Micro Scale Public Space Study: Private-Public Urban Interface by LiJiayong

Micro Scale Public Space Study: Private-Public Urban Interface

Research Book for ARCH 7100 Design Research: Methods and Strategies Instructor: Matthew Jull, PhD, Assistant Professor TA: Matthew Slaat University of Virginia School of Architecture MARCH Candidate 2022 Li Jiayong jl9ct@virginia.edu May/01/2021 All rights reserved.

Small matters.

III

Huge power of thinkg small about our cities

| Assignment 3B

ace Study: nterface

the micro public act on street life. ed, unrecognized, However, they are r, the accessibility of windows and of private houses eet life.

studies, and they aces. by mapping een public spaces into:

es mean to public

Private - Public Interface Context Frame Public Space

accessibility City Spirit

scale

facility

events culture

boundary

Private Space

convivial citizenship social health safety

Micro Public Space Features

large number

Typology

pocket park

reproduce/repeat parking lots

rooftops

human scale

manageable

curbside

sidewalk cracks Street life

Research Question

public and private

V n interface and its

Why small matters?

potential to achieve better public life social economical ecological

Where is the boundary?

porperty right

How does the boundary change and its influence?

events

physical boundary

time

user

functions

mental feeling

Research Method Reading

Site Visiting

Interview Mapping and Remap Planning/Zoning Map

Nolli Map

Mental map

Case Study Pantang Village

chard Road

Orchard Road, Singapore

commercial center tourist x local

Micro-Urban renewal in Pantang Village in Guangzhou, China

micro-renewal residential x commercial on-going project

Downtown Charlottesville, VA

commercial center

fig1. Book frame

planning result

historical evolution site visiting

Contents Preface Part1

VII Literature Review ..........................................................................02 04 Public spaces, public life 12 From big planning to micro (re)construction 18 Mapping public-private interface

Part 2 Small Matters.................................................................................28 Micro-scale public space in urban renewal 30 Features 38 Rethinking the public-private boundries 44 Part 3

Case Study.......................................................................................50 53 Orchard Road, Singapore 73 Pantang Village, Guangzhou, China 89 Charlottesville Mall, Charlottesville, VA

Part 4 Design Proposal ..........................................................................106 107 Dots 113 Surfaces 119 Network Bibliography

125

VII

fig2. Seagram Building / Mies van der Rohe

Preface Urban design is a process of making better places for people, and ‘place’ has significant meaning in civil life (Carmona, 2010). In the social usage tradition, Kevin Lynch, Jane Jacobs et al. shifted the focus from art visual to social functional in urban design. Specially, street spaces account for 1/3-1/2 portion of city land (Mehta, 2013) and become an essential component to public life. In addition, the Street Life Project in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces conducted by William H. Whyte in 1980 was thought to be the start of small urban spaces study (fig2). Under his detailed observation, micro public spaces are thought to be important participation for public life. With the development of the city, these developed spaces, especially in old city zones, have fixed patterns and lack large-scale public spaces. Public life tends to happen in

dispersed, widespread smallscale public spaces like street corners. Sennett (1977) argued that there is a declension on public life driven by secularism and capitalism. The notion of ‘third places’ was put forward by Oldenburg (1989). Nowadays, it is no surprise to see that the public-private boundary will transform in different usage situations. These transitions are important to answer How-to question for micro public spaces design. Also understanding the logic of this interface is essential to advance community participation. This research focuses on the micro public spaces along streets. Based on three case studies, mapping and remapping their relationship between public spaces and private spaces, this research depicts the dynamic mechanism of forming micro scale public spaces.

VIII

Topic Chosen & Literature Review PART 1

Why we talk about microscale public spaces? What do public space mean to public life? How to define "public"? Mapping as a methodology?

fig3. Book cover (source: Google Books)

1. Public spaces, public life

The term urban design had been coined in North America in the late 1950s and is often associated with Jose Luis Sert convening an ‘urban design’ conference at Harvard in 1956 and subsequently setting up the first American urban design program at that university (Krieger & Saunders 2009). Two broad traditions of urban design thought stem from different ways of appreciating design and the products of the design process – as aesthetic objects or displays and as environments (Carmona, 2010). The visual- artistic tradition appears earlier. Kevin Lynch shifted urban design’s focus from visual-artistic tradition to urban environment – examining people’s perceptions and mental images (1960). According to another key proponent, Jane Jacobs concentrated on the socio-functional aspects of streets, sidewalks and parks in his book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961). In this term, urban design and public spaces is more about designing public life.

fig4. Passage Jouffroy (Source: Jean Claude Dresch)

The Future of Public Space Beyond Invented Streets and Reinvented Places (excerpts) Tridib Banerjee

Social Values of Urban Open Spaces

According to Rosenfield(1989), a scholar of American rhetoric, “the public park served for the nineteenthcentury urban democracy much the same function that civic oratory or eloquence served in traditional republican societies: to celebrate institutions and ideological principles thought to be the genius of those cultures” (p. 222). He argues further that in the American context public parks served to inspire republican virtue in several forms: civic pride; social contact, especially between people from diverse backgrounds; a sense of freedom; and finally, common sense (as in aesthetic standards and public taste). Thus the civilizing virtues of public parks extolled in Olmsted’s designs and writings can be more broadly interpreted to include democratic ideals, good citizenship, civic responsibilities, and, ultimately, the essential social compact that constitutes the core of civil society.

The shortage and inequity in the distribution of urban open space are symptomatic of larger transformations of public space and, indeed, of the public realm. Under way for some time, these changes reflect political, economic, and technological changes and make us wary.

Invented Streets: A Public Life of Flânerie and “Third Places”

...... But there is another concept of public life that is derived from our desire for relaxation, social contact, entertainment, leisure, and simply having a good time. Individual orbits of this public life are shaped by a consumer culture and the opportunities offered by the new “experience economy” (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). The settings for such public life are not necessarily public spaces. According to Ray Oldenburg (1989), such settings can be called “third places,” as opposed to the first place of home or the second place of work or school. These are places such as bars or taverns, beauty salons, pool halls, sidewalk cafés, and the like. There are culturespecific third places—the pubs of England, sidewalk cafés of Paris, and beer gardens of Germany, for example—that have been historically associated with the culture and urbanism of different cities.

fig5. Universal CityWalk, Los Angeles, a contemporary invented street. (Source: permission The Universal Studios, Inc., 1996)

“Convivial Cities” and “Insurgent Citizenship” in a Globalizing Era

Lisa Peattie (1998) has argued that while planners usually seem to be obsessed with creating or restoring a sense of community, they have given very little attention to conviviality as a planning goal. Conviviality, Peattie argues, is more than just feasting and fun, drinking and good company. Using Illich’s (1973) original definition of conviviality as “autonomous and creative intercourse among persons, and the intercourse of persons with their environment” (p. 11), Peattie (1998) speaks of sociable pleasures as purposeful activities. And these may include not just singing in pubs, street dancing, or tailgate parties, but also “smallgroup rituals and social bonding in serious collective action, from barn raisings and neighborhood cleanups to civil disobedience that blocks the streets or invades the missile site” (p. 246). ...... Is the typical consumer public completely coopted by the public life of third places and invented streets?

fig6. Book cover (source: Google Books)

2. From big planning to micro-(re)construction

However, we have seen very little expansion of parks and open space systems in American or other developed cities in recent decades. Amenities that contribute to the livability of cities are now in short supply. Consequently, compared to large-scale public spaces, which are scarce in number and dispersed in distribution, widespread small-scale public spaces are frequently used by citizens especially in old city zones. Detailed observation on urban spaces notably Whyte’s The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces recorded key factors encouraging convivial public life in successful small public spaces design (Whyte, 1980). Thus far, numerous studies (Banerjee, 2001; Giles-Corti et al. 2005; Carmona, 2010; McPhearson, 2015) have shown that micro spaces have potential to contribute to vivid culture and well-being of urban communities. Typologies and features are also explained in the recent rise discussion (EI Khafif, 2020).

