CALIFORNIA DREAMIN: Autonomous Urbanism & Ecological Uncertainty in the Coachella Valley
FALL 2018
Alan Berger Rafi Segal Jonah Susskind
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN: Autonomous Urbanism & Ecological Uncertainty in the Coachella Valley
FALL 2018
Alan Berger Rafi Segal Jonah Susskind
Studio Instructors Alan Berger Rafi Segal Jonah Susskind
Teaching Assistant Alina Nazmeeva
Students
Ali Al-Sammarraie Collyn Chan Feiyue Chen Joude El-Mabsout Melissa Gutierrez Soto Mengqi He Mengfu Kuo David Maina Azka Mohyuddin Charlotte Ong Jialu Tan Piyush Verma Haoyu Wang
Cover Image: Turbines in the desert Photo: Jonah Susskind
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Mid-Term Review Critics Lorena Bello Gomez Eli Keller Ryan Kurlbaum Jiang Hong Susanne Schindler Emily Wettstein
Final Review Critics Alessandra Cianchetta Flinn Fagg Helen Kongsgaard Ariel Noyman Chelina Odbert Stephen Phillips Chris Reznich Adele Santos Irmak Turan Emily Wettstein
External Collaborators
Center for Demographics and Policy Chapman University City of Palm Springs Freehold Communities Hoag Center for Real Estate
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Introduction
7
The Site
10
Propositional Research Connecting Regional Influences
32
Featured Projects
109
Designing Growth
Master Planned Communities for the 21st Century 120
Contributors
New development in the Anaheim Hills Photo: Alan Berger, Jonah Susskind
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Toward a Transitional Urbanism The Los Angeles metropolitan region has long captured the imaginations of designers and urbanists for its characteristic embodiment of the twentieth century metropolis. Its vast polycentric agglomerations of diverse, low density communities, single-purpose transportation and utility infrastructure—framed against a backdrop of desert, mountain, and ocean landscapes—have inspired a long lineage of techno-futurist identities and visionary design engagement. Banham, Varnelis, Davis and many others write of the metropolis as a place whose assessment cannot begin or end with buildings, but rather with the distributed infrastructures, dynamic ecologies, social tensions, and cultural attitudes at its core. Southern California’s stacked freeway interchanges, snaking aqueducts, and sprawling suburban communities have all been shaped by historical feats of human settlement, civil engineering, water management, and automotive innovation. Each of these canonical urban archetypes has, in turn, transformed the regional landscape, competing for space with dynamic ecologies that are dependent on devastating cycles of seasonal wildfire, coastal storms, and sporadic drought. In the near future, with the proliferation of emergent technologies such as ‘level five’ autonomous mobility systems and ‘smart’ connected streets and infrastructure, new urbanistic visions will have to contend with the growing challenges of climate change and ecological uncertainty. This studio asks: What is required for transitioning to a truly autonomous, near-zero carbon form of urban development in Southern California? How can these comprehensive technological transitions—when met with growing environmental risks and depletion—catalyze new forms of equitable resource distribution? How will these technologies continue to evolve ubiquitous (sub) urban land use patterns throughout Southern California? What are the roles of landscape, architecture, and urban design in shaping the footprints of new neighborhoods, new infrastructures, and new mobility systems?
The Site: Coachella Valley The 400 acre project site is located north of Palm Springs, CA within the northern reaches of the Coachella Valley. The valley is connected to the core of the Greater Los Angeles metro via the San Gorgonio Pass—a major transportation corridor that includes Interstate 10 and the Union Pacific Railroad. Surrounded by mountains, the site is approximately 1,500 feet above sea level. Most seasonal precipitation accumulates as snow at higher elevations during the winter months, with occasional summer rainfall caused by surges of moisture from the Gulf. Since the early twentieth century, more than 100,000 acres (40,500 ha) of the valley has been irrigated to allow for widespread agriculture. In its 2017 annual report, the Coachella Valley Water District listed the year’s total crop value at over $816 million or almost $11,000 per acre. Due to high year-round temperatures, the agricultural sector is a leading producer of high value specialty crops including mangoes, figs, and dates. The San Andreas Fault traverses the Valley’s east side causing periodic earthquakes and producing geothermal energy resources as well as mineral-rich hot springs. Adjacent to the site’s western extents, along Interstate 10, is the second windiest place in the country. Cool coastal air is forced through the pass and mixes with the hot desert air, making the area ideal for continuous, wind-generated electricity. With year-round sunshine, the area is also a leader in solar energy production. Today, the Coachella Valley has some of the highest population growth rates in California. The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) predicts a total population of 884,000 by 2035, representing a 99.4% increase from the 2014 population of 443,401—nearly double the national average. Most of this future growth is expected to happen in the unincorporated areas to the west and north of the valley, which includes the studio site and its surrounding landscape.
View of La Quinta, California from ‘The Cove’ Photo: Jonah Susskind
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Top: Map and transect: Colorado River Aqueduct Bottom: Aerial image: Colorado River Aqueduct Image source (both): Municipal Water District of Orange County
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Propositional Research: Connecting Regional Influences Autonomous, intelligent, integrated technologies have already begun to change the way cities grow, connect, and evolve. To date, most of the research and innovation within this sector has been focused on reducing risk, relieving congestion, and conserving energy within dense urban centers. Nevertheless, these technologies may have their greatest impacts in areas outside of established mass-transit systems and rigid utilities networks, where personal vehicular transport is the most ubiquitous mode of travel and the primary driver for peri-urban development. It is here, in the suburbs, where new technological innovations may have the greatest capacity to transform and redistribute existing land use designations, maximize ecological functions, and shrink carbon footprints. While the Coachella Valley is poised to offer an ideal laboratory for the adaptation of these technologies, the region itself is not a tabula rasa. In fact, the valley is situated at the nexus of several significant geographical and cultural flows—each of which will fundamentally contribute to future processes of urban formation and ecological security in the region. From the shrinking supply of water resources siphoned from the Colorado River and the resource-heavy effects of a state-wide housing crisis, to the rise of alternative energy investments along the San Gorgonio Pass and growing concerns about climate change and increased heat, the valley is being continually reshaped by shifting human/environmental relationships. This studio asks students to develop a body of research that exposes cross-cutting connections between history, site, and process by combining research topics that are often siloed, in spite of their aggregated influences.
