As we have wrapped up our time at Frierson we are focusing on our site analysis for Eric Cornelius Singleton II Park. So far we’ve looked into the site conditions of the park as well as its history. Typically, the first steps for a design project is to analyze the conditions of the site such as site restraints and climate conditions. Additionally, researching the history of the immediate area as well as the overall context helps us to reflect on what goal our studio should focus on achieving. While the overall program is to provide a community garden, we need to consider how our structure provides other opportunities to the neighborhood. Upon our initial research we discovered that an intramural kickball league uses our site for their games on a regular basis. Taking this into consideration, we must include everyone’s usage of the park.
Yesterday the CDCC hosted a lecture by Barry Alan Yoakum from the firm Archimania. Barry gave an amazing lecture on his past COTE 10 projects and his zero carbon and zero admission designs. During his lecture he described how he encourages his team and his clients to think sustainably and achieve “zero.” Following the lecture he led us in an informal charrette in preparation for our introductory meeting with the stakeholders and charrette with all the non-profits and members of the community. Considering all of Barry’s experience with working in communities he was ecstatic to share his expertise on being involved with charrettes. He organized us into teams of groups we would speak with at our charrettes, such as the Charleston Parks Conservancy, the Green Heart Project, local residents, and the city of Charleston. We spent our time discussing the potential point of view these groups would have in the charrette and what the best way to respond to their questions and concerns. Barry emphasized the importance of involving everyone in the conversation and what our roles should be in these conversations.