On Family: Design Brigade Week 2
Visiting the site, visualizing what we know and preparing for the work ahead
Student Team: Ivy Li, Janelle Schmidt, Huy Truong, Vicky Wu, Sasha Zweibel
A project co-sponsored by the Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media and Atelier Cho Thompson.
As our team continues to expand our initial inquiries from Week 1, we are also beginning to crystallize what we are learning about the project site, context and community. Our first action of the week was beginning our spatial and social research at the Towers.
Site Visits
Last Saturday, two of our team members visited the Towers senior living residences in New Haven, Connecticut. The pair equipped themselves in masks and gloves and entered the facility, where they faced a series of questions regarding recent symptoms and had their temperatures scanned. A staff member handed them walkie talkies in case they needed assistance — the first floor, they would learn, is a labyrinth of spaces.
But despite the abundance of amenities, including a convenience store, salon, library and lounge space, nothing was in service and hardly anyone was present. All tables and chairs had been removed to discourage activity. Resident art covered the walls, but no art classes gathered.
After taking photos, measurements and notes of our sites, we began to compile our information on our virtual whiteboards in order to reflect as a team. Here are our initial abbreviated observations.
1. Entrance
The area outside of the entrance is the current social hub, where the few residents out of their rooms can be found hanging out, smoking and chatting. Their distancing is questionable, but they are generally spread out among the benches. One resident mentioned that they enjoy sitting here to observe the flow of people, with appreciable opportunities to strike up conversation, as well as the flow of the city — the nearby highway, cars and ambulances and the sounds they carried. To us, the traffic and noise were abrasive, so learning their appeal was a counterintuitive insight. We suspect that the shading and availability of seating draw people here as well.
Once inside, there is an ad-hoc screening arrangement including tall dividers to separate traffic. After exploring around, we noticed an alternative entrance through the patio that must have been closed due to COVID and a simple back entrance for residents and staff only.
2. Courtyard
If the entrance is social, the courtyard appears to be tranquil with few residents present. The highway noise gives way here to birds, wind and a nearby bell tower. A gazebo at the heart of the courtyard has been removed, leaving sparse and distant benches. One resident misses sitting in its shade and hopes it returns soon. There is ample greenery, but due to COVID regulations, gardening is now managed by an employee rather than the residents.
3. Outdoor green space
We discovered that the initial green wedge brought forth by our clients faces several challenges in its viability for development. It stands alone in the middle of the parking lot, surrounded by cars and requiring crosswalks. There is a lack of trees for shade, and the ground slopes downwards rather than sitting at a natural resting point. On the other hand, a collection of nearby spaces sparked our curiosity. What is the story of the seemingly dilapidated basketball court, with its benches freshly removed? What about the adjacent grassy area and empty lot? Our first two design intervention sites are defined, but we still have many questions about the possibilities for the outdoor green space.
Residents
We noticed that most residents used walkers to get around, though some had electric wheelchairs. Most were also accompanied by companions, but we were unsure of how many were private caretakers or family members. All, it seemed, were very friendly and eager to chat away, perhaps craving social interaction after prolonged isolation.
From hearing the stories of the residents, we learned that they were confined to their rooms for at least a month when the lockdown started. All activities were cancelled, and food was delivered to each room. Several mentioned the activities they missed, including a surprisingly spry 94-year-old dancer.Nowadays, some people are back to driving and grocery shopping when they aren’t supposed to, according to one resident.
Yesterday, the pair from our team returned to take more detailed measurements of the sites and speak more in depth to additional residents. Soon, we hope to safely distribute surveys to gather insights from a wider range of residents to better understand of the specific problems we must address with our design and the community aspirations that may inspire our concepts.
Diagramming and Researching
We are creating diagrams to distill three different modes of information from our process:
Spatial
- Mapping our site at three different scales
- Urban scale: considering the nearby developments and how they will reframe the significance of the Towers spaces
- Building scale: analyzing the circulation, gathering places, sounds, sight lines and amenities
- Human scale: detailing the specific entrance, courtyard and outdoor areas, including furniture and walkway dimensions
Empirical
- Visualization of our the upcoming survey results
- These diagrams will likely include demographic pie charts and bar graphs that highlight ‘before and after’ comparisons of COVID-impacted activities
Conceptual
- Word bubbles that begin to convert the input of the client and residents into design elements
- Mind maps that will branch to map our process as we design and react to different constraints
Additionally, we are building a board of references based on our existing directions to inform our next design stage. Specifically, we are examining:
- COVID-specific design responses including distancing markers, graphic kits, strategy guides and personal protection
- modular furniture including partitions and adjustable benches
- wayfinding systems
- wheelchair gardening structures
- architecture firms and projects with similar scales and types of work
Finally, outside of processing and expanding our own research, we hope to connect to mentors including Caitlin Taylor of Mass Design Group and Design Brigade’s very own lead Ming Thompson of Atelier Cho Thompson. We believe that their professional insights, in addition to the insights of the Towers resident community, will meaningfully shape our roadmap ahead.
Reflections
Our primary concern right now is coordinating our community survey with the staff and volunteers at the Towers. They are incredibly busy with implementing new state regulations and COVID testing. We need to find ways to be productive and creative in making this happen.
Regarding the design, our visits revealed the ambiguity of the outdoor green space. When we check in with our client this week, we hope to clarify the scope of our third project site and adjust our roadmap and deliverables accordingly.
This week, we were excited to gain and solidify a foundation of information that will set us up for the work ahead. With plans, diagrams and references, we feel rooted and confident to iterate concepts as we begin designing next week.
Next Steps
- administer and analyze community-wide survey
- complete word bubble analysis and begin to define key design elements
- sketch, ideate and explore initial concepts
- develop two conceptual options of each site and their explanations to share for feedback