Integrated Analysis Students were asked to develop propositional research dossiers by selecting one research topic from each of the four lists shown here. List A represents distinct categories of contemporary technological development, and list B is comprised of major regional drivers for land management policy in Southern California. List C and list D are crosscutting sub-themes that go with any or all of lists A and B. Students were asked to produce a body of interdisciplinary research in order to reveal spatial, cultural, and ecological relationships between each topic focusing on historical trends, recent innovations, and projected future impacts for the region.
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A
Technological Developments
B
Land Management Topics
Autonomous Vehicles + Mobility Systems
Water Management
Renewable Energy + Smart Grids
Agriculture
Building Materials + Techniques
Recreation + Conservation
Information + Communication
Natural Disaster
C
Sub-themes
D
Sub-themes
Internet of Things
Carbon
Artificial Intelligence
Density
Big Data
Security + Safety
Sharing Economy
Waste
Research Dossier Excerpt: AVs, Water Management, Big Data, Safety + Security Feiyue Chen, Mengqi He, Joude Mabsout
ABSTRACT
INFRASTRUCTURES IN PARALLEL
Palm Springs has emerged through two major infrastructures; transportation and water. The two infrastructures are studied in parallel in order to evaluate how Palm Springs’ image of an oasis in the desert was created, and how this image expanded urban population, consequently modifying the desert landscape of the suburb. The convergence of autonomous mobility systems with water management brings new possibilities for re-imagine the suburbs as a more sustainable and holistic landscape. Big data may soon be used as an enabling tool that contributes to water conservation missions for the suburbs. Safety and security of water quality may ultimately be managed through the use of big data and through ‘smart infrastructures’ of water and transportation.
The development of Palm Springs emerged in 1877, after the construction of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which cut through the desert to the Pacific Ocean. As development began, a water source was needed for irrigation and domestic use, hence forming a 19 mile stone-lined ditch bringing water from the Whitewater River into Palm Springs. The two infrastructures of transport and water established Palm Springs, and with evolving technology, faster modes of transportation and water resourcing accelerated, resulting in the continuous urban expansion of the suburb. Positioning these two infrastructures of movement in parallel, we can begin to understand their relationship and discover how they control the ‘livability’ of Palm Springs. For instance, the construction of railroads, highways and airports has contributed to the increase in urban population. The construction of aqueducts has made it possible to import water from distant sources, hence supplying the suburban dwellers with water and allowing for more people to visit or move to Palm Springs.
Water (left) and transportation (right) infrastructures in parallel. Image sources: Water Education Foundation (left), Edward Burtynsky artist website (right)
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Groundwater Basin Wastewater Treatment Plan City Water Facility Waterbody Water Wash Water Streams Highway Street Colorado River Aquaduct Whitewater Stormwater Channel All-American Canal Direction of Movement Water Quality Sensor
Top: Comprehensive map of regional mobility systems illustrates how humans access and commute within the desert. Bottom: Cities have implemented water treatment facilities to recycle water as a supplement to imported supply. Water quality issues around the Salton Sea remain severe.
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WATER EVOLUTION
MOBILITY EVOLUTION
1901
1913
First California deliveries from Colorado River made to farmland in the Imperial Valley
Early railways connect Los Angeles to the Eastern United States.
1915
LA aqueduct begins service
The Coachella Valley Stormwater District (CVSD) is formed to control regional flooding
1922
Colorado River Compact appropriates 7.5 million acre-feet per year to each of the rivers’ two basins
First moving assembly line for automobiles
INFRASTRUCTURES OF MOVEMENT As the two infrastructures act together as pulling forces and bring people into the suburbs, their relationship is not always a mutual one. With the increase in transportation methods and efficiency, a larger demand for water increases as well. In the case of Palm Springs, water is scarce and issues of drought are intensified, hence tension is created between the developing transport systems pulling people into the suburbs and the scarcity of water, either pushing people away, or stagnating population growth. The question of power between these two infrastructures arises, and we must begin to evaluate the effects of transportation on water scarcity and drought. Transportation has formed the landscape of Palm Springs, altering the water flows and diminishing their resources. It is time to reverse the lead designer of the suburbs, where water becomes the base for future designs engagement.
The Southern Pacific Railroad Image source: southernpacificlines.blogspot.com
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1928
6-year drought Col begins, Aqu establishing con benchmark for storage and transfer capacity of all major CA water projects
1950
1931
lorado River ueduct is nstructed
1957
2009
1982
1997
Reclamation Reform Act: Raises the amount of land a farmer can own and still receive low-cost federal water from 160 acres to 960
Second most devastating regional flood of the century
Federal freeway I-10 Freeway is construction completed begins
2014
2015
2017
2018
Gov. Jerry Brown Gov. Jerry signs $7 billion Brown orders legislation, first-ever, creating local statewide oversight water agencies for reductions groundwater aimed at urban California pumping, storage, and management
Google self-driving project begins
California AVs tested on issues revised public roads regulations for AVs on public roads
1962 Palm Springs Life Magazine advertising the 1963 Studebaker Avanti Image source: Palm Springs Life Magazine
CONTROLLING CAPACITY Water in Palm Springs is managed by three different agencies and districts: Mission Springs Water District, Desert Water Agency, and the Coachella Valley Water District. About 30 percent of Southern California’s water comes from the State Water Project (SWP), which runs from Lake Orville in Northern California, crossing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta before reaching the Coachella Valley. The SWP serves a population of nearly 25 million Californians from the Bay Area to San Diego as well as providing irrigation for some of the nation’s most productive farmland in the Central Valley. The Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA) has been the backbone of Southern California’s imported water supply for more than 70 years. Built and operated by Metropolitan, the 242mile aqueduct delivers water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu. The SWP and the CRA are two of the most important drinking water sources for Southern California. The two forces of water and transport work together and against each other; on one hand, transportation companies can attract people to palm springs and water agencies can supply water to people, but on the other hand, transportation can bring more people than the water agency can supply.
