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Roaming Porches

 Roaming Porches

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY   |   SPRING 2018

professor: stefan gruber | TEACHING ASSISTANT: Paul Moscoso Riofrio

studio MEMBERS: Victor Acevedo, Rebecca Baierwick, Serra Cizmeci, Irfan Hader, Xiaoyu Jiang, June Kim,

Isadora Martins, Yue Pan, Katelyn Smith, Jessica Sved, Aditi Thota

How can a small move make change at the scale of an entire neighborhood?

Carnegie Mellon’s Urban Acupuncture studio worked as a team of 11 students, one professor, and one assistant professor to develop a series of “roaming porches,” or small classrooms on wheels, for the Manchester Academic Charter School in Pittsburgh, PA. A series of workshops with alumni, conversations with faculty, and careful study of the site drove the trajectory of the project.

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community context

Once a well-to-do suburb of an industrializing Pittsburgh, Manchester’s rich history has followed a developmental pattern not unfamiliar to the city. Due to its geographically and infrastructurally isolated location, white flight, and general disinvestment, Manchester’s population declined in the mid-20th century, peppering the neighborhood with vacant lots which continue to multiply to this day. Thankfully it was declared a historic district in 1975, which has been an asset especially in recent years as property values have begun to climb dramatically in the entire city. 

In a changing neighborhood, long-standing institutions such as the Manchester Academic Charter School have the opportunity to help ground the community in its rich past while preparing its students and Manchester for a successful future. Our studio was challenged to address MACS’s relationship to Manchester as a whole as we designed and constructed an outdoor element for their use. 


Photo courtesy of Urban Acupuncture Studio.

Photo courtesy of Urban Acupuncture Studio.

Design and Communication METHOD

Throughout our design process, we had the privilege of working with middle-school-age alumni who could reflect upon their time at MCS as a whole. The primary tool of communicating with these students was six student-led workshops. The first four workshops helped us narrow in on a specific project, and the final two helped us define more precisely the nature of that project. 

Photos courtesy of Urban Acupuncture Studio.

We kicked off the series of workshops with icebreakers, exploring the neighborhood together, and reflecting on the students’ relationship with their community.

We kicked off the series of workshops with icebreakers, exploring the neighborhood together, and reflecting on the students’ relationship with their community.

MACS alumni wrote letters to their future self and some conducted interviews with family and friends. They also explored precedents as a way to define what they would like to see on the school’s property.

MACS alumni wrote letters to their future self and some conducted interviews with family and friends. They also explored precedents as a way to define what they would like to see on the school’s property.

Programming: With the help of craft supplies and a rendering of the MACS property, CMU and MACS students worked together to get more specific about programming of playscape.

Programming: With the help of craft supplies and a rendering of the MACS property, CMU and MACS students worked together to get more specific about programming of playscape.

MACS students helped guide our studio’s design of several potential structures.

MACS students helped guide our studio’s design of several potential structures.

 

MIDREVIEW test-fit

For the first half of the semester, our class explored a wide range of methods of approaching the site. The 6 proposed projects included playscapes made from recycled materials; acquisition and partial renovation of a nearby vacant building; and the re-configuring circulation of cars, school buses, and parking. My partner Serra Cizmeci and I developed an easily-constructed system of wooden modules that can be (reconfigured) for a variety of academic and recreational uses.

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One of the many signature Manchester porches.Photo courtesy of Urban Acupuncture studio.

One of the many signature Manchester porches.Photo courtesy of Urban Acupuncture studio.

TRANSITION TO the “final product”

The eleven members of our studio then chose a single proposal to develop to fruition. In preparation for Midreview, several of my classmates had been inspired by a conversation with a MACS alumnus who talked about the vital role of porches as a space in which his family connects with neighbors.

 The intricately detailed porches of the Manchester Historical district are a trademark of the neighborhood. Their preservation and historical significance helped the neighborhood maintain its architectural identity through decades of disinvestment, violence, and urban blight.

Using the students’ anecdotes and these architectural gems as inspiration, my classmates had begun to develop a series of Roaming Porches which could serve as a series of traveling classrooms, playgrounds, libraries, work stations – the possibilities were endless. Due to their mobility, the porches could also be used to activate empty lots by drawing attention to overlooked spaces and sparking conversation. Based on feedback from the client and feasibility studies, our studio voted to make this proposal a reality.

The studio split into three different groups, which each developed the design for, and managed the construction of, a single Mobile Porch.

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developing the wheels

A key element of this construction was the wheels, which would allow our “porches” to “roam”. I led the investigation into which types of wheels would be ideal; selected and purchased bicycle tires and wheels; designed the wheels’ connection to each porch structure; custom-fabricated steel joints with the generous help of Carnegie Mellon’s National Robotics Engineering Center; selected all relevant hardware; and installed the wheels onto each of the three porches.

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LABORATORY CONSTRUCTION

Collaborators: Katelyn Smith, Jessica Sved, Xiaoyu Jiang

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Our core team of four students developed a Laboratory “Roaming Porch” for hands-on play and learning. In the improvised student skits that we orchestrated in workshop 5, our student actors displayed a passion for the environment and a knack for scientific demonstrations. This inspired us to develop a space and tool for active learning .

Our design features a water table, with which students can pour water into Pittsburgh’s iconic three rivers; a recycled water jug (using harvested rainwater, or hose water if/when the supply runs dry); and steel restaurant trays collect runoff water, rocks, sand, and other play materials. The table accommodates a variety of table heights for a variety of ages and abilities. An aquaponic system of planters encourages an understanding of the Pittsburgh landscape both at the scale of the city, and at the scale of a single plant.

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FINISHING THE PORCHES

Construction of each porch was a team effort: each of my classmates refined their construction and design skills, project management, budgeting, and other facets of implementing projects in real time.

EARTH DAY SHOWCASE

MACS holds an annual Earth Day event, so we made it our goal to construct two of the three porches in time for the event, and held crafting activities at the event as well. The event was well-attended and the community was thrilled to explore the use of the Roaming Porches both in and outside of the classroom.

Photos courtesy of Urban Acupuncture Studio. Special thanks to the Manchester Academic Charter School.

EPILOGUE

The third of our three porches was completed after the Earth Day showcase and remained on Carnegie Mellon’s campus for our final review, after which it was transported to its permanent home at MACS. The review enriched our semester-long conversation about the power of small-scale interventions on a larger urban scale. As of fall 2019, the three porches continue to be used regularly by MACS students and faculty.

Photos courtesy of the Urban Acupuncture Studio.

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