The Forum
Identity is defined as the characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is. It is an aggregation of the values, morals, and beliefs held by an entity. This includes not only what something is, but how it views itself and is viewed by the world around it. Encompassing the physical, cultural, and social dynamics of an area, the identity of a city is what makes it "unique and distinctive." Furthermore, the identity of a city provides “harmony between ‘constant’ and ‘changing’ elements.” (Kevin Lynch, Image of the City (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1960)) In a time of urban regeneration and rapid change, it is the concept that bridges new and old to maintain a holistic sense of place, allowing people to connect to both their surroundings and communities on an emotional level as well as physical.
THESIS
In Wichita, city identity is tied closely to an agricultural economy and a history of entrepreneurship. However, this has withered over the past decades primarily due to the sweeping autocentricity of the city. Attempting to combat the communal disconnect this has caused, The Forum seeks to revitalize Wichitan identity by interweaving surrounding landmarks to create walkable, social spaces refocused on human experience. Addressing the physical, cultural, and social aspects of identity, it seeks to reconnect both people and community landmarks in addition to re-establishing a definitive sense of place.
In considering how to accomplish this, The Forum pulled heavily from a prevailing archetype of social spaces that has endured throughout much of history: the Roman forum. Centrally located and built with distinctive architecture, the forum stood out as a prominent landmark, easily reached from any corner of the city on foot. It was then programmed mainly as a marketplace to provide services that would necessitate pedestrian traffic. Beyond this, the open square also acted as a gathering place for interaction and discussion, marking the forum as a central feature in roman life.
Delano
Downtown
Delano
Downtown
Old Town
Grocery Stores
Keeper of the Plains
Exploration Place
Library
Century II
Baseball Stadium
Physical
Placed at the junction of two primary roads, the forum was a central node for every Roman civita.
Social
The forum marketplace provided both necessary commodities and a sensory rich communal environment.
Experiential
The forum was also popular, in part, due to its proximity to other prominent landmarks and its inherently social nature.
SITE
Located in the Delano district just east of downtown, the site is surrounded by prominent streets, landmarks, and new developments that place it in a favorable position to be highly trafficked by foot. Also, in connecting the two districts, it has the opportunity to act a lynch-pin between east and west Wichita, stitching together both the community and the larger city.
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Programmed mainly around a public market/business incubator, the site also hosts two public plazas, a grocery store, restaurants, and retail shops to create a thriving location for local entrepreneurship and personal interaction.
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Site Plan
1 Public Market 2 Pedestrian Plaza 3 Restaurants 4 Retail Shops 5 Event Plaza 6 Covered Outdoor Seating 7 Green House 8 Mixed Use Grocery Store and Apartments 9 Event Venue 10 Steps to Riverwalk
Following the example of the Roman forum, the project employs concepts of walkability, assembly, and designing for human experience to harmoniously balance the physical, social, and emotional requirements necessary to create an enduring landmark.
Site Diagrams
Precedent Studies
Ground Level
Specialty Food Stores
Eateries
Restaurant & Culinary Classroom
Level II
Business Incubation Services
Restaurants
Retail
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Ground Level
1 Atrium 2 Eateries 3 Specialty Food Stores 4 Culinary Classes 5 Restaurant
Eateries
Atrium
Restaurant
Using food and retail services as an impetus for community interaction, The Forum acts a public market and business incubator. Upon entering, a visitor will find themselves deposited in a social atrium that acts as a central node, unifying all programmatic elements and circulation paths for both the building and site. Floor plans are then organized in concentric circles around the atrium, with food services on the first floor and retail/business services on the second.
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Second Level
5 Restaurant 6 Aquaponics Greenhouse 7 Outdoor Terrace 8 Retail Start-Ups 9 Retail Stalls 10 Business Incubation Services
Business Incubation Services
Retail Stalls
Terrace
Tectonics
Addressing the idea of “harmony between ‘constant’ and ‘changing’ elements,”(Lynch, Image of the City) the structure itself seeks to establish a defined character while still allowing for concordant adaptation. As such, it is wrapped in facades of local limestone that reference the historical use of stone in Wichita while also creating a dignified and durable shell. In contrast, the interior is composed of a steel frame that allows for more flexibility while steel canopies create a modern, relaxed atmosphere.
Stone
Steel
Atrium
Eastern Approach (Riverwalk)
Walkability - The site provides open, protected spaces that extend through the permeable market, and connect to the river and a preexisting trail to establish an east to west pedestrian corridor that links foot-traffic to both Delano and Downtown and compliments the north to south corridor paralleling the river.
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Eastern Approach (Event Plaza)
Assembly - Two plazas on either side of the market build usable spaces into the existing circulation paths. The eastern event plaza is a large, open space meant for farmer's markets, large gatherings, and community events. In contrast, the western pedestrian plaza is an enclosed green space that provides a greater degree of privacy and solitude for individuals and smaller groups.
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Southern Approach (Douglas Avenue)
Experience - Designed to reengage the public with their surroundings, a pedestrian experiences the building differently from any direction they approach. In a wrapping pattern beginning on the north facade and moving around to the east, each side of the building gradually opens up with more glass and successively larger modules of stone. The north and south facades have simple, but prominent designs geared towards the module of the car and the streets they face, while the east and west facade are more intricate and finely detailed to cater to human interaction.
Western Approach (Pedestrian Plaza)
Program
The Roman forum, as an ideal space of trade and assembly, has propagated throughout the centuries due to food’s lasting impact on culture, community, and commerce:
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“…Food continues to play a highly visible role in public life in cities throughout the world, meeting people’s need for sustenance, sociability, and entrepreneurship, and generating a sensory-rich feeling of vitality.”
(Karen A Franck, “The City as Dining Room, Market, and Farm,” Architectural Digest (2005))
While other entertainment or shopping venues are visited sporadically, food plays a consistent role in daily life. Although Delano may be an up-an-coming district in the city of Wichita, the lack of public assembly spaces leaves it disconnected and underutilized. More than ever, there is a need for concentrated social programs to balance new developments and sustain growth.
This dichotomy of the vertical stone facades in contrast to the horizontal steel canopies creates a processional flow of spaces, functions, and experiences which unify into a harmonious but diverse narrative that encourages both circulation and socialization. Through this unification of constant and changing elements at multiple scales, The Forum is established as a lasting structure which might reinvigorate the identity of Wichita.