portfolio
2015
mark j. kieser, mla+mcp ​l andscape + urban designer a: 10325 caminito cuervo #177 san diego ca 92108 p: 623.570.0835 \ e: mjkieser@gmail.com
portfolio 4
ISLAND CRUX 海岛核心 shanghai, china \ FALL 2013
10 16
RURAL ARMATURES harare, zimbabwe \ SPRING 2013
VERTICAL NEIGHBORHOODS toronto, canada \ SPRING 2014
20 26 27
CATALYTIC LINES philadephia, pennsylvania \ FALL 2013
DAWAN VILLAGE shenzhen, china \ SUMMER 2013
ZERO CARBON CITY shenzhen, china \ SUMMER 2013
28 30
PARAMETRIC URBANISM philadephia, pennsylvania \ SPRING 2013
LA LOGGIA arcosanti, arizona \ summer 2010
ISLAND CRUX 海岛核心 shanghai, china an interconnected island center for an expanding shanghai client: Shanghai Planning Administration collaborators: Tongji University project type: Individual, Academic Research Studio at University of Pennsylvania
The project, “island crux”, is a strategy that merges transit-focused high density development with agricultural tourism for the Shanghai metro region. The site is located on Changxingxiang Island along a proposed subway route, giving the possibility of regional connectivity between the “megacity” and a Chinese pastoral landscape. Design charrettes and meetings were carried out with the Shanghai Planning Administration and students from Tongji University. Previous concepts were presented by the client explaining why they did not meet their idea of “agricultural tourism”; they altered the existing agricultural land more than necessary and did not provide a strategy for a new center. Additional goals of the client were to create strategies that provided water circulation and management. This highly influenced the extensive network of canals on site. Given the clients’ expectations and the development pressures of a new transit station, this plan seeks to balance both realities while working with the existing agricultural pattern. By leveraging density in its most valuable area, touristic development and preservation can both occur simultaneously. The site is programmed through four main zones: marina / entertainment district, “Portscape”, agritourism homesteads, and “Metroscape”, a business and transit gateway for the island.
4
SHANGHAI: AN INFRASTRUCTURAL MEGAREGION
M AST ER PL AN LE GE ND
A
B
C
D
E
ISLAND CRUX: A PLAN FOR DENSITY BALANCED WITH AGRICULTURAL TOURISM
A
M ARIN A AN D DOCK
B
PARKL AN D A ND AQU ARIU M S
C
PORT SC APE VACATION VIL L AS AN D R E TAIL D IST RIC T
D
AGRI- T OU RISM H OM EST EAD S
E
M ET ROSC APE CBD AN D RAILWAY S TATION
METROSTATION GATEWAY AND CONCOURSE
METROSTATION PUBLIC REALM
AGRO-TOURISM NEIGHBORHOODS
AGRO-TOURISM CANAL CHARACTER
RURAL ARMATURES harare, zimbabwe a plan for food security and economic growth client: City of Harare collaborators: Gensler, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe project type: Individual, Academic Research Studio at University of Pennsylvania
This project, “rural armatures”, is a landscape plan developed for food security and economic growth focusing on the hinterlands of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. The project seeks to aggregate the informal economies of agricultural villages in a knowledge and skill-based network, tying their production to key market clusters. Due to political land reforms in 2008, large-scale agricultural production came to a near stopping point. Through this strategy, local Zimbabweans can scale their local food production to meet domestic and foreign demands. In meetings with local politicians and design charrettes, Zimbabwe’s economic crisis was the root cause of many issues and opportunities discussed. Both locals and politicians raised the issues of poor water infrastructure, inner-city crowding, and the slow return of a local market. These meetings arranged by Carlos Cubillos and Thabo Lenneiye (Gensler) who also further helped in charrettes with local design students from NUST (National University of Science and Technology). Through GIS mapping, a categorical landscape pattern was created. This information influenced the pattern of infrastructure needed to promote and support localized agricultural homesteads. A productive and resilient landscape could then be created through a variation of irrigation canals, ponding zones, catchment swales, all based on proximity to water. While the village of Musami was chosen, this strategy was not intended to be site specific, but rather a strategy for villages in Harare’s outlying region.
