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Leland Cott
Adjunct Professor Department of Urban Planning and Design |
Studio Options
Providence, Rhode Island Jewelry District Prerequisites: Students are expected to possess a high degree of design interest and capability. It is anticipated that the studio will call upon the following skills and interests:
Course Description: Within the last decade Providence, Rhode Island has branded itself as a city on the move with a vibrant new downtown reshaped by a system of canals and a new pedestrian oriented core. Large public works projects and extensive private mixed-use commercial and residential development have redefined the city, making Providence a desirable place to live and work. Providence has been known as a regional center of commerce, but now enjoys a substantial reputation as a center for arts and culture that is fueled by Brown University, The Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University. As well, the Rhode Island Hospital and the Women and Infants Hospital continue to expand thus adding a growing professional class to the city that contributes to its continuing economic revitalization. Providence has always been defined by its major districts: Capitol Hill, Water Place Park, Downcity, (as the downtown is known) and College Hill. Now a new sector, made possible by the imminent relocation of Interstate 195, known as the Jewelry District is being considered as the next great opportunity for the economic and cultural expansion of the city. The relocation of I195 is underway and will be completed within the next five years. When the old road is demolished, the Jewelry District could become an extension of the downtown urban grid. Alternatively, it could be something else entirely, perhaps becoming a cultural and economic engine of its own influencing the future development of downtown and College Hill. All three districts border on the Providence River whose water's edge has just begun to be appreciated but is yet undefined and underdeveloped. This semester's studio studies the current configuration of Providence, traces its history, and proposes alternative futures for the 35 square block 145 acre Jewelry district. Consideration of sustainable design principles also have a place in this studio pedagogy, along with an understanding of how such principals affect the new urban design and architecture of the district. New definitions and applications of sustainability and high performance design at the urban design scale are sought, applied and tested. The New Boston Waterfront: Channels & Edges Prerequisites: Students are expected to possess a high degree of design interest and capability. It is anticipated that the studio calls upon the following interests and will include:
Course Description: As Boston continues to develop and grow at a rapid pace, the activities that were once relegated to its edges, primarily industrial and maritime operations, are being replaced by an extension of the city's core activities: mixed-use residential, commercial and cultural development. This semester we consider two key strategic waterfront sites that deserve careful consideration for future development. One is on a former edge of the downtown, whose development is an integral part of the myriad of new real estate activity of the surrounding cityscape and the other, at the extreme eastern waterfront of South Boston appears to have unlimited use potential. Both sites are considered to be of prime importance by the mayor's office and the Boston Redevelopment Authority The first site is situated alongside the Ft. Point Channel at the Old Northern Avenue Pedestrian Bridge and includes approximately four acres of land currently occupied by the Barking Crab restaurant, the New Northern Avenue Bridge, the public park adjacent to the Children's Museum and the James Hook Lobster Co. The water sheet of the channel itself may also be imagined as an integral part of the site. This site serves as an transition space between the older established Atlantic Avenue waterfront on the eastern side of the Ft. Point Channel and the new South Boston to the east that includes the nearby Federal Courthouse by Harry Cobb, the new Convention Center designed by Rafael Vignoli and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) by Diller and Scofidio + Renfro. The Ft. Point Channel, once at the edge to the downtown, might now be imagined as a body of water flowing through the downtown. The second site to be considered is located at the eastern tip of the Seaport District of Boston at the ocean's edge along the Waterfront Reserve Channel. This site is accessed along Northern Blvd. /Seaport Blvd. and includes the International Cargo Port, with its 400,000 square foot warehouse and commercial office space at 88 Black Falcon Avenue, an adjacent open site and the Black Falcon Cruise Ship Terminal. Consideration of the Conley Shipping Container Terminal on the south side of the Reserve Channel will be encouraged. Each segment of this district has its own reuse potential for large scale urban design interventions that defines a new waterfront edge for the city. Consideration of sustainable design principles are at the core of the studio pedagogy. This studio offers opportunities for students in all professions to study and apply sustainable and high-performance design principles, in depth, throughout the course of the semester. Starting with the United States Green Building Council's LEED program for the design of individual buildings, a goal for this studio is to develop guidelines for the design of sustainable urban environments. New definitions and applications of sustainability and high performance design at the urban design scale are sought, applied and tested. North Adams: A City on the Verge Prerequisites: Students are expected to possess a high degree of design interest and capability. The studio calls upon the following interests and includes:
