Partner project Sophia Bachas-Daunert
GIS Maps
The project locates and examines areas of exclusivity inherently present in our world with an intent focus on Tompkins County, broadly, zooming in on the City of Ithaca, specifically. The landscape was examined through economic, social, physical, and public access infrastructure and compared against current practices, laws, and codes used to measure accessibility today. Biases and lack of representation of all bodies was clearly identifiable and led to the development of a new code of accessibility, which sought to dissolve any form of restrictive experience. Interventions are created on sites of utmost exclusivity and hierarchy, utilizing existing modes of mobility and accessibility present in ADA code and new terms to provide social and physical accessibility. In this intervention, residential and community-oriented programs are placed within the gap of the gorge, bridging two existing residential programs.
The "Universal Body" and the transformation of this concept to a broader, more inclusive notion of bodies. In order to shift the way in which we design, we must alter the proportions we are taught, and the very legislation that confines and restricts certain populations and think of ways in which we can reshape them.
System floor plans
Cascadilla gorge system sections
The organizing grid creates a system in which these programs and pathways are strategically placed in order to create a bridge and form community. The project is comprised of modules placed within the grid to allow all members of this community to experience and access the gorge in the same way. Transforming from the rigidity of the grid and placement of programs within the intervention, the structure stems down into an organic shape. This provides structural support as well as formally expressing the descent towards the water and mimicking the fluidity of its surrounding environment.
Exploded system axonometric drawing and circulation
Unit plans axonometric: 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, studio
Detail Sections
The living units not only adhere to ADA requirements, but also exceed them to fit our new code of accessibility. New modes and inventions for accessibility include the multiple heights of embedded handrails throughout the living units and the intervention at large, the floor and connections details which allow for smooth surface textures, the unifying organization of public program, and the use of railings to provide a mode of access in the Cascadilla Gorge Trail.
Below are the new accessibility codes that were derived through our research in social, physical, and economic research throughout the project. Our task was to create innovative techniques to utilize existing modes of mobility and accessibility present in ADA code using new terms to provide social and physical accessibility throughout the selected sites and interventions.
New accessible building code
Click the buttons below to see some of our research and process!
