Case Studies in Urban Housing Vol.2

Case Studies in Urban Housing

Case Study Sites

1800’s

Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, UK, from 1827

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, from 1847

1900s

Justus van Effen Complex, Spangen, Rotterdam, Holland, 1922

London Terrace, New York, New York, USA, 1932

Hufeisenseidlung (“Horseshoe Block”), Britz, Berlin, Germany, 1933

Park Merced, San Francisco, California, USA, 1939-1950s

Albany Houses, Brooklyn, New York, USA, 1950

Washington Square Village, New York, New York, USA, 1959

Pilotengasse Housing, Vienna, Austria, by Herzog & De Meuron, 1992

Hammarby Sjostad, Stockholm, Sweden, 1990s-2010s

2000s

Helzer Courts, Communications Hill, San Jose, California, USA, 2000

BEDZED, Helios Road, London, UK, 2002

Mirador Apartments, Madrid, Spain by MVRDV, 2005

The Quarter, Tampa, Florida, USA, 2000s

Bay Meadows, San Mateo, California, USA, 2000s

Armstrong Place, San Francisco, California, USA, 2010

Monterrey Housing, Monterry, Mexico, 2010

Research and analysis work by undergraduate architecture students at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, in the Spring of 2017.

Christopher M. Pizzi, Architect Instructor, Site Design & Mapping Academy of Art University, San Francisco

Perimeter

Eaton Square, built in 1827 by Thomas Cubi , is a large rectangular block that acts as a mul -way boulevard for the surrounding area. The overall length of the square is divided into blocks, but are all neatly connected with small patches of green which act as connector points between all of the ats.

The buildings have a stucco facade. The entrances all face the street in a large rectangular fashion. This set-up is one of the largest building sites in London.

The Eaton Square is the largest set of ats and apartments within Belgravia. It is the most desired place to live in. It is s ll all privately owned by individual home owners where as it used to be owned by the Grosvenor family. The Grosvenors built these buildings, originally, as a mansion for the family to live in. As me went on, the buildings expanded along the blocks to accomodate a larger por on for the wealthier buyers in the area.

The Eaton Square is mainly a large connector point for the surrounding area. It is fairly close to some major parks and stores, allowing for residents to easily get from one place to another.

Cubi ’s usual designs included more square buildings that weren’t quite as large, but this par cular project, he addded more character from his own design needs. He created a magni cent set of large four story ats that were designed in an area with lots of green around the area, allowing for a more peaceful, natural feel when having to commute back and forth.

There are patches of green within the actual layout of the building, which creates li le private yards for residents to go to without the hustle and bustle of the London streets.

Project Data Table

Salt Lake City was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brigham Young was also the one who issued instructions for establishing Joseph Smiths’ Mormon plan of the City of Zion. In the City of Zion’s plan, “all streets were 132 feet wide and the houses on each block faced alternate streets, with each set 20 feet back from the sidewalk,” whereas in Young’s plan, the blocks are “the same sizes, but instead of twenty half-acre lots in each block, each contained eight lots, 1.25 acres in size.” In Young’s plan, he adopted the City of Zion’s rectangular pattern which emphasized subsistence agriculture, which led to much more larger lots that allowed each lot to become minifarms with animals, barns and gardens. This early subdivision of large lots is mainly due to the large for people to grow their own food since the outlying area was undeveloped and isolated.

In the plan shown above is one of the blocks of Young’s Salt Lake City plan. The block is almost square, and it contains a couple of lots (on the

2nd page, top right view shows the largest lot and one smaller lot.) The lots serve different purposes with trees, and some can be used for parking. The amount of softscapes in the site is enormous, containing 51.44% of the site area.

“The large scale of both Joseph Smith’s and Brigham Young’s visions of the ideal city and the emphasis on uniform setback, landscaping, and brick or stone construction combine to make the Mormon village a distinctive pattern of city planning in America.”