Course Description: This semester’s North Adams studio focuses on how designers and planners can bring substantial talents to bear on cities attempting to reinvent themselves. The case at hand is North Adams, Massachusetts. The development of the new public/private Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) has had an enormous economic impact on North Adams and all of North Berkshire County but it is now time for a second wave of development to continue this impressive record of economic revitalization. The political will is present in North Adams. Mayor John Barrett III, the longest–serving mayor in the Commonwealth and his administration, have been a major force in the rebirth of this struggling Western Massachusetts industrial town. In the past hundred years, North Adams has gone from prosperity to near ruin and back to a growing prosperity again. Unlike any of time in its history, North Adams is now a part of the Berkshire Mountains cultural scene that includes Tanglewood (the Summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, the Williamstown Theater, the Clark Art Institute, and the Norman Rockwell Museum among others. The developing cultural and restaurant district, anchored by MASS MoCA, attracts thousands of visitors each week from May through November. A central question for this studio is how North Adams might continue to grow by attracting new residents who will contribute to the local economy as well as attracting visitors on a year-round basis. Mayor John Barrett III and Joseph Thompson, the Director of MASS MoCA will be involved in our studio and will participate in the mid-semester and final reviews. My Bruner/Cott partner, Simeon Bruner who was principal-in-charge of our design for MASS MoCA will also participate in reviews. The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence will help sponsor a symposium in North Adams that will address urban revitalization through the arts. Pedagogic Objectives: The shifting economic prosperity of cities like North Adams is, more than was the case previously, a fact of life in this new century. Inventive ways to address the myriad issues related to economic growth and decline represent new opportunities for the design community. This studio allows us to “think outside the box” by applying our distinctive spatial design creativities to address what is typically seen as a political problem usually yielding banal results. The huge success of MASS MoCA, conceived at first by the Williams College arts community, is proof of the potency of just such an approach. Urban Design: North Adams was bifurcated by the construction of Route 2. A spatial void exists at the core of the city instead of a vibrant center. MASS MoCA provides a center of activity as does Main Street, one block off of the Route 2 thoroughfare. It is possible to drive though North Adams and never know of the existence of Main Street. A central question is how can we deploy our talents as urban designers in a way that can suggest creative and economical solutions to this problem? Architectural Design: The shortage of housing in North Adams, particularly affordable housing, contributes to the current situation. The creation of housing has been proven to be an effective engine in jumpstarting community economic revitalization. What form should such housing take in North Adams? Live work artists housing is a possibility and can be newly designed or planned in existing buildings. Other housing typologies including downtown mixed-use are a possibility that will inevitably raise the question of the “design of Main Street” with its historic building stock. Landscape Architecture / Landscape Urbanism: Open space design possibilities exist throughout downtown North Adams that can be seen both as parkland open space opportunities as well as ways to use a landscape urbanism approach toward the knitting together of the urban core. The opportunity exists to create new landscape out of the old. Money exists in North Adams to pay for the redesign and construction of new landscape components of the city. Urban Planning: Planners are frequently called upon to envision ways to revitalize urban areas. Such an opportunity exists in North Adams, particularly with regard to the potential role played by the creative arts in community revitalization. Local examples of arts based redevelopment exist with MASS MoCA and throughout Berkshire County. Providence, Rhode Island and Paducah, Kentucky are two examples worth further study. Format and Working Method: All students work through the course of the semester toward the goal of producing strategies, designs and plans for the continuing North Adams renaissance. A brief one-week long research phase during the first week of the semester is intended to familiarize the studio with the history of North Adams and the current North Adams condition. The first part of the semester is largely investigatory and includes the study of appropriate and significant housing typologies, urban and landscape revitalization precedents as well the development of appropriate planning strategies for the city. During this part of the semester, leading to mid-semester, work should be conducted in teams, although some individual work is perhaps necessary. It is likely that the projects to be developed during the later part of the semester are done individually but team work ispermitted as necessary. Time Commitment of students: Students are expected to participate in all studio sessions. The out-of-class time commitment will average 12-15 hours per week. A number of field trips to North Adams are planned, including a one-day symposium on the role of the arts in community development. Students are encouraged, and indeed expected, to make trips to North Adams on an as needed basis. In addition to the mid-semester and final reviews, there will be regular pin-ups. Monterrey, a Mexican City