As long as the water has flowed, Palm Springs has flowered. Image: the Classic Club in Palm Desert. Image source: NBCnews.com
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486.7 Mgal/ day
604.8 Mgal/ day
494.5 Mgal/ day
55%
45%
Surface Water
Groundwater
519.1 Mgal/ day
66.2 Mgal/ day
Irrigation
Public Supply
Aquaculture
Water usage in Riverside County (Millions of gallons per day)
240 gpcd
386 gpcd
318 gpcd
Mission Springs Water District
Coachella Valley Water District
Desert Water Agency
population 37,600
population 290,000
population 106,944
Water usage by agency (Gallons per capita per day)
Research Dossier Excerpt: Energy, Conservation + Recreation, Sharing Economy, Carbon Collyn Chan, David Maina
LANDSCAPES OF POWER In 2001, Martin J. Pasqualetti claimed the San Gorgonio Pass, “America’s most famous landscape of power.” The historical geographical and economic significance of this corridor paves the way for a renewed identity for the future. In 2050, the identity of Coachella Valley should tie into these existing histories as an adaptive future region known for its focus on creating symbiotic and dual capacities for renewable energy ecosystems. Situated adjacent to, and serviced by the San Gorgonio Pass, the valley has not only been a natural geographical fit for renewable energy, but also a major pinch point and connection for energy generation, transmission and road infrastructure as a whole. Riverside County is a part of California’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan—an integrated regional plan for advancing renewable energy and conserving ecosystems in over 22.5 million acres of desert land. The San Gorgonio Pass becomes one of two major connectors between new View of the I-10 freeway and the Sand Gorgonio Wind Farm. Image source: David McNew, Getty Images
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renewable solar energy capacity and the Los Angeles Metropolitan region. However, this agglomeration of power generation, transmission and connectivity also poses huge risks for energy security in the region. California has long awaited “the big one,” an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 or higher that would leave massive destruction and cost California over $200 billion dollars. The site in question lies directly on top of the San Andreas Fault line, placing integral natural gas pipelines, aqueducts, fiber optic cables, substations and overhead electric power lines at the epicenter of potential earthquakes. In a 2008 study from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), San Gorgonio Pass was identified as one of four critical “lifeline corridors” that would be most impacted by a big earthquake.
Transmission Lines Highways and Truck Corridors Natural Gas pipelines Railroad
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! !! 50
500
!
! !!! ! !
!!
Size of Wind Farm Solar Installation
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Top: The region contains a concentration of vital infrastructural connections to and from Los Angeles County. Bottom: The region contains an agglomeration of wind and solar energy production.
EARTH, HEAT, AND FIRE The Coachella Valley may help provide important opportunities for carbon sequestration and a pathway to zero carbon emissions for California. However, the San Gorgonio Pass is one of four critical “lifeline corridors� that would be most impacted by a big earthquake as outlined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Lying across the San Andreas fault, the region is at serious risk of earthquakes and subsequent loss of property, infrastructure and life due to infrastructural cut offs. In the event of a major earthquake with a magnitude of over 7.8, overhead power lines are expected to collapse and natural gas pipelines broken. The Metropolitan Water District aqueduct would fracture in several places, fiber optic lines would be buried, and miles of road breakage would occur along the I-10 and Highway 62. In short, an earthquake could easily strip away energy transmission for the region in seconds and cut off Palm Springs and areas east of the pass from emergency and repair services. While natural disaster is one risk, another is exposure of energy infrastructure to extreme heat. In 2050, Palm Springs is expected to have 126 days where temperatures are over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Unmodified wind turbines begin to lose efficiency at 95 degrees Fahrenheit and shut down at 104 degrees. Power lines begin losing efficiency and likely increases in electricity use during heat waves may combine to put additional strain on the energy grid. Further, extreme heat raises the temperatures of water used to cool power plants.
! !! Fault Lines Moderate Fire Risk High Fire Risk Very High Fire Risk
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!!
!
!
!!
! !
!
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Road and energy infrastructure as well as regional power generation are located within natural hazard zones.
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TOWARDS ENERGY SECURITY Today there is general consensus that investments into solar, wind, and geothermal power will be the main renewable investments for California. In Palm Springs and the eastern desert region, California is planning the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan with an aim to streamline wind and solar development projects while preserving desert habitat. This move requires comprehensive land use planning, a streamlined permitting process, and federal incentives for energy sources. There is huge potential for solar energy in the future of Palm Springs. 96% of buildings are solar viable, but only about 7% of viable buildings have been installed with solar. Wind and solar are less prone to large-scale failure because they are distributed and modular. However, distributed systems cannot guarantee resilience. At the district scale, though, a modular system may prove to be more resilient if the location of the development is sited appropriately with relation to regional hazards, in tandem with the power generation. Modular systems are composed of numerous individual wind turbines or solar arrays. Even if some of the equipment in the system is damaged, the rest can typically continue to operate. Co-benefits of such modular systems include the build up of social infrastructure that is required to operate these local energy systems, which has been proven to be beneficial to the recovery of communities after extreme events. Some structures of these systems may even generate revenue for those who participate, potentially adding another revenue stream for those who need it the most. These modular energy systems can also share environmental benefits when existing agricultural land is co-located with solar. With potential minimal risks to food security, co-location schemes can reduce land deficits for energy, food, and fiber production. The co-location of developed land, modular energy systems, and agriculture creates both value to the consumer and to the naturist. Google’s Project Sunroof project evaluates the intensity of sunlight across existing buildings in Palm Springs. Image source: Project Sunroof
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RECONFIGURING RECREATION Californians have a long-running affair with the outdoors, from wildland trails to city beaches and a myriad of regional and national parks. Palm Springs, in spite of being in a desert, has well over 100 golf courses. However, due to environmental concerns related to climate change and persistent regional droughts, there has recently been a cultural shift towards water conservation, and the creation of new forms of recreation that are attractive to a younger demographic. This creates an interesting platform for ecological strategies, and a variety of new recreationist paradigms that shift from traditional single-use models. Increasingly, golf courses within the region are transitioning in service of regional water management. One way this is being done is by reducing aquifer harvesting that provides much of the water used for golf course irrigation through desertscaping. This combination of conservation with recreation not only creates recreational amenities in the suburbs, but also appeals to the environmental values of tourists and residents alike. The resulting confluence of economic good, environmental protection and social benefit is ultimately meant to future proof the region from adverse natural risk and changing market conditions.
Top: Concentration of green spaces as golf courses. Image source: Google Maps. Bottom: Desert-scaped area with seasonal wetlands and native grasses. Image source: Evan Carson, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Research Dossier Excerpt: Agriculture, Interfaces, Sharing Economy, Waste Azka Mohyuddin, Charlotte Ong
SPATIAL TENSIONS OVER LAND California is the bread basket of America, producing more than two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of its vegetables, with this production valued at more than $50 billion a year. (California Department of Food & Agriculture) Riverside County alone contributes approximately $4 billion annually to California’s agriculture economy.
