We are going full force working on our presentation for Friday here in Studio V. Some of us are working on sifting through countless precedents, some of us are working on researching the history and demographics of the area, and others of us are focusing on the graphics of the presentation. A huge part of our project so far has been locating points of interest along the GreenWay and BikeWay where there is opportunity for architectural interventions. This requires a lot of mapping. We are mapping out populations, neighborhoods, different zones, and potential problem areas. We also are zooming in on eight different maps that go into more detail on location. These maps include different commercial entities, school locations along the GreenWay and BikeWay, widths of workable land along the GreenWay and BikeWay, old railroad crossings, and zones of interests. Yes, maps on maps on maps. Overlaying all of these maps is very beneficial because it provides suggestions for what specific areas may be worth presenting as possible working sites for our project(s), as well as addressing the areas that are not workable for us.
The hardest part with the research has been actually finding the information needed for such a small area on a map. It took a lot of digging to find information on the exact population breakdowns for the neighborhoods along the GreenWay, but we finally got it! A site that ended up being very helpful was the Statistic Atlas site. On this site, we could zoom in on a map of the city of West Ashley as a whole and then pick each neighborhood for even more detailed information on demographics. Many other books and websites have aided us in interesting and helpful information/precedents for the presentation as well, as this has been a research heavy project up to this point.
It’s been interesting learning about the area of West Ashley. We are finding that there are so many ways this semester can go, with so many opportunities for architectural elements to happen along the GreenWay and/or BikeWay. Will it be trailheads? A simple piece intended for kids to play on? A seating piece? An outdoor classroom? A shade structure? Or maybe we consider several of those things?! I think we are all looking forward to the feedback from Friday so that we can start designing! It’s going to be a busy, but very exciting semester for sure!