Interior Architecture Senior Thesis book | Sharon Chen

Graffiti Culture: A planned urban intersection celebrating the temporarily and culture of street art

Houston Graffiti Park | Sharon Chen | Fall. 2020 |Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, University of Houston, Interior Architecture program | Megan Jackson

This thesis re-imagines the experience of urban graffiti art by proposing an outdoor museum destination that activates the street space between Houston’s graffiti walls and celebrates the cultural and temporal identity of the city’s graffiti murals.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS This thesis statement

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Design Intent

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Theoretical Framework

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Graffiti

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Culture

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Technology

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Elements of Place Making

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Site – EADO

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Site – Area and Building

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Proposal

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Conclusion

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Case Studies

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Work Cited

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Appendix

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Design Intent The viewing of art should be more tactile experience. The audience should feel the art without distance. In the traditional way of viewing art, there is a boundary between the audience and the artwork. Museum access, the framing of art, and the limitation of set viewing distances affect the way the audience experiences public art.

Graffiti should be celebrated as a public art and the experience should be carefully curated. Graffiti art inhabits the vertical space of the wall. In this thesis, the space between the walls is the site. The wall is the canvas; the public street is now the museum.

Theoretical Framework “Architecture is essentially an art form of reconciliation and mediation, and in addition to settling us in space and place, landscapes and buildings articulate our experiences of duration and time between the polarities of past and future. In fact, along with the entire corpus of literature and the arts, landscapes and buildings constitute the most important externalization of human memory.” (Pallasmaa, 2009) In Johan Plassmaa’s article, Space Place Memory and Imagination, he states that architecture and time are closely linked. The built environment creates memory. The 21st century city contains three essential criteria. They are the transportation, which connect to the speed and pace. The people, which means the density, and the street, which related to the temporarily.

Nowadays, the transportation of urban city is convenient and efficient. High speed and pace are characteristics of the urban city. However, because of the high acceleration in parts of the dense city, safety still is an important concern based on the National Association of City Transportation Officials: Urban Street Design Guide. One must design streets using target speed, the speed you intend for drivers to go, rather than the operating speed. The maximum target speed for urban arterial streets is 35 mph. Some urban arterials may fall outside of built-up areas where people are likely or permitted to walk or bicycle. In these highway-like conditions, a higher target speed may be appropriate. The maximum target speed for local streets in urban city is 30 mph (Urban Street Design Guide).

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The population density of urban cities continues to accelerate. According to the data from United Nation, 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas today, a proportion that is expected to increase to 68% by 2050. Projections show that urbanization, the gradual shift in residence of the human population from country to urban areas, combined with the overall growth of the world’s population could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90% of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa. The urban city is continuing growing, people are willing to move to a convenient place, rather than the rural area.[Figure 1-3] Another element that creates the urban city is temporalty. The city and its streets are constantly active and constantly changing. Graffiti art epitomizes the idea of temporality. “Public art requires a more passionate commitment to the temporary to the information culled from the short-lived project. This proposal is offered not as an indictment of or indifference to permanent public art, but rather as an endorsement of alternatives. The temporary not only has a certain philosophical currency, but it permits art production to simulate the idea of the research laboratory.” In Phillips’s “Temporality and Public Art.” He argues that temporary art, which must respond to a moment of time, is more stimulating than permanent art. The temporality of urban graffiti is connected with the speed and pace of the urban city. Houston, TX is an excellent example of a 21st century city. It is a city built on transportation and speed and is constantly changing.

In the fast paced, every changing urban environment, how does one create a place for pause, observation, and reflection?

In a city with public art often only experienced as a speeding drive-by, how does a designer create a slower, pedestrian focused space? Urban Placemaking utilizes a local community’s assets, potential, and inspiration. Urban Placemaking also strengthens the connection between people and the places.

“If I suggest that madness also raises an architectural question, it is in order to demonstrate two points. On one hand, that normality (“good” architecture: typologies, modern movement dogmas, rationalism, and the other “isms” of recent history) is only one possibility among those offered by the combination or “genetics” of architectural elements. On the other, that, just as all collectivities require lunatics, deviants, and criminals to mark their own negativity, so architecture needs extremes and interdictions to inscribe the reality of its constant oscillation between the pragmatics of the built realm and the absoluteness of concepts”( Tschumi, 1990).

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[Figure 1-3] The population density of urban cities worldwide

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Graffiti Graffiti originated as an urban vandalism. It was primarily an urban condition and the relationship between urban landscape and this type of art form is still prevalent today.

The contemporary graffiti art originated from Philadelphia in 1960, and by the late sixties it had expanded to New York.

The new art form really starts getting popular in the 1970s, when people began drawing their names, or ‘tags’, on buildings all over the city. In the mid-seventies it was sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely covered in spray paintings known as ‘masterpieces”.

According to the city of Houston website, Houston graffiti could be classified into four major categories. Ten percent is gang graffiti, ten percent is murals, ten percent is other such as commercial graffiti and random drawings, and seventy percent is tagger graffiti. Gang graffiti commonly express by text, and the context are mostly the name of local gang. Tagger and gang graffiti are identified as illegal graffiti in Houston. Houston City Hall is working on reducing these two types of graffiti to improve the appearance of Houston.[Figure 5-7] Downtown has the highest density of quality murals in the Houston area. According a recent mural map of Houston, the increase of density of murals is directly related to the increased density of the urban environment (City of Houston). [Figure, 8] Graffiti can be both permanent and temporary and have both a legal and an illegal site.

Although this thesis proposal focuses on Houston’s downtown mural graffiti, it is important to understand the difference between legal and illegal graffiti. In Lu’s article, Anesthetizing Public Space Street Visual Politics in East Asian Cities, she points out the challenge of integrating a legal site with illegal graffiti. The subculture of graffiti is about social deviance and temporariness. “On the other hand, legal sites may not be compatible with some inherent features of graffiti (i.e., its illegality) despite the validation and legalization of graffiti into the discourse of art, popular culture, and creative networks. One of the key possibilities of the vigor of graffiti is its own logic of social deviance, peer respect, and temporariness. Thus, legal walls may potentially undermine the subcultural relations among the graffiti groups by sanding away the “optimum threshold of resistance”. (Lu, 2015)

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site.

The challenge of this thesis is that it is at the intersection of both permanent and temporary program and legal and illegal

Graffiti is often at a large scale. It is on the unused sides of buildings. The buildings are the canvas of graffiti art. The architecture cooperates with graffiti produce pleasant view to the street. For example, the Three-Dimensional Murals created by Artist Mr. June. He successfully integrates the urban façade into his artwork. The illusion and the spatial relationship he created is phenomenon. (Arch daily, 2018) [Figure 9-10] In Phillips’s “Temporality and Public Art.” He argues that temporary art, which must respond to a moment of time, is more stimulating than permanent art. Graffiti is an active and iterative process. The art is constantly updated and painted over. Each iteration reflects the culture and mood of the city. This proposal creates place by celebrating graffiti and its temporality. This thesis believes that graffiti also is important to the culture of the city.

