Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 2.6

Bird's Eye perspectives of the site.

Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 2.5

Two more sections. B1-B2 shows how the elevation of the site changes from the fore pit to the raised seating areas and Bocci court. C1-C2 depicts planting design suggestions for the area adjacent to the Community houses.

Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 2.4

This section of the entire site shows how the Bocci court is raised above the surrounding area. This creates a center focal point which draws visitors from both Community houses to the common activity area.

Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 2.3

 

Here is and enlarged pan of the communal area located at the center of the development.  Here, you can see how the two community houses are connected by the activity area which features a Bocci court, 2 horseshoe pits and a fire pit.

Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 2.2

***NOTE***

 This is a short, fictional story written on assignment about the community I am designing for project two. Even though the names are real and the main characters exist, THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.

Walkabout with Buddy and Tater

A very short story by:

Shelby Hooker Rayburn

The sun begins to rise and Buddy is already awake. As he sticks his snout under Tater’s still asleep arm, he whimpers ever so slightly; remembering the repercussions of another time he awoke his master too early. Fortunately, this time Tater was happy to get out of bed, do his morning “coughing ritual,” and let his best friend out to do his business. Buddy leaves the house and begins his daily routine of circling the yard, searching for just the perfect spot.

As he wanders the yard in a seemingly chaotic path, the Johnsons, Tater’s next door neighbors; are just now leaving the house on their way to serve their turn weeding and watering the community vegetable garden.  Decked out in their overalls and brandishing shovels and hoes, the couple eyes Buddy’s path; waiting on his inevitable migration into their yard.

Before that can happen, Tater emerges from his front door, leash in hand, and whistles for Buddy to follow him on their morning walk around the main loop of the community Together, they leave the row of detached houses and make their way towards the walkway which surrounds the Community Green. The morning dew reflects in the early sunlight and both Tater and Buddy can smell the smoldering remains of last night’s activities at the fire pit.

Passing the fire pit the two can see the Johnsons hard at work pulling weeds from a row of okra. Tater laughed under his breath as he heard Mrs. Johnson critique every aspect of Mr. Johnson’s gardening techniques, from the way he watered to the way he pulled weeds.  Mr. Johnson remained silent throughout the criticism.

“Kinda like you and me, huh, Buddy?” Tater smirked. As usual, Buddy remained silent.

The sun, which has now cleared the tree line and was fully exposed, gave a very bright reflection of the greenhouse roof. As Tater reaches for his sunglasses to shield his bloodshot eyes, the leash unexpectedly slips from his grasp. Buddy, noticing his opportunity, darts away into the luscious Zoysia of the community green.

“Shit,” remarks Tater, with a calmness which comes only with the familiarity of this happening several times before. Since Tater already knew exactly where Buddy was headed, he decided not to chase after him and yell his name. He justified his decision by convincing himself that yelling for his non-obedient  dog on the community green just after dawn would be disrespectful to his neighbors; who were probably hung over from last night’s fire pit party.

Tater continues along the sidewalk, watching Buddy disappear into the woods on the east side of the community. As he passes the large communal house, he can see where some of his neighbors are already awake preparing for tonight’s supper-feast, a nearly nightly  occurrence during the few weeks when it’s neither blazing hot or freezing cold.

Nearing the makeshift entrance into the woods, he can clearly hear Buddy romping around in the creek that handles the majority of the runoff from the community. Unfortunately, since it hasn’t rained in over a week, the creek is mostly a mud pit which Buddy has happily turned into a bathtub.

“Damnit,” Tater says to himself, “I should have gotten a fucking cat.”

Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 2

This concept is a "woodland oasis." The idea is to have a community green surrounded by detached housing and flanked by two common houses. I believe that this has been achieved due to no vehicular traffic cutting through the green and instead kept to the surrounding area. Also,. community activity zones such as a Bocci court and fire pit have been centrally located in order to maximize usage and accessibility.

Graduate Design Studio III - Project Showcase 1.9

This is a statue of the Celtic Mother Goddess Modron. She was associated with rebirth and harmony.