What is Vacancy?

VACNT an assessment of vacancy in asheville?

_Definition_Meaning.Map_Associations_Dear.Photograph_Micro.Macro_Imprint_Parking__Demolition_ Sky_QR.Codes_Power.Of.Zero_Time_Pure_Green_

_Definition_Meaning.Map_Associations_Dear.Photograph_Micro.Macro_Imprint_Parking__Demolition_ Sky_QR.Codes_Power.Of.Zero_Time_Pure_Green_

VACNT_?an assessment of vacancy in asheville

This book was created as part of an intensive study of what is Vacancy during Doug Hecker’s senior studio at Clemson University

This book was created as part of an intensive study of what is Vacancy during Doug Hecker’s senior studio at Clemson University

Authors:

Nathan Bailey

Julie Conard

Gabrielle Conlon

Rebecca Cook

Caroline Czajkowski

Nicole Dallaire

Joel Dixon

Lauren Kenner

Lauren Martinez

Katie McCraw

Matt O’ Nan

Christian Piansay

Ellis Taylor

Henry Wilkinson

Editors:

Gabrielle Conlon

Joel Dixon

Lauren Kenner

Ellis Taylor

DEFINITION OF VACANCY

1

MAPPING OF VACANCY MEANING

2

Vacancy signifies an opposition between presence and absence. It suggests a spatial or temporal emptiness, implying that there is something missing. To be vacant is to be lacking.

A motel sign advertises the availability of rooms – spaces to be occupied – while simultaneously declaring the absence of people. It is an invitation to fill a void, to satisfy the injunction to expand and use the presence of my body to change the very essence of a space.

The presence of an absence and the absence of a presence.

So the question “What is vacancy?” as a question of space can be approached from one side or another. Either a space is used, or it is not. The sign reads either VACANCY or NO VACANCY. However, how do we come to this understanding of vacancy? How do we know what it means to be vacant?

The meaning of the word “vacant” can never be found in the word itself, but rather in other words, in synonyms and phrases that are used in relation to the word, that describe the word. “Vacancy” is vacant.

But how is this relatable to our experience of vacant space and applicable to this analysis?

This understanding of vacancy is binary in nature. It deals in polar opposites while the vacuity of the concept of vacancy remains. There is a conflict within our different images of vacancy, an intra-imagery conflict that leaves the vacant appearance unchanged. The inconsistency - the play - of appearance between presence and absence conceals the ambiguity of “vacancy.”

How we understand the linguistic or symbolic designation of “Vacancy,” the difficulty of defining the term, distracts from the role that the idea of vacancy plays in how we interpret space and more specifically how we identify and experience the city.

Vacancy plays the role of a fantasy figure. It maintains the possibility of perfection - the precise use of space to satisfy a need - and allows the imagination to explore its natural habitat: the world of potential. The idea of “Vacancy” is the structural condition from which the idealization of the city is made possible.

Figure - Ground and its opposite (detail from Nolli map)

The ideal is always out of reach. Where and how vacancy reveals itself, it is already concealed from view. What we see is not what is actually there. The Real of the space lies elsewhere. What we see is shrouded, either in a subtle or obvious manner.

TheatricalAn appearance that conceals itself through external screens and mechanisms. It requires a “behind the scenes,” whose existence can only be inferred from the traces of its action. The paranoiac dream of blind parallax zones inhabited by entities always just out of view.

Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico

Vacant space is an inherent excess of the city, a necessary surplus.

NeuralAn appearance that reveals itself in the absence of any external reality: despite evidence to the contrary, neural “shortcuts” prohibit us from seeing what is actually there. It is a self-dillusion we can never free ourselves from.

Dali’s Slave Market with the Disappearing Bust of Voltaire

Vacancy As Illusion The Space of Utopia

WHAT IS VACANCY?

3

Patton Avenue and Haywood [1976] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

4

BLOCK: Within the Central Business District of Asheville

Homes

Grass

Streets

Parking

Hillard Ave.

Dailey Dr.

S. Fr

ench

Bro

ad A

ve.

Grov

e St.

