Architecture Program

 

Title

RE USE FUL

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

May 2007

Abstract

My terminal project is an exploration of reusing materials, developed in prototype and implemented into a practical scenario as part of an effort to limit waste in our society.

Limit the amount of waste we produce by reusing materials rather than discarding them.

I believe that the amount of waste we produce is a serious issue that must be addressed through creative reuses instead of larger landfills. I will utilize reused materials to create architectural components that can be adapted and inserted into any design solution. If we can gather materials in bulk that typically get discarded as waste, we can design new architectural components with them. With a clever and creative design approach these materials can be used to create attractive components that can either celebrate or conceal their original identity.

Revitalize Cabrini Green with a new identity and logical master plan.

As a case study to explore this approach I am using the Frances Cabrini Homes in south Cabrini Green, Chicago, IL. This is a low income residential community consisting of 54 two and three story buildings. This site has great potential; its surroundings are currently undergoing redevelopment, it’s structures are seeking renovation and it pleas for a new identity. What legitimizes this site is that the federal government determined that the brick and timber structures will receive minor renovation over the next several years. I will use the techniques discussed in the previous bullet to create new architecture and re-identify the Frances Cabrini Homes. This is a three phase project where the solution for one building will be the model for the others to follow. This exploration consists of a library of architectural elements, made of reusable-materials, developed in prototype, and implemented into an existing building shell.