Opensource Landscape

Opensource Landscape: Translating alleys into information syntax in the urban environment Jennifer Hampton - Kempson

Master of Landscape Architecture thesis University of Washignton 2011

Opensource Landscape: Translating alleys into information syntax in the urban environment Jennifer Kempson (Hampton) A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Landscape Architecture University of Washington 2010 Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Department of Landscape Architecture

University of Washington Abstract Opensource Landscape: Translating alleys into information syntax in the urban environment Jennifer Hampton - Kempson Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Assistant Professor Ben Spencer Department of Landscape Architecture

The evolution of public interaction is changing the way in which our world is creating public commons. In this thesis, I am exploring the role of digital communication and its potential influence on physical public space and facilitation of information exchange. I am testing this expression in forgotten urban landscapes that have the potential to be exposed through design upgrades and incorporation of digital information to the public. I am investigating how alleys and adjacent vacant lots, in particular, might serve our urban public realm. Reinvigorating this under utilized network would weave additional public space through the urban grid while also providing diverse users access to information. By creating public spaces that facilitate information exchange, data-driven ideas can be highlighted and accessed through both physical and virtual interactions in public spaces.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction

13

Literature + Theory

Blurred definition of public

Pixilated palimpsest

Landscape | Communication in practice

17

Design Principles + Goals

41

Site Selection + Context Connections

Exploring alleys in cities

Exploring alleys in neighborhood

Exploring alleys as site

49

Designing Digital Terrain

Information across landscape

Grounded in place

73

Reflection + Conclusion Bibliography

89

17 22 27

54 58 64

74 78

92

7

LIST OF FIGURES FIG 1: World data visualization

by Christopher Harrison http://www.chrisharrison.net/ FIG 2: Ă˜resund Sea on misty day photo by author FIG 3: timeline of the term public, google FIG 4: World day against cyber censorship map graphic by Reporters without Borders FIG 5: Technological product use over time graphic by author FIG 6: “Dead pixel in Google Earth - 82 x 82 CM burned by artist Helmut Smits, 2008-2010 FIG 7: technology and human behavior connections graphic by author FIG. 8: urban pixels: LED imagery on built surfaces FIG 9: interactive water feature that moves based on human movement FIG 10: memory path: digital recognition of walking patterns credits: http://www.milladigital.org/ FIG 11: student protest in London, December 9, 2010 FIG. 12 + fig. 13: map showing protest activities and locations credits: http://sukey.org/ + http://www.metro. co.uk/

FIG. 14: April 25, 2010 Copenhagenize website bike count

FIG 32: map of alley network site in Seattle, WA graphic and photos by author

FIG. 15 + fig. 16: bike counters founds throughout Copenhagen streets credits: http:/www.copenhagenize.com/ + http:// therecord.blogs.com/

FIG 33: data graphs about the alley network experiences graphics by author

FIG 17-19: proposed bus stop elements and interactive points credits: http://senseable.mit.edu/eyestop/ FIG. 20-22: Wifi exposure through the use of a frequency detecting light rod credits: http://yourban.no/2011/02/22/immaterials-light-painting-wifi/ FIG 23: Day in the life of an alley graphic by author

FIG 34: map of pedestrian movement in alley network site graphic and photos by author FIG 35: map of water and topography in alley network site graphic and photos by author FIG 36: map of transit infrastructure in alley network site graphic and photos by author

FIG 24: people and the things you find in their bag http://www.flickr.com/groups/1049582@N22/

FIG 37: graphic representing walking stops and access points graphic by author

FIG 25 + 26: images from Raise the Could project

by MIT Senseable City Lab

FIG 38: matrix of armature design process graphic by author

FIG 27: Alley in Seattle, WA photo by author

FIG 39: conceptual model of alley network graphic by author

FIG 28 +29: site analysis of alleys in Seattle, WA graphics by author

FIG 40: conceptual site plan of alley network graphic by author

FIG 30: map of alleys and technology companies graphic by author

FIG 41: proposed site of design installations graphic by author

FIG 31: map and images of alley network site in Seattle, WA graphic and photos by author

FIG 42 +43: diagram and perspective of CityCO2 greenhouse installation graphic by author

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FIG 44 +45: diagram and perspective of tweethouse installation graphic by author FIG 46 +47: diagram and perspective of projected infiltration installation graphic by author FIG 48: Graffiti on a wall in Seattle, WA photo credit: Ben Tudor, facebook post

9

Thanks.

To Allan Kempson, you have supported me with my adventures without hesitation and helped me enjoy the process. To my parents and friends, especially my classmates of 2011. I needed all your ears along the way.

Thanks for giving me direction, professional insights, and support. For so many amazing people in the field of built environments, I am grateful to be in such a fantastic community - in particular, to Nancy Rottle, Thaisa Way, and Ben Spencer for your help and clarity throughout this process and openness to the thesis exploration. To Todd Vogel and Nikki Summers for your expertise on alleys and interest in my process. To Jan Gehl, Helle SĂ˜holt, Jeff Risom and the rest of the wonderful folks at Gehl Architects for showing me the greater good in designing our cities.

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FIG 1: World data visualization

by Christopher Harrison http://www.chrisharrison.net/

INTRODUCTION “By giving shape to data, we not only provide access and insight to the hidden patterns of meaning it could reveal; we also give shape to the potential for creative collaboration between individuals.”

Klanten, Bourguin, Tissot & Ehmann (2009)

digital networks potentially providing catalyst for societal changes and shifts. In this way, the spaces designers create can bring intimate grounded interactions between people, as well as farther-reaching connections outside of physical space.

The discipline of landscape Architecture offers an exciting body of literature, research, and design work from which designers can build a foundation of knowledge about the potential of public space in the 21st Century. Researchers and practitioners, such as William Whyte, Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, Mark Francis, and many others, have explained the ways which public space contributes to human interactions, democratic processes and societal shifts. It is my belief that space, particularly public space, can play a strong role in creating changes in human behavior. I feel that the concepts of place and digital communications should be separated and can be married in public landscape. By designing for future modes of interaction, we can develop a deeper understanding of the connection between people, place and communication that leads to long term human and environmental relationships and influence change. “ By giving shape to data, we not only provide access and insight to the hidden patterns

The evolution of public interaction is changing the way in which our world is creating public commons. We now often interact by incorporating digital communication into our everyday interactions.

These interactions create a public landscape in the 21st century that has been defined as networked, connected, cybershaped, data driven with flows of informational inputs and outputs. (Corner, Chase & Abrams). These recent definitions of public landscape bring new meaning to public squares and commons. Contemporary designers need to be considering how to incorporate all types of public interactions within the spaces they are creating, especially in urban public realms. As designers of the built environment, it is important for us to recognize public interactions in the digital realm and the impacts they have on the physical spaces that provide public commons in cities. It is important to analyze the ways in which people communicate with each other, tracking a variety of interactions, which can be incorporated into the design of public spaces. This process thus exposes us to information that can bridge physical and

of meaning it could reveal; we also give shape to the potential for creative collaboration between individuals” (Klanten, Bourguin, Tissot & Ehmann) 13

INTRODUCTION

In this thesis, I am exploring the role of digital communication in facilitating information exchange and its potential influence on physical space. I am testing this expression in forgotten urban landscapes that have the potential to be exposed through design upgrades and the incorporation of information exchange focused on global-to-local public engagement. I am investigating how alleys and adjacent vacant lots, in particular, might serve our public realm.

Reinvigorating this under utilized network would weave additional public space through the urban grid while also providing a diverse user group access to information. By creating public spaces that facilitate information exchange, data-driven ideas can be highlighted and accessed through both physical and virtual interactions in public spaces.

In sharing the results of this work, my hope is that it will benefit the design fields related to the built environment showcasing integration of humans and technology in public landscape thus expanding the role of landscape architecture in the everyday world.

