GRACE

=**Best Fit** = by Grace

=INVESTIGATION STAGE =

**General characteristics of the neighborhood** :
The neighborhood I am developing is Long Island City. In this neighborhood there are large clumps of stores next to each other which are very close to the homes. The homes that are present in this neighborhood are a couple of large co-ops with around 7-12 houses in each as well as a few town houses. Also it seems as if it is a religious neighborhood because of the multiple churches surrounding the lot. There are community services, but in comparison to the amount of stores there are very few. Overall the neighborhood needs developing in either community services or specific stores that aren't present in the surrounding area yet.

Block and Lot Number:
Block number 533 Lot Number 1

Size of lot:
104.04' x 102.13'

Images:
The satellite view of the lot.

The street view of the lot.

Tax Map of the lot.

**Needs assessment** :
**1. A description of what the neighborhood already has.** Within the neighborhood there are multiple apartments including North Queensview, West Queensview, and Ravenswood housing which are all groups of high rise apartment buildings. There is a Library a couple of blocks away from these co-ops. There is also the Astoria Windsor which is a low rise apartment building. Located next to North Queensview there are numerous town houses. There are three churches including Astoria Baptist Church, San Pablo United Methodist Church, and Community Church of Astoria. Besides from San Pablo Methodist Church which is mid-sized, the churches are very small. Right next to the Community Church of Astoria there is the Family Health Center which is the only health center in the immediate neighborhood. The stores in the neighborhood include four laundromats along with four delis. There are many stores in a strip mall kind of place which includes associated, a nail and spa place, a post office, chase bank, two laundromats, rite-aid, and three restaurants. These three restaurants are white castle, Subway, and Samiria's Pizza. There are two T-Mombiles, two car repairs, and a truck rental nearby as well. There is a costco which is a few blocks away from a Super 8 motel. Across the street from this motel is LIC highschool and it's football field. The other stores in the neighborhood include general contacting, Tri-Star Lumber corporation, Liberty Tax service, De Lellis Marco Piano Workshop, and Merlin Chemists Inc. The neighborhood has the Noguchi Museum which is about three blocks away from Socrates Sculpture Park. There is also the variety Boys & Girls Club which is around 4 or 5 blocks away from the lot I will be building on. Besides from the playgrounds in the co-ops there is one other playground in the neighborhood which is the Astoria Health Center Playground. The eateries in the neighborhood include McDonald's which is located just across the street from the lot that I will be working on. Also there is the Bel Aire diner, Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robins, Mr. Gyro's which is a greek place, Maria Pizza, Vesta Trattoria & Wine Bar, Georgio's (Italian), Jade (Chinese), Phillipu Restuarant (Filipino Cuisine), and Club 21 lounge. All of these restaurants are located very close to the lot that I will be working on and many of them are on the same block as some of the other restaurants that are listed which would normally create compitition, but doesn't since all the cuisines are so different. **2. An analysis of what the neighborhood needs.** The neighborhood is lacking when it comes to things such as libraries or bookstores. The library that is present isn't very large so a bigger one would be helpful. Also there aren't many schools in the neighborhood and LIC highschool isn't a very good school either. If some people can't go to other schools because they can't travel or any other reason, it would be helpful to have a good one near their home. Another thing that I noticed was that sometimes associated doesn't always have what my mom is looking for when we go shopping. Also one of the restaurants nearby get their ingredients from a rooftop garden and they sometimes have a small farmers market kind of thing. This farmers market was really small, but a lot of people were there. This made me think that if something like Chelsea Market was built it would be very popular among the people living in the neighborhood and make it easy for restaurants to come buy fresh ingredients. It would also be able to solve two problems by having a dairy store (for example) as well as a book store kind of thing where you could come to eat what you bought and read while eating.

**Buildings and architects that provide inspiration**
This building was made by I.M Pei and this is imspirational because the addition of the curved glass on the side really attracts attention and makes a nice structure. I like that you have the ability to see inside the building and it allows a lot of light to come into the building. If I do add a library kind of place the use of glass will come in handy and I. M Pei made an attractive building out of glass that looks like the building I want to create.

This building was made by Eero Saarinen and it combines height and style. The most profound feature of course is the curve in the building which allows it to stand out among other buildings that are also tall. Another aspect that I like about it is that the beams being used to support the curve in the building don't take away from the overall buildign, but actually add to it. The support beams makes the building attractive which shows what a good acrchitect Saarinen is.

This is the guggenheim museum which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. When building this, Frank Lloyd Wright really took what was going to go inside of it to consideration. By walking around the spiral design you are able to see the artwork from many different angles and look at it from many different perspectives. He made a building that fully achieved it's purpose which is what I want to achieve with my building design.

Frank Gehry is an inspirational architect because his buildings are very abstract and different than what we normally see. Sometimes buildings that are this different may look a little weird, but Gehry's buildings attract attention and manage to amaze people who see it. Although buildings like this may not fit in well with their surroundings they certainly are a work of art that showcases the talent of the designer.

