Cleveland Civic Center_Historic and Proposed Bluff Conditions

BLUFF CONDITIONS LA 7890_SP 15_Glimcher Seminar Cleveland Group Plan Analysis with GGN Joshua Bauman + Brock Heller Our inves ga on compares the historic and proposed condi ons of the lakeside bluff that defines the edge of Cleveland’s Civic Center. First we compare the historical bluff condi ons as according to archival bird’s eyes. In 1929 the bluff is most naturalized. By 1946 an underground conven on center ini ates the constructed face of the bluff. Today the bluff is all but completely built out with parking garages defining the edges behind the two civic buildings, finalizing its transforma on into Cleveland’s back-of-house.

Next we compare proposals for the bluff that return the orienta on of the civic buildings towards the lake. Burnham’s 1903 Group Plan ini ated the idea of the bluff as a barrier against the intense railway corridor below with covered promenades along the top edge of the ver cal bluff and a coniferous screen to define views.

GGN’s master plan proposed applying green roofs to the parking garages and the city proposed an extravagant pedestrian bridge. In our hybridized proposal, we choose to re-introduce a topographic reference to the bluff ’s historic profile along the Conven on Center face, we add covered promenades against the constructed edge, and a vine treatment on the parking garage facades to vegetate the harsh ver cal faces. We also propose a more experien al pedestrian connector that mimics the original form of the Group Plan train sta on court with addi onal trellis structures that create vegetated rooms for respite along the long walk.