Streetscape Territories - Liberty Street - Cincinnati - USA

Liberty Street Street Scape Territories Research Scape Inclusionary Environment

Alexandre Pires Marques _ Ku Leuven _ Jun/16 Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016|1

This publication presents a combination of research and analysis to build up my project, with a reflection about the Architectural and Urban intervention. It is an attempt on showing what the challenges and opportunities of the site are and how the proposed architecture utilizes these elements. Brought as a coherent story, this publication offers an insight into the progress, and outcome of my master dissertation project.

The following people contributed and guided the development of this project and publication: Kris Scheerlinck -KU Leuven Johanna Looye - UC David J. Edelman - UC Layout & editing: Alexandre Pires Marques Printed & bounded by: Alexandre Pires Marques All rights reserved under International Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or specific copyright owners. Work and publication made during the course of a personal master dissertation project. Š2016 by Alexandre Pires Marques Contact: architecturealex@aol.com - piresmarquesalexandre@gmail.com

Liberty

Street Scape

Territories Research Inclusionary Environment

This project was developed for the master dissertation project, within the project of Streetscape Territories proposed by KRIS SCHEERLINCK. KU Leuven Faculty of Architecture Campus Sint-Lucas, Brussels Class of 2015-2016 www.arch.kuleuven.be www.internationalmasterofarchitecture.be Streetscape territories Streetscape Territories is the name given to an international research and design project that focuses on architecture and the transformation of the urban fabric, considering its streetscapes the protagonists. The project deals with the way architectural artefacts, open space, the property structure and its inherent accessibility and permeability configure streetscapes and how their inhabitants can give meaning to them. kris.scheerlinck@streetscapeterritories.com streetscapeterritories.wordpress.com

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Content Keywords

07

Research Question

09

Introduction

13

Site Location Region City Neighborhood Facts & Challenges

17

Overview Black and White The Queen of the West The Car and I

33

Intervention Area

43

Design Concept Streetscape Framework Design Urban project/Culture

53

Conclusion

79

Reflection

Bibliography

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81

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Fig:01:The Singing Mural, Artworks - Personal archive.

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Keywords

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Fig:02:The Hands that Built Our City, Artworks - Personal archive.

Territorial Depth

“Territorial depth is measured by the number of boundary crossings (...) needed to move from the outer space to the innermost territory.” Habraken, N.J. (1998).

Configuration

- “A configuration is a set of relationships among things all of which interdepend in an overall structure of some kind.(...) If we define spatial relations as existing when there is any type of link -say adjacency or permeability- between two spaces, then configuration exists when relations between two spaces are changed according to how we relate one or both to at least one other space”. Hillier, B. (1996).

Collective Space

“the city is the very place where the private domain can be, and often is, a social domain, just as much as or indeed even more than the public domain (...) Private buildings as public elements, radiating social meaning and value that extend beyond the actual buildings embody their urban character. (...) Collective spaces are not strictly public or private, but both simultaneously. These are public spaces that are used for private activities, or private spaces that allow for collective use, and they include the whole spectrum in between (...)”de Solà-Morales, M. (1992).

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Research Question

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How can an Urban Strategy and an Architectural Intervention

collective spaces at Liberty Street, providing social cohesion, human interaction and creating an inclusionary environment that will unite the two Over-The-Rhine areas? add and restructure

Fig:03:Libert Street form Catholic School - Personal archive.

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Fig:05:Penelton Mapped, Artworks - Personal archive.

Fig:04:In Betweenspaces, Liberty Street - Personal archive.

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Fig:01:The Singing Mural, Artworks - Personal archive.

Introduction

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Fig:07:Cincinnati Overview1897 - Ohio Arquive, 2007

C

incinnati is a city that developed in the 19th century, and that saw further growth followed by disinvestment in the 20th century. In the 21st century, Cincinnati seeks to re-establish itself as a model of a thriving urban city. The city saw its fastest growth during the Industrial Revolution, when business and manufacturing increased in size and in scale, taking advantage of come with size. At the same time, the USA nation began to expand. Over the past century, urbanization have catapult, translating that concept to everything, including entire communities – roads, schools, buildings, and houses.

Over the past half-century in particular, the development patterns, even in cities, have largely been driven by suburban models and guided by regulations that encourage a suburban form. This includes separation of uses, lower residential densities, and a reliance on the automobile to get from place to place.

The Over The Rhine community is located in the heart of the City of Cincinnati, north of the Central Business District and is surrounded by the West End, Mt. Auburn and Clifton Heights neighborhoods. It is symbolic of many inner cities’ challenges - ravaged by economic dis- investment, crime and poverty. OTR has a wealth of individuals and organizations that have invested countless hours working to enhance the quality of life for all interest groups. The architecture and streetscapes, parks and institutions of OTR remind us of a time when in the cities people of all income levels lived in densely populated neighborhoods just blocks from downtown. The economies of these places were thriving, churches and institutions were busy centers of community life, and people provided their neighbors and friends a helping hand.

(History Central, 2007).

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Fig:06:Cincinnati Overview - Personal archive.

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Fig:08:The Face of The Arts, Artworks - Personal archive.

The disinvestment in OTR is characterized by a significant population loss from the neighborhood’s peak population year (1900). This drop in population is partially the result of the movement of population away from the inner city due to modern transportation, social and economic patterns. Within the last few decades, the decrease can be attributed to the disinvestment in the neighborhood. Another significant change was race. During the 1960s and 1970s, although OTR’s population declined, the African American population began to increase. This increase is perceived by many as a result of African Americans being displaced from the West End and Queensgate communities due to the construction of I-75, which began in the late 1950s.

OTR’s population tends to be poorer and younger than the rest of the city. In 1990 and 2000, OTR’s population under the age of 18 was 35% and 29% respectfully, compared to the city’s 29% and 24%. By 2000, OTR’s under-18 population had dropped to 29%, which is still higher than the citywide total of 24%. At the same time, there are fewer senior citizens in OTR than citywide. (Russel,UC-2010) Over more than a decade, OTR has achieved a significant progress and development for Cincinnati; public and private initiatives combine their forces as part of the OTR comprehensive plan to transform the area. There is no doubt that success and gradual progress has been achieved, the population of Cincinnati is very proud in what they have improved so far. The OTR comprehensive plan still in development with most of the south part of OTR completed, few projects at the North part has been developed but the revitalization in the area still slow. The division of OTR in two parts came to me at beginning of my research, as poorly geography and historic. The development and the urban interventions has been so far focus mostly in the south and now in the North. However in my visits to the site, it became clear that the crossing from these two parts was not priority in their comprehensive guidelines.

