JUAN NIETO ARCH 103
SPRING 2013
P O MID-TERM T F O L I
O
Juan Nieto Arch 103 Spring 2013
Financial District Districts
Landmark
Edges
Paths
Nodes
I chose to explore the Financial District for one reason, the Transamerica Pyramid. Like many others, it is catch-eyeing building because it is different from any other in the city. It stands out among all the typical “box-like” buildings. Besides, it is a city landmark that symbolizes San Francisco locally, and even internationally. Although it always intrigued me, I never visited the building. I figured this assignment would be a good opportunity. DESCRIPTION I had to recognize some of Kevin Lynch’s urban forms (nodes, paths, edges, districts and landmarks) in the part of San Francisco that I chose, the Financial District. On this first attempt I showed the blocks that I explored, and an image of the Sketchup model that I created of each one of Lynch’s urban forms. -I found two districts within the area: circled in blue are mostly low-rise buildings, and in red are many high rise building. In the middle there is no dominant building height; it is about an equal mix of both that is why the circles overlap. -The Transamerica Pyramid is located on Montgomery St, between Washington St and Clay St. It is the tallest building in San Francisco and can be seen from almost everywhere. The only place where this landmark can’t be seen within the location that I chose is if you stand on the front of One Maritime Plaza’s East side. It is too tall to be seen. -The way I divided the districts was based on the height of buildings, or in way by the edges. On the South side tall buildings dominate and on the North side the smaller buildings. -It was difficult to find paths other than sidewalks and roads, but then I saw bridges that crossed over the streets, connecting building together, for example all the Embarcadero Center Buildings. -Important nodes in that area were rare, at least for me, since all there is are all the high rises that take up much of the space and most buildings are right against one another. But there was one intersection that I found to have significant value. It is where the Transamerica Pyramid is located. At the intersection of Columbus Ave, Washington St, Clay St, and Montgomery St. The other node is Sue Bierman Park, adjacent to The Embarcadero. CONCLUSION On this first attempt I did very poorly because all I did was place titles and images, or like Mr. Lum says “pretty pictures” ,that were related to each title. Some were difficult to analyze, like the districts for not having captions or a key that defined what each color meant and why I divided it into two districts. Also for paths it seemed like all I was trying to relate it to was to sidewalks, or where people walk. As I re-read what a path was I found that it can also be a route of transportation, like bike lanes, or even the different uses a streets has. Overall I need to go into more depth and add some writing at least to support what the images mean.
LANDMARK
The Transamerica Pyramid is not only a landmark of the Financial District, but also a landmark of San Francisco. It’s known for being the tallest building in S.F., but also its unique shape that looks like an elongated pyramid and “wings” on the sides.
Conclusion The Transamerica Pyramid is the main landmark located in the Financial District. It is located in a very important intersection where different neighborhoods get to meet (Financial District, near Chinatown, North Beach, Telegraph Hill). Also to the East there was another landmark that was visible near The Embarcadero, Ferry Building. The reason I did not include it was because it was not within the area that I chose. I did not if I should have included it as another landmark, but since it is visible and walking distance from my area, it might have been relevant.
Transamerica Pyramid behind Coit Tower (as seen from Pier 39)
Edges In a way, edges define can define where a district begins, ends. It can differentiate one district from another. The edge is the reason I dived this district into to separate districts. All the high rise building create an edge on Clay St, and the low rise buildings another separate edge. It is a very big difference in terms of height. Not all edges are created by buildings or their heights, some can be formed by the type of surface. When the grassy are of Embarcadero Plaza meet the paths, it creates an edge. Also having different kinds of sidewalks (tile and concrete) create an edge. On Washington St, between Drumm St and The Embarcadero, a row of trees is on an island in the middle of both lanes. It separates two sides from coming into conflict with one another. The Last example of an edge is based in the geographical sense of what is there. On the east side the bay (water) creates an edge when it meets with the pier. Then there is the street, park and lastly the buildings. Even within these main edges more edges can be found by either sidewalks, rows of palm trees and even the railway tracks in the middle of The Embarcadero. Edges can be anything that can guide your eye to any direction.
