f_zapata masters project
DESCRIPTION
Vertical Factory Town: Architecture as a Platform for Alternative Business Strategies A Master’s Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE by Federico Zapata 2011TRANSCRIPT
Florida international UniversityMiaMi, Florida
Vertical Factory town:
architecture as a PlatForm For
alternatiVe Business strategies
a Master’s Project
subMitted in Partial FulFillMent oF the
requireMents For the degree oF
Master oF architecture
by
Federico ZaPata
2011
ii
this project, completed by Federico Zapata, and entitled the Vertical Factory town: architecture as a Platform for alternative business strategies, has been approved in respect to design quality and intellectual content.
We have reviewed this Master’s Project and recommend that it be approved.date of Final review: May 02, 2011
john a. stuart, critic
adam drisin, Project chair
dean brian schriner school of architecture
copyright © 2011 by Federico Zapataall rights reserved.
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dedication...
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Contents
2 IntroductIon
chapter 1
3 research
chapter 2
10 Project sIte and Program
chapter 3
25 concePtual InvestIgatIon
chapter 4
30 Project documentatIon
40 notes
2 introduction
Vertical Factory town:
architecture as a PlatForm For
alternatiVe Business strategies
by
Federico Zapata
Florida international university,2011
john stuart, Major Professor
this study proposes to create a vertical factory town designed to bring industry with their
factory workers and management back to downtown Miami while taking production back
to the united states. the purpose is to investigate a new perspective on how to introduce
innovative programmatic relationships in a high-density urban area. this is a project that
will support basic middle class economic necessities. by integrating the program vertically
the project will attempt to reduce the cost of production and the cost to the environment.
the factory produce mono crystalline PV cells for solar panels and midsize nacelle for wind
turbine towers. the factory will feature a moving assembly line similar to that found in an auto
factory. this product and its method of production will create a sense of pride on the part of
the workers by making them an integral part of producing a sustainable alternative to current
energy collection and production methods.
ProducerConsumer
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
2011
Unemployment rate Current recessionAverage of all post-WWII recessions, since the beginning of the recession.
chapter 1 3
From 2007 to 2008 the united states, along with the rest of the world, experienced one of
the most devastating economic crises in recent memory. triggered by a liquidity shortfall in the u.s
banking system, the recession would ultimately shed light on the many shortcomings of commonly
used business practices.1 author thomas Friedmam, in Hot, Flat, and Crowded, describes the
unique nature of this crisis: “this was not just a deep economic slowdown that we can recover
from and then blithely go back to our old ways. no, this great recession was something much
more important. it was our warning heart attack.”2 there was a set of socioeconomic conditions
that facilitated the crisis, and the warning Friedman makes reference to is against the lifestyle
americans have become accustomed to for the past few decades. it was this lifestyle, and the
business practices associated with it that ultimately led to the crisis.
Friedman offers an somewhat ‘cartoonist’ account of the chain of events leading to the
weakening of the u.s economy, and how it relates to the fragmentation of business practices for
1 “Paulson Seeks Mortgage Value That Eluded Bear, Lehman,” Bloomberg, accessed November 2, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&refer=home&sid=aGT_xTYzbbQE
2 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 6.
the sake of saving money during production and manufacturing: “at its core, the china-america
growth engine worked like this: We in america built more and more stores, to sell more and more
stuff, made in ore and ore chinese factories, powered by more and more coal, and all of those
sales produced more and more dollars, which china used to buy more and more u.s. treasury
bills, which allowed the Federal reserve to extend more and more easy credit to more and more
banks, consumers, and businesses so that more and more americans could purchase more and
more homes, and all those sales drove home prices higher and higher, which made more and
more americans feel like they had more and more money to buy more and more stuff made in
more and more chinese factories powered by more and more coal, which earned china more and
more dollars to buy more and more t-bills to be recirculated back to america to create more and
more credit so more and more people could build more and more stores and buy more and more
homes…”3 this relationship between americans and the chinese people was the engine “pulling
up living standards across the planet for three decades,” and not surprisingly, when americans
stopped buying houses, entire villages in china lost their source of income and collapsed in turn.4
3 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 5.4 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 5.
ReseaRch
Fig. 1 The relationship between Americans and the Chinese people was the engine for a high rate of unemployment.
