Urban Community Center

Abstract

My thesis project will be to design an urban community center that has a strong educational component. The keyword in that last statement was "urban", meaning to engage the community on a physical and spiritual level and to evoke a sense of place. The word urban is used a contrast to suburban. One could argue that the Brian Coyle Community Center is suburban in that it fails to engage the community by using the suburban model of buffer parking between the sidewalk and the building. The design of the Brian Coyle is such that it has no real connection or reflection of the community. I would even go further to state that one could take this community center and place it in virtually any park in the city and it would "fit". I am proposing a more urban solution that identifies directly with the community at hand and that resonates the identity and character of the community.An urban community center that is a designator of space and ideals and not merely an object building in the park as is the Brian Community Center. There are many inherent social and transit components associated with this site which will profoundly affect the design of an urban community center. These are some of the propositions that must be addressed in the design: An architecture/ building/ program that reflects the composition and character of the community while at the same time being responsive to its urban context.Designing an applicable architecture that serves the community, given the community's social, transit and urban energies.Designing an Urban Solution for an Urban Oasis (Currie Park)