Washington St
Conclusion Edges can be found everywhere and on anything. I had to decide which edges were the most important in the Financial District. When I looked at the west elevation, the height of the buildings created the most obvious one. If I shift the view to the South, I see the edge of the bay, pier, street, park, and buildings. I Though these two edges to be interesting, because they are no the same.
Pier/Bay Street
Park
Buildings
Clay St
DISTRICTS
On the Financial Distrcit, mainly there are two kinds of buildings, high rises (red) and low-rise (which the tallest are around four stories high), which make up the two districts within the district. Both “districts� are not different from each other otherwise; they both have many stores, businesses, and are very busy during the day. Both are divided by the Embarcadero Plaza (green), which is starts on Davis St. and ends on The Embarcadero. Also, if you go West of Davis St, there are buildings but they do not seem to belong to either district. It is a combination of both high-rise and low-rise buildings creating a smooth transition from one district to the other. Besides, both districts are not only bounded by their building height, both have some buildings of each other. This creates a kind of balance with one another.
Conclusion Although I divided the districts based on the height of the buildings, I noticed that where the low rise buildings are, that some of the high-rises are residential. In the space between the high rise buildings, there are white townhouses. This part where the houses are located distinguishes its self from the rest of the districts. It wasn’t until this that I did not take Into consideration if there were different styles of architecture in certain Parts of the district. I needed to be more observant. Townhouses with Residential high-rises on back
NODES
There are two nodes in the district that I chose, the first is Embarcadero Plaza (dark blue). That is an important node because it is right in front of the Embarcadero, where hundreds of people walk every day, so it is easily accessible. People go there to spend time on the grass during a sunny day, walk, jog, and to relax. It has a nice view of the Ferry Building across the street and even the Bay Bridge. The other node is located at the intersection of Columbus Ave, Montgomery St, and Washington St. First of all, it is vital because the Transamerica Pyramid is at that intersection of streets. Many people are attracted to this part to see the building and have their own personal experience. Many businesses are located along those streets. It is a very busy place during the day. Another important factor is that at that point, a person can see the cultural change by looking at different directions. At the west there’s Chinatown, at the north there is North Beach and Broadway, in the south you can see the tall buildings of the Financial District to Downtown, and at the East is The Embarcadero. This node unifies all this and makes it easier to go to different parts of the city. Conclusion These nodes are the places where people walking or traveling from different streets get to meet. Also since both of them have a landmark visible, it is easier for people to orient themselves on where they are. Having spaces, intersections that create nodes that have a visible landmark, can attract people, but there need to be sunlight too. By the Transamerica much of the street
level is covered by shadows casted by the high rises. As a result of that in the late afternoon it can get darker than other areas (The Embarcadero).
PATHS
Bridges that connect Embarcadero Center buildings together
Since the neighborhood is located in downtown San Francisco, there isn’t a lot of variety in paths. Most of the paths consist of sidewalks and streets. One difference in the sidewalks is the material used. For instance, the sidewalk surface surrounding the Embarcadero Center buildings is made up of tile, even on the different levels of the shopping area, and they form a pattern of circles. Different texture of the tiles creates a different experience when you step on them, compared to normal concrete sidewalk, that dominate most of the neighborhood. Also, many buildings, and blocks are connected by bridges for pedestrians. All the Embarcadero Center building are connected by these bridges, which also connect to the One Maritime Plaza on the North side, and that connects to the housing buildings across Washington St.
Muni Routes in Financial District Conclusion Whenever I go to work, I always walk by the Embarcadero Center and see all the businesses on street level and the bridges crossing from one building to the other, but I didn’t know that it was a public area as well. I found that there were three stories of shops, restaurants, and even a small theater. The only problem is that there were hardly people there and I believe it is because most people would think its not accessible to them, like I did. This day I tried to look for other paths, or routes, that people would use to get from one place to another, but I don’t think I was successful. Maybe the problem is that I’m trying to find paths that people can physically use, and not visually paths that can guide a person to a specific place, or direction.
