Feral Green Streets (Tamed)

It was bound to happen, but a nice walk for some coffee showed the new 'orderly frames' for the previously unruly green street planters along Burnside Street.  Some updated images displaying what is quickly becoming 'stock' in the local green street planting arsenal -  (c) Jason King | Landscape+Urbanism.

I'm really intrigued by the planters that have captured the existing street trees.

 

My guess is it is a compromise between impacting the tree roots with excavation, versus impacts to the root zone via additional water.  They are all columnar red maples, and the majority of runoff directly on them is from small sidewalk inlets - so seems as if the wet feet may not be so much of an issue.

The neatness of the planting array keeps it from being monochromatic, there is an additional species or two thrown in here or there, particularly in larger areas without trees, and there is a slight differential in height in texture, but they just seem a bit tired at this point.  Maybe the novelty of the green street has worn off - not in function, but that they aren't special anymore, which maybe is OK?.  While still visible, is it preferable to have green infrastructure stick out, or is it acceptable, through ubiquity, for these to involve somewhat into the same invisible infrastructure.  Being common is a good sign, and that's why the 'feral' varieties were interesting:  I kind of liked them in their wild form...

Another interesting shot was the excavation of some of the new planters on the south side of the street (still under construction, I can tell from the wonderful odor of black tar in the air).  The subsurface condition of a stormwater planter is always fascinating, as what you see on the surface is rarely what is doing the heavy lifting for retention and infiltration.

Mapping Racial Diversity

Serendipitously continuing on the topic of mapping, some interesting ones (spotted on Seattle's Publicola) offers many color-coded maps of racial diversity from major US cities. The work is from a familiar name, Eric Fischer (an earlier post showing some of his work is here), and he has developed another comprehensive set of urban maps highlighting diversity (or in these Pacific Northwest versions, an inherent lack thereof). As a simple key racial groups are generalized as such: "White is pink; Black is blue; Hispanic is orange, and Asian is green."

The map of Portland (top) with associated demographics (7 percent black, 6 percent Asian, 7 percent Latino)... outlines the 'white'-ness of the area - even compared with still very white Seattle (bottom) - (8 percent black, 6 percent Latino, 14 percent Asian).


:: Portland - image via Publicola (link direct to Flickr)


:: Seattle - image via Publicola (link direct to Flickr)

While pretty, it's much more interesting when you see a more diverse urban area, in this case New York City which comes alive with a diversity equal to their role as melting-pot of the United States.


:: NYC - image via Publicola (link direct to Flickr)

From Fischer's Flickr pool, some explanation: "I was astounded by Bill Rankin's map of Chicago's racial and ethnic divides and wanted to see what other cities looked like mapped the same way. To match his map, Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, Orange is Hispanic, Gray is Other, and each dot is 25 people. Data from Census 2000. Base map © OpenStreetMap, CC-BY-SA" Rankin's map has a slightly different color scheme, as noted, but I think is doubly powerful due to the overlay of actual neighborhood boundaries - which could be added easily to any of Fischer's maps above on a case-by-case basis.


:: Chicago - image via radical cartography

As explained by Rankin on the site: "My alternative is to use dot mapping to show three kinds of urban transitions. First, there are indeed areas where changes take place at very precise boundaries — such as between Lawndale and the Little Village, or Austin and Oak Park — and Chicago has more of these stark borders than most cities in the world. But transitions also take place through gradients and gaps as well, especially in the northwest and southeast. Using graphic conventions which allow these other possibilities to appear takes much more data, and requires more nuance in the way we talk about urban geography, but a cartography without boundaries can also make simplistic policy or urban design more difficult — in a good way. "

Just as mentioned in the previous book review, displays of information are just one way of looking at data - but by using these maps as geographical and comparative case studies, it's a macro-level view of 1) racial diversity in general and 2) how this is referenced in specific locales in the urban area, and how this changes/evolves over time. It would be interesting to see more detailed demographic categories, updated with 2010 census information once it is collated... which I'm guessing someone is already thinking about...

Feral Green Streets

On E. Burnside Street in Portland, the construction of the Burnside-Couch Couplet, a project aimed at 'humanizing' the wide arterial that slices through Portland and provides the dividing line between North and South. Construction is ongoing, and as part of the design, the streets on both sides of the couplet have a number of green street planters. As I was moving into my new office, I couldn't help but notice a new 'planting' scheme on the Burnside planters - predominately populated with a mixture of weedy pioneering vegetation.