0
5
10
20 Miles
5
10
20 Miles
1:175,000
As the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area expands and pushes its boundaries further outwards with more people moving into suburban municipalities like Palm Desert, Riverside or Palm Springs, the agricultural lands in these areas face mounting urban development pressures. At the same time, with an increase in population, consumption levels likewise rise, resulting in an increase in demand for agricultural crops. Effectively, producers have to improve productivity, growing more food with less land. In Riverside County, there has been an overall net loss of agricultural land of 173,440 acres from 1984 to 2016. This corresponds to an approximate average annual loss of 5,420 acres of agricultural land. During that same period of 1984 to 2016, urban and built up land in Riverside County saw a net gain of 170,650 acres, which corresponds to an average annual gain of 5,330 acres. 0
Additional urban and built up land and loss of agricultural land from 1:175,000 2006 to 2016 in Riverside County. Based on California State Department of Conservation’s Farmland Mapping & Monitoring Program data.
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LEGEND New Urban & Built Up Land 2006 Agricultural Land 2006 Urban & Built-Up Land
LEGEND Loss of Agricultural Land 2006 Agricultural Land 2006 Urban & Built-Up Land
Crops grown in Coachella Valley, Riverside County’s most productive district. Based on Riverside County’s Crop Mapping 2014 data.
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One of Riverside County’s key crops is dates – Riverside is California’s leading date production county and in 2016, Riverside County’s date production alone accounted for about 10% of the entire world’s date yield. Agriculture is important at the individual/personal level as well. California has the highest number of beginning farmers (farmers with less than 9 years of experience) across all 50 states as of 2012 based on the USDA’s 2012 Agriculture Census. Agriculture in Riverside County is here to stay. Worldwide, there are significant concerns about food production and population increase, with experts estimating that we would need to produce 70% more food for an additional 2.3 billion people by 2050 while adapting to climate change, combating poverty and hunger. At the same time, in order to respond to the spatial tensions of increased consumption and demand with developmental pressures on agricultural land, along with concerns on the impact of climate change, potential future Image source: Grow Inc. website: growinc.ca
labor and water shortages, farmers have started to embrace new technology like precision agriculture and the use of mobile apps in farm management. New trends also include vertical farming, which although could potentially minimize land required, still has significant scaling problems that makes it cost prohibitive at this point. These spatial tensions we have highlighted represent an opportunity to integrate agriculture with residential uses in 2050, perhaps blurring the lines between residential and agricultural uses on a scale beyond a simple backyard garden.
Image source: Urban Organics website: urbanorganics.com
1.3 SYSTEMS OF CONSUMPTION
Flows of Waste: In 2017, 4,703,610.94 tons of waste was processed in Riverside county landfills. Of which, 2,562,965.65 tons, or about 54.4%, was imported from outside the county. While 2,322,650.95 tons of waste was exported out of the county.
Population growth inadvertently leads to more waste, and affluence acts as a catalyst to that waste production. Increases in regional wealth allow for more consumption. Reciprocally, increased demand leads to more production. Over the years waste management strategies have advanced significantly, but with better management, people are more likely to waste more because they don’t have to interact with their waste.
Technological advancements have added another layer of e-waste that ends up in landfills. According to Environmental Protection Agency’s 2011 report on e-waste management, In the United States, Americans disposed of 47.4 million computers, 27.2 million televisions, and 141 million mobile devices annually. Most of new tech products have a life of up to 3 years which is also contributing to the e-waste growth. While e-waste is only 2% of the waste that ends up in landfilss, it makes up 70% of the toxic waste which poses significant health concerns. Therefore, employing alternative methods of dealing with e-waste is very important.
California has also had to deal with increased demand for waste disposal sites. The state saw an increase in overall waste disposal for a fourth consecutive year in 2016 with 35.2 million tons of waste ending up in landfills. In 2011, California adopted a policy to reach a 75% recycling goal, however, the recycling rate dropped to 44% in 2016, the lowest since the policy was implemented. In order for California to reach their 75% recycling goal, more than half of the waste that goes to landfills will need to be source reduced, recycled, or composted. Putting these pieces together, we conjecture that in the realm of agriculture, in order to respond to climatic, water and population pressures as well as the resultant spatial tensions, farming will have to continue on the current trend of incorporating technology to improve productivity and reduce waste. This includes vertical farming and controlledenvironment agriculture that could potentially increase yields up to a factor of six depending on the crop, while also using less water. Agricultural ‘design’ will also need to take into account a shift towards
Flows of Waste: In 2017, 4,703,610.94 tons of waste was processed in Riverside county landfills. 2,562,965.65 tons, or about 54.4%, was imported from outside the county.
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mechanization. To further respond to land pressures, we think that residential and agricultural uses should be better integrated by redesigning the suburbs and rethinking the segregation of land uses by incorporating agricultural aspects into the residential parcel and structure itself. As the sharing economy gains ubiquity and new autonomous technologies develop, to truly disrupt the consumption cycle, we should design with waste in mind upfront. Rather than disregarding waste as an unwanted or neglected byproduct, designers should design for waste, treating it as a resource and exploring opportunities for innovation. Perhaps as the Zero Waste Design Guidelines publication argues, garbage – waste in its traditional physical form – is a product of bad design. Interface designs should not allow us the easy convenience of obscuring the impact that our individual actions have on systems of consumption. Rather than separating producers and consumers through multiple layers of middlemen, anonymous In 2008, 32.4% of everything put in California landfills was organic waste. Image source: Alan Levine, Flickr
and sanitized platforms designed for convenience above all else, we should consider ways to design to integrate our systems of production and consumption in a bid to achieve sustainability for the year 2050.
Coachella Valley Panoramas Photos: Jonah Susskind
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Featured Projects: Driving Desert Urbanism for the 21st Century Working in small groups, students developed master plans for an autonomous, near zero-carbon, connected suburban development that could meet several spatial, programmatic, and metabolic requirements at three distinct scales. The objective was to develop a design framework for leveraging cutting-edge technologies to effectively instigate new urban forms with a focus on autonomy, mobility, carbon emissions, resource management, landscape performance, and climate adaptation. The goal for the semester was to present a robust, imaginative, and detailed vision for the future of suburbia, in order to reveal a firm position on at least one social, political, or ecological debate.