Homes

Grass

Streets

Parking

CENTRAL BUISNESS DISTRICT: Paths & Greenways

Paths & Greenways

off-street on-street

Existing ParksRecreational/Cultural FacilityRecommended ParkRecommended Park Target AreaCity or County owned land with potential as future park

Chesnut St.

Patton Dr.PaPa

Hilliard Ave.

ASHEVILLE MICRO-MACRO

5

CITY: Parks, Recreation, Cultural Arts, and Greenways

LEGEND

Pack Square Park

Indoor Recreation FacilitySchoolComplete GreenwayHigh Priority Proposed GreenwayMedium Priority Proposed GreenwayOther Priority GreenwayBoundary- CorporateRecreation Location

Pisgah National Forest

Asheville

Nantahala National Forest

REGION: National Forests in Western North Carolina

Nantahala National Forest is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina, lying in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina. The terrain varies in elevation from 5,800 feet at Lone Bald in Jackson County, to 1,200 feet in Cherokee County along the Hiwassee River below the Appalachian Dam.

The Pisgah National Forest covers 510,119 acres of mountainous terrain in the southern Appalachian Mountains, including parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Balsam Mountains. Elevations reach over 6,000 feet and include some of the highest mountains in the eastern United States.

ASHEVILLE MICRO-MACRO

6

City Hall[1927] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

7

IMPRINT

Imprint: a footprint in the snow, a dent in the seat cushion where someone was once sitting.

It DISRUPTS the smoothness of the surface, be it snow, a couch, or a row of facades along a main street. By doing so, it serves as a place holder for what was once there and what could be.

The best examples are the parking lots around Asheville; these DISRUPTIONS of buildings, imprints of an indefinable “something.” What might have been a building is now a dent between two.

An imprint is a disruption and a waste of space.

Parking lots hold the space in a permanent indent or imprinting, a constant reminder of what is not there.

Yet, they also serve as a reminder of what COULD be there.

IMPRINTS + PARKING

8

This explorative map shows parking lots in asheville as holes or burn marks in the map of the central business district. These holes leave an imprint in the cityscape, an area of where something once was, but now is not. Marking these lots, we can then see where the imprints are, and how many are available to fill with new things.

A list describing the city’s efforts to renovate parking lots in the year 2006.

1 Evaluate adding levels to Rankin Street Parking Garage

2 Evaluate demolition and reconstruction of existing parking garages

3 Evaluation of parking option in the Battery Park area

4 Determine the highest and best use of the city-owned property on Haywood Street

5 Surface parking on North Lexington Avenue

6 Surface parking on Cherry Street

7 Evaluate possibility of new parking lot on Rankin Avenue across from the Civic Center 8 Parking at or near the Senior Opportunity Center 9 Parking at or near the Sheriff’s Department/Ann Street 10 Partnerships on Coxe Avenue and College Street to include public parking 11 Public/private partnership on Biltmore Avenue to include public parking 12 Park-side parking initiative 13 Determine feasibility of locating parking facility over I-240

Completed N/A

Completed N/A

Completed N/A

Completed Unknown

Completed $15,000

Completed $25,000

Completed $13 M

Completed Unknown

Completed Unknown

Completed $3.5 M

Completed $5 M

On-going $10 M

Completed Unknown

The Project

The Status

of Project

EstimatedCost of Project

BB&T Building Back Loading Lot

The BB&T Building in the traditional downtown sector of Asheville has a parking lot/loading dock behind it now, although it has been many things in the past. It is a good example of how parking lots are an imprint that are waiting to be filled.

RIGHT The parking lot/loading dock that is now behind the BB&T building after the Democratic Headquarters were torn down.

LEFT The Asheville State Theatre on Patton Ave and Lexington Ave was built in 1927

RIGHT The Democratic Headquarters was built in 1970’s on the corner of Patton Ave and Lexington Ave after the state theatre was torn down

IMPRINTS + PARKING

9

Pack Square[1927] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

10

buildings embody energy

demolishing buildings wastes all of that energy

reusing those buildings not only recycles

but prevents future energy use in rebuilding...

Vacancy and Demolition

a report from the Brookings Institute predicts that by 2030 we would have

demolished and rebuilt 1/3 of all existing buildings...

producing 5.5 billion tons of waste

that is 2,500 NFL stadiums...

