ARCH-4980.1 | Chris Perry, Assistant Professor

socioDYNAMISM + spatialSYSTEMS

CHRISTINA PORTER

FirstPark was first developed in the early 2000’s as a way to strengthen the technology sectors of Central Maine and help to revitalize the economy. Unfortunately it has so far failed in its efforts, using only 4 of its 22 lots with a focus on the business sectors.  The site has great potential, as it is owned and ran by a committee of members representing 20 local communities. As the park flourishes, so will the region.  A recent trend in the growth of green technology production and research suggests that with the right opportunities and trained work force, this will become the economy of the future. The new program for FirstPark will be incorporated into the ‘Green Corridor’ connecting Boston to Orono (University of Maine.) The premises is that companies looking to do research in laboratories in places such as Harvard or MIT, will be able to come North to where the research is just as advanced, but cheaper to conduct, as well as offering opportunities for onsite testing.

FirstPark will be home to a number of different research facilities, offices, and educational opportunities. A restriction on the building permits minimizes footprints to 30% of each of the predetermined lots, and due to the size of the site this could have led to secluded research buildings. Instead, a system of bridged elements holding public spaces, shared resources and programs that call for social integration between research facilities will be formed, encouraging communication and interaction amongst the users.

The structural framework of this bridged element was inspired by the work of French Cybernetic Artist Nicholas Schoffer, and his ideas of spatiodynamism, luminodynamism, and chronodynamism in relation to cybernetic principles of feedback in relation to ones environment. The resulting spatial system creates a geometry that both influences, and is influenced by, the informal program within it. Social conditions within are apt to change and are meant to encourage discussion among researchers, students, and the public at large, creating a dynamic atmosphere that promotes learning, cooperation, and feedback on multiple levels that can further relations not only in the space itself, but in the region and state as a whole.