This was a student project by Anthony Iovino for Karen Lewis' course ARCH 3420 in Spring 2018.
Tasked with redesigning not just the physical space of the United States Postal System, but the networks that drive it as well, this re-imagined neighborhood post office and system aims to reconnect isolated neighborhoods to the larger city through the introduction of a new, joint Postal and Health Care facility and network that relies on existing public and postal transportation. After identifying neighborhoods around the U.S. that are physically and socially divided by city infrastructure, I identified West Oakland, California as a neighborhood that because of it’s extreme physical and social isolation caused by highways on all sides, lacks many of the basic services that typical communities have, such as Post Offices, Health care facilities and access to public transportation. This ‘Center for Health and Connectivity’ aims to connect West Oakland to the larger city of Oakland through the Postal and Health Care networks by using both public transit and the USPS transportation system to create a broader network that spans the city’s dividing infrastructure. The term “fold” was identified and introduced as a formal technique and device that could be used to connect and combine the health care facility with the postal facility while allowing the Post Office to remain a public and transparent space at street level and the health care facility to remain private by sinking and folding it below the street level. The formal technique of ‘fold’ is reflected in plan, section and along the roof plane, and is used to connect and blend but also define spaces based on their program.