DEMOLISHING VACANCY

11

demolishing the

BB&T BUILDING

on Patton Avenue

is equivalent to

188,246 square feetbuilding demolished

of waste

of wasted gas

15,059 tons

2,409,548 gallons

That is 48,190 bathtubs full of water.

That is 470 two-car garages.

That is equal to the weight of 38 SUVs.

DEMOLISHING VACANCY

12

demolishing

EVERY CURRENTLY VACANT BUILDING

in the CBD

is equivalent to

“Buildings are vast repositories of energy. It takes energy to manufacture or extract building materials, more energy to transport them to a construction site, still more energy to assemble them into a building. All of that energy is embodied in the finished structure–and if the structure is demolished and landfilled, the energy locked up in it is totally wasted. What’s more, the process of demolition itself uses more energy–and, of course, the construction of a new building in its place uses more yet.”

http://nhpt.org/index.php/site/more/the_greenest_building_is_one_that_already_exists/

406,046 square feetbuilding demolished

of waste

of wasted gas

“Buildings are vast repositories of energy. It takes energy to manufacture or extract building materials, more energy to transport them to a construction site, still more energy to assemble them into a building. All of that energy is embodied in the finished structure–and if the structure is demolished and landfilled, the energy locked up in it is totally wasted. What’s more, the process of demolition itself uses more energy–and, of course, the construction of a new building in its place uses more yet.”

http://nhpt.org/index.php/site/more/the_greenest_building_is_one_that_already_exists/

32,483 tons

5,197,388 gallons

That is 129,934 loads of laundry.

That is seven football fields.

That is equal to the weight of 217 airplanes.

DEMOLISHING VACANCY

13

Pritchard Park[1976] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

14

sky condition 1: mtn valley meets city edge City expansion should respond to the natural boundary of the valley.

LOOK

vast

, ope

n sky

.See

for y

oursel

f:

UP.

Every human haslooked into the v

VACANCY does not begin with empty fields or abandoned buildings, it begins with the awe of a

OF THE SKY,”

beca

use

URAL EM

sky condition 2: topo allows for view within city streetAll streets with steep hills should emphasize the eye-level

experience with the sky.

beeninspired

Asheville, known as the of it

s top

ogra

phy a

nd sc

enic mountain views.

As we build and create on a horizontal plane, we view of CBD from Tunnel Road

PTINESS of the sky

has unique

by its beauty.

vacancy

of th

e atm

osph

ere a

nd

“LAND

verti

cal v

alue

must

lear

n fro

m the NAT

POWER OF OPEN SKY

15

sky condition 3: tall building viewLike in the Flat Iron Building, all tall buildings should have balconies

and opportunies to enjoy the advantage of being in the sky.

opportunitiesfor WELL CONSIDERED VIEW,

EXPANSION.

and maximize The sky is views and VERTICALnipresent.

omA con nection with the sky, a

COMMONPLACE

with humanity.

sky condition 4: look up.The city should create more spaces for people

to get horizontal and enjoy the sky.

view from Pack Square

puts us at a

POWER OF OPEN SKY

16

Biltmore Avenue[1927] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

17

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE HERE?

to answer scan this.

project magenta.L.E

6

overall

gardenparkplaygroundstoreshousingo�cesother

33% garden27% park13% playground13% housing7% o�ce7% other

33% 27% 13% 0% 13% 7% 7%

OVERALL DESIRES

[project magenta] was a study in using QR codes to call attention to 5 different vacant sites within the Asheville city center. The project used a survey to discern what the people of Asheville wanted to see in a particular vacant site. By using the QR codes they were forced to interact and critically think about a particular vacancy.