Liberty Street it’s a seven-lane road that cuts OTR. During my visits to the area , the crossing of Liberty Street , became much more than a physical cross , it’s a place that has been neglected and surrounding by empty buildings, vacant land, poor housing conditions and huge concentration of homeless .The abandoned streetscape, the lack of social inclusion and the in-between spaces of development, were some of the reasons that I would like to propose my intervention and suggestion at this location.

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Site Location

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Location Map

Region Ohio is located in the Midwest and was the first state created out of the Northwest Territory, which originally included

all of modern-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and parts of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The word “Ohio” comes from the Iroquois term “Ohi:yo,” which means “the great river.” Chillicothe was Ohio’s original capital, but in 1812, the General Assembly selected the city of Columbus to be the seat of government. The state is the one of the nation’s industrial leaders, ranking third in manufacturing employment nationwide. Important manufacturing centers are located in or near Ohio’s major cities. Akron is known for rubber; Canton for roller bearings; Cincinnati for jet engines and machine tools; Cleveland for auto assembly, auto parts, and steel; Dayton for office machines, refrigeration, and heating and auto equipment; Youngstown and Steubenville for steel; and Toledo for glass and auto parts.

The state’s fertile soil produces soybeans, corn, oats, greenhouse and nursery products, wheat, hay, and fruit, including apples, peaches, strawberries, and grapes. More than half of Ohio’s farm receipts come from dairy farming and sheep and hog rising. Ohio ranks fourth among the states in lime production and also ranks high in sand and gravel and crushed stone production. Since 2000, like most other states, Ohio has faced more difficult economic times, including higher unemployment rates, especially in manufacturing businesses. Hoping to secure more lucrative positions in technology or service industries, many workers have sought retraining at Ohio’s institutions of higher education, which have experienced rapid growth. Despite the economic difficulties, most of Ohio’s residents are able to live prosperous lives. (Ohio History Central, 2007).

Fig:09:Alma Street , closing doors - Personal archive.

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Fig:10:Porkpolis , Cincinnati Library , 2009

Fig:11:Slavery fugitive.Undergorund Museum , 2012

Fig:10:Cincinnati Master Plan , 1900 - Ohio Arquive , 1974

City

The City of Cincinnati was founded on the north shore of the Ohio River in Hamilton County, Ohio in 1788, just after the American Revolution. It is the largest metropolitan area in a region totaling approximately 185 miles in diameter. Cincinnati was, for many years, the largest city west of the Appalachians. The town grew slowly at first. One month after the settlement was established only three log cabins existed in Losantiville. On the outlying lots, settlers had constructed twenty cabins and one frame house. In the early 1800s, Cincinnati developed into an important meatpacking center.

Farmers brought their livestock to the city, where it was slaughtered, processed, and sold to western settlers or shipped to various markets. Cincinnati was becoming the pork-processing center of the United States. Because of Cincinnati’s association with meatpacking, the city became known as the “Porkopolis” of the United States.

Cincinnati also played an important role in the intellectual and cultural development of Ohio during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1819, Daniel Drake established the Medical College of Ohio, hoping to improve medical care on the frontier. Numerous literary figures, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, lived in Cincinnati for at least part of their lives. Beginning in the 1830s, ethnic Germans began to settle in Cincinnati. German and Irish immigrants mixed with Americans from both North and South to create a very diverse and worldly population.

Some residents opposed the activities of other people in the city and actively campaigned to reform the community. The temperance movement targeted the Germans and the Irish, because they believed these groups were heavy drinkers.

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Ohio abolitionists concentrated their efforts in Cincinnati. Because it was located directly across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slaveholding state, Cincinnati was an ideal site to publish newspapers and anti-slavery tracts to send to the South. This location also meant that many fugitive slaves travelled across the Ohio River and through the city toward potential freedom in the North.

Not all white Ohioans supported the abolitionists. Many of these people feared that, if slavery ended, they would face competition from the freed African Americans. Race riots sometimes occurred, especially if whites feared that African Americans were gaining too much power or were infringing upon white opportunities. One such riot occurred in Cincinnati in 1829, because Irish immigrants disliked competition from the African-American community.

During the Civil War, most residents of Cincinnati supported the United States, but a sizable number of people went south to fight for the Confederacy. Cincinnati served as a major recruiting and organization center for the United States military during the Civil War. The city’s businesses thrived, as they provided supplies for the soldiers and housing for both the soldiers and their families. Various charity organizations also arrived in the city to help soldiers and their families, including the United States Sanitary Commission and the United States Christian Commission.

By 1890, Cincinnati had become an important industrial, political, literary, and educational center in both Ohio and the United States. Cincinnati was the largest city in Ohio, with almost 300,000 people. Cincinnati had the densest population of any city in the United States, with an average of 37,143 people per square mile.

More than fifteen railroads connected Cincinnati to other parts of the United States.

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Fig:12-Industrial Era - Ohio Arquives , 2009

Fig:13:Cincinnati Overview , Ohio River . JMB, 2006

The major industry in Cincinnati was iron production, followed closely by meatpacking, cloth production, and woodworking. Cincinnati’s industries employed 103,325 people in 1887, and produced more than 200 million dollars in goods.

Roughly 130 newspapers and magazines met the literary needs of the people. The public library had a collection of more than eighty thousand books. Cincinnati had an art museum and art academy, as well as an opera house and the Music Hall and Exposition Building. The University of Cincinnati provided residents with access to a college education. The city contained more than two hundred churches. It also had five hospitals.Many major corporations have their national or regional headquarters in Cincinnati. In 2015, these included Procter & Gamble, Kroger, Cinergy, Macy’s Inc., E. W. Scripps Company, Totes Isotoner, and American Financial Group. Residents enjoy diverse employment opportunities.

This diversity has helped Cincinnati residents to weather economic downturns comparatively easily, as no single business employs more than three percent of the city’s workforce. When hard times have hit the community, local residents have persevered. During the Great Depression, many people found employment through various government programs, including the Works Progress Administration and the Public Works Administration. It was also during the Great Depression when the Carew Tower, Cincinnati’s tallest building, was built.In 2015 Cincinnati remained the cultural center of southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southern Indiana.

The city boasted two major professional sports franchises, the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals. Numerous theaters operated in the city, including the Aronoff Center for the Arts -- home of the Cincinnati Ballet and the Cincinnati Opera-- the Emery Theater, the Taft Theater, the Showboat Majestic, the Playhouse in the Park, the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and Music Hall. More than one hundred art galleries existed in the city and the surrounding area.

The most prominent ones are the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Contemporary Arts Center, and the Taft Museum. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is known for its successful breeding programs.

