re-providence
Urban Design Projects - Fall 2011 Michael Dennis + Alistair McIntosh Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Urban Design Projects | Michael Dennis + Alistair McIntosh
This report summarizes the work produced in the Introductory Urban Design Studio during the fall semester, 2011 in the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The studio was taught by Michael Dennis and Alistair McIntosh. The eleven participants were students in the SMarchS Architecture and Urbanism post-professional degree program. The studio subject was the downtown area of Providence, Rhode Island. Like many American cities, the central area of Providence was devastated by “urban renewal,” and arterial strangulation during the post-World War II era. Despite many recent positive initiatives, however, downtown Providence still appears largely abandoned. It is therefore an ideal urban design study. Because the studio was introductory, there were two imperatives for the study: one pedagogical; the other practical. The pedagogical imperative was to sensitize the students to a new and unfamiliar art—that of town planning and urban design. Architectural training is the base for this, but it is not sufficient by itself. To the architectural base must be added urban, landscape, and ecological understanding. The practical imperative was to have each student explore ideas for the redevelopment of downtown Providence on several different levels: buildings, blocks, streets, neighborhoods, and town. Given the time frame, this would be a difficult task for a professional team, but the students did manage to produce a wide range of provocative projects illustrated in this report.
re-providence
MIT - Fall 2011
re-providence Urban Design Projects - Fall 2011 Michael Dennis + Alistair McIntosh Massachusetts Institute Of Technology
GRAPHIC DESIGN + PAGE LAYOUT BY: ADITYA BARVE ANDRES BERNAL ARISTODIMOS KOMNINOS RYAN KURLBAUM
PREFACE
MICHAEL DENNIS
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RE-PROVIDENCE ALISTAIR McINTOSH
INTRODUCTION
MICHAEL DENNIS
EXISTING IMAGES
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PROVIDENCE
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PROJECTS:
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RE-CONNECTING MENGLIN JIANG 27 SREOSHY BANERJEA 35 RYAN KURLBAUM 43
RE-STRUCTURING ARISTODIMOS KOMNINOS 55 MICHELA BARONE LUMAGA 67 KOBI RUTHENBERG 75
RE-OPENING ANDRES BERNAL 87 KRISTEN ZEIBER 97 CELINA BALDERAS GUZMAN 105
RE-CENTERING
ZHANG JIA 115 ADITYA BARVE 123
STUDIO MAP
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Aerial View of Waterfront and Waterplace Park
Aerial View of Bus Terminal and Kennedy Plaza
PREFACE
MICHAEL DENNIS
This report summarizes the work produced in the Introductory Urban Design Studio during the fall semester 2011 in the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The studio was taught by Michael Dennis and Alistair McIntosh. The eleven participants were students in the SMArchS Architecture and Urbanism postprofessional degree program. The studio subject was the downtown area of Providence, Rhode Island. Like many American cities, the central area of Providence was devastated by “urban renewal� and arterial strangulation during the post-World War II era. Despite many recent positive initiatives, however, downtown Providence still appears largely abandoned. It is therefore an ideal urban design study. Because the studio was introductory, there were two imperatives for the study: one pedagogical; the other practical. The pedagogical imperative was to sensitize the students to a new and unfamiliar art—that of town planning and urban design. Architectural training is the base for this, but it is not sufficient by itself. To the architectural base must be added urban, landscape, and ecological understanding. The practical imperative was to have each student explore ideas for the redevelopment of downtown Providence on several different levels: buildings, blocks, streets, neighborhoods, and town. Given the time frame, this would be a difficult task for a professional team, but the students did manage to produce a wide range of provocative projects illustrated in this report.
