From the architect. The RTC’s new Mobility Training Center is designed to increase mobility among Southern Nevadans, especially senior residents and persons with disabilities, by equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to use public transportation throughout Clark County in Southern Nevada.
This new facility consolidates transit mobility training and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Paratransit certification under one roof. The Mobility Training Center includes these key elements:
Mobility Training Facility
The interior design of the 14,500 sq. ft. Mobility Training Facility includes two full-sized city buses situated on a fictitious exterior streetscape encompassing a transit shelter and stop, paved roads, curb cut outs, ADA-compliant ramps and sidewalk, and a functional assessment course with various surfaces and terrain obstacles.
The space also includes additional parking, direct front door access for city buses, a new bus stop, and an exterior dog relief area.
Blindconnect’s Angela’s House
This unique feature of the facility is a simulated, typical Las Vegas, two-bedroom, 1,200 sq. ft. residence. This fully equipped mock residence will be used by the vision impaired for learning critical living skills. Angela’s House is the only blindness skills training facility in Nevada.
PRINCIPAL FEATURES
Gensler designed the exterior of the facility to work in harmony with the existing maintenance facility and present a friendly desert-inspired aesthetic.
The architectural inspiration is derived from the mountains of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area that can be seen in the distance from the west side of the site. The dynamic red and orange color of the building’s cladding systems is symbolic of Red Rock. The protruding glazed volume to the northwest is in reference of the desert sky. Finally, the elongated entry volume wrapped with perforated panels in reference to the “canyon” concept is embedded into a mountain-scape.
Color is used to enliven the large entry signage to the public entranceway and to welcome the mobility and visually impaired patrons into the building. The design team at Gensler introduced a lime-green feature wall to create a “spark” to energize the entry zone. The patterned perforations to the canopy create a 4d entry experience via the ever-shifting casting of light and shadow effects scattered throughout the area and the unseen light sensations felt within this space.
The building serves as the new terminus for the RTC fixed bus route, Route 103 – Decatur. The project was designed with an onsite bus turn around loop drive, a separate bus turn off, and a bus stop which helps to free up roadway space on Hauck Street.
The new training center is intended for public access and use, so it is important that the training center be recognizable to the public and be differentiated from the existing non-public RTC maintenance facility adjacent to it. The building’s fenestration located in the upper northeast corner, serves as a beacon or lantern at night and is clearly visible from the I-215 freeway.
At just 1,310 feet (400 meters) across at its widest point, Fire Island, a barrier island to the south of Long Island in New York, may not seem like an ideal place to host a community. Nonetheless, the island is home to a number of small villages, whose seclusion and proximity to the ocean make them popular getaway locations. With its beach atmosphere (the community is only accessible by ferry) and its growing reputation from the 1960s onward as a safe space for the gay community, Fire Island Pines is one such popular summer destination. As the village grew in the post-war years, the care-free recreational lifestyle encouraged by Fire Island Pines’ setting was an ideal proving ground for many of the ideals of mid-century modernist house design, with architects such as the prolific Horace Gifford—who designed 40 homes in Fire Island Pines alone—answering the call.
Sadly though, after a steep population decline in recent decades, many of the modernist homes in Fire Island Pines are now at risk, with owners unaware of the historical and architectural significance of their properties. In response to this, Christopher Rawlins, a principle at Rawlins Design and author of the book Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction, has created Pines Modern, a website dedicated to cataloging and disseminating information on the architectural heritage of Fire Island Pines.
Pines Modern catalogs 45 buildings in the small community, with each documented through photographs (both contemporary and from when the building was in its prime) drawings, and a short description available in both textual and audio formats. In the words of Chris Rawlins, the website “is a call to action that aims to unlock our history, rethink our priorities, and honor the homeowners who have maintained the integrity of their vintage properties.”
Check out all of Fire Island Pines’ impressive architectural heritage at Pines Modern here.
A team comprised of Chinese architects Hang Guo and Shanshan Li have used the history of theatre and circus to drive their proposal for a new Moscow Circus School. The design, dubbed Dome and Circus, was developed for the recent Architectural Competition Concours d’Architecture (AC-CA) competition, which encouraged participants to consider the ways in which their design could generate discussion about the relationship between architecture and culture.
