Thesis Book_MattJohnson

Interweaving Infrastructure and the Pedestrian Experience Matthew Alyn Johnson Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Architecture Wentworth Institute of Technology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture April 2015 Approved by the Committee:

Primary Advisor:

________________________________________ Martha Foss

Interim Director,

Graduate Studies: ________________________________________

Elizabeth Ghiseline

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INTERWEAVING INFRASTRUCTURE WITH THE PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE

Matthew Johnson Wentworth Institute of Technology Master of Architecture, April 2015 Professor Martha Foss

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ABSTRACT:

The life of the pedestrian within a city is a stressful one. It is a fast-paced, sensory overloaded, intermingling of pedestrians and vehicular movements in which priority is not given to the people who inhabit the ground plane. Instead studies are done on traffic patterns and route times all in order to maximize the efficiency of automobiles and other means vehicular transit. No studies are produced attempting to see how these traffic patterns and paths affect public life and the way that people move through and experience the city. Instead roads rise into the air or sink into the ground leaving behind space that is devoid of experiential qualities on the ground plane. It is within this ground plane that the people inhabiting the city reside, as an afterthought of infrastructural construction. These conditions lead to questions concerning how pedestrians occupy the ground plane, especially in instances where the surrounding infrastructure is establishing a new one intended to benefit the use of automobiles.

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Table of Contents: ABSTRACT: 5 THESIS STATEMENT: 9 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 11 DEVELOPMENTAL: 12 PROPOSAL: 13 KEY TERMINOLOGY: 15 PRECEDENT STUDIES: 21 Seattle Art Museum: 22 The Highline: 26 Oslo Opera House: 30

Selected Works of Carlo Scarpa: 34 METHODOLOGIES: 37

Narrative 1: 38

Narrative 2: 40

Narrative 3: 42 Methodology 1: 44 Methodology 2: 45 Methodology 3: 46

DEVELOPMENTAL SITE AND PROCESS: 49 Potential Site Criteria: 50 Resultant Sites: 52 Site Analysis: 54 Potential Program: 56 PROPOSAL AND PLANNING: 59 Chosen Site Overview: 60

Existing Site Conditions: 62 Potential Program: 66

Proposed Changes to the Site: 68

Proposed Interventions: 72

Proposed Interventions: 76

Proposed Interventions: 78

Proposed Interventions: 82 GOALS AND EVALUATIONS: 85

Objectives: 86

Criteria for Evaluation: 88 APPENDICES: 90

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THESIS STATEMENT:

With this thesis I am creating a purposeful pedestrian experience within the confines of existing infrastructural systems. By providing a stronger sense of path and continuity for the pedestrian, sites that are currently in a state of disconnect due to existing infrastructure, and the leftover spaces they produce, may once again become a part of the pedestrian’s journey through the city. Different methods of approaching a coexistence of systems could be alterations in the ground plane, such as elevating it into the air, or depressing it down into the ground; the mediation of scales, between monolithic and human; and providing opportunities of program at spaces of intersection between systems. This approach allows for a more collaborative method of coexistence between the pedestrian and the infrastructure.

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This project is an investigation into ways that people can be given priority within cities.

Currently much of the organization of cities has been designed around infrastructural systems, intended to move automobiles and mass public transit systems such as trains, subways, and buses. Through this means of organization, there has resulted in a lack of attention towards pedestrians.

As a result many of the spaces intended for pedestrians are insufficient and underperforming. In instances that modes of movement need to cross, the pedestrian is always the one who has to rely on all their agility and cunning just to make it across the street before the light changes and the SUV across the street comes barreling down the road. This logical system for automotive transit has become a hazard for the people occupying the city’s ground floor. “There is no logic that can be superimposed on the city; people make it and it is them, not buildings that we must fit into our plans” (Jacobs). It is peoples movements, and patterns that must be noted and configured into the city’s design if the city is to serve as a place for the people rather than a machine that prioritizes other machines.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

One way to separate the different modes of movement is to put them onto different vertical planes. This offset in levels can restore the hierarchy of movement to favor the pedestrian. By altering the ground plane a sense of topography is re’-established within the urban realm. The topography creates a more successful landscaping and relations to nature rather then simply a row of worn down, over worked trees that can be seen accenting the many roadways. Through a continuity of path, experiential journeys begin to establish methods for interpreting ones surrounding. Connections can be made by the pedestrians above or below the ground surface, allowing for a multitude of experiences. Where the surface descends, connection can be seen being made back to the Earth, and as the surface ascends connections can be seen being made to the sky.

Through transitioning between the different scales of the monolithic infrastructure and the scale of a person is another crucial way of creating a space that is able to become part of the pedestrian journey. Many infrastructural elements are designed around the scale and proportions of the systems of movement

the direct, and therefore there is no way for people to have a sense of place. By providing interventions that mediate the scale programmatic elements can begin to be established in areas previously void.

Through programming these intersections of infrastructure and people they become destinations that draw people to the site.

The site now has purpose where once there was none due to the essence that it was a forgotten place, created only because of what was necessary to move automobiles. By giving the site purpose it now has a life that is able to contribute to the life of the city in a positive manner.

Through the methods of altering the ground surface, mediating the scale between people and infrastructure, and allowing for programming to occur in spaces that had been lacking any due to the infrastructure surrounding, we are able to begin to move towards finding a way to have a more sustainable and appropriate method of coexistence between the infrastructural elements that run our cities, and the people that inhabit our cities.

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DEVELOPMENTAL:

HOW CAN THE CITY BE GIVEN BACK TO THE PEOPLE

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PROPOSAL:

HOW CAN THE CITY BE GIVEN BACK TO THE PEOPLE 13

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KEY TERMINOLOGY: Developmental • Ground Plane • Scale • Program • Continuity • Intersection • Path

Proposal • Layering • Levels • Path/ Movement • Connectivity • Perception • Mood

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Layering

A level or material in stacked assembly allowing for spaces to form between one layer and the next. The thresholds between layers can provide a clear delineation of where one layer ends and the other begins. Instances that differentiation of layers can be difficult to distinguish are overlapping systems, a poor differentiation of languages that construct a space, and poor relationships between surrounding contexts.

Layering can also refer to the relationships of horizontal and vertical elements.

Levels

A height or distance from the ground, or what is understood as the base. Horizontal planes positioned above or below the perceived ground plane can be either a permanent physical entity or act as a temporal element in the environment. Conditions of level change that can occur are; in level with the ground plane, raised above the ground plane, and sunken into the ground plane. Each with its own significance and benefit to the overall experience felt by the user in the spaces. Through levels there can be a separation of modes of movement, that allow for a hierarchy to benefit the primary user.

Path and Movement

A route from one place to another that leads to the change in location. It is a spatial component of design which aims to act as a transition from environment to another, by preparing the occupant to enter a new space. A path can provide the user to experience a journey, leading to discovery which can then provoke a reaction. A variety of potential paths and movements allow the choice of where and how to proceed completely up the user. Variation can occur in pace of movement, in which the slower the pace the more time there is to consider the transformations occurring. “The characteristics of the path determine much of the organizational, experiential, and operative qualities of the spaces it links� (p. 193 Eckler).

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Connectivity

An intangible or conceptual relationship between two or more parts. Connectivity can be achieved through sequence; an ordered movement from one space to another. This pattern based upon succession provides an order in which spaces are encountered within architecture, by acting as a descriptor of the relationships occurring between parts. The scale of spaces encountered and paths taken, contribute to the connectivity of the particular spaces influenced by the rhythm and repetition on elements encountered along the way.

Perception

A way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression based off intuition, understanding, and insight.

Can be altered by presenting something in a context that it is not normally viewed. This creates the condition of an encounter or realization unforeseen previously by the occupant.

Mood

An atmosphere or pervading tone of something based upon the character of surrounding spaces. Mood can be affected by the perception of time. This can be seen by examining the pace at which an individual moves through a space. Mood can also be affected by the lighting of a space, whether it is a brightly or dimly lit space. Mood can also be affected by the perceived atmosphere of the encountered space. The mood of the occupant within, or passing through a space determine the success of the space as a whole.

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Ground Plane

The level that is occupied by particular users and is represented as a surface, or series of surfaces. Priority of a space can be determined through analysis of hierarchies represented in the ground plane. The materiality of the ground plane becomes part of identifying locations and paths. Through elevating the ground plane above the perceived surface or by pushing it below a hierarchy can begin to be established favoring the movements of the pedestrian.

Scale

“When the proportions of architectural composition are applied to a particular building, the two-termed relationship of the parts to the whole must be harmonized with a third term—the observer. He not only sees the proportions of a door and their relationship to those of a wall but he measures them against his own dimensions�.

Therefore the proportions must be accommodating to the scale of humans and be something that makes them feel welcomes rather then overwhelmed.

Program

The activities in an urban setting that fill spaces created by architecture. These activities can be defined either by specific criteria, such as commercial or consumer spaces, or the activities can be defined by the users themselves.

This later allows for more spontaneous experiences with the site and the user, while the prior can provide purpose for the users to come to a space.

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Continuity

Something that is the same or similar in two or more things and provides a connection between them in a way that arrangement of the parts of the journey is presented in a way that is logical and experiential. The continuity of paths and spaces is essential to successfully prioritize the movements of pedestrians within the city.

Intersection

A place, or area, in which two or more systems of movement share a common space. These intersections can occur in instances of one system with multiple paths or as multiple systems and multiple paths. An even more chaotic condition would be multiple systems on a single path, such as pedestrians and cars moving along the same axis as part of the same system .

Path

A track specially constructed for a particular use, in this instance pedestrians. The path can be created using a variety of materials. The materiality of the path can have a large impact on the implied purposes and experiences along the route. A path should offer experiences, interactions, and destinations. The choice of what to do is essential to the pedestrians experience.

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PRECEDENT STUDIES: Developmental • Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park • The Highline, NYC • Oslo Opera House, Oslo Norway • Carlo Scarpa

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Seattle Art Museum: The Park

Olympic Sculpture Seattle, WA

The Seattle Art Museum is located upon a site previously occupied by Unocal, a gas and oil corporation. Due to its prior occupants the site became a contaminated brownfield in a prime downtown location. It was through the proposal of the Museum that the site be turned into a nine acre green space that aims to reconnect the city to the waterfront. The museum and its resulting green spaces, act as a part of a procession from the city’s urban center to the redeveloped beaches along the water front. To create this procession a pedestrian infrastructure was able to be constructed in an area where circulation was previously lacking. It lies above the existing infrastructures of both automobiles and trains, prioritizing the movement of people. The separation of major layers of the city provide a stronger continuity of pedestrian spaces. The connectivity of public space is achieved through the continuity of the landscaping in addition to the natural thresholds that pedestrians cross as they walk along the pathway.

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While moving down towards the waterfront the context of the landscaping shifts from a temperate evergreen forest to a deciduous forest filled with seasonal plantings. From there the pedestrian crosses into shoreline gardens with tidal terraces providing views out to the water. The landscaping acts as a natural threshold connecting spaces to one another, creating a path that allows for an experience, which uses the same language, although it may use a different variation of that language. The pathway created allows for a series of views that aim to position the user in the city and relate them back to the Olympic Mountains, the city and port, and the water with its newly created beaches. Views of the trains and cars passing beneath the sculpture garden emphasize the attempt to have the hierarchy of the modes of movement fall in the pedestrians favor. Sculptural pieces line the path through the created green space, and act as a way to bring the users through space. Some sculptural pieces are on permanent display while others act as temporal pieces of the landscape.

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The Highline: New

York

City,

NY

The Highline is a re-purposed infrastructural system, which runs 1.45 miles in the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Originally intended to transport goods from the industrial district, the Highline now serves a different use, by acting as an elevated urban park for the people of New York City. Through its elevation the Highline is able to move people off of the streets, away from the persistent activity of cars, and into a landscape set above the ground plane. The Highline place the typical pedestrian in an a-typical environment.

Its allows for interactions with buildings at around four or five stories off the ground, altering any preconceived perceptions that may have once been present. It moves between buildings and in some instances actually passes through them, following the preset infrastructural layout.

With people as the intended user, the spaces created now serve as a much more significant contributer to the mood felt by the people in motion along the path.

Trains were previous definers of the space, their tracks can be seen contributing to the overall layout of the landscaping.

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Where the landscaping meets the walking surface the two materials can be seen stretching towards each other; the connection between nature and people.

The ground surface pulls up and away to create seating for people, encouraging them to sit and stay. A variety of seating in a multitude of spaces allows for people to have a choice about how they interact with the environment. Seating is also laid out, in a theater like manner, allowing for pedestrians to sit and watch the busy traffic below. The descending seating works towards emphasizing the separation of modes of movement and expresses a priority towards the pedestrian. Though the overall surface of The Highline is relatively flat it is because of its elevated height of the level is occupies that it is as successful as it is. It clearly expresses the separation of the layers of the city, the streets, the stairs, and The Highline itself. A critique to be made is that The Highline does not yet reconnect itself to the urban fabric and lifestyle of the areas that it passes over. It is an environment set above the ground plane that acts solely as a means of movement with the scattered about sculptures and detailed landscaping

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Oslo Opera House: Oslo, Norway

As the largest cultural building constructed in Norway since 1300, the Oslo Opera House is home to the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. The building is located at the waterfront in an area that was surrounded on essentially all sides by infrastructural systems. One of the main roadways adjacent to the Opera house will be put underground. What is truly impressive about this building is the spaces and the interactions that it allows between the users and the ground plane. The ground is made of white granite and Italian Carrara Marble so as to appear as if the building is rising out of the water. “The Carpet”, title given by lead architects Snøhetta, is meant to build upon the concept of togetherness, joint ownership, easy and open access for all. The roof of the building angles towards the ground level allowing for the formation of a large plaza. The plaza invites pedestrians to walk up and explore the building and the sights that is has to offer.

From the top of the opera house the user is able to enjoy a panoramic view of Oslo.

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This ground plane is frequently occupied and has become a place people come to stay and sit and explore the undulating surfaces the opera house has to offer. Even weather does not deter people for coming to experience this space. The use of the angled surfaces brings about a sense of curiosity in people, often people can be seen trying to climb to the peak to the “mountain�

There is something to be said for the rise angle the architects have chosen. It is not steep enough that people could get hurt, but it is steep enough to intrigue them to try to climb the created undulating surface.

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Selected Works of Carlo Scarpa:

Movement/Connection

Threshold/Perception

Changes in Level 34

Connection is understood by Scarpa’s specific use of orientation and layout. The steps at Brion Tomb provide the user with specific placement and specific order; as to which foot is to step with first and where to place it. Similarly the stair at Castelvecchio causes the user to be very aware of where and how they step. The elongated treads require more thought, as opposed to being able to mindlessly meander through. This relationship helps to ground the user in the specific site.

Scarpa’s work will often make you question your understanding of how something may work. For example at the walls at the Brion Tomb, when seen from the proper perspective challenges your perception. Making you question how it is that the effect is being achieved. The pattern from the screen in the Querini Stampalia can be seen reflecting upon the surface of the water. It acts as a threshold between the interior and the exterior of the building.

Changes in level in Scarpa’s work aim to make a connection back to the Earth and to what it has provided us. At the Brion Tomb, the tomb is lowered into the ground, while still allowing for people to occupy the space, along that same level. This allows for the understanding that Earth provides us life, and that after life we provide for the Earth.

Also at the Brion Tomb there is a stepped pool which descends into the ground. In this pool are living fish that also represent the connection between the Earth and life.

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METHODOLOGIES: Developmental • Narrative 1 - Overlapping of Urban Movements • Narrative 2 - Ascending Towards the Sky • Narrative 3 - Descending Into the Earth

Proposal • Alterations of the Ground Plane and Surface • Mediating the Transitions Between Scales • Providing Opportunities of Programming at Intersections

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Narrative 1:

Overlapping Paths on the Ground Plane

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“The sounds are deafening. But theres no way to drown it out. I put headphones in, but fear for my safety when walking across busy intersections, with cars waiting to go from every direction. Everywhere I try to go I find cars impeding my path. Always allowed the right of way. Never ceasing to slow as I approach the designated cross walks. How am I supposed to move when everything seems out to get me? At last I’ve crossed the street, my destinations getting closer. Only 5 more blocks. But wait, there’s construction, sidewalks closed, all to fix a curb some speeding driver collided with. So I must go around, back into the street I go, looking quick to make sure no cars are coming, only to take one step and someone decides they need to turn around. They didn’t see me, for all they know I wasn’t even there. They were seduced by the independence of their car that they didn’t realize they nearly sent me independently, right into the ground.

But crisis averted, only 4 more blocks to go. Crossing under the train tracks, what I thought was loud before has just been put into perspective. I walk from beneath the bridge, ears ringing but still walking in the right direction. 3 more blocks. The sidewalk is getting narrow, a big group is coming the other way. They wanted outdoor seating, but neglected that theres hardly any space to sit, and now no place to walk.

Here comes the shoulder; he bumps into me

and I collide with the baluster protecting the seating area from our trespassing, which has now just bruised my right hip. But I can tough it out, I’m almost there. 2 blocks to go. Approaching the next intersection.

The cars just got the green light so nothing left to do but to wait my turn. Four minutes pass, finally a walk sign illuminates, we can cross, for the next 14 seconds, no time to waste. I reach the half way point and then times up, the walking man is now a red hand, warning not to cross but providing no reassurance of making it if you were already in progress. Two more steps and the light is green again. Here come the cars, here come the horns, and here comes a series of buses, none of whom seem to know they have brakes. So I dash across at the last second, narrowly avoiding a cab who’s trying to turn into me. But fortune favors me today, as i only have one block to go. But school just got out, and a bus is holding up traffic letting kids off safely. I have to assume this biker coming right at me didn’t feel it necessary to wait with the rest of the road traffic because he’s now on the sidewalk, and he’s coming right at me, I don’t think I’ll have enough time to...”

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Narrative 2:

Ascending Towards the Sky

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“Sounds can be heard coming from above, but that doesn’t make sense. What could be up there? How did they get up there?

How could I get up there? There must be a way. The trees in that direction seem to be getting taller, but that can’t be right, that’s where the train tracks are. How can trees grow above train tracks? But they are, all I see in front of me are the trees rising up into the skyline. I must move on, I want to see why they are there and where it is that they go. And so I go, walking towards this new found natural essence towards a path I’ve never taken, towards an opportunity unexplored. I’m intrigued, something has peaked my interest. Here it is, the path, rising from the ground to somewhere new, somewhere maybe no man has ever gone before. I’m walking up this sloped path and I’m noticing that the city seems to be quieting, as if anticipating, almost expecting, my ascent of this rising hill in an urban center. The sounds begin to quiet, the noise from the cars, now a continuously fading white noise, beginning to blend with other sounds of the city. I can no longer smell their exhaust fumes, I don’t hear trains pulling into or away from the nearby station; The rapid pace of the city begins to slow and I feel, clean. It seems natural, pure, back to the original roots that cities have cleared to make room for expansive roadways and infrastructure.

There are seemingly no cars on the roads

below. Where could they have gone? I thought the streets got cleaned the second and forth Wednesday, and this is Tuesday.

How can this be the case? Although who am I to question? I quite thoroughly enjoy this new found solitude, and so I continue, rising into the heights of the city I never knew I could reach, not without being in a building, detached from this vast open space. I continue rising along with this path which seemingly keeps rising. There are even places to stop; I just passed by a couple out sitting, enjoying the nice weather we are having this afternoon, but I am too ambitious, I must reach the summit.

The trees seem to be running out of height with each step that I take, I can feel I am approaching the top, I am approaching my goal. I noticed my pace begin to quicken, I’ve found excitement in this exploration above the ground. What’s at the top I must wonder? Will it be worth the trip? Will it be worth the climb down? Will there be a view?

Will it be blocked by some insensitively placed skyscraper? So many questions run through my mind as I near the top. At last it is in sight. I feel the ground flattening out, the hypnotic draw of the shifting landscape has it all come to an end? And as I take these final steps, approaching the top I must say, it is exactly what I was hoping for. There is a view. Its one I can’t quite say I’ve seen it’s equal. Not in this city, not of this place. All I can say is wow.”

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Narrative 3:

Descending Into the Earth

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“I picked a bad day to forget my umbrella.

The rain started almost as soon as I got out of the office, and it shows no signs to slight consideration of it slowing up, at least not until I got home. Although I have heard about a path I could take that could keep me out of the rain and bring me right into the train station. And so I set out, in search of this place, a where movement is sheltered from the elements. I scan around me and realize I haven’t the slightest idea where to go. I do know I want to avoid main roads. They will take even longer to maneuver through, and in this rain there is a high probability of the puddle sitting at the corner, waiting for me to show up, just so that with the next car passing it can jump up and greet me with a frigid, wet how do you do. No thanks, not for me, I’ll avoid the cars and stick with the other people attempting to stay dry. But I must question, where do I go? How can I find this other means of movement during the rain? Should I just ask someone? But wait, theres a noise, it sounds like flowing water, but much louder then the water flowing into the catch basins. There is a light glowing off a little ways, but it seems to be glowing from below the ground. Is that the path?

Is it running below this flooding mess of a ground plane? How can that be? The glow of light seems to have caught the attention of some other passersby and I feel inclined to go see what is creating

that glow, so I walk with them. I ask one, do you know where that light is coming from? They reply, only one way to find out for certain, so we continue onwards, both intrigued by the possibility of something new to experience. The light glows through the ground, demarcating a path to follow.

The path leads down, beneath the ground.

It seems the only option left is to descend below and see what is down there. As I walk down the gradual slope the sound of water grows stronger and stronger, and as I turn the corner I cross a threshold into a space much larger then I had expected. A space much brighter and full of much more activity. I find the source of the water. A pool which flows to other smaller pools that feed life to a variety of plantings that have been persuaded to grow below ground. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the flowers were in bloom, the water contained fish, I even saw a few birds that had managed to get into the space. How is this possible I had to wonder? Just then the clouds made way for the full strength of the suns rays and my new found space began to glow even brighter. The light was now coming down from above, reflecting of the pools of water, and illuminating the entire space with ripples of light. I decide to stay for a while, there will be other trains to catch.”

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Methodology 1:

Alterations of the Ground Plane and Surface Through alterations of the ground plane different pedestrian experiences are able to occur. Different methods could be movements up in to the air, movements down into the ground or down towards the water, and having movements remaining on the current ground plane. These alterations in the ground plane can also be made using specific materiality such as gravel, wood boards, and grass. The majority of the manipulation of the ground is a way of altering the pedestrians path and journey through the city.

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Methodology 2:

Mediating the Transitions Between Scales Through mediating the monolithic scale and the human scale the resultant spaces created from the infrastructure are able to be converted into an occupiable space. Once occupiable these spaces are able to be programmed.

The change in scale and the mediating in between define potential programs.

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Methodology 3:

Providing Opportunities for Programming at Intersections The intersections of the pedestrian and the infrastructure offer unique opportunities for programming. By providing programming, these spaces can become destinations that attract people to the site and use the paths that have been set in place. The programs must be able to respond to the effects of the infrastructure on the site, such as noise, lighting, scale, and accessibility.

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DEVELOPMENTAL SITE AND PROCESS: • Potential Site Criteria • Resultant Site Locations • Analysis of the Greenway

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Potential Site Criteria:

1.The site must be located in an area that currently contains crossing mode of transportation and movement within the city. The more the better

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2.The site must express a lacking of continuity and connectivity within the surrounding context. Edges are harshly defined and the layering between spaces may currently act abruptly.

3.The site must lack access natural amenities such as plantings, trees, water, green space. Parking lots or abandoned lots can be re-established as green spaces in the urban realm.

4.The site must contain pieces of infrastructural elements currently attempting to either raise or lower the ground plane. This change in level can not currently prioritize the pedestrian.

5.The site must be under performing as a stimulant of public life in the area. It may currently be participating the city but not up to the full potential it may have.

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Resultant Sites:

1.A potential site could include sunken and/or elevated train tracks within the city .

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2.A potential site could include a bridge and the ensuing spaces that are created due to the level changes.

3.A potential site could include the roof tops of low rise buildings in densely developed areas of the city.

4.A potential site could include the off and on ramps of highways and major roadways running through the city.

5.A potential site could include a station within a public transit system, such as a train or bus station.

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Site Analysis:

Nature

Interaction

Levels

Layers

Disconnect

Edge

The Greenway - Boston, MA The Greenway was an attempt at reconnecting the neighborhoods from the North End to Chinatown by providing a large continuous green space that would stretch between the two. After some analysis of the Greenway it is clear that is has not successfully completed its role.

Within the Greenway there are many examples of re-establishing nature, but by doing this the Greenway is actually further disconnected from it surroundings. The edge conditions of the Greenway are very sharp and emphasize movement in the linear direction, and not across the site laterally. Levels have been implemented in order to allow for cars to be pushed beneath the ground while pedestrians are able to stay at the surface. This method of division would be much more successful had the Greenway not been located as the median between major roadways that run down near the waterfront. The distinction between different layers is very abrupt and not well regulated. In order to cross laterally pedestrians need to wait or dodge a significant amount of traffic. Within the Greenway are opportunities for interaction, which allows for a stronger connection with the site. Unfortunately once fall comes around many of the interactive elements are turned off, nature and a linear path are what are left to define the Greenway.

