As a student in the B.A.-M.U.P. program, I appreciate that this semester's
project focused on the planning aspects of an architecture studio. I think its important to take into account the context of a city, neighborhood, and site when designing structures and this project included extensive research into these aspects of the 9th Street Corridor. I also liked that this was a semesterlong project because it allows for thorough development of all aspects of a planning project. Because of these factors I felt confident in the development of our master plan proposal and final models. By completing this course I gained more experience working with a team which is always valuable, and I learned how to present our many ideas and an immense amount of research in a succinct and understandable package.
Dimensions of Performance by Kevin Lynch
has categorized the theories of a popular city into three branches; planning of decision theory which focuses on how public decisions should be made, functional theory describing how cities operate, and normative theory which attempts to link human values with the city form and the nature of a good city. Lynch defines measurable value-based performance dimensions upon which a good city form could be built. These dimensions are vitality, sense, fit, access, and control.
Jan Gehl writes in the piece Three types
of outdoor activities; Outdoor activities and quality of outdoor space that outdoor activities in public spaces are divided into three categories. These categories encompass all places with different demands on the physical environment; necessary activities, optional activities, and social activities. Within the three categories, necessary activities are everyday tasks such as errands, going to school or work, etc. Optional activities are activities that people wish to do and if it fits in your time-frame of availability. Social activities take place when you have other people such as having
conversations with others on a bench or walk, children playing on the playground, etc.
According to author Kevin Lynch in his book
The Image of the City, nearly every sense is involved in the experience of a city. The composite of these sensory observations made by residents leads to the creation of images of city elements. These all influence the imageability of a space. Lynch defines imageability as the quality of a physical object that evokes a strong image in the mind of the observer. A highly imageable city could be understood through experiences over time as a pattern of high continuity with many distinctive parts clearly inter-connected
Through our research, we found that hyper
dense cities are often more sustainable than low density, sprawling cities because they confine the human impact. In hyper dense cities, mass transit, walking, and bicycling to work is utilized in lieu of individual vehicle transportation typically utilized in rural and suburban areas. Denser settlement patterns yield energy savings; apartment buildings, for example, are more efficient to heat and cool than detached suburban houses.
The City of New Orleans owns most of a 3.1-mile linear right of way along a
former shipping canal and railway that once connected the historic French Quarter to Bayou St. John. It has long been the objective of the City and community to convert this special right of way into a greenway, comprised of publicly accessible open space, recreation areas and other amenities. The Corridor crosses nine central New Orleans neighborhoods. Many aspects of the design of the Lafitte Greenway inspired elements of our own 9th Street Corridor master plan, especially our efforts to increase walkability and create a healthy community. It’s surrounding sidewalks have partial tree canopy and high-visibility crosswalks, and the greenway incorporates a 12-foot wide multi-use path. This improved walkability makes accessing the area’s amenities easy. The Lafitte Greenway also positively impacted its environment by incorporating 500 new tree plantings, a stormwater management system, recycling program, and community gardens.
Downtown Los Angeles is anchored to the south by the Figueroa Corridor.
It is one of the longer streets in the city, running in a north/south direction for more than 30 miles between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and Eagle Rock in Los Angeles. The city of Los Angeles is experiencing issues with heat, air quality, safe biking and walking, healthy food, and car density. In order for the Figueroa Corridor to serve a fixture of access and connectivity in Los Angeles protected bike lanes will be added, clear signage systems and colored pavements will be implemented, as well as allocating street space for cars, buses, and a new streetcar line. The innovative approaches to improving their transportation systems inspired many of the decisions we made when developing our master plan to improve the walkability and accessibility of the corridor.
Above: Figueroa Corridor and Lafitte Greenway illustrations.
Parking
Anyone who has been to the downtown area of Lawrence is well aware of the frustration of finding a parking spot. There is an existing lot located between Vermont Street and Massachusetts Street and a garage on 9th Street and New Hampshire, but this are often inadequate and inefficient in serving the demand for parking. We propose creating two new garages which can consolidate parking along the corridor and allow for the elimination of onstreet parking through the 9th Street Corridor.
Bike Lanes
Our plan to eliminate on-street parking would allow us to replace that space with new bike lanes spanning from Kentucky Street to Rhode Island Street. The goal of the bike lane expansion is to increase access to the corridor as well as increase equity among transportation options in an auto-oriented city like Lawrence. With the infrastructure in place, we could also potentially introduce a bike sharing program downtown to continue fostering a healthy community.
Sidewalks Community Garden
Civic Engagement Structure and Courtyard Parks
Parking
Bike Lane Expansion Sidewalk Expansion
The space allowed by the elimination of on-street parking would also serve to increase sidewalk widths from Connecticut Street to New Jersey Street in the East Lawrence neighborhood. Walkability is an issue through this area as the sidewalks are either in disrepair or nonexistent, and by improving sidewalks we can increase foot traffic through the corridor.
Crosswalks
Most of the intersections throughout the corridor have inconsistent designs and faded visibility paths. We propose incorporating artfully patterned crosswalks at intersections throughout the corridor to improve the safety of pedestrians and foster the identity of 9th Street as an Arts District within Lawrence. Developing a design could also serve as an opportunity for community involvement in the planning process.
Civic Engagement Structure
The main structure of our proposal takes the form of a civic engagement structure. This will be located on 9th
Street and Vermont in what is currently a surface lot. The goals of the civic engagement structure and surrounding courtyard are to provide an established location for the many public events that take place in Lawrence, to provide a structure that fosters interactions between community members, and the development of the corridor as an art's district.
Farmer's Market
The Lawrence Farmer's Market is the oldest operating farmer's market in the state, and we believe it deserves a more permanent presence downtown. We propose a permanent open-air structure to house the farmer's market which would help protect vendors and shoppers from the elements and serve as an entrance to a park to its north. We want to protect the legacy of the farmer's market because it is a major factor in our goal of promoting a healthy community around the 9th Street Corridor.
Community Garden
There are multiple community gardens sprawled throughout the Lawrence area, but as there are no grocery stores within walking distance of the homes along the corridor and surrounding neighborhoods adding a location along the 9th Street Corridor provides more walkable, equitable access to healthy foods in this area. We propose incorporating a new community garden in a small section of New York Elementary's playground, and students could help with the maintenance of the garden to learn about the benefits of gardening and eating healthy.
Parks
Though Lawrence is home to many successful parks, there are few in the downtown area. The proposed new park location is an existing surface lot, and will serve as a transition between the new loft developments on New Hampshire Street and the neighboring residential area. Because people already enjoy walking their dogs downtown, a dog park in the 9th Street Corridor could accommodate these pets and make downtown even more accessible to dogs.
Above: Elevation of Civic Engagement Structure.
Left and Above: Digital renderings of the Civic Engagement Structure and surrounding courtyard. A
Above: Floor plan of Civic Engagement Structure.
Above: Site plan of Civic Engagement Structure and surrounding courtyard.
We received very positive feedback
from the reviewer's during our final jury session. They appreciated that we took into account the affect our proposal would have on residents of the community and that we provided a space for community collaboration on future projects. They also commented on our attention to detail and the level of craftsmanship that went into our posters and the physical and digital models. Some of their suggestions moving forward were to better integrate the civic engagement structure into the surrounding area because there is an opportunity to create a district of civic spaces around our structure and the existing pool and library. They also suggested that we experiment more with the placement of the farmer's market, because there is space for it on the site of the civic engagement structure and it could be interesting to combine those elements more succinctly.