First Street Cultural Center
a visible history: a synthesis of past, present and future through the evocation of memory within historic contexts
How can new spaces evoke the layers of memory associated with historic places and utilize them to envision anew? What are the spatial strategies involved with creating architecture rich in memory and how can a space that is cognizant of its physical and historical context serve as a tool for revitalization?
These questions could be used to investigate revitalization efforts in much of the cities and towns that line the Connecticut River Valley. Ultimately, solutions become directly rooted in the context to which they are set.
With the industrial village of Turners Falls as the setting, this exploration is based on an evaluation of the village’s contemporary and historic physical and social fabric. Through gaining an understanding of the nuanced history and memories associated with the village, a new cultural center is proposed and meant to serve as a beacon for the village’s budding arts community.
The design approach uses strategies of spatial complexity, tension, and ambiguity to draw connections between the past and present in an effort to create a new space that is cognizant of its contemporary and historic context. A sensitivity to siting, tectonics, and materiality serve to inform design decisions. Ultimately, the new space reconnects the town back to its history of making by creating a space for renewed innovation in the arts and its siting crafts a future rooted in a harmonious relationship between the village and its waterfront along the Connecticut River.
View from the First Street Sculpture Park
Connecticut Composite: A Visible Dichotomy
The composite image is seen as an experiential narrative. It seeks to capture the relationship between the Connecticut River and the northwest edge of the industrial village of Turners Falls. The Power Dam creates a dichotomy between the landscape and experiential qualities upstream and downstream. Above the dam lies a reservoir and consequently a lush and expansive body of water. Below the dam, the water rushes through the power canal and transverses a tumultuous industrial landscape. The image serves as an exploratory means of understanding the complexities found between the historic village’s past and present conditions.
Avenue A
An experiential composite which speaks to the texture, materiality, spatial conditions and historic narrative of the Avenue A - Turners Falls’ main commercial and cultural artery.
Conceptual Explorations rooted in memory and tectonics as experience