Bibliography

Jackson, Richard H. “BYU Harold B. Lee Library.” City Planning - The Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York : Macmillan, 1992. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Reviewer: Kim Burke

The Justus van Effen Complex, located in Spangen, Rotterdam, was originally a project of rehabilitation taken on by a designer named Michiel Brinkman. He was given the task to restore and develop this residential complex. His first attempt included changing some of the materials used for construction, specifically to concrete. When that failed, he rebuilt it with the original materials, which included brick. When he realized that the materials weren’t the problem, he decided to play with the aesthetic nature of the complex. His second attempt included the decision to add to the color scheme by introducing more vibrant colors, such as green, red, and yellow. This brightened up the brick and made smaller details –windows and doors – stand out. When comparing pictures of the buildings before and after the introduction of color, it is noticeably different and helps develop a more lively connection between the architecture and the residents.

In addition to the change in color, he wanted to develop a more communal environment so he created this “elevated street” that ran around the interior of the complex. This allowed for people on the second level of living to be connected to those down below in the central social spaces.

The interior spaces consisted of communal gardens which helped with his theory of social interactivity. He wanted people to see this complex as a place with new life and new interaction despite its run-down past. Most of the design by Brinkman was based on exterior beauty and how people view the space in which they are living. He felt that nobody would want to live in a place that looked like the surrounding area, so he developed a system of aesthetic detail that subtly brought life back into the complex. Through the use of color, circulation, and detail, Brinkman successfully created a new character and style for the Justus van Effen Complex.

Reviewer: Kiana Saberi

LONDON TERRACE WAS DESIGNED AS THE MODERN LOW PRICED HOUSEING FOR THE WHITE COLARED WORKERS, AND THE LOCATION CHOOSED FOR THE SITE WAS REALLY CLOSED TO THE DOWNTOWN; HOWEVER, INTERESTINGLY NOWADAYS THE LODON TERRACE BECAME AS THE REALLY LAXURY COMPLEX AND A LOT OF CELEBRATIES LIVING

THERE. THE WHOLE BUILDING IS BUILT BY THE BRICK AND IT WAS ONE OF THE TALLEST BUILDING IN THE CITY DURING THAT PERIOD THE WHOLE BUILDING WAS DESIGNED IN THE ROMANESQUE STYLE THE WHOLE COMPLEX HAS 14 CONTIGIOUS BUILDINGS, 10 MIDTOWN BUILDINGS AND THE 4 CONOR BUILDINS THE BUILDING WAS STARTED DESIGNED AT 1845 AND IT FINISHED AT 1930. DURING THE PROCESS THE CONSTRUCTOERS FACING A LOT OF FINAANCIAL ISSU AND THE DEISGNED WAS CHAGED COUPLE TIMES DUE TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION

WHEN THE BUILDING FIRST OPEN THERE ARE CONNECTION AND WALL WAY FOR THE 14 BUILDINGS, THE RESIDENCE CAN WALK AROUND INSIDED

IT HOWEVER MOST OF THE CONNECTER HAS BEEN CLOSED UP EACH

BUILDING HAS ELEVATER IN THE MIDDLE AND THE UNITS ARE IN BOTH SIDE,

WHIHC IS SIMILAR TO THE HOTEL WALK WAY THERE ARE NEARLLY 1700

UNITS IN THE WHOLE COMPLEX. ONLY THE CONOR BUILDINS ARE FOR SALE THE REST ARE ALL FOR RENT

INSIDE THE COMPLEX THERE ARE ONE BIG SWIMMING POOL AND THE RESTAURANT HOWEVER THE PARKING ARE SHORTS THERE ARE PARKING

STRUCTRAL BELOWED BUT IT MIGHT BE ONLY 2 TO 3 STORIES AS THE CITY DEVELOP, THERE ARE PARKING STRUCTRAL AROUND THE BLOCK AND THERE IS NO STREET PARKING FOR THE 23RD STREET THERE ARE STRET PARKING ON THE 24TH STREET , 9TH AVE AND 10TH AVE

