Defying Urban Sprawl by Daniel Schroedl

DEFYING URBAN SPRAWL A new public realm in commuter based cities by Daniel Schroedl Bachelors of Science in Architecture Wentworth Institute of Technology, 2017 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, April 2018

.......................................................................... Daniel Schroedl Author Department of Architecture

.......................................................................... Certified by Aaron Weinert Thesis Supervisor

.......................................................................... Accepted by Kelly Hutzell Director of Graduate Program

ÂŠ2018 Daniel Schroedl. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to Wentworth Institute of Technology permission to reproduce and to publicly distribute copies of this thesis document in whole or in part using paper, electronic, and any medium now known or hereafter created.

PREFACE

Figure 1 Public space as the catalyst for unification of a city scape

Complexity In Layers

A three-dimensional enclave of community activity

Statement:

Providing a new form of community space that creates a cohesive identity for commuter based cities. Through design initiatives such as extending program, shifting circulation, and interacting materiality architecture can address the negative effects of urban renewal. This thesis uses Hartford CT as a platform to utilize these strategies in a combination of landscape, street, and architectural techniques to find a alternative to the parking lot.

Abstract:

In commuter based cities across the United States, accessible commune space becomes a precious commodity. Urban community space becomes an enclave for a complex series of dynamic spatial and programmatic dialogues, confrontations and transformations. Within this context, the of physical, functional, and operational properties of community spaces can be reassessed.

Key Words

Urban Void \ Way finding \ Unapproachability Extending Form \ Shifting Circulation \ Interacting Materiality \ Cultural Belt \ Parking \ Urban Renewal

Acknowledgment Foundations of completion I wish to acknowledge: Richard and Claudia Schroedl Leonard Dauerman Jasmine Wilson Jay Weber

Figure 2 The potential of the parking lot

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Page 14 | Problem

Literature Review Page 26 | Softening private/public

Page 18 | Site Context

Page 28 | Identity within extension

Page 22 | Current proposals

Page 30 | Shifting connection

Page 32 | Implementation

Page 36 | Key foundations

Conclusion Page 42 | Socio economic impact

Page 43 | Urban Impact

Design As Research Page 46 | The Commuter City

Conclusion Page 116 | Reflection

Page 64 | Project Criteria

Page 74 | Looking for Inspiration

Page 82 | F ramings

Bibliography Page 120 | Bibliography

Page 92 | Critical Reflections

Page 118 | Conclusion

Page 122| Image citations

Design Outcomes Page 96 | Designing In Plan

Page 102 | Extending Form

Page 106 | Shifting circulation

Page 110 | I nteractive Materiality

CHAPTER 01 INTRODUCTION Introduction Page 14 | Problem

Page 18 | Site Context

Page 22 | Current proposals

URBAN ISOLATION

Problem: Urban Isolation Urban renewal during the 50s and 60s saw the destruction of chaos, street life, and interaction. The car became the priority, and thus cities became void of their vibrancy. Planners of the modernist era typically utilized deductive reasoning to separate landscape with infrastructure. This sometimes strong separation of uses between residential, industrial, and commercial developments became very prevalent in industrial cities trying to reinvent themselves. Separation of landscape can destroy communities and innovative economies by creating isolated, unnatural urban spaces. A city becomes lively and fruitful for the same reason as sidewalks. The functional physical diversity among adjacent uses, and diversity among users and their schedules.[1] Many mid-sized cities in America were redeveloped in this fashion, creating awkward stretches of the community covered by car parks and barren sidewalks. This medium has led these cities into having disjointed centers and a dismembered community. With commuter based cities prioritizing commuters, downtowns have become eerily empty by 5 PM. Thus the necessity to activate the local population of these cities becomes apparent. There is a wide variety of ways to approach this issue that can span across many disciplines and avenues. However, this theoretical endeavor will focus on combining landscape and building forms to create a new breed of possibilities. The demand for new forms of public space is seen both in an architectural and social standpoint. Inventing a new public space articulates a plethora of architectural qualities that support the rise of diversity in urban moves and fosters further social interactions. 1 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 2 Cho, Im Sik., Chye Kiang Heng, and Zdravko Trivic. Re-framing urban space: urban design for emerging hybrid and high-density conditions. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016.

The conceptualization of the project serves a new approach for future urban design developments that answer some of the problems that plague public space in commuter cities. Thus the argument is that public space is not on the decline but instead expanding on a rapid basis.[2] This pace of new modes of â&#x20AC;&#x153;publicnessâ&#x20AC;? has increased due to a vast array of intricate changes society has seen within the last decade. With new forms of interaction coming in retail, leisure, tourism, and private sectors isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it time for the public sector to follow suit?

Figure 3 Downtown pre urban renewal Density within urban fabric Hartford 1957

Figure 4 Downtown post urban renewal Voids within urban fabric Hartford 1965

Figure 5 Parking has created destructive large urban voids . Voids which starve the residential neighborhoods of downtown Hartford identity and life.

Figure 6 Voids created by the globalization of the automobile have left downtown Hartford fragmented and unapproachable. The human scale is lost within the current urban environment.

Site-Context: Hartford’s segregated history Hartford like many mid-sized cities was built of mixed-use, medium rise buildings which until 1950 supported a lively economy. The region was known throughout New England as a hub for insurance companies and precision manufacturing. However the rise of urban renewal saw federal grants fund two interstate highways that sliced through the city center. To make room Hartford demolished a large sector of the downtown area. On top of this, they built high-rise modernist buildings which we now call superblocks. These changes devastated the local ecosystem of the city and provided both a physical and social barrier that segregated the city. This is often referred to as “redlining,” and many believe this a direct result of the prioritization of the automobile. Commuters traveling to Hartford have increased from 53 percent in 1960 to 74 percent in 2000. This led to two things, a sharp increase in parking lots throughout the city, and a sharp decrease in the walking and biking demographic within the region. (1960 there was 15,000 parking spaces; by 2000 there was 46,000) (Between the same years the number of commuters in Hartford who walk or use a bicycle dropped precipitously from 16 to 6 percent.)[3] This translated into large thinly arranged skyscrapers and sizable expansive parking lots dominating the city. Not only did it destroy years of natural densification in multiple sectors but it sucked the vibrancy and liveliness out the downtown area. Hartford became a suburban sprawl that segregates its cultural amenities and its people. There is little connection to the mixed-use place that it once was. There is little connection to surrounding neighborhoods. There is little connection to the cultural vibrancy that attracts 3 GIS Hartford 4 “Turning Downtown into Suburbia – The Case of Hartford, Connecticut.” Planetizen - Urban Planning News, Jobs, and Education. Accessed November 19, 2017. https://www.planetizen. com/node/44254.

Figure 7 Redlining has destroyed and isolated communities in the greater Hartford area. Starving and segregating undesirables. (1933)

people of all generations to cities. Hartford is the epitome of suburban policies being adapted to urban environments. The urban sprawl has become stretched across the line of suburb and city, and it doesn’t perform well as either.[4] Many cities like Hartford, Springfield, Detroit, and Dallas are suffering from disconnected urban space where non-transportation land use is becoming more scarce. However, it is easy to be on the other side of history. For us, it is stress-free to point a finger and perceive these designers as wrong. However, the architects and contractors of this decade were influenced by the all mighty Le Corbusier and other visionaries of the period. Many of which were responsible for some of the cornerstones in urban planning that are still widely 5 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 6 Waldheim, Charles, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adrian Guezze, and Fritz Palmboon. “Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism .” Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism 71 (2010): 21-73. 7 COLLETTI, MARJAN. DIGITAL POETICS: an open theory of designresearch in architecture. S.l.: ROUTLEDGE, 2017.

practiced today. In their defense overcrowding and efficiency were two strong reasons to use deductive reasoning. Nevertheless the rest of the world has outgrown the suburban life, more and more people are moving back to cities. Many mid-sized commuter cities like Hartford are stagnant or economically imploding. The urban fabric of these cities may hold clues to why. The redlining, the segregation, the lack of diversity, the lack of life after 5 pm, the neglection of local interest, and a decrease in density see these cities become cold and unapproachable. Jane Jacobs was one of first to garner the attention for lack of density and diversity within cities. [5] The goal is not to hop on the trend of fostering compact urban situations. To Jane Jacobs, the solutions would be way more complicated. Yes, sprawl has choked Hartford, but density alone is not the answer. Density itself is not an asset on its own; secondly, density is something to be encouraged and nurtured, not directly determined by planning.[6] The method behind the exploration is essential to understanding the scope and potential that this particular site holds. Being able to portray data analysis dynamically is imperative when looking at

public space in a specific area. Public space can have many different associations to people from different regions. Extrapolating data paired with digital imagery can portray a picture not seen from simple spreadsheets. While building off of the shifting needs and issues within the city of Hartford, one can begin to understand why the city is lacks an improved agenda for its public space. For example, people know that Hartford is the home of insurance companies and thus the inner city is made up of parking lots. While exploring where these voids originate from can help one piece together neglected neighborhoods like Frog Hollow. Utilizing the potential of digital poetry it is possible to delve deeper into the social construct that makes up these blocks. Through analyzing images layered over data collection, it becomes evident that connections can be drawn. Thus one can begin to see the construct of the neighborhood and its relationship to the urban landscape. Throughout this process one can start to produce their own, making inferences that paint pictures not seen before. Through undertakings such as axonometric drawing and model making paired with literature and data the discovery of new narratives for the area become more defined.[7] Figure 8 Parking has continued to grow in Hartford since 1960 (left) and 2000 (right).