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Vacant Waterfront
Void from Highway Removal
RE- PROVIDENCE
ALISTAIR McINTOSH
The studio explored the role that landscape plays in the creation of a compact, humane urbanism. In contrast to some recent urban design that has used landscape as a “binding agent� in attempts to unify disaggregated archipelagoes of buildings, the Providence studio investigated how discrete landscape spaces are integrated into and contribute to a legible civic structure. The landscapes developed by the participants function in many, often multiple ways: as stages for the daily civic life of residents and visitors to the city, they contribute to sustainable environmental strategies for the 21st Century city and they also mediate between the built forms of the city and the surrounding regional landscape, especially the Providence River and Narragansett Bay. The idea that urban landscape mediates between a dense urban fabric and a surrounding, sustaining regional natural environmental context will be a primary role of landscape in the future city and will return urbanism to a more coherent relationship to the natural world. 11
Artist Rendering circa 1858
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Aerial View of Providence in 1926
INTRODUCTION
MICHAEL DENNIS
Aerial Plan - 2010
The purpose of this study was to explore urban design strategies for the reconstruction of downtown Providence. The recent removal of the section of I-195 provides an exceptional opportunity for the renovation of the historic urban core of the city. The reconstruction and reintegration of the heart of the city is crucial, as it currently appears derelict and abandoned. Providence is almost 400 years old; today’s urban disintegration happened within the last fifty years. Founded in 1636, Providence was one of the first cities in America to industrialize, and by 1900 it had a broad manufacturing base, good rail, sea, and road connections, and the population. The city proper was 175,597. By 1940 the population reached 253,504. The downtown had many fine buildings and streets, and the urban fabric of the downtown blended with its contiguous areas—the one exception being the railroad, which broke the connection between downtown and the Capitol. Beginning in the 1950s, however, a combination of flight to the suburbs, the demolition of much of the urban fabric, and the insertion of highways through the heart of the city resulted in the disintegration and near demise of the downtown.
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Aerial Plan - 1970’s
Plan of Providence in 1909
Plan of Providence in 1980
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Waterfire Providence - 2011
The good news is that many buildings and some urban fabric were spared. This “urban residue” has been reinforced by putting the railroad underground, reopening the Providence River, and developing various urban initiatives such as Waterfire. Most of these efforts have been concentrated around the Kennedy Plaza area, however, and the quality of the environment drops off precipitously south of Weybosset Street. The development of the Providence Place Mall may draw visitors from outlying areas, but it has also drained business from the downtown area. What downtown Providence needs most is density—density of built fabric. Built fabric defines the urban open space of the city, which is what promotes urban life and legibility. This requires urban building types—buildings that align on the streets, rather than isolated freestanding buildings. The downtown also needs an extended civic structure of legible public space: a civic structure of streets, plazas, and parks. It is also fundamental to have walkable mixed-use neighborhoods for vital, active environment. A basic question is: how big is downtown Providence? What is its “capacity”? Calculations indicate that downtown Providence could accommodate a population of at least 12,000 - 15,000 inhabitants—i.e., people actually living there—and make a better urban environment at the same time. Given that the population of the United
View Across Void Left by Highway Removal - 2011
States is projected to increase by about 110 million people by 2050, and given that compact urban life is more resource efficient on a per capita basis than suburban sprawl, this projected capacity of downtown Providence is far from unreasonable. Indeed, as outrageous as it seems, a major portion of the right bank of the city of Paris would fit within the area of downtown Providence. This area of Paris includes the Palais Royal, the Bourse, the Place Vendôme, and much of the high-end shopping. Despite the implausibility and inappropriateness of Paris in Providence, however, it provides a stunning image that might stimulate a fresh way of looking at the city. The most flexible and effective urban plans are not programmatically explicit; i.e., regarding building use. Rather, the best urban plans are long-range, form-based plans that allow for programmatic flexibility. All of the following projects were developed on that basis. They try to fill out the downtown (and sometimes the Capitol area), provide a more extended and elaborate open space structure, make connections to the surrounding areas, and provide walkable, mixeduse neighborhoods. Because they are longrange plans there are no economic models for implementation. This would need to be a separate study. Nevertheless, it is useful to leap-frog over the current condition and fantasize about what downtown Providence could be.
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Paris Collage into Providence
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EXISTING IMAGES
PROVIDENCE, RI
View Down Westminster Street 17
Void from Highway Removal
Bus Terminal
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EXISTING IMAGES
PROVIDENCE, RI
State Capitol 19
Chestnut Street
Elm Street
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Capitol Center
Waterplace Park
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Existing Plan Menglin Jiang
Sreoshy Banerjea
Ryan Kurlbaum
Aristodimos Komninos
Michela Barone Lumaga
Kobi Ruthenberg
Andres Bernal
Kristen Zeiber
Celina Balderas Guzman
Judy Zheng Jia
Aditya Barve
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re-connecting
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From City to Building Menglin Jiang
A good city should seek to recover its collective memory. People who live in the city should feel the “past� of the city. According to the theory of Aldo Rossi, there are two types of city architecture, which can help the city restore its collective memory. The first is compound housing and the other one is the memorial of the city. Hence, during the process of
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urban renewal, these two kinds of building types can be extracted to change the function rather than demolish the existing fabric. This urban design strategy seeks to preserve and restore the urban memory by inserting a new urban sequence that re-constructs the urban core.