Despite this cultural and economic growth, not all residents are able to enjoy the benefits of living within Cincinnati’s borders. Within the city’s boundaries reside people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Some residents enjoy life in upscale communities, but many residents live in lower-income areas. Many downtown businesses moved to the suburbs beginning in the 1950s, and wealthier residents went with them. Residents who could not afford to move with the companies experienced a shortage of jobs. This made it difficult for some people to experience the city’s numerous benefits. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Cincinnati officials made dramatic efforts to revitalize the downtown area, providing local residents with additional opportunities. (Ohio History Central, 2007).

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Location Map - Over -the-Rhyne Fig:14:Beer and Cincinnati , Beer

Neighborhood Over-the-Rhine is situated directly above the Central Business District of Downtown Cincinnati. With history dating back

to 1830s it has always been a neighborhood full of change. German immigrants began coming to Cincinnati in the early 19th century. Finding a home in the neighborhood north of the Miami and Erie Canal, the name “Over-the-Rhine” caught on - referencing the Rhine River in Germany. Reportedly, German immigrants made up 27% of the Cincinnati population in 1850, with Irish-born immigrants at 12%. During the peak of the community, between 1860 and 1900, there were over 30,000 residents living in the five square mile area. Over-the-Rhine was a dense and unique place, with key assets like Findlay Market and Music Hall being built in 1855 and 1878, respectively. During World War I, the Anti-German hysteria began shifting the previous culture to more Americanized culture. As affluent residents left the inner core to follow the ‘new American dream’ in the suburbs, hard times hit the nation as well. The Great Depression and World War II caused an influx of people brought in by the cheap housing stock and industrial jobs nearby. By 1950, the traditionally German area shifted towards a new majority of African Americans displaced to Over-the-Rhine during the highway and urban renewal development happening in the West End of Downtown Cincinnati. Over-the-Rhine was listed on the National Register as a Historic District in 1983, showcasing one of the largest collection of Italianate architecture buildings in the world. In the early 2000s, Over-the-Rhine had a diminishing economy and population. The Over-the- Rhine Comprehensive Plan was created in 2002 to present methods to promote housing, economic, safety, transportation, and overall quality of life issues.

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Around the same time, many organizations started investing resources in the neighborhood. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been put back into this community, bringing the area back to it’s former glory.

The disinvestment in OTR is characterized by a significant population loss from the neighborhood’s peak population year (1900). This drop in population is partially the result of the movement of population away from the inner city due to modern transportation, social and economic patterns. Within the last few decades, the decrease can be attributed to the disinvestment in the neighborhood.

Another significant change was race. During the 1960s and 1970s, although OTR’s population declined, the African American population began to increase. This increase is perceived by many as a result of African Americans being displaced from the West End and Queensgate communities due to the construction of I-75, which began in the late 1950s.

(OTR Comprehensive Plan, 2002) The OTR Community is a mixed-use commercial and residential community. Distinctive land use patterns are mixed commercial/residential along Vine and Main Streets, large institutional and office uses along Central Parkway and Central Avenue, one- and two- family units in Mohawk and areas surrounding Rothenberg School, and industrial uses north of Liberty Street along McMicken Avenue. Many of the retail and small businesses are located on the first floor of two- tofour-story buildings throughout the neighborhood. The neighbor- hood has significant open space in Washington Park and several other green spaces and park areas. Some of the most significant institutions from a land use standpoint are: Findlay Market, located north of Liberty Street; Music Hall, located south of Liberty Street; and St. Francis Church, located at Liberty and Vine Streets.

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Fig:15:New Over_The -Rhyne , OTR foundation 2013

Fig:16:Riots 2001 , USA News

The community contains 24 zone districts ranging from R-7, High- Density Residential, which permits some business use and housing at a density of 79 units per acre, to 0-2, Office Zone, to M-2, Manufacturing Zone District. This is a result of the highly mixed land use patterns in the neighborhood. There are 703 scattered vacant parcels in OTR based on an inventory conducted by the City Planning Department staff in early 2001. The majority of the sites are small, less than a quarter of an acre.

Over-the-Rhine has a collection of housing and architecture that is very distinctive from the rest of Cincinnati. These distinctive characteristics started to take shape in the 1840’s. During a stretch from 1840-1870, German immigrants built brick ornate buildings based on European style architecture. These styles of architecture include; Italianate, Federal, Greek Revival, Second Empire, Renaissance Revival, and Queen Anne. The buildings built at this time consisted of commercial, industrial, manufacturing, and residential homes. At the time most residents of Over-the-Rhine lived and worked in the neighborhood, mostly at the local breweries and factories. At one point there was 6 breweries mostly located on McMicken Avenue. The population then took a decline in the 1900’s due to the Miami and Erie Canal had fallen into disuse due to health hazards. Then, in the early 1900’s World War I started and an Anti-German Sentiments started to push out many German residents and breweries out of O.T.R. This Anti-German sentiment also led to a decline in Overthe-Rhine’s cultural homogeneity. As German immigrants and breweries began to move out, Appalachian laborers and African Americans from the south moved in to Over-the- Rhine. Since Cincinnati was the closest city in a northern state and its great connection to the Underground Rail- road, many slaves looked to Cincinnati as a new home during the slavery, particularly Over-the-Rhine. With the invention of the car in the early 1910’s and construction of wider roads many people began moving to the suburbs.

In the 1930’s new development of suburbs took shape and many residents relocated to surrounding areas, which led to another population decline in Over-the-Rhine. With the population being very low and housing units being inhabited, many owners neglected property and tore down many units. Since 1930 O.T.R has lost over 50% of its density and population. During the 1950’s construction of I-75 and I-71 took place destroying many homes in surrounding neighborhoods, especially in the West End, which is adjacent to Over-the-Rhine.

This destruction of homes led to many West End residents, mostly African American, to move to O.T.R. The neighborhood from 1950-2000 was very ethnically and economically diverse. During the 2001 race riots many of the wealthier residents moved out of the neighborhood and fled to the suburbs, which has led us to where we are today.

Over-the-Rhine now consist of 6,064 households with 4,298 housing units. 2,330 occupied and 1,968 vacant housing units. 565 housing units for rent, 173 for sale, 354 sold or not occupied, 865 vacant. (US Census,2013).

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WHO?

Recovered, aftter her homelless experience , Angela its a true sample that things can change if you want ,

52% White 43% African American 05% Others

23,5% of Cincinnati lives in poverty

OHIO 13.6%

in Cincinnatians lives below the poverty line USA 13.5%

1500 people are homeless in Cincinnati every day

43,5% of children in Cincinnati are under poverty

71000

people in Cincinnati live in poverty

Cincinnati’s reality - US Census2015

Facts & Challenges Cincinnati’s municipal boundaries have not changed since it achieved its peak population in 1950, but thousands of pre-

war homes and apartments have since been replaced by non-residential structures. This means Cincinnati not only lost tens of thousands of residents for construction of expressways, light industry, and other purposes, but these properties are generally unavailable today for any effort to repopulate the city.

