Creating a Space that Reflects History and Heirarchy

My design reflects the cultural hierarchy of public versus private spaces, with the lower floor being a public space for the artists to exhibit their work and the upstairs in the front displaying their studios. In this semi-public area, some people may venture closer to experience a more personal connection with the artists. Others stay below, allowing the public to see how the artists work while not having an abundant amount of people to distract the artist.

Behind the studios are the resident areas, which have access to the balcony to access their studios, and on the back side of the building is a private resident entrance, which can only be accessed by the resident with a key fob. 

I wanted to create this almost fluid division of space as a reflection for the public and personal space we create as human beings within our social circles.  We keep greater distance with most people, allow others to look in from the outside, but still others have access to us in a more intimate way.  In the same way, the artists' lives and work are progressively private as you travel further in and further up in the structure.

Culture and History combined with Modern Design. 

The building and site design incorporates multiple design aspects, like Savannah's famous Forsyth Park. I placed a large fountain at the base of my building with a row of trees down the center of my site flanked by walkways on either side to reference the experience of walking down Forsyth Park. 

The site also has two existing rail cars in the yard, which I have repurposed to contain a cafe in one and a children's art studio in the other.  These installations give an interactive aspect to my site. My building design is a modern contemporary style that uses Savannah grey brick, a historical type of brick that is no longer made to give a historical look and arches to resemble a train station. In contrast, the rest of the building consists of large windows and dark grey corrugated steel to give the building a modern twist.  I acknowledged the need for accessibility throughout by ensuring that the upper studios can be accessed via a staircase on either side of the building and an elevator on the left side.  If a person who is handicapped wishes to cross to the other side to see the other studio, there is a balcony that stretches across and can easily accomodate wheelchair traffic.

Final Critique Notes

One of my previous professors, whom I greatly respect, suggested that I remove the arches to give my building a modern design instead of trying to mix modern and historical, as well as adding more oversized windows in the bathrooms because they are only a few feet from the historical walls which will allow the person to see the beautiful historical brick.  If I had the opportunity to iterate on my design, I would like to incorporate the windows, but I would keep the arches in order to maintain the exterior, historic features of the site.  While this decision might not make sense in some locations, I feel that it would be appropriate for the historic preservation that is so important to Savannah's architectural and cultural development.