Site-Context: Hartford city center & Frog Hollow narrative Utilizing the method coined digital poetry a video was made to describe the analysis and reasoning behind the sites location. What was found supported the claims of past studies and furthered Jane Jacobs arguments. The city of Hartford is a commuter city that is heavily structured around driving. Community buildings can be broken down into semi-public institutions like schools and fully public institutions like community centers and libraries. What separates the city is the need for parking for private enterprises. This parking is so widespread that it begins to have its spatial repercussions. Bus routes is the preferred choice for residents. This is because walking around Hartford is not easy as the transition between building and street is harsh. Therefore, there is a real divide between public and private spaces. Within Hartford, there are several parks that could be used as activation for residents. Together with community centers, these can form destinations. The wide gaps between sectors can overpower these public destinations. This division becomes a problem as neighborhoods are trapped within themselves isolated communities

only hurt the downtown which sees little use after 5 pm. As harsh transitions between urban public space mean that there are voids in interaction within these communities. The site chosen is in the middle of downtown and Frog Hollow. The focused area leads into a residential sector, a commercial sector and is sprinkled with culturally relevant landmarks. This is a site where the transition between public, semipublic, and private spaces can be improved. Interestingly the segregation of areas happens to align with the actual borders of neighborhoods. This is a meeting point of socioeconomic and physical forces . This is could be the new cultural meeting point where the city of Hartford connects itself. The question is why do we want people to cross these boundaries and how do people cross these boundaries. The city center has underutilized infrastructure and Frog Hollow has a underutilized cultural backbone. Thats the realm of ambition and at its most watered down form this thesis is about giving the city back to the people who live there. [8] [9]

8 Hartford Exploration. November 03, 2017. Accessed November 26, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpP0GpxNi_U&t=2s. 9 GIS Hartford

Figure 9 01-08 Framing of the narrative for Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s downtown through finding a focus point and layering/extrapolating 01: Roads 02: Community Programs 03: City Parking 04: Walking Streets 05: Bus stops & Bike Paths 06: Districts & Government Buildings 07: Cultural Belt 08: Site Location

Current Proposal: Landscape Urbanism The inability of conventional urban design strategies to cope with environmental conditions left over from the urban deindustrialization is becoming prevalent among cityscapes. Within the rapid pace of change through the horizontal sprawls caused by automobile based urbanization, we have yet to see the fulfillment of landscape urbanism within society. Countering the modernist planning methods, landscape urbanism is something many people believe can provide the common ground where urban environment, economics, and social order may again flourish. [10] Hartford has proposed the iQuilt Partnership. The plan is to make public spaces more walkable and showcase downtowns cultural assets. Through small scale activation like way finding to large scale landscape moves to open up the waterfront the iQuilt initiative is trying to bring vibrancy back to Hartford’s downtown.[11] However there are two main issues with iQuilt that translate throughout other landscape oriented proposals . The first is that they are only proposing things for the immediate downtown area which will only promote further isolation between neighborhoods like Frog Hollow. This is a controversial issue that typically results in the displacement of local residents as the effects of uncontrolled land values can destabilize an environment. The second issue is that pure landscape proposition limits the potential within a network that space can fit into. This applies to the realm of both context and function.

Figure 10 iQuilt’s landscape initiative is a first step in reviving downtown Hartford. However this approach is limited in scope and one dimensional.

A landscape specialist may disagree and claim that this idea is nonsense. They may see this as a war against their rightful place in the design world. This is not a war, and this is not discrediting what landscape

urbanism is. Landscape architects, designers, and engineers all work within their surrounding context to a certain degree. Whether they are orientating site or working with infrastructure. Olmsted was able to prove the capacity landscape design has and his projects are often described as the closest thing to an urban second nature. The emerald necklace in Boston is a testament to that. [10] However as generations went by landscape urbanism seemed to become an afterthought when in many cases it should be the catalyst for development. Regarding biodiversity within the cities of the future, we should be striving to remove the disjunction between our environmental health, social justice, and cultural relevance. A

10 Waldheim, Charles, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adrian Guezze, and Fritz Palmboon. “Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism .” Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism 71 (2010): 21-73. 11 “The iQuilt Plan.” The iQuilt Plan. Accessed November 19, 2017. https://theiquiltplan.org/. 12 Waldheim, Charles, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adrian Guezze, and Fritz Palmboon. “Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism .” Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism 71 (2010): 21-73.

13 “Stumbling Blocks to Creating Great Civic Centers...and How to Overcome Them.” Project for Public Spaces. Accessed November 19, 2017. 14 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 15 Cho, Im Sik., Chye Kiang Heng, and Zdravko Trivic. Re-framing urban space: urban design for emerging hybrid and high-density conditions. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016.

strong ecological footprint of built environment and landscape is traditionally how architects have approached this issue with an building architect contracting a landscape architect.[12] That in itself is a significant problems and is why landscape urbanism is not always perceived as cohesive, and frequently fail to function as engaging public spaces. [13] Jacobs believed that consciously organized complexity was crucial to the livability of a city. Buildings are linked by space and infrastructure, and within this notion, there is a host of processes.[14] Whether it is social, economic, cultural, or environmental challenging some of these urban communities can lead to new spatial and organizational manifestations within relationships between urban space. Urban space is not an empty open space instead it is a network of activating nodes that take into account structures, surfaces, activities, locality, and regionalism. [15] Urban space should interact with the human conscience on a multitude of scales creating timeless connections that landscape urbanism alone cannot provide. This thesis looks to supplement the idea of iQuilt but seeks to extend the idea into more of a architecture related platform. This opens up a new set of

possibilities and emphasizes the collective importance of not only downtown but the areas surrounding this sprawl. Exploring ways to work with landscape not against it is something that many ancient cultures comprehended well because its what allowed them to thrive. Many third world countries have also found ways to achieve this within their communities. This is a study to see if pulling apart and rearranging landscape and built form can change the outlook of public space. Turning one dimension into multiple has lead to para-dime shifts in every facet of technology. In that framing this thesis will apply the same narrative to urban public space. Through the use of softening, extending, and shifting public space mid-sized commuter based cities like Hartford can ease the transition between private and public spaces, establish an identity that fosters sustainability, and connect culturally significant destinations with new ones. Through the exploitation of circulation, hybrid programming, and natural density one can explore the possibilities of combining building with the landscape on a multitude of scales. To provide tangible evidence, Hartford will be used as an urban playground to sample and test theories that delve into the body, architecture, street, and city.

Figure 11 Road dieting is a vital tool used to reestablish activation in certain areas.

