Friends

At the ongoing Modernization of a Public Housing Project in Puerto Rico, where I acted as Project Architect and Supervisor, residents requested in 2003 a new bus stop for their children.

I sketched something on the back of a piece of paper, and found myself developing for the first time, the entire concept in sketchup, so as to later have views exported as dwg files. We made the documents and are now seeing the structure as it's built.

The structure is a folded concrete plate with four supports, a canted wall, a concrete pier and two steel columns, some forty feet long, meant to accomodate a full busload of waiting children. My collegue, Architect Patricia George needled me saying that evidently I had been to Disney World's Futureland recently. I just smiled back.

Your comments as always are most welcome.

Saludos

Juan

the second of five images

The third

The fourth

The fifth

and the last ( a "ñapa" or 'little something extra' common in many hispanic traditions )

Wonderful

What colours are going to be used?

Nice and modern Juan, I like it.

Just a question or concern: what happens in the back space of the bench? in my country, a fat women will install some kind of street post (right in the place of the table in the last view) for sell a tipical street food like drinks, and tipical dishes like vigoron (yuca con chicharron de piel de cerdo, o Baho (yuca, carne de res, repollo etc) sorry I don't know the translations (does exist?). Once installed, nobody can take her away of the place. Maybe in Puerto Rico it desn't happen this way.

Saludes

Sandro

ReD

Light tan for the body, white for the pier and the bench, dark red for the metal columns.

Sandro

This is a public housing project where all residents are technically renters. Should anyone establish a claim over any particular space, they would probably lose their apartments.

But it does seem like an idea some people would consider seriously, and most probably, once set in place, the "fritolera" would prove to be unmovable. Over here she would sell 'cuchifritos", "bacalaitos fritos" and "alcapurrias". The last two are: thin circular cakes of deep fired cod fish batter, and small cylindrical munchies made up of deep fired mashed plantain batter, filled with ground meat, for those unfamiliar with such delicacies.

Saludos

Juan

Juan, a wonderful composition.
Wish I had something like this in my neighbourhood. We have very rigid,
clumsy, boring busstops.
One thing I thought might improve the project is, the roof slub should get thinned as it spreads? you know what I mean? I can't explain it well...
Don't forget to post it again after colors are applied. Congratulation. :cheers:

looks great... only thing is the water from the roof falls right in front of the seating section...

cheers
Trevor

Trevor

The entire slab slopes towards the rear, all the water heads towards the central pier and back. Our site engineer insisted in placing an additional catch basin because of it.

takesh

I would have liked that also. Unfortunately the slab had to be thick enough to behave in a way our structural consultant could predict. The alternatives would have been a canted slab or a thin shell structure, both of which scared everyone other than myself,a bit two much. I will most certainly keep you all posted.

Saludos

Juan

One thing I thought might improve the project is, the roof slub should get thinned as it spreads?

I wondered similar .. & thought about a recess cut along perimeter edges just to give it a line & an apparent thinning

If we were lucky enough to get this in the UK we would also have to introduce a drip indent to the underside soffit to stop rain dripping

The entire slab slopes towards the rear

if I had been more observant instead of trying to do work I should have seen that... :D;)

I wondered similar .. & thought about a recess cut along perimeter edges just to give it a line & an apparent thinning

If we were lucky enough to get this in the UK we would also have to introduce a drip indent to the underside soffit to stop rain dripping


ReD

I agree with your thoughts in the first and admit my mistake in the last.

Saludos

Juan

Just an addtional image to show that the entire structure was very open, the idea was to have it seem to float.

Juan,

It seems from your sketchup images that more shade is provided by your structure, however in the built images this doesnt seem to be the case. Does the shelter recieve the most shade during peak bus hours?

well done juan... quite a cantilever...

i like the shape, i'd like to see more pics of the seating area and how that works and why was a semi circle used?? over other shapes?

ouesty

Fortunately the cantilever worked, and I hope to see it standing for some time. The reason for the curved shape was to discourage its use as a bed rather than a bench.