Although we haven't yet realized it, our societies are on the cusp of a transformation as dramatic as the one the Athenians wrought whrn they decided to elect leaders instead of choosing them by birthright. We have a tremendous oppor tunity to reimagine the kind of society we want to live in and bring it into being.

- NICCO MELE The End of Big

Tactical Urbanism Short-term Action for Long-term Change (excerpts) Mike Lydon & Anthony Garcia

...... This is a big deal. Eighty million Millennials - the largest generational cohort in American history - desiring a different type of living arrangement are having a big impact on spatial layout of our cities. Millennials marry and start families much later than previous generations, perform more freelance work, start their own business at higher rates, and are generally attrated to urban environments where car-free or "car-lite" lifestyles are possible. A 2012 article in The Atlantic explored these trend further, noting "Since World War II, new cars and suburban houses have powered the economy and propelled recoveries. Millennials may have lost interest in both." For many the arrival of the New Urbanism in the 1980s was a beacon of progressive planning. New Urbanism was started by a small group of architects who saw the traditional pattern of compact, walkable urbanism as a solution to the effects of suburban sprawl on the American city.

The End of Big thesis is highly relevant to the shift we see occurring in the field of urban planning, one where demographic shifts, such as the Great Inversions, are combining with radical connectivity to alter the efficacy and role of one of Big Government's central functions: Big Planning.

fig7. The millennial and car-free major Svante Myrick (sportin the tie) walks to work, so he transformed his prime Ithaca City Hall parking space into a parklet and edited the sign to read, "Reserved for Mayor ... And Friends. "(source: Svante Myrick / Facebook, cited from Tactical Urbanism, Mike Lydon & Anthony Garcia, 2015)

What distinguishes the map from the tracing is that it is entirely oriented toward an experimentation in contact with the real. The map does not reproduce an unconscious closed in upon itself; it constr ucts the unconscious. . . The map has to do with performance, whereas the tracing always involves an ‘alleged competence.’

- GILLES DELEUZE & FELIX GUATTARI

3. Mapping public-private interface

Driven by the rise of secularism and capitalism, many social and civic functions which appeared on public realm previously, have increasingly transferred to private spaces. Sennett described a trend that a decline in public life brought on by an increasing emphasis on the private relations of individuals, their families, and intimate friends (1977). These situations broader the term of ‘public spaces’ and incorporate the new forms of semi-public spaces. The notion ‘third places’ (fig4)was put forwarded by Ray Oldenburg (1989). These are places such as bars, beauty salons, pool halls, sidewalk cafés, and the like. Banerjee (2001), for example, has suggested the new reality that much public life exists in private spaces “not just in corporate theme parks, but also in small businesses such as coffee shops, bookstores and other such third places”. For him, these spaces support and enable social interaction, regardless of their ownership.

fig8. Mapping as a tool for understanding ownership and use of open spaces (Source: Learning from Las Vegas, Venturi & Scott Brown, 1972)

In this regard, the boundaries of ‘public spaces’ became unfixed. In order to look into how to design small scale public spaces, this research will use mapping as a methodology to visualize the publicprivate interface. Corner claimed that making a map is not a tracing but an agency (1999). They are both analogous and abstract, so they both capture the projected elements off the ground and project back a variety of effects through use (Corner, 1999). Zoning maps represent the aim of planning and administrate boundary and land use. The Nolli Map is a city plan that emphases on the accessibility of public space, which was first put forward by an Italian architect Giambattista Nolli. Two kinds of maps are compared in each study cases to tell the perception of public-private boundaries.

Corner’s writing evokes theemancipatory potential ofmapping, at a time when it was much more usual to demonise it as a form of elite discourse, facilitating governance by the powerful. Corner draws instead on the creative potential of the medium, deploying the figures of Gille Deleuze and Felix Guattari to demonstrate the constructive agency that can be enacted through cartographic practice in the fields of architecture, landscape and urban planning. He explores four ways in which newpractices of mapping are emerging in contemporary design and planning, which he terms as: ‘drift’, ‘layering’, ‘game-board’ and ‘rhizome’. Corner concludes that mapping is not endless data accumulation but is rather better seen as a practice of relational reasoning that intelligently unfolds new realities out of existing constraints.

The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention (excerpts) James Corner

If maps are essentially subjective, interpretative and fictional constructs of facts, constructs that influence decisions, actions and cultural values generally, then why not embrace the profound efficacy of mapping in exploring and shaping new realities? Why not embrace the fact that the potentially infinite capacity of mapping to find and found new conditions might enable more socially engaging modes of exchange within larger milieux? The notion that mapping should be restricted to empirical data sorting and array diminishes the profound social and orienting sway of the cartographic enterprise. And yet the power of ‘objective analysis’ in building consensus and representing collective responsibility is not something to be abandoned for a freeform ‘subjectivity’; this would be both naive and ineffective. The power of maps resides in their facticity. The analytical measure of factual objectivity (and the credibility that it brings to collective discourse) is a characteristic of mapping that ought to be embraced, co-opted and used as the means by which critical projects can be realised (Corner and MacLean 1996). After all, it is the apparent rigour of objective analysis and logical argument that possesses

fig9. Guy Debord, Discours sur les Passions de l'amour 1967 (Source: Corner, 1999)

the greatest efficacy in a pluralistic, democratic society Analytical research through mapping enables the designer to construct an argument, to embed it within the dominant practices of a rational culture, and ultimately to turn those practices towards more productive and collective ends. In this sense, mapping is not the indiscriminate, blinkered accumulation and endless array of data, but rather an extremely shrewd and tactical enterprise, a practice of relational reasoning that intelligently unfolds new realities out of existing constraints, quantities, facts and conditions (Allen 1998; Beck 1994; Corner 1999a; Koolhaas and Man 1994).

fig10. Space: the medium of urbanism (Source: Steven Peterson, 1979)

Nolli Map Urban Design Tactics (excerpts) Steven Peterson

The Nolli map epitmises the basic condition of urbanism. The city of Rome is represented primarily as the interwoven relationship of spaces, incorporating the entire spectrum of sequences which connect the public and semi-public to the private. The space as it is drawn in Nolli is a particular and specific conception that can be interpreted as the positive actuality of volumetric form: the space is more figural than the solids which define it; it is itself the prerequisite medium from which the whole fabric of urbanism emerges. This concept of space as an existent form is prototypical and the generating ingredient. Its essence or memort are discernible in varying degrees of definition and specificity in every successful urban situation.