The following chapters will explore these ideas through literature and case study assessment (chapter 1), exploration of my own personal principles and goals for the this project (chapter 2), a deep analysis of the selected site, diving into scales of city, neighborhood and alley (chapter 3), discussion of design ideas and reflection of the process (chapter 4 and 5).

INTRODUCTION

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15

INTRODUCTION

FIG 2: Ă˜resund Sea on a misty day photo by author

BLURRED DEFINITION OF PUBLIC Historically, public space has been be defined as an area to which all citizens are granted some legal rights of access, (Light & Smith, 1998), the stage upon which the drama of communal life unfolds (Carr, Francis, Rivlin and Stone, 1992), and sites of assertion of power (Cresswell, 1999). Low and Smith (2006) define public space in the context and opposition of private space, leading one to image a spectrum that is unique to each location. They suggest that “public space is traditionally differentiated from private space in terms of the rule of access, the source and nature of control over entry to a space, individual and collective behavior sanctioned in specific spaces, and rules of use.” Public space in physical form demonstrates a chance for socialization and interaction between people and place which can be displayed in a variety of ways, but ultimately lead to the creation of a common thread of actions, reactions, and interaction among people. Many philosophers, sociologists, geographers, and designers have extensively researched what makes a place a public space. In a majority of the findings, there are social qualities maintained in the public environment that shape the way we interact with people, such as democratic access to other people, appropriate scales of

from self, frequently forming into public culture. “Public space, if organized properly, offers the potential for social communion by allowing us to lift our gaze from the daily grind, and as a result, increase our disposition towards the other.” (Amin, 2008, p.6). The structure of public commons can take many forms: physical such as a square, plaza, monument, greenscape, openspace, waterfront, neighborhood park and so forth; or virtual, such as public networks and communication manifested through the Internet. Low and Smith (2006, p.3) suggests that public space “envelops the palpable tension between place, experienced at all scales in daily life, and the seeming spacelessness of the Internet, popular opinion, and the global institutions and economy.”

Public spaces were first documented in Greek and Roman communities, taking shape as the central agora and forum. These public places were where men conducted business and socialized, thus forming a collective commons. (Lees, 1994) The rise of public space often saw the rise of great communities based on this interaction within the communal setting. These spaces were ideal meeting places for people to gather and develop plans for continued expansion.

interaction, a collection of diverse activities, and the rhythms of use and passage. (Carr et all, 1992; Gehl, 2010; Whyte, 1980). Public space therefore can help to shape how we start to see the other

Moreover, these areas were also spaces of leisure, socialization and community building. Viewed as important attributes of a city’s structure, public spaces continued to be part of the urban fabric 17

LITERATURE + THEORY

when new communities formed, including the much later cities and towns of the United States. In the US, many public spaces are designed to be used for much of the same purposes as the public commons of Greek and Roman times. However, recent research and discussion about public space has found that the definition is changing over time and has expanded over networks. “ In the age of urban sprawl, multiple usage of public space and proliferation of the sites of political and cultural expression, it seems odd to expect public spaces to fulfill their traditional role as spaces of civic inculcation and political participation. We are far removed from the times when a city’s central public spaces were a prime cultural and political site.” (Amin, 2008) In the presented timeline, (represented in Figure 3) the presence of the term public space mentioned in publications and written communication since the early 1400s until present day is represented.

The term public space has evolved in our society from a mainly physical definition incorporating the idea of the central polis to one that today may incorporate spatial groundings, but relies heavily on a larger ‘placeless’ public interaction. For example, one of the first

oldest public space in America. This theme remains consistant for most of the 21st century until the initial introduction of the internet in the 1960s and the mainstream incorporation of common digital space in the 1990s. The definition of public space is broadened by this technological advancement in a more recent showing of the term public space explained through an article from BBC News.

This article reports on thousands of people taking virtual protest against countries accused of censoring the internet and denying a public right. The act of protest occurred through virtual networks, but referenced physical places and condemned real acts. The end goal of the protest sought to change societal behavior. While the expansion of the definition of public space has evolved through time with changes in technology, it also holds the constant thread of people interacting together to form a public common.

It is argued that public space definitions do incorporate virtual connections among people, thereby creating a new sort of interaction in a type of physical\virtual public “space”. This idea has been explained through the terms of hybrid urban space (Paay, Dave, & Howard, 2007), cybercity (Graham, 2004), electronic elsewhere

mentionings of the term public space in the United States is found in an article about the purchase of the Boston Commons in 1634 for the purpose of cattle grazing and public gatherings. It is named the

(Berry, Kim & Spigel, 2010, p.vii), network society (Castells, 2006; Day & Schuler, 2004; Dijk, 2006), online landscape (Hargittai, 2001), and city of bits (Mitchell, 1999). Mitchell explains this “city of

LITERATURE + THEORY

18

bits” as a place that can transform urban form without replacing its original intent.

“In the twenty-first century, we can ground the condition of civilized urbanity less upon the accumulation of things and more upon the flow of information, less upon geographic centrality and more upon electronic connectivity, less upon expanding consumption of scarce resources and more upon intelligent management. Increasingly we will discover that we can adapt existing places to new needs by rewiring hardware, replacing software, and reorganizing network connections rather than demolishing physical structures and building new ones.” Mitchell, 2006, p. 155)

FIG 3: timeline of the term public, google

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LITERATURE + THEORY

Public space that incorporates the virtual essentially stem from the growing role of digital communications in our everyday lives.

The adjacent chart (Figure 5) demonstrates the introduction of technology into our personal and collective environments. The increase of personal device sales corresponds to an increase of digital technology, such as street cameras in our urban environment. These shifts from 2007 through 2010 demonstrate the role in which digital consumption, communication, and information collection have become part of our personal use, but also a part of the infrastructure of the city.

to an area of assertion of power. (Cresswell, 1999). Furthermore, the public spaces of today do not always seek to include the whole public. For example, neighborhood parks and streets often exclude people, such as the homeless, who do not accommodate the space within the social norm. Don Mitchell observed that at People’s Park in Berkeley, California, the exclusion of the homeless would change the existing space from an inclusive public place into a “public place” that had certain social criteria. Likewise, Ted Kilian describes the exclusion and inclusion of groups in a public space as a struggle over physical control: “Who occupies public space is often decided by negotiations over physical security, cultural identity, and social and geographical community” (Kilian, 1998). It seems that “in practice, in both the Greece of old and the Western world today, truly public space is the exception not the rule.” (Low & Smith, 2006)

Moreover, the historical example of the Greek polis and agora, although often “heralded as significant prototypes of the public sphere and public space respectively” (Low & Smith, 2006) encompass a singular example of public space that is narrow in its role of an inclusive commons. The rights of women, slaves and the common people were often restricted and the privileged class recognized as the free citizens and contributors of public interaction. Today again, some of the main critiques of public space include exclusion

FIG 4: World day against cyber censorship map graphic by Reporters without Borders FIG 5: Technological product use over time graphic by author

of selected citizens, abandoned use by the common public due to private monopolization, and lack of political access of public space.

Lack of what some see as total public access has linked public space LITERATURE + THEORY

20

WORLD DAY AGAINST CYBER-CENSORSHIP

275

Ennemis d'internet Pays sous surveillance

ipod sales

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in millions

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iphone sales

in millions

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street cameras 2007

2008 21

2009

2010 LITERATURE + THEORY

PIXILATED PALIMPSEST OF PUBLIC SPACE “The genius loci of many places, now, potentially becomes shaped by both physical and virtual elements of the palimpsests of place.”

