UD_SU21_141

Graduation Portfolio.

by Wanjing Zhang, 2021 wz2537@columbia.edu

01

SAVE SMALL BUSINESS !

-- Affordable Retail Preservation project

Site: Inwood, New York, US Type: Academic Graduate Urban Design Studio I Partner: Thanawat Phituksithkasem, Yunpeng Wu, Chinedu Obinna Adiele Role: Preliminary research, conceptual design, drawings and representation Time: Dec. 2020 Instructor: Nans Voron<nans.voron@gmail.com>, Sagi Golan <sg3020@columbia.edu>, Austin Sakong <sakong@gmail.com>, Noah Chasin <nchasin@gmail.com>, Tami Banh <minhtambanh@gmail.com>, Ifeoma Ebo <ifeomaarc@gmail.com>

- Inwood has its own unique cultural atmosphere, and the commercial realm has a major contribution to it. Most of their stores give specific service to the Hispanic community, such as food, clothes and haircuts. However, the local businesses in Inwood are facing the challenge of displacement. Ever since the Inwood Rezoning came out in Augest 2018, we have seen a lot of local residents protesting against it.

They are protesting because of not only the increasing rent, but also the fear of the change of Inwood’s character.

- In our new mandate, we utilize the existing policy of providing air rights to developers in exchange for spaces on the ground level. They are required to set aside 7.2 meters of space on the side and to contribute the same number of units they are replacing to the collectively growing retail intervention system. This creates new dialogue between local retails and new market-rate developers, as well as opportunities for open spaces for communal activities.

DISPLACEMENT IN LOCAL BUSINESSES

The LOCAL BUSINESSES in Inwood are facing the challenge of

DISPLACEMENT

23% 11% 9% 8% 8% 7% 6% 5% 5% 5%

Local Retail 3% 3%

Chain Retail 2%

75%

45% 94%

of Inwood residents are HISPANIC OR LATINO

of local business owners have been in business here for MORE THAN 10 YEARS

of local business owners RENT their property

53% of local business owners can BARELY AFFORD the rent

BUSINESS TYPOLOGY & OPEN SPACE

ONE STORY RETAIL

MULTI-STORY RETAIL

APT WITH STORES

CONTAINERS

OPEN SPACE PARKING LOT

AUTO BUSINESS BUILDING

BARRIER

12’ 4m

22’ 7m

BEAUTY SUPPLY

15’

5m

15’ 5m

17’ 5m

BARS

(30m) 100’ 20’ 6m

100’ 30m

COMMERCIAL BANKS

26’ 8m

22’ 7m

13’ 4m

14’ 4m

38’

20’

20’ 20’ 6m 6m

ELECTRONICS

11m

6m

16’

22’ 7m

30’

60’

9m

20’ 6m

5m

BODY AND SKINCARE

WAREHOUSE

CLOTHING

18m

SUPERMARKETS

94’ 23’ 24’ 29m

7m 7m

12’ 4m

24’ 7m

RESTAURANTS

12’ 4m

AFFORDABLE RETAIL SUPPORT SYSTEM

STAKEHOLDERS Attract

Business Owners

Consumers

Needs for

Support

"More parking enforcement and availability."

“We don’t have a lot of entertainment options other than restaurants. It would be great to have some arts and entertainment facilities.”

Eating+Market Space

Art Space

Recreational Space

Infrastructure

“More trees and greenery, more places to sit, less loud music on the street, less loitering on the street.”

“Public safety enhancements, especially lighting.“

“What we need is a supermarket, fresh fish, and a meat market. Most of us are crossing into the Bronx to buy our food.”

“Our storefront condition and sanitation service needs to be improved.“

“Outdoor community events and other community-member participatory commercial initiatives.”

“Additional landscaping to beautify the corridors.“

STAGE 1 - INITIATING

STAGE 2 - PLANNING & DESIGN

Source: Neighborhood 360° Commercial District Needs Assessment

STAGE 3 - PROPOSAL

STAGE 4 - IMPLEMENT

MODULAR SYSTEM COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

INTEGRATED URBAN EXPERIENCE RETAIL FESTIVAL ROUTE

EATING+MARKET SPACE

RECREATIONAL SPACE

ART SPACE

02

GREEN NEW NEIGHBORHOOD -- Self-Energy Regenerated Community Design

Site: Manchester, Pittsburgh, US Type: Academic Graduate Urban Design Studio II Partner: Yi Shang, Zheng Yin, Lijing Yu Role: Preliminary research, conceptual design, drawings and representation Time: Apr. 2021 Instructor: Kaja Kühl <kk730@columbia.edu>, Lee Altman <la2278@columbia.edu>, Anna Dietzsch <amd2318@columbia.edu>, Shachi Pandey <shachi@mudworkshop.com>, Thaddeus Pawlowski <t.pawlowski@columbia.edu>