THE ENTIRE BLOCKS ARE SURROUDING BY THE BUILDING STRUCTRAL

IT DOESNT HAVE THE SITBACK FOR THIS COMPLEX BUT THE MISDLE

COURTYARD PROVEID THE RESIDENCE A RELAXING SPACE THE WHOLD BUIDING WAS DESIGN IN THE SYSMITRY WAY, AND THE COURTYARD AS

WELL THERE ARE 12 MAIN ENTRCY FOR THE BUILDING 3 ON EACH SIDE

SOME ENTRCY HAS DOOR MAN AND IT PROVED NOT ONLY THE SAFTY ALSO

THE PRIVICY FOR THE RESIDENCE

Britz, Berlin, Germany

Britz, Berlin, Germany

Britz, Berlin, Germany

Britz, Berlin, Germany

Britz, Berlin, Germany

Britz, Berlin, Germany

Project Data Table

Located in Central San Francisco, Park Merced houses many students and families with a couple of attractions near it such as the San Francisco Zoo and Lake Merced, with a couple of high rise apartments reaching 14 stories tall. According to the Park Merced website and Wikipedia, “Parkmerced is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, designed by architect Leonard Schultze and landscape architect Thomas Dolliver Church in the early 1940s. Parkmerced is the secondlargest single-owner neighborhood of apartment blocks west of the Mississippi River after Park La Brea in Los Angeles. It was a planned neighborhood of high-rise apartment towers and low-rise garden apartments in southwestern San Francisco for middle-income tenants (Wiki 1)”. Park Merced contains many residents, inlcluding over 50% of them to be students of SFSU. “The complex is located south of SFSU, west of 19th Avenue, and east of Lake Merced and the Harding Park Golf Club. The property was purchased in October 2005 for approximately $687,000,000 by a joint venture between Stellar Management and

Analysis Diagrams

Rockpoint Group from a JP Morgan Chase and Carmel Partners joint venture entity ( Wiki 1)”. The construction process began 1939, but was slowed the Font Boulevard buildings in early 1944. The development was completed in the early 1950s and from the Second World War and the Korean War. Metropolitan Life has built similar apartment blocks in other large cities, including Park La Brea in Los Angeles, Parkfairfax in Virginia, and Riverton Houses, Parkchester, and Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan to name a few (Wiki 2)”.

READ BY: SARAH BERTING

Project Data Table

The Albany Houses case study that I got is located in Brooklyn, New York. Its an intersesting residential complex that consists of 1220 low income apartments spaced out through the site. There are 9 buildings on the site where the apartments are and all of them have the exact same structure and acquired spaces between them. Its got an amazing landscape which is mainly grass and trees with a pathway through the enitre site.

There are a few interesting things I would like to touch on. One of the factors I would like to touch on is the shape of the building and how it seems to work with each other continuosly. The towers are all alike. They appear to look like Pentagonal core which in a way makes it look as if it were Diagram Above.

Analysis Diagrams

Also, While doing my Analysis diagrams I noticed how the buildings seem to connect with each other horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. They individually look like they could possibly inter-lock with one another but once they touch only certain parts of it would connect.

There are more and various things to talk about intrigging and worth the talk about.

As an apartment complex located in Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York City, Washington Square Village houses 1,292 dwelling units through two parallel 17-story towers. This complex is an example of an urban dwelling within a park. The site perimeter is 8.42 acres and the softscape takes over 52% of it.

Washington Square Village was first proposed in 1957 and in fall 1958, occupancy started. This apartment complex is currently owned and operated by New York University housing faculties, students, graduates,