Dome and Circus respond to this criteria by reinterpreting ancient theatrical spaces, such as the Pantheon or ancient Greek outdoor theatres, into a contemporary cultural arena. The “theme and prototype” of the project became the dome, and it is deployed across the project in “multiple and continuous” ways.
By interlacing the once separate domes, a sequence of spaces was created with blurred boundaries to one another. Above the domes lies a space described by the competition team as resembling “undulating waves,” accommodating a vibrant mix of public program.
The roof plane is based upon the continuous Greek outdoor theatre and references the Moscow Hermitage Garden, a popular cultural destination nearby. The spaces between each of the demarcated programmatic zones are filled “rhythmically” with spheres, which have the dual function of public space and structure.
The architects said in their design statement: When the sun goes down, the light projects shadow through the hole of the roof, indicating the coming of night. The hustle and bustle began to play at the circus. This is the miracle show time of the Moscow Circus School.
Dome and Circus was awarded an honorable mention. For more information, including all of the published award winners, head over to the competition website.
News via Hang Guo and Shanshan Li.
To some of us, talent is a fiction, a supposed reality that has no existence in our current lives. Knowing your natural abilities and capabilities is more of a privilege, a rare blessing that comes with all sorts of satisfactions and happiness. If you have not yet discovered your talent, worry less. I have got your back. Here are 5 proven methods to get you started. Remember age is not a limiting factor. It’s an awakening call!
And it’s about having an open mindset.Our mindset determines our logical and proportional thinking. This will, in turn, affect our judgment about life.A mindset constrained by fear and unwillingness is the worst you can have to embrace change and individuality. Opening your mind to the many possibilities is the best way to evaluate your probable talent. Talents exist in many parameters of life, from class work, artistic designs, athletics, and events to the other complex areas of life. Be open about your skills and let your close friend s positive advice influence you. Be ready to embrace change by working out all the skills you have until you realize that one that suits you the best.Also, discovering your passions and talents is a matter of opportunity. An effort must be made to satisfy the curious part of your mind. A positive mentality will drive your passions even after a terrific fail, this will determine your success later on. If you have not yet tried skating and fall severely, or tried writing that fictional story, you are probably far from what it takes to find your nature talents.
Try something new. That’s it. Apart from building your existing skills, try learning something new.Sometimes we deceive ourselves and set non-factual limits in our own lives. Sometimes we believe to be the best of the best in some of the things we do but only too late to realize that we were wrong.This hurts a lot and many may lose hope.But this should not be the case. Flexibility in life is a key factor and requires us to try all the possible options provided we are in peace with our immediate environment. Allow life to give you a surprise and this is the best way to live.
We encounter risk in every day to day life and what is more important is taking a risk that is vital and worth our precious life.Owning the art of rightful and mindful prioritization is all you need to push you through the new exercise. Some of the things we have been shying away from are the very things we are good at.Life can shock you if you are not prepared to counter the effect. Learn to build confidence in every stage of life, take reasonable risks and learn more.
It’s about focusing on what you can do best.Some of the things we like doing do not necessarily guarantee us success. You might be addicted to playing baseball but find less progress even after that many efforts.Learning basic skills can even be a headache and this doesn’t mean you are falling for the wrong things in life, but an indication that you rather change your taste.Your talent could be more than just the ordinary singing, swimming, and dancing but a unique yet scary one. Once you get that one you can do better than the rest, pick and work on perfecting it. Others may have more than one talent while others are struggling to identify one! Asking for help and advice should be given a priority; at least everyone should have a talent. When more than one possibility exists, you should focus on the one you find more enjoyable to do as compared to the rest.
Reflecting on your past.A simple yet very effective way to find your “forgotten” natural gifts.This will give you the sense to appreciate the previous you; the success, weakness, and unsolved challenges. The interests you once had while you were a young kid could have a great influence on your current and future self. Take a test and try to identify your childhood interests, the things you enjoyed and loved the most.Reflect the same on your previous success and failures. And try to make a final list by ruling out the irrelevant and non-matching interests that you might have developed due to influence and such kind of scenarios. After having that positive reflection of your entire life, get a close friend to give you a hint on the same. Here you will get to hear some of the things he/ she thinks you are good at and compare with the things you had listed down.You will learn your weakness, try to perfect them and concentrate more on that interest you had since your childhood. Polishing on some of your past mistakes is the best you can do for a brighter future. This should not limit your ability. It should strengthen and give you the sense to achieve more.