Cincinnati’s loss of residents and residential land was not limited to expressway construction and urban renewal projects.

In the neighborhoods collectively known as Uptown, physical growth of universities, hospitals and other institutions has resulted in the demolition of over 1,000 homes and apartments since 1950.

OTR’s population tends to be poorer and younger than the rest of the city. In 1990 and 2000, OTR’s population under the age of 18 was 35% and 29% respectfully, compared to the city’s 29% and 24%. By 2000, OTR’s under-18 population had dropped to 29%, which is still higher than the citywide total of 24%. At the same time, there are fewer senior citizens in OTR than citywide. See Appendix B for a complete list of demographics for OTR. OTR’s median household income remains much lower ($5,908 in 1990) than the city’s median household income of $21,006 in 1990. The 2004 projected median income is $9,042 for OTR and $32,278 for the city (1999 Claritas Data File). In 1990, the percentage of families in OTR below the poverty level was 79%, which is significantly higher than the city’s average of 20%. The educational attainment of OTR residents has been increasing since 1980. Since 1980, there has been a 15.5% increase in the number of residents who are high school graduates, an 8.2% increase of those who have had some college and a 5% increase of those who are college graduates. (OTR Comprehensive plan, 2002).

Today, U.S. cities produce 85 percent of the nation’s GDP, are home to more than 50 percent of the population, and spend billions of dollars annually to educate, house and protect their citizens. Meanwhile, American cities are undergoing a major demographic shift. By 2040, America will be a majority-minority nation. (US Census,2014).

The cities we have in the world today are far from being places of justice. Whether in the South, the North, the West or the East, the cities we are living in are a clear expression of the increasing inequalities and violence from which our societies suffer, as a direct result of putting capital gains and economic calculations — greed! — before people’s and nature’s well-being, dignity, needs and rights.

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Fig17:Angela Merritt, 2014 , AM Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016|29

1788-90

1950

CINCINNAT

1890

1830

2001-02

1980 1800

1900

2012

Adopted by Cincinnati City Council November 21, 2012

1863-67

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Fig:18:Canal at Vine Street circa 1900, Artworks - Personal archive.

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Overview

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Fig:19:Riots in 2001 , Cincinnati News

Black

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White

In the past years, intense tensions around race in America have re-emerged, sparking protests, civil unrest and reams of media coverage. The conversation has deep relevance in Cincinnati, which experienced racially charged unrest over the 2001 police shooting of unarmed 19-year-old Timothy Thomas, and, more recently, national attention over the shooting death of unarmed black motorist Samuel DuBose by a white University of Cincinnati police officer.

But underneath issues around law enforcement’s role in black communities lie other problems. A pervasive and historically entrenched economic segregation in predominantly black neighborhoods continues to seal off many Cincinnatians, creating desperation and setting up extra barriers for residents of those communities. This lack of opportunity also informs the city’s much-publicized recent upswing in gun violence, its sky-high infant-mortality rate and a host of other problems.

Cincinnati’s economic and geographic segregation hasn’t gone unnoticed. A 2011 study by researchers at the University of Michigan’s Social Science Data Analysis Network found that Cincinnati is the eighth most-segregated city in America.

A study of major U.S. cities by social science journal New Geography published in January ranked Cincinnati 50 out of 52 cities when it came to the economic prospects of black residents.

Of the city’s 10 neighborhoods with the lowest median household incomes, nine are more than 70-percent black. Each of these neighborhoods has a median household income around half, or less, than the city’s median of about $34,000 a year. In these places, life expectancies are five to 10 years lower than the city as a whole.

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Fig:20:Cincinnati Homeless lives , Homeless Action 2009

Fig:21: Riots 2001 , Cincinnati News

One Cincinnati neighborhood, English Woods, today consists almost entirely of a single housing tower looming over vast, empty, fenced-off fields that once contained the rest of the housing project. The neighborhood is home to about 400 people, 90 percent of them black. Its median household income is just $8,474 a year.

Together, these lowest-income and predominantly black neighborhoods account for more than 36,000 people, a quarter of the city’s black population.

Meanwhile, the 10 wealthiest Cincinnati neighborhoods by median household income are the demographic flipside.

Mount Lookout, Columbia Tusculum, Mount Adams, Hyde Park, California, Mount Washington and Sayler Park, for instance, are all more than 90-percent white and have median household incomes between $48,000 and $115,000 a year.

There is but one exception, North Avondale, which is 60-percent black with a median household income of about $48,000 a year. Nearly all the rest of the city’s better-off enclaves, however, have black populations in single-digit percentiles.

Cincinnati’s economic segregation doesn’t always cleave to neighborhood names. Thousands of the city’s black residents also live in areas like Walnut Hills’ census tract 37, which is 85-percent black with a median household income under $10,000 a year. Just to the south, an area of Walnut Hills encompassing Eden Park and butting up against Mount Adams called tract 19 contains households with a median income of $47,000 a year. That tract is majority white.The disparity extends beyond individual neighborhoods. Citywide, the median household income for blacks in 2013 was $21,300. It was $48,000 for whites.

That gap has been widening. In 2000, the median household income for white city residents was $36,452. For blacks, it was $20,984. In 13 years, whites in Cincinnati have gained $11,000 in median household income. Blacks have gained just $316.

Overall, 46 percent of the city’s blacks live in poverty, compared to just 23 percent of whites, according to the 2012 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.

So how did Cincinnati’s black neighborhoods end up this way? The modern-day divide started with the disruption of the city’s long-time black community in the West End, was exacerbated by racist policies from government and financial institutions and continues today in subtler forms.

Following the Second World War, blacks who had worked their way into the middle class had begun to move to the neighborhood. What had been an almost entirely white community in the early 1940s gradually became more integrated.

But, not for long. By the mid-1950s, whites were moving out to the suburbs. A segregation had begun, fueled by racist real estate practices, governmental policies and insurance guidelines known as redlining .The 1934 Federal Housing Act, which put federal backing behind private bank lending, mandated surveys categorizing neighborhoods based on their riskiness. Black or integrated neighborhoods, seen as volatile, were marked out in red on insurance maps, and financing for homes and businesses in these areas was more difficult and expensive to obtain, if it could be obtained at all.

Meanwhile, suburban communities accessible almost exclusively to whites were looked upon much more favorably. Here, loans flowed freely. The availability of ready finance for suburban homes given almost exclusively to whites sparked an exodus from inner-city neighborhoods like Avondale. Real estate practices accelerated the process.That practice, called blockbusting, further stoked white flight from Avondale and other neighborhoods. By 1960, only the northernmost section of the neighborhood remained majority white. Between 1955 and 1960, Cincinnati’s white population as a whole decreased by more than 44,000, according to Census data.

