Thesis Booklet Fall 2011

Click here for a .pdf of my thesis research and proposal, which you can view as a single document.

Additional Pages

Start of Thesis Booklet

Program Revisions

Site Sketches Based on Jenny Marx' Curious Terrain cards

Site Diagram Development

The two resources exploring place that I have chosen to compare and contrast are Site Analysis by Edward T. White, and Finding Lost Space by Roger Trancik.

Finding Lost Space is focused more on the Urban design and plan of site. It analyzes existing spaces to understand why certain aspects of urban design do not work, and how to graphically boil those elements down to their purest form. This book is helpful in figuring out how to abstractly diagram very specific aspects of the site and its infrastructure. Three theories that were diagrammed out in the book (Figure Ground, Linkage, and Place) were very insightful for me while analyzing with South Waterfront. These diagrams, however, can be very confusing if not in close reference to the sight and context because of their more abstract nature.

Site Analysis was much more centered around a wider variety of diagrammatic scales. The diagrams explored in the book cover hard vs. soft data, covering the very analytical facts of the site as well as the feeling and experiences evoked, site relationships, and the connections between building, users, and the context. The material expressed in the diagrams are generally connected with arrows and changes in texture or shape, which creates clear distinctions. They start out much more abstracted and become more clear the more defined the site and program become. This was the style that I chose to emulate in my diagrams. While the Finding Lost Spaces brought up good analytical diagrams, I felt that Site Analysis encompassed more of the potential of the site design.

Other sources I browsed through on mapping and place representation were:
Meta City Data Town, by MVRDV
Site Planning by Kevin Lynch

Site Analysis: Linking Program and Concept in Land Planning and Design by James A. LaGro

Thesis Science Fair Documents

Outside Precedent Research

Portland Precedent Research

Annotated Bibliography

Site Analysis Diagrams

Thesis Draft

In an effort to reverse some of the damage we inflicted upon our environment with industrial development, the South Waterfront is a progressive leader in redeveloping our waterfront. There is a drive to not only restore the contaminated land, but to give back to it. Currently the development has made great progress sustainable building, but there is a lack of connection between the buildings. I propose to design a network of interdependent buildings sharing resources as well as creating a community within the residents.
Tim Hill has talked about Civic Ecology, a community built around ecology, economics, and social factors. An ecodistrict should be based on resource flows, not only natural, but managing a successful local economy and promoting a self governance. The current South Waterfront district is lacking the independence as a community and interdependence on each other for a successful ecodistrict.

My goals include:

-Design a clear hierarchical street system
    -Promote emphasis on retail vs. residential streets
    -Facilitate bicycle traffic

-Create a strong community connection
   -Public Gathering Space
   -Community Gardens
   -Local Market 

-Emphasize sustainable systems and sharing resources
   -Efficient Water Collection
   -Solar Energy
   -Heat Coil heat and cooling system between residential and commercial buildings

-Establish strong and constant connections back to the river and the natural environment
   -"Arterioles" of water system
   -Green Corridors leading to water front
   -Further develop connections between green spaces

My specific site it located next to OHSU, at the intersection of SW Whitaker St and SW River Pkwy. I am proposing that the current parking lot next to the site be turned into open park or market space which would continue all the was down to connect to the current U-pick dahlia field on the waterfront. On my specific site would either exist a branch of OHSU for Physical Rehabilitation as well and public facilities to integrate the community, or a Community Arts Center to engage the community and the newly established public green space connecting to the river.

Resources:
Portland Development Commision: North Macadam
http://www.pdc.us/pubs/type_list.asp?id=16

South Waterfront Plan
City of Portland Bureau of Planning

Portland South Waterfront Greenway - Buster Simpson

South Waterfront Development Plans

 

http://www.pdc.us/ura/north_macadam/willamette-greenway.asp

http://www.amaa.com/portfolio/project/?category=&project=185&redir=L3N1c3RhaW5hYmxlX2Rlc2lnbi8/IzQ=

Old House Dahlias

During my site visit recently, I noticed a field of Dahlias in one of the yet to be developed lots. I spoke to the woman working and I found out that it is a lot owned by one of the developers who is renting out the lot for this u-pick field until it can be developed. It is actually quite successful and is mostly visited by residents within the community. It seems like a great opportunity to keep this sort of retail or establish a community market in my future potential designs.

South Waterfront Panoramas

South Waterfront Research

 

Images from "Portland South Waterfront Greenway - Conceptual Schematic Design Phase"
August 2004
Buster Simpson 

Zoning and other maps from "South Waterfront Plan" Adopted on November 13, 2002
Effective January 20, 2003 from the City of Portland Bureau of Planning