P2 - Community Dwellings

Affordable Community Oriented Housing

The  current build condition of this block as many more in Parramore is that of a suburban layout.  

Buildings were constructed respecting the setback for single family housing in a duplex configuration.  This configuration does not make the best use of the available land and results in an non-cohesive block where the green vacant space is underutilized.

This is a tight-knit community and the current condition of the block is not reflective of this, nor is it an enabler of social interaction.

In order to ensure that the rehabilitation of this city block is successful, it is imperative to increase the density both to build up the community that will make up this block and to ensure financial viability of the project.

By inserting new dwellings among the existing ones, some of the original fabric of the block is salvaged.  The new insertions allow the opportunity to create a courtyard space that will become a safe haven for kids within the block to play freely, a well as a community gathering area that fosters this close bonds this community is rich in.

Tying in with outdoor gathering spaces for the general community as proposed in a previous intervention, there will be a laundry facility that will serve the block as well as the surrounding household in need of this service.  

Here the gathering outdoor space will face the busy street of Westmoreland, and will serve as a transition between the street and the commercial locale. People waiting for their wash and dry can socialize under the sheltered gathering space.

P1 Final | Lucas Najle

Parramore Links

Parramore/Holden Photography

From the Artist:
"The Parramore/Holden neighborhood is a disadvantaged neighborhood in the heart of Orlando, Florida. In 2011 I received a grant from a local arts organization which allowed me to start photographing it and it's residents. Through this project I hope to share art with the residents by giving a print to every person I photograph, break down stereotypes outsiders have of poverty and the neighborhood, and build a solid body of work that captures the vibrancy of the neighborhood before it disappears. I plan on photographing this region for many years to come."
https://www.behance.net/gallery/4642105/ParramoreHolden

Improvement Plans

Residents Review Plans (1987)
It's interesting how the same issues are still reoccurring after all of these improvement plans. Although these plans are close to thirty years old, the same things are being discussed today.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1987-04-15/news/0120260103_1_neighborhood-improvement-parramore-holden

Project 1 | Trevor Boyle

Gathering in Parramore
Trevor Boyle | Fall 2014




The majority of gathering samples that were found were occurring along roadways which have been placed under the "improved" or "to-be improved" sidewalk locations through the community. What is still more apparent is the number of vacant lots and their relation to the neglected streetscapes. This shows a large area for improvement, and a chance for some of the successful practices within Parramore to be tested out in these neglected areas in order to improve them.

Distilled from this exploration are a few common threads within the community. The most successfully activated areas are not spaces which are pre-planned and pre-determined. The two common areas are the public entry space around local businesses and underneath shaded areas. The local business as a driver for gathering and socialization makes sense in terms of becoming a destination. These are typically businesses catering towards other locals, and so as familiar faces come by there are opportunities for conversations to arise, these events either acting spontaneously, occurring regularly, or being pre-agreed upon meetings.

Even more intriguing then the businesses are the common thread of shad as a generator. Uncaring of the actual particular location of the gathering, the two requirements for this gathering and activity are shade and seating. As shade in this context is a fixed constant, the variable is seating. Where there are large enough shadows to encompass a group, seating becomes any object that is portable enough to be brought within the temporal boundaries.

What is sought to be accomplished within this installation is a more structured provider of shading, for the purposes of recreating this activity and bringing it into areas of Parramore which are currently underutilized spaces. Since the local business as a generator is a costly and difficult condition to replicate and test across the community, the focus within this project is the idea of shading + seating = gathering.

The idea within this project is the reversal of the current process. In this installation, it is not shade which provides the foundation for seats to be placed, but seats placed which become the generation of shade. These are semi-temporary structures, easily dismantled and transported, that can be erected and left in an area for a finite length of time. Used individually or as a node within a modular system tessellating in any direction, these constructs are activated by the users and become displays of activity levels. The seats contain a large air bladder, and under the act of sitting this bladder is compressed to a specific point. The displaced air is forced through a series of tubes to the canopy system. Smaller balloons act as the activators for the kinetic canopies, carrying this motion up above the occupant and activating the canvas which creates a desirable shade boundary around the seating device.