In the big picture, the exodus devastated the city’s tax base, making funding for quality schools and public services scarce, especially in low-income black neighborhoods. As whites were beginning to leave the inner city, Cincinnati was looking for places to relocate blacks in the West End who were going to be displaced by the construction of I-75.

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Fig:22:Beutification of Liberty Street, Cincinnati Council , 2005

Neighborhoods like Avondale, Walnut Hills and Mount Auburn, where some blacks already lived, fit the bill. The city drew up plans for new subsidized housing projects in those neighborhoods.

But this too caused more segregation. Another tenet of the Federal Housing Act, a concession to southern congressmen, stipulated that all public housing projects should be racially divided. It would take until the 1970s for many housing authorities to do otherwise. In Cincinnati, the legacy of that policy has played out in places like English Woods and Winton Terrace. In 1940, Winton Terrace was built as a whites-only housing project, but local authorities changed that policy around the time construction began on I-75. By 1965, the area was 95 % black.

The larger dynamics in Cincinnati and around the country as a whole in the 1980s and 1990s were not particularly kind to black, blue-collar workers like Whitfield and the neighborhoods they lived in. As America’s manufacturing economy shrank, blacks often found themselves the first to be laid off. Long-standing economic divides are wellsprings of racial tension and neighborhood violence in Cincinnati and other cities like it across the country.

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The Queen of the West Spectacular, dense urban neighborhoods with wonderful architecture. Cincinnati was the Queen City of the Midwest

when Chicago was little more than a trading post. It ruled the riverboat era just as Chicago ruled the railroad one. Because Cincinnati was a large city even in the 1830’s, it was built in a very dense style, with a lot of very unique 19th century architecture that is of a style very different from the a typical Midwest city.

Innovative new architecture. Cincinnati is famously conservative, but has embraced modern architecture with a vengeance. The University of Cincinnati is loading its campus up with buildings by the world’s top architects, including people like Michael Graves. Covington, Kentucky just erected a tower by Daniel Libeskind. And the Contemporary Art Center was designed by Zaha Hadid.

The patchwork quilt of towns. Unlike the model of Columbus, which had a central city annex far out into the suburban reaches, Cincinnati remained a fairly small city geographically, surrounded by a patchwork quilt of small suburbs. Now some cite the downsides of this and in fact lay some of the city problems at the feet of this municipal fragmentation.

But it definitely has the positive of having created a ton of quaint little towns, each with their own unique character and identity.

Because Cincinnati was a big city early, its moneyed classes were able to endow great regional institutions such as the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

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Fig:23:Business District , Cincinnati , Personal Archive

Fig:24:Riots 2001 , CBS news

But with all of this, something is clearly missing. Cincinnati did not escape the problems of other Rust Belt cities. What’s more, it has continued to be a growth laggard, far trailing the nation and the Midwestern growth leaders like Minneapolis and Columbus. Where Cincinnati was once markedly larger than places like Indianapolis and Columbus, the gap has narrowed significantly. Cincinnati continues to show below US average population growth, net outmigration, and very low levels of international migration and percentages of foreign-born population. The city of Cincinnati has lost significant population, and Hamilton County’s population as a whole has been in steep decline. (USA Census,2015).

Western growth leaders like Minneapolis and Columbus. Where Cincinnati was once markedly larger than places like Indianapolis and Columbus, the gap has narrowed significantly. Cincinnati continues to show below US average population growth, net outmigration, and very low levels of international migration and percentages of foreign-born population. The city of Cincinnati has lost significant population, and Hamilton County’s population as a whole has been in steep decline.

(USA Census,2015).

Cincinnati follows a traditional US urban development pattern, with the north more affluent than the south. It’s east-west development follows the river currents rather than the prevailing winds, however, with the east more prosperous than the west. (Renn A, 2009).

Drive around Cincinnati and you’ll notice that much of the great architecture is in a shocking state of disrepair. While the buildings weren’t wholesale cleared as part of the botched urban renewal movement, the city still has a sort of bombed out feel in many places. In almost any direction from downtown you quickly transition to very poor, crime ridden, almost 100% black neighborhoods.

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Cincinnati follows a traditional US urban development pattern, with the north more affluent than the south. It’s east-west development follows the river currents rather than the prevailing winds, however, with the east more prosperous than the west. (Renn A, 2009).

Drive around Cincinnati and you’ll notice that much of the great architecture is in a shocking state of disrepair. While the buildings weren’t wholesale cleared as part of the botched urban renewal movement, the city still has a sort of bombed out feel in many places. In almost any direction from downtown you quickly transition to very poor, crime ridden, almost 100% black neighborhoods.

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Fig:26:Mr Tarbell tips his hat, Artworks - Personal archive.

Fig:25:The car culture , JYS 1982

The car and US The car is essentially synonymous with modern American life, and if you look around many cities and suburbs in the

United States, you’ll see why the connection is so strong. Office buildings, residential areas and shopping malls are all built with the car in mind. The emergence of the automobile as a consumer commodity even changed the greater landscape of the United States. Suburbs grew out of cities and expanded metropolitan areas, and personal transportation made it easier for Americans to commute longer distances. Without the car, there’d be no point in erecting giant billboards on the side of the road, and the idea of fast food probably wouldn’t even exist.

City streets were congested long before the automobile existed, but the problem has been compounded enormously by the masses of motor vehicles that enter or leave cities at peak traffic hours. The constantly growing number of automobiles throughout the world adds to the difficulty of finding remedies for congestion. The heart of the problem is that few city street systems were originally designed for automobile traffic. Reliable estimates are that some two-thirds of the vehicles in central business districts are passing through and should have been routed on different highways around the city. Remedying this situation is difficult and expensive. It calls for modern highways to provide both ready access into downtown areas and ways to avoid them. Programs for this purpose encounter vigorous opposition, frequently justified, on the ground that building freeways in cities disrupts neighborhoods and destroys scenic or historic areas.

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Intervention Area

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Liberty street The last decade witnessed critical development south of Liberty Street. Revitalization translates into the numerous

buildings renovated and booming economic activity. There is growing pressure to seize the opportunity to revitalize the northern half of OTR including ongoing improvements such as Findlay Market, Moerlein Brewery, Rookwood Pottery, etc.

Presently the width of Liberty Street is seen as a barrier to connecting the north and south halves of Over_The_Rhyne.