The jute netting and wood (??) weirs have been in for some time - prepped for planting and keeping erosion at bay. The late summer of sun and moisture have allowed for perfect conditions for weeds to germinate in pockets of wet ground, making for a lush green tapestry that is starting to overtake many of the curb extensions - most probably from weeds carried from car tires and deposited in the planters.





It would be interested to see if the general public noticed the difference between these 'feral' varieties compared to many of the specifically planted varieties (which at times look somewhat messy themselves) - or more likely what do business owners think? Will the weeds persist after planting? Will hand removal be adequate to keep these down once the planting is completed? How much money could we save with treatment of stormwater facilities as early successional ecosystems recently impacted with disturbance? Would this vegetation work better or worst than the monocultural rushes that have seemed to become the mainstay of storm facilities? I'm kind of hoping they just leave them as some form of radical urban ecosystem experiment - followed by soil only ecoroofs that are left to colonize via birds and wind.



Not sure what the delay in planting actually is - as the heat of summer is over and we've now hit a good part of the season for planting sans irrigation. Another month and these will be bursting and lush with weedy varieties. Some of the newer ones have yet to be overtaken, as seen in a view of one of the pristine sections - ready for colonization.


(all images (c) Jason King -Landscape+Urbanism)

Calthorpe on Portland...

"...a global model of Transit-Oriented Development."

Elizabeth Caruthers Park

One on the more recent additions to the park inventory in Portland is the neighborhood park for the South Waterfront Area. (see here and here for more on SoWa). The park is named Elizabeth Caruthers Park (after one of the pioneering founders of Portland - on whose original land claim the park now lies) this new addition offers another iteration of the national firm paired with local for park projects. As this site isn't one of those you 'happen to be near and want to swing by', it's been less on the radar than some other visible additions to the Portland landscape, which I will be showing off soon as well.

I did see this a couple of times during construction, but had an opportunity and some sunny weather this weekend to swing by and snap a few images of the completed park.


:: image (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

The $3.5 million park design was completed by Hargreaves Associates, along with local firm Lango-Hansen and artist Doug Hollis. Finished size is 2 acres, and the design plays off the proximity to the river, high density mixed use buildings, and the potential to be a flexible event space.

:: image via Portland Parks and Recreation

The context of the park is interesting, as the area is now starting to fill up with more buildings, giving some scale to what was previously a flat 2 block area. This makes me think that the scale and design of the park will be much more appropriate given the final build-out of this dense neighborhood. The designers worked a number of elements into the space and I think successfully captured the ability to split the space up into smaller 'rooms' without diminishing the whole. As mentioned on the PP&R website, the park offers a range of uses for this emerging neighborhood. These include:

"Urban Gardens: A community gathering area with movable tables and chairs and a built-in bocce court, a garden retreat area with granite seat walls and a historic marker honoring the site of Portland's first cabin, and an environmental play area with a spray/play stepping stone feature and seating logs.

Naturalized Landscape: Boardwalks, naturalized plantings, undulating topography with stormwater detention, and Song Cycles public art created by Doug Hollis.

Open Lawn: Flexible space, including an 8' tall sloped landform for seating, sunning, and play.

Other Features: A variety of trees and plantings, pathways with benches, park lighting, a festival edge on Bond, electrical infrastructure for events, bicycle racks, a drinking fountain, dog waste bag dispensers, trash receptacles, and streetscape improvements."

The dominant feature of the park is the large open grassy area, which was being used mostly for dog walking. The sculptural mound, obviously is a typical Hargreaves signature, but seems restrained here as a backdrop and tilted plane that could work as amphitheater seating. While maybe 10 feet at it's apex, you don't feel terribly high up due to the flatness of the surrounding landscape. Dare I say the berm needed to be much larger and more dramatic to really have the impact in this sized space.




:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

The individual rooms contain such features as water play, sculpture, and interpretive elements all bordered by waves of plantings defining the spaces while allowing hints of what lies beyond. The water play was interesting as it was surrounded by rubber playground tiles (the slightly darker brown) for safety - and the individual pieces of the feature itself use two different rock textures for an undulating appearance.




:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

The waves of plantings give definition to the space, along with the curving pathways. This layering provides an interesting foreshortening of spaces adding to their comfort and intimacy..


:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

The plantings and pathways also lead to other rooms, for instance this flexible seating area and bocce court. The ability to move furnishings around takes advantage of the user preference for where and in what configuration they sit. These seats surround a simple decomposed granite court (the same d.g. used for secondary pathways) again simply delineated with sparing use of stone.




:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

The remaining perimeters of the park (to the south and west sides) feature a series of low depressions and raised boardwalks, creating a wet, shade garden with Pacific Northwest species mixed with selected non-native ornamentals including groves of multi-stem birch which are a nice touch. The boardwalks cut through these wet zones, and vary from a sinous curving variety here...


:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

... to the much more rigid straight boardwalks weaving through the south section. The shade is predominantly from the building directly south, casting a shadow almost completely within this zone - and giving a very different feel from the heat of the open lawn areas - probably even more so in the height of winter.


:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

The sculptural elements 'Song Cycles' by Doug Hollis are also dotted through this area, making for some visible movement and drawing the eye skyward. I was kind of disappointed with these - essentially an oversized bicycle wheel with some cups to catch the wind and swing them round. From the RACC website, they were "... Inspired by a historic photograph of bicyclists resting at a nearby site, these “Song Cycles” are activated by the wind."


:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

And a quick video of them in action I took...

'Song Cycles' from Jason King on Vimeo.

These areas are definitely shady at mid-day, offering some relief from the heat. They do suffer from a lack of usable seating, as most of the paths are raised above grade with an occasional seat. Obviously meant to be moved through more than to linger, the shade and coolness makes it a refuge worth hanging around for and I wish there would have been a larger space carved out on this end mirroring the more sunny north side. Perhaps one must make due with just hanging your feet over the ipe decking into the water below?


:: images (c) Jason King - Landscape+Urbanism

It was interesting how little you notice the proximity to the interstate from inside the park - it registering just as a low drone in the background. While the context of the park seems cut off from the riverfront (which will hopefully seem more appealing once it is completed), another contextual element that's fascinating is the constant movement of the Portland Aerial Tram nearby the park. The little pill from pill hill kept drawing my eye upwards in fascination (the thing has been in for a couple of years now, and I seem to never tire of watching it)... another short video:

Aerial Tram from Elizabeth Caruthers Park from Jason King on Vimeo.

As a new neighborhood park (in an emerging neighborhood that some still say hasn't emerged) I was expected to see the park completely devoid of people, even on a sunny Saturday. While not teeming, there was a respectable crowd moving through - either hanging out in the seating areas, lounging on the berm, running dogs in the lawn, and grabbing a quick smoke break from a restaurant across the way. All in all I give the park high marks - and it's going to be interesting to see how this space evolves - influenced by new building in the neighborhood, more people residing and working here (like the LEED Platinum OHSU Center for Health and Healing in the distance), and intentional active programming of the spaces. The designers did a great job of incorporating a lot of activity and flexibility into 2 acres, and I'm looking forward to seeing this park mature and thrive. Now about that berm...

Sodding Bridges

Although I did get stuck waiting for one of the many bridges today, my title for this post is more tongue in cheek than brit-inspired rage. Bridges are part of the fabric of Portland, and give our city much of it's identity while also serving as vital infrastructure connecting east to west (and north to south). While we currently are in the midst of a contentious debate about a future major bridge redo, it is perhaps fitting for us to recognize the essence of bridges, and their importance to our identity, as we debate what will be an expensive and long-lasting symbol of who we are. For these reasons, we endure the occasional bridge lift - and relish in the industrial beauty of our riverine skyline - in this case the 100 year old Hawthorne bridge.


:: image via pdxpipeline

The plans to cover the bridge as part of the Portland Bridge Festival a two-week celebration of our bridges. Of particular interest is the 'Brunch on the Bridge' which included covering the interior lanes with sod and opening the bridge up for a park for the day - to picnic and relax in this temporary linear open space.


:: image via Portland Bridge Festival

I missed the opportunity to make it down to check it out - but a shot to give you a gist - prior to the sod going away for a range of permanent installations around town.


:: image via OregonLive

This WILL Cut Down on Blogging Productivity

Aside from the (at least impending) fact of summer, and general busy-ness at work - I thought I'd share my primary reason for the recent decline in blogging.



