Upsetting the Grid

With the existing tech start-up culture in Portland, and existing tech industry in place including Intel’s fabrication plant in Hillsboro, the ‘fab lab’ becomes a perfect fit for the city. The Zidell Yards site is situated at a prime point in Portland’s South Waterfront district: it has the proximity to the existing developments, transit infrastructure already in place via the MAX Orange Line, and most importantly to my thinking about the project, the OHSU/OSU/PSU campus directly across the light-rail stop. My model is a metaphor for the potential of a new tech hub for Portland; the traditional fabrication lab/tech start-up is represented through the grid, but the potential for integration with the medical sector is represented through a simple diagonal through the model. This is a simple representation of how a simple twist on the original ‘fab lab’ concept developed by MIT can be modified using existing conditions and create something much more beneficial to the community.