District Paths are not only made up of sidewalks, but they can be also Muni Routes. There are several that run through the Financial District. I found that 8ax is one of the most frequently used (It passes though Downtown, Financial District, near Chinatown, and end at North Beach, near Pier 39)
A Utopian Vision:
Juan Nieto
Applying Successful Urban Design Concepts, Principles, and Strategies to create a Vital City Image A
B
ARCH 103, Spring 2013 The park was specifically placed there to act as the heart of the district. It is important for citizens to have a place where they can interact, and with its location in the center provides easy access from all directions. It’s the district landmark, and most significant node.
Looking west on the main street, 75 feet wide and 10 feet sidewalks. Building heights vary depending on use. Tallest buildings have residential, office, and business space, which tend to be farthest away from the park.
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Housing
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Offices/Businesses Businesses Apartments/ Businesses Office/Apartments/Busines ses
Key Features: -Park in the core of the district that is 1200’ at its longest, and a width 230’ -Divided into three sections 1)The two Blocks on the far West side are for multi-use; residential, office space, shops. On this part the tallest buildings are located 2)The four center blocks are mainly residential and for businesses. This is the most active place. 3)The blocks On the East side are primarily residential, in exception to the corners , which create small nodes, specially facing the park. -Main Street on center, running East to West, where in the two center blocks its divides in two (one for each way) -Predominantly buildings of 3-5 stories high to allow more sunlight in streets, specifically area around park
Access to the main street and park is not only through the car congested streets, but through a street dedicated for pedestrians (15 feet wide). One is found on each of the four blocks parallel to the park. There are benches and even some small businesses to bring some life to them.
The park’s Center Square is around 15,400 sq. ft. On this spot is where multiple activities can take place, like a small market place o specific days, events such as performances, music an even festivals, that can extend into the big open grass area to the West if required.
A park needs to have a place dedicated only for kids, that is safe and gun, a playground. Nearby, there are also benches, tables for taking a break or just to have a picnic or party, and restrooms.
A -West Section
The vastly open area of the park is designed foo events that the community might have, that the square at center can’t, but also for people who like to play sports that require a lot of space, such as soccer and football.
Businesses are located around the park, not only to promote it but to enhance it. Residents may go buy food to a nearby restaurant and go to the park to enjoy their meal. Or after they are done playing basketball or deciding to call it a day they can head to one of the nearby businesses.
The residential area is dedicated for those who want to be in a more peaceful environment than the rest of the blocks, but within walking distance. All are three -East stories high with capacity toSection hold two and some three families (of 4). On the back, they have yard space, an average of 900 sq. ft. per building
B
0’50’100’
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400’
800’
DESCRIPTION Using Kevin Lynch’s urban forms, now it was our turn to design a utopia, made up of eight blocks, with at least one main street in Sketchup. -My vision was to create a small town within the big city. For many places in San Francisco it takes up to an hour to get from one side to the other using public transportation. For those who drive it is very difficult to find parking space. My solution was to create a neighborhood that accessible, energetic, and with a fun environment. -Urban form mainly focused on are nodes. The core of the neighborhood there is park for multi-use (sports, picnics, parties, festivals, market). -buildings with an average or 3 stories to allow sunlight into the parks and streets. -Very accessible to get from one side to other. There are also small pedestrian-only streets in the middles of blocks. CONCLUSION I primarily focused on nodes and circulation. I figured that would make my utopia more vibrant because the more appealing it is to people and the more attractions, the more they will want to go, stay, and even return. That is why I included a park for multi-use. Instead of just selecting a block to place it in, I decided if it was going to be more accessible it had to be placed in the center and extend at least two blocks. I think it was successful at that. For my presentation, I tried to include a perspective view of my neighborhood, with images placed adjacent to their location in the perspective. I thought that would work, but the intention was not seen by others. Placing lines to their specific spot and even b pointing the way it is viewing can be a better solution.
Mission Bay Trip