303 : telecenter for design professionals

Abstract

Initial conversations about our individual thesis topics revealed a compatibility that could not be ignored. An integrating concept between each thesis was the idea of communication as a central theme. Eco-Village to city, Telecenter to village, community to Telecenter, and individual to community represent different levels of communication.The Eco-Village was an overall idea of the redevelopment of an abandoned area adjacent to the downtown of Denver Colorado. The project entrails the integration of green systems into its physical infrastructure as well as promotes a green social infrastructure. The Eco-Village provides a mixed-use, central core, which binds nodes together in a framework that reconnects downtown with its surrounding context, while focusing on a pedestrian scale of interaction, occurring within urban community gardens and public commons. These issues began to inform the design of the Telecenter.The Telecenter’s purpose is to provide workspace for designers, which accommodates teleconferencing, and digital design. This facility allows designers to migrate to the Denver area to improve their quality of life while simultaneously retaining their careers. The Telecenter takes full advantage of technology of the next five years. Teleconferencing, virtual critiques of design, and global communication are the emphasis of this technology. Technology, in this context, improves the quality of life for a large number of people. It allows for global exchange of information while providing new opportunities for people within various realms of the design profession. It relies on interdisciplinary conversation in order to enrich the design process. Conversation between the Telecenter and the Eco-Village reveals global communication on both virtual and physical levels.Both theses are anchored around the issue of quality of life. The point at which they converge is through the concept of communication. After deciding where the ideas came together it was clear that regular meetings should take place. Our strategy was to work on concepts individually then come together for a charrette. During these charrettes we explained the work we had done, then critique one another. Through this process, a strong give and take relationship between the two projects was discovered. The Eco-Village provides a community for design professionals to live in. It shares resources through strategies for a greener urban ecosystem. It also provides an enriched culture within a living community. The Telecenter is a stimulus for creativity. It provides a technological center as a resource for the community. It gives by not taking because it is sensitive to scale, energy resources, and green attitudes.Our similar attitudes provided a positive, secure environment to share ideas uninhibited. This time was used to exchange knowledge learned from precedent studies and further incorporated it into the designs. Issues of scale, material, social impact, social hierarchy, and personal experience held priority over all others. That is to say every design decision came back to these issues. It was important to work together for one reason. It enriched our work. The building is successfully integrated into an ecological community. The community embraces the telecenter as a productive node within a larger canvas. Both projects meld together. This could only be achieved through collaboration. The expertise of DeLay in master planning and landscape design combined with Marszalek's architectural training provided for a positive, enriching experience.