Jocelyn WU | WU STUDIO
Associate ASLA LEED
Master of Landscape Architecture 

This project is located on 721 N. Main. St. Ann Arbor, about 25mins’ walk from UM central campus. The surrounding provides a good atmosphere for arts with design shops around and music festivals going on in the Water Hill neighborhood. My main theme for the design is to make it an art center. And in the meanwhile, connect the site with the proposed greenway and the community both physically and culturally.

 

There are four entrances designed in total. The main entrance is from N. Main St. A parking lot is placed near the entrance and the proposed building to separate vehicles and pedestrians. The second entrance is for pedestrians and the service truck on the north from Summit St. The southern entrance and entrance from the greenway are pedestrians only.

 

Making use of the existing landform, and getting inspirations from the shape of neuron (as known to all, artists are sometimes neurotic), I wanted to use a bridge to connect the three entrances and created a second floor space, which included the space of the building roof. The building roof is triangle-shaped, and the bridge and green roof could be viewed from Summit St. and the greenway to attract people in.

 

My major design is this neuron-shaped bridge, the site design would be shown according to the relationship with the bridge.

 

Firstly, above the bridge or from top of the roof, people could enjoy views of the railroad and colorful houses in the distance. There are seating and platform provided for resting and gathering both on the roof and on the bridge. The rendering shows red benches; and seating wall on the bridge with reed, grasses planted. The path on the roof is of same elevation with the bridge.

 

Then, under the bridge, there are mainly plants with paths cutting through. Small musical gatherings and activities could be held there. The ground floor is more natural with plants and wetlands. People could take a walk, or play by the water. Also, there are terraces under the bridge on the north for urban farming display. Terraces on the south are created for people to sit, observe nature and chat. On the ground floor, there are two proposed buildings after removing the older ones. The smaller one is a café with outdoor sitting area. It’s open to the north. People walking from Summit St. could notice the area and attention could be drawn inside the site. The café serves people from the greenway and artists from the other building.

 

The ground floor and second floor are connected by stairways where the paths go across the bridge and where bridge ends on the east. I got the inspiration from a Nobel Prize wining literature named 1Q84. In this book, the stairway is a gateway connecting the two parallel worlds, the reality and the fiction. Here, the stairway is like a connection of people and nature.

 

All in all, the site is designed for artists and people from the neighborhood, and in the meanwhile, having taken considerations of sustainability as well during the design process.