CHAPTER 02 LITERATURE REVIEW Literature Review Page 26 | Softening private/public

Page 28 | Identity within extension

Page 30 | Shifting connection

Page 32 | Implementation

Page 36 | Key foundations

Conclusion Page 42 | Socio economic impact

Page 43 | Urban Impact

A LT E R N A T I V E S T R A T E G I E S

Spatial Transition: Softening the transition between private & public to activate people within a built form The matter of public space and place has slipped between the cracks of diverse disciplines and cultural shifts. Focusing on the idea of place is a way in which we blend, and fundamentally address otherwise different causes. Currently cities are providing networks of private space that becomes open to the public. The issue is that the peoples interest may not fall in line with the owners. To enrich the city’s public space network to a more significant extent than it has been would enable it to have a higher influence on ensuring people’s quality of life and health.[16] However, this notion is heavily debated. Some say that the historical public space model has become antiquated. For a place to be truly public, it doesn’t need to be owned by the government, have no restricted access, and it doesn’t need to foster interaction. This is all very true and today is becoming more and more prevalent. With complexities that intertwine each other, there is no clear-cut separation of public and private in many urban high-density cities. [17] Within fluctuating between semi-public, and neo public zones the citizen in places like NYC and Hong Kong don’t realize the realm of influence each typology has on each other. Nevertheless, when you go to many commuter based cities, the division becomes much clearer. Parking lots and sidewalks divide the city into public and nonpublic zones which makes the transition harsh. These awkward zones need to be softened and transitioned through in a way that allows people to approach the city in the way they please. Pinpointing where the separation between downtown and neighborhoods begins the transitional characteristics of isolated communities is a tangible starting frame.

How exactly would one go about creating public interaction through private, semi-private, and public spaces? If the ambition is to offset the unapproachable sectors of the privatized downtown areas then one must explore the problems unapproachability causes . Focusing on the transition between public and private spaces with better arranged urban space that is accessible to the public will provide better conditions for socializing, creativity, recreation and play. [18] Thinking about how a building interconnects with landscape directly impacts transition of both active and passive people. Look how extreme competition within the private sector for income methods has created spatial landscapes that are often too big, too general, too shallow, too inaccessible, and or even too inconvenient to be used. Now people may be skeptical about the possibility of large-scale expansion to be given direction by implementing green structures. They do have a point and if Olmsted was alive during this generation its very unlikely he would be able to implement his regional park system. The massive amount of coordination and sacrifice needed by the vast developers would make Olmsted’s visions laughable. With such a strong emphasis on profit margins and spaces monetary value developers have destroyed much of socially responsible design that past generations possessed.

16 Crankshaw, Ned. Creating Vibrant Public Spaces: Revitalizing Relationship. Washington: Island Press, 2008. 17 Cho, Im Sik., Chye Kiang Heng, and Zdravko Trivic. Re-framing urban space: urban design for emerging hybrid and high-density conditions. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016. 18 Crankshaw, Ned. Creating Vibrant Public Spaces: Revitalizing Relationship. Washington: Island Press, 2008.

19 Waldheim, Charles, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adrian Guezze, and Fritz Palmboon. “Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism .” Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism 71 (2010): 21-73. 20 Wachter, Susan M., and Zeuli, Kimberly A., eds. Revitalizing American Cities. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc., 2014.

However, there is still a need for Large-scale renewal of disused sites and decayed landscapes. This is something that is achievable in todays world. Urban planners have been easily misdirected with civic goals of mobility, icon, and open space and this usually ends

up in city centers having little relationship to anyone or anyplace. Transition between sectors is something that should be natural and instead of some built form being the answer maybe its the people who use it. Giving space for people to make their own allows for a fostering of natural transitions. Transitions in which people are the focus point instead of the building. A building cant say hello as you walk through a door. A building cant sell their locally grown vegetables. Surely a building cant perform live music to a crowd of people. People are responsible for all those things and people have proven that they are capable of providing comfort, sociability, and identity. The architect is simply the provider of access. These are the ingredients of place and that is something that is crucial to landscape and building connectivity. [19] Focusing on our relationships within place can shift human relationships, our patterns of urbanization, and our collective potential to address challenges on multiple scales. When thinking about the privatization of public space, it is important to think about neighborhoods and the cities as a nucleus because of their dependency on each other to stay in balance. [20] That is something that can take place on a building scale and a regional scale. Interactions among people who inhabit the same space build social relevance, and this translates into social capital and balance in a city. Neglecting transition between private and public sectors provides interactions among smaller, more isolated groups. This has a tendency to translate into high rates of economic inequality and is becoming a trend across American cities. Figure 12 A study exploring the possibility of landscape intervention in built form. Discovering new ways to provide a positive transition experience within rigid structures.

Fostering Identity: Extending program and usages to foster lively and interesting streets Studies have shown that when two inanimate objects are placed next to each other, it creates a new experience for people not exposed to one material. Architects like Carlo Scarpa would define architecture as materials and objects that touch one another. Mallgrave reveals the importance of detailing to stimulate emotions both on a conscious and unconscious level. Urbanism is tactile and a form of kinesis. Architecture can be the bond between the environment and human sense. However often this importance is downplayed and takes a back seat to representational values. Maybe returning to a more primal approach to design could benefit humans. Understanding tectonics and the relationships between materials, colors, patterns, and textures is how we can bridge the gap between human emotion and architecture. Architecture should have more orientation to the fact that we are animals of pleasure instead of just trying to be current.[21] This is how you make a building truly timeless. Tapping into the capacity of bioscience and creating something that promotes human emotion is a valid way to make your design relevant to the past, present, and future. Fostering a sense of place among city dwellers is vital to psychological fulfillment and developing connections that support more sustainable lifestyles. The point isn’t to try to preserve antiquated identity preferably it is to give people the resources needed to regenerate their communities. A very complex topic that can be boiled down into two notions. The first is finding a way to make a community sustainable as a collective ecosystem. The second is finding a sense of individuality that they can adjust to stay relevant. The way to approach is to ensure tools are in place to 21 Francis, Harry. “Human.” Edited by Tyler Stevermer. Thresholds 42 (2014): 76-87. Accessed October 25, 2017. MIT Department of Architecture. 22 Newman, Peter, and Jennings, Isabella. Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems: Principles and Practices. Washington: Island Press, 2008.

keep the neighborhood competitive and connected with the region.[22] Newman states "Empowering people through engagement of the community and region, together with practical Partnerships between government, business, and the community, form the essential institutional and social basis." Cities that reflect a sense of place protect their natural and cultural assets. Communities utilize them as tools to make historical and natural processes visible. This restores and reflects regional context and linkages and can have healthy cultural and artistic practices that inform their sense of place. As the fabric of the community becomes knitted together, people become connected through this technology. Building typology, digital endeavors, and street design are three methods of extending program into another dimension. A dimension that can influence other regions and help them establish themselves. Technology will allow humans to come together to existing and new destinations adapting old spaces to modern needs. Can top-down planning be successful on a human scale? Urban renewal exposed the harm top-down style planning can cause. There is still potential for advancement within the number of scales at play. Traditional planning doesn’t account for so many scales thats why successful architects often switch mediums frequently. Researching through technology is iterative and playful which allows designers to express a new vision for an outdated area.[23] That is how the conformity of urbanism can be broken, and that’s where the discoveries will be made in my thesis. Extending peoples focus and attention is 23 COLLETTI, MARJAN. DIGITAL POETICS: an open theory of designresearch in architecture. S.l.: ROUTLEDGE, 2017.. 24 Newman, Peter, and Jennings, Isabella. Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems: Principles and Practices. Washington: Island Press, 2008.

one way to activate people on a large scale. These different interactions are what create activation and interest within a community. This is something that is adaptable to the future and allow communities to adjust shifts with their changing needs. This is how our shared experience in cities drives both competition and collaboration. Pushing people to participate is a critical component in making them thrive. It is a story of emerging creativity, of cultural evolution, and growing shared value in our public realm.[24] Providing a journey of activation on multiple scales to allow residents to build an individual identity while still prospering under a cohesive community. This idea is a modern interpretation of sustainability that transcends through every walk of life. Figure 13 Establishing a network of key hybrid programmatic destinations that can be knitted together with smaller more specific programmatic elements. The navigation between flexible and non flexible program can be utilized to establish links both within the structure and to the outside world. The bond between building and street becomes stronger and allows the building to blend into the existing urban landscape.

