case study: path and program

kunsthal, rotterdam by oma. 1992

the kunsthal is an exhibition space that is intersected by a public walkway and a city street. people move through these streets being in the city and then suddenly in the building and then back into the city again. interstingly, as the paths intersect they begin to orientthe program inside. the path then breaks through the building and provides a constant linear transition.

this is an example of the program being manipulated by the path through it. this connects to my concept of striating programs along a transitional space and creating the place within the transition.


images from, or for more information go to: http://www.oma.nl/

analyzing the philadlephia alleyways

alleyway- a narrow passage between buildings, A private or public passage or way

the philadelphia alleyways that i have been exploring have shown a common trend. these alleyways often do not line up from block to block. also over the years of development many pieces fo them have been removed, leaving the alley way non-existent for several blocks. I have narrowed my search to the alleyways between the rivers in the east - west direction and between vine st. in the north and christian st. in the south. I will be examinng the alleyways between these boundaries and studying the breaks in them. these breaks will possibly become the areas for my intervention.



this site is an alley the cuts across the south st. area, but is stopped by south street. this is an example of how alley ways are stopped and then pick back up.




this site is an area where an alleyway is broken up by the bridge to new jersey.


also, I am looking at what other alleyway conditions exist within the city, based on the definitions of an alleyway, and not by the specific name. for instance are there other areas in the city that possess the same qualities of an alley. one site I have had in the back of my mind for a while, and now through my process has come back out is the abandoned train tracks that run parrallel to spring garden st.

after meeting with my advisors...

- the map of my journeys needs to be temporal, show the experience not jsut a connection

-begin to bring these diagrams into the city, become spatial, use maps

-alley way is an interesting start for investigation. study the alleys of the city. look at who uses them and where and how. people smoke in alleys. study the aggregate in the alley as a tell tale of waht goes on there. sub-culture exists in alley ways. hidden bars, or people. a shadyness to it. the secrets of the alley ways. study the dialog of the alley versus the city grid. is it a secondary grid. how do they work together or seperate, and the uses of each.

-move through the alleys and tell the narratve of them
-travel only in alleys
-try moravian, panana, ransid as interesting philadelphia alley ways to study.

alley ways

from my ideas of a lineated piazza i began conceiving possible sites fro such an intervention. this brought me to the alley way. numerous abandoned or under utilized alleys exist in the city of phladelphia, and i thought that this might lend itself as beginning to exploring transition. i am interested in alley ways that would be in touch with numerous program and user types, and how this vein of connection could be used to create new life.

on-going project dictionary

connection- a specific vehicle, airplane, ship, etc., boarded in making connections,ie: a bus connection, the act or state of connecting

to speak of a connection as a vehicle or thing you attatch to in order to move intrigues me for this project. it is a meaning of the word used constantly yet not the first one thought of when asked its meaning. to think of the transitional space in this way may be a good vantage point. as if the transitional space is your connection, and it takes you to your destinations.

static- fixed or stationary, little or no change
dynamic- characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress

daily destinations

this is a diagram of my most frequented destinations, and the connection between them. my next step is to evolve this into an understanding of the transitions between each, followed by an understanding of the transitions versus the places based on the static and dynamic elements of each.