- Achieving net zero carbon emissions as stated in the Green New Deal will unquestionably require large scale transformations of our energy systems. We believe it should also include investments in small-scale “everyday infrastructure” that can make this energy transition visible to everyday residents in their own neighborhood by collecting and utilizing solar energy and empower them to participate in a just transition. Our project consists of a toolkit of smart street furniture that can provide amenities in streets and neighborhood spaces, while generating electricity and jobs in manufacturing this smart street furniture.

- Our project will combine with existing local projects, and the scenarios we design will be shown to residents as a guidebook, then deployed to various locations by people themselves. Program implementation will also include renovating streets, planting trees, and promoting local business, to create a greener and more democratic future development for Manchester Neighborhood.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES UNDER GREEN NEW DEAL

High Cost

Carbon Emission & Air Pollution

Low Investment

Manchester

TYPOLOGY OF STREETS & VACANT LOTS "Sidewalks of Allegheny Ave are in great need of repair.

St re e t l i g h t s a re n e e d e d o n numberous locations here. We counter on a safe Manchester."

Source: Manchester-Chateau Neighborhhod Plan "Something has to be done to make the traffic slowdown.

We need improvements of our streets for walking, bicycling and driving."

5ft 5ft

Area that need street lights Streets that are not safe for walking Sidewalks are in poor condition or limited access Streets that are not safe for biking

5ft 5ft

20ft

"I really enjoy living in Manchester. However, something we just need some transition to make it better."

3ft

25ft

10ft

10ft

12ft

15ft

25ft

Street Tree Canopy Vacant Lots Green Spaces

10ft

Street Width > 30 ft, suitable for 2 way car lanes with 2 bikeways Street Width ≈ 25 ft, 2 way car lanes and 1 bikeway Street Width < 15 ft, one way car lane / 2 way bikeways / shared street

3ft

7ft

20ft

7ft

20ft

3ft

10ft

‘EVERYDAY’ INFRASTRUCTURE

The basic logic of our intervention is that street f u r n i t u re a n d p l a n t i n g s can be plugged into a scaffolding system. The system will function as the growing structure, as well as a power grid to integrate the space and power transmission.

Living Environment

Landscape

Various facilities can be charged and connected such as light, bench and sanitation. Movable vegetations help with the Carbon relief. So there’ll be different modes of combinations to create a green new vision of streets.

Carbon Sink Clean Energy

A GUIDEBOOK FOR YOUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD

SECTION OF PENNSYLVANIA AVE

A VIVID FUTURE & ENGAGED COMMUNITY

Pennsylvania Ave South Elevation

Pennsylvania Ave North Elevation

03

SOUTH PASS SANCTUARY -- Strategic Retreat & A Future With Action

Site: South Pass, LA, US Type: Academic Graduate Urban Design Studio III Partner: Kai Zhang, Xiaofei Sun, Yuqi Tian Role: Preliminary research, conceptual design, drawings and representation Time: Aug. 2021 Instructor: Kate Orff <ko2111@columbia.edu>, Geeta Mehta <gm2368@columbia.edu>, Dilip Da Cunha <djd2169@columbia.edu>, Adriana Chavez <adriana@o-ru.mx>, Justine Holzman <jmh2348@columbia.edu>

+

Barrier Islands

+

Mississippi River

+

Main Pass

+

+ + +

Pass A Loutre Head of Passes

South Pass

Southwest Pass Bird's Foot Delta

- The Bird’s Foot Delta is disappearing and might be fully under the water within the next 50 years because of sea level rise. However, people are still spending hundreds of millions of dollars dumping rocks into the sea each year just in order to maintain the navigation channel. So we envision a new course for the river that maintains the navigation function with the most direct route and also rebuilds the biodiversity and sedimentation balance for natural species and human settlements.

- We have designed 4 simultaneous operations that span over the next century, during which we will free up the southern passes and use mud engines to gradually guide sediments and nourishment upstream, driven by natural forces including wind, waves, and tides. Finally, we envision that there will be introduced wildlife sanctuary living on the aggregated territory. We’re proposing programs for both wildlifes to survive and humans to monitor, research, and facilitate. The habitats will allow human and wildlife coexistence, which will also facilitate the balance of the local economy.