re-connecting Conceptual Model
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Site Potential
Aerial Perspective of Urban Design Intervention
Model of Proposed Plan
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Existing Plan
re-connecting 29
Proposed Plan
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Proposed Civic Structure Sequence Design
Section of Highway Boulevard
Section of Traffic Plaza
Section of Memorial Park
re-connecting Traffic Plaza
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Highway Boulevard
Memorial Park
Typical Street Elevation
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Typical Street Section
re-connecting Typical Apartment Elevation
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Typical Apartment Plans
Typical Apartment Interiors
City Interconnectivity Sreoshy Banerjea
This design proposal seeks to create a cohesive network of well-connected streets, green spaces, and urban public squares. The main strategy to revitalize Providence is to create a waterfront district. There is a proposed main boulevard that connects Downcity to the Jewelry District. Parallel to this vehicular access boulevard is a pedestrian street that allows residents to experience the new waterfront. Flanking both the main boulevard and the pedestrian street are public green spaces that open onto a large urban space. The existing
fabric is not drastically demolished; instead the new fabric forms around it. The new civic structure forms around existing landmarks and connects with the new waterfront area. The main plaza takes on the program of a cultural center that is a public private partnership between the City and the many .academic institutions in Providence
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Aerial View of Providence
re-connecting 35
Urban Design Plan
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Existing Plan
re-connecting 37
Proposed Plan
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Civic Structure
Neighborhood Plan
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re-connecting
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Block Diagrams
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Apartment Building Axon
Apartment Building Details
Proposed Street Elevation
Aerial View of Open Space
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Plan of Open Space
Axonometric of Open Space
Approach to Open Space
re-connecting Open Space Longitudinal Sections
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The Plaza
A Civic Re-Construction Ryan Kurlbaum
In 1938, Providence utilized its vibrant waterfront as a source of urban vitality and commerce. The following scheme seeks to re-activate the waterfront with a contemporary translation of the historical piers. With the pier structure back in place the city of Providence is woven together by three main elements: first, a new hierarchical street network highlighted by a tree-lined boulevard linking the Capitol building to the waterfront; second,
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a new civic structure of diverse open and green spaces that re-connects Downcity and the Jewelry District; and third, a major public open space and cultural building that becomes a terminus within the city. This urban design strategy is founded upon a revitalized waterfront and a vibrant civic structure full of architectural and development opportunities.
2010
Proposed
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Aerial Perspective at Waterfront
re-connecting 43
Urban Design Plan
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Existing Plan
re-connecting 45
Proposed Plan
Material Typologies
Reclaimed Cedar
Perforated Metal
Recycled Lumber
Polycarbonite
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Proposed Street Elevation
re-connecting Green Space
Open Space
Proposed Axonometric
Proposed Street Section
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Open Space and Green Structure
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Open Space + Cultural Building Exploded Axon
Open Space + Cultural Building Plan
Open Space Site Section
re-connecting 49
Open Space Axonometric
Process Models
Water Inlet and Street
Amphitheater Perspective
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Final Model
re-connecting Approach to Public Ramp 51
Final Model
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re-structuring 53
The Wall Aristodimos Komninos
Providence contains several significant educational and cultural clusters (Brown University, RISD, Johnson & Wales). However, Downcity suffers from sparse urbanization, poorly connected neighborhoods segmented by vast parking areas, and underdeveloped land. Most representative is the unbuilt area where the highway used to cross between Financial District and Jewelry District, dividing the city. Given the inevitable population growth that our cities will experience over the next 25 years, this project aims to create a denser urban fabric by revitalizing the civic structure and strengthening its urban identity. Downcity Providence can be read as an island. Defined by the riverfront and a highway,
the Financial and Jewelry Districts are clearly detached from the surrounding areas: College Hill, Smith Hill, Federal Hill, South Providence and Fox Point. While the riverfront is currently seen as a great asset for the city, the highway undermines its continuity and connectivity with the rest of these neighborhoods. This proposal attempts to identify those venues that will bring about Downcity’s urban rebirth, and to develop strategies that could bring this vision into life. The study examines a spectrum of scales, from the city-wide strategies to neighborhood and block units. However, the main focus area is the highway, reconceived as a valuable and essential part of Providence’s overall civic structure.