Thanks for your comments.

Saludos

Juan

Very, very nice Juan. Durable as well. Like a little piece of that Hadid tram station of which Kevin (I think) posted pictures.

juan, this looks rather interesting to me as a designer. i enjoy the form of the concrete planes almost like a huge bird casting shadows.

being in the US, design and built reality take on different meaning in most cases. can you please tell us how you became involved with this project from the beginning and also what the process was from drawing to conception of the bus stop, like engineering and local approvals?

looking forward to more of your work

...very nice, Juan! As inspiring as your ever-present comments in these forums!

I wonder if you "doodled" your way in to the general shape? The "folded feel" gives it elegance and a gracefull balance!

please, come and build som bus stops in Denmark! :)

beste regards, 2kemon

I love the 'movement' of the composition. It's appropriate for its use and brings life to what seems an otherwise austere setting. Congratulations.

I wondered similar .. & thought about a recess cut along perimeter edges just to give it a line & an apparent thinning
I think that would appear pretty dodgy when viewed from the distance, it would betray itself.
perhaps a better solution would have been to thin the slab only around the cantileved parts, but leave it the normal thickness in the non-cantilevered parts. this would also reduce the strain on the canitlever, as there would be less weight. perhaps 1/2 or 1/3 as thick as it currently is.

I kind of like it, but it looks a little low, and also looks like it would let a lot of rain in if it was windy... rain seldom falls vertically

congratulations Juan, a good composition Did you consider using gausian curves (paraboloides in spanish) instead of creasing the concrete plain? this would have reduced the thickness and added strength to it.

Juan,

Very nice concept and details, I would say it is more similar to a Zaha work than Disney. I would like to know more. The plan and orientation. I would guess the closed wall faces east protecting from the rain that may come with the wind.

I think the structural engineer in a work with a substantial structural element, such as this one, deserves to be mentioned. I could also use him/her.

Congratulations,

Jayo

naught101

I agree it is very low, yet this was done intentionally as I wished to have it scaled to the height of grade school children. This is essentially a school bus stop. That is also the reason for it's forty foot, or bus long length. I also recognize as valid your indication that the structure offers meager protection from the elements; still, this bus stop is larger, longer and wider than any similar structure other than those found within a transfer station.

I do not agree as to the need nor the convenience of thinning the structure though, as all of these matters have been handled masterfully by my consultant, and a uniform thickness was an indispensable compromise in obtaining a reasonable quote from the local contractor, who by the way is a truly remarkable builder so committed to seeing this small incidental structure well built, that he had it partially demolished, due to imperfections, and rebuilt under his own withering eye.

Marcelo

That would have proven very appealing, yet I had to simplify the proposal in order to have it accepted, a uniform width was set as a means of belying the proposal's apparent 'complexity'.

Fransisco

The structural engineer in charge was Luis Manuel Cid P.E., whom I recommend wholeheartedly, as he always finds a way to say yes, where others would easily say no. He certainly was as much responsible for it's completion as was I.

The firm in charge of the overall design was DG3A design group, presided by Edison Avilés Deliz Esq. P.E., for who have I acted as Project Architect and "Proyectista" or overall Design Professional in charge in several similar projects for the public sector since the year 2000.

This stop was shifted from one place to another along the process, so, although it was originally meant to face west, it was finally placed next to the project entrance, facing south. Fortunately it's used early in the morning and at mid afternoon.

Thank you all for your comments, as you all know how highly I value your time and your attention.

It's to be painted soon, as the entire four-year project is winding up. I'll let you know how it ends up.

Saludos

Juan

thought you might also enjoy this busstop. it is located in Binz a small seaside village on the german island Ruegen. architect is Ulrich Müther. it was built in 1963 as a first test for the hyperbal concrete structures that he used in most of his works later.
for total height comparison - the traffic sign post in front is about 2,10m high.

the community put fences there apparently to keep kids from climbing up the structure. that of course doesn't look very nice.