Soccer City

THESIS PROPOSAL FALL 2010 BY REID MULLIGAN

s0c A COUNTER PROPOSAL TO THE NEW DYNAMO STADIUM

INTRODUCTION

THE CURRENT PROPOSAL

POLYSEMOUS ARCHITECTURE

WHAT IS SPORT?

THE FUNCTION OF STADIA

URBAN SPORTS CULTURE

SYNTHESIS

WHY EAST DOWNTOWN?

HISTORY

CONTEXT

SITE PLAN

LAND USE

OPEN SPACES

PATHS

LANDMARKS

STADIA USAGE

DEMOGRAPHICS

SITE PHOTOS

THE STRATEGY

USER GROUPS

THE PROGRAM

PRELIMINARY BUILDING PLAN

MASSING STUDY

OLYMPIC GAMES

NL28 OLYMPIC FIRE

FK PARTIZAN STADIUM

HUA QIANG BEI ROAD

FILMPLEX

WHAT IS STADIA?

THE CONCLUSION

RESEARCH

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CONCLUSION

RESOURCES

O CONTENTS

CONTENTS RESEARCH,

SITE, PROGRAM, MASSING, & PRECEDENTS.

INTRODUCTION DESCRIPTIONS OF PRIMARY SPACES

* Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, and David Lewis. Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis: Opportunistic Architecture. (Chicago: Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, 2008), 6.

The proposal is to investigate sports venues and how they can act as a nucleus for urban regeneration and revitalization. How can a stadium become a functioning entity of the urban fabric where people can be seen every day of the week and not just on event days? How else can a stadium be utilized? The counter is for a venue that is as flexible, adaptable, and permeable to its planned events as it is to activities of daily urban life. A stadium that can maximize its potential over time, supporting sporting experiences, exhibitions, cultural, and social events in conjunction with day to day urban activity. As a result, urban dwellers become spectators and are active in concurrence with athletes and performers.

In the spring of 2010 Harris County commissioners voted unanimously to begin construction of the new Dynamo stadium east of downtown, overriding the previous decision to build the stadium outside the 610 loop near Bellaire. While the decision to build this stadium in East Downtown instead of in the suburbs is a huge gesture for the urban community, the intended architectural solution proposed by Populous is generally uninspiring. The proposition is conventional, at best functional, with its guts hidden by a sleek skin that will act as no more than a facade to the city for most of the week.

What if instead stadiums weren’t just a mixture of sports amenities, but an expanded program based upon them? These venues could be a node that bridges the gap between urban infrastructure and architecture, sports culture and urban culture, community and city. A stadium that looks for opportunistic overlaps between form, space, and program in order to create interdependencies that facilitate integration and spatial permeability between community and site.*

There are too many precedents of stadiums that rip apart the fabric of the city, acting as introverted structures that are insulated from their surroundings. There is no shortage of examples of this even within Houston, where large public places like Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, and George R. Brown act as monolithic partitions focusing solely inward without any acknowledgement of its context. Harris County has shown a huge commitment to downtown by placing these large public facilities here, however the hope for each one of these projects was to spark further development in the area but for the most part nothing has come to fruition. This leads to massive amounts of people who flock into the city for events and then leave immediately after.

Houston has already created enough spaces that are isolated from its surrounds. From freeways to malls to billboards to parking lots to big box stores, Houston is full of these ubiquitous conditions that tear holes in the city creating obscure, neglected, and disconnected spaces. East Downtown Houston is all too familiar with these types of circumstances and certainly needs no more. What sorts of opportunities lie within six vacant tracts of land in East Downtown?

The intention is to recognize the typical technical and functional demands that stadium structures pose to the designer, but to focus on weaving the stadium fabric with the complex and subtle cultural and urbanistic conditions that define an ever-present context throughout Houston; to look for the unfamiliar in the familiar.

This thesis has insistently been referred to as a counter-proposal, not just against the intended scheme by Populous but to an entire building typology. Stadiums are in need of architectural intervention, to be looked at as an opportunity to rethink, redefine, and redesign how sports can resolve and reinvigorate issues in the urban environment.

06 INTRODUCTION

SPORT

URBANCULTURE

ARCHITECTURE

DYNAMOSTADIUM

07INTRODUCTION

THE CURRENT PROPOSAL


WHAT IS SPORT?

THE FUNCTION OF STADIA

URBAN SPORTS CULTURE

SYNTHESIS

RESEARCH 01

10

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20

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1

RESEAR

“SPORT PENETRATES THROUGH SOCIETY, OBTAINABLE BEYOND SOCIAL CLASS, SEX, AGE, AND RACE. IN THE SAME SPIRIT, STADIA SHOULD BE EQUALLY ACCESSIBLE TO THE CITY.”

THE CURRENT PROPOSAL POPULOUS’ vISION OF DYNAMO STADIUM

The firm chosen for the Dynamo Stadium is Populous, who also designed Houston’s Minute Maid Park, the Toyota Center, and Reliant Stadium. Populous’ proposal is typical of their style, a slick and futuristic façade wrapping a seemingly ordinary structure with orange accents.

“The current design envisions a two-level 22,000-all-seater stadium with 34 suites, 86 concession point-of-sales, a 3,000 square-foot club level and a party deck on the southeast corner. Plans also call for at least one canopy (west stands) and a stage (permanent or removable) on the south end. The field would be 13 feet below street level. Also, like the nearby Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park, the major concourse will be at grade. As Astros fans do when they show up for a home game, Dynamo fans will enter the stadium through the main concourse on ground level.”*

The target date for the stadium’s construction is the Dynamo’s opening day in 2011, however the team has incurred several problems with the financial package involving the city of Houston and Harris County that is likely to push this deadline back. Dynamo ownership is willing to incur 75 percent (approximately $60 million) of the stadium cost, with the rest of the financing coming from the TIRZ ($20 million total) as well as federal tax credits and incentives. A weak economy has made it difficult for the Dynamo to secure financing, but it has yielded favorable conditions for building a stadium and keeping it on budget. Prices of commodities have gone down, and the construction industry is hungry for work.**

The problem seems to be getting Harris County on board. From the county’s residents to its commissioners, people are concerned with the amount of public money this stadium will tie up. They have heard promises of growth and development of these sports venues before, but the large structures just across the freeway are harrowing reminders of what is in store for the surrounding area. The biggest problem with Populous’ proposal is there is little discrepancy between their design and the design of Houston’s past mistakes. If this stadium is to excite and reenergize a community it must differentiate itself from traditional stadia and propose new strategies that embrace the urban environment.

* “Dynamo Downtown Dinghy: All Aboard, Quick,” http://swamplot.com/dynamo-downtown-dinghy-all-aboard-quick/2009-05-04/>.** “Dynamo Downtown Dinghy: All Aboard, Quick!”

10 RESEARCH

11RESEARCH


WHAT IS SPORT?

DISAMBIGUATING TYPICAL URBAN CONDITIONS

THE POLYSEMOUS NATURE OF SPORT

* “Polysemy,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy.** Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, and David Lewis. Situation Normal--. (New York: Princeton Architectural, 1998), 4.

There is a fundamental concept in linguistics that occurs when a word is judged to be polysemous, meaning there are multiple senses of the word whose meanings are related.* Various strategies can be applied to disambiguate this circumstance such as using contextual clues within the body of the text or looking at the words’ etymology, or meaning over time. However it’s vital to understand that there isn’t a singular template to resolve this matter, sometimes there is not enough substance in the context of the word, or as words become lost in etymology, what once was a useful distinction of meaning may no longer be so. The importance of this perplexity occurs in process of disambiguation in which the interpretation removes the obstacles to comprehension, clarification, and perhaps reveals the unexpected.

The freeway, the parking lot, the vacant lot, and disconnected buildings are common examples of ambiguities seen throughout the city of Houston. Ubiquitous conditions that cause issues of void, disintegration, and fragmentation restraining potential urbanism. These components of the city are considered ambiguous not because they lack function or necessity, but due to the residual and undefined space they create. Not unlike polysemous words, these conditions contain possibilities beneath their surface and when understood within their context, origin, and temporal evolution a new clarity arrives. “The challenge arises from the possibility that beneath the surface of the normal or the familiar exists the strange or the unfamiliar; the possibility that what is considered normal must, by definition, include the abnormal.”**

Polysemic Architecture is not a course of examining the comprehensive nature of the term “architecture,” but investigating how it can elicit the atypical in the all too typical conditions found in the urban fabric. It’s understanding the multifaceted nature of architecture and the city in concurrence with its people, culture, economy, politics, and events. Polysemous Architecture embraces duality and contradiction, looks for real in the unreal, and merges ideal with the pragmatic.

In order to redefine a building typology, it’s imperative to understand the reason for its existence.Similar to architecture, it’s apparent that sport is a multifaceted subject that can be characterized and understood in many ways. Since ancient times, stadia have been places marked by celebration, competition, cult activities, and the evolution of sport.