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Aerial View Looking East
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City Hall
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Train Station
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Providence Place Mall
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Washington Square
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RISD
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Brown University
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Waterplace Park
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Johnson & Wales
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I-95
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Fox Point
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Infrastructure Pavilions
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Cathedral Square
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Jewelry Square
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Museum District
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Water Plaza
re-structuring
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Urban Design Masterplan
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Existing Fabric
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Proposed Fabric
URBAN PATCHES The main landmarks of the city, together with areas of potential development, outline a strategy consisting of specific development gestures that function as “urban patches.” These patches vary in scale and breadth, connecting disparate urban areas while creating balance along the city edge. In this way the scheme encourages homogeneous growth for the in-between areas. One patch transverses the city from East to West. This gesture connects Brown University,
RISD and Johnson & Wales while leading across the highway towards undeveloped land. The patch could trigger newly integrated campus development, bringing together the major educational resources of Providence. The second patch brings City Hall and the Industrial Zone into Downcity’s urban realm, redefining two major endpoints of the NorthSouth axis. The Industrial Zone will counterbalance the magnitude of City Hall by turning the whole area into the city’s Museum District.
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Aerial View Looking South
re-structuring 59
Urban Development Strategy
Longitudinal Section Facing East
WATER PLAZA AND THE WALL. In terms of civic structure, the City Hall and the Providence Place Mall, together with the vast public space they share, are matched in scale by the new Water Plaza, located at the southernmost edge of the city in the current Industrial Zone. The Water Plaza will catalyze Downcity Providence with an urban space that will properly anchor its civic structure. Today, the site is disrupted by the highway crossing the river and deprives access to the city’s
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Central Axis and the Conclusive Public Space
The Water Plaza - Top View
southern edge. The Water Plaza features a monumental linear building which marks the edge of the city, while simultaneously framing a rectangular public space overlooking Providence River and Fox Point. Water Plaza, as a joint between the two main strategies, is the most important element of the proposal. The linear building is actually a small part of a greater urban structure that constitutes the second strategy of this study: the Wall.
linear zone along this edge to accommodate big programs - preferably programs requiring access to the highway. The densification of the city will result in limited vehicular access and parking; most of the circulation will be absorbed at the edge of the city, allowing the inner street network to function separately. This zoning features characteristics such as increased height and an interconnected linear network of commercial arcades at the ground floor.
re-structuring
THE WALL The Wall is an exploration of how a city deals with its limits and edges. Specific boundaries are viewed as unwanted agents of segregation, but they can also be crucially decisive factors in urban design. As mentioned before, Downcity is surrounded by Interstate 95. This piece of infrastructure created a powerful boundary for the city, impacting both its connectivity and integrity along this edge. The solution proposed is a
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The Water Plaza - the Linear Building and an Overview of the Wall
This zoning will generate a homogenous and rigid urban element that will be read as the city’s new identity from the outside and a continuous urban façade from the inside, restructuring the dismantled urban landscape while protecting Downcity from the noise and aesthetics of the highway. The Wall is interrupted at intersections with major streets and the “patches” mentioned before, shaping gateways for the city. In this way, the Wall does not segregate the city from its surroundings, but formalizes and marks its welcoming points.
INFRASTRUCTURE PAVILIONS Supportive urban elements are the wide platforms bridging the two sides of the highway. “Infrastructure Pavilions,” built on those platforms, accommodate programs like big markets and farmer’s houses that are perceived as common ground between neighborhoods, while assisting in preventing heavy vehicular traffic from entering the city. Incoming goods will be concentrated in those pavilions before redistribution within city limits.