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1950

1955

2016

Fig:28/29:Liberty Street and Infrastructure Development , City of Cincinnati Arquive 1983

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Fig:27Liberty street , Cincinnati Arquive , 1966

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Fig:30/31:Liberty Street and Infrastructure Development , City of Cincinnati Arquive 1983

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Fig:32/33:Liberty Street and Infrastructure Development , City of Cincinnati Arquive 1983

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Fig:34- Martha, The Last Passenger Pigeon, Artworks - Personal archive.

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Design

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Streetscape Territories Framework Analyses

FACADE_scapes

Urban Analysis

ADJACENCY_scapes

+ Biggest collection of Italianate Architecture in the USA

Urban Analysis

+ Common space + Private space

+ Different activities in one place

-Horizontal intervention blocking street views.

-board-up openings creating an unstable atmosphere

-Not connection direct with the street -lack of integration between spaces

-Incorporation of business and ofďŹ ce in the urban fabric.

+ Separation of function

-Stairs and recessed opening having a shelter function.

-Not maximise de use of all sides on the block -Creation of target spaces for criminallity or illegal activities

Liberty Street

BORDER_scapes

Urban Analysis

+\- Set back of buildings to achieve city needs

eďŹ nition of spaces -Lack of order

-Creation of empty pockets

-Lack of continuety -Security issues

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Liberty Street

Liberty Street

IN BETWEEN_scapes

Urban Analysis

+\- Composition of positive and negative spaces + Privacy

+ Common spaces -Isolate buildings

-Not engagement of locals -Not connection with the surrounding

-Confusion of accessibility -Mix-macth functions

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Collective Spaces

Existing Urban Fabric

Open Spaces Comprehensive Map 56 |Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016

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Existing Infrastructure 58 |Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016

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Block Analyses

Local Scale - Area 3

Local Scale - Area 1 Open space used by residents as parking slot.

Alabama Fishbardaytime restaurant for locals and low income families

Parking

Former Warner Bros. DEPO (VACANT)

Private vegetable path Educational Building

Main Entrance facing Central Pkwy ( BLOCKED)

Mix-used Units with main entrance blocked Franciscan Media -O ce Unit W Liberty Street 7 vehicular lanes

Windows ( BLOCKED) Windows facing LIBERTY STREET ( BLOCKED))

W Liberty Street - 7 vehicular lanes)

Mix-used Units with main entrance blocked Educational Building with Main Entrance blocked 7 vehicular lane

Empty land after the construction of I-71 in 1950’s

Mix-used units with side-end facing Liberty street

Open area used for homeless gathering during the day

Mix-used units with side-end facing Liberty street

St Francis Catholic Church

Empty land after the construction of I-71 in 1950’s.

Mix-used units with side-end facing Liberty street.

Mix-used units with side-end facing Liberty street.

Semi-Industrial Depo ( VACANT) Central Pkwy - 8 vehicular lanes

1:500

O ce with no entrance from Liberty

Local Scale - Area 2

Local Scale - Area 4 Alabama Fishbardaytime restaurant for locals and low income families

Gathering of locals during the day

Multi-familiar residential Unit Parking St Francis Catholic Church

Mix-used Units with main entrance blocked.

W Liberty Street 7 vehicular lanes

Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co.

Open area used as parking for the next door garage business

Parking lot

Gathering of locals

Single residential Unit Empty land after the construction of I-71 in 1950’s.

Convenience Store St Frances School

Convenience store with a large parking space area Shell Gas station

Main entrance blocked

Mix-used Units with main entrance blocked.

Mix-used units with side-end facing Liberty street.

Bus stop Medical Centre

Open space in for Multi residential Unit.

1:500

60 |Pires Marques Fig:01:The Singing Alexandre Mural, Artworks - Street_Scape_Territories_2016 - Personal archive.

1:500

Fig:01:The Singing Mural, Artworks - Personal archive.

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Conceptual Collage

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Proposal Urban Strategy

Design Concept The problematic of Liberty Street as a 7 lanes connector cutting the O.T.R was the start point of the urban strategy and the Architectural intervention. In 2015, Cincinnati Local Authority launches a planning application to review the necessity of a 7-lane road with the new Interchange Highway on the North of Cincinnati to be completed in 2016. For that reason the existing and the proposal infrastructure of Liberty street could contribute for a design that could add quality and increase the level of collectivity and productivity in the area. The lack of livability across the street and the neglect of the owners and local residents to the area was an important characteristic for this design approach.

For the Urban Strategy, Liberty Street will become a 4 lanes vehicular way with the addition of cycle lane that will be linked with the existing North and South cycle way path designated route. A buffer area in between cyclists and vehicles will be also added to the proposal scheme for safety reasons.

With the lanes reduction across Liberty Street, the infill land that was sliced in 1950s for highway construction reasons will be re introduced. The blocks will be extended, some curbs will be flattened, giving us an opportunity to create more open spaces and therefore improve the level of collectivity and permeability in the area. The primary benefit of the flattened streets is that it treats automobiles and pedestrians equally. From the point of view of the pedestrian, the street essentially becomes one large sidewalk. This allows for pedestrians to feel more comfortable walking in the street and gives them a certain level of priority over automobiles. And from the point of view of the driver, the street is less comfortable than a traditional street due to the lack of curbs, therefore slowing the flow of traffic as drivers cautiously navigate the unfamiliar environment.

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Proposed new Building The last decade witnessed critical development south of Liberty Street. Revitalization translates into the numerous buildings renovated and booming economic activity. There is growing pressure to seize the opportunity to revitalize the northern half of OTR including ongoing improvements such as Findlay Market, Moerlein Brewery, Rookwood Pottery, etc. Presently the width of Liberty Street is seen as a barrier to connecting the north and south halves of O.T.R. This high-density mixed-use development on Liberty Street will maintain similar land use patterns that exist now. The vacant buildings, the in between spaces and vacant land area will convert to mixed use commercial with residential units above and large area of open spaces. Since OTR needs amenities like Laundromats and pharmacies, those may be implemented on Liberty. Liberty Street can act as a connector between Findlay Market and Washington Park with a dense and walk able commercial strip, led with local and affordable businesses. The residential unit on top the businesses provide a safer feeling for the area, as there are now more eyes on the street.

The physical layout of Liberty’s will accentuate the stoop culture and neighborly characteristics of Over-the- Rhine. Tall buildings with the sporadic inlet for seating areas, restaurant patios, or small urban garden can be found throughout Liberty’s new plan. The new development must also complement the existing architecture of Cincinnati’s historic district.

It is important to note that cars are not entirely discounted in the design. The street would not be closed off to automobiles, they would simply afford pedestrians the same level of respect they would another automobile.