and Landscape in Transformation: Three Rivers, One Region OUTLOOK SETTING VISION CHALLENGE APPLICABILITY STUDIO DEVELOPMENT Monterrey, a Mexican City and Landscape in Transformation:
Three Rivers, One Region Sponsor: Agencia Para La Planeacion Del Dessarrollo Urbano de Neuvo Leon Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Ms. Alicia Guajardo Alatorre; Executive President GSD Departments: Department of Landscape Architecture and Department of Urban Planning and Design This studio addresses the broader issues of planning and design of the built environment in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The studio engages eighteen students from the disciplines of Urban Planning and Design, Landscape Architecture, and Architecture during the spring semester, February 2005 through May 2005. An initial site visit to Monterrey by the class is carried out early in this period under the guidance of Mario Schjetnan and Leland Cott. During this time there are field visits to the study areas, seminars, workshops, and public meetings with local officials, professionals, and stakeholders. Monterrey is located in the northeastern region of the country and is Mexico's third largest city with a population of five million people. The economic base of the city has been the steel and metal industry as well as beer, which evolved into a solid glass and packaging industry. Today, Monterrey is one of Mexico's more dynamic economic and cultural centers; a complex metropolis with a diversified economy complementing the industrial base with a strong tertiary sector of services and several universities. The geographical setting of Monterrey creates a landscape situated between the Eastern Sierra Madre and the plains in a semi-desert environment. The Sierra creates a magnificent physical background for the city as well as being the source of a complex system of rivers and creeks. The city originated between seasonal rivers, the Santa Catarina and the Topochico. The intensity of a rapid urbanization, as well as a lack of understanding and sensibility for its setting have traditionally ignored those natural features, either as landscapes of potential green beauty; as ecological resources for water, plants and fauna; as form givers and organizers for the city or as possible public open space corridors and connectors to the Sierra. Traditionally, planning in Monterrey has seen land use controls, circulation and traffic arteries as structural elements of the city and as infrastructure to serve its industrial base. The new leadership, at the state and city, intends to reverse this non-sustainable relationship with its rivers, mountains and regional landscape. The studio focus starts from the need to plan from the origin of these natural features and investigates strategies for, and the creation of, a new series of urban interventions at the landscape and urban design scale. The State Planning Authorities of Nuevo Leon provide base maps, and other relevant information. Representatives of the municipal and state government closely follow the Studio and participate in mid-term and final juries. A publication be prepared by the studio participants documenting the results and conclusions of their design and planning work. The Monterrey Studio offer the opportunity to understand the phenomenon of the rapidly growing city – within the context of a rapidly growing economy – in conflict with a sensitive environment. There are many similarities between the Monterrey condition and other regions of Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Kyiv, Ukraine: The New Dnipro
Edge: (Re)defining the City This design studio is the first at the GSD to focus on Ukraine and its capital city, Kyiv. Like many of the former states of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) – as well as the former Iron Curtain countries – Ukraine is now awakening to the realities of a new economically powerful European Union. With Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and seven other countries set to enter the EU this year, Ukraine is positioning itself for entry within the next decade. Kyiv with its western European cosmopolitan life style – located 300 kilometers from the Polish border – is poised to capitalize on its historic past and geographic advantage as a new European urban center. To its advantage, Kyiv possesses a strong, well-designed and intact Stalinist era infrastructure of roadways, parks and buildings. Its appearance and feel is reminiscent of the great capitals of Western Europe but at a smaller scale. It is an extremely attractive city, not very well known to Westerners, awaiting discovery and redefinition. The focus of the studio is a 200-hectare site on the southeastern corner of the city bounded by the Dnipro River and the Ukranian Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden. The site is presently covered with small industrial buildings and warehouses, typical of such urban edge riverfront sites around the world but now understood as possessing great potential to help redefine quality of life and the image of the city. This vastly underutilized waterfront, along with its contiguous neighborhoods, offers great potential for either a single purpose use or as a new mixed-use development that could include major residential and commercial development, combining existing buildings and new construction. Newly designed open