Post Mid-Review Project Statement

My project has been developed to be a direct response to a study of the physical necessities of cars when they are able to circulate freely in an area. Circulation should be the 'driving' force in the design of this particular type of architecture because gas stations are essentially a place for a several cars filled with people with different needs, some just want to park and go to the store, some peoples gas tanks are located on the right side of their cars and some on the left, some enter one way and want to exit the same way while others will surely have different desired paths, and some people forget which side of the car their tank is on and will have to make an unexpected switch up; and everyone's in a hurry! There are just so many variables, so my response has been to study the few things we can know for sure, the size of cars, and their comfortable turning radii, and develop an architecture that is a response to this. The rings above are meant to be a reflection of these circulating paths, as well as respond to the scale of activities that happen beneath them. Now that i've done these studies of what the car wants, i would like to go forward by letting the architecture push back a little bit and trying to manipulate the circulation a little to make it a smoother experience for the user.

I think this approach has been most influenced by the themes of associating the car with architecture in multiple ways that have popped up when readings talked about buckminster fuller and in my precedent research. His dymaxion ideas were heavily influenced by the production of cars. This architectural relation to car is present in LeCorbusier's writings and work as well. He said that architecture, like cars, needs standards to progress. And his early incorporation of the car into the architecture through garages and the use of the turning radus of the car to derive a form.