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Programmatic Analysis of the Wall
Conceptual Sketch of the Infrastructure Pavilion
re-structuring
The Highway and the Bridging Platforms
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Urban Footprint of the Wall
THE BLOCK - THE NEIGHBORHOOD The function of the block is to knit together a cohesive street network. The North-South and East-West axes are contradictory: the former lacks the continuity and coherence of the latter. This block structure was designed as a means to reconstitute proper circulation by integrating irregular and discontinuous streets into a reorganized street network favoring pedestrian circulation. The second goal is to add density and program to the neighborhoods by following the new street design and utilizing the secondary street network. In other words, the proposal turns the blocks inside out by activating their interior domestic spaces
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as pieces of a chain connecting the block courtyards. This is achieved by introducing a core into the interior of a block, hosting small programs such as small retail stores, galleries, bars and even artists’ studios, in order to keep the pedestrian streets active. Moreover, since the courtyards of the blocks are occupied by the core uses described above, the public space dedicated to residents of the block is elevated and placed on the rooftop of those programs, allowing democratic access to every single building. This block structure favors the shaping of neighborhoods as autonomous communities, aware of their own unity while simultaneously taking part in a greater urban realm.
Conceptual Sketch of the Core Function
re-structuring
HOUSING RETAIL GROUND CIRCULATION & PUBLIC SPACE
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Interior Perspective View of the Block Interior
Urban Deck Michela Barone Lumaga
Providence is currently a city without a center. The morphology and centrality of Capitol Hill makes this region a strategic space for urban development. The site consists of a teardrop-shaped territory separated from the rest of the city by the two main infrastructures that connect the town to its surroundings: I-95 and the train tracks. The hill is elevated on the west side approximately 30 feet from the river valley, and on the east side the highway gouges a linear trench along the north/ south axis. The project focuses on two main interventions: reconnecting the former circulation network in order to increase accessibility and traffic flow; and creating a panoramic promenade
facing the river which will develop public city life and improve the relationship with the natural environment. The linear design of the deck along the west side creates larger piers with leisure functions, affording an opportunity to revitalize an area otherwise disconnected from the city. A succession of piers and stairs and a steppedseating theater stretch over the new park, forming an environmental buffer between the old Providence and its new center. The new Providence train station is located at the lower level of the south deck’s extremity, vertically connecting the different layers of the city.
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Postcard From Providence
re-structuring
Cross Section
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Proposed Masterplan
Existing Circulation
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Proposed Circulation
re-structuring
Conceptual Sketches
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Proposed Capitol Hill
Elevated Promena
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Galleria
Staircase to
Staircase t
Sunken Railway Station
re-structuring
omenade
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Belvedere
Train Tracks
Open Air Theater
Exploded Diagram Concert Platform
case to Park
case to Railway Station
Sectional Studies
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Street Pattern Study
Volumetric Study
re-structuring 73
Urban Block Matrix
Facade Study
Central Providence Development Strategy - Normalizing the City Core Kobi Ruthenberg
This project sets as its main objective the formation of the city center as a collective and generic construct. The proposal brings forth a possibility for normality in a society, not in order to promote conservatism or stability but rather for the purpose of enabling new forms of freedom through the
celebration of the ordinary. Anonymity of city form is sought to allow maximum programmatic flexibility and cultural exchange. The proposed design strategy is established through a definition of the three primary design principles :
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Existing Condition
First Phase Demolition and First Phase Construction
Proposed Plan After Two Phases Of Demolition and Construction
Aerial View - East
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Proposed Urban Design Plan
NORMALITY The city plays a key role in societies’ search for normality. The city’s form is a complex political construct that defines clearly what is within the norm (regular) and what is outside of it (irregular). This is not to say that as urban designers we are political agents; rather, that we should be mindful and critical of what the city we are designing promotes as a social construct .
CENTRALITY The city center is not a project of the past but a project for the future. Even with the sprawled condition of contemporary cities, their core is a vital element of organization which has great impact on the character and identity of societies. The core of a city is what the citizens collectively activate and is a symbol of its union. It gives identity to a place and plays a key role as a means of communication within a culture.