Small Matters PART 2

Why micr o scale public spaces essential to cities nowadays? Typologies of micro scale public spaces? What's the feature of micro scale public spaces? How to define and find the boundary between public and private space?

fig11. Coding of people's behaviors and interpretation on the street (Source: Sun et al, 2020)

1. Micro-scale public space in urban renewal

For old city zones, traditional and fixed spatial patterns often mean that these zones with large populations lack large-scale public spaces.Consequently, compared to large-scale public spaces, which are scarce in number and dispersed in distribution, widespread small-scale public spaces are frequently used by seniors in old city zones (Sun et al, 2020). Street spaces are fairly typical in this case. Even though most street spaces were originally planned to be a part of city paths, in old city zones, many were actually used as smallscale public spaces by citizens. 30

fig12. The frequency of occurrence for the six kinds of behaviors with the highest percentages of occurrence (Source: Sun et al, 2020)

fig13. Yongqing Street (Source: Photo by Zhang Chao)

Interview: What can Yongqing FangMicro-Reform bring to the city? Li Zhongwei x Spring Sui

32 fig14. Master plan of Yongqing Fang Micro-Reform

In 2007, Enning Road was included in the old city reconstruction plan. The renovation plan was to demolish all the buildings at first, but this triggered a collective memory defense battle in the local community - Old houses with history and memories should not easily disappear. After heated debates, a method different from the "reconstruction" of the old city development has been widely adopted-"micro-renovation", which is also in line with the principle of "preserving the original neighborhood texture and repairing the old as before".

"Old houses with history and memories should not disappear easily. The main theme of the public space renovation of Yongqingfang is "Yongqing Symbiosis". Reconciling the old and new elements to make them live in harmony is the effect we want to achieve."

Sui: How do you think about the site master plan? Li: We divided the complex site into three systems: streamline system, cultural node system and natural node system. The streamline system connects different buildings and surrounding communities through unique historical paving; the cultural node system forms a place where people gather; the aerial natural node system creates a green space on the roof.

34 fig15. Three nodes systems

Sui: During the design process, how can you integrate historical memory into the new space? Li: It is not an exaggeration to say that Enning Road Yongqingfang has accumulated a century of historical and cultural memory. We hope to extract the essence from it and become a soul-like thing throughout the plan. "Sloping roof" entered our sight. The sloping roof is one of the typical representative elements of local Lingnan architecture and Xiguan House, which has high artistic and aesthetic value. Why not use it as a unique clue to string together the entire design?

fig16. Micro-public spaces: Roof garden, entrance garden

Sui: Is the creation of these space nodes also the creation of public space? Li:Yes, the reconstructed project will inevitably lead to an increase in the flow of people, and the expansion of public space is therefore very necessary. The construction of these public spaces creates a place of communication for residents, tourists, and visitors. The collision of old and new cultures here will generate infinite vitality and release new energy.

fig17. Micro-public spaces: terrace, water landscape

Micro_urban spaces are the sandwich spaces between buildings, rooftops, walls, curbs, sidewalk cracks, and other small-scale urban spaces that exist in the fissures between linear infrastructure (e.g. roads, bridges, tunnels, rail lines) and our three dimensional gridded cities. TIMON MCPHEARSON, 2015

2.Micro-scale public space Features

Sitting Space

fig18. Jvalliant's comment on Oasis pocket park(Source: photo by Jvalliant)

Sun, Wind, Trees, and Water

fig19. Outdoor dinning spaces (Source: Wikipedia)

Food

3.Rethinking the public-private boundaries

Cities of today are shaped more by boundary rather than by rational design. Boundaries, on the other hand, are the result of the amalagamation of a community's collective living experience. However in public spaces, boundaries can be blurred arising from needs and usages...

Rethink 1: #whOWNSpace -- Mapping NYC

The 1% weOWNu map focuses on Privately-Owned Public Spaces (POPS) as well as institutions of private funding, specifying financial institutions that received bail-out funds in 2008. The goal of doing so, is to direct attention to the constitutions that control the flow of capital. These funding institutions are essential in the transfer of ownership from the city to private interests. The 99% weOWNu map focuses on publicly-owned open spaces and the city agencies that control those holdings. Both maps provide a framework for a larger study to: -comparatively map POPS and publicly-owned open spaces, identify their intentions, and understand the political, corporate, and economic entities that control them -organize with community and activist groups so that designers can collaboratively strategize to advance the use of these spaces. (http://whownspace.blogspot.com/2011/10/whownspacemapping-nyc.html)

#whOWNSpace “Privately Owned Public Spaces, abbreviated as “POPS”, are an amenity provided and maintained by a developer for public use, in exchange for additional floor area.”

OPEN TO PUBLIC OPEN 24 HOURS

For Your Enjoyment and Safety the following are prohibited:

― New York City Department of City Planning

Sleeping Alcoholic Beverages Panhandling, soliciting or distributing leaflets Excessive packages, carts, bicycles, skateboards, and scooters Conducting Commercial business Gambling Audible music, radios, or stereos Smoking Disruptive Behavior Inappropriate Attire Littering

What happens as more and more land in the city is owned by private entities? Will we all be welcome? To what extent will these spaces remain public? What avenues will the public have through which to request changes?

All BAGS AND PACKAGES ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION Thank you for your Cooperation

City zoning rules set in 1961 incentivized the creation of privately-owned public spaces. Hundreds were built by private developers in exchange for air rights. Not surprisingly, many are concentrated near the bases of New York City’s towering financial institutions. Due to concessions, open air POPS are required to remain open 24 hours. Zuccotti Park, put back on the map by Occupy Wall Street, shows how the potential of a space can be reinterpreted, and selectively enforced rules can be challenged.

400m Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) 400m walking radius

Institution of Private Funding Major Bail-out Bank HQ

POPS Density

Citigroup World HQ- Park Ave & 53rd St Wells Fargo NYC HQ- Park Ave & 52nd St JP Morgan Chase World HQ- Park Ave & 48th St Morgan Stanley World HQ- Broadway & 48th St Bank of America NYC HQ- 6th Ave & 42nd St

Emigrant Bank (NYPBT) HQ- 5th Ave & 42nd St

UES (Community District 6) 6th Ave & 42nd St

Center of Financial Control Park Ave & 42nd St

1095 Avenue of the Americas

Philip Morris Arcade Goldman Sachs HQ- West St & Vessey St BNY Mellon World HQ- Broadway and Wall St

1%WEOWNU

private and financial space

Midtown (Community District 5)

#whownspace www.whownspace.blogspot.com @dsgnagnc | @naa_nyc | @dotankbrooklyn

fig20. #whOWNSpace (Source: http://whownspace.blogspot.com/)

#whOWNSpace

RULES & REGULATIONS

New York City Parks

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Welcome to your park. This is a shared public space provided for your enjoyment and recreation.

― Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Park rules prohibit:

Littering and dumping of debris Smoking within the park Barbecuing, except in designated areas Unleashed dogs, except in designated areas Using illegal drugs and alcohol Feeding birds and squirrels Entering the park after it is closed Solicitation and obstructing entrances Amplifying sound, performing and rallying, engaging in commercial activity, and vehicles, except by permit

One of the most important features of a city is its public spaces. Beyond mere parks these collectively-owned spaces are where democratic principles meet the spatial realm. Yet today there is a question of just how truly public these spaces are.

This Park Closes At: 10pm City of New York

Parks & Recreation

New York City Parks & Recreation has established a guiding set of rules that govern public open space. For example, Hours of Operation are 6am- 1am (unless otherwise noted) although, it is very rare to find a park open until 1am. As in many cases, the stated intent of the law often becomes removed from the situations surrounding its actual enforcement. Our purpose is to question how these rules are serving the public.

400m Public Park 400m walking radius

Institution with Public Open Space Holdings

Department of Parks and Recreation - 5th Ave & 64th St

Public Park Density

With whom does the power lie, the governing body of the parks, or the people?

Bryant Park-

6th Ave & 42nd St

Bryant Park is a publicly owned park that is actually managed by a private corporation. It is the largest effort in the nation to apply private management backed by private funding to a public park. How has this been successful and how does this method prove to maintain its public ownership?

Lower East Side (Community District 3)

Center of Civic Control

Department of Planning - Reade St & Broadway Department of Education- Chambers St & Broadway

Department of Small Business Services- William St & Beaver St

Financial District (Community District 1)

Department of Transportation- Water St & Coenties Slip

99% WEOWNU

publicly owned space

#whownspace www.whownspace.blogspot.com @dsgnagnc | @naa_nyc | @dotankbrooklyn

fig21. #whOWNSpace (Source: http://whownspace.blogspot.com/)

fig22. Pocket plazas (Source: https://issuu.com/brentallpress/docs/by-producttokyo)

Rethink 2: By-Product-Tokyo Nigel Bertram, Shane Murray, Marika Neustupny, Melbourne: RMIT University Press, 2003 Here is a mapping of mini-squares in Tokyo- PRODUCT TOKYO, RMIT. The publication is here, observe the representation techniques. Drawing over a photograph helps to eliminate some unnecessary information and draw attention to certain things.

fig23. human sieve (Source: Source: https://issuu.com/brentallpress/docs/byproduct-tokyo)

Case Study PART 3

Where is the boundary between public and public spaces? What's the different between zoning/ Nolli/mental map in perceiving public spaces? How do the boundaries between public and public spaces change under different situations?

Charlottesville Mall, Charlottesville, VA

fig24. Case selection

Pantang Village, Guangzhou, China

Orchard Road, Singapore

Case 1: Orchard Road, Singapore

fig25. Historical photos of Orchard Road 1830s (Source: net)

Orchard Road had its humble origins as an unnamed country road lined with fruit orchards, nutmeg plantations and pepper farms in the early 1830s. It was home to cemeteries, temples, outdoor hawker centres, wet markets and even an open-air laundry basin. (ORBA management scheme, 2019) By 1846, the spread of houses soon reached up to Tank Road. In the 1860s, Orchard Road had a great number of private houses

fig26. Historical photos of Orchard Road 1900s-1970 (Source: Khoo Chee Mei)

and bungalows on hills looking down through the valley where the road ran. In 1958, C.K. Tang Department store opened, and was a prominent landmark with its Chinese styled roof. From the 1970s through to the 1980s, commercial and hotel development intensified. Busy Orchard Road became a one-way street from 1974 with the introduction of the Orchard Road-Orchard Boulevard pair scheme. (Khoo Chee Mei)

fig27. Important landmarks in Orchard Road (Source: https://view.publitas.com/ p222-11653/orchard-road-sg/page/1)

Planned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Orchard Road is a major 2.5km-long road in the Center Area of Singapore with internationally renowned department stores and restaurants. The 2.88 km thoroughfare is also immaculately landscaped with flowers and greenery, remaining true to its natural roots.

Orchard Road recently underwent a $40 million revamp. The Mall Enhancement works have created a more pleasant and congenial pedestrian experience for traversing from one shopping mall to another. Orchard Road Business Association creates exceptional experiences for every man on the Street through the strategic development of the Orchard Road brand around six brand experience pillars - Shop; Dine; Stay; Play; Work; and Live.

Who's who of Orchard Road Stroll along Orchard Road and you will find that nearly all of Singapore’s large property companies have a presence on Orchard Road. These range from City Developments with St Regis Hotel and Residences, CapitaLand’s Ion Orchard, Far East Organization and its Far East Shopping Centre and Orchard Central. (Rennie Whang, 2015) fig28. Onwers of Orchard Road (Source: Knight Frank)

Who owns what 1 1 Palais Renaissance

55 International Building

99 Liat Towers

390 Orchard Road • Owner: City Developments • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1990 • Description: A 16-storey retail and office complex on a site area of about 29,159 sq ft, with a gross floor area of about 110,233 sq ft.

360 Orchard Road • Owner: Hong Fok Corporation • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1966 • Description: A 12-storey office building with basement, including two levels of shops, with a total gross floor area of about 162,804 sq ft.

541 Orchard Road • Owner: Bonvests Holdings Ltd • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1965 • Description: A 21-storey office tower with retail podium, on a roughly 43,000 sq ft site.

11 11 Far East Plaza 14 Scotts Road • Owner: Strata-titled • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1983 • Description: A mixed use development comprising retail, offices and apartments for lease, on a 143,547 sq ft site.

10 Wheelock Place 10 22 Orchard Towers

400 Orchard Road • Owner: Strata-titled • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1973 • Description: Two buildings at 400 Orchard Road and 1 Claymore Drive comprising shops and offices.

33 Forum The Shopping Mall 583 Orchard Road • Owner: Hotel Properties Limited • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1986 • Description: A development comprising five floors of retail space, 13 floors of office space and two basement levels of carpark, on a 68,203 sq ft site.

44 Hilton Hotel Singapore

545 Orchard Road • Owner: Strata-titled • Tenure: 999 years from 1871 • Completed: 1974 • Description: A 17-storey office and retail complex with 290 commercial units, of which Far East Organization owns about 37 per cent based on share value. It stands on about 36,008 sq ft of land.

238 Orchard Boulevard • Developer: CapitaLand Mall Asia and Sun Hung Kai Properties • Tenure: 99-year lease to March 2105 • Completed: Fourth quarter of 2010 • Description: A 175-unit development above Ion Orchard, on Levels 9 to 54. An observation deck is on the top two floors — 55 and 56 — of the integrated development.

310 and 320 Orchard Road • Owner: Tang Holdings owns the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, or 72 per cent of Tang Plaza. C.K. Tang owns Tangs@Tang Plaza, the department store, or about 28 per cent of Tang Plaza. • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1982 • Description: It comprises the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel and Tangs@Tang Plaza, on a roughly 156,077 sq ft site. The hotel occupies the 26-storey tower block with 393 rooms, and shares the four-storey podium and its two basement levels with the department store.

7 Shaw Centre 1 Scotts Road • Owner: Substantially owned by The Shaw Foundation, except for levels 13 to 15 which are owned by Shaw Brothers Limited. Ownership of the basement is shared with several parties. • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1972 • Description: A 28-storey retail and office building on a 52,040 sq ft site.

