Masters Thesis Project

Project idea

2. While the strength and successes of U.S. industrial towns were built on its resources, once these resources and companies failed the town often failed and was left to decline with numerous empty industrial buildings. This condition is clearly evident in cities like Detroit and Hartford as well as many other cities who have seen their industry leave. We need to rethink this condition by adapting these formal industrial buildings and their memories by creating a system that will allow for multiple smaller companies to occupy these buildings and to establish an industrial eco-system of exchange while helping to propel a new source of making and learning that will allow the city to grow and keep from failing again.

Project description

• By looking at the history and the memories of a formal industrial building, its past uses, and its failures, we can start to come up with ways to address the problem of why buildings fail. My main strategy is to take the fractal idea and to apply it to a formal industrial building as a way of subdividing it for the use of multiple smaller companies instead of just one. • In this case I am looking at a formal glass and metal factory in Hartford CT and looking at its past and adding a new roof design, and flexible 3D printed glass and metal wall panels. The latter being made inhouse by each small company that moves in. • On the left of this slide is a look at how the building has changed and how I am continuing in that change, this time by allowing for multiple companies to occupy the building instead of just one. Looking at the building in Hartford - It was a Glass factory and a metal warehouse, among other uses. - A few pictures of the building that I am looking at This building sits close to four universities and multiple k-12 schools. • It also has two entrances (one from the street and one from an old train line) • Along the train line as you can see are multiple abandoned or empty warehouses and factories

Technical information

My design proposal is to reactivate this site through a new makerspace and train station that would allow for multiple smaller companies to grow and succeed and keep the city from failing again. • a train station would allow for the transporting of materials to the makerspace • As for the other sites I am proposing to bring these formal buildings back through new glass structures that would be used for more work space and display / exhibit space focused on a new ways of resilient making. • For the makerspace I am adding multiple collaboration spaces with smaller company / group spaces as well as spaces for display and exhibit space. • Also looking at what machines that might be in each of the five machines rooms. • And at who might use the maker space