KATHERINE

= **Best Fit** = by Katherine

= INVESTIGATION STAGE =

**General characteristics of the neighborhood** :
The neighborhood consist of businesses and many residential properties too. The place is split up on one side of the street it is business and the other side are attached town houses.There isn't too much of relaxing/leisure spots. There are many businesses varying from auto repair shops to big fancy restaurants. There is one big road and most of the other roads are small. I would say it's a quiet neighborhood unless your walking near the boulevard. I would say it's nice, whole-hearted neighborhood.

[[image:8-2_Hu_satellite.png width="208" height="211" caption="8-3_Tieu_satellite.png"]]
= **Satellite Image** =

[[image:8-2_hu_street_view.png width="346" height="154" caption="8-3_Tieu_street_view.png"]]
Street View

Tax Map

**Needs assessment** :
**1. A description of what the neighborhood already has.** This neighborhood consists of mostly businesses and homes. On one side of the street are the businesses like a big supermarket (Great Wall Supermarket), small family run grocery stores, some big restaurants,there are schools, auto repair shops, hotels, and etc.There are little or no houses on this side. On the opposite side, there are mostly attached townhouses where everyone has one big driveway everyone uses, some low rise apartments and one condominium. There are two nearby schools. There is a small school with a little schoolyard, then there's the much bigger middle beside it. There isn't much leisure in this neighborhood except for a fitness place ( Bally Fitness), across the street or boulevard is a bar/bowling place, and one small park that is more suitable for children. **2. An analysis of what the neighborhood needs.** The neighborhood has everything, but is lacking some form of leisure. There is mostly businesses in this neighborhood, so leisure is very much needed here. This place needs a form of leisure for kids, teens, and maybe even adults could come to hang out after a long day at work or school. There could be bubble tea shops, candy stores,stationary store, or simply just a place to eat and drink. Something that I've notice that this neighborhood is also missing is a place of worship. There are no places to practice your religion nearby, so one could be very good for this place.

**Buildings and architects that provide inspiration**

 * [[image:http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6412/shanghainw3.png width="309" height="255" align="left"]]

These building particularly interest me and inspire me because this neighborhood's majority of people are Asian and it would be of great interest to many people to see one of these old Asian and authentic houses. Even if they are very old designs they can become very modern very quickly if you can just light the entire building up like image #2. These kinds of building are safe, stable, fun, unique, and very modern so it shows even if its an old kind of building it won't fail to stand up or look old. Asians are a majority of the population in this neighborhood so it would be cool to bring back something that you see often in Asia, but not in North America. || Buildings like the two above inspire me because it shows how playful a architect can be and yet people are still able to go in to live, shop, eat and etc. Both images make you think how can you live in those interconnected Flintstones buildings or how could you live in a crooked/ all warped up house? It makes people interested and is very creative. There aren't much creative and unique buildings in New York minus the skyscrapers there needs to be more spectacular sightings. || These houses probably look very normal houses, but truth is these houses are able to slide in and out (image 1 ) or rotate 360 degrees (image 2). These features could be helpful allowing the owners to make the adjustment to seasonal temperatures or as the light cycle change. The only bad thing about it is that the time it takes to slide or rotate can vary from 6 minutes to almost 2 hours. The design of buildings are modern, and could be used for a house, shop, and etc. I would say that half of it is new and the other is old. SO bringing in something more new and "hi-tech" in a sense it makes the place look upgraded. || Animal shaped buildings are just are just spectacular architectural buildings that you don't see much of. They can serve for any purpose except for a home because that would just be ridiculous. These are unique buildings that you don't see everyday, so it would be great to build one in a city like New York where it belongs with many of the other extraordinary skyscrapers. An animal shaped building would best fit into this neighborhood because it's sort of a boring, dull, minimal excitement kinda neighborhood. So something like an animal shaped building would add more fascination to the neighborhood. || I really think that glass houses are really going to the new kind of houses/ trend. These houses show the simplicity of house, but on the inside it can used for several purposes. It looks new, modern, neat, and a house probably everyone would want to live in. Also, people have been thinking about eco-friendly and what better way to incorporate that idea of eco-friendly but just using glass, woods, and whatever other basic buildings materials are needed. The main point is that its simple, modern, and neat. This could best fit the neighborhood because everyone is driving by the boulevard and all they see is the big opposite bright side of the boulevard. Why not put another bright, modern, new building on the boring side of the street? ||
 * [[image:http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/P4/buildings-flintstones-470-0.jpg width="328" height="223"]] [[image:http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/NU/buildings-crooked-470-0709-lg.jpg width="373" height="281"]]
 * [[image:http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/Ia/strange-houses-07-500x375-1209-lg.jpg width="370" height="280"]] [[image:http://www.popularmechanics.com/cm/popularmechanics/images/P5/strange-houses-02-500x375-1209-lg.jpg width="361" height="276"]]
 * [[image:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8DfUOJtGfL8/SXhsn93FO0I/AAAAAAAABSY/Jg-Ug5VOC8k/s400/2387368388_92c904821c_b.jpg width="358" height="227" link="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8DfUOJtGfL8/SXhsn93FO0I/AAAAAAAABSY/Jg-Ug5VOC8k/s1600-h/2387368388_92c904821c_b.jpg"]] [[image:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8DfUOJtGfL8/SXmMhfK4ibI/AAAAAAAABT4/-J4DcwvJTWc/s400/Giant+Musky.jpg width="382" height="215" link="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_8DfUOJtGfL8/SXmMhfK4ibI/AAAAAAAABT4/-J4DcwvJTWc/s1600-h/Giant+Musky.jpg"]]
 * [[image:http://www.trendir.com/house-design/boulder-glass-house-1.jpg width="348" height="278"]] [[image:http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/bizcovering/2007/10/02/64495_1.jpg]]

