Edges
An edge is an extension of its surroundings, something that responds to its site and can be aggregated creating a series of zones. We see these zones and edges anywhere we go whether it is the relationship between green space and road or building but what made it so important in the ACTS Housing campus was its historic background. ACTS Housing, previously known as the School Sisters of Notre Dame Convent essentially created a border within this system which it had its own identity, space and movement to the site. Having that in mind we did a series of edge analysis by extending the building boundaries as well as the street, sidewalks and green space. Which ultimately created bridges and interacting points which would be “popular places for people to spend their free time… where people can test their effectiveness of physical control… a special place apart from everyday life” stated by Author Quentin Stevens. By doing this exercise we found out that the parking lot would be the best place to intervene.
To build our understanding of edges we decided to analyze a series of edges seen bellow and see how they interact with one another in a more planer fashion. We picked out the areas in which we thought could give us a better understanding of the different interactions that were happening around our site. Looking mostly at a “wall, façade, gate, fence, river, shore, window – appears as discrete separation between sides of its magical divide” which Iain Borden describes as different manifestations of a boundary. We took a look at the campus as whole and found out that some of these area are more private than others by thei use of green space. We noticed that more private areas had more green space but looked welcoming than the more public areas without it. For example, Penfield Montessori Academy has significantly less green space, having their main entrance be right at the parking lot. The school also had an enclosed fence that coincidentally goes all around the ACTS Housing campus making it very unapproachable.
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