Community Hub

Community Hub is a cultural micro-causum located along the existing bus route in Austin, Texas. The unique culture of Austin has made it “the place to be” drawing in people of all different backgrounds and demographics. What draws people to Austin is the city’s outstanding food, live music, the possibility for outdoor adventures, and its overall weirdness. The demographic of the people of Austin range from young families, a large college-age population, professionals, adventure-seekers, and hippies. The Community Hub helps the city bring this widespread community of people together, offering a sustainable place to wait for the bus, play, rest, or watch a live show within the structure’s performance of the spatial form. The Community Hub addresses sustainability issues, important to the city of Austin, through its implementation of solar panels on the roof of the structure, the green roof, and recycled corten steel construction. The green roof helps the city through reducing the urban heat island effect, promoting biodiversity, cleaning the air, and appealing to the human desire to be close to nature. The Hub appeals to the Austininians' love for the outdoors by creating a “micro park” wherever this bus stop is placed in the city. This area of relief can be enjoyed by families waiting for the bus, people on their way to school, professionals walking to work, or Austin city-dwellers just looking for a good time. The Hub is divided into three main sections. These include the primary bus waiting area, which is paired with bike storage. This unit can be adjusted based on location for increased seating or bike storage depending on the area of the city and proximity to parks. 

The second main area is the interactive middle portion. Within the center, viewers are drawn in by the colorful swirls of color taken from musical analogs. These strips of color transform at night, helping to prevent vandalism and create a night time destination as well as daytime gathering space. 

The third section is the performance area. This area is sheltered and calls the city of Austin to come to perform. The performance area is an important part of this design, not only because of Austin’s love for music, but because Austin is also a city known for bringing people together from all over the United States each year at their Austin City Limits music festival. This space is used for the community to gather and hear shows, take a break in the shade, and to soak in the local music artists in the city. The Community Hub is meant to be a place where every member of the community of every background can come and feel like they are a part of something special within the city. The design of the Community Hub is flexible, allowing for easy integration of technology in the form of signage, lighting, and wifi access. The art of the city extends into this bus stop through the promotion of performance arts and the opportunity for Austin artists to come paint on the recycled steel structure. This structure has the potential to address the needs of every section of the community along the bus route in the city of Austin, whether it is access to a community library near a school, the need for bike storage or a place of rest near a park, shelter from the rain for a local homeless person, or a venue for the Austin music scene to bloom. The Community Hub will be an important cultural center to the city of Austin and help bring the community back together to reflect on the fun and weirdness of this unique city.