(Graham, 2008, 428).

this global digital network will reconstitute relationships of people and information. It will increasingly become the key to opportunity and development, and the enabler of new social constructions and urban patterns.” (2006, p.14). Paay, Dave and Howard (2008) also explain the ways in which digital information contains strong connections to city infrastructure and public development. “Digital information is increasingly becoming part of the contemporary built environment, from digital information screens, to scrolling directional signs embedded in the fabric of the environment, through to handheld personal mobile digital devices (eg mobile phones). These digital devices offer an exciting opportunities for computing to augment and enhance the way that we operate in the built environment, the activities that we participate in, and the direct relevance of the information that we receive as we communicate and socialize with others in place.” (Paay, Dave, & Howard, 2008) Although digital information exchange does offer exciting platforms of connection. It is important to note that without a grounded place, many of the essential human identities of self are not manifested.

Kaplan (2002) suggests that place is an essential component of digital

The virtual commons created through digital communication also starts to mold behavior and interaction among people and forms the perception of what constitutes a public place. Graham (2008) notes “..places are increasingly shaped and defined by factors that are not only distant in time, but also in space. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and transportation technologies have intensified the ability of non-proximate forces to have bearing on the here and now of any given space/time moment (c.f. Adams 1995; Kitchin 1998; Dodge & Kitchin 2001; Brunn et al. 2004; Massey 2005;Graham 2008).” This increase in digital technology creates an opportunity to engage the urban environment in the new ways that people interact with each other. William Mitchell (2006) suggests that the digital revolution of today will not be unlike the agricultural and industrial revolution of latter years, transforming city structure and human relationships. “ Instead of forming new relationships of people and agricultural production sites as in the agricultural revolution, or of people and machines as in the industrial revolution, LITERATURE + THEORY

communities and remains part of the communication process.

“Above all, whilst there is no doubt that the ICTs (information and communication technology) can act as ‘prostheses’ to extend human 22

FIG 6: “Dead pixel in Google Earth - 82 x 82 CM burned by artist Helmut Smits, 2008-2010

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LITERATURE + THEORY

actions, identities and communities in time and space, it does not follow that the human self is released from the fi xed location of the body, built environment or nation.’ Rather, ‘the self is always somewhere, always located in some sense in some place, and cannot be totally unhoused.’ (Kaplan, 2002, 34)

Information access has been shaped by the introduction of technology, creating digital experiences of communication which is now an important human right. The public landscape of today is a blur between real and virtual space and a fl ow of on-the-ground activities and networked communication.

It is here that designers of the built environment play an essential role in tying together the ideas of digital communication, users in the city, and the necessary infrastructural elements needed to supply the needs of society. Landscape Architects in particular, have a role in the larger manifestation of the city’s public structure, connecting the multiple types of public use and display and the roles in which the existing environment is formed. The design of public places needs to take into account the ever-changing contribution and structure of the public commons. Through layering virtual dimensions on public space, the access to information can be more democratic across the landscape, changing the way we as a public can interact and make societal decisions. Issues can be taken out of the local physical context and expanded across a social network, therefore diluting many of the sources of control.

LITERATURE + THEORY

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FIG 7: technology and human behavior connections graphic by author 25

LITERATURE + THEORY

LANDSCAPE | COMMUNICATION IN PRACTICE:

precedents for integrating digital design with public space

The following case studies help to illustrate the ways in which landscape can incorporate ideas of digital communication in urban form and context. They attempt to cross the hybrid virtual/physical and create unique interactive public landscapes. Examples, such as the Copenhagen bike counters and the digital protest maps also attempt to change behavior on a larger societal scale. The following themes will be discussed: triggered digital-human interaction; protested virtual to physical spaces; accountable societal behavior; data input and data exposure. Besides the example of a more comprehensive plan in Zaragoza, Spain, many of these projects are smaller scaled interventions that have a larger reaching impact. The inclusion of them as landscape is appropriated by the larger reaching impacts that they have for public interaction that feed into the urban environment.

“These (urban interventions) intriguing examples of intelligent design are decidedly not grand planning schemes or outrageously expensive public facilities. They instead focus on everyday human activities, while offering practical, sometimes humorous and ironic, means to improve the lives of city dwellers while enriching and enlivening the urban fabric� *Moskow & Linn, 2010) The presented examples are a start in the conversation of how landscape and urban design can begin to shape not only the physical environment, but have an impact on the virtual public realm and exposure of information.

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LITERATURE + THEORY

CITY OF DIGITAL-HUMAN INTERACTION | ZARAGOZA MILLA DIGITAL

Zaragoza Milla Digital: Designing a new century public realm report for the City Council of Zaragoza, Spain MIT School of Architecture and Planning (2006) fig. 8: urban pixels: LED imagery on built surfaces fig. 9: interactive water feature that moves based on human movement fig 10: memory path: digital recognition of walking patterns credits: http://www.milladigital.org/

The Digital Milla is a proposed project for the AVE neighborhood of Zaragoza, Spain. The report from MIT suggested that the area be connected through upgrades and interaction points of digital technology along a mile pathway of greenspaces, facilities, community users and interactive urban elements. The city of Zaragoza describes the project as “ a basic project to help companies, institutions and citizens position themselves to form part of the economic and social means of the 21st century.” Some of the goals that were presented for the future of Zaragoza included: • •

• • • • •

This precedent incorporates a larger planning scheme of how a city can start to incorporate digital information access, from public interactive elements to upgrades in infrastructure, such as total access to wifi, fiber optics, and intelligent furniture into the public and private realms of the city.

Activate inactive spaces within the city Provide public spaces and amenities for neighborhoods through which they

LITERATURE + THEORY

can interact and express themselves Build up the local skill base to help people find jobs in the technology industry Make Zaragoza a regional center for technology industries and culture Import the lessons of dealing with water into the city in a functional way.

Create a physical expression of information culture that integrates with the city’s past and evolving landscape Create a global identity for Zaragoza as a 21st century city

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LITERATURE + THEORY

COMMUNICATING REAL TIME PROTESTED SPACE | SUKEY PROJECT Sukey Project: Protest mapping to inform and project protesters.

Anonymous students in London (2010) fig. 11: student protest in London, December 9, 2010 fig. 12 + fig. 13: map showing protest activities and locations credits: http://sukey.org/ + http://www.metro.co.uk/

This application started in December 2010 during the student protests in London. The protests against a government proposed increase of student university fees. The protest started in Westminster where students and lecturers demonstrated at the Conservative Party headquarters. The mapping application used google maps to provide realtime activities and incidents for the protesters to reference while they were on the ground. The map gained attention from the media and was held as one of the references for both the actions of the police and the students.

a virtual map that could show them the best routes to take and the places to aviod at the moment. In the aftermath of the protest, the maps have been useful to show a timeline of events and a relationship between information access and human behavior.

This precedent shows the connections that virtual information has with real time events that are happening on the ground. In this instance, the urgency of a protest quickly connected people with

LITERATURE + THEORY

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COUNTABLE SOCIETAL BEHAVIOR | CYKELBAROMETER

Copenhagen Bike Counters City of Copenhagen (2009) fig. 14: April 25, 2010 Copenhagenize website bike count fig. 15 + fig. 16: bike counters founds throughout Copenhagen streets credits: http:/www.copenhagenize.com/ + http://therecord.blogs.com/

who have passed that point this month or season. Cycle counters could be, to a certain extent, self-fulfilling.� (posted August 5, 2010)

In 2009, the city of Copenhagen installed some of the first bike counters along the some of the main bike routes in the city. These digital counters count bikes that cross a certain point along the bike path. It is a simple piece of digital communication for the personal cyclist and also for the city. The information gathered is used in a couple of ways. First, the counters relay the number of cyclists using bike routes to commute, which prioritizes biking in future city decisions concerning infrastructure and public transport. Second, the counters relay how many cyclists are using certain bikepaths and places attention on certain routes for future repair and maintenance.

