WHY CONVENTION CENTERS ARE WEIRD AND HOW WE CAN MAKE THEM BETTER. I MEAN WEIRDER

THE CONCEPT OF THE CONVENTION CENTER IS IS FASCINATING TO ME. EVERY MAJOR CITY IN THE WORLD HAS ONE AND NEARLY ALL OF THEM FOLLOW THE SAME DESIGN LOGIC. WHY IS THIS? WHY DO CONVENTION CENTERS LOOK THE WAY THEY DO? WHY DO THEY ALL ORGANIZE SPACE IN A SIMILAR FASHION?

WITH THESE QUESTIONS IN MIND, I'VE CHOSEN TO EXAMINE THE ROLE OF THE CONVENTION CENTER IN NEW YORK BY REMOVING THE JAVITS CENTER AND REPLACING IT WITH A NEW FORM OF CONVENTION SPACE. WILL IT BE REMOVED ENTIRELY? MAYBE. IS THERE VALUE IN SAVING SOME OF IT? UM...WE'LL SEE? REGARDLESS, WE MUST RETHINK THE CONCEPT IN NEW WAYS WITH NEW IDEAS.

AS THEY STAND NOW, CONVENTION CENTERS ARE VAST WASTELANDS OF SPACE. THEY TYPICALLY UTILIZE THE LATEST ADVANCES IN SPACE FRAME TECHNOLOGY (ARE THERE ANY?) OR COLUMN GRID LAYOUT TO ACHIEVE THE LARGEST, "MOST FLEXIBLE" SPACE POSSIBLE FOR THE WIDEST RANGE OF TRADE SHOWS, CONVENTIONS, AND BANQUETS POSSIBLE. THE JAVITS CENTER IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF THIS TIRED APPROACH. AND BY VIRTUE OF ITS LOCATION (NEW YORK) IT IS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE.

IT COULD BE ARGUED THAT BY BUILDING A LARGE SHED AND SUBDIVIDING IT, AS THE JAVITS CENTER CERTAINLY DOES, A WIDE RANGE OF PROGRAMS ARE POSSIBLE SIMULTANEOUSLY. I ARGUE THAT A BETTER SOLUTION IS TO TREAT THE CONVENTION CENTER LESS LIKE A PARTITION WALL GAME OF TETRIS AND BEGIN TO DESIGN FOR THE SHOWS THEMSELVES. IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE IDEA OF THE CONVENTION CENTER NOT AS A SINGULAR ENTITY BUT
RATHER AS A NETWORK OF SPATIAL AND PROGRAMMATIC CONDITIONS, EACH WITH THEIR OWN LIFESPAN.

JUST AS A FORREST HOUSES A MULTITUDE OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS LIVING, DYING, EATING AND REPRODUCING SIMULTANEOUSLY, A CONVENTION CENTER BECOMES A BUZZING HIVE OF INFRASTRUCTURAL ACTIVITY BASED ON WHOLLY SPECIFIC BUT ENTIRELY DISPARATE ACTIVITIES HAPPENING AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY. AND EACH ACTIVITY HAS ITS OWN LIFESPAN AND ITS
DEPENDENCIES BASED ON THE LIFESPANS OF ITS NEIGHBORS.

THEREFORE, CONVENTION CENTERS (AND THE SURROUNDING PROGRAMS; IN THIS CASE A HOTEL, RESIDENTIAL, RETAIL, AND RESTAURANT/BAR SPACE) NEED TO BE TREATED AS AN ECOSYSTEM, OR AS A SERIES OF ECOSYSTEMS, EACH WITH THEIR OWN SET OF RULES AND RELATIONSHIPS BASED ON NEIGHBORING ECOSYSTEMS AND/OR FROM THE ELEMENTS WITHIN.

BECAUSE EACH CONVENTION (OR TRADE SHOW, ETC.) HAS ITS OWN LIFESPAN (TYPICALLY 2-7 DAYS) AND THE OTHER AFOREMENTIONED PROGRAMS HAVE THEIR OWN PARTICULAR LIFE CYCLES, IT IS POSSIBLE TO CONNECT OR DISCONNECT THE VARIED ECOSYSTEMS BASED ON LIFESPAN, ALLOWING PARTS OF THE BUILDING TO SPRING TO LIFE OR DIE OUT AT DIFFERENT RATES. THIS CONTINUAL STATE OF CHANGE WITHIN THE BUILDING CAN THEN BEGIN TO AFFECT, OR BE AFFECTED BY, THE SURROUNDING AREA. A PUBLIC SPACE IS ACTIVATED BY A LATE NIGHT CROWD. A CONTINUAL GATHERING OF PEOPLE FACILITATES THE ACTIVATION OF A NEW RESTAURANT. OR PERHAPS THE VERY IDEA OF THE CONVENTION SPACE BECOMES A MORE PUBLIC AFFAIR THROUGH TRANSITION OR FLOW OF PEOPLE FROM
ONE PART OF THE BUILDING TO ANOTHER.

BECAUSE THE SITE IS LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF 34TH ST. AND 11TH AVE. (BORDERED ON THE WEST BY THE WEST SIDE HIGHWAY THEN THE HUDSON RIVER) THERE IS A TREMENDOUS POSSIBILITY TO BRING PEOPLE TO AND THROUGH THE SITE BY SEVERAL MEANS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE TRANSPORTATION. THE RANGE OF THE ECOSYSTEMS CAN THEREFORE EXTEND BEYOND THE SITE TO
POTENTIALLY INCLUDE TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURAL HUBS, WHICH HAVE THEIR OWN DAILY LIFE CYCLES.

BY ORGANIZING PEOPLE AND PROGRAM IN WAYS THEY ALREADY TEND TOWARDS, WHICH IS CONTROLLED LESS BY AN OVER-ARCHING IDEAL AND MORE BY THE EMERGENT PRINCIPLES OF SELF REGULATION AND SOCIAL NETWORKING, IT IS POSSIBLE TO CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT
CONVENTION CENTER THAT ACTS MORE LIKE A LIVING BODY THAN A STATIC SHED.