Project Data Table

Location / Address: Vienna, Austria

Designer(s):Herzog and De Meuron

Year Completed:1992

Land Uses: residential

Dimensions: 298m x 190m

Site Area: 59,650sqm

Building Footprint Area:14,603sqm

Hardscape Area:1000sqm

Softscape Area:44,047sqm

Building Heights:2 storiesvv

Total Floor Area Of All Buildings:26,178sqm

Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.):4.08

Dwelling Units and Types:200 terraced 2 story houses and free standing units

Density:44.516 du/ac

Parking Provided:115 spaces

Parking Ratio: 200 : 115 Open Space: 6118 sqm Setbacks: 95m, 9m, 15m, 18m

Pilotengasse Housing

Project Data Table

Pilotengasse Housing

TAKING THE SITE OF A FORMER FLAT AGRICULTURAL FIELD SURROUNDED BY SMALL FARMYARDS AND SUBURBAN VILLAS THE ARE IS VERY GREEN AND THE APARTAMENTS ARE SURROUNDED BY TREES AND VEGETATION ALL AROUND. ABOUT 200 TERRACED HOUSES AND FREE-STANDING UNITS MAKE UP THE APARTMENT COMPLEX OF PILOTENGASSE. THE SITE PLAN WAS DEVELOPED WITH ADOLF KRISCHANITZ AND OTTO STEIDLE, WHO EACH DESIGNED ABOUT A THIRD OF THE UNITS THE DESIGN OF THE APARTMENTS AND HOUSES WERE MEANT TO REPRESENT THE FLATNESS OF THE SITE. THE TERRACED APARTMENTS SLIGHTLY CURVE TO GIVE EMPHASIS ON THE CENTRAL BUILDINGS AND AT THE SAME TIMES GIVES THE OVERALL PROJECT UNIFORMITY

HERZOG & DE MEURON DESIGNED THREE BUILDING TYPES. THE FIRST IS AN L-SHAPED UNIT THAT MAKES IT MORE OF A PRIVATE LIVING SPACE, A PRIVATE GARDEN BY THE ONE AN A HALF-STOREY STUDIO WING. THE LOWER GROUND FLOOR, DESIGNATED AS A WORKSHOP, COULD BE USED AS A LIVING ROOM. THE SECOND DESIGN IS A RECTANGULAR UNIT THAT COMPACTS ALL OF THE PROGRAM ON ONE SIDE WITH A WINDING STAIRCASE, WHEREAS THE LAST TYPE IS ORGANISED AROUND A SINGLE-FLIGHT STAIRCASE THAT MAKES THE UPPER GROUND FLOOR MORE OF IMPORTANCE IN TERMS OF HIERARCHY

Location / Address:Hammarby alle 111 , 120 64 Stock Holm,Sweeden

Designer(s): White Arch. Firm.

Year Completed:1990-2013

Land Uses:Residential

Dimensions:631’X257’

Site Area:3.72 acres (162,167’ SF) (A+B+C) (A) 82,187.75 SF (B)

Hardscape Area: 48,835.75 SF (C)

Softscape Area: 31,143.5 SF ((D) 5 stories (E), 60’ From Grade 410,938.75’ SF (F)

Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.):2.53 (G)

Dwelling Units and Types:

Density:1.34 Dwelling Units per Acre (DU/Ac)

Parking Provided: N/A (K2)

Parking Ratio:.5 PARKING / 1 DU

Hammarby Sjostad

Stockholm, Sweden, Aaron Tiscareno ARH 240 / Spring 2017 / Project 2

Project Data Table

GREEN SCAPE DIAGRAM

SYMMETRY DIAGRAM

Hammarby Sjostad

Stockholm, Sweden, Aaron Tiscareno ARH 240 / Spring 2017 / Project 2

Analysis “What can we take away from this case study for use in planning in the United States?

The Hammarby Sjostad project is noted as one of the best examples of implemented sustainable urbanism in the world (Beatley 2000).

The overall concept of an integrated, closed-loop system, such as the Hammarby Model where infrastructure for water, waste & energy is integrated into one system, could have many positive repercussions. We found that the level of detail and control expressed in the master plan through the design codes created a consistent urbanism through the integration of architecture, landscape, and water. Nonetheless, it is debatable if this level of control is good or bad. The project team used a number of formal and informal tools to encourage developers to carry out the city’s environmental program. For example, the use of leasehold agreements, where absolute 2005). Unfortunately, a number of the planning practices employed in Sweden cannot be directly modeled in America because of the demonstrated state-supported social equity in Sweden and the lack thereof in the United States.This demonstration of intra-generational sustainable goals does come with some words of warning. “If the institutional arrangements between social welfare and sustainability, then urban planning should positively engage compromises social sustainability is not desirable, as this is a form of inter-generational urban planners will naively support sustainability agendas that don’t really contribute to sustainability, and they will mostly end up reinforcing the power of global capital”

Strengths

We feel that the strengths of the project center on its achievement of sustainable practices, the well-integrated planning process that guided the project and on its physical design. Hammarby Sjostad breaks new ground Model is its holistic approach to infrastructure service provision and its integration of otherwise separate systems in order to accomplish the environmental objectives set by the the environmental program, the project would not have come as far as it did without coordination across and

