Transition Station

Beth Tauke, Associate Professor
Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Buffalo, New York, USA

Abir Mullick, Associate Professor
Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Buffalo, New York, USA

Introduction

In the Transition Station project students develop a public space (most likely, a building or partial building) for passing through, a space in which the movement in-between two conditions is regarded as another condition.

Description

This five-week studio project is offered in the second semester of the sophomore year in the undergraduate component of the 4 + 2 architecture program at the University at Buffalo. There are approximately 100 students in the studio.

The two sites for the project set up two different hierarchies of movement. The first is a 29' x 100' slot between a four-story retail/office building and a three-tiered parking ramp. The second site is an 80' x 12' setback in front of a three-story YWCA. By studying the possible movements—vertical, horizontal, and diagonal— that the constraints of the site allow, students begin to understand what kinds of movements and linkages are promoted by the conditions and what kinds of choices they can offer people who use the space.

The minimal program requires stairs, ramp, elevator, and orientation/information locus. The elements of the program—all physical/visual 'vehicles of transition'—along with the site constraints , aid students in determining what transition models, concepts, and relationships are most significant in this set of conditions.

Objectives

to develop a space that is for passing through rather than inhabitation

to study various movements, particularly vertical and horizontal, through a building

to establish choices in way-finding that allow individuals with varying abilities to navigate the site

to study the various cycles of a building

to experiment with the sequencing of movement

to explore the coexistence of movement, storage, form, and context

to understand the relationships between positive and negative elements/actions

to be aware of how individuals and groups respond to and affect their environmental settings

to integrate natural and imposed site constraints into the development of the program and the design of the project

to understand ways in which different forms are successful or unsuccessful in satisfying programmatic, technical, accessibility, and contextual objectives in a design proposal

to use the interactions between technical, aesthetic, and ethical values in the formation of architectural judgments

to use a variety of media techniques appropriate to the various stages of a design process and to convey the essential elements of a program and design

Educational Value

The primary value of this project is that it integrates universal design into the complex array of considerations taken on by students. Typically in a beginning project, instructors encourage certain issues over others in the design process. More often than not, formal issues are given primary attention.

In this project, students are encouraged to develop proposals that are aesthetically interesting, conceptually provocative, and functional for the greatest number of users. Universal design as a term is not introduced; instead the ideas of universal design are presented as general design criteria.

Students' awareness of mobility and navigation issues comes to the forefront of the project at three specific design points: a) when they are developing alternatives for passing through the space to connect to the city (urban scale), b) when they are working out the conflicts presented by the various paths of travel within the building (building scale), and c) when they are making a full scale model of a building detail (object scale.). Advisors with various navigation abilities work with the students to help them understand the challenges associated with vertical and horizontal movement through a public space. They raise questions about the ways that physical, perceptual, and psychological spaces affect the ways that we move through and find our way in various environments. Students and advisors work together on analyses of timing, flow, density, and access; these analyses serve as the basis for the development of the design proposal.

Requirements

1. The transition station should be considered a public space/place.
2. There are two possible downtown sites for the transition station:
• Setback in front of YWCA, 190 Franklin Street
• Vacant lot on Franklin Street across from The Continental, 212 Franklin Street, between parking ramp and multi-use low rise
3. The transition station must include the following:
• Ramps and stairs
• Elevator
• Orientation and/or information locus
4. Representation of the transition must include the following:
   • Site model at 1/8" = 1.0" with insertion model
   • Section model or cutaway axonometric drawing at 1/4"-1/2" = 1".0"(scale to be determined by site)
   • Plan, section, elevation, site plan drawings
   • Movement/circulation diagrams and connection diagrams
5. In a short essay, describe how one might move through the transition

Readings and Resources

Segment - Juan Munoz
This beautiful accounting discusses the way that the people of a small village assimilate the notion of 'transition' and the idea of 'passing through' in a collective ritual.

Manhattan Transcripts - Bernard Tschumi
In this multi-text, Tschumi proposes that architecture includes event, program, movement, and sequence. The Manhattan Transcripts pushes the limits of architecture particularly programmatic and formal concerns within both the discourse and its representation.

The Manhattan Transcripts Associator
http://caad.arch.ethz.ch/~moere/nds/text/index6.html

"The Seven Principles of Universal Design" - The Center for Universal Design
MAKE INTO A LINK:http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/

Wayfinding: People, Signs, and Architecture - Paul Arthur and Romedi Passini
The authors define wayfinding as "the strategies that people use to find their way in familiar or new settings, based on their perceptual and cognitive abilities and habits." They demonstrate that wayfinding, to be effective, must take into account architectural, graphic, aural, and tactile components, and they explain how these elements can be used -separately and together- to ensure wayfinding success.

