Concept Model

by mcanadayuncc

Music – Community – Courthouse

The park amphitheater space will provide a venue for local music and will be the flex space of the courthouse.  Music brings people together as a community.  Ideally, this program will open the courthouse to the public as a less intimidating space and become more inviting.  How does music connect to law and the aspects of a courthouse? 1) Community. 2) 1^st amendment: freedom of speech.

Music and interlocking figures are the motifs most prevalent in my concept sketches and models to appeal to the idea of music bringing people together as a community.

Music: an art of sound that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the element of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

Could this, with the exemption of the word sound, not be a definition of architecture?

What is considered music (architecture) and what is considered merely crude unorganized noise (anti-space), often varies culture to culture.

Music (architecture) is emotion.

Organization of specific sounds (materials) and tones (techniques) set within a certain time structure. It is one of the oldest forms of human artistic expression.

Music (architecture) brings people together. – community

Music gives a solid emotional foundation and a sense of emotional regulation – emotional shifts – “drug-like” – music (architecture) can alter sense of perspective, sense of time, sense of distance, and mood.

Music is a vacation from reality.

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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.

Accessibility: Ancient History?

by fcahill

Something I find interesting about courthouses is accessibility.  There are obviously many forms of accessibility regarding the courthouse but one I would like to focus on at the moment is locational accessibility.  This could be a form of openness, but on a greater scale.

Going back in history, one thing that seemed to crop up most of the time was that the courthouse was in the center of town. Possibly in a square.  It generally didn’t popup in the middle of nowhere, or so many miles outside of town-it needed to be where most of the people were or congregated.  Even as towns became cities, the courthouse remained within the city and even today many courthouses are built within the city.  But it seems as though many are not.  As time has gone by, new courthouses are being built outside the city, to the point where many people have to take the time to drive, take the bus, or use some form of transportation to get to it. (Clarification: as people because suburban-dwellers they relied on the car for everything, so even to get downtown they had to drive, so I’m not focusing on them).  So, up until recently, it seems as though the courthouse was a centrally located place in town that was easy enough to get to, OR (as many people have mentioned personally) it was passed while walking in the city each day.

This being the case, our courthouse is not exactly centrally located.  Many people drive by it on their way to work or home or shopping.  But it is a very busy road and would be difficult to cross.  Hence, some thoughts. How is this site going to be accessible?  How are we going to make it so that anybody who is curious enough to venture in our direction can, without endangering themselves because they have to walk on roads? Cross big roads? Bike in heavy traffic?  Is it possible to make it more safe as a designer? I’m not talking about making sure there is enough parking for people once they arrive or have enough bike racks or a close bus stop.  So if we are thinking about making this a mixed-use facility, we want people to venture over; can we make them feel comfortable doing so?

Some Wisdom from Thurgood Marshall

by workbymichelletodd

Due to struggling with the task of turning site synthesis into something artistic, I figured inspiration may good be a place to start. Until our site visit tomorrow, I decided to avoid further analysis of the site and instead try to find some more inspiration relating to courthouses and who is a better source to pull from than Thurgood Marshall himself. I originated my search with the phrase “courthouse quotes” just to see what was out there that would spark my interest. The quote below surfaced itself and I found it very appropriate and encouraged thought:

“Mere access to the courthouse doors does not by itself assure a proper functioning of the adversary process.”
-Thurgood Marshall

I read this quote and realized that an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court has realized that there is an issue in the previous decades of  culture and design of courthouses. The design of courthouses, prior to the GSA movement to improve the vernacular, was simply derelict. While the courthouse functioned in terms of providing a structure to hold court, it was not providing a means for the process of law to be fully expressed.

This, then in turn made me think of what all is involved in the process of law. Is it simply just trying a case or is there more beneath the surface definition of law?

I then had some sort of an epiphone or more of an enlightenment. Law isn’t just about the legal aspect, but about the cultural networkings that rely on the civic nature of law. People are what drive law and the need for law. The culture of a certain community drive the meaning of law to them which, can be reflected in the “adversary process” as mentioned by Mr. Marshall. The process of which he speaks refers to conflicting views. But, that is what’s great about our legal system. The conflicting views have been established by the people and for the people. The courthouses that were designed for 40 years were decrepit and inefficient at expressing the beautiful symbiotic relationship between culture and law; how people in the community rely on civility. This should be reflected into courthouses today and because of this series of thought, is now an objective of mine. Not only should the doors of the courthouse open, but they should open whole-heartedly to the community, becoming forum of expression and gathering as well as upholding law and the justice that preserves the sanctity of communities.

upholding the law and community

“It should be …

by studiocourthouse

“It should be our object to meet the test of Pericles’ evocation to the Athenians… We do not imitate – for we are a model to others. Federal architecture should embody the finest contemporary American architectural thought.”

– Patrick Moynihan, US Senator