CITYLAB

Description

As a part of team Arlington, my group and I explored the southern corridor walking from the South End, through Roxbury, and ending in Jamaica Plain over four days. Each day we sketched different landmarks and followed sketching prompts provided by the course. Additionally, we had two homework assignments, the Postcard, and the Credo video. The class came to an end on the fourth day with a team charette and a presentation of our plan for the abandoned P-3 parcel.

Postcard

Roxbury Postcard- An exploration of Roxbury, Boston, MA, just one part of my new home in Boston. (Jillian Ziegler, MLA)

Personal Credo

Credo Video.MOV

Personal Credo

I am... Curious. About the world, about different people and cultures. I am a learner but also a teacher and a leader.

I believe... in kindness and community. I believe in the power of nature. I believe that all things are cyclical.

I hope to... be a positive influence. I hope to continue to grow and change and to connect people to their environment.

I know this to be true... I have much more to learn but I know this to be true- all people have shared experiences. The experience that my BAC peers and I are sharing in CityLab will forever change the way we see and interact with the world.

Lens: Health + Human Comfort

Mental Map

(Jillian Ziegler, MLA)

What did I sketch?

Focusing on one aspect of the landscape along my path, I chose to map movement and sound in the courtyard at the prudential center. Starting from inside (upper left corner) when first exiting the prudential I was greeted with swaying trees in the wind as well as noisy birds that were flittering around. Further down there was less movement with a lack of trees and more tables and sun exposure. A little further down the movement picked back up with a section of different types of grasses also moving with the wind and making lots of noise. Finally, I finished my path at the fountain which should have had the most uniform movement, but the water was being pushed across the flat surface due to the breeze.

Why did I sketch it that way?

I wanted to draw smaller images along my path instead of doing a full plan and when thinking about the lens for this sketch I was considering all the different spaces of the courtyard and what they offered and began noticing the impact of this breezy day. I thought the concept of movement would be an interesting approach to this mind map.

What did I learn about one of the CityLab Lenses?

Through this exercise, I learned that health and, more so, human comfort in a place is often not really thought of by the user but more implicitly felt. It is the job of a designer to create spaces that are healthy and comfortable for the user to interact with and that can be done in many different ways.

Lens: Mobility/Circulation (Health + Human Comfort)

Transition to the Interior

(Jillian Ziegler, MLA)

What did I sketch?

My first sketch at the top was of an exit door on the ground floor of The Brewery building. Because it was only an exit door I could only draw it from one direction (the inside looking out) but noticed another CityLab student outside sketching. The ground floor of the building was quite barren and cold with all the empty brick walls but looking outside into the sunlight it seemed much warmer outside. The second set at the bottom is from the Jamaica Plain branch of the Boston Public Library. This time I was able to sketch both sides and because of how wide the windows were on the facade the two spaces felt connected whether you were inside or outside, making it seem like one big space for reading and enjoying the trees.

Why did I sketch it that way?

I explained above why I sketched the door the way I did. As for the library, I really enjoy libraries and books and thought that this library was really interesting in its design and construction and wanted to try comparing the indoor and outdoor spaces at this cite.

What did I learn about one of the CityLab Lenses?

I learned that depending on how the interior and exterior spaces are designed, they can be more connected or disconnected, creating different feelings and experiences for the user.

Lens: Environmental Wellbeing

Worn and Broken

(Jillian Ziegler, MLA)

What did I sketch?

At Stony Brook, we had some time to sketch at the park right by the T station and I found these stairs that had a spray-painted quote on them, "Dare to struggle. Dare to win!". I thought that while the spray paint would likely be considered graffiti, it didn't make the stairs broken, but worn, because I felt that it improved them.

Why did I sketch it that way?

I wanted to make sure I sketched it in a way that all the words could be seen and that the age and wear on the stairs would be noticeable.

What did I learn about one of the CityLab Lenses?

I learned that for a lot of communities their environmental conditions are out of their control. Moments like this stair graffiti is just one example of how people that may be unhappy with their environment can change it to better suit them, their wants and needs.