Analysis Diagrams

between agencies at all levels of government or without public/private cooperation. Municipal control and restructuring brought about the project’s integration of infrastructure as envisioned by the Hammarby Model and ensured that the developer teams retained their commitment to the environmental program throughout project design and Strengths We feel that the strengths of the project center on its achievement of sustainable practices, the well-integrated planning process that guided the project and on its physical design. Hammarby Sjostad breaks new ground for a sustainable urban development that is and its integration of otherwise separate systems in order to accomplish the environmental objectives set by the ecological betterment. However, regardless of the innovation of the environmental program, the project would not have come as far as it did without coordination across and between agencies at all levels of government or without public/private cooperation. Municipal control and restructuring brought about the project’s integration of infrastructure as envisioned by the Hammarby Model and ensured that the developer teams retained their commitment to the environmental program throughout government agencies and state-owned companies creates a governing and institutional framework whereby the Integration of human design and environment development. We feel these are key sustainable development considerations that the project illustrates well.

Overall, the project design capitalizes on the site’s proximity to the Hammarby Sjo waterfront and surrounding natural areas by orientating the buildings toward views and providing public access to the waterfront. We feel that the environmental program has been successfully integrated into the design (such as with waterways that retain and treat stormwater) and in ways that allow for human contact. The density of the development enables preservation

Hammarby Sjostad

Stockholm, Sweden,

Helzer Courts Apartment, completed in 2000, was designed in San Francisco townhouse style. It is designed for low income family.

Helzer Courts Apartment was developed on Communications hillside in San Jose and separated into three blocks. The buildings were arranged upon the slope. The roofs of the buildings were facing to different sides in an order. The three blocks of Helzer Courts Apartment include three separated courtyards at the center of buildings, which are areas where children can play near home and parents can easily supervise. And the courtyards were three different landscape design.

Helzer Courts Apartment offers spacious 2 and 3 bedrooms. The space arrangment are Each unit has two car tandem garages space, which means one car is needed to park in front of another car. If the inner car wants to get out, the outer one has to move also. There is no space for street parking.

There are some parks and recreation nearby such as Guadalupe River Park and Gardens,

The Tech Museum of Innovation. There are also three college nearby which are San Jose State University, San José City College, and Evergreen Valley College. There are subways not far away, which only takes few minutes drive. The distance between Helzer Courts Apartment and San Jose downtown is just four miles. Airport station needs around twelve minutes drive. This is a good place with beautiful view and convenient to access everywhere.

Roushan Saghier ARH 240 / Spring 2017 / Project 2

Location

Designer(s):Bill Dunster

Year Completed:2002

Land Uses: Facilities.)

Dimensions:423’ X 214’ Approx.

Site Area:4.15 Acres (180,706 SF) (A+B+C) (A)

Building Footprint Area: 111,816 SF (61% Of Site Area) (B)

Hardscape Area: 16,426 SF (10% Of Site Area) (C)

Softscape Area: 52,464 SF (29% Of Site Area) (D)

Building Heights:3 Stories (E), 30’ From Grade

Total Floor Area Of All Buildings:542,118 SF (F)

Floor Area Ratio (F.A.R.):3.0 (G)

Dwelling Units and Types:82 Homes (includes Flats, Townhouses and Maisonettes), 18 Work/ Live Spaces (H)

Density:20.1 Dwelling Units per Acre (DU/Ac) (J)

Parking Provided:84 Spaces

Parking Ratio:1.0 Spaces per Dwelling Unit (L)

Open Space:1.2 Acres Parks 0.5 Acres Landscaping

Setbacks:5'-0" Front, 20’ Side, 20’ Back

BEDZED

Helios Road, London, UK

Project Data Table

Roushan Saghier ARH 240 / Spring 2017

BEDZED Helios Road, London, UK

The eco-village called BedZed, lays on the south side of London, UK. This site includes around 100

mainly used to sports such as, soccer. The history of this site, is that it used to be a sewage disposal site for the houses in that area. So the need for this community to be completey eco-friendly was strong, thus was the beginning of promoting sustainable living in the UK.