Co-Habitat: ‘Wash Urbanism’ for Southern California Joude El-Mabsout, Melissa Gutierrez Soto
Adjacent to the mountains in the desert of Palm Springs, ‘Co-habitat: Wash Urbanism 2.0’ explores a new type of development that integrates housing and recreation with its natural landscape. Following the path of the alluvial washes emerging from the mountains, this new development takes advantage of the space and flexibility obtained by introducing Autonomous Vehicles to suburbia, and breaks the classic suburban grid to create a linear and dynamic system of housing and recreational activities. The development connects with the landscape through a network of floodable amenities for water collection, elevated housing and multimodal pathways for desert exploration, serving as recreational links from the plain to the mountains. Responding to seasonality and temporality, with agricultural and blooming landscapes, supported by a system of Autonomous Collective Vehicles for cultural activities, this development uses technology as a tool for reconnecting with nature and exploring a new desert lifestyle. The project reveals characteristics and uses of the desert that are often ignored or erased through traditional suburban developments. The project is organized around 3 systems: mobility, water management and recreation. With Co-habitat, a new lifestyle emerges in sync with the dynamics of the regional desert ecosystem, creating a productive, recreational and a flood-resilient landscape, supported by the flexibility that future technologies provide for expanding and enhancing the experience of suburban living.
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‘Through the Looking Glass’
7,100 sq ft
Pervious
fa m ily itie
s/
89%
Water Storage
8%
Impervious
3%
Impervious
AV roads
am
en
9,277,940 sq ft
Hiking trail
Metrics
1,150 sq ft
Lot: 5,150 sq ft
Building footprints .02%
900 sq ft
850 sq ft
6
Single Family
Footprint
Apartments
Occupied
Footprint / Empty
12 apts x 2 levels
Lot + structure
Cluster AV dropoff Camping
General AV DROPOFF
Ped Ped es Pri estr tria ian n va te AV
5
Elevated house
CLUSTER ZONE 2
Bloom parks
Se
ct
n
io
4
Pedestrian + AV
Pedestrian + bike
4
Outdoor decks Privacy element
SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE
Education + Play
Sec
tio
n3
3
Biking Pedestrian + AV
Bikeway ponds
2
n2
Se
ctio
Urban Farming
Se
Pedestrian
ction
4
1 231f20
co-habitat
SUBURBAN LIVING IN SYNC WITH THE DESERT
‘Co-habitat’ schematic master plan
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MELISSA GUTIÉRREZ + JOUDE MABSOUT
URBAN STUDIO_CALIFORNIA DREAMING
Housing Typologies
Pedestrian + bike
4
BLOOM PARKS
wetland ponds
60ft communal open space
3
10ft path
10ft bike path
40ft platform with signage for blooming plants
6ft path
60ft stepped blooming pond
10ft path
10ft bike path
100ft sloped blooming pond with paths
10ft path
10ft bike path
90ft bridge overlooking bloom pond
40ft stepped area for viewing
EDUCATION + PLAY
autonomous library
water storage sensor receiving signals via water channels in order to send water to other areas of the site
automated school bus
floodable field
water movement
88ft private residence
SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE
2
10ft path
10ft AV path
10ft drop off
10ft path
88ft private residence
50ft communal open space
10ft AV path
10ft school bus stop
20ft path
10ft 75ft bike path communal open space with autonomous library zone
90ft basketball field and retention pond
BIKEWAY PONDS
automated cafe
detector for density of people
automated community cafe
temporal wetland ponds
10ft dropoff
1
10ft AV path
120ft public open space with bioswales and an autonomous market zone
38ft pedestrian bridge over wetland pond
38ft pedestrian bridge over wetland pond
14ft path
20ft pedestrian and bike paths
45ft stepped wetland pond
30ft rocky wetland pond
10ft bike path
60ft communal open space with autonomous cafe zone
88ft private residence
AGRICULTURE + URBAN FARMING drone detecting water stress based on low fluorescence sends signal to smart water infrastructure to activate drip irrigation
automated drip irrigation
automated vegetable picking
80ft private residence
smart water infrastructure that sends signals to larger network when water is scarce 48ft community agriculture garden
co-habitat
drip irrigation activated after the remote sensors detect water scarcity
80ft private residence
water level remote sensing
detector for density of people
automated date shake bus
automated farmer market for the community
40ft community garden and autonomous market
10ft date palm
40ft drop off and autonomous activity node
10ft date palm
50ft date palm
8ft 8ft 10ft 15ft bioswale bike path bioswale pedestrian
8ft bioswale
60ft date palm
‘Co-habitat’ system sections
SUBURBAN LIVING IN SYNC WITH THE DESERT
MELISSA GUTIÉRREZ + JOUDE MABSOU
Schematic site systems diagrams
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Proposed hydrological system plan
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EXPERIENCE Temporal Ponds
Filled pond after a flood
Pond slowly draining
Accesible wetland pond for recreation and seating
Temporal ponds (detail sections)
sing
3 AV Commerce arrive
2 Signals sent to AV market buses
1 Detecting devices sense density of people
drone detecting water stress based on low fluorescence sends signal to smart water infrastructure to activate drip irrigation
drone monitoring crops and notifying residents
automated cafe
detector for density of people
automated date shake bus
water storage sensor receiving signals via water channels in order to send water to other areas of the site
automated school bus
automated farmer market for the community
detector for density of people
autonomous cafe and hiking, camping equipment store
temporal wetland ponds
wetland ponds
floodable field
water movement
10ft 40ft t 10ft 100ft date palm en and autonomous th bike path market sloped blooming pond with pathsdrop off and autonomous activity node
10ft path
autonomous library
detector for density of people
88ft private residence
10ft dropoff
10ft AV path
10ft date palm
50ft date palm
50ft communal open space 120ft public open space with bioswales and an autonomous market zone
Sensors + Human Density: ‘AV Commerce’
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10ft path 10ft AV path
10ft 8ft 15ft 10ft 8ft 90ft bioswale bike overlooking pedestrian path bioswale bike path bridge bloom pond
10ft school bus stop
20ft path
8ft bioswale
60ft date palm
30ft 8ft 74ft 50ft 40ft public space for bioswale open space date field apartment building stepped area for viewing and transition seating from autonomous market
10ft 75ft bike path communal open space with autonomous library zone 38ft 38ft pedestrian bridge over wetland pond pedestrian bridge over wetland pond
90ft basketball field and retention pond 14ft 45ft path stepped wetland pond
10ft AV paths
10ft path
10ft bike path
80ft cabin site
20ft pedestrian and bike paths
20ft communal agricultur
130ft floodable playg 30ft rocky wetland pond
2 Signals sent to retention ponds via smart water infrastructure
3 Water from pond sent to palm field via bioswales and pipes
1 Sensors detect water scarcity
drone detecting water stress based on low fluorescence sends signal to smart water infrastructure to activate drip irrigation
drone monitoring crops a notifying residents
10ft date palm
50ft date palm
8ft
10ft
8ft
15ft
8ft
60ft
bioswale bike path bioswale pedestrian bioswale date palm Sensors + Water Management: ‘Smart Water Channels’
8ft bioswale
74ft 50ft open space transition from date field apartment building
Direct AV drop off
Elevated housing cluster block plan
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74ft transverse section apartment building A
10ft pedestrian
10ft bike path
Connected apartment buildings
Top: Ecologically sensitive high-density housing section Bottom: ‘View From the Back Deck’
74ft transverse section apartment building B
Conceptual rendering showing AVs and humans sharing space in the future desert landscape.
