Critical Position

The following bullets outline the critical thinking process to develop an overall thesis project.

• Selecting an existing structure for adaptive reuse in attempts to regain social interaction, education and economic stimuli.
• Research adaptive reuse projects
• Develop a new program
• Analyze the existing conditions within and around the site
• Develop conceptual ideas towards an architectural solution
• Design spacial relationships towards the proposed program
• Design the site masterplan
• Design the building envelope with new and existing structural entities
• Develop floorplans
• Conclude the overall design with architectural details

In San Diego, one particular building is losing value and becoming of great concern, the Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. Expenses for a previous retrofit and daily maintenance exceed revenue for the city. There is also concern whether the Chargers stay in San Diego. A new stadium is also proposed in Chula Vista or possibly Oceanside. This leaves the existing stadium and the city land it sits on questionable.

The reuse and adaptation of buildings is beginning to increase, which makes the stadium a great opportunity to adapt and reuse. To develop a new design for the existing stadium research will be conducted to determine an overall function within the limits of this project. Research will include, but not limited to, variables in social, political and economic factors. Case studies will be selected based on conceptual approaches and existing buildings of adaptive reuse. Furthermore, particular case studies will be researched upon for programmatic solutions towards the existing context of Mission Valley.

The most problematic area in this thesis project is in developing a new function for the Qualcomm Stadium. Creating a new function for an existing structure which was initially designed for sports venues, mainly football and baseball, brings up several problems to resolve. The biggest concern is the existing structural design. Questions that arise are:
• Is the existing structure primarily concrete?
• How can existing spaces be enclosed?
• If stands are removed, will the structure fail?
• Can square footage be added to above floors without additional support?
• How can a new architectural design be implemented into an existing structure while preserving the initial design?

Addressing these problems within an overall problem (Giving new life to a dying building) will be the critical approach to resolve an overall solution.