10
REGIONAL ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE
M AST ER PL AN LE GE ND
B A
G
E
F D
C
A
WAT ER T REATME ANT AN D SOU RC E
B
EQU IPM EN T A ND PROC ESSIN G HUB
C
M ARKET C ENTE R
D
ED U C AT ION AL FIE LDS
E
VIL L AGE C ENTE R
F
IRRIGAT ION B AS INS
G
EXIST IN G H OME S TE ADS
160
socio-agricultural and economic process model
1,000%
140
100
600%
TRANSITION TO INFORMAL AGRICULTURE
80
400%
60
monetary inflation
agricultural production index (tonnes)
800% 120
40 200% 20
0 1960
0% 1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
A2
NRZ [National Railways of Zimbabwe]
NRZ
agro-industrial clusters
commercial agro-clusters
agro-clusters
ECONOMY
CASH CROPS
FOOD SECURITY
FFZ HRE [Harare International Airport]
HRE A3
FFZ [Freight Forwarders Zimbabwe] Freight service between Beira and Harare launched July, 2003
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY
Technical Subcommittee Evaluation
Provincial Land Identification Committee
Recommendation
Agricultural Land Settlement Board Land Applicant
District Administrator Comprehensive Economic Recovery In Zimbabwe UNDP Discussion Document, 2008, Page 161
Shortlist
Submission
District Land Identification Committee
POLICY GUIDING AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION - FROM SUBSISTENCE TO MARKET GROWTH
FARM PLOT 15m x 120m
HOUSING AND AGRICULTURE PARCEL (15 X 120 METERS
PATH TO AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION Population
Economic
Policy
Population Growth
Economic Growth
Gov. Policy & Incentive
Population Density
Market Development
Potential Intensification
Pressure to Land
Market Demand
Shift to High Value Crops
Extensification
Increased Frequency
High Yielding Varieties
Input Intensification
Technology Intensification
Increase in output per unit area Netra Chhetri Applied Geography Volume 31, Issue 2, April 2011, Pages 808–819
III. RURAL
AGRICULTURALFARMING INTENSIFICATION COOPERATIVE PROCESS
AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION CONFIGURATIONS
PLANTING
GROWTH
PARTIAL HARVEST (SUBSISTENCE)
FULL HARVEST (SELL TO MARKET)
BIRD’S EYE VIEW OF AGRICULTURAL REGION
VERTICAL NEIGHBORHOODS toronto, canada balancing high density housing with activated public space client: Toronto Community Housing Corporation collaborators: Planning Alliance (Toronto), WRT (Wallace Roberts & Todd), Toronto City Planning Division, Wellesley Institute project type: Team, Academic Research Studio at University of Pennsylvania contribution: Graphics, landscape and open space strategies
The studio project for the Black Creek neighborhood of Toronto was part of an urban design and planning studio which focused on of Global Social Housing. Initial research began at a global scale by looking at case studies in Singapore and Hong Kong, which have successfully integrated higher density housing with their urban context but have consequently out-priced their residents. It was important to investigate ways that local governments operated their social housing markets to meet increasing demands and make a similar comparison for our team’s site in Toronto. As this was a team project, each member was tasked with various aspects of the project: financing, phasing, building massing, and landscape. My role was to integrate and maximize the value of landscape’s role in the context of high density social housing. Our group partnered with planners and architects for two separate design charrettes – architects at Planning Alliance and our client, TCHC (Toronto Community Housing Corporation). After these charrettes, a review was held where feedback was given from both groups, with additional critics such Ken Greenberg. By the completion of the studio, our team had met its goal of providing TCHC with a complete housing plan for Black Creek which included: three alternate financial strategies, increased value of public space, resident relocation phasing, and research into potential partners for a successful community.
16
GLOBAL SOCIAL HOUSING CASE STUDIES TOA PAYOH, SINGAPORE
17
could support more sustainable affordable After looking at some of precedents in the US from different cities, we concluded the following. The fixed coupon rate was decided These partnerships essentially trade fixed through the risk of projects and the size of the
practiced in Toronto”
$25,238,064
$27,197,810
construction costs with land held by other bond. The higher the coupon rate, the lower parties in the the proceeds from the TIF. In our TIF model, we “TIF has never been a r ea . T h e calculated the expected revenues in different $25,758,000
prerequisite coupon rates through all three baselines with $17,086,006
GAP
construction cost. When the starting land
$15,960,182
for the approach to make money is that different coupon rates. And this is how much $20 /sqft $111,981,460 land value is high enough to exceed the gap it could fill given different assumptions. $12,873,553
FINANCING | SeCTIoN vII
112
housing development.
