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COLUMBIA GSAPP | M.S AUD 2019-20
ABOVE: Potential sites in Long Island city based on the presence of restaurants, bars and open spaces; BELOW: a catalog of furnitures for various moments
URBAN DESIGN THROUGH TRANSFORMATIVE SYSTEMS Urban Design Studio, Summer 2019 Team members: German Bahmon, Wei Zhang
ROMANCE, SERIOUSLY? Is your city making you single? Romance, Seriously? is a speculation on how public spaces can be improved in rapidly growing cities to cater to the predominant demographic of young, single millennials in Long Island City. In order to do so, it reimagines the public spaces that allow encounters and dating. Underused spaces around frequently visited social and everyday nodes are a series of objects that trigger or reinforce social interactions. The result is a derive through spots carved in to the existing fabric pf the city that holds opportunities for encounters and moments that one may experience with someone else in the hustle of everyday life. The city promises to be your best wingman as it takes romance seriously.
PLAXALL ART GALLERY
The open space outside Plaxall Art gallery was a potential site. It could be designed for intimate dates and group interactions.
AMPHITHEATRE
ELEVATED PODS
The open space accomodates a variety of spaces under canopies that support differet functions trhough the seasons, and an amphitheatre for screenings. It is also designed to have pods that are elevated and circular hedges for intimate dates.
COVERED OPEN SPACE
A view of the Plaxall Art Gallery in Summer
Snapshots from the film
READING NEW YORK URBANISM
Urban Design Elective, Summer 2019 Team members: German Bahmon, Wei Zhang, Nina Lish
BENCH MATTERS “How is a bench in Madison Square Park different from a bench in Hunters Point South Park?� Bench Matters is a film with a very specific focus: how does the design of benches in hunters point south contribute the performance of that public park? What are the specificities of material, orientation, density, location, and ergonomics of each of those benches? We spoke to the Thomas Balsley, Managing Director of SWA/ Balsley to find about the design process and his perspective on designing benches. The film takes the viewers through the interview of the architect, but also on a journey of the users of those benches and understand how choosing a bench to sit on is seemingly insignificant, but conscious decision.
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
EMI
94% FOSSIL FUELS
INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL
10% OUTBOUND
72% BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
17% INBOUND
66.4% THROUGH
30.9% PUBLIC WORKS FOR GREEN NEW DEAL6.6% TRANSPORTATION
13% Urban Design Studio, 15% Fall 2019 Team members: Hugo Bovea, Sophie Chenie, Lino Carceras 10% 17% 66.4% RAW MATERIAL RETAIL GOODS FOOD RELATED PRODUCTS
RESIDENTIAL
94% FOSSIL FUELS
Dense freight generation STATE SCALE SYSTEM Medium freight generation INDUSTRIAL
DENSE FREIGHT GENERATION COMMERCIAL
MEDIUM FREIGHT GENERATION
WHERE DO GOODS30.9% GO? AIRPORT Airports
72% BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
OUTBOUND
TRANSPORTATION
15%
Waterways WATERWAY SYSTEM Hubs forACTIVITY road transport(trucks) TRUCKING Active railroads ACTIVE RAILWAYS
13%
RESIDENTIAL
10% OUTBOUND
72% BUSINESS TO BUSINESS
SYSTEM MODES
RAW MATERIAL RETAIL GOODS FOOD RELATED PRODUCTS
2012
10% OUTBOUND
17% INBOUND
CA
66.4% THROUGH
W
6.6% INTERNAL
13% MOVE? HOW DO 15% GOODS
INT
POTENT IMPROVE
1,750 MILLION TONS
66.4% THROUGH
CH
2040 TRUCKS
WH
ACCESS
THROUGH
6.6% INTERNAL
RAW MATERIAL RETAIL GOODS FOOD RELATED PRODUCTS
17% INBOUND
INBOUND
INTERNAL
2,600 MILLION TONS 6.6% INTERNAL
EMPLO
TRAINS
SHIPS
AIR
I
OP
INFRASTRU COMP
113,559 MILES OF PUBLIC ROAD
3,279 MILES OF
FREIGHT RAILROAD
390 MILES OF
7 MAJOR AIRPORTS
WATERWAY
WHY DENSE FREIGHT GENERATION MEDIUM FREIGHT GENERATION AIRPORT
M T
WATERWAY SYSTEM TRUCKING ACTIVITY ACTIVE RAILWAYS
SYSTEM MODES
WHA
HOW DO GOODS MOVE? 2012
GOOD(S) SHIFT
2040
How do goods move in the Hudson Valley?