space and parkland along the river’s edge is also anticipated and will be linked into extensive island parks and river beachfront infrastructure. It is intended that this new 200-hectare urban-scaled intervention will be the 21st century gateway to Kyiv from the airport 25 kilometers to the east. While this studio is located in a particular place, the issues to be explored are paradigmatic of the 21st Century urban condition and the lessons learned here are applicable throughout one’s career as an urbanist.After a brief two-week research project to familiarize the studio with relevant subject matter, including a review of other Eastern European cities, work during the first half of the semester is concentrated on the identification of urban renewal strategies that lead to a specific master plan(s) for the site. Formulation of urban design and architectural guidelines may be appropriate. During the second half of the semester, work concentrates on the design of specific projects within the site. Designs of new, denser, urban development typologies are encouraged as a response to the current worldwide tendency toward sprawl and suburbanization. The XXI Century Development Corporation of Kyiv, a for-profit capitalist style real-estate business, is sponsoring this studio. We travel to Ukraine over the spring break where we present our large-scale thinking/designs to the sponsor, the Mayor’s office and its urban design and planning officials. We also meet with Ukranian design students at the local university. The studio welcomes all GSD students who possess a high degree of design interest and capability to work at the master planning scale and at the scale of the individual design intervention along with the formulation of site and building programs, guidelines and implementation strategies. Guy Perry is a GSD graduate in MArch II and MAUD. Guy Perry directs an active and successful urban design practice in Europe, headquartered in Cannes, France and Warsaw, Poland. He joins us in the studio several times during the semester for discussion and crits. He also participates in the mid-semester and final reviews, as well as the trip to Kyiv. Also joining us in the studio from time to time is another GSD alumna, and East European Studies expert, Christina Crawford, MArch I, who did her thesis using a site adjacent to the main square in Kyiv. In 2001-02, she received a Fulbright Fellowship to Ukraine, where she researched post-Soviet Ukranian architecture. Havana, Cuba IV: La Rampa - A 20th
Century Modern Preservation District This semester's studio focuses on the designation of a twentieth century modern preservation district in Havana's El Vedado neighborhood. More than a dozen important International Style modernist buildings, ravaged by time and revolution, remain in the vicinity of La Rampa, Havana's quintessential 1950's street. The development of a strategy for the revitalization and reuse of these iconic structures is at the core of the studio work. Integral to this effort is the reuse of underutilized sites to be redeveloped in accordance with a new set of urban design guidelines and a master plan for the district. The streetscape along La Rampa was created during the heyday of the 1950's and was characterized by mafia related rum running, drugs and gambling. The district flourished into the early 1960's, as a particular form of Havana style urbanism, with a healthy mix of government offices, commercial, retail and residential uses. While the quality of life in much of the city has deteriorated since the revolution, this street has remained alive and vibrant partially fueled by its cultural and tourist activities. It is Havana's Times Square and the midtwentieth century version of the Paseo del Prado, Havana's magnificent pedestrian promenade. The seven-block-long steep slope of La Rampa, toward the ocean at the Malecon, is its most distinguishing physical characteristic. Building forms step with the topography as pedestrian activities are shaped by it. This is an environment full of potential for a vibrant pedestrian mix of activities at varying levels along the street. The influence of the existing hotels, the proximity of the University of Havana, the Malecon and the ocean are all important form givers to this studio project. A La Rampa Modern Preservation District, with its unrivaled collection of period buildings, has the potential to economically and physically revitalize this part of Havana, as has occurred in the Art Deco / South Beach district of Miami Beach. Many of the best buildings along La Rampa are high-rises from the 1950's but others predate that period and are fine examples of Art Deco or Streamlined Style. This project represents an opportunity to design new contemporary architecture, within the modern district, that would match Havana's other excellent buildings that span five centuries. With Havana's rise as an important tourist destination and with the struggling Cuban economy being so dependent upon tourism, government officials appear very interested in the recommendations that this studio is likely to offer. The time is right to initiate a movement to preserve this aspect of Havana's architectural patrimony. This Urban Design studio is open to students from each of the GSD departments. The effective application of each of the disciplines that we teach will be crucial to the success of this effort. During the first half of the semester students concentrate their talents on the identification of design and planning strategies that will lead to the creation of the La Rampa Modern Preservation District Master Plan. Creative architectural design, urban design and landscape architecture define the character of the proposed district. A written plan for the