Materials Studies - Round Two

After we did our initial material studies, we went for a round two. This time I went back to the salvage yard and found some more steel brackets that were smaller than the last ones and also came across this stack of bright orange sacks that looked really cool all stacked on top of one another. Using the sacks as filler, I compressed them between the steel brackets. When held up against the light the sacks glow a bright orange which is a neat effect, but combined the two materials create an interesting juxtaposition between a domestic textile and an industrial material. Right now, we aren’t yet thinking about the design of the bus shelter. We are just exploring materials and products, seeing what they can and can’t do (Jim – material gallery. Anyone?) I think it is just about every architecture students dream to be sent to a salvage yard with a credit card and then set loose on a shop, just to see what will happen.

We’re one step closer to choosing a site. We met with the Regional Transit Authority last week and presented to them the sites that we were considering because we couldn’t put a shelter on any site that they were planning to build on. Being a bureaucratic entity they were less than inviting but I think we’ll be able to work things out. They are still trying to recover from Katrina as well, but I really don’t think that is any excuse for how screwy the public transportation system is here. One example is that it is $1.25 to ride the bus and $.25 for a transfer, BUT you can’t use that transfer on the same bus line that you get it from. I found that out the hard way. There also aren’t any maps or schedules really available – people just show up to a stop and hope that it comes and hope that it takes you where you want to go. It’s ridiculous. During the presentation with the RTA, I kind of wanted to raise my hand and tell them that I was from Portland, the mecca for mass transit, and that I could give them a few pointers. After talking to some of the residents, I guess the system was pretty inefficient even before the storm there was just more lines and buses whereas now it is a quarter of what it was. The two stops we are considering are on the edge of the Hollygrove neighborhood, we’re hoping that it will be a gateway of sorts to the neighborhood because they are both on main thoroughfares. One is adjacent to a busy intersection and gets a steady stream of riders, but is really visible to the general public. The second is over by Xavier University, and is a little less visible but is used a lot more. The environment here has two extremes that we are battling – torrential down pours and direct, intense sun. Those are the two basic elements that a bus shelter will protect people from and these challenges are most prevalent at the second site, so I think that we are leaning towards that one.