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Aerial View of the Current City Form - South
re-structuring Civic Structure - Existing
Civic Structure - Proposed
Aerial View of the Library Plaza - West
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East-West Section
North-South Section
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re-structuring
Aerial View of the Library Plaza - East
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Triangular Articulation of Civic Structure
Continuous folding line
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Block Type Study
in respect to the block type. Whether one chooses to use a ribbon slab block, solitary high-rises, attached buildings in perimeter blocks, or any other type, all can be designed into qualitative places in our cities. Problems arise when type is used as an ideological tool, in an exclusive inflexible manner and in isolation from society’s real requirements.
re-structuring
TYPOLOGY By implementing a systematic use of block size and street section, the city is able to express the difference between its background and foreground or the normal and the exceptional. The regularity of the proposed urban fabric establishes a coherent local character and thus creates a platform that allows flexibility
Typical Floor Plans
Block Facade Study
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6 Phase Ideal City Design Sequence
1-Five Minutes Walk - 1200 Feet Radius
2-Outline of a Street Network - Hierarchy of Open Spaces
3-Zoning by Density and Typology
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Perspective Of The Library And The Plaza
4-Diversity of Blocks within Each Type
5-Subdivision of Blocks into Parcels
6-Definition of Buildings Heights First Stage: 50 to 80 Feet
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re-opening
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Establishing Providence’s Backbone Andres Bernal
It is not an overstatement to say that the current condition of downtown Providence is one of complete fragmentation. Its districts are physically divided by a highway, the remnants of a highway, and the river. In essence, Providence is an archipelago of districts that lack connectivity and active public spaces. This is a proposal to reconnect Downcity, the Jewelry District, and the Hospital Complex, as well as to strengthen existing East-West connections. The objective is to develop a spine from which Providence can be coherently organized. The spine capitalizes on Memorial Boulevard, which is the only existing connection between these districts that is currently
active. Memorial Boulevard gets reshaped to act as the main connector and the main organizer for the city’s civic structure. Two large public spaces are added at the intersection of the Jewelry District and Downcity, effectively extending the city’s public realm. The goal for these public spaces, a park and a plaza, is to counterbalance the existing public space around the State House in order to extend activity to other areas of the city. Beyond the spine, this project develops a series of smaller public spaces and boulevards that strengthen the EastWest connectors between Federal Hill and Smith Hill to College Hill.
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Aerial View
re-opening
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Urban Design Plan
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Existing Fabric
re-opening
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Proposed Fabric
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Connection at Metro Scale
20,000 People Mile/Sq
1,000 People Mile/Sq
Providence Jewelry District
Connections at Downcity Scale
30,000 People Mile/Sq
Philadelphia Queen Village
30,000 People Mile/Sq
Boston North End
New York Greenwich Village
Remain
Existing
Old
Demo
Phase 1
New
Phase 2 Phase 3
Buildings to be Demolished
Phasing
Old and New
re-opening
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Block Types
Boulevard
Neighborhood
Esplanade
Open Space Plan
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Longitudinal Section
Views to the River
re-opening
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Aerial View
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Street Elevation
Street Section
Typical Apartments
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Street Wall Facade
The Central Corridor Celina Balderas Guzman
Downtown Providence currently faces a separation between the active downtown area and the Jewelry District due to the vast area of vacant land leftover by the highway demolition. Moreover, while connectivity is good in the east-west direction, it is poor in the north-south direction within the downtown area. In order to resolve these issues and to reconcile conflicting street grids, a wide central avenue is proposed for the downtown as a new backbone of built form, active uses, and transportation corridor, in order to knit together the downtown once again. Within this avenue, a central public space for Providence can take place. As
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the downtown is a low-lying, flood-risk area which has seen major floods during its history, one idea for this public space is a storm water management park which can treat and retain water during storms. The storm water management system can be designed as an infrastructural park landscape. More than simply treating storm water, this park can accommodate a variety of urban programs: market space at Weybosset Street, green park space in the storm water management landscape, and neighborhood park programming at the southern end .
re-opening
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Urban Design Plan
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Existing Urban Design Plan
re-opening
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Proposed Urban Design Plan
Market Square
Open Lawn/ Event Space
Waterscape
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Neighborhood Park
Waterscape Section 1
Section at Lawn Event Space
Waterscape Section 2
Street Section
re-opening
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Neighborhood Axonometric
Apartment Elevation
Apartment Section
Apartment Plan
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re-opening
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Infrastructure Park
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re-centering
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Re-thinking Waterfront Judy Zheng Jia
This design explores possible urban strategies which address spatial separation and fragmentation; large amounts of vacant space; an underused waterfront; a weak economy; high risk of climate change; and stormwater management. The urban design scheme aims to create a dense urban
fabric and a large functional wetland as a waterfront park. In between the two parts, a vibrant waterfront boulevard, along with a series of courtyard blocks opening towards the waterfront, help to strengthen the relationship of city and river .