LANDSCAPE OF ABSURDITY A-Synergy Between Contracting Efforts

MAINTAIN THE NAVIGATION FUNCTION

02

CREATE BIODIVERSIFIED HABITAT RESERVES FOR HUMAN AND WILDLIFE

03

PROMPT A NEW CYCLE OF ECONOMY & ECOLOGY BALANCE OPERATION IV

OPERATION III OPERATION II OPERATION I Lan d Ga o

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SOUTH PASS, LA

OPERATION II: CUT AND RESERVE

From Channel to Habitat

We a i m t o r e s t o r e t h e balance of loss and gain of marshland in the whole area, as we have a new navigation channel, we decided to degrade the Southwest Pass, first by breaking the concrete levee. Materials from this process will be relocated to hold future sediments and create new marshland.

By doing so, we create a temporary habitat for birds and in the far future, as the new habitat gets prepared, when the bird’s foot disappears, birds will simply migrate to their nearby new homes.

OPERATION I: CHANGING THE COURSE A-New Navigation Channel

Because of sea level rise and the gradual sinking of the bird foot, this area will eventually disappear.

Given this fact, we decided to Abandon SWP, dredge a shorter new route from the Head of Pass to the nearest 60ft depth. The new route has a much cheaper maintenance fee, and also serves as the origin of mud which will be used in Operation III.

Salt Marsh Existing Land

New Land

Salt Marsh Mesh

SALT WATER

Underwater Sediment

Salt Marsh & Willow Existing Land

Willow/Salt Marsh Mesh Underwater Sediment

New Land

Willow & Salt Marsh Existing Land

Inner Lake

Willow/Salt Marsh Mesh Underwater Sediment

New Land

BRACKISH WATER Willow Existing Land

Inner Lake

New Land

Willow Mesh Underwater Sediment

OPERATION III: MUD ENGINE A Centurial Land Building Process

The third operation aims to restore the wetlands on the north side of the Birds Foot, by using the strategy of mud engine. Because of the dredging activity in operation I and freshwater recharge from operation II, the Birds Foot as a whole becomes a giant mud engine, providing mud to its nearby areas. Given this situation, we aim to direct the location of sedimentation, and eventually recess to the upper bay where new habitats can be preserved with the protection of barrier islands. Due to the freshwater recharge from SWP, the salinity of the area becomes a gradual gradient, changing from freshwater to brackish to saltwater.

To direct the location of sedimentation, we plan to install meshes that take advantage of flora growth to catch the sediments and set up the foundation for

other species. The meshes morph in a spectrum from fresh water willow, to salt marsh. While willows have strong vitality and a complex root system for the majority of the mud catching, salt marsh creates more shallow underwater sediment zones, which is also a significant type of habitat for wetland birds.

With our facilitation and further collaboration with research institutions, the mud fingers would be maneuvered towards more designated and favorable directions. The land choreography connects the existing dotted and vulnerable marshes, mesh them into larger pieces of land, and functions more resiliently together against erosion.

OPERATION IV: WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Coexistence in the Wild

As the land building proceeds, we envision a wildlife reserve taking place at the bay side of the Bird’s Foot Delta. The Hospital Bay and Yellow Cotton bay area come with natural waterways, which we used to guide our human circulation wayfinding. As they converge with key sedimentation sites, we’re proposing habitat reserves for various wetland/estuary activities.

Biodiversity is the key to the ecobalance of the delta. In our vision, the wildlife reserve is to deliver habitats for all kinds of species, including mammals, birds, and aquatic animals.

For each of the localities within the bayside, we’ve looked into the composite of materials and conditions, and dedicated different sites with prioritized species. We consider human existence in parallel, rather than taking priorities, with the different species in the wildlife reserve. We’re proposing programs including Aquatic Habitat Reserve, bird habitat reserve, and pelagic biodiversity observatories to monitor, research, and facilitate the respawning wildlife territories as well as generating income for the ongoing interventions.

FUTURE WITH ACTION In the future, as the sea level rises, if we do nothing, the scarce marshland would be even inundated and eroded to hardly exist. Acres of wetland would be lost, detrimental to the local economy and ecology.

So we envision that during and after our 4 simultaneous operations to build the wildlife sanctuary. It brings back protection against the seemingly inevitable future, rehabilitates the valuable coastal species, and most importantly, liberates the Mississippi Delta from the futile cycle that has been going on for decades.