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Dreamin’ California Productive Landscapes X Chaparral Compact Feiyue Chen, Mengfu Kuo
This project begins with an investigation into the social connotations of the ‘California dream’ which, in spite of it’s promises of wealth, fame, and ‘a new world’ has manifest in urban formations that leave much to be desired by today’s communities and often repeat 20th century forms regardless of context. Images of the California landscape have long served as propaganda for municipal boosters and chambers of commerce intent on expanding their tax bases. Yet the suburbia we see out the car window often feels isolated from the rolling chaparral hillsides and desert blooms of postcards and movies. As we look towards the suburban dreams of tomorrow, we ask how the manifold efficiencies of comprehensive AV mobility systems may contribute to a new image of residential development in the California desert. This project rejects the false promise of unlimited resources and helps to catalyze a perceptual transformation from ‘ego’ to ‘eco’ through a new spatial paradigm where productive landscapes, mobility infrastructure, and recreation areas are all interwoven to form a master planned community conscious of its own natural limits.
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‘Dreamin’ California’
Proposed community master plan
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Interal Interal community community clusters clusters
Exteral Exteral linear linear corridors corridors
Top: Environmental flows analysis Bottom: Site systems analysis matrix
Exteral Exteral linear linear corridors corridors
CHAPARRAL LANDSCAPE
AGRICULTURE CORRIDOR
Master plan detail showing housing clusters and productive landscape corridors.
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FOOD HUB & MARKET
PURIFICATION CORRIDOR
WIND TURBINE CORRIDOR
SPORTS FIELD
150 ft
110 ft
30 ft
30 ft
5 ft side walk
45 ft
9 ft AV driveway 6 ft side walk 6 ft bike lane
Single-Family Housing A
Single-Family Housing B
cluster of 4 units
cluster of 3 units
2 AV parking space 3 bedrooms+2 restrooms per unit Total units: 412
Housing types 1,000 homes on 300 acres
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1 AV parking space 3 bedrooms+2 restrooms per unit Total units: 336
90 ft
70 ft
23 ft
23 ft
40 ft
45 ft
Multi-Family Housing A
Multi-Family Housing B
cluster of 4 units
cluster of 3 units
1 AV parking space 2 bedrooms+1.5 restroom per unit Total units: 168
1 AV parking space 2 bedrooms+1.5 restroom per unit Total units: 72
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Compact Chaparral Instead of having the landscape as a backdrop, we propose highlighting it as an immersive experience.
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Productive backyard landscapes The connected corridors of productive landscape include palm trees, wind turbines, and solar farms.
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Productive landscapes as social hub Productive landscapes offer co-benefits by capturing economic value, providing recreational amenities, and contributing to wastewater recycling.
Optimized Oasis Ali Al-Sammarraie, David Maina
Current approaches to suburban living exploit resources wastefully and contribute to global warming and CFC gas emissions. The progress of suburbia is dependent on the optimization of systems - be they family living, environmental balance, habitat conservation or efficiency across the board. “The Optimized Oasis� is therefore based on design exploration that optimizes mobility infrastructure for AVs to leverage open space design opportunities, addressing key local and contextual issues such as wind attenuation, fire mitigation, water retention, and habitat conservation.
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Conceptual rendering showing proposed single-family housing typology.
RAIN
ROOF COLLECTION PERVIOUS PAVING
SUBURBIA
DRY CREEK
SALTON SEA
OPEN LANDSCAPE
MULTI FUNCTION WETLANDS
ACQUIFER RECHARGE
OPEN SPACE WETLAND TRAILS
FLOOD CONTROL
WASH
BIODIVERSITY
Proposed site systems // hydrology, vehicular speed, open space, access, permeability
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Connected Open Space
‘Zoning’ by Wind and Fire
Stitched Neighborhood Circulation
Renewables Potential & Conservation
Water Conservation
Left: Conceptual framework diagrams Right: Schematic regional scale plan showing connected community development opportunities
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Left: Modular community unit plan Right: Proposed housing typologies
‘Application of integrated systems.’ Aerial view looking Northeast.
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SINGLE HOMES SOLAR GRID SOLAR ENERGY FIELD
LIZARD/BIRD HABITAT
Top: Drone’s eye view Bottom: Community cross-section
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GRAY WATER FOR IRRIGATION
SOLAR POWER AIR FILTRATION
DRY CREEK FOR STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
Top: Conceptual rendering showing proposed multi-family housing typology.
WIND
ATION DISSIP
Inverting The Strip Collyn Chan, Mengqi He
Our proposal is inspired by the classic American commercial strip typology that is deeply rooted in the dominance of the automobile. This type of development, particularly in California, has persisted over time. Commercial strips are on one hand long and linear, reflective of this relationship to the car as a way to move from one store to another. This form perpetuates the dependency on cars as well as urban sprawl. On the other, they are repetitive and redundant, with services such as gas stations repeated along the corridor and in the development of adjacent residential neighborhoods. One can see that this typology creates the separation of retail by a dominant transportation corridor which prioritizes the car and promotes faster traffic. We respond to this in our new suburban typology by ‘inverting the strip.’ Path as Place. As you enter the strip, you’ll travel along the main oneway for the autonomous car or bus. Instead of fast moving cars along a thoroughfare, you are flanked on one side by the “strip,” a recreational greenway. The old thoroughfare is now a place that is utilized for public amenities, gardens, and small shops. The ‘strip’ is a public greenway. Multi-modality + Nodeshare. You’ll arrive at a transit hub where you will disembark your vehicle. From here, there’s a selection of shared autonomous and micro mobility services that you will take to your final destination. Or, it’s inviting to just walk. To get home, you can take a shared AV directly to your doorstep. These small-scale AVs will return to the dock autonomously after door drop-off, and also have the added benefit of carrying any extra deliveries or bags you may have. Plug-in Blocks. Housing at the block level is optimized. From each node, it is a 5-minute walk to the furthest house in the block, or as quick as a 1.5 minute golf cart ride. A catalog of plug-in blocks offers flexibility to mix and match different development patterns and densities, and phasing opportunities to be adaptive over time and into the future through expansion. By not having to travel as far for services and amenities, residents in this development spend less time in vehicles and more time in their neighborhoods, taking advantage of all the spaces that have been unlocked. Conservation, cooperative living, affordability, diversity and a life outdoors. This is the California Dream that we always wanted.