implementation and phasing of the new district is critical to the plan's success. During the second half of the semester, work concentrates on the design of specific interventions. Designs of new, dense, urban building typologies are encouraged in response to the current shortage of adequate commercial space and housing in Havana. As was the case with the previous Havana studios, we work in collaboration with the Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital (Group for the Integrated Development of the Capital). We also work with the Office for the Master Plan of Havana and the Office of the City Historian. While in Havana, students participate in meetings and presentations. Mario Coyula continues to serve as our "Man in Havana". Pedagogic Objectives: The Design of Housing: To fulfill socialism's promise, virtually all the housing built in Cuba since 1959 has been multifamily housing. The national demand for decent housing remains high because of a shortage of production, lack of maintenance of existing residential stock and overall poor quality of construction. This studio includes design strategies that respond to the need for well-built midrise housing. Residential mixed-use strategies and solutions involving new construction, rehabilitation and infill are investigated. Historic Preservation: Havana's historic center, Old Havana, having been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is now a main stop on the tourist's itinerary. Building restoration work is proceeding at an unprecedented pace and the complete revitalization of Old Havana is within sight. Other parts of Havana are in dire need of equal attention but none have a grouping of period buildings that can rival the collection of mid-twentieth century masterpieces still in use in La Rampa. In Old Havana, restoration has been financed by bilateral collaboration, NGO's, the Cuban government, the Office of the City Historian and through large-scale international joint ventures. This studio explores additional strategies for La Rampa combining the preservation of existing urban fabric with the need for an expanded supply of new structures. Havana, Cuba III: El Malecon This semester's Havana studio focused on the seven-kilometer long oceanfront roadway known as El Malecon. This iconic waterfront boulevard is Havana's premier open space and indeed one of the more intriguing public spaces in the world. The Historian of the City of Havana has described the Malecon as "the Gateway to Havana," and even in its current deteriorated condition the Malecon has a strong magnetic attraction to residents and visitors alike. It is "the place to be" in Havana for people watching, political rallies, ocean gazing, viewing the city and its monuments, and even swimming for the local children. In spite of its strength as an urban space, the Malecon is also emblematic of the difficulties in modern Cuba. Severe building façade deterioration, the lack of viable landscaping, and a high degree of water pollution continue be among the difficulties still to be overcome. Situated along the northern boundary of the city at the sea, the Malecon passes along the edge of different neighborhoods and thus assumes a changing personality along its seven-kilometer length. It is quite remarkable in this regard and it is this distinctive characteristic that makes the Malecon an appropriate challenge for an advanced design studio. Zone 1: It is here at the easternmost end of the waterfront from the Real Fuerza Fort in the heart of Old Havana to the Paseo del Prado that is the starting point of the Malecon. This sector possesses a great degree of spatial definition along the mouth of Havana Harbor between East Havana and Old Havana. Zone 2: This sector of the Malecon, between the Paseo del Prado and Belascoain Street, consists of fourteen blocks at the northern edge of Central Havana. A beautiful, yet deteriorated, one and a half kilometer long urban façade wall, with a continuous pedestrian arcade, characterizes this distinctive section of the Malecon. Zone 3: Continuing westward from Belascoain to La Rampa (23rd Street), this section is characterized by a compact urban landscape of mixed-use structures that include older single-family dwellings and larger multi-family buildings. The large Antonio Maceo Park and the high-rise "Hermanos Ameijeras" hospital add a strong but disruptive scale to the street. Zone 4: This sector, La Rampa to Avenida de los Presidentes (G Street), contains the former U.S. Embassy (now the U.S. Interests Section) along with the recently constructed Protest Plaza. It is defined by its large undefined spaces adjacent to the Malecon and an impenetrable topographical change at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Zone 5: This last sector stretches from G Street to the mouth of the Almendares River, where the pedestrian scale of the Malecon becomes more ambiguous due to the lack of amenities, where the block structure is elongated and occupied by high-rise object buildings, such as the Hotel Rivera and new Melia Cohiba Hotel. At the extreme western end of the Malecon, along the El Vedado shore, the Malecon passes the former El Vedado Tennis Club before disappearing into the tunnel to the western suburb of Miramar. As intended, this studio engaged the entire length of the Malecon, as well as the bordering blocks of the contiguous neighborhoods of Old Havana, Central Havana, and El Vedado. Design issues relating to the preservation, adaptive reuse, and new construction within the Havana city fabric were explored. This urban design studio was open to students from each of the GSD departments. This was the most comprehensive of the Havana studios offered to date, and was expected to involve the participation of