4 chapter 1
the possibility of a globalized economy became a reality in the 1970’s with the designation
of offshore tax-free export processing zones. these offered large corporations the opportunity of
incurring in low-cost labor and production. the gains for particular corporations however, meant
the local economy suffered by losing business to competition overseas.5 Factories and call-
centers then moved out of the united states, and in the process started both the fragmentation
of business systems, and a new strategy that minimized a company’s responsibility/accountability
for its products and employees. Friedman explains how regular people in america find themselves
on both sides of the spectrum of change generated by this migration of work into other countries.
on the one hand, “Most of us are propping up our current lifestyles, and our economic growth, by
drawing—and increasingly over-drawing—on the ecological capital of other parts of the world.”6
We are damaging places far enough from us not to care, but at the same time this unsustainable
lifestyle gradually weakens the american economy by reducing the workforce: “the dearth of
‘designed’ factories in america can be attributed to a tendency among the largest companies to
outsource their production to offshore locations, thereby downsizing the american employee base
and divesting from u.s facilities.”7 at the scale of the company, this fragmentation of the workforce
obscured the company’s knowledge of its own manufacturing system, hiding both the workers
and the architecture that had previously served to house them in faraway locations.8 this situation,
coupled with technological advances, alienated workers from their products and the site where
production occurred. as a result, some factories in Western countries became merely symbols
5 Nina Rappaport. “The Vertical Urban Factory” Parsons School of Design journal, SCAPES, January 2009, 17.6 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 25.7 Nina Rappaport. “The Consumption of Production.” New Orleans, La.: Praxis, Inc., 2003. 58-61.8 “Paulson Seeks Mortgage Value That Eluded Bear, Lehman,” Bloomberg, accessed November 2, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news
?pid=newsarchive&refer=home&sid=aGT_xTYzbbQE
of production, while the real factories developed into no more than temporary structures in third-
world countries that could move from place to place to avoid local taxation and generate even more
income for companies in america, Friedman comments: “the obsession with the economizing of
time, space, speed makes the mobility of the production process the reference model.”9
the responsibility of finding a solution to the current state of the economy lies in the
hands of everyone from corporations to individual consumers. the integration of programs offers
an alternative to current business practices, which have proved ineffective in light of the past
recession. the time for the implementation of such new business strategy is ripe as a result of the
latest recession and a general shift in public opinion. Friedman cites sub urbanization, executives
wanting to live outside the city, and a need to remove pollution from city centers as the driving force
behind factories migrating away from the cities. he argues however, that “now that the effects of
globalized infrastructure, such as high shipping costs have been assessed, manufacturing could
shift again to the local within the global marketplace, as more ecologically-minded companies
build factories closer to their consumers.”10 he goes on to explain how this shift from urban centers
of labor and interaction, factories became suburban autonomous machines “housed in tightly
sealed, artificially lit, air-conditioned [suburban] sheds.”11 also characteristic of today’s production
process is an emphasis in brand as opposed to product. author nina rappaport argues there is
an emphasis on the spectacle of production instead of production itself. there have been previous
attempts at creating an interaction between the production process and consumers by designing
factories that act as displays of their inner workings.12 this attempt to make an experience of a
product somewhat more memorable is quite superficial, and fails to address any of the issues
already discussed above. however, Friedman argues that the technology is right to go back to
early twentieth-century model of manufacturing and production, in which industry, urbanism,
engineering and architectural innovation worked as one: “new industries have the potential to
develop innovative architecture that vastly improves upon prevailing patterns of urban industrial
9 “Paulson Seeks Mortgage Value That Eluded Bear, Lehman,” Bloomberg, accessed November 2, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&refer=home&sid=aGT_xTYzbbQE
10 “Paulson Seeks Mortgage Value That Eluded Bear, Lehman,” Bloomberg, accessed November 2, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&refer=home&sid=aGT_xTYzbbQE
11 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 19.12 Nina Rappaport. “The Consumption of Production.” New Orleans, La.: Praxis, Inc., 2003. 58-61.
