Project Details

Vertical Rails + [Ramps]

12 weeks

This semester I began by viewing a city through the eyes of a skateboarder. At the city level, I noticed how skateboarders gathered at certain parts of the city based on favorable areas to skateboard. At the personal level, I noticed how skateboarders enjoy being above ground at times, creating a series of moves from traveling in air to crashing on to the ground. As I moved on to project two, I analyzed Lynchburg’s societal flows, specifically how young people tend to gather towards densities with transportation. The railroad and trains put a halt to this activity. The railroads in Lynchburg are usually viewed as a hindrance to the city. Not only are they aesthetically not pleasing, but they also act as a barrier, separating Lynchburg into different zones. 

In an effort to reconnect the city through the railroad, I came up with a plan for Lynchburg through three layers. The first layer is a rolling plan, for mobile structures to move near the train tracks. My design focused on the second layer. It is a vertical structure system that is easily assembled and disassembled and is able to respond to the city-- structures can be easily built and added onto one another. Lynchburg as a city will become a place where the societal center shifts all the time, where networks change as people change their routes. This makes it open to continuous change, and gives the inhabitants of the city full control over the process. The vertical structure I designed is only a skeleton, and consists of a kit of parts of ten joints and two poles. It is open for inhabitants to add their own materials and artistic interpretation. The third layer is a virtual network. An Internet and phone application would assist in this process, helping better connect the inhabitants through a virtual world. The city of Lynchburg will become one large installation itself, pushing the idea of what is “beautiful” to what inhabitants choose for themselves.