These two buildings were designed by Le Corbusier. The reason that he was inspirational to me was that he managed to make these two beautiful buildings that are so differnt from each other. One is metal and is centered around the creation of sharp angles while the other is more focused on the reflection of light on all of the colors used to make the building. These two buildings had different goals which shows how versitile he was when it came to designing.

In what ways has this investigation influenced you to design a building for your lot that makes the best fit for the neighborhood?
All these buildings made me consider how to make an exotic building that still manages to fit into the area. Le Corbusier used color to theme one of his buildings so I though I could make a stong building, which would allow me to build it up high since I don't have much room to use, but use color and texture to make it appear as if it is made out of a material such as brick. I learned that I could also use some pretty weird shapes even if I have a restricted material to use like what Frank Gehry did for the Dancing house as well as his hotel made out of curved, colored metal. Something that I learned from the design of the Guggenheim was that the outside doesn't have to look outrageous to grab attention, because in the world of architecture, shapes are also a very important tool. In the end the Guggenheim achieves it's purpose which is the main goal of any building that is designed. This means that I can make a fairly simple building that could easily fit in with the surrounding buildings and still make it a prominent building. Although I would definately prefer to make an out of the ordinary building, after looking at many well known architects, I realized that being unusual doesn't make a building good, but originallity and best use of what you have does. This way I can make an appealing building for me as well as for the community.

//3quarksdaily//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. [].
 * WORKS CITED**

"Architecture News, Design, Blogging and Social Networking » Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture. Barbican Gallery." //Architecture News, Design, Blogging and Social Networking//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. [].

"Berlin Photograph Gallery, Things to See in Berlin, Photograph of Brandenburg Gate." //Touring Berlin, Berlin Walking Tours, Walking Tours in English, Personal Berlin Guide Service//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. .

//East Eats West//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. [].

"Guggenheim Museum -- NY Bits." //NY Bits - New York Apartments, Buildings and Neighborhoods//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. [].

"Technology « Bumblebee Labs Blog." //Bumblebee Labs Blog//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. [].

"Your Favourite Architectural Styles - Page 2 - SkyscraperCity." //SkyscraperCity - Powered by VBulletin//. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. [].

=DESIGN BRIEF =

Problem to be solved:
Long Island City is lacking when it comes to healthy or organic food options for the people within the community. Function of the building: The function of the building will be a place to buy and eat organic or healthy food items. Specifications: Requirements: Constraints:
 * The building must be wheelchair assessable.
 * All windows must be large enough for emergency egress.
 * The building should be enough room to include at least three stores selling healthy/ organic food.
 * The building should include a designated area to eat in.
 * The building's dimensions cannot exceed 104.04' x 102.13'.
 * The building cannot exceed a height of 8 floors.

Description of Three Possible Designs Design #1 media type="custom" key="8117876" This building has seven floors and on the seventh floor there is a large patio/ balcony space with some fencing enclosing it. The front of the building is colored gray with a glass double door. The three other sides are made entirely of glass. Each "store" has different colored/tinted glass. These tints include blue, gold, grey, and a sky reflection. The floor of the patio is made of a grey stone and the fencing around it is 5 feet tall and black. The seventh floor is a tall room with blue tinted glass for all the walls and a rounded glass door leading out onto the patio. Design #2 media type="custom" key="8117976" This building has three glass walls along with a glass floor. Three of the walls are split into 8 floors while the front has a strip of green going down it in order to represent a stem of a plant. The three walls that are split up are glass that has a tint to make it look as if it is reflecting the image of the sky which seemed liked an option to use when going for a natural feel. There is a flower that is built on the roof that was meant to be used as a place for storage as well as being there for the sake of capturing attention and for the presentation of the building. The front of the building also has two sets of rounded double doors on either side of the "stem". The "flower" is green and the rest of the roof is a silver metal. Design #3 media type="custom" key="8146440" This building has an apple shape protruding off of the top of it with the logo of the market which had been named "G Produce". There is also a pear on the front as well as the back. The two other sides had words on them. One side says "shop" while the other says "eat". The words are white while the background is black. There are two doors on the building, one in front and one in the back, both of which are black. The building is six stories tall in all, but has additional feet on the top because of the apple.

Identify the Best Design:
The best design would be design number 1 which is made completely of glass besides from the patio which is made of grey stone.

Justify Your Choice:
The best design is design number one because the second design doesn't fit into the height requirements set in the design brief. Also the third design doesn't seem like something that would fit well in the neighborhood due to the colors. Also the main part which was the "eat" and "shop" decoration will be covered up by a surrounding building defeating the purpose of it. The first design leaves room for all the shops as well as a place for people to eat and relax after shopping. The other spaces doesn't have a nice area to eat/ relax which is why the first design was made more for the customers as well as the people who will set up shop there. Besides from appealing to customers the design is clean which allows it to fit into the area provided for the building. Also the glass makes the space seem larger than it was to begin with which is also very helpful when it comes to attracting people as well as people that may want to set up shop there.