PLAYTIME
featured on KoozArch
Bowery, Manhattan, New York City
Fall 2018
Advisor: Ryan Ball
The studio takes on the current urban crisis of affordable housing in New York City by questioning the role of demolition in the urbanization process.
The project answers these crucial questions: How might a neighborhood function more collectively? Can we gentrify the gentrification and foster the development of a healthy, holistic, and affordable community?
The PLAYTIME project proposes to revitalize the backyard(inner block) by adding a children playground with playscapes in different levels across the site, and also provide solutions to improve the lack of affordable resources for single parents.
Given the site in the center of Bowery, with dense population on the street front facing 1st Avenue, the energy of the block in the outside can be characterized as moving from East to West. Inner block strategy therefore takes on forming an energy moving from West to East to balance out the outside flow.
Analysis of form, technology, utility of the block as seen below examined: the forms of the building blocks as a whole to seek possible demolition or modification to be made on existing buildings, circulation object and entrances for potential entrances into the inner block and creating new circulation, and building business types to balance the existing programs and newly created ones.
Form Analysis
Technology Analysis
Use Analysis
Demolition and modification is mapped as below with new block circulation highlighted.
The playground by definition has to be playful, and the way it conveys the message of playfulness here is through the formation of ground. First, we have play zones defined, then we manipulate the ground to subtly suggest the boundary of playzones without confining it. Through the concavity of the ground, children are free to perform all activity, and the flowing terrain lines register the fluidity, marking the seemingly never-ending joy in this community.
Site Topography & Playground Equipments & Ground Elevation
Height difference throughout the site is mapped with colors indicating a difference of 1 foot per color. Level 3, 4, and 5 are transitional levels therefore can be seen as regular paths: Level 3 path navigates mainly the left site, whereas level 4 is transitional for level 3 and 5, and level 5 navigates mainly the right site.
Playground equipments are placed through equipment type --- individual/group activities and if supervision is needed or not. Certain equipments like roundabouts and swing are placed in multiple placed due to the wide range of age groups they are suited for.
Playground & Ground Circulation
South Elevation - Playscapes Level Interaction
Section - Early Childhood Education Center
Oblique Axon
April's Loop
April's Water Pond
April's Forest