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Urban Spatial Structure
Concept of Wetland Design
Vision of Providence Waterfront
Aerial View of Waterfront
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2011
2025
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re-centering
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Proposed Waterfront in 2025
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Existing Urban Design Plan
re-centering
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Proposed Urban Design Plan
Proposed Plan
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Water Flow in Constructed Wetland
Proposed Blocks
Cells of Constructed Wetland
Proposed Open Space
Exploded Axonometric: Constructed Wetland
re-centering
Constructed Wetland Section 119
Views Across Constructed Wetland
Aerial View of Wetland 120
Typical Boulevard Section
Aerial View of Boulevard
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Typical Apartment Section
Block Diagrams
re-centering
Typical Apartment Plans
Typical Apartment Elevation
Typical Apartment Street Elevation
Polycentric Providence Aditya Barve
This design approach probes the possibility of connecting Downcity and the Jewelery District by creating a strong central growth center in between the two. This formal approach, coupled with a hierarchy of open spaces and a vibrant riverfront, help to create a legible urban framework which accommodates various programmatic needs. The multi-functional central block with its “urban courtyard� gives identity to an entire
urban design scheme. The urban design also integrates existing buildings with the new, respecting the identity and history of the place. The overall concept can thus be repeated with differing programmatic and thematic identities, creating multiple growth centers which then can span across the existing I-95 to be linked with a strong public transport network.
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Urban Design Diagrams
Axonometric of Proposed Urban Design
re-centering
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Proposed Urban Design Plan
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Existing Urban Design Plan
re-centering
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Proposed Urban Design Plan
Waterfront Site Section
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Intervention Plan
Aerial View of Waterfront
Components
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re-centering
Aerial View of Urban Intervention
Aerial View of Open Space
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Urban Axes
Urban Design Guidelines
re-centering
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Typical Apartment Design Plans
Proposed Apartment Design
Street and Faรงade Alternatives
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re-centering
Faรงade Adaptability
Proposed Urban Design Model
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
ANDRES BERNAL
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA TEACHING ASSISTANT
MARIA ANTONIA BOTERO
132 STIRLING, SCOTLAND
ALISTAIR McINTOSH
MILAN, ITALY
MICHELA BARONE LUMAGA
PENNSYLVANIA, USA
KRISTEN ZEIBER
KANSAS, USA
RYAN KURLBAUM
TEXAS, USA
MICHAEL DENNIS
MONTERREY, MEXICO
CELINA BALDERAS GUZMAN
BEIJING, CHINA
JUDY ZIANG JIA
PUNE, INDIA
ADITYA BARVE
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL
KOBI RUTHENBERG
133
SHANGHAI, CHINA
MENGLIN JIANG
KOLKATA, INDIA
SREOSHY BANERJEA
ATHENS, GREECE
ARISTODIMOS KOMNINOS
re-providence
Urban Design Projects - Fall 2011 Michael Dennis + Alistair McIntosh Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Urban Design Projects | Michael Dennis + Alistair McIntosh
This report summarizes the work produced in the Introductory Urban Design Studio during the fall semester, 2011 in the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The studio was taught by Michael Dennis and Alistair McIntosh. The eleven participants were students in the SMarchS Architecture and Urbanism post-professional degree program. The studio subject was the downtown area of Providence, Rhode Island. Like many American cities, the central area of Providence was devastated by “urban renewal,” and arterial strangulation during the post-World War II era. Despite many recent positive initiatives, however, downtown Providence still appears largely abandoned. It is therefore an ideal urban design study. Because the studio was introductory, there were two imperatives for the study: one pedagogical; the other practical. The pedagogical imperative was to sensitize the students to a new and unfamiliar art—that of town planning and urban design. Architectural training is the base for this, but it is not sufficient by itself. To the architectural base must be added urban, landscape, and ecological understanding. The practical imperative was to have each student explore ideas for the redevelopment of downtown Providence on several different levels: buildings, blocks, streets, neighborhoods, and town. Given the time frame, this would be a difficult task for a professional team, but the students did manage to produce a wide range of provocative projects illustrated in this report.
re-providence
MIT - Fall 2011