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high level city alana kerr, brennan black, dustin dodd, faezeh yousefi, john baziuk, jonathan monfries, vijul shah m.arch 2 arch 700: senior research studio i instructors: dustin couzens and michael rivest
High Level City is a masterplan exploring an alternate method of city organization. As a studio, we explored concepts of hyper density and diversity in relation to the immediate context of Edmonton’s High Level Line. The area surrounding this underutilized rail corridor is dense and urban and split at the midway point by the North Saskatchewan River Valley. As a starting point to think about the High Level Line we came to two key conclusions about the line: 1. High Level Line is a circulation and transportation corridor connecting North & South Central Edmonton. Circulation and connectivity must be lateral as well as linear. 2. The High Level Line is composed of fixed spaces. A network of spots, locations, parks, shops, etc. Ultimately, we came to understand this masterplan as the development of a deeply networked and integrated area of diverse programming, a city within the larger city. We developed rules as the basis of the organizing logic of the masterplan, and applied them to the formation of micro districts along the line. The colossal volumes of the city within a city concept represent a change in the way that we traditionally approach urbanization, rethinking the organization of space and the growth of cities.