Lastly, the counters relay a daily number to each person that passes, encouraging more cycling and a collective community in the activity being pursued. In the blog Take the Lane, Bill Bean suggests that “cyclists in Denmark take routes that pass cyclist counters so they can have the satisfaction of seeing their number added to the total, and of knowing that they are, for instance, one of the 337,000 riders LITERATURE + THEORY

This precedent shows how a small piece of technological infrastructure can have a large influence on behavior and policy decisions for the city. Exposing behavior of individuals can highlight the difference that one can make in a collective whole. It also can play a source of personal motivation.

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LITERATURE + THEORY

DATA INPUT URBAN ELEMENTS | EYESTOP

Eyestop bus stop MIT SENSEable City Lab (2009) fig. 17-19: proposed bus stop elements and interactive points credits: http://senseable.mit.edu/eyestop/

First proposed at the Genio Florentino Festival in Florence Italy, the project incorporates information exchange through a series of bus stop configurations. The design contains touch sensitive screens and sensing technologies to relay bus departure information. The system also features web access, interactive maps and exposure to pollutants on the interface of the bus shelter. The project leader, Giovanni de Niederhausern, described the project as “an ‘info-tape’ that snakes through the city. “It senses information about the environment and distributes it in a form accessible to all citizens.”

LITERATURE + THEORY

In this precedent, data and information relay are designed into an already existent public behavior. The act of waiting for public transit in an urban area can become a place where people interact more with the urban environment around them and also see data and information that is not always visible.

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LITERATURE + THEORY

INFORMATION EXPOSURE | IMMATERIALS - LIGHT PAINTING WIFI Immaterials: Light Painting WiFi YOUurban team: Timo Arnall, Jorn Knusten and Einar Sneve Martinussen (2010) fig. 20-22: Wifi exposure through the use of a frequency detecting light rod credits: http://yourban.no/2011/02/22/immaterials-light-painting-wifi/

This project, created by a team of researchers from the Oslo school of Architecture and Design in the lab YOUurban, demonstrates the invisible landscape of digital networks on the city. This project creates visible linkages of WiFi access showing the infrastructure of the virtual space that we use everyday. They explain their project as “exploring and revealing what the immaterial terrain of WiFi looks like and how it relates to the city.� In order to measure these invisible phenomena, the team created a light rod that measured frequency and documented the levels around the city.

LITERATURE + THEORY

This project highlights the physicality of wifi infrastructure and also proposes an exposed system that occurs in our daily lives as well as in the structure of the city. The project also demonstrates how digital information can flow between a variety of space typologies such as public, private, institutional, commercial and so forth.

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The presented case studies demonstrate some of the relationships that digital information can start to produce between landscape, humans, and technology. Landscape Architects need to recognize all types of interactions when designing public space, particularly physical public space which can be places that relay strong messages to provoke societal changes. As designers, its important to recognize that these messages and public use come in many forms, including relationships with the virtual public commons.

``...cyberspace is not a separate `other’ placeless geography distinct from the authentic physical world. It is part of the place we find for ourselves in the world’’ (Crang, Crosbie & Graham, 2007 p.2406).

LITERATURE + THEORY

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PRINCIPLES + GOALS “In designing new places or regenerating old places, landscape architects follow philosophical, aesthetic, social, ecological and ethical models.”

Dee, (2001) From the start of this project, I established principles and goals that informed my design conception and development. These principles were formed based on existing models, research and/or personal experiments of exploration. In assessing the literature and case studies, I developed design strategies that respond to the following principles:

In my own process and design development, the creation of a set of principles guides my thoughts and grounds my design. In the following pages, I will expand on the reasons that lie behind these principles, giving a fuller explanation of each and adding examples of projects or research that demonstrates how they can be successful.

• Design for multiple uses, flexibility, and be responsive to context • Design for existing and potential users, from the technological savvy to the deprived • Create interventions that expose information for the betterment of society, adding a gain in individual or collective knowledge • Incorporate the collaboration of multiple types of designers knowledge, expanding the definition of landscape architecture and connection with other fields.

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PRINCIPLES + GOALS

FLEXIBLE AND RESPONSIVE TO CONTEXT 05:00

Designs that last throughout time, have a certain amount of fl exibility built into the space, either through program, through fl exible structure or phasing plans. In my approach to this project, I wanted to remain thoughtful of the multiple uses an alley currently possesses, while also accounting for the potential users that can be incorporated through design. By being fl exible in design ideas, an inherent responsiveness to context also emerges, allowing for the current and future uses of a space to continue to develop over time.

06:00

07:00

08:00

09:00

coffee and alley breakfast

kids and school e

Through research and evaluation, I created the following diagram (fi g 23), to demonstrate the multiple types of use an alley can maintain.

I evaluated the daily future and potential uses of an alley, noting the “day in the life� activities these spaces could incorporate. In doing this work, my goal is to design with the fl exibility of activities and program in mind in order to accommodate a diverse mixture.

Following this principle in my process will lead to a sustained engagement in place and a design that can change over time and incorporate many uses.

morning drop off bike parking

services and Trash, loading and unloading.

deliveries

FIG 23: Day in the life of an alley graphic by author

PRINCIPLES + GOALS

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11:00

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lunch in alley cafe

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dinner gatherings

sports and play

events dancing and music events

work meetings

happy hour gatherings

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PRINCIPLES + GOALS

EXISTING AND POTENTIAL USER TYPES Early in my development of this thesis, the idea of connecting different types of users became a value that I wanted to incorporate into this project. I not only wanted to recognize diverse user groups, but also the technologically savvy and the technologically deprived.

Today, in the era of GenY, technology skills are often essential for employment and even daily life functions. These skills however, are often developed through gadgets, computers, and schooling which are not accessible for everyone and not widespread for free public use. In this project, I wanted to take account of the people that have the potential to use the proposed network, including items and electronic devices that are being carried. In a broad evaluation of what people carry with them everyday, I reviewed the Flickr stream, In My Bag ( image left). The author of this site randomly selects a person everyday and takes pictures of what is in his or her bag. In this snapshot of today’s world, it is apparent that we are indulged in devices that connect us in many different fashions; many if not all of the photos included at least one electronic device. This review contrasted with my evaluation of people who are currently using the alley site today, I witnessed only a few cellphones and no other electronic devices. In this quick overview, I became curious of how these two cross sections could overlap incorporating digital technology across usergroups.

PRINCIPLES + GOALS

FIG 24: people and the things you find in their bag http://www.flickr.com/groups/1049582@N22/ 44

EXPOSURE AND GAIN IN COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE In a developed society, many aspects of our world are driven by the numbers. This holds true in our built environment as well; numbers such as traffic volumes, building efficiency, and pedestrian counts help to conclude definitive design decisions. The collection of data is an important part of our culture and directs many outcomes, although not necessarily in a fair account.

exposing numbers and data on endangered species, we have been able to save a number of animal species throughout the years. This data brought awareness to society and helped to change behavior.

Similarly, exposing locations and other important information about protests and rallies has helped to bring awareness to many injustice behaviors and helped to direct change.

I feel that it is valuable to expose the data that we collect in order for a democratic outcome to take shape. Exposure to numbers can help to make problems surface and demonstrate patterns of activity that should be addressed. In the built environments field, the firm Gehl Architects is an example of how research and data collection has shaped new ways of seeing our world. Their philosophy of “life, space, buildings� is confirmed by the countless public life surveys that they have conducted across the world. In these surveys, researchers collect a variety of data how people are using public space. Exposure to information in this way informs the players of design and helps to direct decisions for a common good.

My value of exposing data stems from my interest in research and communication and the importance I feel it has in design. Research helps us to explore new ways of perceiving the world. Design can help to highlight those new thoughts and ideas, including the more concrete numbers and information that are gathered through the research. Design of built environments in particular, can act as a form of physical communication.