What is sport?

12 RESEARCH

Throughout Houston giants fields of space are leftover, neglected, or paved over inhibiting a potential a potential urbanism. These spaces are the edges, the edges of freeways, big-boxes, neighborhoods, campuses, bayous, or urban places. How can we reconsider these spaces as sites for architectural intervention – as places to be occupied – as places that can connect adjacent, but disconnected programs and people? How can we take a ubiquitous condition and work to make it specific?

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THE CITY?By Reid Mulligan

13RESEARCH

PLAY SPORT IS...

Sport is inherent to human culture. “Through play, children grow. They learn how to use their muscles; they develop the ability to coordinate what they see with what they do; and they develop a sense of mastery over their bodies. Through play, children learn. They find out what the world is like and what they are like. They acquire new skills and learn the appropriate situations for using them. They ‘try out’ different aspects of life. Through play, children mature. They cope with complex and conflicting emotions by reenacting real life in play. They make ‘their lives more encompassable and endurable.”*

* Why Do We Play?” <www.ssc.wisc.edu/~jpiliavi/647/lect1white.pdf>.

14 RESEARCH

ORGANIC SPORT IS...

It is separated in space and time. Sport is uncertain and often the outcome is unpredictable. Not unlike art, the purest form of sport is fluid and unbound to convention. In addition to athleticism, sport requires imagination and creativity in order to develop a strategy or game plan. Although sport is often thought of as a tool for the body, the greatest athletes have an unwavering balance between body and mind.

15RESEARCH

INSTITUTION SPORT IS AN...

As sport became more global through international competitions like the Olympics and World Cup, it needed a level of organization and sophistication in order to even the playing field. Like any other institution, it’s necessary to develop a layer of technical and complex standards for sport that can progress throughout its evolution. These rules are more than just constraints to the game itself but they add custom, value, and tradition to encourage harmony and sportsmanship.

16 RESEARCH

WELLBEING SPORT IS...

Living in America today means one must be busy all the time, causing an increase in stressful, competitive work patterns, improved medical science, and general lack of enthusiasm for exercise. However, sport gives people the opportunity to step back and reconnect with themselves both physically and mentally. It is no longer dedicated to performance and training for professional athletes but for collective wellbeing.

17RESEARCH

URBAN SPECTACLE SPORT IS AN...

Some sporting events are “the most global of spectacles, accenting a specific urban locality, where the limits, abilities and endurance of the human body and mind are tested in public and broadcast to a cross-cultural audience.” Unfortunately, contemporary sport ignores this definition more any other. Sport has the ability to transform a city thus it should be transparent and integrated into the urban fabric.*

* Winy Maas, Marc Joubert, Ole Bouman, Mieke Dings, Maria Giudici, and Jane Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games. (Rotterdam: NAi, 2008), 28.

18 RESEARCH

UNIvERSAL SPORT IS...

Perhaps the most important concept of sport is to understand that it is “connected with ideologies of the economy, media, politics, education, national identity, and religion.” One of the interesting facets of urban culture is that these complex problems are more evident, emphasizing the opportunistic relationship between sport and the city. History is scattered with moments where sport transcended competition and facilitated various issues between cultures, nations, and institutions.

* Maas, Joubert, Bouman, Dings, Giudici, and Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games, 26.

19RESEARCH

THE FUNCTION OF STADIA WHY ARE SPORTS vENUES STILL A PART OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE?

Just as the connotation of sport has changed over time so has the context and function of stadia. Without doubt, a direct relationship exists between the sport and stadia yet there is a growing disconnect between the two. While sport culture is diverse and multifarious, contemporary venues are insulated and singular in function. So why are stadiums still apart of our culture after more than 2000 years?

For several centuries there has been rendition after rendition of one of the world’s oldest building typologies, the stadium. The usage and function of these venues give a cross section of a culture’s means of entertainment and gives hints of political, economic, and sociological matters of the time. The first generation of stadia were in the industrial cities of ancient Greek, created to host a specific type of sport.* These venues were meant to accommodate the entire population of a city and to not only be used for mass celebration, but as a means of controlling the people. The Colosseum pioneered the next generation of stadia, defined by its ability to host different kinds of events in accordance with sports and even host numerous events simultaneously. Conversely, the current state of sports architecture is to achieve a “maximum commercial marketing of privatized entertainment.”** Contemporary stadiums cater to consumers, VIPs, business people, media, who are strictly divided in the stands away from the average citizens.

However, the true contemporary targeted audience is the viewer at home, sitting on their couch exposed to product advertisement, while the live spectator is merely part of a backdrop for theatrical affect. “The fact that electronic media does not solely support sports says something about our culture and its emotional need to physically experience a form of life that has been staged for it and to enjoy the sense of power it feels in being part of the crowd.”*** The growing familiarity of couches replacing bleachers and grand stands is not just a matter of technological convenience, but a result of incongruity between venues and their cities.

“Form follows function” is a mantra heard all throughout contemporary architecture to shape buildings as simple reductions of their intended purpose. Stadia and other types of sports venues by nature suffer from this design intuition, as they are typically an inward-looking form that turns its back to the surrounding environment. Structurally inflexible, standardized seating, homogenous view lines, unvarying spans are a few other architectural dispositions that hinder these places from attaining spatial, programmatic, and contextual flexibility. What if instead of worrying about what follows what, form and function were concurrent with one another? Rather than one being a reduction of the other, they are complimentary to one another in order to open up a new analysis of interdependencies between form and function, program and space, and architecture and urbanism.

“Function does not follow form, form does not follow function -- or fiction for that matter -- however, they certainly interact…If shock can no longer be produced by the succession and juxtaposition of facades and lobbies, maybe it can be produced by the juxtaposition of events that take place behind these facades in these spaces...If architecture is both concept and experience, space and use, structure and superficial image -- non-hierarchically -- then architecture should cease to separate these categories and instead merge them into unprecedented combinations of programs and spaces. Crossprogramming, transprogramming, disprogramming: these concepts elsewhere, suggesting the displacement and mutual contamination of terms.”****

* “Konzept Stadien,” Detail Magazine (September 2010).** “Konzept Stadien,” Detail.*** “Konzept Stadien,” Detail.**** Bernard Tschumi, Event-cities: Praxis. (Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1994).

20 RESEARCH

URBAN SPORTS CULTURE USING SPORT AS A MOTOR FOR URBAN DEvELOPMENT

* Luis Alonso, María Molsosa, and Ariadna Àlvarez. Sportectura: Arquitectura Y Deporte. (Barcelona: Alonso, Balaguer Y Arquitectos Asociados, 2007), 53.** “Houston, TX | Bid City | Go USA Bid,” http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/houston-tx/.

The notion of “cross-programming” with stadia is hardly a new idea. The infusion of retail, office, commercial shops, hotels, convention spaces, and many other programs has almost become the norm for newly built sports venues in the past decade. The problem is that the focus of these additional spaces is to generate revenue and attract consumers rather than engage the surrounding community. Embracing the adjacent neighborhoods opens up the possibilities for stadia to address the street creating a mutual interaction between sports and city. Urbanism is not about just having diverse amenities and programs, but facilitating how these spaces connect, interact, and depend on each other.

In looking at the polysemic nature of sport and understanding the multifarious functions of stadia, the parallel relationship between the city and sport becomes apparent. Like parks, plazas, transit corridors, and other public spaces, sports venues are as successful as their integration with the surrounding city. Therefore, stadia should address urban infrastructure and its complex conditions like any of the aforementioned places would. Generally, stadiums are found on the peripheries of cities and if centralized are often insulated from the community. Why do cities have the desire to steer large mobs away from dense areas? If sports centers were better integrated with the urban fabric, there would be a renewed importance and sport would become part of everyday life. A centrally located program gives way to a better quality of community involvement. “The rise in urban sport goes hand in hand with quality of life.”*

Growing the game of soccer in Houston wouldn’t just have an effect on the city’s urbanism but also have a profound impact on the city’s culture, enthusiasm, and understanding of sport. The success of Houston’s Major League Soccer (MLS) team, the Dynamo, has already peaked interest in the sport throughout the city in their short existence. With two titles in just five years since their inaugural season in 2006, the fan base and subsequently the attendance has steadily grown year after year. Not unlike its host city, Dynamo fans are diverse, “an extraordinary melting pot of races and religions, ethnic and national origins, languages and beliefs.”** Dynamo games are a commonplace where these eclectic groups can ban together and celebrate their differences, share their passions, and unite in a common faith.

The introduction of sports into urban culture universalizes leisure time, making bystanders not just spectators but participants in the activity. Sport penetrates through society, obtainable beyond social class, sex, age, and race. In the same spirit, stadia should be equally accessible to the city creating a regular flow of people no matter weekday or weekend, day or night, event or non-event.

