Assignment 2 Typology –
History & Precedent
Studies
Victoria Heredia | Project Programming
“In 1989, it was discovered that 6,185 adolescents in the United States
(15-24 years of age), had been homicide victims that year alone.”
(Fleming).
High-risk behaviors that lead to a rise in Youth Centers:
• 77% of 8th graders were consuming alcohol
• 30% of youth were having unprotected sex by 15
Youth development programs have since then become popular
because studies show that supervised and semi-structured activities in a
community-based setting can reduce high risk behavior and promote
positive behavior and social development.
History of Drop-In Youth Centers
What adolescent focus groups expect from a Youth Center:
• staff that will listen and respect them
• a safe environment to socialize and be themselves
• a wide variety of programs including sports, and specialized classes
Figure1. Community Youth Center
History of Drop-In Youth Centers
The Organization of American States defines youth gangs:
• an effort by adolescents to find a place in society that fits their needs, in
response to having their rights violated by communities and governments.
“Arising out of extreme poverty, exclusion, and a lack of opportunities, gangs try
to gain their rights and meet their needs by organizing themselves without
supervision and developing their own rules…”
Presence of Youth Gangs in Mexico
Youth Advocate Non-governmental Organizations from Mexico:
• Youth Work: Mexico
• Circo Volador
• Cauce Ciudadano
What this means for my typology:
An effective youth center in Mexico would respond to the violated rights of local
youth gangs, and appeal to them in a way that would give them a chance to
belong to a place of their own, where they have a say in decisions and have the
support of the surrounding community, while keeping them away from drug
distribution and violence.
Presence of Youth Gangs in Mexico
Program:
• Regulation Basketball Court
• Gym and Fitness Room
• Project & Computer Rooms
• Arts & Crafts Room
• Teaching Kitchen
• Community Function/Meeting Rooms
• VFW Banquet Rooms
• Offices
West Cambridge Youth & Community
Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.
Figure2. West Cambridge Youth Center
Precedent Studies #1
Figure3. Rotating Wall Panels
Figure4. Open Lounge Area
•
West Cambridge Youth Center gives its youth a place to head to after school,
with ample opportunity for recreation, socialization and education
•
The wide variety of activities encourage a flexibility with the use of space
•
Rotating wall panels provide the directness of open communal space, and a
sense of privacy between programs
West Cambridge Youth Center
Figure5. Homework Room
The open lounge areas, scattered among the structured program such as
homework and computer rooms, are what bring the space together, and give the
children the opportunity to socialize and engage, away from structured activity.
West Cambridge Youth Center
Morphological Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Starting at the entrance of the Youth Center, there is an importance to it because of
the glass façade which brings in a lot of natural light and beautiful views to the
exterior; and then transitions into a light wood paneling on the walls where the light
reflects nicely.
The architectural features of the interiors are inviting and engaging for the children as
they are spacious with both fixed program rooms and open lounge areas, in a warm
but vibrant color palette of tangerines and rustic reds, which encourage activity and
movement.
Most of the important program spaces are set against windows for optimal, but
appropriately screened, natural light; and yet the informal lounge spaces are also set
near windows, creating equity among formal and informal activity spaces.
Private, semi-private, and public spaces are often well defined because of separating
wall panels but, a sort of organized chaos is also possible when certain rotating wall
panels are configured to create a more open layout.
The structure of the space is mostly revealed in open ceilings, but the height of the
spaces justifies it, as well as the very structurally revealing exterior façade.
Circulation is a little difficult to comprehend because of a lack of floor plans, but the
spaces seem cohesive and easy to circulate in paying attention to exterior views.
The scale and materiality of the furniture seem appropriate and well laid out for the
children, mostly supporting the act of socializing, as well as using a combination of
structured and non-structured program spaces to support education and recreation.
West Cambridge Youth Center
Program:
• Adaptable Gym
• Recording Studio
• Costume Design Shop
• Cafeteria
• Arts & Crafts Room
• Teaching Kitchen
• Dance Rooms
• Computer Labs
• Tutoring & Study
Spaces
• Classrooms
• Exhibition Space
• Offices
• Rooftop Garden
Figure6. Gary Comer Youth Center
Gary Comer Youth Center, Chicago, Illinois:
John Ronan Architects
Precedent Studies #2
Figure7. 600-seat Performance Space
Figure8. Deployed Performance Stage
•
Home to the South Shore Drill Team & Performing Arts Ensemble
•
300 members, 8 to 18 years of age, with as many as 50 performances a year
•
The adaptable gym, has the ability to transform into a 600 seat performance
space, with an 80 by 30 foot deployable stage
Gary Comer Youth Center
Use of Natural Daylight:
•
Lots of glass partitions to spread
natural light throughout the space
•
Promotes a sense of community
among different programs
•
Creates a sense of visual security
and safety for the children
•
Use of sky lights along the center of
the rooftop garden, brings daylight
into the central gym and cafeteria
spaces
Figure9. Rooftop Garden
Gary Comer Youth Center
First Floor Plan, Showing Adaptable Performance Space
Figure10. First Floor Plan showing the Adaptable Performance Space
Gary Comer Youth Center
Diagrammatic Analysis of Private Space and Circulation
Gary Comer Youth Center
Morphological Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
The entrance is emphasized through the change in materiality from the colored
cement cladding to a translucent glass façade. The connection between the exterior
and the interior at the entrance is unclear, except that you enter opposite the security
office. Though this promotes a safe atmosphere for the children it doesn’t make any
impression about the space as a whole.
The architectural features of the interior vary depending on the program, from wood
floors in recreational and performance spaces, and carpeting in quiet rec spaces and
study halls. Similar features include high ceilings and a combination of floor length
windows or, slot windows which bring in natural light without denying privacy, and
removing unnecessary distraction when the program calls for it.