TRUCKS
INTEGRA
1,750 MILLION TONS
TRAINS
SHIPS
CHALLEN 2,600 MILLION TONS AIR
Trucks are one of the largest contributors to air pollution in the region, and function within a system that is imbalanced. 84% of the freight transported in New York State is moved by truck, while other modes of transportation such as railways and waterways are underutilized. Among the goods transported in the region, food is one of the main carbon emitting commodities. This helped us draw scenarios that might help curb carbon emissions and imagine shorter, quicker ways to move goods in the valley. Scenario 1 imagines redirecting the return routes of trucks to local warehouses that deliver goods on cargo bikes. Scenario 2 reimagines a high speed rail in the valley along the Hudson. 113,559 MILES OF
PUBLIC ROAD
3,279 MILES OF
FREIGHT RAILROAD
390 MILES OF WATERWAY
7 MAJOR AIRPORTS
F S
VU
OPORTU
TH FU
RA IT’
6
TR
M
TR
R
Legend
Legend
Selected Site
Water
High Desity Forest
Forest
Medium Density Forest
Impervious Land
Low Density Forest
Built
Consumer Catchment
+
Selected Site
Waterbodies
Big Box Retail Highways
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Pickup Centers Consumer Catchment Water Catchment
Regional map showing locations of big boxes
PUBLIC WORKS FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL Urban Design Studio, Fall 2019 Team members: Hala Abukhodair, Xinyue Liu, Scott Guo
UN-BOXED
What if the Green New Deal triggered a new set of land management policies that focused on bio regions? The proliferation of shopping centers in the 1960s, and the highways that sustained them, are now a burden to the social and ecological landscape of the suburbs. Forests were cleared and streams and ponds were canalized, if not covered over, to enable these places. In particular, the emergence of big box store complexes has continued to shape settlement and landscape patterns which today yield ever-increasing carbon footprints. UNBOXED reimagines the spatial and social systems in and around the City of Newburgh to change the flows of commerce, distribution of goods, and the ecological flows of the region. The Big Box complex is disassembled into smaller parts, its ecosystem connections restored and, in the City, new systems of goods sales and delivery re-assert streets and stores as viable social places. Consumption in and outside of the city might be complementary.
ABOVE: Map of Newburgh showing Lake Washington and the city INSET: Catchment area of big box stores in pink compared to catchement area of watershed of Lake Washington Legend Selected Site Water Forest
t
Impervious Land
+
Built Pickup Centers Consumer Catchment Water Catchment
Edges of big box stores and wetlands
Restore watershed
Reprogram big box stores
Introduce new forms of retail
DESIGN GOALS
CargoCargo bike bike Gas stations Gas stations near suburban near suburban areasareas
Site Site Strategies Strategies TOPOGRAPHY TOPOGRAPHY & HYDROLOGY & HYDROLOGY
WATER WATER MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT
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C B
C
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A A
B B
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B A
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Contour ContourA Delay A Delay Wetland Island WetlandBIsland Resist B Resist Watershed Watershed C Store C Store Bioswale Bioswale New Wetland New Wetland
WATER MANAGEMENT
Contour Contour Waterflowdirection Waterflowdirection Stormwater points points Stormwater Water Runoff Water Runoff Built Fabric Watershed WatershedBuilt Fabric New Wetland Clayey Soil Clayey SoilNew Wetland
TOPOGRAPHY AND HYDROLOGY
ShadedShaded area area for unloading for unloading Suburban neighbourhood Suburban neighbourhood
CIRCULATION CIRCULATION
PROGRAM AND USE PROGRAM AND USE
Warehouse Warehouse Warehouse Warehouse Transit Hub Transit Hub
Community Community Forum Forum Reseach Center Reseach Center Botanical Garden
Highway Main Pedestrain MainTrails Pedestrain Trails SecondaryTrails Padestrain Trails Main Road Main Road Secondary Padestrain Bus Driveway Plaza | Plantform Bus Driveway Plaza | Plantform Highway
Parking Lot Parking LotBuilt Fabric Built Fabric
CIRCULATION
Botanical Garden
ViewPoint Rest Area
ViewPoint Wetland Trails Wetland Trails Rest Area Native plant Native plant viewpoint viewpoint
Plantform Plantform New Fabric New Fabric Preserved Building Reprogram ReprogramPreserved Building
PROGRAMS
SITE STRATEGIES
ls
New Retail Strategy
Design Goals
Pickup Center System
Hybrid bus+truck Big Box store
Bus stops in urban centers
Community Forum
Botanical Garden
in Trails
Cargo bike Gas stations near suburban areas
Site Strategies
Suburban neigh
PROPOSED SYSTEM OF RETAIL OUTLETS
Display for environmental updates Waiting area for bus Pick up booth Trashbin Shaded area for unloading
hbourhood
PROPOSED PICK UP AND DELIVERY SYSETM
The project considers the technical, unseen systemic changes that online shopping is bringing to our built environment. It imagines a complete overthrow of the current big box experience and focuses on the delivery of the goods to individual homes so that the massive plots of land that the stores occupy can be vacated for mitigating damages that asphalt has caused. NEW RETAIL STRATEGIES
Big box stores are designed as community center
Photographs of the damage caused by flooding in Johnstown
PUBLIC WORKS FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL Urban Design Studio, Fall 2019 Team members: Hala Abukhodair, Xinyue Liu, Scott Guo
RESILIENCE ACCELERATOR FOR JOHNSTOWN, PA Can the existing infrstructure in Johnstwon be adapted and upgraded to revitalize its economy?