Additionally, data collected across the globe in numerous ways online can be a great resource to the betterment of society and can build our collective knowledge. For example, through the simple acts of 45

PRINCIPLES + GOALS

DESIGNER COLLABORATION In design, I feel it is important to incorporate the collaboration of multiple types of designers’ knowledge, expanding the definition of landscape architecture and its connection with other fields.

Designing with multiple perspectives, including fields designing for the built environment, along with product design, graphic design and artists, leads to projects that can address a variety of scales and shapes a richer environment. An example of a project that incorporates multiple disciples includes the Raise the Cloud project founded by MIT SENSEABLE CITY LAB. This project is explained as “addressing our twin attention spans of the shortterm desire for information and stimulation, and our growing longer-term consciousness about our impact on the future, and our productive role within a larger harmonious ecology. It provides two resources - energy and data - harvesting both the natural ecosystem and humanity’s complementary cyber-sphere, fusing the two.” (www. raisethecloud.org). One of the interesting aspects of this project is that it involved a collaborative group of designers working to create a place and program of interaction among people and systems. The team consisted of:

landscape architects multiple design leaders among disciplines Google advisoratory team structural engineers visualization team digital engineers The diverse skillsets and ideas developed and presented a project that is comprehensive and interesting to multiple design fields. It also demonstrates that design reaches and expands to multiple scales and programs. A value I uphold in my role in Landscape Architecture involves addressing problems through thoughtful design solutions, which I feel involves extensive collaboration.

FIG 25 + 26: images from Raise the Could project

by MIT Senseable City Lab

architects artists graphic designers PRINCIPLES + GOALS

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47

LITERATURE + THEORY

SITE SELECTION + CONTEXT In exploring the role of digital communication and public landscape, my goals are to incorporate design ideas in multiple, but connected, testing sites in an urban landscape. My research and interest in alleyways in Seattle highlighted the importance that this public land can play in connecting the invisible digital landscape to the cityscape.

Alleys represent: a vast invisible public space network in the city, a strong presence of the infrastructural interworking of our city’s structure, and as a residual space they have the potential to serve as testing lab for new urban ideas, new interactions between people, new business relationships, and new types of cross disciplinary design developments.

In the following chapter, I will review case studies of alleys world-wide that have been beneficial to public activation, outline current alley projects the in city of Seattle, review why the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle has the potential to combine alley development and digital communication as a starting point in activation, and lastly describe the sample alley site network that will be used for design ideas throughout this thesis.

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SITE SELECTION

FIG 27: Alley in Seattle, WA photo by author LITERATURE + THEORY

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Starting small: why alleys as site ”In our town, an alley is simply a profane interjection in the sentence of a block.”

- National Housing Association, 1901 In the course of this research, I reviewed a number of projects around the globe and in Seattle that have become important inspiration for city activation and alley interest. I also met with a number of people who are excited about the possibilities that alleys hold in developing community, reinvigorating the urban un-noticed, and engaging a variety of different artists and designers. In this thesis, I will quickly note a few of these projects exploring the possibilities that alleys demonstrate for the design community, city planning, and public interaction. I will then explore the alley network chosen in Seattle at multiple scales.

Engaging in the theme of this thesis - user interaction engagement in both the physical and digital realms and the creation of the commons, the selection of designing a “site” became a challenge of too many options. The digital public commons can be engaged from almost anywhere as long as there is technical infrastructure therefore this interaction could be grounded in almost any physical space. My choice to use alleys as a site for design intervention and a starting point to this conversion is based on a number of factors. Most notable was my initial interest in researching alleys in the summer of 2010 which resulted in the Activating Alleys: Seattle Integrated Alley Handbook. This project was an in-depth analysis of over 200 alleys in the Seattle area and a catalyst for my excitement with alley activation. Through this project, I was able to fully engage with how the built environment and urban design patterns can create such restrictions that new types of opportunities arise.

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SITE + CONTEXT

to utilize to create a smaller scale pedestrian network. With this in mind, the International Sustainability Institute, along with residents and business leaders surrounding an alley currently named, Nord Alley, decided to take action. Their efforts have provided many events over the years including the public showing of the world cup, alley parties, and art installations. Most recently, the group has formed the Seattle Alley Network project which promotes alley activation projects throughout Seattle neighborhoods. This project is an example of the benefits alleys raise throughout the community.

Melborne Laneways In the last decade, the alleys of Melborne have been transformed into active and publicly accepted pedestrian spaces. The city of Melbourne has continually supported work to improve the nature of the alleys in the city by putting together art exhibit plans, supporting local community initiatives and bridging the gap between utility and pedestrian needs in the alley spaces.

Chicago Green Alleys Since 2007, the city of Chicago has laid out a plan to retrofit the nearly 2000 miles of alleys through the city. This plan addresses the concern of water loads in the alleyways providing new types of material renovation in order to create more infiltration. The green alley initiative is a current infrastructure over hall that will also pave the way for easier pedestrian thoroughfares while helping with water runoff.

Seattle Alley Network In 2008, the City of Seattle, University of Washington Green Futures Lab, Gehl Architects, and the International Sustainability Institute completed the Public Space | Public Life survey for the City of Seattle. This report identified alleys as a potential resources

Photo Credits from top to bottom 1 .Melborne photos: Melborn Laneway Commission report 2008 2. Chicago photos: Chicago Alley Handbook found at: http://www.cityofchicago.org/ content/dam/city/depts/cdot/Green_Alley_Handbook_2010.pdf 3. Seattle Photos: http://alleynetworkproject.com/ 53

SITE + CONTEXT

EXPLORING ALLEYS IN CITY My research and interest in alleyways in Seattle highlighted some important connections that these strips of public land can play in connecting the invisible digital landscape to the cityscape and act as testing sites for design ideas. Some of the key characteristics of alleys that I draw from include: a vast invisible public space network of land in the city, a strong presence of the infrastructural interworking of our city’s structure, and a testing lab for new urban ideas, new interactions between people, new business relationships, and new types of cross disciplinary design developments. In searching for a grounded site, I feel that alleys relay the possibility to explore a side of the urban landscape that can be reinvigorated by new directions.

alleys could bring new forms of urban life and could contribute to the urban identity of the city.

Alleys throughout the city also highlight a strong presence of the infrastructural interworking of our city’s structure. In many ways these backyard strips present a way in which our built environment is tied together. We can see the wire, pipes and drains that assist in how our built environment functions and we can see the social underside highlighting cultural disparities or expression. Figure 29 highlights some typical features that can be seen in an alley. Alleys in this way can tell us a great deal about the city’s dirty gritty side.

FIG 28 +29: site analysis of alleys in Seattle, WA graphics by author

Alleyways, historically were spaces that were utilized as pedestrian pathways, where shops and businesses faced because they were part of a fine grain network. This historical use can be found in areas of Seattle, such as the Canton and Maynard alley in the International District neighborhood. Today, the role of alleys has shifted to that of maintenance and utility. In my previous research on Seattle’s alleys, I felt that they had the potential to become much more than this singular use, particularly in dense urban areas where they can be accessed by a diverse set of users. In this way, I see alleys as an invisible network that if accounted for could greatly add to the public space networks around the city. Figure 28 compares the acreas of public space alleys in just the downtown portion of Seattle compared to acreage of other public parks in the area. This alley calculation is comparable to many of the larger urban parks and could interweave a significant amount of public opensapce. Exposing the potential of

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Alleys in Downtown Seattle

SITE + CONTEXT

acres of public space in downtown Seattle

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Seattle Street Pattern

14 typical alley is 30 feet long and 15 feet wide

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human expression 55

SITE + CONTEXT

TITLE HERE

tech business alley

FIG 30: map of alleys and technology companies graphic by author SITE + CONTEXT

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Alleys also can connect people to the city infrastructure by using them as testing labs for new urban ideas, new interactions between people, new business relationships, and new types of cross disciplinary design developments. Alleys are already underutilized or used in ways that are limited. They do not have a prescriptive interaction or program associated with them, therefore they are good places to try new ideas.