15 Orchard Residences 15

6 and 8 Scotts Road • Owner: Wheelock Properties (Singapore) • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 2011 • Description: Two residential towers of 35 and 43 storeys, with a four-level retail podium. Scotts Square retail was valued at $260 million as at Dec 31, 2014.

14 Tangs@Tang Plaza 14

10 Scotts Road • Owner: Borneo Properties Sdn Bhd (unit of Brunei Investment Agency) • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1971 • Description: A 677-room hotel

11 13

8 Shaw House 350 Orchard Road • Owner: Shaw House Pte Ltd • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 1993 • Description: A 21-storey office and retail building on a 67,163 sq ft site.

O TT S

581 Orchard Road • Owner: Hotel Properties Limited • Tenure: 999 years from Oct 30, 1871 • Completed: 1970 • Description: A 24-storey hotel with 421 rooms. The land has been valued at $208.8 million and building at $6.6 million.

12 Grand Hyatt 12 Singapore Hotel

501 Orchard Road • Owner: Wheelock Properties (Singapore) • Tenure: 99-year lease from Sept 15, 1990 • Completed: 1993 • Description: A 16-storey office tower with a five-level shopping podium and two basement levels of shops and carpark, on an 84,464 sq ft site.

6 Far East Shopping 6 Centre

13 Scotts Square

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RO D AR

Sources: KNIGHT FRANK, COMPANIES, NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES, ONEMAP, SINGAPORE; AN ATLAS OF PERPETUAL TERRITORIAL TRANSFORMATION TEXT: RENNIE WHANG GRAPHICS: TIEN CHUNG PING, CHNG CHOON HIONG, BRYANDT LYN

333/A Orchard Road • Owner: OUE Hospitality Trust (OUEHT) • Tenure: 1971 • Completed: 99 years from July 1, 1957. • Description: A 1,077-room hotel comprising two towers, the 37-storey Main Tower and the 39-storey Orchard Wing. Mandarin Gallery, a high-end retail mall, occupies four levels of Mandarin Orchard Singapore. The hotel was valued at $1.22 billion at end-December.

27 111 Somerset TripleOne Somerset (Former Singapore Power Building) • Owner: Consortium led by Perennial Real Estate Holdings, which has a 50.2 per cent effective stake. Other major shareholders are SingHaiyi, which owns 20 per cent; and former Kim Eng Holdings CEO Ronald Ooi and his mother’s wholly owned company, who together own 10 per cent. • Tenure: 99 years from February 1975 • Completed: 1977 • Description: A 17-storey mixed development of two office blocks and a retail podium.

24 The Heeren 24 260 Orchard Road • Owner: Chee Swee Cheng and Co • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: August 1996 • Description: A 20-storey retail and office building with four basement levels.

Shopping Mall

181 Orchard Road • Owner: Far East Organization, while OCBC has a 10 per cent stake. • Tenure: 99-year lease • Completed: 2009 • Description: A 12-storey mall with two basements on a 96,369 sq ft site.

29 Peranakan Place 29 180 Orchard Road • Owner: Ong family - Sherie Ong, Ong Kok Thai, Yung Ong • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: The two-storey shophouses date back to as early as 1902, and were restored in 1985. • Description: Eight pre-war shophouses, amalgamated into the Peranakan Place of today in the early 1980s.

100 Orchard Road • Owner: Hotel Properties Limited • Tenure: 99 years from Aug 17, 1979 • Completed: 1983 • Description: A nine-storey hotel building with 407 rooms. The hotel has been valued at $82.72 million. HPL owns 62 shop units at the mall.

VIEW THE INTERACTIVE GUIDE TO ORCHARD ROAD ONLINE

30 Orchardgateway 30 218 and 277 Orchard Road • Owner: OCBC Bank owns 277 Orchard Road while Great Eastern owns 218 Orchard Road. The hotel is leased to Shangri-La Asia, which is operating it as Hotel Jen Orchardgateway. • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 2014 • Description: 277 Orchard Road, a 21-storey hotel and mall; and 218 Orchard Road, an 11-storey mall with offices. Total site area is about 88,458 sq ft.

http://str.sg/zRj

23 Mandarin Orchard 23 Singapore and Mandarin Gallery

34 3 Concorde Hotel and

32 3 Orchard Central

290 Orchard Road • Owner: SPH Reit • Tenure: 99 years from July 24, 2013 • Completed: 1984 • Description: A retail mall including Paragon Medical, which has about 75 medical and dental specialist clinics and offices. It was valued at $2.6 billion as at Aug 31, 2014.

313 Orchard Road • Owner: Lendlease and Lendlease-managed fund, Asian Retail Investment Fund • Tenure: 99-year lease • Completed: 2009 • Description: A mall with eight retail levels, including five levels above ground and three basement levels, with direct access to Somerset MRT station.

150 Orchard Road • Owner: Strata-titled • Tenure: 103 years from 1977 • Completed: 1981 • Description: A retail and office development on a 29,070 sq ft site.

19 Paragon

26 313@somerset 26

33 33 Orchard Plaza

160 Orchard Road • Owner: OG Pte Ltd • Tenure: 97 years from 1985 • Completed: 1983 • Description: A five-storey shopping complex, with 88 serviced residences on the sixth to 10th storeys, on a 50,676 sq ft site.

435 Orchard Road • Owner: Starhill Global Reit has a 74.23 per cent stake. Isetan (Singapore) owns the other 25.77 per cent and operates its own space. • Tenure: 99 years expiring on March 31, 2061 • Completed: 1986 • Description: A retail and office complex on a roughly 88,466 sq ft site. Starhill Global Reit’s share was valued at $987.5 million at Dec 31, 2014.

(Former Yen San Building) • Owner: RE Properties, which is owned by Ngee Ann Development • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: 2014 • Description: A 12-storey commercial building with a basement level, on a roughly 29,926 sq ft plot.

31 OG Orchard Point 31

176/A Orchard Road • Owner: Strata-titled (Frasers Centrepoint holds majority stake) • Tenure: Freehold for front plot, 99 years from 1979 for L-shaped plot behind • Completed: 1983 • Description: A shopping and residential complex, including an eight-storey mall from Basement 2 to Level 6.

18 Wisma Atria 18

22 268 Orchard Road 22

28 The Centrepoint 28

304 Orchard Road • Owner: Strata-titled • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: Podium block in 1978 and residential units in 1981 • Description: A 30-storey shopping and residential building on a 97,614 sq ft site.

8 Grange Road • Owner: Cathay Organisation Holdings • Tenure: 99 years from July 1, 1957 • Completed: November 1997 • Description: A nine-storey leisure and entertainment centre, including 13 commercial cinema halls and two platinum movie suites. It is on a roughly 52,321 sq ft site.

17 Lucky Plaza 17

25 Cathay Cineleisure 25 Orchard

270 Orchard Road • Owner: Bright Ruby Resources • Tenure: Freehold • Completed: August 2010 • Description: A 308-room hotel with an integrated four-storey retail podium.

