Resilient Porosity: Creating a Porous City through Micro-Clustering

Superblock

Superblocks are urban design strategies that were implemented to minimize the presence of cars in city centres.

Barcelona is taking this strategy even further by combining multiple superblocks and closing off the inside roads to through traffic. Inside the superblock traffic is slowed down to 10mph and a pleasant streetscape is designed that prioritizes the pedestrian.

Porosity

Sprinkle mixed scales, affordable housing throughout large blocks, leaving open public space to allow porosity.

Diversity

Diversity of building scales and uses provides options that attract different socio-economic classes and a variety of commercial opportunities.

Resilient Porosity

Creating a Porous City through Micro-Clustering The ideal urban city is one that allows us to gain experiences in many different places, and with many different people. It is one that blurs the edges, rethinks the boundaries and easily allows us to go in and out of spaces. Resilient Porosity enhances the existing structure of East Liberty by providing a network of public spaces where people of different class, race and interests can regularly mix within smaller scaled neighbourhoods. It provides the pattern for transitioning and dispersing the large scale commercial identity of East Liberty to its existing neighbourly community with decentralized functions.

Infill Analysis PROJECT METRICS Number of Dwelling Units: Building Density: Dwelling Unit Density: Population Density:

1473 1.2 22 33879

dwelling units floor area ratio dwelling unites / acre

persons/square mile

Building Typologies

Micro Unit: Affordable,

Row Houses: Affordable.

Corner Apartment: Anchor

Typical unit size: 593 sqft Total building floor area: 1,010 sqft Scheme infill: 6%

Typical unit size: 2,400 sqft Total building floor area: 7,200 sqft Scheme infill: 6%

Typical unit size: 5,207 sqft Total building floor area: 20,828 sqft Scheme infill: 29%

Single Family Unit: Increases

Double-Entry Apartment:

Small Scale Commercial:

Typical unit size: 715 sqft Total building floor area: 1,430 sqft Scheme infill: 9%

Typical unit size: 2,300 sqft Total building floor area: 4,600 sqft Scheme infill: 3%

See below for commercial data.

Adaptable Single Family Unit: Increases diversity by attracting

Bar Apartment: Mixed used,

Large Mixed Use Commercial: Diverse layout

Typical unit size: 1,315 sqft Total building floor area: 2,315 sqft Scheme infill: 1%

Typical unit size: 4,600 sqft Total building floor area: 23,000 sqft Scheme infill: 33 %

Urban Garden:

Informal Gathering:

Adaptable, Community Structured, Compact. Multi-functional options for lower income residents, college students, artists, and maker spaces.

homeownership. Provides stability for the neighborhood. Allows renters to grow within the neighborhood through rent-to-own home options.

wealthier residents. Adaptable functionality- Large Family to extended family, Micro Unit Social Space, Neighborhood Cafe/ Market. Anchors corners of clusters and micro unit social spaces.

Compact. Brings a cohesive design to the neighborhood that relates to Pittsburgh’s architectural identity.

Centers activity in cluster. Shared common spaces on first floor can act as community gathering space.

Diverse options in apartment sizes to appeal to all renters. Provides good edge for clusters and larger social spaces.

Green Space Typologies

Smaller outdoor areas foster community and sense of ownership. Some units should front the space to increase safety, awareness, and upkeep, while other units may back up to it to give a sense of intimacy and privacy. This typology works best with smaller building scales.

Cities and neighborhoods need flexibility to thrive. The medium scale green spaces allow community members to define the program within the space: tailgating, BBQ picnic, outdoor study room. This typology works best with smaller buildings fronting it.

to super blocks and larger micro clusters, Bottom floor can be used as commercial or spacial spaces. Naturally forms an open plaza under pilotis.

Commercial space for start-ups and smaller offices and retail.

options structured around a shared parking lot. Rethinks the ‘Big Box’ typology and mall strips.

Typical unit size: 14,913 Total building floor area: 50,076 sqft Scheme infill: 13%

Ball Courts & Plazas: A

porous city can not support heavy masses without varying scales of open spaces. Larger open spaces must be programmed to support the culture and lifestyles of the neighborhood while also being programmed to attract regional visitors for economic vitality.

Typology Organizing Rules

1.Zig zag minor roads within the clusters.

2 .Green spaces vary in sizes to form the porosity and support diverse building scale.

3.Public plaza at the corner of small blocks.

4. Shared parking along streets.

5.Single family homes located along streets for demand of parking.

6.Buildings vary in scale and use within the cluster.

7.Micro units cluster together to form a shared open space and co-operative community.

8. Big box is broken down into small cluster of buildings.

Ball court and community gathering space within micro-cluster.

Urban gardens within clusters provides community building experience and sense of ownership.

Rethinking The Big Box: Whole Foods

PROJECT METRICS Number of Parking : Building Density: Food Demand Met

240 41400 16

car square feet %

Rethinking the “Big Box� typology and huge vacant parking lots. The new typology of whole foods is not just a grocery store but an urban plaza in itself which gradually merges with the rest of the neighborhood. The various sections of Whole Foods are now individual stores connected by the street pattern and open spaces of the micro-cluster city design, thus reducing the overall footprint of the whole foods. The roof now is used for parking and a vegetable garden, hence providing more usable open space and removing the large on street parking that disrupts the porous city.

16 % of Fruit & Vegetable demand met by implementing Gotham Greens Hydroponic system

24 23 21

20

22 19 1

4 5 10 3 6 11

7 12

8 13 COMBINED FOOD SYSTEM 284.3 TONNES

14 9 15

4 9

16 17 10

2

3 1

6 5 8

2 7 18

Plaza at the corner of the block provides a destination and anchors activity in the porous city design.

Location

Spatial Definition

Entrances and paths

Ecology

Section through new medium scaled green space at New Pennley Place

Section of Pen Avenue and Negley Plaza

Re-imagining the New Pennley Place Housing