Layering Connection: Shifting circulation to bring density to existing destinations The fabric of the community being knit together through existing destinations and new destinations develops a bond between infrastructure and built form. Without a vital core to link disparate elements of a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social and physical fabric, the city may not be able to function as a coherent urban entity. The basis of strength in cities is always human capital (or capacity) and the web of social networks within which it develops. [25] These connections are what can ensures that the local activation fostered under identity remains accessible. Connected neighborhoods and town centers have a practical dimension for pedestrians. Pedestrian route quality and, by extension, the quality of the entire street environment depends on micro-climatic comfort, safety and accessibility, provision of prospect and refuge, and the ability to make environmental sense by reflecting the design qualities of both the neighborhood and the business district. [26]

backgrounds provide urban textures that contribute to a dynamic open laboratory of human experience. The goal is not to create density directly, but to open the door and allow density to occur in our cities, thanks to more abstract and general planning rules. To further support these concepts, the introduction of a phasing construct that would allow for a community to be sustainable. This idea of phasing and the human scale can be translated back into connectivity. Once one can begin to make connections between a network of regeneration projects the fabric of that community becomes more approachable. [27]

Diversity is tastes, skills, and needs that come apparent because of the number of people who are so close together. Take that density away, and Jane Jacobs would argue that the mutual support will also go away. Living and learning from people of different

Regardless if its something like way finding with street signs or connecting through urban fabric the upscale of both physical and cultural density only strengthens an areas relevance to its population. In Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case the superblock provides the destinations and the parking lot provides the spatial connectors. The interplay between these shifting nodes is what fortifies the cohesiveness of built form, landscape, and street. This allows a city to act as a breathing livable unit. Providing that sense of balance and harmony that makes up its ecosystem.

25 Wachter, Susan M., and Zeuli, Kimberly A., eds. Revitalizing American Cities. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc., 2014. 26 Crankshaw, Ned. Creating Vibrant Public Spaces: Revitalizing Relationship. Washington: Island Press, 2008. 27 Crankshaw, Ned. Creating Vibrant Public Spaces: Revitalizing Relationship. Washington: Island Press, 2008.

Figure 14 Shifting circulation between program or other destinations can bring added layering and complexity to an area. By providing more opportunities for people to establish their own connections with their environment and themselves. This promotes identity and can be supplemented with landscape moves that play off peoples movements. Landscape can be the anchor to this added complexity.

Implementation: Combining building, landscape, parking lot, and street The ability to set up a language of intent when it comes to public space is imperative. Nobody can control someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions however we can set up short term and long term goals both physically and spiritually. Visual, physical, contextual, and cultural are all ways to connect people with their neighborhoods and their cities. That connection is what defines successful cities with their regions. [28] This is a compelling notion that can strengthen the perception of economic and social values. With so many scales at play it becomes important to think of this as a sustainable process. As smaller scale ventures are pursued they could help fund or promote larger moves. Thinking about the time

line of how building, landscape, parking, and street formate help contour the design and construction process. A network of horizontal and vertical public spaces that allow for neighborhoods to keep existing public spaces intact and enable new public spaces to emerge. From small-scale interventions to large-scale urban moves one can explore how a better connected public space can bridge voids within the existing network and can help inner-city neighborhoods avoid un-approachability within their community. The landscape and the city switch roles and can

Destination Implemtation

Year 1

Phasing

Network Objectives

Year 1

Figure 15 If we allow smaller scale proposals to be the catalyst for bigger The Las Condes plaza interventions we promote a regions strengths and establish Chile (2005) sustainable designs that can be adapted in the future. ThisSantiago, is imperative in garnering a competitive incentive for public space.

Precedents

Council House 2 Melbourne, Aust

interplay in three dimensions. Removing the essence of public and private division is just one of the many benefits this new breed of space can have. Within this, there are three different areas of focus. Elevating program from the street level can be a useful tool in creating a bond between social change and negotiation. Vertical open spaces, elevated multi-level podiums, rooftop gardens, and sky bridges oppose conventional thinking and bring a new dynamic to the local population.[29] Interaction on multiple levels promoted multiple levels of engagement and multiple levels of publicness. Networking circulation that is made by the users own needs is one way to

2 traliaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (2006)

link the landscape with the built form. Therefore it is important to think about the possibilities within the horizontal engagement of the sidewalk, the vertical influence of parking, and the functionality of an aggressive hybridization of program.

28 Crankshaw, Ned. Creating Vibrant Public Spaces: Revitalizing Relationship. Washington: Island Press, 2008. 29 Cho, Im Sik., Chye Kiang Heng, and Zdravko Trivic. Re-framing urban space: urban design for emerging hybrid and high-density conditions. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016.

Year 3

Year 5

Year 10

Warwick Junction Market in Durban, South Africa. (2010)

Village Centre, Innichen Italy (2012)

Tactical Regeneration Pedestrian Path Street Green space Small Scale Intervention Large Scale Intervention

Small Scale Activation

Curb

Street Space

Interventions can happen at any scale. These smaller changes can give a street a new life and serve as a connecting point in wayfinding for this network of public spaces.

Figure 16 Regardless of typology public space can become a intertwined system that unifies a city within multiple levels of activation. This is a study of how that system is integrated in a general urban context.

3234

Benches

Pop-Ups

Mix Use High Rise

Returning Space Back to City

Utilizing Private and Public Space to create a connection between downtown and neighborhoods.

Giving back the Space Lost to the highway era of design. Connecting these vacant spaces into the network.

Public Transportation

Transportation can be a focal point of this regeneration. Connecting neighborhoods with the people.

Revitilizing Areas With Public Space

Spacial reorganization is used to help reinvigorate the surrounding context. Therefore both the private and public sector can benefit.

Public Institution

Breaking Down Public Space

Market Place

Street Activation

One of many ways to engage the local commuity and bring buisness into a struglling area.

Closing down streets and utilizing space for public events helps connect the fabric of the neighborhood with its people.

Finding new ways to bridge the gap between public institutions and the people they serve. Also giving private institions a reason to give back to their community.

Through different pysical and contextual boundries public space can be untilized in a multitude of ways to enhance not only visitors experiance but those who live there.

3335

THE SIDEWALK: Approaches to street scape The significance of the sidewalk is a salient point in this exploration. Sidewalks provide moments of interface or seclusion for people . Engaging in sidewalks can allow one to entangle or estrange themselves. Jane Jacobs contrast places with high sidewalk traffic in dense urban areas and no sidewalk traffic in lowdensity suburbia. In low-density, suburbia residents must settle for lack of contact or expose a significant portion of themselves to have interaction with others. With that frame, people become deliberate in choosing neighbors and associations which is excellent for upper-middle-class people but terrible for anyone else. [30] This notion has become very evident in Hartford as casual public interaction is almost none existent on the border of downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. Thus it exposes part of the reason why Hartford has become segregated racially, socioeconomically, culturally, and physically. Simple things like getting advice from the grocer, asking for directions or admiring a passing dog are basic social interactions that are uninhabited in commuter cities. These casual interactions are what creates community, fosters place, and creates relationships amongst the city socially and physically. Reversing the damage of designing for the automobile instead of the human is a battle that wont be won until isolated zoning laws are retracted. In spite of this as architects we can theoretically chip away at this idea. For the purpose of this experiment zoning laws donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist in America and the designer has the freedom to manipulate the streets scape at their will.

red lining specific interaction is how a designer can respect the human need to be a individual. As individuals we experience discomfort when we are told what to do and how to do it. Now it is important to understand that this project is not looking to get rid of the car completely. Preferably this process if about finding the right balance between the car and human. Learning how humans can tolerate the automobile and vice versa is fundamental in achieving equilibrium between building, landscape and street. Similar to how the ideas of Le Corbusier have become distant so will Jacobs. So will every modern theorist

The future of public space will give people a choice to interact with others or be on their own. Creating the opportunity for interaction instead of forcefully 30 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 31 Roberts, David. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Superblocks: how Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars.â&#x20AC;? Vox. August 04, 2016. Accessed November 26, 2017. https://www.vox.com/2016/8/4/12342806/barcelona-superblocks.

Figure 17 The Diwang Urban Park I in Luohu District of Shenzhen provides an example of how varying the typology of the sidewalk can breath life into a park that is surrounded by road on three sides.

and architect. Society simply moves to fast to try and control every part of a design. To allow a design to transcend an era means to design on a more primal level. Mallgrave would agree, sometimes its the simple notions that stand the longest. For tangible evidence of how emphasis of sidewalk can change a city one can look at Barcelona and why the same logic has not been successfully applied in the United States yet. Barcelona managed to minimize the car in their city centers in 2014. They utilized their version of the "superblock" by taking multiple city blocks at a time and slowing down or completely closing traffic patterns. Within the superblock, the speed limit is limited to 10 mph, and the curbside parking was replaced to underground parking. What this did was free up space for markets, events, relaxing, and interaction. Activity built on itself and Barcelona reaped the economic and communitycentered benefits. [31] So why won't more cities in the United States do this? Well, they have to an extent but on much smaller scales and normally for the wealthier areas of a city. Essentially in America moves like this are more about raising land value instead of providing high public space of high performance. Not only do zoning codes make it very hard to get rid of cars but landscape ventures only take place on a horizontal scale. At its core American capitalism rebukes the idea of public space because it takes away from profit potential.