21 Grand Park Orchard 21

2 Orchard Turn • Owner: CapitaLand Mall Asia and Sun Hung Kai Properties • Tenure: 99 years to March 2105 • Completed: 2009 • Description: A mall with eight levels. The site, which includes The Orchard Residences, integrates about 193,750 sq ft of land above the Orchard MRT station, and an adjoining 32,292 sq ft of subterranean space below Orchard Road, which is now developed into an underground retail walkway called Ion Orchard Link. The Link and Ion Orchard was valued at about $3.2 billion as at Dec 31, 2014.

16 Ion Orchard 16

20 20 Ngee Ann City

391/391B Orchard Road • Owner: Ngee Ann Development has about 72.77 per cent of the total share value of strata lots, with the remainder held by Starhill Global Reit. • Tenure: Leasehold. The Ngee Ann Kongsi owns the land, which is freehold. • Completed: 1993 • Description: An 18-storey office and seven-storey retail complex. Starhill Global Reit’s share was valued at $1.08 billion as at Dec 31, 2014.

24 26 22 23

21 27 19

S IN GA P ORE ORCHARD

D OA

What’s changed over the years

R A

Orchard Road

Shopping plaza

Hotel

E RO

1959 How tall are these buildings

BRAS BASAH

TANGLIN ROAD

PATERSON ROAD

ROAD

City Hall station

Plaza Singapura

CTE

BRAS BASAH

Centrepoint

HILL STREET

ROAD

STAMFORD

Wheelock Place

2005 D ROA

2015

Raffles Hotel

ROAD

Ngee Ann City PATERSON ROAD

TANGLIN ROAD

Shangri-La Hotel

Raffles Hotel

ROAD

CLEMENCEAU AVENUE

GRANGE ROAD

SCOTTS ROAD

NICOLL HIGHWAY

HILL STREET

Somerset station

Orchard station

1990

Shangri-La Hotel

buildings have 40 and more

Plaza Singapura

Lucky Plaza

CLEMENCEAU AVENUE

GRANGE ROAD

CTE

Wheelock Place PATERSON ROAD

GRANGE ROAD

RS SOME

BEACH ROAD

BRAS BASAH AD ET RO

ROAD

Raffles Hotel

STAMFORD ROAD

CLEMENCEAU AVENUE RIVER VALLEY ROAD

Pan Pacific Hotel

HILL STREET

Plaza Singapura

Grand Park Centrepoint Hotel Ngee Ann City Scape

GLIN

NOTE: Only above ground (not including the basement)

CTE

SCOTTS ROAD

buildings have 6 to 19 floors

buildings have 20 to 39 floors

CLEMENCEAU AVENUE

GRANGE ROAD

STAMFORD

TAN

3 17 11 2

buildings have 5 floors or less

Shangri-La Hotel

PATERSON ROAD

Raffles Hotel

NICOLL HIGHWAY

SOME TANGLIN ROAD

BEACH ROAD

ROAD

STAMFORD ROAD

ROAD RSET

ROAD

SCOTTS

HAR

BRAS BASAH

Singapore Cold Storage

NICOLL HIGHWAY

SCOTTS ROAD

HILL STREET

NICOLL HIGHWAY

ORC

TUR

Pan Pacific Hotel

Marina Reservoir

Zoning Map

fig29. Master Plan 2019 (Source: Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore)

Most spaces on Orchard Road are used for private shops and hotels. Seldom public open spaces are shown on Zoning maps. The boundaries between public and private from this map are clear and fixed.

Urban Design Plan

fig30. Urban Design Guidelines for Orchard planning area (Source: Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore)

Putting forward in 2019, his set of guidelines aims to guide the physical development of the area to ensure that individual buildings contribute to, and strengthen the planning vision for the area and create an attractive and pedestrian friendly physical environment. It is important to provide public spaces within private developments for users to enjoy.

POP-UP SPACES

It is not just about shopping and retail... It also has to be about engaging the community's wide-ranging Interests. Along Orchard Road, more can be done to increase the diversity of activities, by creatively adapting, reusing and redeveloping existing spaces. Michael Koh

fig31. Imagination on Orchard Road with Pop-up spaces. (Source: https://issuu. com/giffordzhang135/docs/low_res_orchard_1_)

From 1 April 2019, Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA) took on the curation of Urban Green Rooms (UGRs) to bring in experiential concepts best suited for Orchard Road, so as to enliven event spaces along the pedestrian mall and complement existing offerings. With ORBA’s role as curator, agencies have relaxed the existing guidelines to allow for commercial activities beyond the festive periods. This is to augment activities within the malls, create unique visitor experiences and enhance street vibrancy along the pedestrian mall by offering a differentiated experience. Activities could range from retail and food and beverage pop-ups, to arts and entertainment events.

Design Guidelines and Good Practice Guide for POPS

fig32. Event spaces and plans (Source: ORBA,2019)

Residential, commercial, retail and entertainment components are integrated in one attractive landscape precinct with pedestrian friendly, sheltered pathway that link the entire environment. The quality of mixed-use public realm with retail, dining and vibrant communal spaces is vital as successful in creating environments that people want to live and work in. Activity Generating Uses (AGU), such as retail, food & beverage, entertainment, sports and recreation

(such as gymnasiums and fitness centres, etc) and other similar uses are provided at the following locations: • The 1st storey of developments fronting key streets pedestrian malls and public spaces; and • Alongside the underground pedestrian walkways at the basement levels of the developments.

fig33. Event spaces and plans (Source: ORBA,2019)

POP-UP Stores Examples Experiental | Unique | Innovative

fig34. Commercial pop-up events

The public nature of these small-scale public spaces is reflected when the proportion of public events increases and the number of participants increases.Selected sites along Orchard Road incorporate public spaces within the private developments to provide space to support activities that contribute to the vibrancy of the street. These public spaces are designed to be conducive for the staging of events, be well-integrated with adjacent open and covered walkways, and are to be publicly accessible at all times. Pop-up spaces for commercial events can ensure investments on the street as well as attract more people to come. It's a win-win for both stores and customers. Non-Commercial Events include Public Exhibitions, National Events, Charity Events; whereby the event owner must be a ministry, organ of the state, statutory board, institution of a public character under the Charities Act or school under MOE.