As O.T.R experiences this vast amount of change, it is important to keep the existing infrastructure, and preserve the historic architecture. Constructing high-density infill for Liberty Street will create a new and different environment for the area. With the proposed infill, Liberty Street will become more walkable, livable, and inviting for all members of the community. Modern cities have always been spaces for the affirmation of democracy and simultaneously for the reproduction of social inequality and practices of exclusion. Even in the most democratic of modern cities one finds patterns of spatial segregation. Indeed, the configurations generated by the interconnections of democracy, social inequality, and urban space shift continuously. But the proposal is focus in create spaces that are no more public or private, but could be used for both function in the same and different time. The introduction of squares in both sides of Liberty Street will create a more inviting environment and a more connection with both sides of the road.

Proposed new Building

A series of new building will be introduced to the area with a mix-use concept that will bring not only livability, but a more productivity area. Where exiting fabric has been neglected or vacant for many years will be converted in a mix use buildings where residential units will be provided above the ground floor. A selection of different sizes and affordability will be proposed, giving the opportunity that Local Authority and private sector could work together to transform Liberty street in a more eclectic area, more inclusionary and more open to everyone.

The extension of the Local welfare system will be brought to the proposal scheme, which will be allocated and spread out in several units across the site. The idea is that workstation and rehabilitation programs will offer the opportunity of the locals and the homeless community to have a place to stay, to eat and have basic facilities available in designated buildings, but in the same time will offer a choice for everyone to improve their future. Since OTR needs amenities like Laundromats and pharmacies, those may be implemented on Liberty. Liberty Street can act as a connector between Findlay Market and Washington Park with a dense and walk able commercial strip, led with local and affordable businesses.

The residential unit on top the businesses provide a safer feeling for the area, as there are now more eyes on the street.

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The project represents a new court concept where housing, commercial area, entertainments and public services spread along and through out Liberty street.

Different facilities are designed to satisfy the wide social and cultural variety that characterizes the local areas maintaining its identity.

This solution creates a contemporary court concept, wherein the common and open spaces of the district are defined by a continuum space which is permeable (in terms of livable) and devoid of architectonical limits, an higher quality and diversification and characterizing the project a strong porosity and the complete disappearance of the classic limits of urban space.

Create community spaces by the redevelopment of buildings and across spaces.

Create a continuum spaces with no architectonical limits by removing fences, gates and re opening all blocked windows and doors on the existing fabric of Liberty Street. Add new functions in the district (i.e. cooking area, greenhouse, vegetable garden, community center…)

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Redevelopment of existing buildings, by raising and changing the typology of buildings, in order to diversify the users of the district. To encourage activity within the district will be provided with coupon benefit from the district activity of those who participate in the activities promoted. To create social aggregation common spaces inside the courtyards have been planned; self built as recreation grounds, cooking areas that will offer the possibility to residents to interact, and will assure a lively neighborhood all day long.

The new neighborhood concept is: an environment where different people live together in an organized manner, where different functions join and consolidate; ateliers, offices, urban vegetables gardens, apartments, gyms, nursery schools joined in a single space – part of it green and sporting.

In the proposal the design aims quality of a place that makes it distinct, recognizable, and memorable. The open spaces and the new design buildings will have high image ability providing specific physical elements and their arrangement capture attention, evoke feelings, and create a lasting impression.

It was clear during these few months of research that social aspect of Liberty Street and the high concentration of homeless in the area, contributed for the depreciation of such important place in the city. Local Authorities and NGOS are trying to reduce homeless issues in all over USA, but the current system, particular in Cincinnati could be more effective if their approach could change for a less temporary solution, but something that could initiate and perhaps re-shape the homeless mentality that there are ways to improve their lives.

For the Architectural intervention, the proposal will be focus in the West part of Liberty Street and Central Parkway, The interventions will consist in a refurbishment of existing 4 buildings (that are currently vacant or not in the fully capacity of use) and a design for a new building, as part of the new key area and Landmark environment that could be achieved in the area in the next few years. The re-shape and additional space of the proposed block will allows us to create a generous vibrant, and inclusionary square that will define Liberty Street as a new gateway area. Where there will be spaces for all kinds of people, residents, commuters and visitors.

The existing building (BUILDING B)at 1600 Central Park way and Liberty Street will be refurbished and a proposal of an open door space with washing facilities and basic needs will be provided to the local population at the lower ground floor.

On the Ground floor a proposal of a cooperative Wash and Dry facilities will provide a chance and opportunity for locals to learn new skills and in the same time get on the job leader more effectively.

For the buildings(BUILDING C-D-E) at 224,218 and 212 at Liberty Street a composition of a kitchen school and a POP restaurant with affordable prices of daily menus will be provided with conjunction with areas for crafts and training that will be connected by internal courtyards and open to the public most of the day. Collectivity, spatially will be defined by relative set of spaces and their relation with the context, central set of inter-connected spaces will become and seen either as a courtyard or a set of small rooms.

For all the existing buildings, the floors above will be propose a mix of offices and residential units with different sizes an prices to accommodate and attract an eclectic and vibrant neighborhood.

The proposed new building will accommodate on the ground floor: a Bistro-cafe/bar, as part of extension work and training program for the Locals and homeless community, an open door Bicycle shop, where the local community will learn a new skill and in the same time keep the new cycles in good shape, and a market shop branch from Finlay Market, to promote a link with the existing programs and local facilities. For the remaining four floors above, a mix of residential units, offices and social & educational rooms will be provided in this program.

B

C_D_E

A

Proposed Situation Plan

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Building A -Proposed First Floor Plan

South elevation

Building A -Proposed 2nd,3th floor Plan

Section AA

Building A -Proposed 4th floor Plan 72 |Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016

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Section BB

Section CC

Section DD Section AA - Collective spaces Level , Diagram

Section EE 74 |Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016

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Lower Basement Building C_D_E - Proposal for Refurbshiment

Lower Basement

Ground Floor

First Floor

Building BB - Proposal for Refurbshiment

First, 2nd & 3th Floor 76 |Pires Marques Alexandre - Street_Scape_Territories_2016

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Reflection_Conclusion For me, a city should be one in which all persons (regardless of gender, age, economic or legal status, ethnic group, re-

ligious or political affiliation, sexual orientation, place in the city or any other such factor) enjoy and realize all economic, social, cultural, civic and political human rights and fundamental freedoms, through the construction of conditions of individual and collective well-being with dignity, equity and social justice.

Although this desire is universal, provisions should be taken to prioritize those individuals and communities living under vulnerable conditions and with special needs, such as the homeless, people with physical disabilities or mental/ chronic health conditions, poor single parents, refugees, migrants and people living in disaster-prone areas.

As duty holders, national, provincial and local governments must define legal frameworks, public policies and other administrative and judicial measures to respect, protect and guarantee those rights.