Work hard, my friend! Hard work is the other name for success. And yes, hard work can beat talent if talent fails to work hard. Talents can come naturally or through persistent practice but to keep it rocking, good amount of effort is essential.Practice will never be complete without knowing your weakness and this will differentiate the quality of output from quantity. Working smart has hard work in it balanced with proper timing and persistence in achieving the goals of life.Success comes shortly after challenges and failure by itself a justification for the lack of hard work and persistence in life. You need to take various challenges and proceed to the next level after a struggle to realize what you really belong to.Working on your weakness is not as easy. That’s why a self-rewarding system should be set to push you through the trials in life and propagates you towards achieving the talent in your dreams.
Finding your true talents in life is and will never be an easy task. However, don’t let the obstacles deter you from even starting your journey. It might be a life long journey to some. And there will be hard work. But I assure you that it will be a very exciting journey!
The post How to Discover Your Hidden Talents: 5 Proven Methods You Should Try Today appeared first on Change your thoughts.
Clinton Hill – Brooklyn – New York – USA (by Erin Johnson)
Illustration duo Mrzyk & Moriceau’s music video for The Avalanches’ track Subways features a collection of colourful characters embarking on a surreal underground journey (+ movie). (more…)
A natural wonderland created by stone and erosion, Arches National Park offers unforgettable experiences. When visiting the park this summer, photographer Derek Cronk looked up and saw a shimmering rainbow framed in the massive window of Delicate Arch. “I felt lucky to be in such an incredible location as it was, but it took my breath away to be presented with such an amazing opportunity.” Lucky and good is a great combination. Photo courtesy of Derek Cronk.
From the architect. This building meets the increasing educational demand of the city of Vitoria, in a neighborhood that concentrates the biggest extension of collective dwelling during these last years, and where most of the childhood population live.
The plot is surrounded by a group of large size towers, in a green area crossed by the Zarauna creek. The building is planned as a low rise construction that tries to oxygenate the area and work as an inner courtyard.
After evaluation of the functionality of the programme, the topography, the orientation, the surroundings and the roadways around the plot, an L shape building was proposed, opened towards the sunniest orientations and most protected from the usual winds, so that the playground could be placed on the most favourable position.
The building, with a capacity for 693 pupils, houses the classrooms for the stages of primary school (6 to 12 years) and pre-school education (2 to 5 years), each of the levels being on each side of the L shape.
Both parts have been configured as two intersected prisms, defining the common spaces, complementary uses, and the main entrance to the school in their merging area.
The gable roofs respond to the surrounding, leaning themselves towards the playground, offering their most urban façade towards the outside and the human scale to the inside.
From the point of view of functionality, it has been sought for the most appropriate location for each of the uses, so that the connections among them could be clear and effective, reducing the circulation spaces; but respecting and discriminating the requirements and specific flows of each usage.
It has been used a precast construction solution, standardized and with regular geometries, avoiding façade developments larger than necessary, to reduce the perimeter of the building. The concept design follows the principles mentioned before, but keeping always in mind the volumes, composition, and proportion of the facades and interior spaces, conditioning the constructive solutions and material choosing.
In the playground, three sport courts have been projected (one of them covered). They have been adapted to the topography defining three different platforms; the first one, at ground floor level, and the other two, with a difference of 1m height. They are placed close to the gym, with a direct and covered access with exterior ramps.
During the design of the building bioclimatic strategies have been considered, such as orientation and protection of the classrooms from the sunlight, the design of installation systems and air circulation conditions, the choosing of the construction solutions and their isolating conditions, the supplying distances of each material etc. The standardization has supposed a reduction on the costs and working schedules. It has also been a challenge to propose construction systems with minimum maintenance.
The design of the interiors has been specially careful with accessibility and adaptation to the users, also while studying the chromatical compositions and signalization, in order to favor functionality and provide clear circulations.
Sig Nordal 