POP-UP Non-commercial Events

fig35. Street Furniture (ORBA,2019)

fig36. Public Art Exhibition by Non-Profit Organization (ORBA,2019)

fig37. Feedback on Orchard Road (Source: Instagram)

Case 2: Pantang Village, Guangzhou, China

fig38. Historical graphics of Pantang Village (Source: Academy of Oriental Archiculture, SCUT)

Introduction

fig39. Traditional pattern in Pantang Village (Source: Academy of Oriental Archiculture, SCUT)

Pantang Village is located on the bank of Litchi Bay in Xiguan, Guangzhou, China. The Litchi Bay is experiencing urbanization process, from Hantang Garden Yuguoyuan, to the countryside resorts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, private gardens and mansions of merchants and celebrities, and then to the opened Liwan Lake Park and today’s urban open space are in the same way that inherits the style of Lingnan gardens. Pantang is almost the only one in the historical city that retains the complete Qing Dynasty pattern, texture and typical simplicity. A rural settlement with the characteristics of simple style and features of the landed Dan family and the multi-surnamed clan.

fig40. Design process - community engagement (Source: Academy of Oriental 75

Archiculture, SCUT)

fig41. Design process - community engagement (Source: Academy of Oriental Archiculture, SCUT)

Micro-reform Urban Design in Pantang Village

At that time, the entire Pantang Plan and surrounding areas also experienced a process of becoming more and more publicized. On January 1, 2016, the "Guangzhou City Urban Renewal Measures" was implemented, discussing changes in renewal methods. The model of comprehensive transformation (demolition and reconstruction) in urban renewal, exploring micro-reform mode and comprehensive transformation. Create an equally important urban renewal method. There is a big difference between micro-reform and full-scale renovation. Its potential lies in the large inertia and long time of transformation, the small scale of land and landscape, the wide coverage of protection culture, the high degree of freedom of individual self-affirmation, and the land lease and real estate market. The prosperity of democracy in China, the rigidity of urban and regional policies, and the complex adjustment of economic and political factors in urban construction. Among the 38 microrenovation pilot projects launched in Guangzhou from 2016 to 2017, the Liwan Pantang Wuyue Micro-renovation is the only historical urban regeneration project that relies on public capital and space intervention; its content is mainly reflected in the moderate restoration of traditional historical villages. Organize the public space structure, strengthen and repair the connection between the village and the outside urban community, etc.

Who owns Pantang village?

fig42. Diagram of Ownership (Source: Academy of Oriental Archiculture, SCUT)

Partially expropriated houses House expropriated

Urban Design Plan

fig43. Urban design based on historical preservation(Source: Academy of Oriental Archiculture, SCUT)

fig43. Street views after renewal (Source: net)

From Private to Public

fig44. Public space map of Pantang Village before the

fig45. Pantang Village texture e

micro-reconstruction, light color for public spaces and black

color represents the original ou

patterns are private spaces (Source: Li Peng,2021)

represents the private area, and

outdoor public area added in th (Source: Li Peng,2021)

The 10-year period from 2004 to 2014 was a long expropriation period for Pantang Wuyue Village. In the end, the government expropriated more than 40% of the space capital used for renovation of houses, which became a powerful driver for the new round of publicization of Pantang Wuyue Village. These expropriated houses do not have traditional features, reconstructions and additions are serious, and structural safety is worrying. For this type of dilapidated house, the risk removal and demolition work was first carried out at the beginning of the renovation. The settlements that were originally too dense were moderately evacuated and vacated for outdoor public spaces [(Figure 45), the red part]

extraction map The light

fig46. The public space map of Pantang Village after the

utdoor public area, the black

micro-renewal. The light color in the picture represents the

d the red represents the

outdoor public area, the black represents the private area,

he space consolidation)

and the gray represents the indoor public area (Source: Li Peng,2021)

The indoor public spaces have increased the depiction of architectural details. Fig46 uses gray to specifically mark such daily indoor public areas that are allowed to enter, such as: firstfloor shops, visitable exhibition studios , public parts such as the reception halls of neighborhood committees and community service centers. Part of the space of this kind of function is extremely open, but in terms of management, it is in the private area of the interior. Therefore, it presents a kind of another kind of space between public and private, between indoor and outdoor (indicated in gray part) (Li Peng, 2021)

Between tradition and modernity, between public and private, between indoor and outdoor, ANOTHER public space will act as a medium of intervention to stimulate and obtain new spatial feelings, that is, an expression of spatial depth . Li Peng, core member in design team

fig47. Ground floor plan after micro-renewal, grey part represents indoor public spaces (Source: Li Peng,2021) 86

fig48. Public spaces sequence (public-private: white-grey-orange-yellow-black) (Source: annotated diagram from Li Peng,2021)

Great spaces with historical value!

Good example of bottom-up design!

fig49. Feedback on Pantang Village (Source: Weibo)

So many surprise in this historical street!

Happiness in daily life, beautiful space.

Case 3: Charlottesville Mall, Virginia

fig50. East Main Street in 1917 (Source: https://apdowntowncville.weebly.com/ history.html)

The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia is one of the longest pedestrian malls in the United States. Located on Main Street, it runs from 6th St. N.E. to Old Preston Ave., where it extends to Water St., for total length of eight blocks. It is laid with brick and concrete, and home to an array of restaurants, shops, offices and art galleries. On Fridays in the spring, summer and fall, the Downtown Mall is host to Fridays After 5, a weekly concert series. Several side streets are also paved in brick and likewise closed to traffic. On the east, the Mall ends at the Sprint Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue, while the west end of the Mall features an Omni Hotel.

Introduction

fig51. East Main Street in 2021

The first proposal to transform Main Street into a pedestrian mall came in 1959, in a discussion at the Chamber of Commerce. Main Street was losing revenue to the up-and-coming Barracks Road Shopping Center. The people needed something to revitalize the city; a new central core. Then the idea for a pedestrian mall was proposed. The paved road would be changed into a brick walkway, and cars would not be able drive on Main Street between 1st and 5th streets. In 1976, East Main Street was converted into a pedestrian mall designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. . The Downtown Mall eventually became a huge success, generating lots of revenue and gaining popularity within the community of Charlottesville. More recently, in 2007, plans were made to renovate the brick walking path. Building began in January 2009 and was completed that summer.

The First Mall Plan

fig50. Daily Progress for the downtown mall (Source: THE FREE LANCE-STAR, fredericksburg, Virgia, Tuesday, November 11,1966 )

92 fig51. CBD Master Plan, Harland Bartholomew and Associates, 1968 (Source: Sarita M. Herman, 2010)

Bartholomew's plan, like Halprin's, connected Vinegar Hill to the eastern portion of downtown by creating a "pedestrian-friendly" commercial district. Bartholomew's concept for a pseudo-mall in Charlottesville was the first serious plan for a devoted pedestrian area in Charlottesville. It gave city leaders a direction for downtown and led to the hire of Lawrence Halprin. Halprin would try to encourage housing closer to the Mall, creating pedestrians that walked directly from their residences to the shopping area. It is apparent in Bartholomew's plan that it is not the pedestrian, but the automobile that is given primacy. (Sarita M. Herman, 2010)

Site Plan Designed by Lawrence Halprin Associates

fig52. Lawrence Halprin Associates, Charlottesville Illustrutive Site Plan, 1974. Penn Architectural Archives. (Source: Sarita M. Herman, 2010)

Mixed uses prevailed in Halprin's master plan instead of the heterogeneous neighborhood approach taken by Bartholomew. Halprin's plan suggested housing above businesses downtown and all around the Mall. The plan stated, "Housing in the downtown area would give a 24-hour population and thus add a certain life and activity, and hence safety to the downtown during the evening hours." Halprin took a different approach to density as well. Instead of increasing business density by building skyscrapers, Halprin's plan suggested retaining the historic character of the downtown by retaining commercial density, but reintroducing some of the residential density that had been lost over the past forty years. Halprin also proposed single family, duplex, and elderly housing in the Garrett Street renewal area.