In this thesis, I am leaning on these ideas for which alleys tie to the city’s built environment while also drawing on the new economies developed within some of the older parts of the city of Seattle most notably the Pioneer Square and Belltown neighborhoods. In the last 10 years, Seattle has shifted business structures to revolve more around technology. Many companies that were once located outside of Seattle proper have now found homes in the downtown areas of the city, thus creating new population dynamics and work cultures. The increase in technology businesses can help to build the connection between the virtual and physical through an increase in technological resources and a in turn create a population that relies on technology in everyday living.

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EXPLORING ALLEYS IN NEIGHBORHOODS bell 1 battery

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In addition to the numerous technology businesses that are populating the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, the policies currently being put forward are open to the different types of possibilities that can contribute to alley activation and a more lively pedestrian realm. blanchard Lenora Business Virginia Stewart 4 1 Association, 52 the main According 3to the Belltown bell in 2010, blanchard battery proposals being suggested for the area include:

blanchard Lenora Virginia Stewart 4 5 3 2. development of the alleys adjacent to the Bell Street greenstreet

proposal as a way to connect across different types of pathways 5 6 and encourage pedestrian movement.

1

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3. The Belltown Gateway Artworks program, funded by the business community is encouraging the association to market Belltown with new types of entry ways into the neighborhood, particularly highlighting art as focus. This suggestion could be implemented in the alleyways which would help to bring out the unique character 5 6 of the neighborhood.

4. The neighborhood is starting a Belltown Artwalk which would help to pedestrian-ize the neighborhood and highlight the unique characteristics of the alleyways. A art masterplan could he implemented along with the artwalk schedule as a catalyst for people to start using the alleyways.

SITE + CONTEXT

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1 the public realm to attract street vendors 2 1. revitalize into the neighborhood. This movement can also be situated in an alleyway, attracting people to the finer grain areas of the city.

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FIG 31: map and images of alley network site in Seattle, WA graphic and photos by author

Located in the Belltown Neighborhood to Downtown, the network of alleys that I address in this thesis is between 2nd and 3rd Avenue and Battery street to Union. The network connects the proposed Bell Street Greenstreet and the Downtown Link station at Benaroyal Hall. It also runs adjacent to the main downtown bike route on 2nd Ave and the bus line. This neighborhood network was chosen because the neighborhood itself has experienced a signifi cant increase in pedestrian traffi c since 2009 and there are plans to target alleys as pedestrian connectors.

As fi eld work, I walked all of the alleys in Belltown and particularly this network of alleys in the summer of 2010. The pie charts below demonstrate neighborhood statistics (larger pie charts) and the chosen alley network statistics (smaller pie charts). In total, I concluded from this research that this path in particular had a strong potential to connect and link other areas and facilitate pedestrian activity.

FIG 32: map of alley network site in Seattle, WA graphic and photos by author FIG 33: data graphs about the alley network experiences graphics by author

Walking conditions

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The Belltown neighborhood has experienced a 90% increase in foot traffi c from 2009 to 2010. This is the biggest change in pedestrian movement in all of the Seattle neighborhoods.

n Unio

- Downtown Seattle Association

Pedestrian Goals for alleys from the City of Seattle Belltown Neighborhood Plan - alleys can act as ped connectors to and through green streets - promote inviting entrances into alleyways - promote entrances into alley from within buildings to allow for easy access

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public art and art galleries

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FIG 34: map of pedestrian movement in alley network site graphic and photos by author 61

SITE + CONTEXT

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Water and Topography St Pine

Existing alley features, such as the presence of slopes, offer unique framed viewpoints looking north and south across downtown.

Variations in alley topography could be captured to create an urban identity across Seattle’s downtown.

n Unio

Open pipes from roofs are a common sight in the alleyways of Belltown. Assessing roof runoff, topography and existing infrastructure could lead to better infi ltration of stormwater within the city’s alleys and healthier waterways.

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FIG 35: map of water and topography in alley network site graphic and photos by author SITE + CONTEXT

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Connection to transit infrastructure A network can form across alleys by focusing fi rst on developing alleys that have potential to connect pedestrians to transit hubs, bus lines, or bike routes.

St Pine

Alleys have the potential to draw on existing usergroups inside the neighborhoods in which they lie as well as to attract people coming into the downtown. They have the potential to become pedestrian north/south shortcuts.

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FIG 36: map of transit infrastructure in alley network site graphic and photos by author 63

SITE + CONTEXT

EXPLORING ALLEYS AS SITE “ Our cities are always evolving and changing landscapes, and their dynamic nature is based upon our ability to reclaim the space we experience through our own lens or mental and physical engagement. Walking is a conceptual space, where the mind can wader while in progress - walking is a functional act of public mediation with pixilated footsteps of contemporary actions of derive�

R. Stuart Keeler, Arcade 29.1 food pantries utilizing alleys as organizing spaces for patrons. I also witnessed the unexpected habitats, such as plants growing in unusual places reaching for survival and birds making nests in exposed pipes throughout the alleyway.

I attempted to understand the potential that alleys have as testing grounds for connecting pedestrian activity across a finer scale and becoming places that incorporate digital media and communication into physical installations. In my quest, I traveled the selected Belltown alley network numerous times where i studied the inner workings of alleys, the physical characteristics they hold, and their potentials to increase pedestrian activity, habitat, and connections with infrastructure.

In figure 37, I mapped out key lines in which I took pictures of the alley ways each time I walked. These pictures gave examples of the type of infrastructure, water + habitat, and interaction that I witnessed through each walk, noting some patterns to draw upon in my design process. I took photos throughout my walks and noted different types of data along the way, shown in the following pages.

I walked and walked and walked these alleys, finding new meanings in them every time, particularly in the way in which they were used as social, economic and environmental places behind the scenes of the typical city life. For example, I witnessed interaction between all types of people, from groups of smokers taking a work break to the people living in the doorways creating their own kind of community base. I discovered the economic potentials that alleys hold, from people selling goods and food in parking lots adjacent to alleys to SITE + CONTEXT

FIG 37: graphic representing walking stops and access points graphic by author

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INFRASTRUCTURE | EXISTING SITE Throughout my explorations in the Belltown network of alleys, I witnessed a side of the city that exposes infrastructure of our physical built environment - examples of material that connects us to each other and the landscape, through pipes, wires, holes and so forth. Exposure of infrastructure is common through alleys as they are often seen as the backside of buildings and a place where things are not kept as tidy as the streetside. On my walks through alleys in the city, I started to see the exposure of networked infrastructure as a hidden “underground” city above the ground. It became a source of inspiration to me in thinking about how the digital world also is a hidden public realm that binds us together.

Additionally, while looking at infrastructure on the inside of alleys, I became acutely aware of the interactions that were taking place on the outside of alleys. The quiet calm of being inside a city alley space brought awareness to the many people outside of the alley who were communicating through digital modes, often through a cell phone or playing with ipads, ipods etc.. These invisible data transfer lines of technology brought people into the broader world while the alley exposed much of the physical lines we need to make this type of communication happen.

SITE + CONTEXT

Wifi Radius

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people on cell phones

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SITE + CONTEXT

WATER + HABITAT | EXISTING SITE Throughout my walks, one thing that I had to navigate time and time again was water. In many alleys, it would collect in the neglected pavement, the sides of buildings, run down the pipes of the building facades and back out into the alleys from drains. I was often doing a dance with water and it became a source of navigation. This dance, however also made me aware of how we treat water in the city and more in tune with the natural phenomena that cannot be contained within our built environment. To this end also, I was aware of the different types of water that was being put out into the alleys, such as ice from a restaurant or steam from the vents along the building facades. I was inspired by the way in which the city uses, controls, and discards water in our daily lives.