[Figure,5] Tagger graffiti in Houston

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[Figure,6] Gang graffiti in Houston

Graffiti in Houston

Gang graffiti

Tagger graffiti

Mural

Other

[Figure, 9] Good Beer Here at the union beer store, Miami, FL

[Figure, 7] Houston graffiti categories pie chart

[Figure, 8] Houston murals distribution map

Urban Nation Berlin Mural at the Urban Nation, Berlin,Germany [Figure, 10] 9

Culture Contemporary graffiti has multiple different aspects. It is a platform to express messages. For example, political and social advocated can raise the public attention toward key issues. The city is a perfect platform to spread those messages.

According to Houston’s graffiti Culture, by Nimra Haroon. “Houston has a shorter, less documented graffiti history than cities like Philadelphia and New York City that pioneered the movement. Nevertheless, Houston maintains a unique collection of events that have paved the way of graffiti’s success.” In 1979 Edie Scott and Scott Prescott formed a group known as the Urban Animals. It was famous of its graffiti art. The Urban Animals group was unique for its charitable efforts in the community. And also, is the pioneer group of graffiti art culture in Houston.

In 1989, Houstonian graffiti artists GONZO247 and MERGE360 of UPC, Underground Productions began documenting their activities—legal and illegal— and established a pen pal system with graffiti artists in other cities, exchanging videos of their work. Houston graffiti art culture started to expand and become well known with multiple activities and events.

The inspiration for Houston’s mural fest comes partly from Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The area has become a destination for muralists and graffiti artists from around the world. In 2015, Gonzo 247, founded the week long event and says they’ve worked to make it more of an actual festival for 2016. (Bishop, 2016)[Figure, 11]. The event takes place at the Houston graffiti park. HUE also known as Houston Urban Experience is an organization that held multiple graffiti events. From the market event to the mural unveiling events, Houston graffiti culture has started to expand and become well known. In 2021, HUE also will be holding the Biennial Mural Festival, the website is already created, and publicized to the social media. This event will be held at Houston East downtown Graffiti park.

The most famous graffiti art in Houston is created by artist Mario E. Figueroa, Jr., known as GONZO247. The graffiti is located on the corner of Preston and Travis, across from Market Square at the Tree beards restaurant, the mural was unveiled in 2013 and shows the Houston skyline amidst a colorful background. The characteristics of the Houston culture, such as the vibrant, colorful, prosperous are all reflected in this graffiti art. [Figure, 12] For the fast-paced city like Houston some graffiti art will often include the transportation or the appearance of the city in the graffiti art.

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The other well-known graffiti piece in Houston is the Be Someone graffiti. Be Someone is a recurring piece of graffiti above Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas. It has become a famous landmark in Houston due to its prominent location to commuters. The piece was initially created in 2012. [Figure, 13]It is located on a Union Pacific bridge which crosses above Interstate 45 as it enters the city of Houston. It has been vandalized and repainted several times. In 2018, it was changed to “Be Mattress Mac.” In 2019, it was changed to “Be Sus.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, the words “Wash your hands” were painted over the slogan. (Davila, 2020)[Figure,14]. The artist remains anonymous because even though the city has embraced the art and it has become an iconic site, the graffiti is still illegal.

[Figure, 11] Houston Mural Festival 2016

[Figure, 12] Famous Houston graffiti created by Gonzo 247 11

[Figure, 13] “Be Someone” initially created on 2012

[Figure, 14] “Wash Your Hand” is the new slogan created on 2020

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Technology Technology is changing the way we see and experience space, destinations and travel. To get the chance to capture the unique and temporary graffiti makes the memory more valuable. That is the reason why social media plays an important part in leading the visibility of graffiti and the spread of Houston culture.

Architects are learning to embrace Instagram as a concept. “Experience-driven” spaces are changing the way architects are understanding how space is viewed and framed by Instagram users. (Guimapang, 2018) Architect Farshid Moussavi, for example, views the online platform as a way for people to become more aware of space. Skeptical at first, Moussavi soon realized the potential. “These environments are not just containers for storing goods or providing services. Instagram is reinforcing the fact that space matters, which can only be good news for designers and architects” (Archinect, 2018) Nowadays the technology makes people to see differently. Technology make the distance shorter, which means people can actually experience different things by social media. Destination of the travelers might be affected by the social media. The decisions of the tourists are commonly influenced by the Facebook posts or Instagram hashtags. [Figure15] Technology makes travel easier. According to Rosie Bell, Instagram’s Impact on Travel article, he states that “Instagram is part of travelers’ decision-making process with people choosing locations based on potential likes.” From his statement we can see that an Instagram picture can attract travelers and becoming the reason for them to decide the destination.

[Figure, 15] Graffiti contest post on the social media, 2020 13

Elements of Place Making In order to create a destination and a place to observe graffiti murals, the space will need to be scaled for both pedestrians and vehicles. It will need to address issues of scale, safety, security, traffic, green space, furniture, and lighting.

The pedestrian and vehicle requirement scales are totally different. To design a safe and secure urban street the scale must be follow by the certain criteria. The average vehicle length scale is ranging from 15-16 feet, the width is around 6.5 feet (2 Car Dimension, 2018).

According to the federal highway administration single low traffic car lane width is less than 15 feet. The typical truck width is 8 feet. The typical four seats car width is 5 feet 8. For all kinds of vehicles, they all need around 10 inches space at each side. To account for the people, the width of people can be count as 2ft and 4-inch space at each side. Hence, the width range of a safe urban lane can be classified as following: freeway lane is 12 feet, ramps (single lane) 12-30 feet, arterial 10 to 12 feet, collector 10-12 feet. Local 9-12 feet (FHWA,2014) [Figure, 16-17] Traffic accidents kill more than 1.35 million people every year. Every day, almost 3,700 people are killed globally in crashes involving cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, or pedestrians. More than half of those killed are pedestrians, motorcyclists, or cyclists. (CDC,2020). The data is dreadful. The scale between vehicles and pedestrians are totally different. To create a safe urban street, the guideline must be executed [Figure, 18].

“This is something everyone already knows: A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe. But how does this work, really? And what makes a city street well used or shunned? First, there must be a clear demarcation between what is public space and what is private space. Public and private spaces cannot ooze into each other as they do typically in suburban settings or in projects.” (Jacob, 1992). In Jane Jacob’s book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, she argues that there has to be a clear delineation between public and private space to make a space feel safe.

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[Figure, 16] Overall lane dimension in urban city

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[Figure, 17] Design guide of urban scale

[Figure, 18] 2018 Road Safety Statistic 16

Traffic pattern in urban city may be vary. In Robin Renner, Urban Being: Anatomy & Identity of the City, Renner’s analysis ranges from macro-regions that can even cross-country borders to the defined spaces between arterial roads in cities, which he calls “urban cells.” Urban cells are important when examining the identity and efficiency of a city. The form of an urban cell depends on two main factors: topography and transportation. In his book he classified the urban cells into three categories. They are block cell, linear cell, central cell (Renner, 2017)[ Figure 19-21] The block cell is orthogonal planning and the scale of each site is similar. And is a singular block surrounded by main traffic arteries. The example of this type of traffic pattern are New York Times square, and Taipei Xinyi district. The linear cell which the traffic pattern tends to be more organic shape and dynamic looking. A linear cell is often created when a main artery is divided into two one-way streets. Example of this type of traffic pattern will be Copacabana in Brazil.

The last type of traffic pattern is the central cell. And also has the largest nucleus. Central cells have the highest density of pedestrian traffic. Since these cells have often divested of automobile infrastructure, public transportation plays an important role for the people towards the center. Example of the central cell traffic pattern are Houston and Beijing.

To design a street that is safe and applicable, the light fixture needs to meet the certain guideline. The vehicle light fixture is range from 18-30 feet. The pedestrian light fixture ranges from 12-16 feet. (Municipal Code, 2015)[Figure, 22].

Urban Scale describes the sense of height, bulk, and architectural articulation of a place or individual building, often in relation to the size of a human body. An area with buildings predominantly between four and eight stories is typically considered to be of a medium scale; however, the city context makes a difference. Eight stories might be considered a high-rise urban scale in a small city, whereas it could easily be thought of as a medium urban scale in a large city. (great street initiative, 2015) To create a place within the scale of a city, the designer must consider both the urban scale and pedestrian scale. Design interventions will have to create scaled spaces.

Due to the warming associated with urban development, urban green space is necessary in the urban planning. The benefits that urban open space provides to citizens can be broken into four basic forms. They are ecology, recreation, aesthetic value, and positive health impacts. According to World Health Organization, the availability of a minimum of 9 square meter of green space per individual with an ideal urban green space (UGS) value of 50 square meter per capita. (WHO, 2018) [Figure, 23].

Green spaces are important to consider in urban design if you want pedestrians to have a safe place to rest. Furniture is also an important consideration to designing a pedestrian friendly space.

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[Figure, 19] Linear cell diagram, Santiago, Chile

[Figure, 20] Central cell diagram, City Center, Munich

[Figure, 21] Block cell diagram, Time Square, NYC 18

[Figure, 22] Light fixture scale of urban design

[Figure, 23]Green space per person data 19

The public seating of the urban city can be categorized into six common types. Movable seating, fixed benches, sear walls, fixed individual seating, planter ledges, seating steps. All public plaza is required to provide two of these seating types, while plazas between 5,000 and10,000 square feet are required to provide three types. Plazas greater than 10,000 square feet are required to provide movable seating as one of the three required seating types. [Figure, 24] Many existing plazas locate seating deep within the plaza area. Such seating can provide a desirable sense of refuge from the city; however, the lack of seating at the plaza entrance often results in a barren condition and an underutilized plaza. To ensure that adequate seating is provided throughout the public plaza, a portion of the required seating in the public plaza must be located within 15 feet of the sidewalk. The minimum amount of seating required in the sidewalk frontage is one linear foot of seating for every two linear feet of public plaza street frontage. To ensure that this seating is comfortable and engages the public by being oriented toward the street, 50% of such seating is required to have backs and 50% of the seats with backs are required to face the sidewalk.

The 2009 text amendment enhanced the regulations for seating with backs to require that such seats would not be greater than 20 inches in depth. This revised provision is based upon the body’s natural seating posture, thus ensuring that required seating is usable. (Public Seating Accessibility Guidelines, 2018)The discipline of urban planning is the broader category that includes different sub-fields such as land-use planning, zoning, economic development, environmental planning, and transportation planning. Creating the plans requires a well understanding penal codes and zonal codes of planning. Urban planning must consider a wide array of issues including sustainability, existing and potential pollution, transport including potential congestion, crime, land values, economic development, social equity, zoning codes, and other legislation.

In order to create a place in the city that is comfortable for pedestrians, there are a lot of design factors. This proposal for this outdoor museum will have to consider these design factors in order to make a pedestrian friendly plaza at the proposed site of the graffiti park.

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[Figure, 24] Public seating categories

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Site – EaDo In the East downtown of the Houston, near the intersection of I45 and Hwy 59, has the highest density of graffiti. The artists use the walls to express cultural, political, societal issues. It is known to locals as “the graffiti park” yet it is not an official site located on city maps. The location of the graffiti park is at the East downtown area also known as the Eado district.

The Eado neighborhood was the old Chinatown. In 1930s, many Cantonese immigrants moved to the old Chinatown in Houston, in an effort to find more inexpensive land. Cantonese immigrants opened multiple business, such as grocery stores, restaurants. Immigrants from other East Asian countries, including Vietnam, also moved into the Chinatown. In the 1950s, the area has grown more Chinese business and was the most prosperous Chinese business compared to any other place in Houston.

In late 1980s, Chinese gradually move to the suburbs area which located in Southwest Houston and Fort Bend County. (Eado Houston, 2019) [Figure, 25] The Chinatown was shrinking due to the geographically disadvantaged. The surrounding low income African American and Hispanic neighborhoods and the Downtown area prevented additional growth. In 2008, the management district asked for suggestions for a new name for the district. The district selected “EaDo,” short for “East Downtown”. The whole Eado district is a triangle shape, the triangle form by the three spots. The first spot the intersection between I45 and Hwy 5, one is the intersection between Hwy 59 and Runnels street, last on is the intersection of I45 and Hwy 59. (East downtown Houston, 2020) [Figure, 26] EaDo’s population ranges around 107,000, with around 56,000 being male and 51,000 or so being female. Demographics within the past three years show that an average of 63% are American born citizens, while 37% are immigrants. Private companies employ a third of the population, while 25% are white-collar workers and 18% are blue collar employees. Of the 35,000 households in EaDo, non-family households make up the large majority, while a smaller percentage are family households.

A portion of residences are owner occupied, but a larger percentage are renter occupied. The education level of residents varies between some high school and some college experience, while only 10% hold a college degree or higher. (East downtown Houston, 2016)

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[Figure, 25] Texas Guandi Temple located at Eado Houston

[Figure, 26]EaDo Ariel view 23

The EaDo’s influence zone includes zip codes 77023, and 77003. According to East Downtown District 2016 report, the four major Eado land usage in descending order are industrial, single family, multifamily, and institution. The Eado total housing units are 3,576. And divided from them, the multifamily is 732, the single family is 135, the single family-townhome is 1,180, total likely owned units are 2,047. On the other hand, the total rental units are 1,529, those includes 998 multifamily rental units, and 531 Student‐focused Rental units. (East Downtown District, 2016) [Figure, 27].

The climate of Houston is classified as humid subtropical climate, with tropical influences. August normally is the warmest month at 94.5 °F (34.7 °C) and January the coldest month at 42.2 °F (5.7 °C). Severe weather of Houston mostly takes the form of flooding, which occurs most commonly in the months of May to October, which is the city’s wet season. Super cell thunderstorms sometimes bring tornadoes to the area, most commonly during spring. Houston sometimes experiences tropical cyclones during the Atlantic hurricane season, which can bring heavy rain and significant damage to the city. The last hurricane to hit was Hurricane Harvey in 2017. (U.S climate data, 2020) The Eado district is functional and convenient. Since 2015, the METRO operates bus service through the area. There is a total sixteen bus tops in the Eado neighborhood. The planning of the Eado site is organized and orthogonal. The main circulation is along the Polk street there are 10 bus stops along the Poll street. According to the City of Houston Planning & Development Department, the more mature the multi-modal transportation systems is in Eado can create multiple advantages. These include a strong grid pattern, an increase in the high-density urban mixed-use developments, and expanding the land availability that can encourages small scale retail and high density residential. (Smith, 2018) [Figure, 28].

Eado is a potential district that has started to grow form the past five year. “East Downtown Houston has experienced a renaissance in the last five years or so, becoming arguably the coolest, hippest area in Houston,” said AIA Houston Board President Derek Webb. “There has been an explosion of housing in the area along with new restaurants, cafes and bars, much of which is located in adapted structures, whereby the character of East Downtown remains intact through the thoughtful reuse of the existing building stock. This progress was led by the vision of Anton Sinkewich and the East Downtown Management District.”

(Eado, 2018). One developer who saw potential in the area early on was Michael Sperandio with Ancorian Development. Ancorian started acquiring property in late 2015 and since opened phase one of East Village at St. Emanuel and Hutchins streets, a mixed-use project that will eventually re-develop 100,000 square feet of space. (Eado. 2018).

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One of the most popular attraction in the Eado district is the graffiti park which also is the biggest and most well-known graffiti park in Houston. There are approximately around 100 graffiti sites inside the Eado neighborhood. The graffiti in the Eado district are mostly inspired by the culture of the Houston. The graffiti in the Eado district is constantly changing.

[Figure, 27] EaDo Influence Zone Map 25

[Figure, 28] EaDo transportation map

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Site – Area and Building This proposal is focusing on how to create an environment that can connected to the temporarily art and social interaction in the urban city, therefore the most suitable place will be the Eado business center and the parking lot next to it. The site contains the highest quantities of graffiti art in Houston. It is located at the intersection between Leeland street and St Emmanuel street. At the intersection there is a huge parking lot that can park approximately 40 cars in that area. The circulation is orthogonal, and two-way traffic zone; the driveway zone is greater than the pedestrian zone, hence, safety is a serious concern.

The proposal intervention will be both on the exterior and on the interior of the existing adjacent Remax building. The total length of the specific site is 1566 feet, the total area is 83,827 square feet. North is at the top left corner of the parking lot; south is at the lower right corner of the parking lot. Near the specific site, there are multiple stores, entertainments, and restaurants.

The Remax building has an interior square footage of 4,836 square feet. It is located in the Eado business center. The interior of the Remax building includes eleven offices, two storages, two conference room, two restrooms, one data room, one workstation, one kitchen, one lobby, and one common area space. There is a double door at the central entrance and other two doors at two side of building. One egress door located at the upper right side of the building next to the kitchen. The building is air conditioned and the major ventilation duct is located at the common area space. The interior material of the Remax building are mainly bricks and wooden wall. The open windows are all at the front side. The floor material is all wood only the two main office at two sides are using carpet.

The sun is coming from the top right corner of the building, and the sunset appear at the left down corner of the building. The Remex building does not have any windows except for at the front view of the building. The front side of the building is mostly composed with the French windows and the glass door. [Figure, 29] The front side of the building is the only transparent area. The Remax building is a solid stereotomic building. The size of the building length is 78 feet, the width is 62 feet. Total area is 4,836 square feet. It is a one-story building, and the shape is rectangular.

The building exterior is composed with the multiple different size of bricks and some of the wall is made by cement. On the west side of the building is a large green space dimension is 4,090 square feet, and next to the green space is the sidewalk.

Next to the Remax Building is a parking lot. The parking lot holds 45 cars and is703 square feet.

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Both the east and west side of the Remax building has graffiti art works, and the dimensions are 858 square feet for each side. The total square footage of all the mural around the graffiti park area is 28,430 square feet. Surrounding the Remax parking lot there are 10 sides of different dimension wall that has murals. The total square footage of those murals is 19,800.

The boundaries of the total site are from the Bell street to Leeland street, and Chartres street to St Emanuel street. There is not too much vegetation in that area. There is one big tree in underutilized space next to the west side of the building. And some trees across the Leeland street and at the sidewalk of Chartres street. The lighting at night mainly exists at the side of the driveway. There are two streetlights in front of the Remax Building and two spotlights on the east side, and also the back building of Remax facing the parking lot has two spotlights as well. [Figure, 30] According to the city data research, most of the resident of Eado, do not really feel unsafe to live in that specific area and for the past one year there is only two reports of crime in that area. The area is also not too noisy, the aviation noise in dB in that area is 35-40 it is in an acceptable range. (Houston City Data, 2020)

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[Figure, 29] Sun Diagram (Left to right are: 8 P.M. 10 A.M. 3 AM. ) 29

Graffiti Site

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wall cover with graffiti Vegetation/green space Surrounding buildings Attraction area

[Figure, 30] Site Diagram 30

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Proposal - Narrative “Is it possible to move between both? Can we accept ownership and adaptive uses? Can we love both the experience of intervention commissioned art and the enchanting, uncanny that occupies a space belonging to another? If we can, it is along such lines that we might find that we are able to inhabit a public city that we have made our very own.” In Young’s Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime and the Urban Imagination, she questions the compatibility and adaptation between street art and proprietary.

While integrating both is extremely difficult, if possible, we could be able to live in a city that is fully influenced with our own art and culture. This proposal will integrate both street art and the occupied space together in order to celebrate the city’s culture.

The proposal of this thesis is to renovate this site, between the walls of the graffiti, and redesign it as a place that celebrates the Houston graffiti art culture. This design intervention is for local Houstonians, families, and also should be a destination for tourists. The site is the exterior block around the Eado Business Center and the interior of what is currently a Remax building.

In order to promote safe pedestrian spaces in downtown Houston, this proposal reimagines a section of the city as a pedestrian zone and event space by clearly delineating the public and private spaces. The thesis reimagines the Eado site at the intersection of both permanent and temporary program and legal and illegal site.

- Program Design Brief In this specific site, following the design principle that is correspond to the urban design guide is important. For the existing site, the interior is 4,836 square feet and the exterior is 83,827 square feet. The existing site involves five major factors. They are: Graffiti, Parking and driveway, Pedestrian zone, Remax building, and exterior public area. The graffiti occupied 17% of the total site, the parking and driveway contain 16%, pedestrians’ zone is 15%, exterior is 38%, and interior is 14%. The interior and exterior existing site will be transformed into an urban park, museum and destination for the viewing of the ever-changing public graffiti art.[Figure, 31] The new program for the site will be a pedestrian zone, social green space, mural space, interior museum and interactive experience center. The program of interior can be designed as the multifunctional space. It can be museum, gift shop, educational space, and information center for tourists. The new urban plaza will be able to have events. The graffiti murals are temporary and is constantly changing. The purpose of this program is to connect the art and the viewer and celebrate the culture of the graffiti.

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Graffiti

Exterior programmed social space

17% 38%

14% Interior

16%

Parking & Driveway

15% Pedestrian zone

[Figure, 31] Program Diagram

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- Spatial Strategies This proposal’s design strategies can be summarized as the control of scales, clearly delineating the public and private spaces, and determine the transition of the spatial relationship between art and viewer.

To reimagine this place as a destination, clearly delineating the public and private spaces is extremely important. The graffiti is the major attraction of the site. Instead of the parking space that is currently occupied the most space of the site, there will be an expanded pedestrian zone which is more beneficial for aesthetic, community health, and the street safety.

The graffiti is the boundary of the site. And the proposal is mainly focus on how to inhabit the graffiti and space together.

The space between the graffiti and the exterior wall of the buildings will create the new interior. The new outdoor interior will allow the pedestrians and tourists to appreciate the graffiti in a safe, tactile, and comfortable environment.

Next to the Remax building there is an underutilized green space that is 4,090 square feet. [Figure, 32] The potential space can be reinterpreted to a functional exterior social and green space. The transition from the exterior to the interior is essential. To attract and to lead the tourists and pedestrians, the circulation needs to be clear and meet the guideline that the sidewalk cannot be less than 8 feet. The potential site requires two different scale. One is the vehicle scale; one is the pedestrian’s scale. From the boundaries of the site transit to the center of the site the scale will be from the large to the small. The layer will be driveway, sidewalk, exterior social space and then the interior. Since the whole site is layer by layer and toward the center is where it is the densest. The spatial strategy needs to be corresponding to the scale of the existing site. [Figure, 33] The adjacencies of Eado business center are mainly entertainment, stores, and restaurant. It is an area that is rapidly changing. It is hoped that by creating a destination and more comprehensive experience at the Graffiti Park that more family venues will come to the neighborhood and that this proposal will continue to revitalize the neighborhood. For this proposal the usage pattern time can be divided into two parts from the daytime nine to twelve for community activity and afternoon twelve to nine for local market and tourists. At night this location, also can held private event or for entertainment. This proposal would be ADA accessible.

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Concept Diagram The focus will be on the exterior of the buildings which is the wall to wall space. People interact with this large interface and really experiencing and enjoying the graffiti, rather than viewing the artworks hanging on the wall.

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Circulation Diagram The star represents the area that will have the highest density of people, this area can be designed as semi- public, which contain the most programs of the design.

[Figure, 32] Spatial strategies diagrams 34

[Figure, 33] Layering diagrams 35

- Material Strategies Since graffiti is already the attraction of the site and should be given more emphasis, the color palette of the design intervention should be more muted and calming. By doing this the contradiction between the graffiti and architecture can be clearly separated. The material strategy is focusing on the quality of sustainability and adaptability. Since Houston is humid and high flooded area.

The furniture choice can be linear and point toward the center. The furniture can help create the circulation. To create the comfortable atmosphere, lighting play an important role. The pedestrian lighting fixture really determine the boundaries of the site. The height of the sidewalk light fixture can be around 13 feet, and the driveway light fixture can be range from 20-25 feet.

In the daytime, the atmosphere can be more casual and healthier. The mood is more vibrant and muted. In the nighttime, the lighting can use string light on the walkway to create more festival like and also create romantic, relaxing atmosphere. Since the area will require multiple light resources, solar streetlights are more beneficial, and ecologically friendly. Lighting at night will also extend the hours that the new Graffiti Park can be open. [Figure, 34]

[Figure, 34] Atmosphere of a healthy community park 36

- Project Analysis and Evaluation The design objective is to create a community space.. This can be achieved by improving the aesthetic of the community, increasing the urban green space, produce healthy mental and physical environment, promote cultural value, and education and economic growth.

Located on the other side of I-59 from downtown Houston, EaDo is one of the fastest growing areas of the city. A former industrial area and former Chinatown, the neighborhood was filled with vacant, dilapidated warehouses until the last decade.

The Eado is a potential district that many developers are interested in. To redevelop the biggest attraction, Graffiti Park, definitely will be beneficial to the community and also economically. The benefit will be greater than the cost of renovation.

Hopefully this proposal will also help the artists. While this proposal is to bring more people to the area, the art needs to continue so the project will need to still allow the artists to work in private but now in a public space. This is where there is an intersection between public and private art and legal and illegal art which will need to be considered in the design proposal.

Expanding the green space and adding more trees and green space increases the sustainability and prevent the opportunity of flood. It also will improve the ecology of the whole area. Economic and social opportunities are relative to each other. Since the Eado economic starting to grow from the past five years, the population density started to increase as well. Increasing the social space in the graffiti park area also increases the opportunity of public gathering, hence stimulates the economy of the Eado district.

While this thesis only is focused on a small section of the Eado area, where the densest graffiti is now, it is the hope that the energy of this site and the museum, have a positive effect on the adjacent street landscapes. The outdoor museum can grow down the streets in Eado and eventually be a long walking trail for tourists and a destination for cars. This will also bring more restaurants and food stops and retail spaces to the area that are connected by the graffiti art.

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Conclusion Houston, is the fourth most populous city in the United States and the largest city in Texas. An innovative urban city like Houston is the perfect location for celebrating urbanism and city culture.

The existing Graffiti park is the perfect location that can really represent and celebrate Houston. The Graffiti Park celebrates a city’s cultural and temporal identity. However, the current Graffiti Park needs to be more of a destination. The space between the graffiti murals needs to be reimagined as an outdoor museum and social space that can better celebrate the culture of graffiti. This proposal’s design strategies can be summarized as the control of scales, clearly delineating the public and private spaces, and determine the transition of the spatial relationship between art and viewer.

This thesis re-imagines the experience of urban graffiti art by proposing an outdoor museum destination that activates the street space between Houston’s graffiti walls and celebrates the cultural and temporal identity of the city’s graffiti murals. [Figure, 35] This proposal hopes that with a reimagining of this downtown space into an international destination and Instragramable place, this new site will promote the city, increase the community well-being, and help to revitalize this area of downtown Houston.

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[Figure, 35] Houston downtown graffiti park 39

Case Studies

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New York Times Square A pedestrian zone is as a quiet moment of pause in the fast pace urban jungle. Pedestrians have a different speed than the vehicular traffic. Everything seems to be enlarged when the speed is slower. People experience and observe more details when walking.

In the summer of 2009, following an increase in the number of traffic accidents in the Times Square area in New York City, the city’s Department of Transportation closed off Broadway to vehicles and created temporary pedestrian-only spaces. The change was such a success that the city decided to make it permanent. “Conceived as a project whose success would be measured not only by its new aesthetic but also the long-term physical, psychological and economic benefits on its community, the reinvention of Times Square stands as a model for how the design of our urban landscapes can improve health and well-being of its users while providing an important stage for public gathering,” Craig Dykers, a founding partner at Snøhetta said in a statement.

(Wareka, 2017)[Figure, 36] To close off Broadway for pedestrians are not only create economic and aesthetic benefit, but also increasing the safety of the Broadway area. According to data obtained by Snøhetta. Since Broadway was closed to traffic in this area, pedestrian injuries have reduced by 40 percent and vehicular accidents by 15 percent, (Wareka, 2017) From Dykers opinion, we can see that closing off Broadway to vehicles and created temporary pedestrian-only spaces is not only beneficial to the aesthetic of the street but also benefits the economics of the community. When speed is slower people can pay attention to their surrounding more and feel safer to stay longer, therefore, increasing the economic benefits.

New York Times Square has designed a separation between traffic zone and the pedestrian’s zone. There is a X shape pattern at the center of all blocks. The center of the X is the most flourishing area. All the major events are held in this area. The X shape pattern separate the whole area into two triangular parts. The vertex of both triangles features the most popular attraction.

Since the blocks gradually narrowing toward the center, the circulation of Times Square is leading the tourists to walk into the most bustling area. There is multiple merchandise located in the Time Square [Figure, 37-38]. Times Square is covered is screen advertisements display. The large interfaces with the vibrant color give the bold and colorful impression to the Time Square.

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The design strategies in this case study involve circulation, zone planning, and pattern of public gathering. “The reconstruction has doubled the amount of pedestrian-only space at Manhattan’s core. The design has transformed Times Square from one of New York’s most notoriously congested spaces into a radically open civic square, while also integrating crucial utility and event infrastructure upgrades.” (Snøhetta, 2017).

The new pattern of New York Time Square involve circulation changing. Before, the circulation of the New York Time Square is linear and there is not clear separation between vehicle and the people. The sidewalk was narrow, pedestrians needed to walk across the street by crosswalk, however, the new circulation is expanding and more pedestrian friendly. The design strategy expands the pedestrian zone and create the clear separation between the traffic and pedestrian’s zone. The public gathering space is mostly located at the center of the X shape planning. Toward the center the more seating it is. The furniture of the pedestrian zone is mostly linear and quite long, so it can be seated with large number of people.[Figure, 39] The design objective of the New York Time Square pedestrian zone is to lower the traffic accidents and create comfortable environment for the pedestrians and tourists. Relevant to the idea of increasing safety and clear planning of pedestrians and vehicle zone, the design strategy of New York Times Square can be applied to the potential Houston graffiti park site.

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[Figure, 36] New York Time Square before and after

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[Figure, 38] New York Time Square program diagram

[Figure, 37] New York Time Square X shape circulation [Figure, 39] New York Time Square Furniture diagram 44

Highline Park To create a successful park in the urban city is to create environment that is comfortable, attractive, and welcoming and also accessible, safe, and constantly changing. For an urban park, the site is often limited and congested. To create a moment that benefits the physical and well-being for the community is challenging.

In May 2003, James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + Renfro won the infrastructure conversion project of the New York City High Line. The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The purpose of creating the Highline park is not only to maintain the railroad historical value, but also to provide a healthy and phycological beneficial environment for the community (Cilento, 2009).[Figure, 40] Highline Park is to benefit the urban community. The park includes over a dozen access points. Whichever entrance is activated, a key factor is to attract users to spend time and explore the complete park. For example, enter a little past 14th St can enjoy the sundeck and water feature; enter close to 23rd St and you can lounge on the open lawn and seating steps; or enter past 26th St. To experience the viewing area.

Inspired by the wild seeded landscape which grew after the railroad abandoned, the team designed a paving system that encourages natural growth and creates a scene of ‘pathless’ landscape (Cilento, 2009) [Figure, 41]. The highline park is integrated with the agriculture and the architecture. Mr. Bloomberg described the High Line, “an extraordinary gift to our city’s future…. It really does live up to its highest expectation.” (Bloomberg, 2009). Because of the Highline, more than 30 new projects have been initiated in the nearby neighborhood.

The Highline park begins from the Gansevoort street and extend to the West 34th street. The park cross through the total of 19 blocks.

The atmosphere that Highline creates is inviting and relaxing. Contrasting with the urban surroundings, the Highline is calming. The celebration of nature in the park also attracts people to visit. The park corresponds to the nature. The benefit of the intervention is multiple; it can raise the physical and mental health of the community, provide comfortable space of public gathering, and improve the growth of community economy. These are all the principles used to create an oasis the noisy urban jungle.

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[Figure, 40] Highline Park aerial view

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[Figure, 41] Highline Park technical drawings 47

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center In a highly developed urban city that can attract thousand and thousand tourists every day, the visitor center is an extremely important component. The Visitor Center is where the city can share their information.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center is designed by Weiss Manfredi. The 20,000 square foot visitor center has curved glass trellis features inspired by the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. This visitor center is a new threshold between the city and Brooklyn Botanic Garden that transitions from an architectural appearance at the street to a structured landscape within the Garden. (Smith, 2017). [Figure, 42]. The main entry of the center from Washington Avenue is visible from the street. The pedestrian zone and the traffic zone are successfully separated [Figure, 43].

The vegetated roof of the visitor center is similar to the Highline in New York City, which encourages the plants to grow and expand and create the unique appearance. The visitor center looks like the extension of the landscape; it is fully integrated with the garden. The circulation and building blend into the landscape. Its curvy design also leads the visitors to different attractions, combining the center with the circulation smoothly [Figure, 44]. The visitor center is made of multiple glass types. By using glass, it substantially increases the transparency of the building and lets people easily identified the function of different rooms.

As a threshold between the street and the garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center is a successful example. Inspiring from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, the strategy of layering, clear circulation, and exquisite transition from the exterior to the interior are all the require elements of the perfect urban planning.

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[Figure, 43] Entrance of Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center

[Figure, 44] Diagrams of Botanic Garden Visitor Center

[Figure, 42] Threshold of Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center

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Perez Art Museum The Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is located in Museum Park, it is designed by Herzog & de Meuron. It was built in 2013, and total area is 11125 square meters. It is adjacent to the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science and a major freeway, connecting mainland Miami with Miami Beach. In this exceptional location, the museum to offer gorgeous views to the outside. All the building’s expansive windows are recessed, with wooden planks under the concrete beams to minimize the sun’s impact on the glazing and to reduce the building’s energy consumption for cooling.

“The new Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) reflects the natural and urban landscape of Miami and responds to the city’s rapid growth as a cultural destination.” (Kiser,2013). From the project introduction of the Pérez Art Museum, we can see that the programmatic goals of the project is corresponding to the cultural and natural value of Miami city.

The Pérez Art Museum has an innovative approach. “Rather than being an isolated “jewel box” for art lovers and specialists, the museum provides comfortable public space for everybody. It is an extension of the park, offering gradual transitions from the outside to the inside, from the warm to the cool, from the humid to the dry and from the street to the art.” (Schatzkammer, 2014). From the paragraph, it points out the characteristic of the smooth boundaries between the interior and the exterior.

And the extension is the transition of the temperature and the climate [Figure, 45].

Galleries are located on the first and second levels. The latter of which also houses special exhibitions. Offering natural light and views of the surrounding park and bay, outward-facing exhibition spaces alternate with more enclosed galleries that focus on single subjects [Figure, 46]. By offering a specific range of differently proportioned spaces and a variation of interior finishes, opposite from the traditional sequence of generic white cubes, PAMM proposes a new method of experiencing art [Figure, 47].

Art is displayed throughout the entire building, including the garden and the parking garage. The first and third levels reveals the public and semi-public functions, it includes the entry halls, auditorium, shop, and cafe. The third floor contain education facilities and offices.

The inspiration of PAMM is based on the climatical, cultural, and natural value of Miami city. The way of experiencing art in PAMM is innovative. Instead of experience art in the cube or underneath the glass, PAMM design the different proportion of room to express the artworks. Similar to the design proposal, creating an innovative and no limitation way to appreciate artworks and use nature light and three-dimension scale to present artworks. There is no limitation of whether it is present at the interior or exterior.

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[Figure, 45] Outdoor social gathering space of Perez Art Museum

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[Figure, 46] Exterior view of the Perez Art Museum

[Figure, 47] Interior of the Perez Art Museum 52

Miami Wynwood The Wynwood Walls has brought the world’s greatest artists working in the graffiti and street art genre to Miami. The Wynwood Walls was established in 2009 by the place maker and visionary Tony Goldman as an outdoor museum of international street art. Wynwood Walls has become a phenomenon, spurring the creation of murals throughout the Wynwood district.

The exterior program of Wynwood wall also has the Garden, an open green space featuring five murals was included in the space. Each year, a selection of international artists, ranging from old school graffiti artists to newer innovators all have created artwork for the Wynwood Walls.

“We incorporated the DNA of the neighborhood to create a town center, by inviting international street artists to paint murals on the walls of the buildings surrounding a gravel parking lot.” Said the Jessica Goldman Srebnick, current CEO of Goldman Properties. (Laster, 2016). The Wynwood Walls has grown to have more than 400 businesses in the area. There are 30 food stops within this 50-block art district [Figure, 48] The success of Wynwood wall is not only the attraction of gathering the tourists, is this specific park can influence the whole district business and become a unique landmark of the Wynwood district.

The goal of this thesis proposal is to make a destination that has cultural and historical value. By creating more opportunity for social gathering, Houston Graffiti Park also can be redeveloped to a place that can celebrate graffiti culture and the local community.

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[Figure, 48] Miami Wynwood walls and surrounding neighborhood

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Miami Graffiti Museum The Miami Graffiti Museum (The Museum of Graffiti) is located at NW 25th street besides the Wynwood walls. It opened in 2019. It is a 3,200-square-foot space in an adapted warehouse. The museum is covered with graffiti both on the interior and on the exterior. It has an interior exhibition space for the permanent exhibition, two galleries for contemporary art, and a rotating installation space, eleven exterior murals, and a gift shop. [Figure, 49] “Graffiti art can be traced back to ancient times but became a modern art form in the late 1960s, according to the Journal of Conscious Evolution. The evolving art form “embodies illusionist realism, pop art, modernism and three-dimensional statutes.” (Hussain, 2019) The founder of the museum, Alan Ket, wanted to create a museum that curated graffiti and gave the appreciation to street artists that he thinks they deserve. “The father of modern graffiti is known as Cornbread, a man who began spray-painting the sides of buildings at his Philadelphia high school. According to the California Institute of Integral Studies, Cornbread also used graffiti art as a way to protest “social inequities and police brutally in minority communities.” Cornbread set the stage for the proliferation of graffiti art in the coming decades, as young artists sought to make their mark on the world.”

(Rodriguez, 2019) The Miami Graffiti Museum is a place that can preserve the artworks “I think all the guys that painted, wanted everything to last forever” said the co-founder of the Museum of Graffiti. This contradicts with the temporality of traditional graffiti. The purpose of the museum is to preserve the artwork and capture the moment of the graffiti. “The ephemerality of graffiti is a result of oppression against artists. From a graffiti perspective, there’s no reason for our art to be wiped out, painted over. We want our art to last forever.” Says the founder, Mr. Ket. (Dafoe, 2019) “For a vernacular art that has seeped widely into popular culture, graffiti — especially as represented by the early pioneers — has made few permanent inroads into established museums. Perhaps that owes to its oppositional nature, and perhaps to its evanescence.”( Caramanica, 2019) “Forever is what Ket hopes to give them, by way of codifying and organizing the art’s history, with a special emphasis on technique. Too often, graffiti is explained primarily through a sociopolitical lens” (Caramanica, 2019). The building itself is also providing the eternal canvas for all these creative artists to express their point of view.

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The graffiti museum in Miami is the world’s first of its art museum of its kind and stores the history of graffiti; it is the library of the graffiti. Mr. Ket states that “a desire to regulate, to keep some kind of stability among the chaos, also to keep a standard of quality.” From his point of view, we can see that the function of the graffiti museum can be defined as a system that can classify and find the order of the graffiti. The Miami Graffiti Museum displays the evolution of graffiti on trains, from 1972-76, showing how rapidly the form was changing. It is one example of finding the order from the chaos by recording its history. (Hussain, 2016) [Figure, 50] Relative to the design proposal, the motivation of the museum is similar to this proposal. The intent of the museum and the proposal is to create a place that can preserve the temporality of public art and to celebrate the graffiti without the limitation of time. To find a place to also present the local history and to organize and appreciate the wildness and creativity of graffiti.

These three factors are the purpose of creating a museum that is only for the graffiti. [Figure, 51]

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[Figure, 49] Exhibition of Miami Graffiti Museum

[Figure, 50] The evolution of graffiti on trains, from 1972-76

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[Figure, 51] Graffiti display inside the Miami Graffiti Museum

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Pictures URL [Figure, 5]: https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/article/Who-is-ROWDY-Elusive-Houston-graffiti-artist-14372915.php [Figure, 6]: https://stophoustongangs.org/default.aspx?act=imagegallery.aspx&name=Tagger+Graffiti [Figure, 8]: https://houstonmuralmap.com/ [Figure, 9]: https://www.archdaily.com/903349/artist-mr-june-brings-urban-facades-to-life-with-layered-three-dimensional-murals/5bb77a00f 197cc280e0001d3-artist-mr-june-brings-urban-facades-to-life-with-layered-three-dimensional-murals-photo?next_project=no [Figure,10]: https://www.archdaily.com/903349/artist-mr-june-brings-urban-facades-to-life-with-layered-three-dimensional-murals/5bb78385f 197cc280e000216-artist-mr-june-brings-urban-facades-to-life-with-layered-three-dimensional-murals-photo?next_project=no [Figure, 11]: https://365thingsinhouston.com/2016/10/17/watch-downtown-become-canvas-hue-mural-festival/# [Figure, 12]: https://travel.nine.com.au/destinations/things-to-do-in-houston-texas/c94cdc7f-d258-4d06-b9bd-c55bc8cc068c [Figure, 13]: https://www.chron.com/life/article/Be-Someone-Houston-landmark-folk-icon-12471155.php [Figure, 14]: https://abc13.com/be-someone-sign-houston-coronavirus-texas/5977560/ [Figure, 15]: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIi3SuqhOcC/ [Figure, 16]: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/new_transportation_act_allows_greater_flexibility_in_street_design [Figure, 17]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane#/media/File:Grundma%C3%9Fe_Verkehrsraum.svg [Figure, 18]: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_19_1990 [Figure, 19]: https://www.archdaily.com/872420/how-the-layout-of-urban-cells-affects-the-function-and-success-of-neighborhoods/59371572e58ece cb6a00005e-how-the-layout-of-urban-cells-affects-the-function-and-success-of-neighborhoods-image [Figure, 20]: https://www.archdaily.com/872420/how-the-layout-of-urban-cells-affects-the-function-and-success-of-neighbo hoods/593715a7e58eced dec000029-how-the-layout-of-urban-cells-affects-the-function-and-success-of-neighborhoods-image?next_project=no [Figure, 21]: https://www.archdaily.com/872420/how-the-layout-of-urban-cells-affects-the-function-and-success-of-neighborhoo592c9a17e58ece98a c00000a-how-the-layout-of-urban-cells-affects-the-function-and-success-of-neighborhoods-image?next_project=no [Figure, 22]: https://my.spokanecity.org/smc/?Section=17C.123.040 [Figure, 23]: https://plusnetwork.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/how-many-metres-of-green-space-does-your-city-have/ [Figure, 24]: https://airandspace.si.edu/rfp/exhibitions/files/j1-exhibition-guidelines/4/Public%20Seating.pdf [Figure, 25]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Downtown_Houston#/media/File:TexasGuandiTemple_01.JPG [Figure, 26]: https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/commercial-real-estate/5-reasons-eado-is-the-next-heights-50758 [Figure, 27]: https://eadohouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/East-Downtown-2016-Land-Use_-Demographics.pdf [Figure, 28]: https://mycity.houstontx.gov/houstonmapviewer/ [Figure, 29]: https://www.suncalc.org/#/29.7473,-95.3594,18/2020.12.13/20:06/1/3 [Figure, 34]: https://dribbble.com/shots/9195219-Landscape-Architecture-Collage?utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=pinterest_shot&utm_con tent=Landscape+Architecture+Collage&utm_medium=Social_Share [Figure, 35]: https://www.jillbjarvis.com/where-to-find-street-art-in-houston-houston-graffiti-building/ [Figure, 36]: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/4/19/15358234/times-square-snohetta-before-after-photos [Figure, 37]: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/04/19/snohetta-times-square-new-york-transformation-pedestrian-plazas-officially-opens-architec ture-news/ 62

[Figure, 38]: https://www.starrwhitehouse.com/project/times-square-urban-design-study/ [Figure, 39]: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/04/19/snohetta-times-square-new-york-transformation-pedestrian-plazas-officially-opens-architec ture-news/ [Figure, 40]: https://www.thehighline.org/photos/at-a-glance/best-of/ [Figure, 41]: http://www.solaripedia.com/13/396/5791/highline_park_woodland_flyover_drawing.html [Figure, 42]: http://www.weissmanfredi.com/project/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center [Figure, 43]: https://www.archdaily.com/235079/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center-opens-to-the-public/5001130128ba0d2c9f0005e9-brooklynbotanic-garden-visitor-center-opens-to-the-public-photo [Figure, 44]: https://www.archdaily.com/235079/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center-opens-to-the-public/5001131328ba0d2c9f0005ee-brooklynbotanic-garden-visitor-center-opens-to-the-public-image [Figure, 45]: https://www.pamm.org/about/building [Figure, 46]: https://www.pamm.org/about/building [Figure, 47]: https://www.archdaily.com/493736/perez-art-museum-herzog-and-de-meuron/53429fd1c07a8091a0000169-perez-art-museum-herzogand-de-meuron-photo [Figure, 48]: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/wynwood-walls-have-shaped-miamis-art-scene [Figure, 49]: https://www.miamiandbeaches.com/thing-to-do/arts-culture/museum-of-graffiti/18681 [Figure, 50]: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/arts/design/museum-of-graffiti-miami.html [Figure, 51]: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/arts/design/museum-of-graffiti-miami.html

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Appendix

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District Site Plan

65

Urban Site Plan

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66

90

0

Roof Plan and Property

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Floor Plan

Egress

Entrance

68

Elevations and Section

69

Aeriel View of The Site

70

Remax Building

71

Exterior Front & Side Elevations

72

Interior views

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Building Architectural Details & Material Conditions

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Graffiti Culture: A planned urban intersection celebrating the temporarily and culture of street art

Houston Graffiti Park | Sharon Chen | Fall. 2020 |Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, University of Houston, Interior Architecture program | Megan Jackson 75