21RESEARCH

SYNTHESIS THE FUTURE OF STADIA

“The man who has no imagination has no wings.” - Muhammad Ali

There is no doubt that the goals of this thesis are lofty, but when the scale of architecture is enlarged so too should the ambition. Though often personified as overpaid, narcissistic, and selfish, if anyone knows how to set themselves a distant goal and postpone gratification it’s athletes. If planners, architects, urbanists, builders, business executives, politicians, and economists had the same resolve and determination as athletes, what could cities look like?*

However, the real question is what is the future of stadia? What if it were a multifunctional center for sport, culture, leisure, entertainment, technology, work, play, fitness, infrastructure, and tourism don’t just exist, but integrally coexist forming an urbanism within urbanism? Essentially, a self-contained stadium that has all the functions of a city that plugs in with the existing urban fabric. It’s not a matter of structural intricacy, technical complexity, media facades, colossal video screens, or outlandish box suites but addressing missed opportunities and exploiting the unfamiliar within the all too familiar conditions that plague the city of Houston.

“Only the design can embody the assignment and make it tangible. Only the design can sharpen the minds, foster the speculative power and boost the courage that is indispensable for tackling the assignment.”**

* Maas, Joubert, Bouman, Dings, Giudici, and Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games, 12.** Maas, Joubert, Bouman, Dings, Giudici, and Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games, 16.

22 RESEARCH

SPORT

URBAN CULTURE

ARCHITECTURE

23RESEARCH

WHY EAST DOWNTOWN?

HISTORY

CONTEXT

SITE PLAN

LAND USE

OPEN SPACES

PATHS

LANDMARKS

STADIA USAGE

DEMOGRAPHICS

SITE PHOTOS

SITE 02

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EAST DOWNTOWN: THE ANATOMY OF A COMMUNITY WITH NO IDENTITY.

WHY EAST DOWNTOWN? REDEFINING A COMMUNITY

The site will be the same as the intended Dynamo proposal, the tract of 6 vacant lots bordered by Texas, Dowling, Walker, and Hutchins. There is great potential within this site, a chance to redefine a neighborhood with no distinctiveness and energize a seemingly underperforming area marked by the surrounding venues. This proposal should understand and embrace the following site conditions and use them as design opportunities to simultaneously enhance the project and its adjoining community.

26 SITE

HISTORY CHINATOWN THEN...

EADO NOW

In the 1930s, Cantonese Chinese immigrants relocated from downtown to the east side in search of cheaper land. They opened restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses, and Vietnamese and other Asian immigrants joined them in the following decades.* In the early 1990s, the Chinese business owners once again left for cheaper land in the newly expanded southwest region of Houston forming a new Chinatown in Bellaire. More importantly, many of these entrepreneurs suffered from an abandoned downtown after weekday business hours and saw more opportunity in the suburbs. From the gold columns and Chinese pagodas of the Meridian to the Kim Hung Market to various Asian lunch buffets, architectural remnants of the old Chinatown are still scattered about but the identity is far removed from the east side.

Ever since the relocation of Chinatown east downtown has lost its sense of place. Not unlike Midtown and Washington Avenue, this is an area in transition. The community still has an industrial edge to it with the abundance of warehouses, some occupied some abandoned, but in recent years the area and its residents have started a campaign to redefine itself. “EaDo,” short for East Downtown, has been the new brand touted by real estate marketers, in hopes of cleaning up the community and attracting new businesses.

* “Chinatown No Longer: Call It EaDo, as in East Downtown,” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6673050.html.

27SITE

59

45

DOWNTOWN

THIRD WARD

EAST END

DOWNTOWN

45

45

59

59

10

10

610

288

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES, EDGES, & ADjACENCIES

No longer Chinatown, not really the warehouse district, not considered apart of the third ward; this is a community that desperately needs an identity. Geographically there is great potential, it’s situated between the ship channel and downtown and it has immediate access to every major transportation artery in the city.

28 SITE

DOWLING

WALKER

TEXAS

HUTHINS

TEXAS

WALKERHUTC

HINS

DOWLIN

G

600’

960’

SITE BOUNDARY & DIMENSIONS

BIRD’S EYE vIEW OF SITE

SITE FROM DOWLING TOWARD DOWNTOWN

29SITE

SITE

TEXAS

WALKER

DOWLIN

G

BAST

ROP

59

CAPITOL

RUSK

MCKINNEY

LAMAR

DALLAS

ST. E

MANU

EL HARRISBURG

PRAIRIE

parcelsbuilding footprints10’ setbacksite boundary

0’ 100’ 500’

SITE PLAN FOOTPRINTS, SETBACKS, PARCELS, & ROADS

30 SITE

SITE

TEXAS

WALKER

DOWLIN

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BAST

ROP

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CAPITOL

RUSK

MCKINNEY

LAMAR

DALLAS

ST. E

MANU

EL HARRISBURG

PRAIRIE

parcelsbuilding footprints10’ setbacksite boundary

0’ 100’ 500’

N

LEGEND

31SITE

59

45

COMMERCIALMULTIFAMILY SINGLE FAMILY GOVERNMENTALINSTITUTIONALINDUSTRIALVENUES

LAND USE TRENDS IN DEvELOPMENT

LEGEND

The principal land use in East Downtown is light industrial and commercial warehousing. Some of these warehouses are still in use by local businesses, some are occupied by artists who have retrofitted them to function as live-work studios, and the rest remain vacant and unused.* Some of the other land uses include restaurants and stores leftover from the original Chinatown that sell ethnic groceries and supplies. The most recent development in the area is marked by generic multi-family housing projects by private developers.

* Management Districts. Gensler. “TIRZ 15 Visioning Session,” http://www.houstonlwsforum.org/designCompetition/Urban%20Redevelopment/TIRZ15Perspective.pdf.

32 SITE

Land-Use - Residential

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TIRZ

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• The housing in the area is a mix of new 3-story townhomes and low-rise apartment buildings.

• Single family homes, built in the first half of the century have fallen into disrepair, and are making way for current development.

• Pockets of residential zones are spread throughout the TIRZ, and usually only take up a 2-3 block radius.

• The "Lofts at Ballpark", a 375 unit apartment complex with an internal parking garage, is complete and occupies a 3-block area between Rusk and Texas streets.

• The Stanford Condominiums on Texas and Dowling streets is near completion.

Leeland St + Ennis St McKinney St + Hutchins St

McKinney St + Hutchins St Dallas St + Palmer St

Land-Use - Commercial

Gen

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TIRZ

15

Visi

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• Retail establishments and restaurants are scattered throughout the district along St. Emmanuel.

• Independently owned local restaurants pepper the area, drawing crowds from the nearby Central Business District during the weekdays.

• Parking Lots take up a large portion of the real estate nearest to Minute Maid Park.

• Certain establishments, like Warehouse Live, have their own following and bring people from all areas of town.

Walker St + St Emanuel St McKinney St + St Emanuel St

Dowling St + Leeland St Chartres St + Jefferson Ave

Land-Use - Industrial

Gen

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TIRZ

15

Visi

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• Several warehousing and distribution busi-nesses located towards the south end of the district are thriving because of their central location and excellent highway access.

• Warehouses abutting new townhomes are a common sight.

• Many of the warehouses are not in use or in need of rehabilitation.

• Since Houston’s Port moved further south, the area is no longer in need of so many shipping and storage facilities. Many of them can be repurposed for residential or commercial uses.

Chartres St + Preston Ave Hutchins St + Bell St

Hutchins St + Lamar Ave McKinney St + Delano St

RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL

• The housing in the area is a mix of new 3-story townhomes and low-rise apartment buildings.

• Single-family homes, built in the first half of the century have fallen into disrepair, and are making way for current development.

• Pockets of residential zones are spread throughout the area and usually take up a 2-3 block radius.

• The “Lofts at Ballpark”, a 375 unit apartment complex with an internal parking garage, is complete and occupies a 3-block area between Rusk and Texas streets.

• The Stanford Condominiums on Texas and Dowling streets is near completion.*

• Retail establishments and restaurants are scattered throughout the district along St. Emmanuel.Independently owned local restaurants are scattered throughout the area, drawing crowds from downtown during the weekdays for lunch.

• Maasive parking lots take up a large portion of the real estate nearest to Minute Maid Park.

• Small venues, like Warehouse Live, have their own following and bring people from all areas of town for live music shows.*

• Several warehousing and distribution businesses located towards the south end of the district are thriving because of their central location and excellent highway access.

• Warehouses adjacent to new townhomes are a common condition.

• Many of the warehouses are not in use or in need of rehabilitation.

• Since Houston’s Port moved further south, the area is no longer in need of so many shipping and storage facilities. Many of them can be repurposed for residential or commercial uses.*

* Gensler, “TIRZ 15 Visioning Session.”