Additionally, I also witnessed the small “nature� that found its way into the alleys, such as the ferns that grew on building facades exactly where the sun light line hits, or the moss that follows the pathways of water; and the hidden habitat areas for birds throughout the open pipes, powerlines and building edges where many nests can be found. These habitats, although mostly thought of as nuisances in the city (weeds, annoying pigeons and so forth) are still part of our cities nature and are surviving in the most neglected of places.

SITE + CONTEXT

plant or animal sighting

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INTERACTION | EXISTING SITE Throughout this alley network, I noted many different types of interaction, both between people and traces of communication. Conceptually, when thinking about alleys, it is often easy to think of all of the negative interactions that can occur in these dark, scary places of the city. This was noted in my walks through material items, such as signage that closed the alleys at dark or cameras placed in some of the alleys to monitor activity. And while, yes it is true that alleys are places where shady behavior can happen, there is also a different type of interaction that takes place. For me, it was important to respond to some of the positive interactions in alleys and be inspired with what could be in the future.

After walking this site route and the many other alleys of the city, I saw a type of community emerge that appreciated the back corners of the city and attempted to bring life to these areas. Interaction, such as groups of people congregating and laughing while waiting in line for a food pantry, people creating metal sculptures outside their studio space in the alleyways, and secret little messages from unsanctioned artists talk to each other all over the city. In these small ways, I see the potential for alleys to become community catalysts (albeit very diverse types of communities).

SITE + CONTEXT

car route

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DESIGNING DIGITAL TERRAIN In the process of exploring alleys as testing labs, an important piece in activating these spaces is to try new ideas that will bring people to use the city in a new way. Attracting people to connect with alleys will both populate the space for at time period and also highlight a new usable part of the city. In many ways, many people already have a negative perception of alleys as dangerous places in the city. By designing just small interventions, a positive conversation can be started on how to integrate all uses. In this chapter, I will navigate through my design process and propose temporary design explorations. Throughout the design process, I focused on what might be a starting point for attracting people to the alley, while also attempting to create activation/interaction between people outside of the physical space.

In this way, I suggest that a Landscape Architect can embrace not only the physical, but can design for a more complete public realm.

With these ideals in mind, designing ‘landscapes’ take on a new identity.

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INFORMATION ACROSS LANDSCAPE In addressing the site, some of my first main ideas were to introduce new flows into the alleyways, connect to the local attributes around the site, and communicate information beyond the site. I suggest that these attributes will help to form an armature of the site that connects the alleys as a network, while also exploring a set of installation design ideas that will initiate the activation.

In introducing new types of flow, I draw on the different access points throughout the site such as introducing new types of flow between alleys in the city. I propose under landscape syntax, in figure 38, that the access from one alley to another can be a straight line through the city. Alleys in this way can be an efficient form of navigation, a direct pedestrian pathway. In the case of the Belltown site, the alley network will lead one from a pedestrian green street (Bell) to a transit station (Union). Although an efficient A-B pathway, I am also proposing that alleyways can have an ebb and flow access for people that will be of a wandering nature. By utilizing adjacent parking and vacant lots for a new space of development which include public access to the alleyway, a person can enter or exit from many points along the pathway. Development of these parcels will promote small scale development that provides a human scale focus.

Second, I suggest that the way in which underutilised spaces can have longevity in activation is to create strategies in collaboration with a local connection, in terms of an aspect that is unique to the area, at city, neighborhood, and block scale. By connecting with the local economy and culture, small temporary interventions have the DIGITAL TERRAIN

chance to continue in some fashion and the points of activation will continue over time. For the Belltown network in particular, the local connections vary from art and technology businesses, night life and community service centers, and utilitarian building facade treatments and service business uses.

Lastly, I am looking at how a set of installations can be both virtual and grounded public relationships and also contribute to societal knowledge. Much of the information we receive on a daily basis comes through the internet or our experience of the environment.

Through the set of installations, I want to explore ways in which the two can interact, thus creating conversations.

For this set of alleys in Belltown, I started my design process by demonstrating a matrix of landscape processes, starting with landscape syntax, meaning the creation of landscape through the input or output of physical access points and information, then explained the information topics highlighted through each alley intervention,the connections with local qualities and the types of systems that this network will tap into.

FIG 38: matrix of armature design process graphic by author 74

east

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Union Existing narrow sting of alleys funnels people through a to b to Bunchingfrom the string provide vertical and pathway points of interest inside and outside the alley

Landscape Syntax

1 Knowledge Change

Evolving conflict of human and nature territory 1

Local Qualities | Program

Art businesses and Belltown artwalk

2 Evolving conflict of human and nature territory 2 Night Clubs and Dog park

3 Air quality and human dependence

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4 Technology survival skills

5 Global public space, conflicts and peace

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Steam vents, Laundray Community service Facility center, people sleeping and eating, computer business

5 Steep slope, levels of infrastruture, good viewpoints, Moore theater

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Personal and collective Water quality and consumption overflow

6 Open lot with lots of people walking through

7 Disconnected drainpines, tall buildings

8 Water quality and overflow

8 wires and exposed infrastrucutre, openspaces, people walking through

System Connections

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In addition to the matrix, I developed a concept model, site connections map, and site plan that helped to parse down some of the information from the matrix into spaces of interest and connections.

In the model, I used the idea of a string to connect across the site, relating local attributes and spaces of interest. Jumping between scales, I made a map that connects the attributes of the alley site to the larger context. I then started to overlay the site with digital connections in both the model and plan. These areas are where I felt that playful interventions could be created to connect to people to space and space to the digital realm.

FIG 39: conceptual model of alley network graphic by author FIG 40: Alley network with Connections outwards FIG 40: conceptual site plan of alley network graphic by author

DIGITAL TERRAIN

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Walking radius to art studios and technology businesses

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alleys follows transit and bike lines walking distance from public parks and plazas connects to other alleys north and south

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GROUNDED IN PLACE In this design process, I am proposing 3 different installations to aid in the process of activation. These installations can range from very temporary to more permanent in nature.

The fi rst installation will occur in the block between Lenora and Blanchard Street. The goal of this installation, titled CityCO2, is to communicate the connection between the building and alleyway through the vent systems that pump air out into the alleyway. This steam is experienced by pedestrians walking through the alley and can be used to aid in plant greenhouses while also projecting energy use data from Seattle steam to people passing by.

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The second installation will occur in the blocks between Stewart and Virginia Street. This installation, titled Tweethouse, will connect the digital tool of twitter to the physical alleyway, while also being a habitat spot for birds and insects. In this installation, I explore the role that a digital feed can take when connecting with place.

The third installation will occur in the blocks between Union and Pike. This installation, titled Projected Infi ltration, I am exploring the rainy season and public awareness of stormwater runoff into the Puget Sound.

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FIG 41: proposed site of design installations graphic by author

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CityCO2 greenhouse

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Taking advantage of the buildings along this alleyway network, this project creates an interactive greenhouse that uses both the facades and the vents that are attached to the building as a greenhouse heating system. The greenhouse will be developed out of recycled plastic formed into unique geometric frames that are symbolic of some of the graffi ti that is found throughout Seattle alleyways.

Plants will be fed by the buildings vented steam creating an interaction between building and landscape. The steam also will feed reveal the Seattle Steam CO2 numbers for the downtown area system on the glass panes of the greenhouse. By providing a temporary gage on the amount of energy consumed throughout the day in the Seattle area, people in the alley become more aware of the CO2 levels that are produced by our energy consumption. This information can then be mapped over time to show the public if we are improving or increasing energy usage.

This installation can last and grow over time or be a temporary project that attracts people into new spaces of the city.