As a singular object, this becomes an exterior meditative space; a conditioned environment for individual comfort. While arrayed in multiples in a tessellated chain, they can create different conditions based on their arrangements. No matter which way they are aligned, the end goal is a public gathering space, where previously underutilized spaces can be infused with new spirit and activity.

The kit of parts required for these modular parts would be three lightweight poles for structure, foam linear elements to provide for a semi-rigid structure in the canopy, a large air bladder within the compressed seating, and a series of tubes and smaller balloons to act as actuators for the canopy. The construction of these objects are to be simple enough that it does not require special training or complex tools to be built. The canopy material itself is to be sourced by the user. This creates a unique materiality across the community, and sense of personal elements so that way the residents can see their own choices and designs spaced within their neighborhoods and commercial areas. As of the current moment, very little of the resident's own handiwork is displayed thorough their own area, and instead the new developments being made are from outside sources with no input from the people who actually live there. As a sense of ownership and pride is established in the community, so then can a desire to improve it be generated.

P1 - Sheltered Gathering

Community Reinforcement and Economic Driver

Parramore exhibits a propensity for people to gather in unintended places.  It seems gathering on the streets is part of the culture of place and I would like to foster this camaraderie and sense of community by intervening with a sheltered gathering space.

The observed gathering spaces occur mostly on artery roads, some of which will be serviced by the expanded Lymmo shuttle service bus routes.

It is at the intersection of these two where the intervention would see the most exposure and possibility of successfully being used.

As the gathering program has the potential to change throughout the day, this shelter would serve more than one function. 

Being on the shuttle route it would become an attractive stop.  Here system users can use the shelter as a meeting spot where they can wait for the rest of their parties, or simply wait for their daily commute ride.

The community that already gathers in nearby spots during the day to socialize, could use this area to shelter themselves from the elements making it an appealing option when it is too sunny/hot for comfort elsewhere, or the common Florida rain would make gathering elsewhere less desirable.

A third group of users would get the most benefit from the shelter during the after-hours.  Homeless could use the shelter on rainy nights.

This intervention is to be developed in private property, blurring the line between public and private space.  By being developed in private property this informal gathering space will allow the opportunity for informal/unlicensed commerce.  Street vendors and performers can use this area to generate revenue and will be governed only by demand and the self regulating optimal occupancy of the space at different times; this and many other applied concepts are discussed in William H Whiteís ìThe Social Life of Small Urban Spacesî (1998).  This space will be successful as it provides many of the requisites for a small urban gathering space to thrive: people watching, proximity to arterial and busy streets, plenty of seating opportunities (one linear foot per 30 square feet min), movable chairs, water features, and tree canopies among the most important.

Unit Max Dimensions and Layout of Unit Options

Base Trailer (7.5'x20') which provides a mobile foundation

Max dimensions for a finished unit
7.5'Wx20'Lx12'H

Four unit layout
Trying to give each pod of  units a private gathering area.

Four unit layout
Creating closeness while still forcing the residents to the community

Five unit layout
Radial orientation amount the central gathering space, one of the units being a shared unit consisting of amenities such as restrooms, kitchen, and laundry

Five unit layout

One of the units being a shared unit consisting of amenities such as restrooms, kitchen, and laundry. The other four units being placed to open into the gathering space in the center

Axo of the 4 and 5 unit layouts

Activity Nodes in Parramore

01. Node Documentation
The following is the sequence if images through the district. Gathering areas within the public realm were documented for analysis. A common theme is grouping around the entrance of a local business,with local patrons spending time together in the shade of the building. Public parks were a close second. In this case, the public benches under the 408 overpass along Parramore Ave is being counted as a public park, even though it is simply a shaded area not originally intended for gathering.

02. Mapping
The active spots within the community were plotted by location and meeting place. These areas were translated into nodes and overlaid on top of several maps. Each node is accompanied by an average comfortable walking distance of 1/4 mile (as estimated by Jarrett Walker). The maps were divided into property types to look for patterns which could emerge from the location of activity with neighboring areas. The maps are broken down into residential zones, community-focused areas, and City of Orlando owned property. Property information gathered from Orange County Property Appraisers website.

Community-Focused areas (left), with mapped nodes (right)

City-Owned Property (left), with mapped nodes (right)

Residential Zones (left), with mapped nodes (right)