Fig. 2 Manufactured Landscapes (2006) - Photographer Edward Burtynsky travels the world observing changes in landscapes due to industrial work and manufacturing.
chapter 1 5
zoning and clustered production areas through a return to the vertical urban factory as a space of
innovation and renewed urbanization.”13
From this discussion it seems that integrating different programmatic elements can produce
an architectural prototype capable of positively influencing the local economy and business
philosophy of the united states, using Florida as background for an initial intervention. Friedman
explains that given the recent change in our economic outlook, the timing is right to consider
changes into factory design: “each economic shift influences the urban industrial space and the
design of factories—whether in relation to a single structure, industrial zone, military industrial
complex, or globalized free-trade zone.”14 shipping costs would make this new type of factory
dependent on pre-existing transportations infrastructure, since low travel distances could reduce
cost, maximize efficiency, and reduce the building’s carbon footprint on its environment. by its
very nature, the project would also need to be located in a zoning area that allows mix-use since
it would likely integrate administrative, retail, live-in, and manufacturing programmatic elements.
in regards to form, the factory would be influenced by factors discussed by rappaport: “as in
other building typologies, the factory corresponds to cultural and spatial practices in urbanism
and architectural design, influenced by social and economic organizational systems resulting in
a form that—follows the functional logic of both the internal operations and the manufacturing
process.” 15 the concept of interaction of factory and consumers could draw inspiration from the
somewhat trivial, vitrine-like interaction described above. rappaport describes the example of
a potential customer at the Volkswagen factory in dresden, germany, who sits behind a glass
window overlooking the assembly of his/her car from start to finish.16 this interaction certainly
improves on the isolated suburban factory, but architecturally limits the interaction to consumer
and manufacture. it bypasses the workers, gives the client no background on materiality or product
research, and leaves many important factors in the life of the product out of the picture.
an architectural strategy focusing on programmatic integration could also generate
a sustainable model of production almost organically. there is a palpable need for a more
13 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 17.14 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 17.15 Nina Rappaport. “The Vertical Urban Factory” Parsons School of Design journal, SCAPES, January 2009, 16.16 Nina Rappaport. “The Consumption of Production.” New Orleans, La.: Praxis, Inc., 2003. 58-61.
economically and ecologically balanced growth, and Friedman argues that “having one country
be exclusively a consumer, and another exclusively a producer is both economically unsustainable
and ecologically unsustainable.”17 he also makes an interesting parallel between the market and
the natural environment, and how both seemed to collapse simultaneously and will continue to
decline unless we change our lifestyle. the way in which american society interacts with their
commodities is as detrimental to the market as it is to the environment: “We have been getting rich
by depleting all our natural stocks—water, hydrocarbons, forests, rivers, fish, and arable land—
and not by generating renewable flows.”18 he then points to the two original purposes of any
financial firm: funding innovation, and financing a process of ‘creative destruction’ through which
new technologies improve on living conditions by replacing older technologies.19 Programmatic
integration also means that an ideal production process would follow a ‘cradle-to-cradle’ approach
through which consumers could perhaps return obsolete products to the factory. these products
would then be either recycled or disposed of by the factory itself. Finally, the role of the customer in
the production process must also be taken into account. rappaport comments on how “in today’s
new mass-customized manufacturing, the consumer is involved in controlling both the financing of
the product and the product design through customization of the traditional demand-supply circuit.
the result is a consumption of production in which the architecture itself becomes a marketing
tool. in this scenario, the factories become display vitrines as well as the site of manufacture for a
product.” by taking into account the consumer as integral part of the process, the project integrates
not only programs, but also different aspects of society into a new sustainable business model.
to wrap up this point, it is of paramount importance to keep in mind america’s responsibility to
be a world leader in innovations for better and more sustainable living practices. even as history
indicates that we are resistant in the face of large-scale changes, particularly when these changes
affect our accepted beliefs, Friedman is adamant in pointing out that “we have to summon the will,
energy, focus, and innovative prowess to regenerate, renew, and reinvent america in a way that
will show the world a new model for growing standards of living and interacting with nature that is
17 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 6.18 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 9.19 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 19.