On October 28, 2019, Johnstown Vision 2025 and Columbia University Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes hosted a workshop at the Bottleworks Arts Center in Johnstown. Local leaders came together with graduate students from Columbia University to discuss how to make the area’s infrastructure more resilient. The optimism of the workshop participants inspired us to consider: how can resilience be accelerated through large-scale, coordinated public investments in transportation, housing, arts and education, economic development and green infrastructure. The workshop encouraged residents and local leaders to participate in several exercises where we brainstormed new ways of adapting existing infrastructure to make it more resilient, economically and ecologically. Potential opportunities and risks were listed by participants for each sector that were later translated spatially on small portions of the city plan.
Research
Case studies
Site visit
Discussions with community
Resilience thesis
Imagining ideas spatially
LEARNING TO WORKSHOP
GEOGRAPHIES OF DEFIANCE COTTON KINGDOM The Great Dismal Swamp that exists as a wildlife refuge today is studied by scientists and archaeologists and is visited by tourists and gamers for a few months during the year. Three centuries ago, this landscape was about thrice its size now and gave refuge to thousands of runaways (maroons) who escaped the oppressive and brutal conditions of slavery. By contrast, thousands of enslaved laborers were forced by the Great Dismal Swamp Company to work in extremely difficult environments and conditions imaginable. The historical political-geographical events manifest in the transformation of this landscape from an ecologically rich and balanced remote swamp to a commodified, accessible and drier swamp that is exceedingly vulnerable to wildfires. The following drawings attempt to represent the dramatically contradictory conditions that the Swamp fostered- that of willful defiance of the oppressed and one that allowed and propagated this oppression for capitalist modes of production.
Maroon
/ma’roon/ Noun Origin: Spanish cimarrón; meaning wild
SNIPPETS OF THE DISMAL SWAMP
1- “The thick growth of canes and entangled vines provide an almost impenetrable jungle in many sections of the swamp which makes it an ideal home for the bear.” - The Great Dismal Swamp in History, Folklore and Science 2-”As a counterexilic tactic, many Native Americans adapted to natural land scapes that were not of interest to colonials but had emerged as nodes of spatial remoteness within the boundaries of expansion.” -Political Economy of Exile in the Great Dismal Swamp 3-”When the hunters take a negro who has not a pass, and they dont know whose slave he is, they confine him..and he is sold to the highest bidder at a public sale.” -The Cotton Kingdom of America 4- “Joseph said that they had huts in ‘back’ places, hidden by bushes, and difficult of access.” -The Cotton Kingdom of America 5-”The labour in the swamp is almost entirely done by salves;they are hired mostly by their employers at a rent... paid to their owners.” -The Cotton Kingdom of America 6- “What a life it must be! Born outlaws; educated self stealers; trained from infancy to be constantly in dread of the approach of a white man as a thing more fearful than wild cats or serpents, or even starvation.” -The Cotton Kingdom of America 7-”The shad and herring fisheries (of the Deep River) are an important branch of industry, and a source of considerable wealth.” -The Cotton Kingdom of America
migration patterns in the rift valley
WATER URBANISM_RIFT VALLEY STUDIO Urban Design Studio, Spring 2019 Team members: Lino Carceras, Wei Zhang, Yile, Nina Lish
ALLIANCE FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF BEIRA Can schools trigger new material systems for post disaster reconstruction?
Beira suffered massive damages due to Cyclone Idai. As most houses were destroyed, people sought refuge in the social infrastructures.Similiar events along the rift valley are causing large scale migrations. Now, a year after the Cyclone, schools are still operating from emergency shelters and houses are being built from cement blocks and CGI sheets that are not only destroying the ecology but are also vulnerable to the next cycle of disaster. Our project proposes a shift in these material systems. The agriculutural waste from all the machamabas and farms can be used to make bricks, roofing and furniture. This system is initiated by the school using the funds that it recieves from NGOS and foreign goverments. The school trains people in new construction techniques while the material banks are used to store and sell materials. collectively, they demonstarte new, resilient ways of building housing.
VIEW OF MATERIAL BANK
VIEW OF NEW HOUSING UNITS WITH SATELLITE CLASSROOMS
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1
YEA
LIVING COASTLINE
CHURCH
MACURUNGO
CAPITAL EMPLOYMENT HOUSES BUILT
SHARING GREEN ECONOMY
ARS
5
10 CHURCH
SCHOOL
ELEMENTARY
SEEDING THE MACHAMBA
CHURCH
POST DISASTER RECONSTRUCTION IN BEIRA WITH NEW MATERIAL SYSTEMS
