Preliminary Thesis Proposal

Residential Life: Revisited - Turning the city grid on it’s end

An Investigation in Vertical Connectivity through the Development of a Self Contained Urban Community.

Thesis Abstract:

I propose to create a large multi-use development that will contain nearly all the programmatic functions that are found in a city. I plan to test a residential building block that is modeled from the 26 wards of the historic city of Savannah. To test the density, rather than organizing the wards in a horizontal fashion as it exists, I plan to ‘stack’ these wards vertically. The elements that will be investigated are how these wards are connected vertically, and how or whether they communicate with each other. It is also important to investigate the adjacencies of uses, I.E. the relationship of residential uses, to commercial and retail uses. What other programmatic adjacencies are important for the project to be successful. The thesis will investigate how an urban plan can be implemented, yet the also designed to let the development grow organically rather than to be constructed all at once.

Thesis Issues:

The American dream of home ownership is changing. No longer is the white picket fence and 2 cats in the yard what the overwhelming majority finds as an ideal way of living. With deficiencies in the field of construction, financing, and the growing problem in the sprawl of suburban developments the priorities of inherent in the ownership of space is changing. Everyday people wake up to ever increasing warnings of the harm that every country and culture across the globe is causing the planet. The understanding that things must change for the sake our planetary future is settling in and people are beginning to think about ways to make a difference, and growing comfortable with the idea that our current way of living; will change.
All across the country, American cities are experiencing a rebirth of urban areas. Local governments are providing incentives for developers to invest in the heart of the city, to create new places to live, work and play. The necessity to have higher density of these developments is a function of the economics. The cost and availability of land in urban centers is too great to build six dwelling units an acre which is the typical density of most suburbs. The problem inherent in these new condensed suburban developments that are arbitrarily placed in and around urban areas is; the developments have increased density, but the diversity of use remains the same. Developers are using the model of suburbia and forcing it into the shape of urban neighborhoods without considering the reason that true urban neighborhoods are successful. Rather than encouraging a true change in the way of living, developers are providing new developments that merely mock urban neighborhoods in appearance, density, and shape, but still function like the suburbs that are contributing to congestion, sprawl, and the deterioration of our planet. The following is a quote from the developer of a new downtown neighborhood in Columbus

“Residents who move downtown will still be able to have their own front and back doors, little back yards, and garages with storage space”

Considering these developers are mostly marketing to people who will leave suburban neighborhoods for urban neighborhoods they are attempting to provide a little piece of both yet achieving neither. The following is taken from a press release from the same developer.

“…to design a neighborhood that resembles the brownstones and other residential buildings near Chicago's Gold Coast. Most of these units front onto green spaces and have varied facades."

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Additionally, these new developments tend to be too small, due to the fact that they are trying to find a balance between urban and suburban. They have a much higher density than suburban neighborhoods, and they might provide a couple hundred new units but when you consider the population that is required to support a diversity of services, several hundred people isn’t going to spur the growth in the area beyond a new restaurant and coffee shop. It will take many more people to truly encourage growth.

Methods of Inquiry:

The primary method of inquiry is to take the typical city grid which is laid out horizontally across the earth, dismantle the building blocks of the grid, and rebuild it on a vertical axis. In this case I will be using the grid of the historic district of the City of Savannah, Georgia. The inquiry will include the new spaces that are developed in the new adjacency of one block on top of the other instead of side by side. There will be additional inquiry in a solution for vertical circulation and transportation issues along with the vertical resolution of services and utility systems that are traditionally horizontal.
A secondary method of inquiry will be to investigate the natural organic growth of this new vertical urban fabric.
Finally, the virtual environment will be used to investigate the penetration of natural light into the spaces.

Terms of Criticism:

Can a single building (or group of closely connected adjacent buildings) serve every function, provide every service, and meet every convenience that is found in the sprawl of a modern suburb, yet meet the model of historically successful urban neighborhoods. Can this building achieve the critical mass of population required to support these services and conveniences in a vertical manner that is required on an urban infill situation?

The success of this project will be evaluated by shear ability to organize the breadth of the program into a functional building, without testing the program requirements of commercial and retail portions of the development. The project will also be evaluated in whether the development will encourage revitalization in the adjacent deteriorating neighborhood or will the self sustaining program only be successful in and unto itself. It is important that the development be evaluated on its connection to the urban core of the city, and the metro area beyond. Finally, the building should be evaluated as a prototype of vertical urban design that could be applied in any urban core of varying scales.

The Site:
The site is currently a deteriorating and under used civic auditorium and convention space. It is positioned on the Scioto River directly across the river from the urban core of Columbus Ohio. The adjacent neighborhood, Franklinton, been neglected for many years due to the fact that it sat within the 100 year floor plain. The army core of engineers completed a flood wall in 2002 to eliminate this problem, but the area is still yet to see any measurable growth or revitalization. The site has a direct connection with rail lines that go in several direction from the site. There is an existing bike path that passes through the site. The southern border of the site is Broad Street which is the old national road and has many bus lines traveling on it.