THE KINZIE RECREATION CENTER
Group Project | 2024 | Chicago, IL
A recreation center with multiple floors allows visitors to take part in a variety of activities in their free time. The tower uses an array of structural systems and has different “cores” throughout where activities take place. It is a collaborative effort between three individuals synthesizing ideas to create the final product.
Skills Exercised: Rhino, Groupwork, Modeling, Photoshop, Illustrator
FINAL BOARD
PHYSICAL MODEL
PROCESS
The Kinzie Recreation Center was a culmination of the work of three students, each of whom created a structural system and activity space that appears in the building. The challenges of synthesizing ideas and generating a comprehensive building encompassing a variety of structural systems and unique spaces are highlighted below.
CORPSE TOWER AND VOIDS
Group members created corpse towers by rotating, reflecting, and distorting structures made earlier in the semester (Luxury Sports Stands). Areas of the towers were voided out to create possible spaces for diffrent spaces. Voids were then imagined with specific activities fiting both the form and location.
Reflected, distorted, and rotated midterm structure.
Collage of all group members' structures to create a unique tower.
Collage turned into more concise structure as voids started to take form.
TOWER FORM FINALIZATION
Through repeated deliberation, the group finalized the overall layout of the building, as well as which voids would be used and where they would go. Massing models were then created in Rhino for a better understanding of the 3D space.
STRUCTURE AND FINAL SYNTHESIS
Group members were assigned three sections of the building and asked to create a unique structural system that would support the composition of the tower. The group then came together to synthesize the systems into a complete structure that holds up the tower.
Arch-like truss structures give stability to the tower, as well as provide an alternative aesthetic compared to a normal truss system. Vertical and horizontal elements were added to transfer loads from the floors above.
Rhino models detail how different structural systems come together, as well as how they interact with the voids. Yellow forms are used as cores to construct around and represent egress stairs and an elevator.