FIG 42 +43: diagram and perspective of CityCO2 greenhouse installation graphic by author diagram of greenhouse with components

DIGITAL TERRAIN

82

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Water runnel

Plan and section of C02 Greenhouse 83

LITERATURE + THEORY

TWEEThouse

b

During my walking tours of the alley network, I was often surrounded by a variety of birds that took nest in many of the cracks and crevices of the building facades and open pipes. I wanted to capture this experience of urban habitat in birdhouses that provides a network of homes for birds in alleyways while also being a continuous feed of information to people on the web.

twitter feed. This relay of information could take many forms, such as just noting what the weather patterns are like in the alley or how many birds are in the birdhouse to posting an impromptu event that will take place in the alley.

In this installation, I imagine technology to be a tool that could provide quick outreach to a large audience helping them towith explore ocdiagram of greenhouse components currences in the alleyways. I also see the physical installation of birdhouses along the alleyway to provide the home base to the bird population and digital link to activate the space, even if there is no one physically in it at the time.

In today’s world we are continuously updated with information about what is happening outside of our immediate surroundings, like a feed update on twitter or a facebook reel from friends. I wanted to explore this experience with a place in mind, using the birdhouse as a “base”(with someone behind it of course) that will relay information about what is happening to the alley to the outside world through a FIG 44 +45: diagram and perspective of tweethouse installation graphic by author

Alley party tonight!

diagram of tweethouse to twitter fl ow DIGITAL TERRAIN

84

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Birdhouse data feeders 85

DIGITAL TERRAIN

Projected InďŹ ltration

c

I attempted to walk through the alleyway network during all types of weather to get varying types of experiences. During the rainy days, I was particularly struck with how aware I was of water - coming down off the buildings, draining out of open pipes, puddling along alleyway cracks and so forth. This awareness of water was directly related to the space and the infrastructure systems that occur in an alley.

I imagine using technology to reveal statistics about runoff around downtown Seattle. This information will give the public an acute awareness of the rain not only affecting our personal experiences while walking around, but also showcasing how it can affect the city’s systems as well.

Additionally, I was interested in exploring how information could be captured in an alley but then taken out through the streets of Seattle.

By incorporating on-loan umbrellas for pedestrians, a primary use of staying dry will drive people to the alley, but there also will be a secondary effect of knowledge gain.

This installation proposes that the alleyway becomes a place of rain refuge, while also supplying on-site loan umbrellas that project stormwater runoff numbers to people throughout the city giving personal refuge. In this installation, I wanted to explore the experiences we have with the weather both personally and in the city.

FIG 46 +47: diagram and perspective of projected infi ltration installation graphic by author

nd on after a rainfall. sou

a

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s of dirty water flows into th llon

200 g

diagram of umbrellas stored in alley collecting data then taken from alley site and carried throughout Seattle DIGITAL TERRAIN

86

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e

200 g

Water runoff information projected from Umbrella

87

DIGITAL TERRAIN

At the start of this project, my intention was to create interventions in alleys that not only attract diverse groups of people to the space, but also provide some basic needs to humans. Although I did not develop these ideas to the fullest, I wanted to share them here as an initial set of concepts. In my attempt to bring digitaland physical space together with proposals for social justice, I brainstormed a group of ideas that could be explored in further research.

This laundry list of ideas explored during my design process include: - Developing a shelter and garden space out of the discarded dumpsters for the soup kitchen and alley residents in the Belltown alley network - Creation of solar energy plug-ins that allow for anyone to access power for electronic devices - Creating a sun powered awning that acts as both a shelter for people and also as a surface where people can project information.

This idea was sited in an alley where there is a technology education center, therefore they could use the awnings as an outside classroom.

- A built structure that acts as an information feed for other public spaces in the world, for example, if people from public squares in Germany, France or Italy had something to say to Seattleites, they could send their statement to this structure to be shown on Seattle’s streets.

DIGITAL TERRAIN

Daily

Example of alley fuel plug-ins, connected to solar panels on building rooftops

88

fuel

REFLECTION + CONCLUSION At the beginning of this process, I was unaware of where my interest in the new public commons, the use of temporary installations as public activation and a fascination with one of the dreariest (as some perceive) places of our US cities, the alleyways would overlap.

My struggles throughout this thesis often highlighted my doubts about what was truely a Landscape Architecture project and how this project was folding into the fi eld. My focus on urban alleys as a typology has a broad set of challenges in terms of ecological connections, pedestrian activation and constraints of scale. My goal from the beginning was to push my own limits on what I view falls into the fi eld of Landscape Architecture and test my interests and theories of what makes a good public space.

It is important to refl ect upon the design principles originally conceptualized for this project: • Design for multiple uses, fl exibility, and be responsive to context • Design for existing and potential users, from the technological savvy to the deprived • Create interventions that expose information for the betterment of society, adding a gain in individual or collective knowledge • Incorporate the collaboration of multiple types of designers knowledge, expanding the defi nition of landscape architecture and connection with other fi elds.

Further complicating my goals for this thesis was the theme of interacting digital and physical public commons. As a landscape architect, I wanted to test connecting these two realms through design. What I came away with is that there is in fact connection, but the physical design of this connection is challenging and requires much further research and an exploration of deeper design. This work is intended to be a start to the conversation and an attempt to present conceptual design ideas that overlap digital and physical realms. The design approach that I settled on were projects that attempted to start conversations, online and on the ground. My goals at the beginning were loftier, but as I went through this thesis process, I realized that introducing alleys as public spaces and digital commons as physical spaces required a catalust rather than a full package solution.

I feel a only touched the surface of these principles through the interventions that I proposed. In order to more deeply explore these points, I would need to not only conceptualize design ideas, but physical test those ideas and measure user reactions to see if my initial principles hold true. The most relevant principle I found when going through this process was the importance of collaboration between many types of designers.and the expanded knowledge this provides for the project. In this thesis work between digital and physical, I was left a little in the dark with not knowing the full capabilities of technology and what that could mean for the public artist. I was often straddling the prospect of imagining the potential and grounding myself in what is possible. To turn any of these projects into reality will take know-how of both the technical and physical landscape and also a bold creativity to push beyond it.

89

REFLECTION + CONCLUSION

In my process, more time for exploration could have helped further the design proposals.

some of the ideas I have presented in this thesis (and not presented) to test the waters on installation and activation.

Since first dabbling in this thesis process a year ago while living in Copenhagen, I look back and see the threads come together in my personal writing, design direction and interest. The leaps I have been able to take in conjunction with this thesis process highlight my deep interest in city placemaking and cultural interaction and using design as a spark that unites the two.

Third, with reguard to human centered city design, the spaces that Landscape Architects create in heavily urban areas rely on people to activate them and make them live up to their full potential. It is important for me to pursue how we as human users shift our behavior when connecting with the world. I feel that continuing to be aware of how people are using spaces will make me a better designer by being flexible to new approaches.

First, with reguard to placemaking, I found a true passion for the neglected spaces of cities leading me to actively be a part of alley projects, both of my own and ones started before my current participation here in Seattle. I have been able to become part of a group that is engaged in creating community and elevating our ideas about city life. By assisting with the alley network project (www. alleynetworkproject.com) I have been able to see some of the true benefits that activating alleys can provide.

I’m excited to see what opportunities present themselves in the future public realm, both digitally and physically in the landscape.

“The experience of spatial life today is as much immaterial as it is physical, as much bound into time and relational connections as it is to traditional notions of enclosure and ‘place’.”

(Corner, 1999)

Secondly with reguard to temporary public art and installations - a large source of inspiration for the design section of this thesis stems from an office wide training day while working at Gehl Architects.

This day consisted of many projects that were temporary installations created as catalysts for reactivating a space. I became excited about the possibilities this presents for “testing” a space to see what design strategies might work and if people respond. The design section of this thesis leans towards this approach and I have actively pursued REFLECTION + CONCLUSION

FIG 48: Graffiti on a wall in Seattle, WA photo credit: facebook friend post

90

91

REFLECTION + CONCLUSION

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