6 chapter 1
truly sustainable, renewable, healthy, safe, fair, and creative of more opportunities for more people
in more places than ever before.” as a society, we need to step up and say enough is enough.
the implementation of new business practices does not seem like an alternative anymore, but a
necessity and an ethical responsibility.
the workforce driving the production process behind this project is yet another element that
must be addressed prior to proposing a concrete architectural intervention. rappaport comments
on the role of internet connectivity in accelerating business transactions, and how this acceleration
results in a fragmentation of the workforce: “quick-paced exchange, faddish buying, and junk-
bonds are sped up by internet connectivity, and the demand for ever-changing products creates a
work environment where both blue- and white-collar workers are alienated from each other and from
the products they produce.”20 some companies have tried to address this problem by improving
the working conditions of their employees in export Processing Zones, but these improvements
fail to bring back business to america and seem a bit like using a band-aid to prevent another
‘heart attack.’ the project would need to address this issue by creating a sense of belonging to the
workplace and making a person an intricate part of the way the system works. living and breathing
a particular product, employees would consider their job more than just a source of income—they
would consider it a lifestyle.
taking all aspects of the above discussion into consideration, this study proposes to create
a vertical factory town designed to bring industry with their factory workers and management back
to downtown Miami while bringing production back to the united states. the purpose is to reduce
the impact of current commercial practices in america and bring a new perspective of how to
introduce fresh program relationships in a high-density urban area. its a building that will support
basic middle class economic necessities, it tries to revive the Made in america, and at the same
time maximizes the client profits. the project would be somewhat similar to how car-manufacturing
companies work, except that for a holistic integration strategy the production process will work as a
network instead of a linear process. Friedman offers a glimpse into a probable spatial configuration
of the project when he states that “in our present ecologically-conscious time, the idea of the
20 Nina Rappaport. “The Consumption of Production.” New Orleans, La.: Praxis, Inc., 2003. 58-61.
vertical factory may again be pertinent in order to conserve land use and to integrate industry back
into the dense urban environment.”21
21 Thomas Friedman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded (New York, NY: Picador, 2009.), 19.
7chapter 1
8 chapter 2
PRoject site
located in downtown Miami, the site's address is700 n Miami ave, where the Miami arena
was previously located prior to its demolition in 2008 by lewis b. Fisher, ceo of Fisher auction co.
downtown Miami contains a mix of zones and uses that vary from condominiums and offices to
shopping centers, night clubs, and parks. the site is centrally located between a network of major
freeways and roads, including i-95 to the west, i-395 to the north, and brickell/us1 to the east. the
site also benefits from downtown Miami being the major business hub in south Florida.
Fig. 3 Miami offers the opportunity of trade expansion with several international emerging markets. In 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance and commerce.
Fig. 4 Miami is touted as the Gateway to the Americas, and as such offers the access to several major im-port/export routes
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Fig. 5 Miami is home to one of the major ports in the world. The site is located between south beach and brickell. Fig. 6 Major transportation arteries and access to site
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Fig. 7 Context massing model - The densification towards the east, allows for opportunity of growth towards the west. This area West of the site is largely underdeveloped
Fig. 8 Summer solstice shadow study
Fig. 10 Spring equinox shadow study
Fig. 12 Summer prevailing winds 1st June – 31st August
Fig. 14 Winter prevailing winds 1st December – 28th February
Fig. 13 Autumn prevailing winds 1st September – 30th November
Fig. 15 Spring prevailing winds 1st March – 31st May
Fig. 9 Winter solstice shadow study
Fig. 11 Autumn equinox shadow study
chapter 2 11
PRoject PRogRam
general programmatic requirements:
1. raw materials receiving = 14,600 sf.
2. silicon disk manufacturing = 45,300 sf.
3. Final assembly = 39,000 sf.
4. quality control = 21,500 sf.
5. shipping = 14,600 sf.
6. Marketing = 18,800 sf.
7. Management offices = 28,700 sf
8. retail = 15,700 sf.
9. residential apartments = 70,000 sf.
a. studio unit (40x800 sf) = 32,000 sf.
b. two bedroom units (20x1,000 sf) = 20,000 sf.
c. tree bedroom units (15x1,400 sf) = 18,000 sf.
code for programmatic relationships:
1. Final Assembly must provide a transition between disk manufacturing and quality control that
emphasizes the concept of linear production.2. the relationship between manufacturing and office must provide a new understanding of open
and closed architectural elements.
3. the relationship between retail and residential must provide a new understanding of edge.
4. the relationship between manufacturing and residential must provide a new understanding of
physical separation.
5. Office must provide a transition between manufacturing and retail that emphasizes the concept
of passage.
6. General circulation and retail must provide offer a physical break between manufacturing and
residential.
1.
2.
3.
4.
ManufacturingofficeretailresidentialParking
a series of conceptual models was produced to investigate the programmatic relationships
through the project. a series of codes exploring concepts of circulation, linearity, connectivity and
engagement with the city inspired and informed the construction of these models.
12 chapter 3
concePtual investigation
Fig. 16 This massing model investigates the concept of circulation and how the project connects with the city. An exploration of the lineal qualities of copper wire and how it engulfs volumes within and adjacent to the site informed the decision making process in the later stages of development of the project
chapter 3 13
Fig. 17 This massing model investigated the concept of circulation and connectivity to the city. The layering of copper wire also helped determine a differentiation of program across the project, and began to inform the potential loca-tion of main circulation paths
14 chapter 3
Fig. 18 Using transluscent material the main programmatic elements in the project were determined. A process of layering and repetition of modular linear elements organically created overhead conditions, semipublic spaces at ground level, and began to inform the formal composition of the building
Fig. 19 Level 1 - Manufacturing is in direct contact with offices but separated from retail
Fig. 20 Level 2 - Office space is in direct contact with retail
Fig. 21 Level 3 - There is a physical separation of manufacturing and the space housing living quarters
chapter 3 15
Fig. 22 Circulation analysis model
Fig. 23 Investigation of a solid core model
Fig. 24 Radial Programmatic configuration
Fig. 25 Programmatic configuration reacting to context
the following models were part of the process of exploration that began with the code system.
although deemed unsuccesful, the models served to inform decisions later on in the design
process.
16 chapter 3
using this model as starting point, with each linear element being eight feet wide, an exploration
of modularity and layering began to take shape. a gradual increase in the level of detail of
the model led to surfaces and volumes that responded to site conditions, and organically
generated public spaces at ground level. the formal configuration of the final model was
also influenced by this model, and traces of this poetic composition are evident in the actual
project.
17chapter 3
Fig. 26 Programmatic configuration reacting to context
Fig. 27 Programmatic configuration reacting to context
Fig. 28 Programmatic configuration reacting to context
Fig. 29 Programmatic configuration reacting to context
Fig. 30 Ideal spatial confirurations
18 chapter 4
Fig. 31 Aerial perspective looking east
PRoject Documentation
Level 36300' - 0"
chapter 4 19
Fig. 32 South elevation
20 chapter 4
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Fig. 34 Second floor plan
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Fig. 35 Third floor plan
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Fig. 36 Fourth floor plan
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Fig. 37 Fifth floor plan
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Fig. 38 Sixth floor plan
Common Area
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Fig. 39 Seventh floor plan
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Fig. 40 Housing units
28 chapter 4
Fig. 41 Sectional perspective showing the relationship of manufacturing and office. It explores the concept of articulating the dividing wall using open and close architectural elements with the purpose of increasing the collaboration between the two programs.
chapter 4 29
Fig. 42 Sectional perspective showing edge condition created by the separation of retail-office and residential. The resulting space is the common areas for the inhabitants of the factory town. Having open spaces looking at the manufacturing creates a deep sense of ownership for the workers.
30 chapter 4
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32 chapter 4
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34 chapter 4
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36 notes
BiBliogRaPhy
brown, denise scott, izenour, steven, and Venturi, robert. learning from las Vegas - revised
edition: the Forgotten symbolism of architectural Form. revised ed. london: the Mit Press,
1977.
conrads, ulrich. Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-century architecture. cambridge: the Mit
Press, 1964.
Friedman, thomas l.. Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We need a green revolution---and how it
can renew america. new york, ny: Picador, 2009
jencks, charles and Kropf, Karl. theories and Manifestoes of contemporary architecture. england:
Wiley & sons, 2006.
Koolhaas, rem. content. germany: taschen. 2004.
Koolhaas, rem. delirious new york. new york: the Monacelli Press. 1994.
Koolhaas, rem and Mau, bruce. s,M,l,Xl. new york: the Monacelli Press. 1998.
rappaport, nina. “the Vertical urban Factory” Parsons school of design journal, scaPes, january
2009.
reeser, amanda, and ashley schafer. “the consumption of Production.” in architecture after
capitalism: reorganizing appropriating pursuing subverting aftermath. new orleans, la.: Praxis,
inc., 2003. 58-61.
Ward, david and Zunz, oliver. “the landscape of Modernity: new york city, 1900-1940”. baltimore:
the johns hopkins university Press. 1997.