33SITE

59

45

OPEN SPACES FROM vACANCY TO OPPORTUNITY

A significant portion of the land is either undeveloped or consists of vacant, abandoned structures in serious need of repair.* Approximately 5.5 million square feet of land is unused within the confines of EaDo, or roughly 64 regulation size soccer fields. It’s important to think of these dead spaces as opportunities, opposed to vacancies, to propose and transform into new uses and programs.


34 SITE

360’240’

x 64

5.5 MILLION SQ FT OF VACANT LAND

35SITE

AUTOMOBILE

59

45

METROEXISTING RAILWAYBUS ROUTES FREEWAYSBIKE PATHSPEDESTRIAN CORRIDOR

PATHS THE CHANNELS IN WHICH PEOPLE TRAvEL

LEGEND

East Downtown is characterized by a lack of or inadequate, aging infrastructure and tremendous under-utilization of land. The District is accessed from IH10, IH45, US59 and SH288.* Many of the primary roadways within the District have access to one or more of these highways. While the neighborhood has sufficient access through the city’s largest arteries, this infrastructure disconnects East Downtown from its neighboring communities. The new stadium is a possibility to repair infrastructure and provide new opportunistic connections.


36 SITE

AUTOMOBILE BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN

BUS ROUTES EXISTING RAILWAYS • METROrail’s proposed Brown Line will

add a stop at Texas & Bastrop adjacent to the site.

• Will make the area highly accessible to all residents within the loop.

• The new stadium and metro line create significant obstacle for drivers between downtown and the East End.

• The idea is to make Texas alongside the stadium a two-way street.

• Texas gets two eastbound traffic lanes, two westbound traffic lanes, and two light rail tracks to fit in the existing right of way.

METRO • Since the area was a big shipping inlet

in the past, many of the roads start and stop where they intersect the railyard.

• As the need for industry decreases in the area so to will the use of this heavy rail line.

• This could potentially be a pedestrian corridor, like New York’s High Line, for connectivity and recreational activity.

• The stadium has little impact on existing bus routes.

• New stops will likely be added along Dowling, specifically for event days.

• The site is bound by highways 59 and 45.• The main streets carrying through traffic

have fair pavement conditions, but a few of the roads have been allowed to deteriorate severely.

• Dallas and portions of Hutchins have been neglected the most, as compared with the surrounding streets.

• Excepting Chartres, the N-S streets within EaDo remain 2-way.

• E-W streets between Leeland and Rusk are 2-way.

• Access and speed of traffic are important considerations for future development.

• The hope for the neighborhood is to boost the pedestrian character and bike culture.

• The proposal to widen sidewalks not only gives the opportunity for outdoor seating and cafes, but potential for bicycle lanes.

• Most planned bike paths run parallel to bus lanes.

• Corridors to connect people who work downtown.

• Short bike commute between Downtown and East End.

• A promenade consisting of shops, restaurants, and commercial space is planned along Bastrop and is on axis with the Southern end of the Dynamo Stadium.

• Rather than obstructing the pedestrian axis between the new boulevard and the metro stop, the stadium can be used to bridge the two destinations.


37SITE

59

45

1

2

3

4

6

5

LANDMARKS IDENTIFIABLE OBjECTS & REFERENCE POINTS

In just a ten-block radius from the site Houston boasts major attractions like Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, George R. Brown Convention Center, and Discovery Green. The flawed approach by many of Houston’s city planners was to build these large venues as an incentive, like the carrot at the end of a stick, in hope for surrounding development but little has come to realization in the area. Conversely, what if city planners decided what they wanted to accomplish first and then design these landmarks to better suit these goals?

38 SITE

1

3

4

321

654

T

HE SITE

39SITE

TOyOTACeNTer

STADIA USAGE WHAT ELSE CAN STADIA DO FOR ITS CITIES?

A white elephant is an expression for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth.* The city’s current dilemma of what to do with the vacant Astrodome is a prime example of this idiom. In recent years, venues have expanded to accommodate a wider variety of events but really only to provide for other types of events. There is so much more possibility to maximize these enormous structures. Can these places accommodate the city’s infrastructure, provide public facilities, or even protect the environment?

* “White Elephant,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant.

40 SITE

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

reLIANTSTADIuM

MINuTeMAID

TOyOTACeNTer

rOberTSONSTADIuM

WeeKeND

WeeK VS.

38% 30% 49% 28%62% 70% 51% 72%

eVeNTS Per MONTH

SPOrT FAMILy CONCerT eXHIbITIONeVeNT TyPe

HOuSTON SPOrTS VeNue ANALySIS

RELIANT STADIUM ROBERTSON STADIUM MINUTE MAID BALLPARK TOYOTA CENTER

Architect: PopulousLocation: One Reliant Park Houston, TXYear: 2000Surface: GrassCapactiy: 71,500Cost: $352,000,000Brief: The stadium is the home of the National Football League’s Houston Texans, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Texas Bowl, host to many international soccer matches for the USA National Soccer Team and other events. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004.

Architect: Harry D. PayneLocation: 3874 Holman St. Houston, TXYear: 1941Surface: GrassCapacity: 32,000Cost: $650,000Brief: Robertson Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston located on the campus of the University of Houston. It is the home of the Houston Cougars football and women’s soccer teams. The stadium also hosts home games for the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer, which began play in the 2006 season.

Architect: PopulousLocation: 501 Crawford St. Houston, TXYear: 1997Surface: GrassCapacity: 40,950Cost: $250,000,000Brief: The ballpark was Houston’s first retractable-roofed stadium, protecting fans and athletes from Houston’s notoriously humid weather as did its predecessor, the Astrodome, but also allowing fans to enjoy outdoor baseball, the Houston Astros, during favorable weather.

Architect: Populous/MorrisLocation: 1510 Polk St. Houston, TXYear: 2001Surface: Multi-PurposeCapacity: 19,000Cost: $202,000,000Brief: The Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Houston, Texas. The arena is home to the Rockets of the National Basketball Association, the principal owners of the building, and the Aeros of the American Hockey League.

41SITE

DEMOGRAPHICS HOW CAN EADO ABSORB HOUSTON’S UNIQUE CHARACTER?

Touted as one of the best cities in the country to live, work and play, Houston is a thriving urban metropolis that supports some of the most vivid cultural art and culinary scenes in the country. Home to a respected and energetic cultural arts scene, celebrated restaurants featuring flavors from 35 countries, the world’s largest medical center and the brains behind United States space exploration, Houston is as diverse a city as they come.”* Sadly, East Downtown lacks the diversity that the rest of the city boasts through a lack of amenities and underutilization of space. How can EaDo become more of a sponge to Houston’s unique culture?

* “Houston, TX | Bid City | Go USA Bid,” http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/houston-tx/.

42 SITE

WHITE BLACK HISPANIC

WHITE

ASIAN

BLACK

HISPANIC

WHITE

ASIAN

BLACK

HISPANIC

HOUSTON [2010]* EADO [2010]*

EADO [2000]* EADO [2010]*

10%20%30%40% 40%30%20%10%

$27,240$44,315HO

uSTO

NVS

. eAD

O

1 OuT OF 5 PerSONS Are uNeMPLOyeD IN eADO*MeDIAN HOuSeHOLD INCOMe*

* Harris County Appraisal District. <http://www.hcad.org/>.

43SITE

SITE PHOTOS WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY LOOK LIKE?

44 SITE

45SITE

THE STRATEGY

USER GROUPS

THE PROGRAM

PROGRAM 03

48

50

58

3

* “Philosophy: Marazzi + Paul Architects.” Http://www.marazzi-paul.com/index.php?id=86&L=1.

PRO

“ARCHITECTURE EXISTS THROUGH THE DIvERSITY OF PROGRAMS WHICH IT CONTAINS.”* M

THE STRATEGY CREATE DIvERSE SYNERGIES THROUGH PROGRAMMATIC INTERvENTIONS

An important part of this thesis is to examine and understand the diversity of stadium programs. Through an intensive analysis of social, economic, and functional factors, the goal is to consolidate varied programs with new complex programs and spatial compositions. When considering these compositions, it is important not to look at the single functions individually, but rather in interaction with many other functions.* These series of programmatic interventions provide the city and its people with the opportunity to benefit from diverse synergies. A strong project is radical, putting forward the event as a catalyst for new urban life.** It should embrace the complications posed by placing a large venue in a dense environment and focus on how to entwine the stadium with the urban fabric.

The program is flexible space.

Typically stadia program is broken down into eight main user groups but through a series of programmatic interventions the user groups are redefined:

1. Spectators2. Operations3. Participants4. Media5. Administration6. Circulation7. Services8. Site**

* “Philosophy: Marazzi + Paul Architects.” Http://www.marazzi-paul.com/index.php?id=86&L=1. ** Maas, Joubert, Bouman, Dings, Giudici, and Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games, 12.*** John Geraint, Rod Sheard, and Ben S. Vickery. Stadia: A Design and Development Guide. (Oxford: Architectural, 2007).

1. Community2. Amenities3. Recreation4. Arts & Entertainment5. Commercial6. Infrastructure7. Environment & Energy8. Ecology

48 PROGRAM

SPECTATORS

ADMINISTRATION

SERVICES PARTICIPANTS

SITE OPERATIONS

CIRCULATION MEDIA

STADIUM

COMMUNITY

COMMERCIAL

ENVIRONMENT& ENERGY RECREATION

ECOLOGY AMENITIES

INFRASTRUCTUREARTS &

ENTERTAINMENT

DYNAMOSTADIUM

TyPICAL uSer grOuPS

reDeFINeD uSer grOuPS

49PROGRAM

COMMUNITY SPECTATORS*

Spectators are a crucial user group, not only providing the economical support but the spiritual and social cohesion that keeps these venues and franchises afloat. Seating is a vital component to the fan experience and is traditionally accommodated by reconciling comfort, safety, robustness, and economy. While still considering these factors, this project proposes a fifth dimension, diversity. Stadiums have always been places that shamelessly divide its spectators into various class systems, this project will attempt to capitalize on such diversities in the seating and sight lines.

• General Seating• Brief: Provide seats or standing places for the spectators in a way that they have a

clear and comfortable view of the event, yet give the spectators diverse and unique perspectives within their different seating zones.

• Programmatic Intervention:• The seat is no longer judged solely by its location in respect to the field but its views

with respect to the city, variation in seating type, material, and fixation.• Private Viewing & Facilities

• Brief: These are unique spaces in stadiums defined by the standards of comfort and refreshments facilities, but restrained by the willingness or ability of people to pay for the benefits. Since the demand for these spaces varies from person to person the spaces should be flexible, not just for interaction between the box and lounge, but for interaction between suite and stadium. Spaces include:• Lounge area with self-contained bar and kitchen• Box/platform for viewing• Private restroom

• Programmatic Intervention:• Suites can also function as commercial space• Hosting small conferences, meetings, and accommodating out of town guests• Tourists can rent a hotel and watch the event from their room• Spectators can become residents on non-event days

* Geraint, Sheard, and Vickery, Stadia: A Design and Development Guide.

50 PROGRAM

AMENITIES OPERATIONS*

By nature stadiums have a natural captive market, when people come to enjoy the leisurely event there are operational amenities to ensure spectators needs and wants. Conversely, when stadiums are not in operation these markets, jobs, and revenues are inexistent thus missing out on additional economy. How else can these support spaces be utilized and accommodate influxes of people on non-event days?

• Concessions• Brief: Concession stands shall be located at all concourse levels and appropriately

distributed along the concourse level.• Programmatic Intervention:

• Restaurants, cafes, and bars will serve as the concessions• Run by local business owners/managers who share profit with the team on event days• Concessions remain open to the city throughout the week• Provide greater diversity and quality of food• Various types of concessions from quick-service outlets to sit-and-eat areas• Watch the event, eat, and socialize

• Ticket Sales Offices• Brief: Ticket offices should be evenly distributed around the site and clear to crowds

leaving and approaching the stadium. The windows should be 30 feet away from entry gates so that circulation is not obstructed.

• Programmatic Intervention:• Ticket offices typically remain open throughout the week for sales but can act as

general information hubs for the venue throughout the week.• Souvenir Shops

• Brief: These retail outlets are meant to provide visitors with the opportunity to take a memento to commemorate the event, however these spaces also contribute to the financial viability of the stadium.

• Programmatic Intervention:• Integrated with other types of retail shops and stores• Provide an enticing variety of retail outlets that can function independently of the

stadium’s events.• Stadium Museum

• Brief: Museums are an additional program that can supplement the visitation of the stadium. Can showcase photographs, trophies, awards, records, and memorabilia to tell the story of the sports franchise.

• Programmatic Intervention:• Provide temporary and rotating exhibitions of other cultures that appeal to a wider

spectrum of people.• Local Art, History of Houston, Exhibits for children, etc.

• Restrooms• Brief: Toilet rooms shall be provided for men and women at every concourse level and

appropriately distributed. The ratio of spectators to fixtures shall be based on 50% male and 50% female attendance. Fixtures shall be provided based on the following ratios:• Male (12 restrooms)

• 1 urinal per 100 men = 100 urinals• 1 WC per 500 men = 20 WCs• 1 sink per 300 men = 35 sinks

• Female (12 restrooms)• 1 WC per 90 women = 110 WCs• 1 sink per 200 women = 50 sinks


51PROGRAM

RECREATION PARTICIPANTS*

Every stadium must accommodate for the participants in the events held at the venue. This user group includes players, coaches, staff, and officials. Most of the accommodations will concentrate on the requirements of the home team because they will use the facilities on a regular basis for training. However, the utilization of these facilities typically does not match up with the number of its users therefore through a series of programmatic interventions this venue intends to expand these facilities to the public, turning spectators into participants.

• Home Locker Room• Brief: Spaces include:

• Locker room including 30 – 42”x36” lockers and stools.• Shower, toilet room, sauna, steam bath and drying area. 10 showerheads, 4 water

closets, 4 urinals, 8 lavatories and mirrors shall be provided. • Head Coaches’ locker, shower, and toilet. Lockers for 5 coaches, 2 showers, 1 water

closet, 2 urinals, and 2 lavatories shall be provided. • Equipment storage, plumbing and electrical rough-in for laundry equipment shall be

provided.• Visitor Locker Room

• Brief: Spaces include:• Locker room including 25 – 42”x36” lockers and stools.• Shower, toilet room, sauna, steam bath and drying area. 8 showerheads, 3 water

closets, 3 urinals, 6 lavatories and mirrors shall be provided. • Head Coaches’ locker, shower, and toilet. Lockers for 5 coaches, 2 showers, 1 water

closet, 2 urinals, and 2 lavatories shall be provided. • Officials’ & Staff Locker Room

• Brief: Separate locker rooms shall be provided for men and women.• Locker room including 15 lockers• 5 showers, 2 urinals, 2 water closets, and 2 lavatories with mirror and shelf for men. 5

showers, 4 water closets, and 2 lavatories with mirror and shelf for women. • Programmatic Intervention:

• Locker rooms can also serve the recreation center.• Training Room

• Brief: A large training room to be used for preliminary warm-up exercises.• Programmatic Intervention:

• Participants’ facilities double as a recreational center for the public• Activity spaces include: Water (swimming, hydrotherapy pools, spas, saunas),

Basketball Courts, Cycling/Spin, Racquetball/Handball, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Boxing, Fitness (aerobics, yoga, dance, karate, judo), Weightlifting, Running (track, cardio machines), Rock Climbing, Wrestling, Soccer

• Meeting Rooms• Brief: Rooms hold meetings and screenings for coaches, staff, and players meeting and

are equipped with projection screen, writing and tackable surfaces.• Programmatic Intervention:

• Meeting rooms can also be used as educational and teaching facilities• Night classes, cooking classes, day care center, etc.• Classrooms (6)• Multipurpose Rooms (2)


52 PROGRAM

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA*

Facilities for the media are an integral part of the stadium, allowing the press to provide information to the public through various mediums. Coverage of sports has expanded tremendously over the past 20 years through radio, television, newspapers, and the Internet to become a much larger portion of human culture. With rapid changes in technology and an increasing interest in media coverage, these spaces should be flexible to members of the media and accessible to the people that they serve as well.

• The Press Facility• Brief: It’s important to group these facilities near the participants for ease of

communication between the two groups• Programmatic Intervention:

• These highly equipped and technical spaces can act as media galleries, cinemas, and recording studios for the public during non-event days• Press Box

• Brief: Stations for writers and media member shall be provided. This area shall contain built-in writing counter, seating, electrical and telephone outlets, sound system and closed circuit television. Coat racks and lockable book lockers for writers will be provided.

• Broadcasting Booths• Brief: Broadcasting booths suitable for TV or radio with built-in counters, special

acoustical treatment on walls and ceiling, and operable sash.• Coaches

• Brief: Spaces for home and visiting team coaches, 5 seats each, shall contain built-in writing desks and telephone connections to player benches and operable sash.

• Scoreboard Control• Brief: This space shall be provided with built-in writing counters. All wiring,

control panels, and other equipment required for operation of the scoreboard equipment and instant replay boards.

• Public Address Announcer• Brief: This space for announcer and assistants with built-in counter will contain

all controls required for a public address system serving the entire stadium. Public address booth to have operable sash.

• Conference & Interview Room• Brief: Interview space for television broadcasts shall be provided convenient

to both home and visitor’s locker rooms. This room shall be accessible by television cable tray and electrical requirements shall be provided.

• Press Club• Brief: For press personnel, this facility shall contain dining facilities seating

approximately 175 persons and rough-in plumbing and electrical service for food and beverage service. The space shall be adjacent to the working press area in the press box.

• Equipment Storage• Brief: Adequate space for sound system, telephone, electrical, and television

equipment shall be provided.• Restrooms

• Brief: Toilet facilities for the press shall be provided for men and women, including attendant closet.


53PROGRAM

COMMERCIAL ADMINISTRATION

The majority of administrative personnel to be accommodated will be those employees responsible for the day-to-day running of the stadium, and for administration of the Houston Dynamo. However, these spaces should be flexible to expand to various other commercial uses.

• Team Management Office• Brief: Administrative space for the home team and the stadium operation shall provide

for reception, general offices, executive offices, marketing and administrative offices, conference rooms, and restrooms. The entrance to the administrative offices and the ticket office shall be located at the ground level and shall be accessible to the public.

• Programmatic Intervention:• General work spaces (offices, conference rooms, etc.) can be made available to the

public for leasing• Can be for related or unrelated companies and institutions


54 PROGRAM

INFRASTRUCTURE CIRCULATION

People should be able to find their way to their seats and the other public facilities easily, without getting lost or confused. Circulation spaces should act like boulevards that connect people to retail, concessions, and various other spectator services within the stadium as well as work with the existing paths and urban patterns.

• Entrances & Gates• 8 Public Entrances• 1 Private Entrance• 1 Media Entrance• 1 Participants Entrance

• Brief: Gates should be spaced around the circumference at regular intervals to avoid congestion and maintain a regular crowd flow.

• Programmatic Interventions:• Entrances regulated for events, but permeable to the city on non-event days• Nodes to connect auto, metro, pedestrian, and bicycle paths

• Main circulation around the stadium• Concourses• Vomitories• Seating Gangways


55PROGRAM

ENvIRONMENT & ENERGY SERvICES

The stadium service facilities are the engine that keeps the venue running properly and shall be located within the stadium as appropriate. Access by service vehicles shall be provided to all facilities. These facilities shall relate to the freight elevators provided within the stadium.

• Trash• Brief: Provide two mechanical, self-loading trash compactors, one wet and one dry,

permanently located at the exterior of the stadium near the loading dock to process all refuse.

• Janitor• Brief: Provided for storage of equipment and materials required for maintenance of the

playing field. General lighting and security fence shall be provided. This area must be within the stadium and adjacent to the playing field.

• Storage• Brief: Enclosed space shall be provided for storage of items used within the facility. Space

to be secured by chain link fencing and provided with general lighting.• Mechanical Room

• Brief: Space for mechanical, electrical, sound, scoreboard, and telephone equipment shall be provided as required throughout the stadium. Hose bibs and electrical outlets for cleaning stadium seating, ramps, and concourses shall be included. Drains and downspouts shall be provided for removal of water from cleaning or precipitation in open-air concourses, ramps, and stadium seating bowl.

• Loading Dock• Brief: Two truck docks with manual dock levelers and locks shall be provided at

the entrance to the service area. The dock shall be adjacent to the concession and maintenance facilities, and adjacent to a freight elevator.

• Security & Communications Room• Programmatic Intervention:

• The stadium can act as a power plant• Producing energy for itself• Clean/renewable energy (solar, wind, etc.)


56 PROGRAM

ECOLOGY SITE

Traditionally stadiums were a modest facility with a capacity of a few hundred, serving a small community and forming of the social fabric not unlike churches, town halls, and bars. As the popularity of sports has grown so too have its venues therefore requiring greater external planning. With the addition of vast parking lots and monotonous landscaping, the once intimate feeling between the community and the stadium has been eliminated. How can stadia reestablish the relation with its surroundings while accommodating modern sports culture?

• The Playing Field• Brief:

• Host Dynamo soccer and TSU football• A venue for trade fairs, conventions, exhibitions, concerts

• Programmatic Intervention:• Trails, parks, paths, playscapes• Gardens, wetlands, soil reclamation, habitats, agriculture• Plazas, cafes, retail, hotels, entertainment, public art• Possible through overlaps in program with auxiliary functions of the stadium listed

below.• Parking

• General Car Parking• 1 parking space/20 spectators = 1000 parking spaces

• Private Car Parking• 100 parking spaces

• Bus/Media Trailor Parking• 50 parking spaces

• Landscaping


57PROGRAM

THE PROGRAM SPACES, SIZES, & QUANTITIES

SPECTATORS General SeatingPrivate Suites

Loungeviewing PlatformRestroom

OPERATIONS Ticket Sales OfficesConcessions (Restaurants)Concessions (Kiosks)Souvenir ShopsStadium MuseumRestrooms

PARTICIPANTS Home Locker Room

Locker Room (30 Lockers)ShowerCoaches’ Locker Room (5 Lockers)Equipment StoragePlayers’ Lounge

visitor Locker RoomLocker Room (25 Lockers)ShowerCoaches’ Locker Room (5 Lockers)

Official’s and Staff Locker Room (2)Locker Room (15 Lockers)Shower

Training RoomActivity/Workout SpaceLobby/RecpetionLocker RoomsAdministrative OfficesEquipment StorageLaundryMedical Examination Room

Meeting Rooms

SPACES UNIT AREA (SQ FT) QUANTITY

20,00035

8305020

124

11111

111

22

11241118

TOTAL (SQ FT)

4300275100

25

120500150

5005,000

500

2,000500500

1,000500

1,500300300

800200

40,0001,0001,000

200500500

1,500500

80,00010,500

96015,000

7,50010,0005,000

12,000

2,000500500

1,000500

1,500300300

1,600400

40,0001,0002,000

800500500

1,5004,000

90,500

50,460

58,900

58 PROGRAM

ADMINISTRATION Team Management Office

ReceptionExecutive OfficesMarketing/Administrative Offices (Open Workspace)Conference RoomGeneral OfficesRestrooms

MEDIA Press Facility

Working PressBroadcasting BoothsCoachesScoreboard ControlPublic Address AnnouncerConference & Interview RoomPress ClubEquipmentRestrooms

MOvEMENT Entrances/Gates

PublicPrivateMediaParticipants

Circulation (10%)

SERvICES MechanicalSecurity & Communication RoomLoading Dockjanitor & Stadium PersonnelTrash

SITE Playing FieldParking

General Car Parking Private Car Parking Bus Parking

Landscaping

TOTAL

1,000500

1,500500

1,000250

1,000300200300100

10,0001,500

500250

100,000TBD

1,000 10050

TBD

1,00025001,5002,000

10,0001,000

1,0001,200

400300100

10,0001,500

5001,000

18,000

16,000

30,000

20,000

100,000

600,000 SQ FT

1514

104

142111114

8111

59PROGRAM


MASSING STUDY

MASSING 04

62

64

4

PLACING THE PROjECT WITHIN ITS CONTEXT.

0TEXAS

PARKING

WALKER

DOWLIN

G

BAST

ROP

59

CAPITOL

RUSK

MCKINNEY

LAMAR

DALLAS

ST. E

MANU

EL HARRISBURG

PRAIRIE

0’ 100’ 500’

N


62 MASSING

TEXAS

PARKING

WALKER

DOWLIN

G

BAST

ROP

59

CAPITOL

RUSK

MCKINNEY

LAMAR

DALLAS

ST. E

MANU

EL HARRISBURG

PRAIRIE

0’ 100’ 500’

063MASSING

MASSING STUDY


64 MASSING

65MASSING

OLYMPIC GAMES

NL28 OLYMPIC FIRE

FK PARTIZAN STADIUM

HUA QIANG BEI ROAD

FILMPLEX

PRECEDENTS 05

68

70

74

76

80

5

PRECEDENT

CASE STUDIES & EXAMPLES

OLYMPIC GAMES BARCELONA & LONDON

Location: Barcelona & LondonYear: 1992 & 2012 (Respectively)Program: Sports Venues, Olympic Villages, Urban Planning, Infastructure, Reuse

Analysis:“Wherever sport takes place they leave a huge footprint: they can change the appearance of a city, as in Barcelona; improve its infrastructure, as in Munich and Athens; or put a city and country on the global map, as occurred with Sydney and Australia.”*

While not exactly an architectural precedent, the Olympic Games have the ability to transform their host city. The celebration of the 1992 Olympic Games had an enormous impact on the urbanism and external projection of the city of Barcelona. The Games enabled billions in investments in infrastructure that are considered to have improved the quality of life and attraction of the city for investments and tourism, making Barcelona become one of the most visited cities in Europe after the games.

Prior to its award as the host of the Olympics Barcelona had organized and mapped out an elaborate and ambitious urban plan. The city’s official nomination and acceptance enabled the plan and sparked redevelopment throughout the city. Barcelona was opened to the sea with the construction of the Olympic Village and transformed decayed neighborhoods to create the Olympic Port. Various new centers were created, and modern sports facilities were built in the Olympic zones of Montjuïc, Diagonal, and Vall d’Hebron. The construction of ring roads around the city helped reduce the density of the traffic, and El Prat airport was modernized and expanded as two new terminals were opened. New hotels were built and some old ones were refurbished.**

Essentially, sports was used a motor urban development and sparking development that bettered the city. Similarly if East Downtown Houston set forth a plan and vision for the local community, the Dynamo Stadium could be the centerpiece that sparks redevelopment. A sports venue should work with the city in order to push and encourage positive change.

In recent years the focus of Olympic Games has broadened, proposals don’t just outline plans and infrastructure for the duration of the events but for the city’s post-use of these new monuments. For instance, the 2012 Olympic Games will use a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities. London is clearly aware of the financial irresponsibility and urban conflicts that a large stadium requires. Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others, including the 80,000 seat stadium, will be reduced in size or relocated elsewhere in the UK.*** The plans are part of the regeneration of neighborhoods in East London that will support the Olympic Village.

While the Dynamo Stadium has much different conditions than modern Olympics Games, similar strategies can still be used. In this project there is no “post-use” but rather a “concurrent-use,” which looks for simultaneous relationships between the city and stadia. By successfully integrating the two, the differentiation between urban activity and sporting activity is blurred.

* Maas, Joubert, Bouman, Dings, Giudici, and Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games, 14.** “1992 Summer Olympics,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Summer_Olympics.*** “2012 Summer Olympics,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics.

68 PRECEDENTS

69PRECEDENTS

NL28 OLYMPIC FIRE MvRDv

Location: The NetherlandsYear: 2028 (Conceptual)Program: Sports Venues, Olympic Villages, Urban Planning, Infastructure

Design Brief:“The Olympic Games, which will be held in Holland in 2028, constitute a mega-event on an almost unimaginable scale. Sport, the economy, city marketing, urban development and even regional and national development are fundamentally affected. Organizing the event can strengthen the identity of a country and put major spatial planning problems on the agenda--or even solve them. Based on studies from the Netherlands’ foremost centers of urban studies, the Academy of Architecture Rotterdam and the Berlage Institute, as well as the imaginative power of the world-famous Rotterdam based architecture firm MVRDV, NL28 Olympic Fire offers a parade of spectacular visions for how the Olympic Games can transform Holland.”*

Analysis:Olympic Fire is an amazing vision of how the Olympic Games can transform an entire nation. The visioning is preceded by an exhaustive research of Olympic historical timelines and trends as well as political, economic, media, environmental, lifestyle, cultural, and spatial trends in the Netherlands. MVRDV’s strategy is to examine and understand these complex problems and then use the architecture and urban planning of the Olympic Games as tactics to resolve these issues. The visions range from the radical (a “Drive-In Stadium” where every spectator comes by car) to the inspiring (the “Bridge Games” where the venues span across waterways to act as bridges for pedestrians and automobiles).

The proposal for Dynamo Stadium should take on a similar strategy by using the complications found in the site, program, urban patterns, sport, and architecture as opportunities for design intervention.

* Maas, Joubert, Bouman, Dings, Giudici, and Bemont, NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games.

70 PRECEDENTS

71PRECEDENTS

72 PRECEDENTS

73PRECEDENTS

FK PARTIZAN STADIUM MARAZZI+PAUL ARCHITECTS

Location: BelgradeYear: 2007 (Preliminary Design)Program: Soccer Stadium, Mixed-Use Development

Design Brief:“The Partizan football club in Belgrade is one of the two most famous teams in Serbia. The legendary club has a huge fan-base and is playing first division football as well as competing in international games such as the Champions League. The goal and idea of this project development was to plan a new multifunctional stadium for FK Partizan that would bring the club and the location up to the level of today’s international standards.

The new project proposes tearing down the existing 1946 stadium and building a new 36,000-seater football arena with additional elements that will help to finance the project and also create a modern center in the neighborhood. The 12.5 hectares of land will include a large commercial area, a five-star hotel, a business center, multiplex cinema, nine tennis courts and around 400 apartments.”*

Analysis:Similar to the Dynamo proposal, the aim of Marazzi+Paul’s Partizan stadium is to seamlessly integrate retail, commercial, recreational, and other enticing programs with stadium in order to increase usage throughout the week. However, the proposal lacks a connection with the surrounding area. There seems to be no evidence, in the design or the architect’s description, of addressing the context of the neighborhood or even the team’s history. While this project can act as an inspiration and precedent for integrating atypical programs into a stadium, there is little to be taken concerning site integration.

* “Philosophy: Marazzi + Paul Architects.” Http://www.marazzi-paul.com/index.php?id=86&L=1.

74 PRECEDENTS

75PRECEDENTS

HUA QIANG BEI ROAD WORK AC

Location: Hua Qiang Bei, ChinaYear: 2009 (In Progress)Program: Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Institutional, Retail

Design Brief:“WORKac recently won an invited competition to redesign a 1-kilometer section of Hua Qiang Bei Road. Hua Qiang Bei has emerged naturally from an industrial district to become Shenzhen’s premier shopping and electronics street. This success has also unfortunately created traffic problems, and the street needs a new contemporary expression to reflect its destination status. A single solution – as proposed by Shenzhen’s Planning Bureau – that covers the entire length of the street, could overwhelm this vibrant character. For this reason, we proposed a series of strategic interventions, rather than a single approach.”*

Analysis:The success of WORK’s strategy in this project is to address the different “layers” of the urban fabric in order to resolve the complex program. The top “layer” consists of five iconic “lanterns” that twist the required program into bands, creating unique, visible destinations. These lanterns are high enough to maintain views across the street, while still providing shade and bridge connections. At night, the Lanterns glow with colored light and activity. Each Lantern contains special destination public programs. From an electronics museum at the south, to an urban information hub in the electronics district to an elevated public park at the center, a “figure eight” observation pavilion and a fashion and design museum at the north.* The middle “layer,” or street level, is nearly left alone with exception of some additional landscaping, lighting, and seating in order to enhance the bustling boulevard. The bottom “layer,” or underground, contains new connective spaces to provide public amenities such as a public library, a food court, and a series of performance and gallery spaces. The underground also provides connections across the street and between four newly created metro lines.

Like Hua Qiang Bei Road, Dynamo Stadium can use architecture to address urban problems. Rather than disrupting the existing conditions, architecture can weave around, through, above, and below the site to create the required spaces while minimally disrupting and even enhancing the existing conditions.

* “Hua Qiang Bei Road — Work Architecture Company,” http://work.ac/hua-qiang-bei-road/.

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77PRECEDENTS

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79PRECEDENTS

FILMPLEX LTL ARCHITECTS

Location: Cooper Square, NYYear: 1998 (Conceptual)Program: Cinemas & Video Stores

Design Brief: “The public spectacle of movie-going and the individual ritual of video selection are spliced together along a continuous seam, allowing for visual, auditory, and spatial exchanges. Individual movie theaters are stacked with their screens forming an animated façade. The video store sneaks into the movies, occupying the space between the stacked theaters. When seen from the video store, the current movies are framed as previews for forthcoming video releases.”*

Analysis:The architecture of Lewis Tsurumaki Lewis (LTL) looks to maximize the opportunities within their projects by looking for overlaps in form, space, material, and budget.** Filmplex, one of the firm’s early works, is an example of the potential of opportunistic architecture. Programmatically, LTL combines the related programs of a video store and cinema but accomplishes this through relationships in form and spatial overlaps. The video store is situated beneath the slopes of the theater floors so that video store customers are given a preview of upcoming movie releases. Even the restrooms are given a one-way view into the theaters so that moviegoers will not a miss a minute of the film. Perhaps, one of the most important principles of LTL’s work is their contention for engaging the urban environment with architecture. In this project, the continuous surface of the façade is an extension of the public sidewalk providing a clear and striking entrance and transition from outdoor city space to the filmplex. The surface of the facade continues to loop back and forth up the building to create the supplemental programs: video arcades, popcorn vendors, pre-movie waiting, and even loitering.

In a similar manner, this proposal aims to look for consistency, cohesion, continuity, and unity not only within the program but also in the venues relationship with the surrounding public. The programmatic interventions are early attempts at “opportunistic architecture” but the project’s greatest challenge is to engage and seamlessly integrate with the urban environment.

* Lewis, Tsurumaki, and Lewis, Situation Normal, 72.** Lewis, Tsurumaki, and Lewis, Opportunistic Architecture, 6.

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WHAT IS STADIA?

THE CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION 06

84

90

6

con

sion PUTTING IT TOGETHER.

CELEBRATION STADIA IS...

It’s important to understand that the central use of this stadia is still to support the team, administration, and its fans. In addition to Dynamo soccer games, the stadium can host TSU football games, outdoor sporting events, trade fairs, conventions, exhibitions, and concerts.