Cuban Government officials. During the first half of the semester, students concentrated their efforts on the identification of urban design and planning strategies that lead to the formulation of specific master-plan interventions for the Malecon and its contiguous neighborhoods. During the second half of the semester, work concentrated on the design of specific interventions. Designs of new, dense, urban residential typologies were encouraged as a response to the current shortage of adequate housing in Havana. As was the case with the previous Havana studios, we worked in collaboration with the Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital (Group for the Integrated Development of the Capital). We also worked with the Office for the Master Plan of Havana and the Office of the City Historian. While in Havana, students participated in meetings, design charrettes, and presentations. Pedagogic Objectives: Urban Design and Landscape Design: While the Malecon is Havana's premier open space it is nearly completely lacking in adequate amenities for its millions of users. As a waterfront roadway, its traffic patterns are obsolete and inefficient. Public transportation is inadequate. As a pedestrian space, no shade or shelter from the sun or rain is provided. Its waterfront seawall does little to protect the roadway and adjacent structures from the ocean waves, particularly during storms. Green space and tree planting is non-existent. This studio focused on design strategies and solutions to these urban design and landscape design challenges.
Historic Preservation: Havana's historic core, La Habana Vieja, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba's financial problems have been exacerbated. The magnificent colonial fabric of La Habana Vieja, as well as that of all Havana, is crumbling from lack of proper maintenance. New interest and investments by the World Bank, and through large-scale international joint ventures, is enabling the stabilization of many structures. This studio explored strategies for combining the preservation of existing urban fabric with the need for an expanded supply of new structures for all uses. Community Development: In the United States, community development is a key building block to neighborhood revitalization and the promotion of social equity. With decreased resources, Cuba is looking to its citizens for models of entrepreneurship and self-help. This studio usef American and Cuban models to develop strategies for neighborhood renewal. The studio investigated and discussed the configuration and language of the community process. Havana, Cuba II
This design studio focused on the Western portion of Havana overlooking the mouth of the Almendares River at the Caribbean Sea. Here, a vastly underutilized waterfront, along with its contiguous neighborhood, offers great potential for a new mixed-use development that will include a major residential development combining existing buildings and new construction. Newly designed open space and parkland along the river's edge and the reuse of an historic Colonial fort is also anticipated. It is intended that this renewed neighborhood will be the 21st century gateway to Havana from the west at the boundary between El Vedado and Miramar. As Havana's role in the new economy of Cuba becomes more critical, this studio formulated a master plan for the renewal of El Vedado and its link to Miramar. Our work concentrated on the section of El Vedado from 12th Street on the east to 23rd Street on the South. The Almendares riverfront park - that is the border between El Vedado and Miramar - at the end of the Malecon comprise the western border of the site. To the south, the site borders on the world famous Necropolis Cristobal Colon, a 56 hectacre urban cemetery. During the first half of the semester students concentrated their efforts on the identification of urban renewal strategies and the development of urban design and architectural guidelines that lead to the formulation of specific master-plan interventions for the district. As anticipated, our designs for the new riverwalk and urban park, linking the district to the historic Colonial Fort of La Chorrera, also ties newly created urban development sites to the river edge. During the second half of the semester, work concentrated on the design of housing and mixed-use projects on specific sites. Designs of new, more dense, urban residential typologies are encouraged as a response to the current shortage of adequate housing in Havana. As was the case with the Havana I studio, we workd in collaboration with the Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital (Group for the Integrated Development of the Capital). While in Havana students participated in neighborhood meetings, design charrettes and presentations. A combination of preservation, adaptive reuse and urban infill strategies are vital to the formulation of a comprehensive urban planning and design effort. Today all of Havana is struggling to maintain its character and vitality in the face of unprecedented international development pressures. As Central Havana and Vedado continue to experience reinvestment, this studio intends to assist in considering the role innovative architecture, planning and urban design and landscape design thinking can play in successful community renewal. Pedagogic Objectives: The Design of Housing: To fulfill socialism's promise, virtually all the housing built in Cuba since 1959 has been multifamily housing. The national demand for decent housing remains high because of a shortage of production, lack of maintenance of existing residential stock and overall poor quality of construction. This studio focused on design strategies that respond to the need for well-built low and mid-rise housing. Housing and mixed-use strategies involving new construction, rehabilitation and infill was be investigated. Historic Preservation: Havana's historic core, La Habana Vieja, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba's financial problems have been exacerbated. The magnificent colonial fabric of La Habana Vieja is crumbling from lack of proper maintenance. New interest and investment, however, by the World Bank is enabling the stabilization of many structures. Deterioration and building failure, on the other hand, present new challenges for development. The proposed studio explored strategies for combining the preservation of existing urban fabric with the need for an expanded supply of adequate housing, Community Development: In the United States, community development is a key building block to neighborhood revitalization and the promotion of social equity. With decreased resources, Cuba is looking to its citizens for models of entrepreneurship and self-help. This studio used American and Cuban models to develop strategies for neighborhood renewal. The studio will investigate and discuss the configuration and language of the community process. Cuba
Our work concentrated on the section of El Vedado from 12th Street on the east to 23rd Street on the South. The Almendares riverfront park - that is the border between El Vedado and Miramar - at the end of the Malecon comprise the western border of the site. To the south, the site borders on the world famous Necropolis Cristobal Colon, a 56 hectacre urban cemetery. During the first half of the semester students concentrated their efforts on the identification of urban renewal strategies and the development of urban design and architectural guidelines that will lead to the formulation of specific master-plan interventions for the district. It is anticipated that our designs for the new riverwalk and urban park, linking the district to the historic Colonial Fort of La Chorrera, will also tie newly created urban development sites to the river edge. During the second half of the semester, work concentrated on the design of housing and mixed-use projects on specific sites. Designs of new, more dense, urban residential typologies are encouraged as a response to the current shortage of adequate housing in Havana. As was the case with the Havana I studio, we worked in collaboration with the Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital (Group for the Integrated Development of the Capital). While in Havana students participated in neighborhood meetings, design charrettes and presentations. A combination of preservation, adaptive reuse and urban infill strategies are vital to the formulation of a comprehensive urban planning and design effort. Today all of Havana is struggling to maintain its character and vitality in the face of unprecedented international development pressures. As Central Havana and Vedado continue to experience reinvestment, this studio intends to assist in considering the role innovative architecture, planning and urban design and landscape design thinking can play in successful community renewal. Salem, Massachusetts
The studio focused on two sites in Salem, Massachusetts, as locations for development. One site resulted from new shipping infrastructure and is located at the juncture of the historic waterfront and the working industrial waterfront. The other site contains 14 acres of cleared land at the main commuter rail and vehicular entry to downtown and is adjacent to a large courthouse complex, housing, shopping, and tourist destinations. From an urban design standpoint the two sites bracket opposite ends of a downtown with priceless historic and cultural assets, a vital banking and legal center, and a struggling retail district. The two locations are extremely different in character, yet separated by a distance of only several blocks. Careful planning of uses, open spaces, and infrastructure at -- and perhaps between -- these two poles should benefit the downtown in general. Students needed to consider prior studies and plans for Salem and created their own working hypothesis about the realistic future of its downtown/tourist core. The class choose among potential private investments at both locations. Outside real estate professionals helped evaluate housing, office, retail, entertainment, hotel, and conference center possibilities. Both public and private finance played important roles, as did Salem's urgent need to expand its property tax base. This was a creative investigation of the particular relationship between planning, urban design, and architecture with real estate economics for the revitalization of an historic waterfront community. The course integrated site analysis, programming, master planning, and urban and architectural design with for-profit market assessment and economic analysis. Alternative real estate financing models detailing varying levels of public and private participation were investigated. The work was assembled in presentation proposal format supported by drawings and models. Bronzeville III (Chicago)