Schedule

Week 1

Project Introduction

Site Visit

Site Selection/Documentation

Site Analysis

Week 2

Site Analysis Presentation

Movement/Sequencing Research

Preliminary Review: (preliminary drawings: site/movement/storage/figure-ground diagrams; preliminary models: three sketch models)

Week 3

Design Development

Materials Research

Detail Development

Week 4

Interim Review (interim drawings: site plans, plans, sections, elevations, cutaway axonometric; interim models: section models and massing model)

Project Execution

Week 5

Final Review

Evaluation Criteria

General:

Transition concepts and relationships

Logic of movement sequences

Physical/visual revelation of transition activities

Physical/visual/conceptual interface

Contextual relationships

Geometry/proportion/scale relationships

Relationships of parts and whole

Legibility/hierarchy

Quality of connections

Structure/stability

Surface/boundary treatment

Materials/technique

Equitable use

Flexibility in use

Simple and intuitive use

Perceptible information

Tolerance for error

Low physical effort

Size and space for approach and use

Drawings:

Clarity/accuracy/thoroughness of information

Analysis and description of transition activities

Visual hierarchy/impact

Organization/layout

Innovation

Technique

Model:

Clarity/accuracy/thoroughness of physical representation

Physical/visual hierarchy/impact

Appropriateness of material in relation to concept

Innovation

Technique

Essay:

Clear articulation of concepts

Considerations / Critique Issues

1. What transition concepts and relationships are most important in this set of conditions?
2. Who uses this place? What are the values, needs, ethics, and traditions of these participants? How do these various groups interact with one another?
3. What is the history of the site? What major changes have taken place and how do these changes affect the current condition of the site?
4. How do the activities of the place and the activities of adjacent places change according to the time of day?
5. What are the primary movement sequences that take place through/in this site? How do these movement sequences coexist? What is the order/rhythm of the various movement sequences? What is the order r/rhythm of the transition station?
6. What is the dialogue between the transition station and its context? How do scale/proportion and form/space relationships contribute to that dialogue?
7. How does the orientation/direction impact the views to and from the transition station?
8. What are the boundary conditions of the transition station? Under what circumstances do those boundary conditions change?
9. How does the transition station address the issues of equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use?
10. In what ways does the transition station act as an interface? How do the various levels of connection manifest that interface? What material relationships are used to emphasize and/or de-emphasize these connections?

Critique

Positive Aspects:

Students become aware of wayfinding and navigation ion issues through the focus of this project. Not all of the proposals solve the dilemmas of multi-level, multi-directional movement; however, all students realize the complexities of these issues by the end of the project.

Students are addressing the relationship between built form and passage at several scales. This scale shift encourages them to think about movement from many perspectives.

Students are not compromising aesthetics for function in this project. Instead, they are combining many aspects to develop proposals that respond to various design sensibilities.

Students gain knowledge of technical facts through a booklet called the "Primer on Accessible Design" and test that knowledge through a computer-aided instruction module entitled "Designing Accessible Environments." Both of these materials were developed at the IDEA Center. They incorporate this information into their design work.

Areas of Improvement:

The information locus aspect of the project needs more time and attention. Perhaps it should be a 'project within this project' to ensure proposals that move beyond the schematic.

Advisors should visit the site with the students so that they acquire a thorough understanding of the site conditions and context of the project.

Those invited to review the project should be given a separate briefing prior to the review to ensure full understanding of the intentions of the project.

Project Example

Teaching Tips

Beginning the project with a thorough analysis of lines of sight and paths of movement allows the student to see the major challenge of the project (sequencing and organizing conflicting paths of movement) at the outset.

Use diagrams of the lines of sight and paths of movement to generate diagrams that determine placement of way finding information loci, resting areas, and storage areas.

Introduce the seven principles of universal design with way finding examples in the project introduction. Reiterate these principles in the preliminary and interim review discussions. Include them as part of the evaluation criteria.

For the project to be successful, it is important for the student to understand both the overall sequence of movement and way finding, and the details that establish those conditions. If possible, insert another project into this one in which students design a building detail of the Transition Station (handrail, lighting system or fixture, elevator panel, etc.)

There are many public spaces that link two buildings or a building and an outdoor space. Early in the project, establish a field trip to one of these sites and ask students and their consultants (wheelchair users, visually impaired, parents with small infants, elderly, etc.) to find their way from one specific place to another. Include both vertical and horizontal movements in the tasks.

For more information contact Beth Tauke at tauke@ap.buffalo.edu.

Read the Forum on this subject

Citation: Tauke, Beth (2001). Transition Station©. Retrieved (Enter Date), from Universal Design Education Online web site: http://www.udeducation.org/teach/course_mods/tauke.asp