by pdgaither

My Previous post looked at the new design I have developed for the final. Below are a few images of the new model I have built to further represent my ideas as I make the final push for the final review. At our peer review, I focused on material selection for the building as well as perspective views I wish to show. They will help with the relationship of the architecture to the landscape and how the two work together. Digressing to the idea of material, I am using stacked stone on the flat wall portions of my building and where the building curves I am using either a zinc paneling or a composite aluminium panel.

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by pdgaither

          

     

This set of images deal with the massing model that I developed for mid-term that is an old scheme. There were kinks within the plans that I was working out as far as circulation and manipulating some of the support spaces. The short of it ends up being that I have developed a new scheme that I believe takes the ideas that I have had all along and reconfigures them into a better and more developed design.

Above is the entry level plan of my new scheme. The first level is comprise of my flexible space which is a digital library, the jury assembly room, alternative dispute rooms, in-custody drop-off, restrooms, and misc. areas. I also have a courtroom on the first floor on the left side of the plan. The plan is broken down into three areas, left side courtrooms, middle atrium area, and the right side deals with vertical circulation and support spaces. I now have a tower scheme while keeping the idea of the interlocking courtroom which can be see below in the second floor plan.

As one can read from the plan above, the observers (located on the south of the building with north up in this instance) sit directly behind the jury which is an idea that I have had since the beginning. Also located on the second floor, I have placed an interior garden. I have placed this as an area of repose within the building and to also bring a connection of the outside in.

Here is an image of the 3-d massing model that I have developed. I was experimenting with the push and pull of the facade and material studies have been done on the facades which can be seen below.

by pdgaither

Plans of the building have been my main focus for a little over a week. I have been struggling with circulation but I believe I have done a good job at condensing it. There are still a couple of places in my plans where I can shift to condense farther, but I just wanted to get what I have up. I am working on sections of the building now and those will explain the shifting and sharing of spaces much better than can be read in plan. There are four floors to the building and the courtrooms are split, 2 on one side, 6 on the other. I did this in accordance with the site, having the 6 courtrooms facing the busier street, and the 2 facing the less busy street. The forms interlock with one another allowing circulation to traverse around as well as in between the courtrooms and support spaces. Observers to every courtroom are one level above said courtroom and behind the jury. I see the observers as an extension of the jury, so having them with one another made sense to me. As I said here are the four plans with sections coming shortly.

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by pdgaither

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Over the past week one of the ideas I have been focusing on is putting my building in the site and how it should react with the immediate context and how it will reach out to the overall community. I will focus next on the development of the corner, and investigate how to make the court more inviting while also developing a connection with the flux space I am dealing with in my design and the community at large.

by pdgaither

This past Wednesday I attended the Charlotte Mecklenburg county courthouse. Getting there was a journey within itself. I probably drove around the blocks surrounding the courthouse at least twice before finding parking deck that was still a several minute walk from the courthouse itself. Upon arrival, I went into the building through a side entrance. I say side entrance because the main entrance is at the corner of the building. I entered the building and suddenly was at security. It was not implemented within the design of the building and was very close to the entrance. As a side note, when I was leaving, exiting the same way I entered, there were several people in line and the line extended out the door. Granted the exterior portion outside of the door was covered, I do not think that people should have to wait outside just to get into a building. Especially a building where in most cases they are trying to put something behind them and move on with that part of there lives.

The first set of cases that I witnessed were in criminal court. It was a very fast paced event. There was much more activity going on than I thought there would ever be. The observation area was almost completely full. There were lawyers sitting where the jury would be located in a jury trial, waiting for there case or cases, I assume. The criminal defense lawyer represented three or four people one after the other. I was not aware that this happened. She, the lawyer, had a rather large stack of folders in front of her and every time another person would come out of criminal holding, she would just take another folder off the stack and quickly familiarize herself with it. Although most all of the cases were for probation violation, that is still a lot of case work to go through.

