The

PUBLIC CONDENSER

Consists of:

Site Analysis,       

Drawings,       

a Physical Model,       

and Study Models.       

Scaleless Buffer Zone

This set of drawings closely analyzes the spatial conditions found in and around the empty space under James White Parkway in Knoxville, TN. The construction of this overpass, and I-40, which it connects to, segments off the Old City and generates a stark contrast between the articulated, pedestrian-scaled space to the west of the site and the bare, semi-truck-scaled space to the east. The parking lot occupying the site acts as a pedestrian reflector: people only come to the underpass to leave it. Likewise, semi trucks stick to their side of the overpass as well. Only the car seems to slip between both spaces, existing within yet submitting to each scale by speeding up as soon as it crosses under the buffer toward the warehouse zone and slowing down as it approaches the Jackson Ave/Central Ave intersection, the peak pedestrian zone. Typologies in the built environment reflect this vast disparity: To the west, buildings are detailed, with diverse materiality and a high range of color. Doors are scaled to the human hand. To the east, buildings are scaleless; walking past them generates an odd feeling of having walked for miles and gotten nowhere all at once. Warehouses are painted over in uniform grey. Doors are scaled to the semi trailer. This fragmentary action by interstates and highway overpasses occurs throughout the country, so logics proposed by this drawing set and the Public Condenser could be implemented in other locations.

Public Condenser

The Public Condenser is an architecture that draws in and expels out. Programmed as a public recreational center, the project creates new flows of activity on the previously barren site, addressing problems with the space and setting up a potential typology which could play out in sites like it. The patch of land under the James White Parkway overpass, demarcating the end of the Old City in Knoxville, is a scaleless buffer zone between the realm of the pedestrian and that of the semi truck. This undercroft, previously used for parking, gets transformed into a multipurpose space comprised of a commons, market, multiuse office space, basketball court, café, auditorium, art studio, and gallery. The architecture uses carefully placed bold moves to catch the attention of the blustering scale of the car and semi truck in order to draw it into a conversation with the scale of the pedestrian. A site that repelled and divided now attracts and blends.

Axon

The main commons space rests under the Parkway and gradually slopes downward, with increasingly wide flat portions in between ramps dictated by a grid that responds to the overpass. Seating, in turn, responds to the increase in space, turning from single seats to benches to 20-foot-long tables. The space is interlocked with the art basin, where art instruction occurs along with a section of the commons ramp cut out for public viewing of art in production. The commons space receives light through a massive light tunnel protruding through the gap in the overpass. At the entrance of the commons, this same geometric form is used to produce a “billboard” which simultaneously works with the light tunnel to envelop the highway it sits under, dwarfing the passing cars, while also swooping down to the scale of the pedestrian creating an inviting way in to the space. The commons adapts and enters into conversation with the scaleless space previously dictated by the car.

Plan

The art studios and gallery work in conjunction to address the nature of the site and art production itself. The studio has two ramps: one leading down to the art basin/instructional area, and the other leading to the gallery, drawing a direct pipeline from production to display. The gallery comprises of four rooms that are each opened with loading dock doors by the visitors. A long ramp leading up to the gallery doors addresses the scalar disparity between the pedestrian side of the overpass and the warehouse/industrial side. The back wall of each gallery rolls out to de/reinstall exhibitions. The gallery also features an actual loading dock, inviting these two zones to enter into conversation with each other.

Longitudinal Section

Transverse Section

The space labeled as an auditorium functions as a stage, seating area, and pathway to the market.
The market space rolls out over Jackson Avenue when in use, shifting a rigidly pedestrian activity above the rigidly motorized activity that usually plays out on Jackson. The rollout market inverts the hierarchy of the two scalar zones present on the site.

Models

Study Models

Key moments of experimentation included the development of the “swoop” motif, derived from the light tunnel shooting up between the two sections of overpass and loaded onto other structures on the site, and interchangeable slope modules with custom interchangeable columns.