Figure 18 Barcelona has seen unprecedented success in their campaign to give the streets back to the people. This is an example of working with, not against the superblock.

THE PARKING LOT: Opportunity to Network Making the fabric of the streets as continuous a network as possible throughout a district of potential sub city size and power is comprehensible regarding sidewalks. [32] However what if one were to apply that notion to parking lots. From a distance commuter cities like Hartford often appear to have more parking lots then people. Public space must approach this notion as aggressively as a developer if they want to compete for space. Urban voids in American cities like Boston and New York are increasingly becoming non existent. More interestingly however are cities like London where parking lots have been redeveloped into dense local business installations. When visiting London it is easy to see the effect Box park, The Artworks elephant, and Pop Brixton have on local communities. Even if they are just placeholders for developers they often resonate with people on a more human scale then large shopping centers. What they do is help local businesses which in turn helps the local communities build layers of activation and identity. Getting rid of parking is unfeasible in todays world. Yet maybe the problem is in the label. When we say parking lot we assume strictly vehicles. We rarely associate parking with program and thats a mistake. Tying parking back into the program may take the form of a flexible overfill platform, or a dynamic market. The emphasis of this project isn’t parking but how can parking fit into this built form and landscape that benefits more than one context. Different modes of transportation will always be evolving. Speculation can drive a design into a state of irrelevancy. So as Elon Musk redefines the way we travel with hyperloop architects must also rethink how we approach parking. Making this space usable on multiple scales 32 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 33 Ben-Joseph, Eran. ReThinking a lot: the design and culture of parking. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015.

ensures that the space wont be another void for future generations to deal with. Taking these parking lots and turning them into something approachable and inclusive to the public could transform the way Hartford interplays with its residents. Eran Ben-Joseph introduces some interesting questions. “Can parking have beauty and greatness in the less than obvious traits of aesthetics and form?” In a model, any open space can be altered into a parking lot, and parking lot can be converted into a public space. [33] The idea is that parking lots can be directly incorporated into the site and given real importance or utility in its design. As Ben-Joseph points out: “the parking lot, in essence, is a building's lobby. “

Figure 19 London has found success in allowing community business parks like Pop Brixton to provide a filler for urban voids. Interventions like this establish destinations within a community and promote local business.

Figure 20 The Dia Beacon is a tectonic play between natural and built forms. What makes this landscape unique is that it is part of the parking lot. This scale provides an interesting confrontation to the issue of parking.

THE PROGRAM: Framing hybrid interaction There are a shifting meaning and uses of place over time. Traditional urban space has deformed because of typology and sociology. This idea is the hybridization of space. [34] Much like a cross-breeding of animal species to strengthen particular characteristics crossbreeding between building typologies and the program requires aptitude and organization. Otherwise much like species, you may end up with a fake sense of coexistence and sterility within its context. Joseph Fenton named three basic hybrid building typologies. The fabric hybrid takes derived directly from structure and measurements within the urban framework. Otherwise known as the volumetric infill of the grid. The graft hybrid represents a combination of different building forms within an urban block that articulate different functions. While the monolith hybrid is a high-rise structure that merges program under a unified skin. [35]

Figure 21 Tactical Urbanism provided the backdrop for a proposed street installation in Roxbury Ma. The program was designed to be a hybrid between a jazz performance space and a market. Integrating interaction for each use was imperative for the success of the installation

Rem Koolhaas explored this idea in Delirious New York when he investigated program interplay in skyscrapers in Manhattan. Much like his architecture firm OMA, program is drives force in the design process and usually separated by floors.[36] Although the levels are bonded under one envelope is it possible to push this vision further. Hybridization does require excellent interaction amongst structural and programmatic approaches. However, Rem’s neglect of site context is where one can supersede his antiquated ideology. In fact, hybridization of a program can benefit from intensification and activation from surrounding meaning.[37] These three ideas of aggressive hybridizing translate into both programmatic, spatial, and operational flexibility. This is in turn fully bridges the void between landscape and building.

Accessibility is the ability for a place to connect to its surroundings and have relevance within a community. This connection is both spiritual, physical, and can be thought about on multiple scales. The physical connection could mean easy access to public transit while visual connections may deal more with the significance of edge treatment. That includes the sidewalk, parking, building, and landscape. Being able to understand the network of space should be the cornerstone of public space. Giving people the opportunity to express themselves economically, socially, and spiritually allows them to better connect with their environment. This comfort allows for perceptions of pleasure to be associated with space. With comfort comes activity and it is essential when developing a public space to provide areas that can

34 Cho, Im Sik., Chye Kiang Heng, and Zdravko Trivic. Re-framing urban space: urban design for emerging hybrid and high-density conditions. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016. 35 Fenton, Joseph. Hybrid buildings. New York: Pamphlet Architecture, 1985. 36 Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York: a retroactive manifesto for Manhattan. NY, NY: Monacelli Press, 1994.

37 Cho, Im Sik., Chye Kiang Heng, and Zdravko Trivic. Re-framing urban space: urban design for emerging hybrid and high-density conditions. New York (N.Y.): Routledge, 2016. 38 “What Makes a Successful Place?” Project for Public Spaces. Accessed November 19, 2017. https://www.pps.org/reference/ grplacefeat/. 39 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011.

adapt to time and people. [38] Combining the idea of phasing to reinvigorate sectors of both downtown and the neighborhoods and allowing people to make that space theirs. High levels of community involvement are dependent on the amount of flexibility this space can offer and the accessibility both as a stand-alone building and as a transitioning landscape. Through the process of unification, people should have the power to adjust the design as they see fit. Those who work, live, and relax in the space know that space better than any designer. Socially responsible design embodies this notion. Public space design is simply giving people the tools or platforms they need to make a space theirs. The public realm should be the ones who see space transform for their particular need at that particular moment. That takes collaboration, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what is builds the foundation for the bridges that connect the human race. People of all colors, races, and socioeconomic classes should feel approachable within the essence of the word public and the space it embodies. This project isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about solving solutions about societies separating values. For that is far too complex for one person to understand. Instead, this project is utilizing existing cultural centers to infuse as part of a new street, building, and landscape fabric. This project is about taking the work of Jane Jacobs and extending it to a broader range of multi-levels. The ambition is to intensify the urban layering which multiplies the complexity and usability which in tern desegregates different uses to foster a functional identity at all levels. [39]

Figure 22 The street providing flexibility for community events. (Top) Interaction between performer and person during jazz festival.(Middle) Fostering engagement between stalls and potential customers in a market context. (Bottom) The integration of all three programmatic uses is possible because of the aggressive hybridization approach and the application of that notion in everything from circulation to tectonic.

Socio-Economic Impacts Taking an existing superblock infrastructure and moving forward is more attainable than tearing down entire blocks of the city. Simply starting over in mid sized commuter based cities is unfeasible. This is because many of these cities including Hartford are financially unstable and filing for bankruptcy. With the globalization of markets, the unsteadiness of modern zoning policies there becomes a real challenge for designers all across the world to battle against the tendency to “regenerate” by putting massive amounts of typical luxury condos which have sprawled across cities like Boston, San Fransisco, and New York. Hartford is an opportunity; it is an opportunity to explore possibilities. Under toning contextual issues are important, for instance Connecticut has one of the greatest income inequalities of any state in America.[40] This makes a city like Hartford a perfect place to test theoretical ideas to bring a new age of socially adept design to similar cities. This generation of architects can be the generation that changes people’s outlook on the basic money grabs that only work for a select few. This sort of responsible design can happen on all levels of the private and public sectors. In these cosmopolitan cities, you see the balance of tolerance and transition like in Greenwich Village in New York. [41] Jane Jacobs has pleaded to utilize high levels of complexity within city fabrics. That complexity adds vibrancy and makes people cohesive. However in a context sometimes simplicity can provide that complexity. People can provide that complexity and public space is simply a bastion for humans. This is not something that calls for a totally new “architectural movement”. The interplay between natural, physical, and cultural forces can be marked by time and layered to make a fluid connection between city, ground, and human. Developing a bond between 4o Rick Rojas And Mary Williams Walsh. “Hartford, With Its Finances in Disarray, Veers Toward Bankruptcy.” The New York Times. August 15, 2017. Accessed November 27, 2017. 41 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 42 Waldheim, Charles, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adrian Guezze, and Fritz Palmboon. “Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism .” Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism 71 (2010): 21-73.