QR code(quick response code)

a 2D matrix barcode capable of storing more information than a typical store bar code

1994 invented by Denso Wave for use in tracking vehicle parts

TODAY can be used for sharing many types

of information by the general public

USES

A FAST EASY WAY TO GET INFORMATION

TO USERS

LARGE BILLBOARDS

LARGE BILLBOARDS

BUISNESS CARDS

SUBWAY ADVERTISEMENTS

PRINT MAGAZINE

a fast and easy way to get information to users

GARDEN PARK PLAYGROUND STORE HOUSING OFFICE OTHER

PROJECT MAGENTA

18

2


25% other25% housing 50% gardens

5


100% garden

5


80% park20% playground

50% garden 25% housing 25% other

80% park 20% playground

100% garden

SITE 5

SITE 2

SITE 3

1


33.3% playground33.3% housing 33.3% o�ces

3


25% other75% gardens

75% garden 25% other

33.3% playground 33.3% housing 33.3% officesSITE 1

SITE 4

PROJECT MAGENTA

19

Patton Avenue & Lexington[1927] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

20

Vacancy and Equations

- =

- =

Vacancy is the absence of something, often a building or former function, which results in a zero.

0

0

Rankin Ave.

Walnut St.

Haywood St.

N. Lexington Ave.

Zero has a powerful role in a city, just as it does in mathematics and economics. A zero-growth economy argues for equilibrium, not exhausting our finite resources. Similarly, the presence of zero in a city may bring stability if used in the proper equation.

Zero can either give value or cancel out - how can the value of zero be maximized in the urban block? The zero shares its power with the parcels it touches. The second block creates greater contact with the zero parcel because of its circular configuration rather than the first block’s linear configuration. All blocks with vacancy in contact with many sites should recognize their potential for increasing a block’s value and quality.

<

^0

= 1

00

0

1

1

1

1

1

11

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

00

Battery Park Ave.

Page Ave.

Walnut St.

Haywood St.

1

1

1

1

1

11

00

0

1

11

10

0

0

0

0

01 1

Rankin Ave.

N. Lexington Ave.

POWER OF ZERO

21

Determine if Time has an impact on vacancy.

WHAT

: Study 4 distinct parcels in the Traditional Downtown District forthirty minutes at 3 different times in one day.HO

W:

30 Battery Park Ave.Traditional Downtown

Row Retail BuildingPrivate

0.11 Acres

Pr

Underutilized3D + 2D

4,164 Building sq ft

4,792 Parcel sq ft

College StreetTraditional Downtown

ParkingPrivate

0.19 Acres

Parking2D

0 Building sq ft

8276.4 Parcel sq ft

Pr

1C04 1S15

RESU

LTS: 1. Time has a direct affect on occupancy.

2. High-density events taking place within a 100 meter radius of vacancies have a tremendous impact on traffic and occupancy within vacant parcels3. Rush hour did not affect traffic or movement inside vacant parcels4. Vacancies were often used as short-cuts to get from one program to another.

1S01 1HH10

35 Broadway St.Traditional Downtown

ParkingPublic

0.37 Acres

Parking2D

0 Building sq ft

16117.2 Parcel sq ft

Pu

40 Church St.Traditional Downtown

ChurchPrivate

2.05 Acres

Underutilized3D + 2D

15,280 Building sq ft

89,298 Parcel sq ft

Pr

IMPACT OF TIME

22

FRID

AY 9

:00

FRID

AY 12

:00

FRID

AY 20

:00

PARKINGFOOD

RETAILCHURCH

BAREVENT

WORKPoints of Interest

Vehicle TrafficPedestrian Traffic

IMPACT OF TIME

23

Patton Avenue & Lexington[1976] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

24

Categorizing Green Urban Fragments

MANICURED FIELD

UNBUILDABLE OVERGROWN

MANICURED: intentionally landscaped green space FIELD: open green space with little vegetationOVERGROWN: dense vegetation covering green space

What is purity to the environment? To the city? And to vacancy? In Vacant Asheville, purity is found in green urban fragments. These vacancies, left green and undeveloped differ significantly. Even with their inherent distinctions, there are a number of fundamental similarities. Focus-ing on the development potential of each green vacancy, we defined four fragment typologies.

FIELD: open green space with little vegetation UNBUILDABLE: green space with unsuitable building conditions including steep topography & small size

VACANCY + PURE

25

there are 898,207.2 square feet of surface parking lots in the CBD

it would only cost $1,796,414 to cover the areas in grass.

POTENTIAL GREEN SPACE

2 m

inutes

4 m

inutes6 m

inutes

8 minutes

26

Buncombe County Courthouse[1927] 2011

DEAR PHOTOGRAPH

27

INDXan index of vacancy in asheville

What is Vacancy?

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