Creating a sustainable community with the re-establishment of the civic realm : the Maryville Public Library

Certain characteristics constitute a healthy place within the physical realm which sustain the environment and give support to its continuing good health. This graduate thesis project will examine the essential relationship between diversity and healthy, sustainable places within the built environment. Flourishing environments contain distinctive components which work together to support this alimentative habitat. Concern for the public realm, diversity, boundaries and edges, articulation of space, historical integration, and sensitivity to environmental and climactic issues, play important roles in this tenable equilibrium. Diversity of populace, function, and type, however, is one of the most significant components in the continuing prosperity of a healthy place. The downtown district of Maryville, TN., has many of the characteristics which form a healthy place yet it lacks this essential element of diversity and the town, as a result, is declining. This thesis project will illustrate that the strategic introduction of new, diversified elements can become the catalyst for growth by revitalizing existing ingredients of the urban center yet maintainting the continuity and specificity of an identifiable and distinctive place. Diversity as a necessity for the continuing prosperity of the downtown district in Maryville will define the scope of the project. This concept will be explored with the development of a civic building within the heart of the downtown area which will illustrate the positive impacts an individual urban building can have on existing and future urban prosperity. The historical growth of Maryville has been extensively researched and documented so that a clear understanding of the context of the historical downtown area and its civic history can be defined. The factors that have shaped the character of Maryville, such as its geographical setting, the reasons for its originating there, and its subsequent evolution play a critical role in the development of the downtown district. Also important is the issue of how and where the people of Mayville gather in a civic way. This analysis will inform the Master Plan of development proposed for the downtown area. Components of the plan will include a new civic structure, opportunities for re-use of existing structures in the downtown area, and treatment of streets and open spaces. Architectural emphasis will be focused on a Civic Center located in the historic district of downtown Maryville. The facility will contain several essential functions for the town including the Maryville Public Library, Retail Space, Office Space, Theater, Exhibit Space, Meeting Rooms and a Residential Units. While this thesis proposes new building intervention, emphasis is placed on strengthening existing patterns and the re-use of existing buildings along Broadway Avenue for commercial, civic, and public development. Issues of climate, energy and the environment will be explored and integrated as a central components in the design of the facility. It is these elements which help to establish the essential architectural settingsand places of repose and balance, between ourselves and the outside environment.