461 units
$
value is below $30, the partnership, to the The Low Income Housing Tax Credit has been $ BanK enlarges $ opposite, methods for social 3the $one of 4 the$most 5common 1 the $ gap.2 However, 6 approach transfers the liability of housing housing financing in the US. There are tax development to that of providing public credits in Canada, but they cannot be traded, $
$
$
Traditional TCHC Model of Financial Strategy and Financial Gap.
financing financial gap
A.PPP
B. TiF
To fill the gap, we came$29,383,509 up with our new model $12,485,413 that incorporates multiple solutions. We /sqft devised five strategies in total. Three of them are specific to our project and the rest are citywide policies.$14,617,938
$40 $30
-$6,268,405
The first strategy is to form partnerships with $13,348,220 other parties in the
$20
BLACK CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD MASTER PLAN
city developer
school board developer
conservation
conservation
school board developer
C. Tax Credit structure to replace the cash flow from the $93,763,497 current ground parking space. Then TCHC 350 units could acquire the land, sell the land to the private sector, and build more affordable $99,854,992 units. 372 units
/sqft
5
$
city developer
$
5
city developer
$
city
/sqft “exchange the area. by trading the -$12,132,155 new school land they own with with currently the buildings they need, the TCHC can Tax increment financing financing underutilized capitalize upon its campus”
expertise in property
In Phase 5, the school board is our major partner. In this phase, TCHC$111,981,460 could build a school for the school board, and propose 461 units to exchange the new school with currently underutilized campus. The school board acquires a new facility by giving out the strategic locations that are much more valuable to commercial development. The plan benefits both parties in the
108 106
44
106
AffoRdAbLE
AffoRdAbLE
MARkET-RATE
MASTERPLAN PLAN MASTER
e1
44
MARkET-RATE
108 108 106 106
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
Relocation Plan 3 MASTER PLAN Phase 3units MASTER PLAN overall
Phase 3 1units Phase overall
Relocation Plan 1 AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE MARkET-RATE
AffoRdAbLE
4
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
108 108 106 106
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
108
MASTER PLAN MASTER PLAN
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
233
44
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
RelocationPlan Plan1 3 MASTERPLAN PLAN Relocation MASTER
cation Plan 1
AffoRdAbLE
781
106 108
106106
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
reloca t i on pl an ph as e 1
Phase 2
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
MARkET-RATE
44
i n f i l l d e ve l o p me n t phase 2
106 AffoRdAbLE
AffoRdAbLE
MARkET-RATE
44
MARkET-RATE
MASTER PLAN
MASTER PLAN
Relocation Plan 3
overall4units Phase
AffoRdAbLE
130 130
130
233 233
233
e dge de ve lopme nt pha se 3
110 781 781
42 42 128 128 108 108 106 106
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
SCHooL
106
233
233
4
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
MASTERPLAN PLAN MASTER
Relocation Plan 5 overall Phase 4units 190
AffoRdAbLE
128
128
108 108
108
106 106
all e 2units
4
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
MASTER MASTER PLAN PLAN
BLACK CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD GATEWAY
Phase overall units overall24 Phase units
4
AffoRdAbLE
overall4units Phase
Affo
CoM
SCHo 886
130
130
233
233
80 110
781
42
4
AffoRdAbLE
781
42 128 108
106
MASTER PLAN
Phas
886
108
MARkET-RATE
190
MAR
128
106
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
Relocation Plan 5
SCHooL
781
42
MASTER PLAN
CoMMuNITy CENTER
110 781 781
MARkET-RATE
re loca t ion pla n pha se 4
80
42
AffoRdAbLE
MARkET-RATE
SCHooL
130
781
42 128 108
CoMMuNITy CENTER
130
SCHo 886
MARkET-RATE
CoMMuNITy CENTER
CoMM
886
Phase 4
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
MARk
110
781 128 42
Affo
SCHooL SCHooL
233
128 108
Reloc
CoMMuNITy CoMMuNITy CENTER CENTER
130
781
overall5units Phase
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
SCHooL
108
MARkET-RATE
MASTER PLAN
AffoRdAbLE AffoRdAbLE
CoMMuNITy CENTER CoMMuNITy CENTER
128
AffoRdAbLE