I then visited family court. It was on the top level of the court which made sense due to most of the matters going on there would be of more of the personal type. There were paintings on the walls and places to sit outside of the courtrooms. With all of this false sense of security for the children I still felt very uncomfortable inside of that courtroom. It was the only trial that I saw witnesses called, and I thought that it was interesting, but just to think that a family was being separated right there in front of me was in many ways very unsettling. The father was representing himself and the mother had a lawyer. The kids were not not there but people from both sides were called out of the observation/seating area to state and claim how good the respective parents were to and with the kids. Overall, being in there was a good learning experience but I won’t be going back.

The final courtroom I visited was the civil court where at the time the judge was dealing with matters of broken leases and money that was due to the landlords or owners of the property. This was very fast paced. The judge would swear the people in, take a quick look at the lease, find out the amount owed, and just like that it was over almost before it started. There was very little debate from the people being charged. It was as if they new what they owed, but they just wanted to drag it out as long as possible before they had to give up their money.

Court was and wasn’t what I expected it to be. Obviously there was no high drama or enthusiastic questioning, that would have been mentioned, but as I had hoped, justice was being served and people were having ‘their day in court.’ With all that happens in the world around us it is good to know that at the heart of the judicial system, people are doing what they can to make things right. As one last side note, I unfortunately never saw or heard a gavel.

by pdgaither

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This past week I have been developing several things. I began with further courtroom organization and developed a set of rules for myself while designing the court space, i.e. the jury box will always be in line with the witness stand, making the counsel always in line with the judge. I also looked at how the different parties of the courtroom move within the space. This set of diagrams informed a development of support spaces for the courtroom. I also looked at the overall design and look of the building. Very basic facade studies were done and a quick model showed how the building will reside within the landscape.

by pdgaither

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For this step of the process, I have spent time focusing on the courtroom itself, as well as the court-set. Through diagraming and models I am exploring what I want the courtroom to become. Abstracting hierarchy of spaces and volumes is a prominent idea I am really focusing upon right now in the process of my design.

by pdgaither

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During the site visit I was looking for areas of site placement that would connect the law school to the park and vice versa. The continuous red string denotes the path taken while on site and the volumes of red string denote areas of the site that I thought could serve as a possible placement of program. There needs to be a connective tissue within the site that brings the different programs together. Looking at the site I hope to bring these programs together and develop the overall site and not just the immediate site context.

Defining the Words Our Country Stands Upon

by pdgaither

Justice :

Justice – n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal.

Obstruction of Justice – n. an attempt to interfere with the administration of the courts, the judicial system or law enforcement officers, including threatening witnesses, improper conversations with jurors, hiding evidence or interfering with an arrest. Such activity is a crime.

Law :

Civil Law – n. 1) a body of laws and legal concepts which come down from old Roman laws established by Emperor Justinian, and which differ from Englishcommon law, which is the framework of most state legal systems. In the United States only Louisiana (relying on the French Napoleonic Code) has a legal structure based on civil law.

Common Law – n. the traditional unwritten law of England, based on custom and usage, which began to develop over a thousand years before the founding of the United States.

Due Process of Law – n. a fundamental principle of fairness in all legal matters, both civil and criminal, especially in the courts. All legal procedures set by statute and court practice, including notice of rights, must be followed for each individual so that no prejudicial or unequal treatment will result.

Rights :

Civil Rights – n. those rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, including the right to due process, equal treatment under the law of all people regarding enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and protection. Positive civil rights include the right to vote, the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a democratic society, such as equal access to public schools, recreation, transportation, public facilities, and housing, and equal and fair treatment by law enforcement and the courts.

Constitutional Rights – n. rights given or reserved to the people by the U.S. Constitution, and in particular, the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments).

All definitions were taken from Law.com from the legal dictionary.

I wanted to take somewhat of a deeper look into the words that give us, as Americans, our freedoms. These words are the real foundation of every courthouse. They must be upheld and abided by for the judicial system to function properly. In particular I take a lot from the due process of law. It states that for every single person, there is protection and fairness “especially in the courts.” I think that this is something that needs to be displayed within the design of the courthouse. Courthouses are the backbone of our freedoms and what unites us under the same laws and expectations of peace and rightness.