After-City Baltimore: 2011 Urban Design Studio

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MEGALOPOLITAN BALTIMORE

Baltimore*is*40*miles north*of*DC and 188*miles*south of*New*York.*

NO LONGER IN THE BIG LEAGUES

In*1950*Baltimore*was*the*6th*largest* city*in*America,*now*it*ranks*21st*with*a* population*of*620,961.

THE CITY IS A PERSISTENT LOSER

In*the*last*decade*Baltimore*lost*4.6%*of*its* population,*about*30,000*residents.

TRADING IN THE BLUE COLLARS FOR WHITE COLLARS

In 1945*Baltimore*employed 260,000* workers*in*the*manufacturing*sector.*

By*2005, there*were*only 17,800*such*jobs.*

90%*of*jobs*are*now*service*related.

SUBURBANIZED CITY

Only*35%*of*Baltimore’s*workforce*lives*in* the*city.*The*rest*commute.

TOO MUCH HOUSING

Baltimore*housing*stock*is*designed*for*a* population*of*950,000*people.*

Some*estimate*that*40,000*units*are*vacant* in*the*city.

TOO MANY BUILDINGS

The*city*sells*vacant*rowhouses*for*less*than* $8,000.*

It*costs*around*$18,000*to*demolish*a* rowhouse*property*in*Baltimore.*

BALTIMORE IS A BLACK CITY

Baltimore’s*population*was 76% white*in*1950.* Now,*it*is*64%*black.*

Baltimore is a city of paradoxes

HISTORIC ROWHOUSES SIT EMPTY

WHILE NEW HOUSING IS CONSTRUCTED NEARBY

HIGHWAYS ARE AT CAPACITY

BUT EMPTY LAND EXISTS NEXT TO THEM

THE CITY INVESTS TO ATTRACT TOURISTS

YET IS LOSING PERMANENT POPULATION

THE SUBURBS ARE GROWING

2000 - 2010

POPULATION CHANGE
decline growth

POPULATION CHANGE

2000 - 2010 decline growth

BUT THE CITY IS SHRINKING

THE CITY EXISTS BECAUSE OF ITS HARBOR

BUT POLLUTES ITS WATERS

LIFE EXPECTANCY VARIES BY 20 YEARS

IN A 20 MINUTE WALK

HOUSING IS CHEAP

BUT THERE IS A LACK OF AFFORDABLE UNITS

THE CITY IS HOME TO WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

AND FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS

NEW OFFICE TOWERS ARE BUILT ALONG THE WATER

AS DOWNTOWN VACANCY INCREASES
And yet, this situation does not warrant hopelessness.
Baltimore is neither growing or rapidly declining.

BALTIMORE IS NEITHER A DETROIT

NEW YORK
OR A

BALTIMORE IS NOT JUST POST-INDUSTRIAL

AND IT IS NOT JUST CREATIVE CLASS

Our studio posits a new condition: AFTER-CITY

In order to understand Baltimore within the After-City condition, we examined the city through

5 lenses

5 sites

5 approaches

THE CIVIC CORRIDOR:

ENERGY FROM WASTE

DIVIDED CITY / OPEN CITY RESONANT URBANISM

HIGHWAYS & STORAGE AS URBAN DESIGN SYSTEMS

FLEXIBLE URBANISM: RECALIBRATING THE GRID

THE RING: FINDING A NEW CENTRALITY

LIMINALITY LOGISTICS
ENERGY
VACANCY CENTRALITY

THE CIVIC CORRIDOR:

ENERGY FROM WASTE

DIVIDED CITY / OPEN CITY RESONANT URBANISM

HIGHWAYS & STORAGE AS URBAN DESIGN SYSTEMS

FLEXIBLE URBANISM: RECALIBRATING THE GRID

THE RING: FINDING A NEW CENTRALITY

LIMINALITY LOGISTICS VACANCY
ENERGY
CENTRALITY

THE CIVIC CORRIDOR:

ENERGY FROM WASTE

DIVIDED CITY / OPEN CITY RESONANT URBANISM

HIGHWAYS & STORAGE AS URBAN DESIGN SYSTEMS

FLEXIBLE URBANISM: RECALIBRATING THE GRID

THE RING: FINDING A NEW CENTRALITY

LIMINALITY LOGISTICS
ENERGY
VACANCY CENTRALITY

THE CIVIC CORRIDOR:

ENERGY FROM WASTE

DIVIDED CITY / OPEN CITY RESONANT URBANISM

HIGHWAYS & STORAGE AS URBAN DESIGN SYSTEMS

FLEXIBLE URBANISM: RECALIBRATING THE GRID

THE RING: FINDING A NEW CENTRALITY

LIMINALITY LOGISTICS
ENERGY
VACANCY CENTRALITY

THE CIVIC CORRIDOR:

ENERGY FROM WASTE

DIVIDED CITY / OPEN CITY RESONANT URBANISM

HIGHWAYS & STORAGE AS URBAN DESIGN SYSTEMS

FLEXIBLE URBANISM: RECALIBRATING THE GRID

THE RING: FINDING A NEW CENTRALITY

LIMINALITY LOGISTICS
ENERGY
VACANCY CENTRALITY
VACANCY LIMINALITY
LOGISTICS CENTRALITY ENERGY

ENERGY

SOURCE OF IDENTITY
URBAN WASTES: POLLUTE
+ fall line + rail + regional + global ENERGY, WATER, AND URBANIZATION
CITY-WIDE ENERGY-SHEDS
Water Electricity Transportation
CORRIDORS ORGANIZE SYSTEMS, CONNECT TO NEIGHBORHOODS
Waste
BENEFIT, CIVIC SPACES - A POWER LINE, AQUEDUCT,
HIGHLINE
PUBLIC
AND
IN ONE

Waste can be reused for public

LIMINALITY

DIVIDED CITY: WORK THAT ADDRESSES POLARITY Baltimore: Divided City Baltimore: Open City
DISPARATE SPATIAL AND SOCIAL
ARCHIPELAGO:
CONDITIONS
LIMINAL SPACE: IMMEASURABLE VALUE FOR THE CITY
URBAN DESIGN
URBAN DESIGN
URBAN DESIGN
URBAN DESIGN
URBAN DESIGN
WINERY - ATTRACTS BOURGEOISIE AND PROVIDES JOBS
EVENT SPACE - WHERE A PATCHWORK OF CULTURE IS PROUDLY ON DISPLAY

Harmony is not the only answer.

LOGISTICS

Analysis Corporation Infotech Northrop Grumman Public Self Storage Affordable Self Storage IBM Fort Knox Self Storage Lockheed Martin ProSync Technology Corp Social Security US General Services GROWTH WHERE FEW PEOPLE LIVE

Context and History: Baltimore as a Logistics City

Coordinated transportation modal point at the harbor- trains, water, streetcar and roads Farthest inland port in East
Logistic Growth of Baltimore
Map of Baltimore's railroad and shipping 1878 Baltimore's port in 1911
BALTIMORE HAS FLOW

REDIRECTING GROWTH INTO THE CITY

Baltimores of institutional storage in the USA Storage is considered a “Recession Resistant” industry STORAGE: A GROWING INDUSTRY IN A DEINDUSTRIALIZING NATION
782.6
STORCAL
SITE: A SEQUENCE OF HIGHWAY EXITS AS A LINEAR SYSTEM OF PLUG-IN STORAGE FACILITIES
CORE UTURE CORE

VOLUME TYPOLOGY

apx. 10,000 sqm x 10m height

30 warehouses = site

Storage

10,000 sqm

Double program

5,000 sqm

Associated clusters

2,500 sqm

Access/Terrace

2,500 sqm

Car parking

5,000 sqm

Public space

5,000 sqm

100m 100m 10m
WAREHOUSE
AVERAGE
STORAGE UNIT
DOUBLE-PROGRAMMED

Double Program Unit Typologies

SEVEN URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORKS
CENTRAL CORE CLOVER CUL-DE-SAC NATURAL STEM

Logistics

Industry distribution

Public access

Truck loading docks

Public parking

Public use

Public open space

Marine recreation

IMPLEMENTATION ON SITE

Green space

Associated businesses

Public space

Warehouse Double program
STORAGE AS A NEW URBAN LANDSCAPE
Storage 10,000 sqm Double program 5,000 sqm Associated clusters 2,500 sqm Access/Terrace 2,500 sqm Car parking 5,000 sqm Public space 5,000 sqm 10m AN URBAN DESIGN
,
,
.
FOR EACH BIG BOX
EACH EXIT
EACH CITY

Emptiness has intense value.

VACANCY

ROWHOUSES SIT EMPTY WHILE NEW HOUSING IS CONSTRUCTED NEARBY.

AND VOID IN BALTIMORE’S HISTORIC
MAPPING VACANCY
CORE
PARK: A SHRINKING NEIGHBORHOOD IN A SHRINKING CITY
HARLEM
PARK: VACANCY AND VOID AT THE BLOCK SCALE
HARLEM
TARGETED STRATEGIES FOR HARLEM PARK

FAST, CHEAP, SOFT

FENCE

Flexible & cheap. Requires somewhat intact fabric. No demolition.

INFILL

No demolition. Flexible, responsive to local needs.

OCCUPY THE CENTER

Use existing voids in centers of block for community space. No demolition.