In order for it to achieve the low carbon footprint that they have set for themselves, the heating and insulating systems are done by taking into account the sun. By placing solar panels all throughout source. They were thorough to the point where the materials they used to build were chosen for their insulation and thermal qualities. Another source of electricty is using a biofuel chip, but the plant throughout time needed to be repaired multiple times and thus is no longer the main source of electricty.

Some other systems that they have are the reusable water systerms, from collecting rainwater

to sending used water through a treatment system which is then distributed throughout to all the vegetation. The rainwater would also be used in each personal homes sewage system, going through the water treatment, creating a loop. One of the main ideas behind the site, is that it would become a pedestrian village and not for the cars, and so there are very limited spaces for a car, up to one per home and more advertisement to bike or to use public transport thus less carbon believed that in order for us to solve environmental problems, we would have to start with our homes. Each home, has a rooftop garden to help give back to the atmosphere. The more plants the less carbon dioxide. At the time this site came up in 2002 it was new, of the environment, the design was future-esque with a big idea on how we should start living. Over the years it has helped and has only emitted an estimate of 30% of gases.

Mirador Apartments

Project Data Table

Mirador Apartments

combination of small neighborhoods placed vertically around a semi-public sky-plaza. It is located in Sanchinarro, Madrid, Spain in a newly expanded zone building has different housing units called ‘blocks’. This units are divided by circulation spaces. They are all glued together forming a new towering superblock. There is an interesting contrast in its design. In one hand we have massive blocks with small windows that can translate as being apart from everything else- closed to the world, on the other hand, we have a massive open space where everyone can come together and interact not only among themselves but also with the city, appreciating the city’s skyline. This space is located 40 meters above the ground

Analysis Diagrams

and can be directly accessed from the plaza around originating from the division of the blocks act as access zones and they are perceived as vertical alleys. The vertical neighborhoods become the reference point. The project is part of a program sponsored by the Ayuntamiento de Madrid to better the peripheral metropolitan areas that have been affected by brutal, unregulated urban development. The building is not public as are most housing buildings. “For this reason , in 2001 a number of Madrid architects were invited to develop, in collaboration with great international design studios, a proposal for apartment buildings that would respond to the growing, and increasingly varied, demand for housing, but would at the same time become a kind of icon, a reference point for the whole city” (Mirador apartment building MVRDV + Blanca Leo, 1).

Tampa, Florida, USA

Tampa, Florida, USA

Tampa, Florida, USA

Project Data Table

The Armstrong Place in San Francisco consists of two different projects. The first project is the Armstrong Senior Housing, and the second project is the Armstrong Townhomes. The Armstrong Senior Housing enables homeless seniors to live independently. The Armstrong Townhomes are the duplex units for families.

First of all, the Armstrong Senior is a giant building painted with various colors on the exterior walls. The building provides 116 studios and onebedroom apartments. Also, they provide a lot of different programs, such as laundry facilities, a bbq area, and a picnic area for the seniors.

The Townhouses next to the Armstrong Senior consist of duplex houses and each of the units has two stories. The duplex houses are arranged to maximize the amount of the spaces and minimize the noise for each bedroom. For example, the entrance of the lower townhouse is located at the second floor because it keeps the unit private. After you enter the lower townhouse, you will face the living space on the same floor, and the

bedrooms are on the upper floor. On the other hand, the upper unit's entrance is located at the fifth floor from the ground level, and it is connected to the living area on the same floor. The Bedroom of the upper townhouse is located downstairs, which is above the bedrooms of the lower townhouse. This arrangement of the “upside down” feature maximizes the practicality of the space because it minimizes the internal noise coming from each unit.

Even though there are two different projects in the same block, they were designed as one project, and there are a lot of common spaces for the community. The large open courtyard surrounded by the buildings has a playground for kids. Also, the small gardens in the courtyard allow families to grow food and flowers. Last, the bioswales in the gardens collect and manage the stormwater runoff. All of these features in the Armstrong Place work well to keep the community clean, harmonious, and joyful.

Grammar reviewed by Daniel Espey in Writing Lab, 79 New Montgomery street - 6pm April 5th, 2017