Low-interest (3%) loan program for property redevelopment.

-Downtown Retail Incentives: Forgivable loan and Façade Grant Program to encourage retail recruitment and retention.

-Downtown Office Occupancy Incentive: Grant program designed to recruit and retain high occupancy rates for Downtown offices.

-Parking Development & Bond Issuance: Parking development as a catalyst for private investment with bond issuance authority.

Carbondale Campus

Southern Illinois University | Carbondale Campus

By:Adulsak "Otto" Chanyakorn

            Before the fall break, I had an opportunity to walk from Morris Library and cut through the open space between Woody Hall and Pulliam Clock Tower. It was interesting to me that the atmosphere of the open space with manmade landscape was beautiful (Figure 1). I can see the harmony of the architectural language from Woody Hall and Pulliam Clock Tower as they become unified. They relate and share some certain characteristics.  The designers of those buildings were concerned about the overall environment of the campus. So, they created the harmony of the campus as a whole. Moreover, the quality of the materials used for the buildings were fine materials which defined the taste and thoughtfulness of SIU’s campus in selecting architects They also were built with high quality. One can see that there are a lot of buildings on SIU’s campus that dedicate themselves to the unity of the campus and the overall context, such as Wheeler Hall, Shryock Auditorium, Pulliam Hall, etc.

In contrast, some campus buildings that were built after Word War II were poorly designed, out of scale, and disharmonious to the overall campus atmosphere. They even created inappropriate spaces or dead spaces that students tend to never use. Most architects who designed the new buildings for the campus were trained in international modernism. They expressed their own individual architectural signatures more than being concerned about the unity of the campus as a whole. There is a conflict between international modernism and the overall needs of the campus. However, there are a lot of architects from modernism who designed the new buildings at SIU with deep consideration. They were trying to produce new architecture that speaks with the past and also expresses the moment of our time. For the obvious example, I would like to mention Louis Kahn’s British Art Center at Yale University (1977) (Figure 2). It respects the context. At the same time, it expresses itself and carries the beauty of our time.

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale is a beautiful campus. We should cultivate its own beauty. We should not abandon our commitment to our campus by selecting quickly and cheaply designed structures to be built on the campus. Even though we are facing the difficult financial time, our decisions now will have deep impacts on the future of our campus.

Winter Break

Salukitecture

New Blogs Will Resume Jan 23

Have a Great Winter Break!

Final Presentation

Final Presentation: comprehensive design studio

By:Adulsak Chanyakorn

            Graduate students just finished their final presentation for comprehensive design studio on Friday, December 7, 2012. At the beginning of the semester, we were assigned to design housing or hotels for the legacy site for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. After 4 months of design development, the final presentation pointed out some interesting points. In order to succeed, the project requires hard work to develop a detailed design, which clearly conveys the ideas, but it also needs a presentation manner. This is one significant part of the process to achieve the goal.  Some of my colleagues started to explain their intricate designs by simplifying them to straightforward diagrams and interesting graphics, which drew the attention of the audience very well. On the screen presentation, they carefully selected and showed only significant graphics and drawings that contained the main points because the presentations had a time limit. Hence, their presentations were very concise and ended with effective results.

Another point that I have observed throughout the semester is design development manner. Since I have spent a lot of time in the studio, it seems to me that people who allow themselves to develop their designs through a variety of techniques such as physical model studies, freehand sketches, etc. along with computer aided software, had good results in their design in many aspects. In contrast, people who used only computer aided software from the beginning of their designs tended to end in a different way. I have discovered that it’s better to allow ourselves to explore design through different methods and that it’s essential for creativity.

I also have learned and shared a lot with my colleagues through conversations or working as a group during 

the studio period. There were many times that I improved my design through these discussions with faculty 

and classmates. Peer review is a useful collaborative tool, which also helped me refine my design. I expect 

to  learn and improve my architectural skills more with my colleagues in the 2013 spring and summer 

semesters.

Lebbeus Woods

The Architect: Lebbeus Woods

By: Brad Hoepfner

        I honestly don’t think that I have ever written about an architect in particular and I am fairly certain that I will not be able to remotely describe how the famous architects of our recent history think or approach problems, but I think writing about Lebbeus Woods would be very appropriate for this blog.

Lebbeus Woods recently passed away this year on October 30, 2012. To give everyone a little background information from Wiki, he studied architecture at U of I and engineering are Purdue. Lebbeus even became a professor of architecture and taught at Cooper Union in New York and in Switzerland.

        Wood’s designs were rarely constructed, but they were very influential to other architects and students alike. Much of his work was put on display in museums around the globe. Many of these designs did seem and look outrageous but he did believe that many of these designs could have been built. Blogging even became an important part of his life, encouraging debates and conversations about architecture and other subjects.

        Woods is best known for his radical re-imaginings of cities in crisis: the order of the existing being confronted by the order of the new. Woods stated, “the interplay of metrical systems establishing boundaries of materials and energetic forms is the foundation of a universal science (universcience) whose workers include all individuals.” Woods was a great thinker and architect that worked within our lifetime, please take a look at some of his work and try to consider the way he thought about the city in crisis and what we could do in the future.

Metrolink Station

North Hanley MetroLink Station

By:Chris Harpstrite

One of the sites I am currently researching for my thesis is North Hanley MetroLink station. Recently there was a Walkabout hosted by Citizens for Modern Transit, this Walkabout is meant to show the public, investors, etc. about the opportunities for transit oriented development around a specific station. North Hanley is the third busiest stop on the MetroLink path, and has great potential for transit oriented development.
            The North Hanley station has a large parking lot surrounding the station and this was a topic of much discussion during the Walkabout. The parking lot has over 1700 spaces, however, with limited lighting and safety measures for people, it becomes a danger to the public, and becomes a big obstacle for TOD.
            There were many suggestions that came up about how to help improve the area, but none really stood out as being primarily focused on TOD. Some long term goal were established though, they include: incorporate more housing, add mercantile, support more business opportunities. Zoning always seems to get in the way with efforts for TOD, I have read this in many of the books I am currently reading, and even have a book that strictly focuses on zoning for TOD. This will have to be considered when designing next semester.
            The North Hanley MetroLink station seems to be a reasonable choice, however, I would still like to do more research on potential sites. Until next time…