This semester the Chicago Bronzeville Studio concentrated on the area of south of the Stevenson Expressway (I55) to 31st Street and from the Dan Ryan Expressway to Michigan Avenue. This district forms the northern portion of one of the oldest and largest Black communities in the United States. As African-Americans began to migrate to Chicago during World Wars I and II, they were segregated into this neighborhood, which has become known as Bronzeville. This virtually self-sufficient area, that had previously furnished jobs, homes, and social services to its residents, has undergone physical deterioration along with severe demographic, social, and economic change. Today, Bronzeville is struggling to regain its character and vitality. As the neighborhood proceeds to experience modest reinvestment, this studio intends to assist in considering the role effective planning and innovative design thinking can play in successful community renewal. As the third consecutive urban design and planning studio in the Bronzeville series, this was a creative investigation of the particular relationship between the disciplines of architecture, urban design, planning, and landscape architecture. The work was assembled in presentation proposal format supported by drawings and models. During the first half of the semester, students worked on developing a comprehensive understanding of the neighborhood with an emphasis on the area-wide impact of Dearborn Homes public housing, the IIT campus, and the newly expanded McCormic Place exposition center. During the first half of the semester the identification of urban renewal strategies and the development of urban design guidelines/master plan for the district were stressed. During the second half of the semester, work concentrated on the design of specific retail, institutional, and housing sites within the area. With these uses as its principal focus, this studio promoted a dialogue between concerns for planning, urban design, architectural design, and landscape architecture. This studio was conducted in collaboration with the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT and GSD students worked simultaneously on similar studio projects and jointly participated in neighborhood meetings, workshops, and presentations. Bronzeville II Studio
This semester the development studio concentrated on the revitalization and replacement of America's decaying urban public housing. The selected site was the Stateway Gardens Housing neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. As the second consecutive urban design and planning studio in the Bronzeville series, this was a creative investigation of the particular relationship between design and real estate economics for the renewal of large scale public housing. The course integrated site analysis, programming, master planning, urban and architectural design with not-for-profit and for-profit market assessment and economic analysis. Alternative real estate finance models detailing varying levels of public and private participation were investigated. The work was assembled in presentation proposal format supported by drawings and models. This studio was conducted in collaboration with the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT and GSD students worked simultaneously on a similar design and real estate studio project and participated in neighborhood meetings and presentations. Bronzeville Studio
During the first half of the semester, students worked on developing a comprehensive understanding of the neighborhood with an emphasis on the 35th Street corridor between Lake Michigan to the east and Comisky Park to the west. The identification of urban renewal strategies and the development of urban designand architectural guidelines for 35th Street were stressed. During the second half of the semester, work concentrated on the design of specific retail, institutional, and housing sites along the 35th Street corridor. With these uses as its principal focus, this studio promoted a dialogue between concerns for urban design, architectural design, and landscape architecture. This studio was conducted in collaboration with the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. IIT and GSD students worked simultaneously on similar studio projects and jointly participated in neighborhood meetings, workshops, and presentations. Housing and Urbanism in Boston
This studio concentrated on the design of urban housing in distinctly different contexts -- Boston's North End and South End. The South End site focused on the development of the Washington Street corridor from Massachusetts Avenue to East Berkeley Street. Designs were developed for the proposed Washington Street residential boulevard scattered site infill housing and for large scale multi-family housing. The North End site encompassed the area between New Congress Street and Cross Street, including the Blackstone block and the design of open space created by the depression of the central artery. Both sites invited design responses of varying scale and complexity. Both sites contain a major linear element as the primary organizer of urban space. Medium- and high-density housing strategies involving new construction, rehabilitation and infill were explored. The design investigation of new typologies for urban housing that reflect social and demographic changes (e.g., single parent, single occupancy or multi-generational households) were stressed. With housing and neighborhood design as its principal focus, this studio promoted a dialogue between concerns for urban design, architectural design and landscape architecture. Urban Development Studio
Students worked in multidisciplinary teams (design, business, government) on a semester-long project, a 1200-acre parcel, eight miles from Dallas in Las Colinas, Texas. This mixed-use project (commercial, retail, and residential) was grounded in the existing economic and environmental conditions. The studio promoted a dialogue between concerns for design quality and economic feasibility that is reinforced by the participation of outside development, property management, marketing, and design guests. The course integrated site analysis, programming, master planning, and urban and architectural design with market assessment and economic analysis. The work was assembled in presentation proposal formats supported by drawings and models. |