REFRAME

SLOW, EXPENSIVE, HARD

Little demolition. More expensive. Somewhat exible.

RE-FOREST

Enclosed forest. Little demolition required, not expensive.

CLEAR

Some demolition.

SUBURBANIZE

Some demolition required. Re-de nition of block unit.

BUILD-OUT

High-density, expensive

FLEXIBLE
URBANIST TOOL KIT INTERVENTIONS

SOFT HARD

Flexible

FLEXIBLE URBANIST TOOL KIT INTERVENTIONS
FENCE
& cheap. Requires somewhat intact fabric. No demolition.

SOFT HARD

RE-FOREST

Enclosed forest. Little demolition required, not expensive.

FLEXIBLE URBANIST TOOL KIT INTERVENTIONS

OCCUPY THE CENTER

Use existing voids in centers of block for community space. No demolition.

HARD
FLEXIBLE URBANIST TOOL KIT INTERVENTIONS SOFT

SOFT HARD

BUILD-OUT

High-density, expensive, unlikely.

FLEXIBLE URBANIST TOOL KIT INTERVENTIONS

REFRAME

Little demolition. More expensive. Somewhat exible.

KIT INTERVENTIONS
FLEXIBLE URBANIST TOOL
SOFT HARD
FLEXIBLE URBANIST TOOL KIT INTERVENTIONS SOFT HARD
INFILL No demolition. Flexible, responsive to local needs.
HARLEM PARK 2031: ONE POSSIBLE OUTCOME

Incompleteness is a virtue.

CENTRALITY

RESTRUCTURING

THE SUBURBS.
THE CITY IS ISOLATED FROM GROWTH IN
GROWTH DECLINE
COMMERCIAL)PROPERTY SHIFTING FRAMES AND MULTIPLYING CENTERS
CAPTURING THE CULTURAL CONTENT OF THE CITY AND THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY OF THE SUBURBS
RING: A STRATEGIC SEAM
A LEGIBLE THRESHOLD: A COMMUTER’S REST STOP ADJACENT TO DEVALUED NEIGHBORHOODS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 Land(Value((High(to(Low) Land(Value(Polarity Vacancy Crime(level A B C J H G E E G H C B A
Vienna/Ringstrasse Paris/Peripherique
BALTIMORE

SLOWS THE TRANSITION, REDUCES TIME ON THE ROAD

A/mobile/tax/base/of/over/$6*billion/annually/leaves/the/ Baltimore/City/as/commuters/return/home/each/night.

MONO-FUNCTIONAL

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL

ACTIVATE THE MEGA-BLOCK CONDITION WITH PUBLICLY-DIRECTED PARCELS.

MATERIAL '&coherent&material&treatment

CROSS&WALK '&marking&territory&on&the&road

PARKING '&accessible&for&the&commuter

WATER&FOUNTAIN '&feature&found&in&traditional&parks&

SPEAKER '&opportunity&for&broadcast

RAILROAD&TIE '&marker&for&pedestrian

PHYSICAL)COMPONENTS

WI'FI '&encourage&congregation

ADVERTISEMENT&ON&ROOF '&additional&source&of&revenue

LIGHT& '&visibility&from&above&and&afar

TRAFFIC&MIRROR '&added&visibility&and&safety&

MATERIAL '&coherent&material&treatment

CROSS&WALK '&marking&territory&on&the&road

PARKING '&accessible&for&the&commuter

WATER&FOUNTAIN '&feature&found&in&traditional&parks&

SPEAKER '&opportunity&for&broadcast

RAILROAD&TIE '&marker&for&pedestrian

WI'FI '&encourage&congregation

ADMINISTRATIVE)STRUCTURE

ADVERTISEMENT&ON&ROOF '&additional&source&of&revenue

PUBLIC&OWNERSHIP 'land&remains&accessible&

SOFT) paved&or&vegetatedSELECTION&COMMITTEE '&open&RFP&process&on&cycle

AFFORDABLE&RENT '&maintain&access&for&diverse&operators

MEGA-MICRO HYBRID

ONE LARGE FOR MANY SMALL

A TRADE:
SCENARIO PLAN: A FLEXIBLE FUTURE
2 1 3 A LEGIBLE RING OF DIFFUSE PLAY
The new project for the city is neither urban or suburban.

THE CIVIC CORRIDOR:

ENERGY FROM WASTE

DIVIDED CITY / OPEN CITY RESONANT URBANISM

HIGHWAYS & STORAGE AS URBAN DESIGN SYSTEMS

FLEXIBLE URBANISM: RECALIBRATING THE GRID

THE RING: FINDING A NEW CENTRALITY

LIMINALITY LOGISTICS
ENERGY
VACANCY CENTRALITY
Warehouse Double program Public space Associated businesses Green space

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