As you will notice in the diagrammatic analysis, the public and private spaces are well
defined, but don’t leave much room for flexibility in program, with the exception of
the adaptable gym.
The circulation throughout the three floors is fairly consistent in that the means of
egress between floors is well defined and even highlighted. It’s also consistent in that
each floor has a main focus such as the gym and the roof garden, that the circulation
radiates, as well as the rest of the program along the perimeter.
The furnishings seem appropriate for each space, but are not necessarily cohesive as
a whole, but rather correspond to the kind of program they belong to, which makes
understanding the purpose of each space easier.
Gary Comer Youth Center
Program:
• Sports Hall
• Activities Hall
• Sound Studio
• Kitchen
• Restroom
• Sports Equipment
Storage
• Offices
Figure11. Renovated Exterior Gables
Sjakket Youth Club, Copenhagen, Denmark: PLOT
Precedent Studies #3
Figure12. Dividing Kitchen
•
Special place off the streets, for the kids
of Copenhagen
•
Located in an industrialized, outer lying
neighborhood mainly of immigrant
families
•
Created a raised terrace that becomes a
half-pipe sun deck between the two
vaults
•
‘Ghetto Noise’ sound studio, made of a
large shipping container to merge the
original buildings of the city with the
newer industrial structures.
•
22,000 sqft as a set of two open halls to
support all activities, divided by the
kitchen and storage space
Sjakket Youth Club
•
This youth club is meant to serve children
of all ages, and support any and all
activities they have in mind
•
This space for the kids means integration
•
Not only integration into the surrounding
industrial landscape, but also into society
•
Giving these immigrant children a place
to feel they belong
Figure13. Sports Hall
Sjakket Youth Club
Diagrammatic Analysis of Private Space and Circulation
Sjakket Youth Club
Morphological Analysis
•
•
•
•
•
This building has no main entrance and instead has multiple entrances to access the
three main spaces: the sports hall, the recreational hall and the exterior sound booth.
The exterior is a combination of brick and sheet metal, and the interior successfully
responds to that, using similar metal claddings on the walls and on the barrel vaulted
ceiling.
The architectural features are a response to the industrialized surrounding
neighborhood, and include massive garage sized doors that open the space up to
the outside, and dividing wall panels, that can separate or connect the two halls.
There is a cool toned color palette of blues and grays that play off the color of the
natural daylight that comes in through the spherical window openings and exterior
garage doors.
There is not much separation of program, because the space is an open plan meant
for any activities the children see fit. The only private program is the offices, separate
on the second floor, and the sports equipment storage, wedged in between the two
halls, alongside the restrooms.
The circulation is very simple, and often times involving visibility of the entire floor.
The furniture and fixtures are poorly defined, most likely as a response to the incredible
flexibility of the program, but unfortunately leaves too much a lot to the imagination.
Sjakket Youth Club
References
City of Cambridge, MA, (2011). West cambridge youth and community center earns prestigious
LEED green building certification. Retrieved from website:
http://www.cambridgema.gov/citynewsandpublications/news/2011/03/
westcambridgeyouthandcommunitycenterearnsprestigiousleedgreenbuil
dingcertification.aspx
Fleming, M.A., M. (n.d.). Youth centers: Operation and development issues. CYFERnet,
Retrieved from http://www1.cyfernet.org/prog/teen/94-youthfut6.html
Gary comer youth center. John Ronan Architects. Retrieved from
http://www.jrarch.com/#/projects/institutional/gary_comer_youth_center
Jones, N. P. (2013). Undertsanding and addressing youth in "gangs" in mexico. Informally
published manuscript, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, Retrieved from
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/jones_youth_gangs.pdf
Reaching across generations: West cambridge youth center. Cambridge Seven Associates,
Inc., Retrieved from http://www.c7a.com/work/west-cambridge-youth-center
Sjakket youth club / plot. (2009, February 25). Arch Daily, Retrieved from
http://www.archdaily.com/13373/sjakket-youth-club-plot/
Image References
Figure1. Community youth center [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.c7a.com/work/west-cambridgeyouth-center
Figure2. West cambridge youth center [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.c7a.com/work/westcambridge-youth-center
Figure3. Rotating wall panels [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.c7a.com/work/west-cambridge-youthcenter
Figure4. Open lounge area [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.c7a.com/work/west-cambridgeyouth-center
Figure5. Homework room [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.c7a.com/work/west-cambridgeyouth-center
Figure6. Hall, S. (Photographer). (2011, 09). Gary comer youth center [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.archdaily.com/189411/the-gary-comer-youth-center-john-ronan-architects/
Figure7. 600-seat performance space [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.jrarch.com/#/projects/institutional/gary_comer_youth_center/auditorium
Figure8. Deployed performance stage [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.jrarch.com/#/projects/institutional/gary_comer_youth_center/auditorium
Figure9. Hall, S. (Photographer). (2011, 09). Rooftop garden [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.archdaily.com/189411/the-gary-comer-youth-center-john-ronan-architects/
Figure10. Hall, S. (Photographer). (2011, 09). First floor plan showing the adaptable performance
space [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.archdaily.com/189411/the-gary-comer-youthcenter-john-ronan-architects/
Figure11. Moen, V. (Photographer). (2009, 02).Renovated exterior gables [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.archdaily.com/13373/sjakket-youth-club-plot/
Figure12. Moen, V. (Photographer). (2009, 02). Dividing kitchen [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.archdaily.com/13373/sjakket-youth-club-plot/
Figure13. Moen, V. (Photographer). (2009, 02). Sports hall [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.archdaily.com/13373/sjakket-youth-club-plot/