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Regional commuter drive-shed radius
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‘Plugging in to the nodes’ program diagram
Schematic master plan
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Block Typology
Phase 1
Top: ‘Path as place’- public vs private Bottom: Development phasing diagram
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Catalog of block typologies
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Block-scale master plan detail showing neighborhood nodes, clusters, and open space networks
Multi-family housing block
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Transit hub
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ROAD
HOUSING
HOUSING
RETAIL
Top: Typical section of car-dominant commercial strip Bottom: Proposed section of amenity-rich mixed-use strip
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PARKING
AV CAR LANE
LOADIN
PUBLI
ING
RETAIL
IC AMENITIES
BOULEVARD
AV CAR LANE
RETAIL
RETAIL
Autonomy On The Edge Haoyu Wang, Piyush Verma
Bounded by mountains and wind farms, the desert landscape on the western edge of Desert Hot Spring is being exploited for renewable energy and sporadic residential developments. Looking forward to a scenario of 2050 with ‘level five’ autonomous mobility systems and robotic production, this unique landscape provides a perfect site to reinvent the image of the California dream. Instead of defining this edge as a residential colony of its adjacent city, ‘Autonomy on the Edge’ provides an alternative approach for the age of accelerated urban sprawl and dispersal. The project envisions an autonomous community which provides opportunities for economic and social wellbeing through a high level of self-reliance. To achieve this vision, we synthesize built forms with artificial landscapes and create interior spaces which are protected from environmental hazards and well-integrated through flexible programs for work and life.
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Top: Typical section of car-dominant commercial strip Bottom: Proposed section of amenity-rich mixed-use strip
Steven Holl’s “Edge of a City” project for Phoenix, Arizona (c.1991)
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Strategic siting diagram
Topography as community wind protection diagrams
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Schematic master plan
Aerial perspective showing proposed neighborhood fabric
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Aerial perspective showing integrated logistical and communication networks
Block-scale master plan detail
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Block sections
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Welcome! You are the first industrial designer in our community!
Wow... a industrial designer!
I’m glad that you offer this creative lot!
Hi! We are running a product maker space. Maybe we should do some projects together! That would be great!
Hi, I’m new here. I saw online that you design kitchen robot...
Can I help you?
Wow! Your new studio is so spacious! Actually it’s a studio-slash-kids room... you know when you get children and family...
So...what are you gonna do next?
I don’t wanna completely retire... I guess I will find something to do
Strawberries for this year. Would you like to try some?
I like your greenhouse! What do you grow here?
Welcome back! I was just criticizing your dad’s gardening...
Mom! Dad! How are you? It’s been a while...
‘Creative lot’ flexible parcel programming diagram
Building typologies include the row-house + creative lot (top), valley cluster + kitchen garden (middle), and single-family home +creative lot (bottom).
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Conceptual rendering showing active streetscape
CrossFit Points, Parks, and Yards Azka Mohyuddin, Charlotte Ong, Jialu Tan
Around 2050, fully autonomous cars will allow for suburban forms that are organized for better social and environmental connectivity, marking the death of “car-based” urbanism that has motivated the forms of the past two centuries. This project takes a leap forward to explore new forms through a grid system of points, parks, and yards that create a field of heterogenous conditions for community design. As the system of points, parks, and yards is laid out, housing is clustered on each side of central open spaces, creating a modular cross shape that uniquely combines a variety of housing cluster typologies and landscape elements to encourage comfortably scaled spaces for community interactions. Moreover, by eliminating driveways and garages, thinning street widths, and creating shared drop-offs with pedestrian paths, the project creates circulation opportunities that are not broken down by cars, and add to the cohesiveness and connectivity of the social spaces throughout the plan. Pedestrian paths and a variety of differently scaled and programmed “yards” are the nexus for community building in this design. At the same time, a cluster of four such crosses creates another typology of space, the outer yard, that allows for interactions across different communities. This offers a hierarchy of open spaces with a privacy gradation from the most public outer yard to the most private backyard. The cross shape also offers flexibility and adaptability in a wide range of options suitable for infill development. This project therefore offers a toolkit for developers to adapt and customize for different demographics, site conditions and phased implementation. As a proof of concept, this site was chosen in Palm Desert, north of the I-10, where there are existing developments that extend into the site. The development is responsive to the mile-by-mile continental grid, as well as the surrounding site context, with the option to adjust the grid to connect seamlessly into existing developments where necessary.
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Schematic block cluster design
Proposed Development
Existing Development
velopment
32 single family lots road surface: 0.54 acres total area: 4.14 acres (inclusive of a shared open space)
velopment
family lots e: 2.21 acres 9.52 acres open space)
101 family lots e: 2.21 acres
32 single family lots road surface: 2.21 acres total area: 9.52 acres (no shared open space)
Proposed development only uses 26% of land for roads to service the same number of homes.
Proposed development only requires 43% of land for the same number of home and provides a shared open space in addition.
AV Roads Existing Roads
AV road insertion diagram
THE AV FUTURE
8.5 ft
40 ft
5 ft
10 ft
12.5 ft
10 ft
5 ft
59.5 ft
5 ft
TRADITIONAL SUBURBIA
33 ft
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57.5 ft
33 ft
5 ft
5 ft
10 ft
10 ft
58 ft
10 ft
10 ft
5 ft
5 ft
4.5 ft
13 ft
14 ft
72 ft
11 ft
10 ft
5 ft
40 ft
15.5 ft
45 ft
How Cross Fits 1.
2.
3.
O
OUTTER
Why Cross Fits 1.
