Philippe Kame
The location I chose is the Salvation Army on State Stree. The structure is a one storey warehouse of over 20,000SF. The structure is surrounded by parking garage of considerable size. The interior of the structure is an open floor plan made possible by a series of column laid in a grid pattern.
The majority of the interior space of the structure is dedicated to the display of products for sale, while a small portion of the right corner is used for shipping/storage/loading and also where all the behind the scene works of the business operations take place. A fun fact is the ceiling, which might appear flat at first, but closer inspection reveals a kind of repeating butterfly pattern that also means the columns do not all have the same height.
This knoll diagram of the structure demonstrates the minimalism of the structure and the space. The predominant materiality is steel which also speaks for the industrial nature of the structure when it was originally built programmed.
The above ANT map shows my though process in redesigning the interior space of the exisiting Salvation Army. My studio art education exposed me to the compelling nature of art and prompted me to research artists presence in Ann Arbor beyond the University of Michigan. It seems like not many artists call Ann Arbor “home” to their creative practices, mainly due to the high rent cost to both own a house and a studio. I, thus, imagined a kind of cooperatively owned art studios for artists where every tenant is an equal owner and all share costs and responsabilities in the building upkeep in exchange for a space to produce their work. The space can be open to the public in a creative way by which visitors have the option to bike through the studio redifining the way we encounter and experience art. The presence of an indoor fauna complements the wellness aspect of the space creating a whole new environment.
The new program exploits the versatility offered by the open floor plan and complete reconfigures the space into a dynamic hybrid where art meets mobility and recreation.
The plan video presents the programmatic organization of the new space with the various equipment that defines each space.
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The resulting appearance of the new space comprises a series of individual studios for artists and artworks by these creatives displayed all over the walls creating an eclectic ambiance heightened by the indoor fauna and bike lane.