In what way has the investigation influenced you to design a building for your lot that makes the best fit for the neighborhood?
After the investigation, I feel like I know more about the neighborhood and know more about what kind of building is needed in this neighborhood. Before the investigation I didn't know what kind of building or business I wanted to design. It gave me more of an idea of what kind of structure is needed. Since this neighborhood is split up half business and half residential, so I know now that it should be some kind of business. I think this stage overall gave me more of an idea and let me move ahead much more. =**Works Cited**=
 * "World’s Amazing Glass Homes | Bizcovering." //Bizcovering | Covering The World of Business from Real Estate to Online Business, from Employment to Management, from Commerce to Finance, from Opportunities to Sales//. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * "Travel By Photo – ChengHuangMiao Temple in Shanghai." //Travel Feeder//. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * "5 Most Beautiful Cities of the World « Pandima’s Box." //Pandima’s Box//. 5 Apr. 2008. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * G, Eller. "RIDICULOUS ANIMAL SHAPED BUILDINGS FROM ALL OVER." //Ellergy//. 22 Jan. 2009. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * Liu, Lu. "50 Strangest Buildings of the World [Part I]." //CRIENGLISH//. 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * Lydia. "Luxury Mountain Home - Rocky Mountain Dream Modern Home in Boulder, CO | Modern House Designs." //Trendir - Home Decorating Trends Magazine//. 2 July 2008. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * Meeming. "World’s Amazing Glass Homes | Bizcovering." //Bizcovering | Covering The World of Business from Real Estate to Online Business, from Employment to Management, from Commerce to Finance, from Opportunities to Sales//. 2 Oct. 2007. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * "Odd Homes - a Gallery on Flickr." //Welcome to Flickr - Photo Sharing//. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .
 * Sweeney, Chris. "The World's 18 Strangest Homes: Gallery - Popular Mechanics." //Automotive Care, Home Improvement, Tools, DIY Tips - Popular Mechanics//. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. .

= DESIGN BRIEF =

**Requirements:**

 * Build a place of leisure/ business
 * Normal glass doors
 * Suggestion of pagoda style or modern glass building
 * Clay tile roof shingles
 * Sliding doors to separate balcony and upstairs room
 * Relaxing, bright, and comfortable area for people of all ages to sit.

**Constraints:**

 * Footprint of the lot has to be within the lot
 * The height of the building is constrained to any zoning requirements in the neighborhood.

Description of Three Possible Designs media type="custom" key="8114142" This was an attempt to make a pagoda style. It ended being like a 30 foot block with a triangle roof.It was just brick and concrete.
 * Design #1 **

** Design #2 ** media type="custom" key="8114200"

I got my inspiration from the neighborhood it self which is mostly consisted of Asians. A popular Asian drink is bubble tea. I decided to make a building the shape of it containre and make the entire building transparent because the container is also transparent and it would make sense for it to be the same too.The only color on the building was the straw and the text on the front. ** Design #3 ** media type="custom" key="8147584" I would say this a normal plain box shape, but with different shapes: hexagon, rectangles, and circles as creative windows rather than fancy sometimes boring looking windows. The colors I would say are spontaneous and just to my liking. The door is a plain simple glass double door.

** Identify the Best Design: ** My best design is design #3.
== ** Justify Your Choice: **I chose design #3 because it is the most colorful, spontaneous, and fun looking out of my three designs. Design #1 was an attempt at the pagoda, but not very successful. Design #3 was also a suitable hangout spot/ store. ==