2.
3.
OUTTER
OUTTER
INNER
OUTTER
Flexibility
Adaptability
INNER
2.
Inner Yards
Creates Two Spaces
INNER
‘CrossFit’ systems catalog
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3.
Community Clusters
O
OUTTER
CrossFit Systems 1.
IN OUT
Across Field Connection
INNER
Inner Courtyard
90 ft x 90 ft
180 ft x 180 ft
Housing Lots
340 ft x 340 ft
45 ft x 80 ft 60 ft x 80 ft
Housing Types
70 ft x 75 ft
single family (small) multi-generational
single family (large) townhouses
Cross Typologies
Kitchen
Dinning Room
Living Room
Living Room
Bedroom #3
Bath
Bedroom #2
CL CL
Master Bath
Master Bath
CL CL
Kitchen
Bedroom #2
Bedroom #2
CL
CL
Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Master Bath
CL CL
Bedroom #2
Bedroom #3
Living Room
Bath
Dinning Room
Kitchen
Kitchen
Master Bedroom
CL
CL
Master Bedroom
CL
CL
Bedroom #2
CL
Bedroom #2
Bath
CL
Bedroom #3 Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Living Room
CL
CL
CL
CL
Master Bath Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
CL
CL
CL
CL Dinning Room
Bath
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
Dinning Room
Living Room
Bedroom #3
Bath
Bedroom #2
CL CL
Living Room
Master Bath
Master Bath
CL CL
CL
CL
Bath
Kitchen
Dinning Room
Kitchen
Bath
Bedroom #2 CL
CL
Bedroom #2
Dinning Room
Bedroom #3
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Bedroom #3
CL CL
Living Room
Master Bath
Master Bath
CL CL
Bedroom #3
Living Room
“CrossFit’ systems implementation framework
Bedroom #2
Bath
Dinning Room
Kitchen
Living Room
Bedroom #3
Bedroom #3
Dinning Room
Bath
Living Room
Master Bath
Master Bath Living Room
CL Dinning Room
Bath
CL
Master Bath
Bedroom #3
CL Dinning Room
Bedroom #2
Dinning Room CL
Master Bath Master Bedroom
Bedroom #3
Bedroom #2
Bedroom #3 Living Room
Living Room
Master Bath
Master Bath CL
CL
Kitchen
Bath Dinning Room
Co-working Space
CL
Bedroom #3 Master Bedroom
Master Bath
Kitchen
CL CL
Living Room
Bath Dinning Room
CL
Bedroom #3
Living Room
Dinning Room
Kitchen
Bath Dinning Room
Living Room
CL
Master Bedroom
Bedroom #3
Bath
Kitchen
Bath
Bedroom #2 CL
CL Bedroom #2
Kitchen
Dinning Room
Bedroom #3
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom CL
Bedroom #2
Bedroom #2
Bath
Kitchen
Large Single Lot
Site Plan for Housing 200’:1’’
Multi-Generation Houses
Town Houses
Town Houses
Small Single Lot
Existing Context
Large Single Lot
Large Single Lot
Multi-Generation Houses
Inner Yard (small)
90’
Housing development site plan
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180’
90’
90’
Site Plan for Landscape 200’:1’’
Commercial / Community
Inner Courtyard
Uber Flight
Coworking Space
Outer Courtyard
Parking Tower
Date Farm
Waste Water Management Uber Flight
Inner Yard (large)
Existing Development
340’
Outer Yard
90’
Landscape management site plan
Inner Yard (medium)
180’
Stormwater & Grey Water Management
Road & Shared Drop-off
180’
Designing Growth: Master Planned Communities for the 21st Century Since Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities of Tomorrow was published at the end of the 19th century, the master planned community concept has been central to both suburban morphology and ideology throughout the United States. The birth of the garden city movement inspired landscape architects and urbanists like Frederick Law Olmsted to extend their work as urban park designers and take on the challenges of environmental site planning for new communities outside the city. It was here in places like Riverside, a subdivision just west of Chicago, that Olmsted developed master plans with two things in mind: providing “access to scenery,” and providing first-class roadways, which he determined to be of “greatest value to people seeking escape from the confinement of town.” Another visionary designer, Frank Lloyd Wright, spent most of his career sketching and modeling a concept for idealized suburban living—Broadacre City. Wright’s plan demonstrates the influence of the automobile at the front end of the 20th century. His Euclidean grid system of roads and blocks became the de facto armature for America’s newly born suburbia, which was driven by not only cars, but by new building technology and prefab construction techniques as well. Today, after more than a century of rapid urban development in the US, roughly 70% of the country’s population lives in the suburbs, and that number is expected to grow. Nevertheless, many of today’s planned communities seem to be stubbornly predefined by the inherited physical templates and consumer preferences of the past. Cookie-cutter housing models remain tethered to private garages and vast swaths of impervious surfaces in order to preserve nostalgic images of the mid-century nuclear family and in general, the status quo. In many ways, the challenges faced by Howard, Olmsted, and Wright are not so different from the ones we face today in terms of capturing the benefits of a regional landscape and embracing the innovative promises of new technology. In a place like Southern California, where the proliferation of autonomous vehicles is coinciding with a statewide housing crisis
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and threats of ecological collapse, these challenges must be at the forefront of our vision for a sustainable urban future. In this context, the master planned community may still have much to offer.
BOOM: A master planned ‘desert sensitive’ community proposed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro led design team for 100 acre site outside of Palm Springs, CA. Image source: ArchDaily
Desert landscape outside of Palm Springs, CA Photo: Jonah Susskind
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New Development in Southern California Photo: Jonah Susskind
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Newly planted palms at the entrance of ‘Miralon,’ a master planned community outside of Palm Springs, CA Photo: Jonah Susskind
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New housing in Irvine, CA Photo: Jonah Susskind
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MIT students on the Palm Springs Windmill Tour Photo: Jonah Susskind
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Contributors
This studio would like to acknowledge the following people, organizations, and institutions for their generous support and feedback throughout the course of the semester.
Alessandra Cianchetta Flinn Fagg Lorena Bello Gomez Eli Keller Helen Kongsgaard Eli Keller Ryan Kurlbaum Ariel Noyman Chelina Odbert Stephen Phillips Chris Reznich Adele Santos Susanne Schindler Irmak Turan Emily Wettstein Center for Demographics and Policy Chapman University City of Palm Springs Freehold Communities Hoag Center for Real Estate MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism