Panacea: Operational Linkages for the City, Community, and Home
Submission for the Design Marfa Competition 2014
A collective effort by Jonathan Essary, Halima Arevalo, Chantale Martin, and Kathy Wylie with rendering assistance from Roque Orellana.
PANACEA
Operable Linkages for City, Community, & Home
PANACEA is a design solution for the urban development of Marfa, TX linking the home, the community and the city in a self sustaining web of operable linkages working together to create a parametric convergence that is both contextually relevant and site specific. Panacea fully embraces the naive and utopian aspirations of a cure all solution for developing cities but a solution that is applicable and with full discernment of the impossibility of a singular idea to solve every problem. Instead our design approaches the opportunity of multi-family housing for Marfa with the prolific set forth by Fumihiko Maki asking if “we have in urban design an adequate spatial language (an appropriate master form) with which we can create and organize space within a master program?” PANACEA is a proposal addressing how to connect Marfa residents in a way that sustains the city as a whole and each development along the way. Through a process of parametric analysis generating a hypothesis of site potential which is then infused with design interjections to create an applied architecture our proposal when used over time creates a network of micro-communities each re-enforcing the other through a connection of operable linkages. Permanent residents especially in dense or even semi-dense housing always need a didactic set of circumstances including security, privacy and social connection. All three are vital, and if any are missing or lacking the development tends to be detrimental. With this in mind and inspired from the works of Fumihiko Maki on Collective Form, Thom Mayne on Combinatory Urbanism, and the experiential writings of Jane Jacobs we've taken the the approach of using this development as a means to provide multi-family housing, spawn community, and provide the opportunity to support the local culture. Our proposal approaches multi-family housing for Marfa as an opportunity to develop operable linkages to unite the city in its conscience endeavors to grow in an appropriate spatial and cultural manner, which begins with appropriate analysis.
Parametric analysis of the site of takes contextual parameters that will influence the site including programatic, economic, environmental, and social forces with an focus on what is equitable to the development and sustainability of the project. Looking into the culture and current lifestyle of Marfa for the needs of the city and what to connect we found many compelling aspects of this unique town. Firstly, with a culture developed around the ideas of artists such as Donald Judd and how contemporary art should be as much about the atmosphere it is exhibited as the art piece itself we noticed a trend throughout the city. While Marfa has an inherent relationship with art we see this dynamic in two primary categories, the art and the artist. There is much to be said about the work in Marfa and the plethora of art galleries in such a minimally populated city, which speaks to the significance of this connection. However, with such an abounding existence of permanent art there must be a culture supporting it socially and economically. With this in mind we looked into the places where this culture already manifests and how to connect to this existing network on a social level.
Searching for the needs of any society is not always an easy task, but the cultural events and commonalities of the places where these events happen lend a perspective into the desires of the people. Our perspective is if it's important to the people it should be important to the project, and for Marfa the artistic culture tends to be very strong and seemingly urban in spirit despite the lack of dense urbanity currently in the physical town. This does not mean they need another gallery space. Instead what Marfa is asking for is multi-family housing. So we ask why dense living spaces and is there anything else residents need and or want and how can we deliver that?
Our response to the needs of Marfa is a multi-family development with an artist co-op and workshop integrated with mixed-use spaces through utilizing the theory of operable linkages. Operable linkages spawns from the conversation of elements from Maki's writing in Linkages. Maki’s investigations on Linkage in Collective Form suggests we are forced to “reexamine the entire theory and vocabulary of architecture, principally that of single buildings.” Given the testament of collective form its components differ from the ‘traditional elements of single structures’ given as compressed list including the Wall, Floor or Roof, Column, Unit, and Link. The last element, Link, he describes as follows,
“linking” and “dissolving linkage” are invariant activities in making collective form out of either discrete or associative elements. In operational terms there are a number of linkages - physically connect link, implying link, built-in link, and so forth.”
When one speaks of a link in the urban sense it immediately implies an inherent connected relationship and therefore a given hierarchy. Given two separate nodes of space some form of linkage is described as that which connects the two together. As Maki describes this linkage can be of many forms and methods, however the linkage is predominantly the secondary element in the relationship. The linkage becomes simply a means of connecting point ‘A’ to point ‘B. We propose that spacial nodes and linkages can be one in the same. An enigma of spacial qualities as many different things to many different people and that we can design and build our urban and even suburban “blocks” with the inherent character and expectation to allow for the flux of the everyday person. Operational Linkages looks at this relationship of linkages and nodes within the complex layering of urban systems and networks and seeks to find the common language of which we can design and build cities and yet allow for the site specific customizations required of individual developments.
Operable linkages spawn from the conversation of elements from Maki's writing about Linkages in relation to collective form. Operable is defined as the ready ability to be used or used in a surgical operation, and A linkage defined as the act of connecting or making connections as in a system of links or linking. Together operable linkages create a network of spaces designed with the specifics of providing a functional use with the understanding of opportune uses to occur during the lifespan of the property. An operable linkage is an enigma of both physical and spacial conditions that is both transient and stationary, both the node and linkage of nodes.
Panacea provides a series of integrated operable linkage spaces and objects. Beginning with the arrangement of the site layout which is derived form the city analysis the operable function of housing and built forms is achieved. Spatial configuration of the built forms are designed by a volumetric modular system generating a minimalist aesthetic and layout minimizing cost within structural parameters of wood construction. Sustainability is addressed through construction methods and design elements to provide as much natural light for the residences with a primary shading wall. The rammed earth wall is A datum that unites and divides, that both shelters and allows access. Using the modular spacial volumes as a guide units are designed to repeat this pattern. The main facade faces inside the site to provide a subtle attraction in efforts to activate the space. This facade acts as the pedestrian entrance while the parking entrances are on the north side with similar configuration. Using rammed earth or adobe a connection to the city is made through common material associated with the dessert and with Marfa. Shading residents from the dessert sun the wall is placed south of the buildings which are separated in subtle reference to the single family homes that surround it and provide an operable linkage between them as a gateway into the space. residence placement is in relation to residential influences , while the transient congregational path opens to the existing parking lot adjacent the property welcoming access to events. The artist co-op has six live/work efficiencies placed according to residential influences. This building is seen as a continual competition project for future developments to be assessed with site specific analysis to derived the best use of the space in creating a network of operable linkages. In the case of this site an artist co-op is chosen as a subscription based wood and metal shop for artist and live/work rental spaces with a common space for a cafe or gallery.
Together these operable linkages provide a future option to develop Marfa city developments for multi-family housing as well as commercial, industrial, and other needs for the future. The key to operable linkages is the diversity of use within and between the property being the developed and the local community. We believe Panacea is a great option for developing multi-family housing in Marfa based on our parametric analysis of the city and local community and culture discovering the needs of Marfa for diverse support economically aligned with the arts. Built together over time projects designed as a network of operable linkages create a the opportunity of a sustainable system for the city, the community and the home.