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Potential Program:

Envisioned Activities for Resultant Spaces

Interactive features inspire participation, on the part of the user, with the site and the elements within.

An example would be the fountains at the Christian Science Center, Boston MA.

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Flexible seating options allow for the user to make choices, creating a feeling of equality within the space. An example would be the light weight movable seating that can be found in Times Square, NYC.

Farmers markets present opportunities of interaction between individuals, and encourages investment in the community’s well being. An example would be the farmers market that occurs in Copley Square, Boston MA.

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PROPOSAL AND PLANNING: • Chosen Site Overview • Existing Site Conditions • Proposed Changes to Site • Proposed Interventions

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Chosen Site Overview: There are not many comparable sites which offer such a unique variety of infrastructural systems mixed with an attempt at use by pedestrians.

Nor is there a site quite like

this in Boston which is in fact acting as a major threshold into the city.

Within this

site lies major roadways such as the Zakim Bridge and the Charlestown Bridge. There are also many rail lines that provide service for the orange line as well as the commuter rail. The Charles River Locks divide the river from the harbor allowing access for boats to pass between. There is also Boston Sand and Gravel located directly above the site, in addition to numerous trails and paths that cut through. The paths working their ways through the site are the Freedom Trail, The Harbor Walk, and if given a better opportunity, The Greenway. All of these factors add up to make this a very loaded site infrastructurally.

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Existing Site Conditions: Problems and Opportunities Within the Site

• Lack of continuity to pedestrian paths crossing site.

• Drastic edge conditions of site due to infrastructure surrounding that work to disconnect the site from its context • The scale of the infrastructure on the site in contrast to the scale of a human on the site.

• There lacks programmatic opportunities within the site due to the infrastructure surrounding creating problematic options when it comes to successful program options.

• Lack of pedestrian interaction with the site and elements of the site, such as the water.

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Existing Site Conditions: Solutions and Intentions of the Interventions:

• Through alterations of the ground plane either depressing it into the ground or raising it from the ground.

• Through redesigning the edge conditions in order to be more welcoming and permeable to the movements of pedestrians.

• Through mediation of scale between the monolithic infrastructural scale to one that is more representative on at thought towards humans.

• Through programming areas of the site making it a destination rather then just a space to pass through

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Potential Program:

Resultant Programs Based upon Site Analysis

Programs which use the infrastructure to its advantage, such as its height and as a roof.

An example could be a theater or assembly space.

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Programs which would not be effected by the site conditions, such as noise.

An example could be a night club, bar, or cafe.

Programs could be that as defined by the pedestrian, or that demarcate a space that is an icon to prioritizing the pedestrian experience.

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Proposed Changes to the Site: The proposals for the interventions on the site deal directly with the major infrastructural systems that run through the sites extents.

The Zakim Bridge, the Charlestown Bridge, and the Charles River Locks are the three major pieces of infrastructure that are worked with using the interventions proposed.

All

of the interventions proposed aim to provide a stronger continuity of the pedestrian path through the area, interacting with existing paths such as the Freedom Trail, the Harbor Walk, and the Greenway. Certain buildings within the extents of the site also become part of this stronger sense of connectivity. The main building being the TD Garden, which hosts numerous sporting events and performances, and is also a large part of the pedestrians journey as it is a stopping point for public transit, such as the T and the commuter rail.

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Proposed Interventions: Zakim Theater

In the spaces below the Zakim bridge the sense that the pedestrian belongs is heightened through the implementation of programmatic opportunities.

These spaces work toward

providing the pedestrians with a purposeful reasoning for being on the site rather then just to pass through it. The main intervention is the theater space which is able to develop below the Zakim due to the height available to the underside of the bridge. Now this underside acts as the roof for an outdoor theater and performance space which uses the methods of altering the ground plane and mediating the scale in order to have a sloped seating space on the ground and a suspended seating space floating in the space between the Zakim and the waters below. A path also descends beneath the rising ground plane to create a space for a boardwalk to begin to provide a continuity with the adjacent shores of the Charles.

