the ups hub
A Manifesto for Future Workspace West Soho, New York, NY
Design Studio Project Fall 2020
Our project aims to explore a new office style for the UPS Hub that will be located in West Soho, New York. The new office manifesto we propose integrates human experience with logistic density through visual aesthetics. Our design strategy for achieving both experiential quality and logistic efficiency is amalgamating the technique of layering and the concept of solid vs. void.
Through the visual effects created by the density of the layers and the perspectivity resulting from the voids, we would like to make the interiority an immersive environment. Wherever the viewers stand, they are surrounded by more than one experiential void where they could enjoy the emerging visual experiences in multiple directions. When one steps into the atrium space, he would have the opportunity to see conveyors for logistic transportation and escalators for human circulation. While the offices are framed by compacted logistic spaces, the logistics and layering define the aesthetic qualities of the space.
Each of the volumes that build up the building is composed of two parts, including avoided part to provide visual experience and a solid part to hold logistic spaces. The different volumes are arranged three-dimensionally. Larger elliptical voids are introduced at a larger scale to create unique office spaces. The volumes are then wrapped in a monolithic shell, where the striation of the interior layer is gradually moving to the exterior, breaking the boundary between inside and outside. The façade connects the different volumes inexplicitly where the interior striation is gradually moving towards the exterior contrasting the monolithic surface and the delicate layering details.