Phase 4
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
233
4
Relocation Plan 3 overall5units Phase
Relocation Plan 3
CoMMuNITy CENTER
106
MARkET-RATE MARkET-RATE
106
MARkET-RATE
MASTER PLAN
overall6units Phase
4
AffoRdAbLE
MARkET-RATE
MASTER PLAN
overall6units Phase
COMMUNITY-DRIVEN OPEN SPACE
PHILADELPHIA VACANY MAP
CATALYTIC LINES philadephia, pennsylvania living infrastructure: urban forestry as a civic catalyst client: City of Philadelphia collaborators: OLIN Studio, PennPraxis project type: Individual, Academic Research Studio at University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia’s post-industrial neighborhoods have been left in a state of abandonment and disuse, creating significant problems for the quality of life for surrounding residents. Germantown Avenue’s post-industrial corridor represents a once thriving hub of activity flanked by neighborhood fabric, however today, vacancies not only fill this corridor, but poor housing quality and vacant lots can be found throughout the Olde Kensignton neighborhood in which this corridor resides. Two main types of infrastructure will be deployed to improve and catalyze a key area to reveal its urbanization potential. Vacant lots will be forested with specific tree species that hold lumber value for the future improvement of neighborhood housing, creating a living infrastructure. In addition, historic rail still currently embedded in roads will be unearthed and utilized to create a productive circulation.
URBAN FORESTRY SOIL REGENERATION
In seeking to improve quality of life and increase neighborhood connectivity, the selected site along Germantown Avenue, American Avenue, will undergo phasing aligned with 12 year harvest cycles. The site is aligned with a development matrix designed to assign specific parcel and land-use level decisions at each step of the phasing. Through this, neighborhoods separated by a post-industrial barrier will be reintegrated and given increased urbanization potential.The future envisioned in a 2080-era Philadelphia is one that blends housing and urban development with living ecological systems, creating a social and economic value for continued use of ecological systems such as urban forestry. Through the staging and deployment of 6 phases, sites connecting the ray of Germantown Avenue and American Aveue will be catalyzed under the same general methodology of harvest and development cycles, integrating neighborhoods and creating use and production from vacancy.
20
URBAN FORESTRY HARVEST
Phasing Algorithm Residential Vacancy
Renewed Housing
Consolidate Ownership
Buildings to be Demolished
Community Centers
Vacant Parcels 20’ x 60’
Urban Forest
Birch Stands
Betula cordifolia Betula alleghaniensis
Harvest
Milling Process
Infill Housing
Furniture Flooring Cabinets Doors
New Construction
Disperse Ownership
Home Owners
36 Trees per lot 377 Board Feet Height: 20’ Diameter: 2’ Cubic Feet: 31.5
Industrial Vacancy
New Industry Core
Consolidate Ownership
Buildings to be Demolished
Community Centers
Vacant Parcels 100’ x 200’
Urban Forest
Pine Stands Pinus strobus Pinus taeda
Harvest
Milling Process
Construction Lumber
Live / Work Development
Spruce Stands
New Construction
Disperse Ownership
Continued Forestry
Business Owners
Picea glauca
City Public Works
Birch Stands
800 Trees per lot 9420 Board Feet Framing for 21 Homes
Artisans
Betula cordifolia Betula alleghaniensis
Height: 45’ Diameter: 2’ Cubic Feet: 141.5
Pine Stands Pinus strobus Pinus taeda
Rail Yard Vacancy
Educational Park
Consolidate Ownership
Earth Mounding
Community Centers
Consolidate Vacant Parcels 280’ x 500’
Urban Forest
Pine Stands Pinus strobus Pinus taeda
Harvest / Clearcut Mound
Milling Process
Construction Lumber
Structural Cap / Earth Casting
Spruce Stands Picea glauca
Stump Incorporation: Seating / Skylights
City Public Works
Earth Excavation
Library Construction
Library
Continued Forestry Pine Stands
Pinus strobus Pinus taeda
Spruce Stands Picea glauca
Phase 1_reclaim territory
Phase 2_shelterwood harvest
Phase 3_ecotone
Disperse Ownership
Local Schools City Public Works Community Centers
MASTER PLAN
EXISTING VACANCIES
ACTIVATED SPACE
IN-FILL DEVELOPMENT AND PARKS
1808
1855
1862
1892
1942
2000
GERMANTOWN AVENUE DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME
LIBRARY PARK: OVERLAPPING EDUCATION, FORESTRY, AND RECREATIONAL SPACE
STREETSCAPE CHARACTER
TRANSIT-PARK: OVERLAPPING PUBLIC SPACE AND TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE
BIRDS EYE VIEW OF CORRIDOR REGENERATION CENTER CITY
DELAWARE RIVER NORTHERN LIBERTIES
DAWAN VILLAGE shenzhen, china historic preservation employer: Urban Planning and Design Institute of Shenzhen (深圳市城市规划设计研究院) project type: Individual + Team, internship
The walled village of Dawan began over 200 years ago and now finds itself facing development pressures as the metropolis of Shenzhen expands. The strategy behind this project was to take into account the need for historical preservation as well as provide housing that will be afforable for the area’s current residents. By maintaining small street widths and 3 to 6 story buildings, a revitalized neighborhood can be created with more connectivity, higher density, and better access to preserved architecture.
关系 非正式的 河 大区块
C 关系 非正式的 运河 主要道路 新建筑 反映池
Relationships: Informal Canal Main Access Road New Development Reflecting Pool
Relationships: Informal River Large Blocks
A
B
关系 小块状 河 主要道路
Relationships: Small Blocks River Main Access Road
The new housing models were inspired from the traditional form of the walled village of Dawan; by creating rooms within rooms, courtyard style blocks that mimick the historic village. These housing models are then placed within a new network of roads and alleyways and scaled in a manner that creates two main corridors, allowing for consistent airflow and access to sunlight.
26
PRESERVATION AND PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
ZERO CARBON CITY shenzhen, china high tech industry + landscape urbanism employer: Urban Planning and Design Institute of Shenzhen (深圳市城市规划设计研究院) project type: Individual + Team, internship
This masterplan is for the southern portion of the Pingdi River, one of the two rivers within the Zero Carbon City planning project. Flooding scenarios have created dangerous conditions for many of the existing buildings along riverbanks. It was these flood scenarios that inspired the analysis for the design; by creating algorithms through parametric modeling, it was possible to visualize portions of the river which would receive heavy erosion and overflow. These areas were then designated to be greenspaces that would be informed by the river’s natural form. The use of parametric modeling in this project was done in the spirit of the future high tech industries which will be occupying the much of the future masterplan’s area.
27
PINGDI RIVER MASTER PLAN
PARAMETRIC URBANISM digital fabrication This design explores an imaginative concept of a rapidly urbanizing future with architectural solutions following suit. A highly densified metropolis is overtaken by a web-like structure that creates new opportunities to understand scale. This project was constructed in several stages: the first stage being the urban fabric (typical city grid), the second stage was the introduction of a web structure that was created from a boolean diffrence between two curves surfaces. This model was then physically builtout of high density foam and carved by use of a 3-axis mill.
28
LA LOGGIA arcosanti, arizona arcology workshop + internship employer: Arcosanti Project project type: Planning & Construction Internship
In 2010, I completed an arcology workshop held by Paolo Soleri, and continued my residency at Arcosanti for 3 months as a construction / planning intern. During this time, I worked on various construction projects: building retaining walls, stairs, excavation practices, site surveying, and greenhouse management. In the planning department I assisted in the preparation of construction / planning documents for the Heat Duct Tunnel, a segment of the “La Loggia” plan. The tunnel intends to act as a conveyence for winter heating by guiding excess heat from greenhouses during the winter. The “La Loggia” masterplan is a strategy for creating a ribbon of greenhouses at the base of the canyon to sustain food production for the Arcosanti Project.
30
mark j. kieser, mla+mcp ​l andscape + urban designer a: 10325 caminito cuervo #177 san diego ca 92108 p: 623.570.0835 \ e: mjkieser@gmail.com