Lens: Built Form and Development Patterns

Palimpsest Quest

(Jillian Ziegler, MLA)

What did I sketch?

At the top I sketched the outline of the "Health Center" building, looking at it from the Wittier community health building on the opposite corner of P-3. In the middle, I tried drawing a wall that we passed which led into a park. The original writing on the wall had been stuccoed over and then worn with time so the original words could be seen. At the bottom, I sketched the front edge of the Dillaway-Thomas house with the stark contrast of the James P Timilty Middle School in the background.

Why did I sketch it that way?

I thought that each of these moments represented a Palimpsest in different ways and just sketched them as we walked around.

What did I learn about one of the CityLab Lenses?

I learned that the meaning and purpose that a built form serves always changes over time.

Lens: Open Space

Enclosure, Exposure, Buffer, View

(Jillian Ziegler, MLA)

What did I sketch?

I sketched one of the back courtyards surrounding The Brewery building. From this vantage point, I noticed that I could see about 6 different building structures overlapping to create this courtyard area.

Why did I sketch it that way?

I think this sketch might have been more productive in showing the closed space as a section but I decided to do an elevation to give the feeling of tightness at eye level/near the ground but then as you move up it's all open sky. This contrast it what made me want to sketch the space.

What did I learn about one of the CityLab Lenses?

I learned that open spaces are not just sky or wide expanses of a field but often are defined by buildings or trees. An open or closed space are often side-by-side where the comparison of the two defines them as such.

Team Charrette

P-3: A Place for People and Puppies!

Team Charette Project Description

After visiting the P-3 parcel and taking notes on the site features and community context, our team identified some obstacles and opportunities within and around the parcel. We started our design but outlining these obstacles and opportunities and came up with 8 features that we wanted our final design to implement: a greenhouse, a market/farmers market, a community kitchen, a food truck area, a bandshell, a water/ice feature, a garden/forest area, and an intergenerational community hub. Each of these 8 features falls under 4 main themes for our project which are food access, entertainment, education, community belonging, and access to nature. We identified these four main themes by considering who our major users are (NEU students, High school students, Families, people who work nearby etc.) as well as what we had help identifying as things the community needs. We got a chance to speak to the park ranger at the Dillaway-Thomas house who told us that this community needs everyday things like groceries but also a community and cultural space.

Using a whiteboard we created a matrix seen in the photo above to determine where each feature would go based on who would be using it the most, at what time of year, and in what season. Once we decided the location of everything we made a Concept Map and a more established Built Form map. We then created a Circulation map as well as a map for Green Space. The final Mental Map is an amalgamation of all of these initial maps into one concept. The final full plan was drawn on a board and used for our model pictured below.

Final Reflections

One Sketch, Revisited

Caption: Here I redrew three palimpsests I found throughout the three days of walking including the "Health Center" from the P-3 parcel, The Parting Stone, and the old firehouse archway at Youthbuild Boston.

Which sketch did I choose to revisit? Why?

I chose to revisit my Palimpsest sketch because I felt like I had many different sketches that contained palimpsests and wanted to compile a bunch of them onto one page.

What did I decide to change?

I decided to put more focus on these sketches instead of leaving them as just smaller, off-to-the-side sketches. These versions of my palimpsests are more detailed and larger than my original sketches.

What did I learn about one of the CityLab Lenses?

I learned something from every single one of the CityLab lenses but in particular, I feel I learned a lot about Environmental Wellbeing and Social + Cultural Systems. Our instructors put a lot of emphasis on and taught our group so much about the Social and Cultural systems that shaped the different neighborhoods and buildings we walked through and I am very thankful that they decided to focus on that over the two weeks as I learned a lot.

What did I learn from taking CityLab?

I learned a lot about collaboration and how to share my ideas with our group. I also learned a lot about how I sketch and how to improve my sketching skills. Lastly, I learned so much about Boston through CityLab and explored parts of the city I otherwise may have never seen!

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