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Proposed Interventions: Zakim Plaza

Still below the Zakim but across the Charles River lies the newly claimed Zakim Plaza acting as a space that is able to benefit the program of the TD Garden. It also acts to draw people into the site due to the current lack of knowledge or accessibility of the locks and surrounding infrastructure. This space is able to provide opportunities for programs such as farmers markets, gathering before or after a game, and potentially a cafe or other source of retail. This location also offers a new place for bike storage and works to provide a stronger continuity of the site. People are now able to enter from either side of the Zakim and reach the waters below, in addition to providing a place of pause while waiting for the trains, events, or just looking for a place to be. With the constantly active infrastructure surrounding, this place offers its own stage for the mechanical nature of the site to be expressed.

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Proposed Interventions: Charlestown Public Docks

The intervention dealing with the Charlestown

Bridge works to allow for a stronger sense of continuity between the two sides of the bridge.

Through opening a series of archways,

currently space for storage of equipment and machines, the solid for of the bridge becomes

much more porous. A cafe extends through the bridge projecting out to each side allowing

for a connectivity within a programmatic element.

The roof of the cafe allows for

pedestrians walking the freedom trail to move

from the sidewalks of the bridge down into the spaces below.

This provides them with

an easier more pedestrian friendly route to

destinations like The US Constitution and the Bunker Hill Monument.

The ramps from the

bridge connect first to an occupied roof and then through an archway of the bridge to allow

for a connection to the ground. The ramps woven through the infrastructure provide a

woven connection for the pedestrian with the site and allow for experiences in the area that could not have typically occurred when

automobiles were given the priority over people.

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Proposed Interventions: Kayaking Outlet

In order to allow for a stronger connection with the water a path has been created along the waters edge emulating the language of the boardwalks across the Charles as a part of the Harbor Walk. These paths connect between the Theater and a Kayaking Outlet.

The outlet releases the Kayakers into a cove, of which the entrance is controlled by an Eddy.

It allows for control over when people are able to access the river as well as in the winter months it allows for a way to contain the water and keep it still so it is able to freeze over.

This then allows for an ice skating rink to form promoting public interaction during the winter months. The path down to the outlet allows for an experience with the opposite side of the Charlestown Bell, an instillation located on the railing of the Charles River Locks.

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GOALS AND EVALUATIONS: • Objectives • Criteria For Evaluation • Appendices

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Objectives:

1.Develop a section to better represent the changes in level that will be occurring within the city.

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2.Strengthen the list of sources and relevance of materials to be read.

3. Further define the interactions that are able to occur along the perceived ground plane.

4.Locate a site that meets all of the previously defined site criteria.

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Criteria for Evaluation:

1.Priority given to the movements and paths of the pedestrian, rather than to automobiles and transit systems.

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2.Changes are made in the levels of the perceived ground plane to encourage new experiences in the urban realm, such as ascending or descending paths.

3.The city has been redefined as a more experiential walkable city, emphasizing the pedestrians priority.

4.The site must contain pieces of infrastructural elements currently attempting to either raise or lower the ground plane. This change in level currently must not prioritize the pedestrian.

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APPENDICES: Bhatia, Neeraj, Maya Przybylski, Lola Sheppard, and Mason White. Coupling Strategies for Infrastructural Opportunism. 30th ed. Vol. Pamphlet Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.

Eckler, James. Language of Space and Form: Generative Terms for Architecture. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

Gehl, Jan, and Birgitte Svarre. How to Study Public Life. Washington DC: Island Press, 2013.

Jackowski, Nannette, and Ricardo De. Ostos. Ambiguous Spaces NaJa & DeOstos. 29th ed. Vol. Pamphlet Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008.

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House, 1961.

Lai, Jimenez. Citizens of No Place: An Architectural Graphic Novel. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2012.

Smout, Mark, and Laura Allen. Augmented Landscapes. 28th ed. Vol. Pamphlet Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

Soderstrom, Mary. The Walkable City: From Haussmann’s Boulevards to Jane Jacobs’ Streets and beyond.

Montreal: Véhicule Press, 2008.

Waldheim, Charles. The Landscape Urbanism Reader. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Whyte, William Hollingsworth. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Washington, D.C.: Conservation Foundation, 1980.

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