Research Studio- Winter Final

Our Research Studio last quarter concluded with a two week charette for a new proposal for our chosen site. The studio to that point had primarily been a collection of statistics and analysis of the make-up of Madrid. The charette was intended to provide an immediate starting point for the Spring Quarter. The final review was based on presentation boards and 3d prints before a guest jury consisting of Robert Somol, Roger Sherman, Neil Denari, and Qingyun Ma (New dean at USC).

The research we've done shows the downtown of Madrid is hindered by automobile congestion both ecologically and economically. Given their extensive and well-funded public transit system we saw the site as a potential staging ground with the possibility of extracting automobile congestion from the center. This happens by locating new multi-tiered transit hubs at the intersection of major thoroughfares and clustering program around these transfer points to create flow in two directions- towards and away from the city center.