Figure 23 Urban renewal has left us with gaping holes in our urban fabric. Isolated neighborhoods create segregated populations. Through theoretical experimentation within the public sector one can discover the design ethos to combat this growing problem.

infrastructure and built form is something that has been designed by ancient cultures and could be revisited from the Mayans terracing to the Greek goat paths, incorporating landscapes into city fabric was essential to those cultures survival. [42] As designers we are hung up on finding the perfect combinations to find solutions to problems that don’t exist yet. Maybe it’s the fact that we are manipulating the purpose of nature to work for humans. For example, if someone asks an architect to plant ten trees in front of a building most would do some form of organized design. They would use deductive reasoning to find where exactly the shade would appear and they would follow paths that the building gives them. The question remains, is this successful? Is this really the best solution, it’s guaranteed within a month that people will have created their paths, they will have their priorities regarding interacting with the 43 Waldheim, Charles, James Corner, Mohsen Mostafavi, Adrian Guezze, and Fritz Palmboon. “Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism .” Topos #71 Landscape Urbanism 71 (2010): 21-73. 44 Jacobs, Jane. The death and life of great American cities. New York: Modern Library, 2011. 45 “Diwang Urban Park I.” Diwang Urban Park I | URBANUS Accessed November 19, 2017. http://www.urbanus.com.cn/projects/diwangurban-park-i/?lang=en.

Urban impact built environment and other humans. Now if those trees were cordoned off into an overall shape like a rectangle and allowed to naturally grow into their own paths and patterns wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t this foster a new wave of interaction. A new breed of usages, circulation, and relationships with space opens possibilities not yet seen before. These usages and connections with built environment are what makes a place successful. The modernist urban planning methods align themselves with the uniform organized trees and has shown how restricting and separating urban planning can be. There needs to be something to offset this, something that gives people connections to context while allowing them to make a space their own. Not falling victim to post-modernism and hyper fusing design and non-design elements which can hurt landscape precision and timelessness. Instead of becoming a fashionable rhetoric this timeless idea creates platforms for connection on multiple layers for society. Incorporating building, landscape, and street as a unified complex pattern of our environment making us comfortable within a array of different scales. [43] This thesis is an attempt at making public space the catalysts to urban design.

Inclusive public space that is accessible to everyone has many measurable and immeasurable benefits. Interactions breathe life and opportunity into a city. This project is meant to adhere to the basis of Jane Jacobs theories. Firstly, provide a continuous spatial network that softens the harsh transition between private, semi-private, and public spaces in low-density areas. Secondly, create and lively exciting street scape that establishes an identity. Thirdly integrate and intensify existing physical and new cultural fabric to activate people, and desegregate the neighborhoods and downtown. [44] Through the utilization of landscape, building, and street scape design early in the design process, the final aspiration is to integrate these parking lots or urban voids back into a cities fabric. This project establishes links within the cities existing public space network while providing a platform for the people of Hartford to create their own identity. Through the adaptation of urban surface systems, there is an endless amount of promise within weaving and networking physical and cultural fabrics. This scattered public land can be pieced together into a cohesive unit that can be the cultural center of an entire city. [45]

Figure 24 The complex density of street life can be translated back into commuter based cities in the form of a unified landscape and building typology. Layering of movement, people, and interactions is what establishes an identity.

CHAPTER 03 DESIGN AS RESEARCH Design As Research Page 46 | The Commuter City

Page 64 | Project Criteria

Page 74 | Looking for Inspiration

Page 82 | Framings

Page 92 | Critical Reflections

The commuter city 3.1

Introduction: A manifest for Commuter Cities The narrative of Hartford is a city that is divided by decisions made nearly a century ago. The site chosen is the median between downtown Hartford and the isolated community of Frog Hollow. The large parking block represents a microcosm of something that is spread across the city of Hartford. However, this is a problem that is faced by former rustbelt cities across the nation. This section identifies and addresses three specific problems faced by commuter based cities in the East Coast. The section will also provide three specific design initiatives or solutions that could be applied to different building typologies across commuter based cities. These solutions methods will be directly tested in the framing research and incorporated into the final design. This manifesto will later be supported by further project criteria specific to Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s situation.

Figure 25

Introduction: Applicable Commuter Cities Before choosing Hartford, these four cities are other cities selected as possible sites for the intervention. They are similar to Hartford in size and have a large commuter population. All four of these cities have gone through related issues dealing with urban renewal and have room for this to be addressed within their current state. With that in mind, the clear ideas in this section can be applied all of these commuter based cities and could have a similar impact to the design in Hartford.

Worcester, MA Providence, RI

Figure 26

Figure 27

Figure 28

Figure 29

Springfield, MA Buffalo, NY

Problem 01: Urban Void Urban renewal has left commuter cities like Hartford with massive urban voids filled with parking lots. These parking lots dominate the cityscape and are what separates the superblock structures of downtown and the denser residential neighborhoods like Frog Hollow. The result is a neglected local population and a city that has segregated itself. The picture on the right side shows the voids in white with the size of the void translating to the height.

Hartford, MA

Figure 30

Problem 02: Way Finding Identity A lack of density has left Hartford with destinations that are underutilized. The inability for a spiritual or physical connection has eradicated the diversity that comes with social and cultural interaction. The absence of cohesion is partially responsible for Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s failure to establish a sustainable identity for its population. This image shows what it would look like of all publicly accessible places were connected in Hartford.

Figure 31

Problem 03: Unapproachability Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distinct separation of residential, industrial, and commercial operations have made the divide between public and private sectors harsh. Transitions are often expansive parking lots and result in a city that is un-walkable. The streets of Hartford often become cold and Barron after 5pm. The unapproachability within transition between building, landscape, parking lot and sidewalk have all contributed to the segregation of a downtown.

Figure 32

Vertical Connection

Density Activation

Perimeter Engagement

1. Extrusion of existing circulation becomes larger permanent program components

1. Establish a horizontal dense exterior that is dense and more of human scale can be adapted for different uses drawing people in

1. Extrusion of super block which site on

2. Adaptable program that acts as inter connecting goals is easily changeable

2. Larger more vertical program establishes hierarchy and provides connection to downtown

2. Subtraction of expansive multi purpose spaces where functionality happens

3. Landscape is used to draw people in and adds flexible program space

3. Negative voids develop and turn into landscape which strengthens connection to sidewalk and site context

3. Activation of perimeter boundaries become identity making space creating interaction with population and context

4. Process is repeated vertically creating new relationships programmatic destinations and exterior context

4. Framework is adjustable and shifts depending on needs of community innovation and learning

4. Utilizing landscape and street scape as unifiers that provide circulation or moments connection

Figure 33

Design Method 01: Extending program to foster lively and interesting streets The extension of the program not only promotes connection through navigation but it also can transform the significance programmatic elements can have. As a public space, the building can build around multi-flex spaces that foster identity building. Once those are established, you can begin to expose them to outside mediums. The program becomes dynamically interchangeable with the sidewalk. Life inside the structure can spill out to the street and vice versa. This is an exciting proposition especially when landscape comes into play. The landscape can begin to be the bridge between those large programmatic elements and the smaller exposed exterior program. Although this design idea meddles the power, each one that has it also becomes the most durable bond between landscape, built form, and street.

Figure 34

Design Method 02: Shifting circulation to connect existing destinations and promote new ones Establishing primary circulation vectors that relate to the context of the site is where many designers traditionally end. However, the program can be a regenerate over time. The needs of people are always evolving, and this gives the program the opportunity to develop too. The privatization remains as the key vectors are the anchor points however what changes are the landscape and how people move within the context of the site. This logic can be applied to strengthen a siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s context and ensures that things like destination finding can be incorporated into the structure of public space. Through positively controlling circulation you can provide a suitable platform that can adjust with time and need. The idea is to provide a skeleton for the shifting set of programmatic elements public space often has and utilize them as a set of interchanging waypoints that offer a connection to the context on a multitude of levels. This notion if applied vertically adds a level of natural complexity to the structure and region.

Figure 35

Design Method 03: Interacting materiality to activate people in transition between space Through the establishing a hierarchy in density, one can begin to explore how landscape and built form can work together. This concept builds the program up with the densest being on the outside to attract people and the least dense being on the inside possibly being the structure that houses the community center, Once the rules of the hierarchy are set up you can begin to adjust them playfully. Thus you are taking urban voids that existed and downsizing them to be programmatic elements in the structure. A result is a form that binds landscape to the building and provides a more convenient basis for people to connect with. As the most public areas of the program would be on the outside, it makes people comfortable and promotes the natural interaction when people engage with themselves. It also allows for various elements within the program to change over time with the outside being able to adapt to new interactions that people may introduce.

