| SOCIAL BRIDGING | REVITALIZATION | INSTITUTION |
“To Assemble” in Oakland
| Studio Project in Oakland Intersection |
UC Berkeley, Fall 2021
I dedicated this project to the social settings of the Oakland site, where the building footprint nooks at a specific intersection between community and government. The southern section of the site is very established, with mostly government buildings, chain restaurants, and private businesses, and the other section posed a communal environment, with nonprofit organizations, locally-owned restaurants and retail, and community centers. Murals and political graffiti regarding the BLM movement covered almost every blank surface of the social section, and they rarely ever bled into the established section. Exploring this phenomenon further, the few murals found within the established section were logged as criminal, while the ones in the social section were not noted. This translates into a lack of communication, perhaps even trust, between the Oakland community and the government, evidence being the segregation of government buildings and community programs, and the city’s response to the social displays of activism.
Given these circumstances, this project aims “to assemble,” meaning to bridge this awkwardness between city and community and to offer a space where these sections can congregate and work collaboratively.
This institute composes of an urban model that overlaps and collaborates with the exhibition, assembly, and research programs.
PROGRAM - OVERLAP | PROGRAM - ENVELOPE | PROGRAM - SITE
ENVELOPE - OVERLAP | ENVELOPE - CORE | ENVELOPE - STRUCTURE
Projected views of the urban model [shown in these sections] translate onto the envelope through aggregated surfaces, in which the institution invites its surrounding peers “to assemble.” The overall envelope system composes of precast GFRC divided into three qualities: structural shear wall, window wall, and living wall. The GFRC shear wall, paired with composite floor decking, steel girders, a mesh of rebar support, and a few columns, serves as the primary structural system. The window wall allows for natural lighting to perforate through appropriate spaces, such as the research program, and to direct view of graffiti-and-community-rich areas surrounding the site.
Finally, the living wall represents the revitalization and reinterpretation of Oakland. Performatively, the living wall pays homage to Oaklands City Beautiful Movement, where in the 1890s, the city and community collaborated to restore biodiversity within a developing city; the living wall is a further iteration of how cities can reinterpret greenery, consider passive insulation systems, and mitigate heat island effects. The living wall starts at the top and mingles down to street level through the projected ASSEMBLE plots, representing the social bridge that the institution seeks to accomplish.