Issues: Under-use, specificityGoals: A community and social gathering space, flexible to a wide spectrum of events and activites

84 CONCLUSION

URBANISM STADIA IS...

Stadia can be a catalyst for urban development, challenging the surrounding community to diversify its amenities through overlaps in program with the auxiliary functions of the new venue.

Issues: Lack of amenities and 24/7 activity Goals: Mixed-use amenities, pedestrian activity

85CONCLUSION

The highway underpass is certainly a ubiquitous condition throughout Houston. As freeways cut through the city grid and urban fabric, the concrete structures rise, delaminating themselves from the land creating grand dark places below. Buffalo Bayou Park follows the bayou west of downtown, cutting a path through the city only floods and waters can bridge. The park is shaped by the roads surrounding it rather than the nature contained within it. In the same spirit, this project aims to energize and transform these dead urban spaces.

THE UNDERPASS

RECREATION STADIA IS...

In addition to the entertainment they provide, sporting events encourage and inspire public health. East Downtown is full of such venues but these places do not have the facilities to fulfill the spectators desire to be active.

Issues: Obesity, stress, healthGoals: Create trails, parks, paths, and playscapes that encourage wellbeing.

86 CONCLUSION

NATURE STADIA IS...

From the rise of global temperatures to shortages of natural resources, it’s no secret that contemporary culture puts a serious strain on the environment. What if the stadia were an example of how ecology can be infused into the urban environment? A symbol of this generations’ preoccupations and hopes for a better and different future.*

Issues: Global warming, diminishing natural resourcesGoals: Softening hardscapes, new nature

* Work Architecture Company, “PF 1 — Work Architecture Company,” http://work.ac/pf-1/.

87CONCLUSION

REjUvENATION STADIA IS...

From the city and its constituents alike, there is rightful reluctance and restraint to build new sporting venues in the current economy. The city has protested new tax packages and, understandably since Houston already has the financial burden of the vacated Astrodome. Stadia should look for optimistic economies that can benefit the surrounding community to infuse a new life into abandoned and vacant spaces.

Issues: Cost, taxesGoals: Re-use of abandoned facilities and vacant land

88 CONCLUSION

INFRASTRUCTURE STADIA IS...

Rather than creating space that disconnects the city, stadia can be public space that also acts as infrastructure for pedestrians, bikes, cars, and public transit.

Issues: Obstruction and hindrance to traffic patterns, suburbanization. Goals: Repair disconnected paths, create new opportunistic connections

89CONCLUSION

URBAN CULTURE

ARCHITECTURE

SPORT

WHAT IS SPORT? WHAT IS STADIA?

SITE OPPORTUNITIES

REDEFINED USERSTYPICAL USERS

SITE CONSTRAINTS

PLAYORGANIC

INSTITUTIONWELLBEING

URBAN SPECTACLEUNIVERSAL

SITE ACCESSIBILITYFREEWAYS ACT AS BARRIERS

LACK OF 24/7 ACTIVITYNO IDENTITY

HIGH LAND COSTSUNEMPLOYMENT

INSULATED LANDMARKSLAND VACANCIESTRAFFIC VOLUME

INDUSTRIAL LAND

SPECTATORSOPERATIONS

PARTICIPANTSMEDIA

ADMINISTRATIONCIRCULATION

SERVICESSITE

CELEBRATIONURBANISMRECREATIONNATUREREJUVENATIONINFRASTRUCTURE

INTERESTING HISTORYDIVERSITY & CHARACTERMIXED-USE AMENITIESPEDESTRIAN ACTIVITYPATH CONNECTIONS (BIKE, CAR, & METRO)SOFTENING WITH TREES AND LANDSCAPINGDEVELOPING UNDERUTILIZED SPACESBROADER APPEALPUBLIC SPACERELATIONSHIP WITH COMMUNITY

COMMUNITYAMENITIESRECREATIONARTS & ENTERTAINMENTCOMMERCIALINFRASTRUCTUREENVIRONMENT & ENERGYECOLOGY

PROGRAM

SITE

RESEARCH

CONDITIONS STRATEGIES

THE CONCLUSION USING RESTRAINTS AS STRATEGIES FOR DESIGN

90 CONCLUSION

URBAN CULTURE

ARCHITECTURE

SPORT

WHAT IS SPORT? WHAT IS STADIA?

SITE OPPORTUNITIES

REDEFINED USERSTYPICAL USERS

SITE CONSTRAINTS

PLAYORGANIC

INSTITUTIONWELLBEING

URBAN SPECTACLEUNIVERSAL

SITE ACCESSIBILITYFREEWAYS ACT AS BARRIERS

LACK OF 24/7 ACTIVITYNO IDENTITY

HIGH LAND COSTSUNEMPLOYMENT

INSULATED LANDMARKSLAND VACANCIESTRAFFIC VOLUME

INDUSTRIAL LAND

SPECTATORSOPERATIONS

PARTICIPANTSMEDIA

ADMINISTRATIONCIRCULATION

SERVICESSITE

CELEBRATIONURBANISMRECREATIONNATUREREJUVENATIONINFRASTRUCTURE

INTERESTING HISTORYDIVERSITY & CHARACTERMIXED-USE AMENITIESPEDESTRIAN ACTIVITYPATH CONNECTIONS (BIKE, CAR, & METRO)SOFTENING WITH TREES AND LANDSCAPINGDEVELOPING UNDERUTILIZED SPACESBROADER APPEALPUBLIC SPACERELATIONSHIP WITH COMMUNITY

COMMUNITYAMENITIESRECREATIONARTS & ENTERTAINMENTCOMMERCIALINFRASTRUCTUREENVIRONMENT & ENERGYECOLOGY

PROGRAM

SITE

RESEARCH

CONDITIONS STRATEGIES

91CONCLUSION

7

resources

BIBLIOGRAPHY & CITATIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY RESOURCES & WORKS CITED

• Luis Alonso, María Molsosa, and Garreta Ariadna. Àlvarez. Sportectura: Arquitectura Y Deporte. Barcelona: Alonso, Balaguer Y Arquitectos Asociados, 2007. Print.

• Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, and David J. Lewis. Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis: Opportunistic Architecture. Chicago: Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, 2008. Print.

• Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, and David J. Lewis. Situation Normal--. New York: Princeton Architectural, 1998. Print.

• John Geraint, Rod Sheard, and Ben S. Vickery. Stadia: a Design and Development Guide. Oxford: Architectural, 2007. Print.

• Road Sheard. Sports Architecture. London [u.a.: Spon, 2001. Print.

• Tschumi, Bernard. Event-cities: Praxis. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1994. Print.

• Winy Maas, Marc Joubert, Ole Bouman, Mieke Dings, Maria Giudici, and Jane Bemont. NL28 Olympic Fire: Future Games. Rotterdam: NAi, 2008. Print.

• Jenalia Moreno. “Chinatown No Longer: Call It EaDo, as in “east Downtown” | Business | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle.” 404 Error, No Such Article | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6673050.html>.

• Richard Connelly. “Say Hello to EaDo - Houston News - Hair Balls.” The Houston Press Blogs. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/02/say_hello_to_eado.php>.

• “Hua Qiang Bei Road — Work Architecture Company.” Work Architecture Company. <http://work.ac/hua-qiang-bei-road/>.

• “PF 1 — Work Architecture Company.” Work Architecture Company. Web. <http://work.ac/pf-1/>.

• “Marazzi Paul Architekten AG Show New Design Concept for Partizan Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia (RS).” Europe Real Estate - Home. <http://www.europe-re.com/system/main.php?pageid=2616&articleid=15577>.

• “Philosophy: Marazzi + Paul Architects.” Http://www.marazzi-paul.com/index.php?id=86&L=1. Web.

• “Konzept Stadien.” DETAIL.de - Architekturportal Und Architekturzeitschrift Mit Informationen Und Tagesaktuelle Meldungen Zu Architektur, Baurecht, Bauphysik Sowie Konstruktionen. Web. 28 Sept. 2010.

• “Houston, TX | Bid City | Go USA Bid.” Go USA Bid: Bring the FIFA World Cup Back to the United States in 2022. Web. <http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/houston-tx/>.

• Management Districts. Gensler. “TIRZ 15 Visioning Session,” http://www.houstonlwsforum.org/designCompetition/Urban%20Redevelopment/TIRZ15Perspective.pdf.

94 RESOURCES

• “1992 Summer Olympics.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Summer_Olympics>.

• “2012 Summer Olympics.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics>.

• “Polysemy.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy>.

• “White Elephant.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant>.

• “Why Do We Play?” <www.ssc.wisc.edu/~jpiliavi/647/lect1white.pdf>.

• EaDo - East Downtown Houston. Web. <http://www.eadohouston.com/>.

• Harris County Appraisal District. <http://www.hcad.org/>.

95RESOURCES

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Documents

Soccer City