Midterm Review

Our blog has been needing an update. Rest assured, in the absence of posting anything we have been hard at work on the project we have now shortened to “Fish.Brew. Minneapolis”.  Today was the midterm review. Without elaborating too much, the review went well and the feedback was productive for us. The jury was engaged in what we feel our project is concerned about – namely, how can architecture challenge the current nature of production and consumption processes through a saltwater fish farm and microbrewery on the same site, on the river in Minneapolis. How architecture can engage the public throughout the process of production and enrich the experience of consumption and how that engagement extends to a site so that the river might become a place for the community once again. We’re pretty tired right now so I think i will go ahead and post images of the work with more explanation to follow soon (we will be working on our written summaries).

david j. and jen johansson

 

 

P.S. Bonus pics below of Home Brew

David kegging home brew ‘Oil Slick Oatmeal Stout’

Home brew flight : ‘Oil Slick Oatmeal Stout’, English Pale Ale, 12 Gage 12 Grain Porter

Kyle with home brew beer flight. Ready for a tasting.

Things Not Previously Published

These are images that were presented at our first review that were not previously presented via the Fish.Brew.Bamboo wordpress site.

program areas depicted in circles – dashes indicate indoor program

iteration 5 analysis of spatial implications

iteration 6 analysis of spatial implications

iteration 7 analysis of spatial implications

iteration 8 analysis of spatial implications

iteration 9 analysis of spatial implications

illustration showing possible circulation paths for touring, dining and working at the site

iteration 9 process illustration

aerial shot of massing for an early iteration of the design

north/south section facing west – fish tanks brewery spaces

west/east section facing north – mill tower, brewery, restaurant spaces

The Latest

After our first review on the 13^th, we took a step back to digest the critique and refocus our goals. Diving back into design, we have considered the site flows more wholly, asking questions regarding flows of vehicular, pedestrian, and biker traffic as well as flows of industry over the site. We have considered the site lines and designed obstacles for viewing to create a focal point/scene. If the goal for the site is to contain public friendly industry we must have ways to allow public access and ability to walk through, but also create intrigue to pull visitors into the program.

We have also circled back to re-examine the driver of the program and design as there was critique centered on the strength of the premise. We needed a clearer understanding of what our numbers and data were based on. (Some visuals to illustrate this are in the works.) We are letting the salt-water fish farm (the innovative piece to the program) be the driver to sizing the rest of the program.

Another thing we are really trying to get a handle on is how the process really might inform the architectural design moves. Integrating into this is how the process of circulating the public through the design is affected by or affects the spaces of the different industry types. There are a lot of potentially vertical components to these industries that we plan to explore so that the ground level can be largely about the public. See the below sketch and diagram for a visual explanation.

flood lines becoming pedestrian paths – hops rows creating visual site lines – general focus toward silos from site

Program/Process Spatial Diagram – Simple – vertical processes with public access at ground level

Program/Process Spatial Diagram – Medium – public access begins to occupy vertical spaces, interacting more with process

Program/Process Spatial Diagram – complex – public access cross all program at ground level as well as vertically and on various levels

Last Friday we attempted to summarize our position at this point in a four-page document: Click the link below to see this summary. *note- this draft is the start of what will become our full project summary at the end of the semester.

4PageProjectSummary

Our SLAM Presentation

Last Friday the Masters Final Project students presented their work in a ‘slam’ format for the entire class. We each had 3 minutes to communicate our vision of what our projects were and what direction we thought we’d be taking throughout the semester to push our design ideas. It was a really good chance to be able to see what everyone is doing and also great practice and being succinct and to the point.

Below is the script that we used for our presentation. The “*” means that we changed the slide on the pdf presentation, which is included in this post. Enjoy!

 

“This project stems from a desire to explore the opportunities that emerge from considering three separate industries in the context of one another. * The industries of fish farming, beer brewing, and agriculture have been historically important and remain relevant today, with both beer brewing and agriculture already having rich ties to the city of Minneapolis. * We are interested in proposing a new Architectural, Ecological, and Financial model as a means of bringing these industries back into the city. * By looking holistically at the three processes, we hope to find synergies that will begin to remake our river edge into an industrially relevant, ecologically healthy, and community welcoming place.

 * We are locating our project several blocks northwest of the Lowry Bridge within the context of, and as a compliment to TLS and KVA’s RiverFirst proposal for revitalizing the Minneapolis riverfront. * We intend to work at the scale of our 12 acre site and at a 1:1 scale of personal, human interaction * – proposing not only the design of the project but also imagined scenarios for its users. * Starting with precedent processes and technologies from each industry to guide us, we hope to present propositions, which expand each industry’s current practices, and to test the architectural implications that emerge from such scenarios. * By programming social activities of eating and drinking within the project, we plan to challenge the current distance between our culture’s production and consumption.

* We propose:

• a fish farm that is a humane habitat for fish with potential to engage our community while providing the FIRST source of fresh saltwater seafood in Minneapolis.

* We propose:

• a brewery that adds to the strong local beer community currently in Minneapolis, while introducing new ways for consumers to engage with craft beer and its making

* We propose:

• urban agriculture that becomes the source of produce for the onsite brewery and restaurant in addition to beautifying the river’s desolate landscape

* Finally,

We propose:

•A place for people who use the RiverFIRST parkway system as well as people who enjoy good beer, fresh seafood and appreciate locally sourced operations – a place that welcomes and encourages community engagement, contains locally supported systems and weaves together industry.”

Johansson_Jen_Dave

Preparing for the SLAM

Flying Dog – UnderDog Atlantic Lager – this is a great session beer – light and refreshing with a crisp hop character

This picture was taken on a brew day – one must brew with a beer in hand 😉 – the three beers Dave and Mike Pittman brewed that day are coming up on bottling/kegging time. We’ll be tasting for quality a week or so after that – should be swell!