Project Criteria 3.2

Establishing the context Hartford Community Center A cultural center and center for innovation that gives people the platform to involve themselves in finding sustainable identities. The proposal is for a type of public space that can be adapted to commuter cities who have been struggling with the results of urban renewal. This will be a center for technology and the arts that absorb the culture and heritage of an area while providing the foundation for creativity and expression. A place to generate, share, and test ideas. This project will be rethinking program, circulation, and materiality to combine built form, landscape, and street into a cohesive unit that can bring a new identity to a struggling cityscape. Within this context various methods can be adapted and instilled in a community center that prioritizes public space. This community center would not only be a improvement on the existing underutilized one but also physically and figuratively piece together Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distinct neighborhoods into a cohesive identity for the city. Using a highly evocable program to address the parking needs alternative to the parking garage.

Figure 36

City Hall Goverement Support

Creation: Innovation

-Callaboration -Education

Hartford ART & Technology Center for Fabrication & Innovation

Testing: Fabrication -Fabrication -Workshops

Sharing: Destination Frog Hollow/downtown Empowerment

-Exhibition -Socialliazing -festivities

Program Providing a sustainable identity Start Up Hub / Building/ Red -Lecture Halls -Creation Workshops -Fabrication performance

Public Activation / Circulation/ Green -Observation space -pedestrian egagement -moments of inspiration

Using the program as a platform to allow the solution method to flourish. The program is providing a mixture of highly changeable spatial typology that can ensure sustainability to the city with a more permanent creation space that provides an identity for the location. Together they make a sustainable identity for a cohesive city.

Sustainable Identity

Cultural Park / Landscape/ Blue -Gallerys -Activity Space -market space

Figure 37

Site Placement Connecting the cultural belt and site nodes The cultural belt includes institutions and infrastructure that can be made more accessible to Frog Hollow. By situating the site as an axis, it engages several vital nodes that tie into the cultural belt. This would also allow the surrounding parking lots to be involved and even promoted within the future development.

Connecticut Science Center 01 State House Square 02 Wadsworth Museum of Art 03 Hartford Public Library 04 Central Baptist Church 05 Pump House Gallery 06 Methodist Church 07 Bushnell Performing Arts Center 08 Museum of Connecticut History 09 Connecticut Capitol Building 10 Public Legislative Library 11 Lutheran Church 12 Billings Forge Community Works 13 Public Library Parker Street Branch 14

WATERFRONT

DOWNTOWN HARTFORD 03

BUSHNELL PARK 06

SOUTH GREEN

FROG HOLLOW 14 Figure 38

12pm-8pm

8am-10pm

SU MO TU WE TH FR

Maximizing Parking Providing a solution to parking that is more that serves as an alternative to the parking garage. This is due to Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dire economic situation, and these ideas can be translated across the city. Giving parking the ability to maximize the usage of space and be a vessel for involvement within the community. Parking is a tool in this project to optimize the interaction between materials, program, and context. Using those

three concepts plus intensive scheduling abilities this projects parking will be an asset to the designs ability to engage with people. The goal is to work with parking and not treat it as the enemy. Understanding that the local government buildings need parking during weekdays is crucial to the implementation of rotational parking parameters after 5 pm on weekdays and weekends.

8am-10pm

SU MO TU WE TH FR

4pm-12am

SU MO TU WE TH FR

SA Figure 39

Looking For Inspiration 3.3

Figure 40

Figure 41

LA VACHE NOIRE Extending Program Located in La Vache Noire, a district was developed around the main roadway axis with few green spaces; the program provides an opportunity to create an architecture as a landscape in the heart of an old urban wasteland. The roof folds in on itself while also sloping down to provide access from the adjacent streets. This shows how form can incorporate street and landscape elements to create lively streetscapes that have engaging qualities.

Figure 42

Figure 43

Superkilen Landscape Park Shifting circulation in path The aesthetic approach, which pretends no naturalness, but is artificially round, deserves attention. One of the most exciting aspects of the project is the inclusion of the mixed user community. The bold use of color and public art in an urban space that promotes social interaction. Superkilen is an example of what can be achieved with an open, resourceful approach within a strict cost limit. It shows the value of robust visual and spatial ideas while taking into account a modern, multicultural context. The shifting path hits different programmatic typologies.

Figure 44

Figure 45

Bostonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s City Hall Engaging transition through materiality Sloped granite walks replace the staircases to ease pedestrian access from the redesigned subway station to the entrance of City Hall. A bosque of trees along the Plazaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s boundary on Cambridge Street, one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main drags. An open-joint permeable brick paving system will be introduced. The plaza will also be integrated with the rest of the city through new and more extensive sidewalks along Cambridge Street. There are material installations that engage people in their context including wood benches, stone platforms, and vertical vegetation.

Framing 3.4

Framing 01: Large Scale Form Extending the Program This frame looks at ways to extend form to create lively and exciting street landscapes. The form is introduced at an immense scale and is broken into four different sections. Each section varies in their approach too mixing different programmatical elements and form. The red represents the Start-Up hub. The blue represents the cultural aspects of the design. The program was used to draw and attract people both interacting with the street and continuing cultural belt. The program does lack in density but excels in providing interaction with the surrounding environment.

04 03 02 01

04 Figure 46

Framing 02: Medium Scale Response Shifting the Circulation The images to the right display conceptual ideas genesis of finding different ways to shift the circulation to appease both axes of the sheet. Since the cultural belt would be directly permeating through this path, it was important that the shifting would touch different programmatic elements to engage people in their surroundings and inspire them with context. The design chosen is the last one which was picked for continued analysis.

Pros: -Interchanging density -Natural engagement in every program element Cons: -Hard to navigate -Open ended, no heirarchy

Landscape and cultural elements surrounding start up hub

Promoting new building typology Dynamic parking area

Pros: -Changes dynamic of cultural path -Street manipulation allows for walkability and interaction

Landscape interacting with start up center

Bike path moving through site

Cons: -Spacial quality -Lot size doesnt permit room for expansion. -disconnect with other lots

Dynamic parking area

Pros: -Interaction between functions. -Permeability and engagement in design Cons: -underground -No clear heirarchy and contexual meaning

Inspiring landscape design, functional

Dynamic parking area

Start up hub interacts within itself

Light wells that interact with pedestrians

Figure 47

Framing 02: Medium Scale Response Shifting the Circulation As the exploration of shifting continued, there was an interest in a permeable membrane layer to filter people into the cultural center. How this layer shifts and allows people to engage in their environment would be explored more. Another axis went straight through the startup center. That axis will enable people to be active within that section and shows them the things that the city is doing to provide a sustainable community platform. The entire structure is connected through materiality as tying in materiality that incorporates shifting materials also allows for the place making and way finding ideas to continue throughout the design.

Figure 48

Framing 03: Small scale intervention Interactive materiality Three models were made to show how materials can be used to create subversive environments. The first shows how a small scale landscape installation allows for direct passage through and permeability while promoting engagement in things like seating and memorials. How the materials like pavers and colored concrete can adjust how one approaches the hierarchy of space. The second is a unit that can be adapted over time. Vertical components can switch out over time, and the only thing that is permanent is the structural framework. The human is wrapped around materiality that can be customized, and this provides a new look into the ability for spatial placemaking. The last shows how material continuation between interior and exterior surfaces can be strengthened by engaging wall panels and extending ground materials.

Figure 49

Frame 01:

The car parking situation adapts to how the cultural pieces of the project are implemented and the people experience impacts directly how the startup hub is interacted through. The combination between the two is how a lively and exciting street can succeed in a car-dominated city. Overall this an interesting attempt that takes the superblock mentality of urban renewal of Hartford and transforms it into a highly walkable structure that combines street, building, and landscape. Where this design is held back is scale as the massiveness might deter people from genuinely making these spaces there own.

Frame 02:

The most valuable thing about the shifting circulation framing is the layers of complexity in activation a permeable axis can provide. How that draws people in is a useful tool that will be used in further design studies. This integration offers many opportunities to play with shifting circulation. Shifting circulation from built form, street, and programmatic elements push new engagement. Where this design is held back is the way these infrastructures work together. Further materiality studies are needed especially for finding what the datum could be for the element that identifies the shifting. An additional material analysis is required.