Three methods through which the city would achieve preservation of the CBD: 1.keep the automobile out by making the area less accessible to cars; 2. limit building heights, a step completely contrary to Bartholomew's notion that, after 1990, growth in downtown Charlottesville would be primarily vertical; 3.preserve the old town was to make it more attractive, stating, "Improving its attractiveness would stop... deterioration, increase its earning potential and encourage stability and permanence among its businesses." (Sarita M. Herman, 2010)

The mall is best seen as a tool among many in restoring the attractiveness of downtown and should come as the capstone upon other related improvements.

August Hecksher

fig53.

Mall Renovation Project in Recent Years

fig54. Existing urban form, historic structure in red (Source: Wallace Roberts & Todd, West Main Report, 2021)

fig55. Greater development bulk is possible in the larger parcels to balance the expanded sidewalks and other necessary open areas.(Source: Wallace Roberts & Todd, West Main Report, 2021)

The Mall was overhauled under a $7.5 million project that was subject to some debate. Wallace Roberts & Todd were commissioned to conduct a schematic design. On July 21, 2008 voted to proceed with a design being shepherded by MMM Design. The City promised that the work would be done

fig56. Charlottesville Downtown Mall schematic design overall mater plan (Source: Wallace Roberts & Todd, City of Charlottesville Downtown Mall Schematic Design Report, 2005)

in five months beginning in January, with the project being overseen by construction management firm Barton Malow. Block captains volunteered to help the City develop a construction schedule that minimized the impact on businesses.

Public and Private Boundaries

fig57. Restaurants and cafes (Source: Wallace Roberts & Todd, City of Charlottesville Downtown Mall Schematic Design Report, 2005)

fig58. Side street wall conditions (Source: Wallace Roberts & Todd, City of Charlottesville Downtown Mall Schematic Design Report, 2005)

100

101

fig59. Outdoor dinning spaces (the lower the transparency of the red block, the more public it is)

Outdoor cafes along the Mall serve both vital social and economic functions. Chance encounters build social networks and are part of the attraction of the Mall, while people watching adds to the entertainment, vitality, and safety of the Mall. Cafes are located in areas bounded by the fire lane, and occasionally hinder access to shops.

102

fig60. The public nature of windows and doors

Window and door articulation provides a pedestrian scale to buildings, and also provides opportunities for stores and restaurants. Where doors exist to side walls, side streets should be structured to encourage new businesses through shading and levelled areas for seating or vending.

103

fig49. Feedback on Charlottesville Downtown Mall (Source: Tripadvisor)

fig61. Feedback on the Downtown Mall (Source: Tripadvisor)

different voice ...

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105

Design Projection PART 4

How to design micro scale public spaces in urban renewal projects?

106

Strategy 1 - Dots Events Places Narrative Micro public spaces can make large impact on quality of lives to see if we can take advantage of small public spaces, if we design new one well and fix the existing one. What draws people or keep them out? According to Whyte (1980), there are five important element for designing micro scale public space:

107

- Sun - Trees - Water - Food - Seats These five elements point to one key questions on designing small public spaces: how to create events spaces? Public spaces is not empty space, but needs to provide attractive activities content. Three cases studies above reveal that their nature of public are thrived by different usage, various events, rather than ownership that authority define public and private spaces by.

108

fig62. Pocket park in NYC (Source: net)

Commercial Events Commercial events can bring financial support to the construction of public space and ensure the investment. These spaces usually are temporary like pop-up spaces in the Orchard Road. Simple construction with pleasing color and novel form can attract people's attention. The following example is a temporary show for Lifease, designed by WILD.

109

110

fig63. WILD X

Lifease (Source: https://www.zcool.com.cn/work/

ZNDczOTIwMTY=.html)

Non-Commercial Events Non-Commercial events are essential for the community inclusion and equality. Their forms can be fixed amenities or temporary constructions. The core of design is involving more participation. The project PROXY designed by Douglas Burnham seeks to mobilize a flexible environment of food, art, culture, and retail within renovated shipping containers.

111

fig64. PROXY Project (Source: http://proxysf.net/)

112

Strategy 2 - The Fuzzy Surface Setback vs. Occupy Narrative Activate the boundaries of public spaces and private spaces can be another design principle for small-scale public spaces. Learning from the cases above and the Nolli Map, the form/shape of public spaces is diverse. Micro-scale public spaces are small and flexible enough to change its shape. Two methods can achieve this goal:

- From private to public: Setback - From public to semi public: Occupy 113

This is a transitional area that extends from the edge of the building to the public sidewalk. The semi-public zone includes all the -civic spaces' surrounding a public building, as well as the building facade, entrance, and ground floors, and is managed by the building manager or their service provider.

114

fig65. Semi public spaces before cafe

Setback

115

The setback priciple is extremly important in urban renewal project. For old city zones, traditional and fixed spatial patterns often mean that these zones with large populations lack large-scale public spaces. Except meet the setback requirement of city code, setback in parts of the building like the entrance, doors and windows also have positive impact for urban life. Renewal project in Huitong village in Guangdong, China shows how individual building adjusts the width of the setback line to form an interesting public spaces.

116

fig66. Huitong Village Renewal Project (Source:Academy of Oriental Archiculture, SCUT)

Occupy The occupy strategy is more common in designing small-scale public spaces, especially in pedestran street. The Ithaca Commons is a two-block that serves as the social and economic heart of Ithaca. Sasaki worked closely with city leadership and the community in a multi-year process to renovate this iconic space, including extensive utility and surface upgrades. Pop-up spaces occupying spaces on the road do not break the continuity of public spaces, but it created a thriving hang-out public life. 117

fig67. Ithaca Commons Redesign (Source:https://www.sasaki.com/projects/ithaca-commons-red

design/)

118

Strategy 3 - Network Reproduce vs. Group Narrative

119

Limited by their small scale, it is hard to have great impact on the urban life with only one micro-scale public space. So, it is also important to extend design scope and connect several parcels as a whole. Here I conclude two methods from the above cases to make it a system and create larger impart on its communities. One is to reproduce similar tpyes of small-scale public space, like street corners, sidewalks, couryards inside the houses. Another strategy is to group or link differnent spaces by new construction. Both of them are aim to provide strong impression and create continuous experience for the pedestrain. With the help of official organization and policy, the connection can be more firm and fluent.

120

fig67. Urban renewal integrating to the urban texture (Source: Jiakun Architects)

Reproduce The "10 Mile Garden" project would use the empty space in front of fire hydrants for urban gardens. The Urban Prototyping Festival, showcasing how design and technology can reimagine the public realm, was held Saturday October 20th, 2012 in San Francisco, CA.

121

fig68. "10 Mile Garden" project (Source: Mona El Khafif)

122

Group

123

Culture Neighborhood, Songyang Three-Temple Cultural Communication Center in Zhejiang, China designed by Jiakun Architects aims to present a complete and continuous historical segment. Through the repeated negotiation with local residents, the boundary of the site was defined by the means of the one-foot-oneinch advance and retreat. The design restores the original urban texture and focuses on regenerating the public space around two temples and opening up surrounding pathways into the city circulations.

124

fig69. Wenli·Songyang Cultural Center (Source: Jiakun Architects)

Bibliography

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