FLEXIBLE SPACES

Flexible Spaces is a work derived from my Strategies of Architecture Design course. during this project, I conducted an in-depth site analysis of the intersection of N. Fremont Street and E. Washington Street and their surrounding context in Downtown Champaign. My primary goal was to create and design a market hall space serving the city of Champaign. For the duration of this project, I fortified my design process through developing my knowledge of plans, sections and elevations and by exploring a new skill of creating axonometric drawings and renderings. I further studied the division of public and private spaces, the integration of interior spaces with the exterior environment, and the fluidity of circulation routes.

As market halls are already highly versatile spaces, this project aims to create an even more flexible auxillary space, designated by two large sliding barn doors that section off this space from the rest of the market hall. The creation of this auxillary space endorses a unity within the community by providing a space usable for private events and organization meetings.

Market stalls are arranged in a centralized design to support a sense of circulation throughout the structure. Large windows and skylights assist in bringing natural light into the hall and creating an open atmosphere. Diagonal trusses span the width of the market hall, in accordance with the divisions of windows and skylights on the facade and roof.