Frame 03:

Attributes from all three installations will be used in the design. The fundamental ideas behind each are necessary for the humans ability to connect with the plan. This is the first way the people of Hartford will be interacting and thinking about the design. This is also how the building can be dynamic and grow with the city. The one element that all three models need is a way to incorporate elements either symbolic or visual into the core of the building. How do these elements translate into the rest of structure?

Critical Reflections 3.5

CHAPTER 04 DESIGN OUTCOMES Design Outcomes Page 96 | Designing In Plan

Page 102 | Extending Form

Page 106 | Shifting circulation

Page 110 | I nteractive Materiality

Site Plan 01: Circulation \ Perspectives \ Section This plan shows the how the cultural belt links with the building. The other-side of the street can build off of this design in the future. With that in mind there is a path readily available when the development begins. The orange triangles reveal where the perspectives are taken from where the three methods of design are specifically addressed.

To Frog Hollo w

01 To D own tow n

tfor d

Har

Figure 50

To B

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Site Plan 02: Program \ Site Nodes The Site is operated by three distinct nodes. The Methodist Church, the bus stop, and Bushnell Park. All three of these nodes impact how the program is orientated. The program is separated into two sectors. The first is the permanent program which is bold and includes the fabrication part of the community center. The second part is the light membrane structure which is signified by the lighter text. This program comes in three different unit typologies. There are singles, doubles, triples, quadruples, and even a sixunit. These units can interchange and evolve either becoming bigger or smaller depending on the program which is using it. For now, this program consists of clinic spaces, exercise spaces, and exhibition space.

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Figure 51

Site Plan 03: Structure / Schedule / Parking The entire site is framed by a forty by forty network to give the program room for a wide variety of activities. The structural grid is a twenty by twenty to keep the membrane structurally feasible. Forty by forty was also chosen as a basis to fit five parking spots in one framing grid. The site is made up of grass pavers and transitional wooden planks. Each one serves a particular building face and site node. The ability for flexibility is imperative for the dynamic scheduling of the site. Therefore events, athletics, and food installations would all be in rotation with parking depending on the time of day and day of the week.

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Figure 52

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Extending Form Perspective 01 / Section Perspective The heavy core of the community center is surrounded by a light membrane structure of the cultural program. The light membrane structure acts as a permeable layer to attract people into the heavier permanent structure. With a large void through the center of the massive structure, a result is a form that extends outward onto the street and provides an interesting and lively atmosphere inside the building. The light permeable membrane with changing program ensures that people will be attracted to the site. This in a way acts as a beacon, and the rendering shows that even on a foggy day the lightness and permeability of the membrane can create lively street interactions for its users.

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Shifting Circulation: Perspective 02 / Site Axon The circulation is through a shifting system that provides interaction with programmatic goals and moments of inspiration for the city. The shifting happens both on a programmatic level with tectonic datums and on a larger city-wide scale. The shifting of circulation is always notified by a ribbon material this ribbon serves as a wayfinding device and can be used across the city of Hartford as a signifier for a place. The dancing ribbon coupled with the ability for people to interact with the different fabric and ground shifts allow people to identify with their context no matter where they are. In perspective, it is visible how the variation may influence you to see something off of the straight path. However, it still gives people the opportunity to go straight to their destination. The axon displays that idea on much larger scale. The shifting is how the community center activates people along the cultural belt.

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HARTFORD SMART WORK

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Interactive Materilaty: Perspective 03 / Exploded Axon Through the light membrane structure is where most of the material interaction occurs. The glass panels can open up and become permeable and a frame-like scaffolding to hang various pieces of digital media or fabrics for wayfinding. The grouping of panels themselves can change and be fabricated within the building itself. Some boards could be wooden seats or even vertical gardens. Together these things allow for a very customizable environment for the program that is using the space. The possibilities become limitless as what is placed within the framework can evolve with the people who use it. Everything from ventilation in the summer to more heat insulation for the winter can be implemented with various panel designs. This minimalistic approach to immersion not only saves money but can also be a vital tool in giving the people of Hartford the platform they need to create a cohesive identity.

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Figure 57

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Flexible door opening Advertising attachment

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Red ribbon way finding Wall space

Curved wood panel Vertical garden panel Wood seating and shading

Figure 58

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CHAPTER 05 CONCLUSION Conclusion Page 116 | Reflection

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Page 118 | Conclusion

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Reflection: Spatial Datum

During the final review, several things were brought up that served as dynamic discussion points. Several reviewers pointed out that this project was not necessarily about an architectural intervention. Instead, it was a datum in which people could find cohesion and continuity within a city through. The same idea could be translated into other related typologies. The idea was brought up about this being applied to different landscape, and interior design avenues could change the social construct of a more significant region. This not only solidified and validated my ideas but was also a powerful moment in my journey. There was an argument made that maybe there didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even need to be a building for this idea to work. This could be a signature for existing structures and landscapes across the city of Hartford.

Developer State of Mind

One thing that resonated through the discussion was said when someone pointed out that I should be a developer. This stuck with me because the people who could benefit the most from this research are developers. Developers who gained a conscious about who they are designing for and how their design can impact people are not as familiar as they should be. Similar to BIGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s idea of bringing design to the people because they are the ones who live with the design, not the designer. Designing for people instead of architects in something that this project addresses.

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Situational Unification

The reviewers also pointed out how much of a logistical nightmare implementing a building like this would be. However, it was quickly agreed that this is not the point of the thesis. The thesis is most successful when applied to the common goal of creating a unified cityscape. Finding ways to unify downtown Hartford with its neighborhoods has always been the primary objective. Therefore the building is a theoretical response whose core principals can be applied to different building typologies and locations.

The Challenge

Another interesting question was why did I pick such a challenging site? There are so many other places that have more places to work off of. My response was that not only was this site one of main detractors from a cohesive Frog Hollow and downtown Hartford but it was also to prove a point. Through choosing a challenging location with only one of two nodes to work off of it demonstrates that this idea can be implemented in a variety of different situations. The places where this type of design will have the most impact are places where there will only be one or two nodes. Addressing these places where urban renewal has challenged peoples ability to connect with their context is how cities can transform into better places for their populations to work, live, and play in.

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Conclusion: Cohesive Identity Past & Future This journey began with my interest in fusing landscape design with architecture at an early stage. When I started to add in elements of interior design, I realized the power of working with all three at such an early stage bring. When I think about this thesis, I am not necessarily thinking about an architectural element instead I am thinking of an idea. That idea is creating a datum that can be used not only in Hartford but in other commuter based cities to establish a context for their people. Allowing people to flourish under their own will and giving them the tools to address their issues is what I believe a designer should always be doing. The more disciplines that work together at an early stage, the more architecture will be able to relate to the people it serves. This community center for Hartford is an experiment to see if these core principles could be implemented in the design. The result is a dynamic outlook on how spatial interpretation could provide a unified experience. An experience that acknowledges Hartfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history while looking towards the future. An experienced that promotes the talent of people in under funded neighborhoods like Frog Hollow. An experience that brings people together regardless of economic status, creed, color or religion. Getting people to use the city after 5pm is where this project succeeds the most. The people of Frog Hollow now have walkable and bike-able access to the downtown infrastructure and their cultural institutions. This a datum that addresses problems caused by urban planning decisions well over fifty years old. The

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average person wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily notice how those decisions have impacted the city. However part of being a socially conscious designer is bringing those qualms to light and then providing a path to address them. The Hartford community center is a tool to show the possibilities of what architecture can do when paired with landscape and interior design. The way forward is to continue to update the manifest of the commuter city while continuing to evolve the techniques of how we show people our ideas. Allowing a person from Frog Hollow to quickly understand an architectural notion through drawings, digital media, or any other source is how we can ensure that the architectural profession continues to be relevant. Shortly I would like to try to test these three concepts in another city and under a different building typology. After making comparisons between both project, I can keep refining my ideas and push them beyond theory. The three core concepts remain Extending form to liven streets, shifting circulation to promote wayfinding and interacting materiality to engage people in transitional space. However, these three methods will evolve. The projects criteria will also change upon location but find a way to successfully find a blend between the two is where the challenge is. That challenge is needed in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world. My minimalistic approach to give people the space they can connect with their context with is one approach to the problems caused by urban renewal. I am interested to see how others will address this growing problem of segregation in commuter based cities.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Defying Urban Sprawl

Articles inside

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

DESIGN AS RESEARCH

DESIGN OUTCOMES

CONCLUSION