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Residential Complex | Queens, New York, U.S.A

Studio Maria Sieira | Fall 2013 | Pratt Institute | New York | U.S.A.

Project By: Milad Showkatbakhsh

The view of the project from adjacent street

The project is situated within the larger NYC urban concerns. The Hallets Point/Pot Cove area in Astoria, Queens, was designated as a proposed redevelopment opportunity in 2010. The city will support rezoning and medium-density residential & mixed use redevelopment as long as it contributes to the overall goal of building public access to the waterfront. Establishing this waterfront access for this peninsula on the Hudson River is problematic as the waterfront has multiple owners and access/private property boundaries would need to be negotiated.  This is an opportunity for a small project that would begin the transformation of the area from low-density housing/manufacturing to medium density housing/mixed use. Being mixed use is one of the objectives of the project. 

An L-system or Lindenmayer system is a parallel rewriting system and a type of formal grammar. An L-system consists of an alphabet of symbols that can be used to make strings, a collection of production rules that expand each symbol into some larger string of symbols, an initial “axiom” string from which to begin construction, and a mechanism for translating the generated strings into geometric structures. L-systems were used for the first phase of form-finding due to their unique principles and rule-based developments.

Generated L-system is being bombarded by water masses. This lets water goes through spaces in between of L-system volume and make another unique spatial quality, For the purpose of this simulation, animation strategies were used, and final frame # 48 was chosen as the final model. The objective of this project was to create a unique and interwoven connectivity amongst public and private parts. 

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B

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E

Image A to image E shows first-floor plan to the higher floors plan. the uniqueness of each horizontal cut and respectively interior quality of spaces are one of the bold characteristics of the project. In the plans, the right angle spaces areas showing the residential spaces and the organic shapes are designated for the flea market. Although public places and private spaces have an interlock connection to each other, But also both has different accesses.

Project from the adjacent park

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3D printed model of the project showing interior spaces

Apart from the 3D printed massing model of the e project, detailed physical model was also created to study the spatial and formal relationships of public and private spaces

Spaceframe part of the project consists of communal and public areas for the project while the rectangular parts are assigned to the private parts.

Lightweight steel frame bearing wall construction is often used in low-rise commercial and residential buildings. Speed of construction. non-combustibility, and relative light weight are key advantages of this system . The space between studs eases insulation and accommodates piping and electrical distribution. Because the framing can be completed independent of the masonry veneer, the interiors out of the weather quickly and can be finished while the exterior tilling systems is being laid. In residential construction walls need braces in appropriate places.
Since it is told that this type of construction is suitable for no more that four floors, there should be serious concern in the project which contains fifth floor in some places. But because of the density of the modules in the project, their frames can be connected to each other from inside and make stronger load bearing system.

Queens residential complex

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