Initial Conceptual Design

So, I was thinking about my project, and I developed a basic conceptual layout on my site....I quickly color-coded it to make it easier to read.

The five different colors represent the five different corridors that are entering the site. The corridors I refer to were the circuits I studied last semester. The "Jamaica Bay Circuit" shows what activities are available to the public and where, and most of these public programs end before or after Broad Channel Island...which is a problem because they don't "connect" to the mass transit entrance.

Since these corridors were an abstraction of existing conditions (i.e people don't really understand a specific picnic spot as being part of a larger 'picnic network'), I wanted my intervention to make people aware of the 5 main activities that take place in the bay environs, and awaken a sense of discovery; we know where the corridor begins, but where does it lead to next? It becomes an urban treasure hunt for public recreational space...which I thought was a cool way of thinking of it.

The placement of program is below circulation, resting on two artificial sandbars...program indicated by changes in the shade of the respective colors. The pathways do not exist on different elevations except where:
1) they cross over the tracks
2) as they approach the new station (indicated in Orange)

Aside from that, overlapping denotes which material will take hierarchy at those intersections.

As sections develop, this will become more clear.
I image the program from below the walkways will punch through to the upper level, but the manner in which that occurs is still undecided. They will most likely include exterior elevators to accommodate handicapped individuals.

Places that appear as light green are gardens, but I am going to add another layer to these sandbars which will be lawn...so that there will be hard surface, soft surface, and planted areas.

As I mentioned before, each path will have a different material, and what occurs along that path will be articulated according to the users it is intended for.

If you notice, I have also sculpted the land, opening it up to increase circulation of water between west and east.

So, let me describe the colors:
Yellow: Bird watching/Nature Observation, heads to the west and looks out over a series of marshlands while offering the best views of the greater bay.

Green: Cycling, heads north over the west bar, stairs down to the bar.

Purple: Exhibits/ Eco-center, heads north with the cycling corridor, looks down to an exterior exhibit space, eco center and small exhibit space at the northern tip.

Dark Blue: Fisherman's/Boating, heads to the east crossing over the tracks with stairs down to the east sandbar for fisherman's center, and split level boardwalk leading down to boating center/small dock at eastern tip.

Red: Kayak/Canoe, heads east crossing over the tracks with stairs down to the east bar, kayak center lower level with launching basin for kayaks/canoe.

All corridors converge and lead past the train station ticket office. The exterior walkways will have emergency exits, and people will filter either through those doors or through the station (and turnstiles) to get to the grand stairs that bring you to the tracks. Elevators will be located on the exterior walks to do the same. Before the emergency exits, there is an alternative path that leads into Broad Channel, and runs parallel to the new community gardens. I am considering adding an exit to the street from the western platform, but I am not sure just yet.

So, where to now?
I want to have the book catch up to this point before I get too far ahead. After that, I will begin to articulate the walkways individually, so that I can begin to develop the individual centers, walkway features and hopefully materials (as well as changes in elevations).

Once the centers are designed conceptually, I will add the "lawn layer" to the sandbars, and begin to consider the structure of the walkways and how it interferes or complements the sandbars below.

When all that is finished, I will start to think about exactly what happens on the areas designated as gardens.

That completes the conceptual stage, and then I move onto refining each of those and producing sections I feel will best capture the idea behind the thesis project.

Now, I expect all of this to take me through the month of February, but I will keep you posted along the way.

-Irene

P.S.- Thanks for the link, Steve.