Also, a place that ensures that the distribution of territory and the rules governing its use can guarantee equitable use of the goods, services and opportunities that the city offers. In other words, it is a city in which collectively defined public interest is prioritized, guaranteeing a socially just and environmentally balanced use of the territory.

Planning, legal and fiscal regulations should be put in place with the required social control to avoid speculation and gentrification processes, both in the central areas and in peripheral zones. This would include progressive increases of property taxes for underutilized or vacant units/plots; compulsory orders for construction, urbanization and priority land use; plus-value capture; expropriation for creation of special social interest and cultural zones (especially to protect lowincome and disadvantaged families and communities); concession of special use for social housing purposes; Incentive inhabitants participate in all decision-making spaces to the highest level of public policy formulation and implementation, as well as in the planning, public budget formulation, and control of urban processes. It refers to the strengthening of institutionalized decision-making (not only citizen consultancy) spaces, from which it is possible to do follow-up, screening, evaluation and reorientation of public policies.

This will include participatory budgeting experiences (being used in more than 3,000 cities around the world, with some important examples such as in the Dominican Republic, Peru and Poland), neighborhood impact evaluation (especially of social and economic effects of public and private projects and megaprojects, including the participation of the affected communities at every step of the process) and participatory planning (including master plans, territorial and urban development plans, urban mobility plans, etc.). Several other concrete tools are already being used in many cities, from free and democratic elections, citizen audits, popular/civil society planning and legislative initiatives (including regulations around granting, modification, suspension and revocation of urban licenses) and recall elections and referendums to neighborhood and community-based commissions, public hearings, roundtables and participatory decision-making councils. In the United States of America, cities have long been gateways to opportunity. For centuries, people from all over the country and the world, came to the majority American cities chasing the promise of a better life. America’s bargain with its citizens, rich and poor, was in many ways a model for the world.

In my view, to achieve a great city, we need a new type of urban practice aimed at achieving dramatically better results for low-income people, faster. This new urban practice will require cities to get key public, private and philanthropic leaders to work together differently and to leverage technology to engage all residents in solutions. In this new urban practice, local leaders will need to come together to build a new, more resilient and sustainable civic infrastructure that is focused on getting results.

We have reached a critical juncture in the U.S. Indeed, if the Black Lives Matter iteration of the long struggle for black liberation in this country has done nothing else, it has reminded us that the fight for a new, black-loving and just world is an ideological and material struggle. Our public ethos begets our public spaces. And we need unjust spaces no more.

Instead, we need neighborhoods where the value afforded to inhabitants is not based on the color of their skin, or their presumed or actual gender expression and sexual identity. Integrated neighborhoods are beautiful expressions of community when, in fact, all members are seen as worthy of police protection and respect from business owners.

The concentration of economic and political power is a phenomenon of exploitation, dispossession, exclusion and discrimination whose spatial dimensions are clearly visible: dual cities of luxury and misery; gentrification processes that displace and evict traditional and low-income populations; millions of empty buildings and millions of people without a decent place to live. The conditions and rules currently present in our societies are globally condemning more than half of the world population to live in poverty. The inequalities are increasing in both so-called developed and developing countries. What real opportunities are we giving to young people if, according to the U.N., 85 percent of the new jobs at the global level are created in the “informal� economy?

At the same time, the spatial segregation of social groups, the lack of access to adequate housing and basic urban services and infrastructure, and many of the current housing policies in various countries are creating the material and symbolic conditions for the reproduction of the marginalization and disadvantages of the majorities.

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Bibliography The analyses of the streetscape framework were used as a tool to understand the problematic of the area and in the same time to serve as guidance for the design proposals. All the interventions in the proposal try to respect and relate to the existing fabric. Existing elements and characteristics of the local urban fabric was re-introduced to the proposal as a form of connection with the surrounding. The use of the Art work culture in several proposal buildings and also the extension of the stoop culture are some of the elements that will bring to this scheme a more intimate and personal futures.

The streets are not defined only by its architecture, but by the vibrant nature of people who will use it. The people and its architecture are essential for the successful recipe of a balance streetscape. The car culture in US and the infrastructure of Cincinnati was one of the responsible causes for Liberty Street to be designed only to be crossed or driven. The depth configuration of the existing urban fabric makes Liberty Street a place where people do not want stay, the lack of vibrant places and common spaces can define the failure of such important place for Cincinnatians.

The Urban strategy and the Architectural intervention had the aim to increase the amount of collective spaces and therefore elevate the number of interaction and social contact. Its true that this design proposals will not sort out the problematic of Liberty Street and Over The Rhyne for itself , but if the architecture interventions and the social attitude with the desire of improving can work together, this could be a very good start . There is no doubt the high number of the homeless on this area contribute for the deterioration of Liberty street, but despite several welfare actions taking place on the daily basis, actions that can have only a temporary impact tend not resolve the real issues. In these design proposal an opportunity for the less privilege layer of the society will be offered, programing and adding functions to the building that can involve the locals was an alternative to try to make a more inclusionary project. The large amount of open areas with the permeability as focus point was a strategy that will allow the areas to have more social control and therefore a safer place to walk, talk and stay.

The proposal of the new building and the refurbishment of the existing buildings its an extension of a vibrant streetscape with in between spaces that merge in the same context, creating the sense of continuity all over the site.

The inclusionary design was always playing a big part in this process, but the inequality and the racial dispute in USA was one of the factors that draw a lot discontentment and discomfort during the design process, nevertheless this scheme was design for people, only people, despite your skin colours, believes and social behaviours. It’s for all!

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Harvey, D. (2003). The Right to the City. International Journal of Urban Regional Research, vol. 27.4, pp. 939-941.

Jacobs, J. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage Books.

Lefebvre, H. (1996). The Right to the City. In Writings on Cities. Oxford: Blackwell.

Legates, R.; Stout, F. (1996). The City Reader. London: Routledge.

Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. Cambridge: Joint Center for Urban Studies MIT Press.

Zukin, S. (1991). Landscapes of Power. Berkeley: University of California.

Mehta, V. (2007). Lively Streets in Journal of Planning Education and Research, 27, 165-187.

Scheerlinck, K. (2014). Coney Island New York Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 5. Brussel: LUCA School of Arts.

Scheerlinck, K. (2014). Raval, Barcelona Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 4. Brussel: LUCA School of Arts.

Scheerlinck, K., Massip, F. (as contributor) (2013). Gowanus New York Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 3. Brussel: LUCA School of Arts.

Scheerlinck, K. (2013). Collective Spaces Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 2. Brussels: LUCA School of Arts.

Scheerlinck, K. (2012). Williamsburg New York Streetscape Territories Notebook. Streetscape Territories Notebooks, 1. Brussels: LUCA School of Arts.

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