Recipe: Take one laptop. Add one dog running by and catching the cord bringing the works to the ground. The result - one really beautifully broken lcd screen (and luckily nothing else). It's been interesting to see how the crack has evolved over time - from a sharp 'v' originating at the point of impact to a much more smooth organic form. The only consistency is one postage stamp sized areas in the upper left corner that offers a hint of the screen activity below.

While I do have a setup with a monitor at work - most of the blogging is done at night - and my now importable laptop makes me a stationary being. Problem hopefully to be fixed soon!

Branden Born on Urban Ag

Cascadia Region Green Building Council:
Transformational Lecture Featuring Branden Born

Tuesday, June 15
5:30-7:00PM
White Stag Building
70 NW Couch

Urban Food & Agriculture: Making the Jump in Sustainability
Dr. Branden Born, Assistant Professor of Urban Design and Planning from the University of Washington, will offer his thoughts on how we can make the connection between equity and sustainability in regards to urban food systems in the Pacific Northwest. Branden, who recently featured as an expert panelist at the Living Future session Food for Thought: A Conversation On the Urban Agriculture Movement, published the study Avoiding the Local Trap: Scale and Food Systems in Planning Research.

Portland Photographic Record - Places

A completely different scale from the concentrated landmarks - and perhaps the antidote to the over-documented - comes from the great Portland Grid Project a photographic essay of the city using a loose framework of grid points in which photographers are unleashed to document the 'other' places in the community. The plan, photographers are directed to a confined zone using a AAA City map: "...that was cut into it's individual grid sections and randomly picked each month."



What you get isn't the key points - but a Portland you may know, but rarely notice. Photos include the photographer, grid point, and date taken.


:: JIM CARMIN -M13 11/96 - image via Portland Grid Project


:: ANN KENDELLEN -F6 2/03 - image via Portland Grid Project


:: CHRISTOPHER RAUSCHENBERG -G4 4/00 - image via Portland Grid Project

Some background of this long-standing effort: "The photographers of the Portland Grid Project spent nine years (1996-2005) systematically documenting this city we live in. Now, with some new faces and perspectives, we continue looking at our ever-changing city in Round Two. We are using a map of Portland divided into grid squares a mile and a half on a side. Each month all of us photograph the same randomly picked square, using a variety of films and formats. At the end of the month, we meet to look at everyone's photos. We estimate that as of this date we have created a complex, detailed urban portrait, consisting of about 20,000 images of Portland, its land forms, architecture, people, residential neighborhoods, industrial sites, waterways, parks, and sometimes just a shadow or the look of fallen leaves on a newly mowed lawn."

I often return to the site to check out the latest - and now that the project has entered Round 2 it becomes an ever growing archive of the true heart and diversity of the city - at least as seen through the lens.


:: GEORGE KELLY - L12 4/08 - image via Portland Grid Project

:: NANCY BUTLER - G9 6/08 - image via Portland Grid Project

:: SHAWN RECORDS - K13 1/05 - image via Portland Grid Project

Portland Photographic Record - Landmarks

The ubiquitous nature of digital data offers unique opportunities to display data about places that tells us a much richer story about ourselves than the actual city. Case in point, spotted via A Daily Dose of Architecture - are these 'Geotaggers' World Atlas' maps generated from geographically tagged data of uploaded photos to popular image sharing websites.

Portland in whole is seen below.


:: image via Flickr - Eric Fischer

Created by Eric Fischer, the maps offer a literal snapshot of snapshots - cataloging the concentration of photographic points of interest in the urban zones. "The maps are ordered by the number of pictures taken in the central cluster of each one. This is a little unfair to aggressively polycentric cities like Tokyo and Los Angeles, which probably get lower placement than they really deserve because there are gaps where no one took any pictures. The central cluster of each map is not necessarily in the center of each image, because the image bounds are chosen to include as many geotagged locations as possible near the central cluster. All the maps are to the same scale, chosen to be just large enough for the central New York cluster to fit. The photo locations come from the public Flickr and Picasa search APIs."

While it would be obvious that the concentrations would show up at a macro-scale, it's fascinating to see some of the more localized effects (and the maps have a large-scale option that allows a clearer picture of data in specific areas). The downtown is a fascinating scribble of data worthy of framing.


:: image via Flickr - Eric Fischer

Some obvious non-centralized photographic landmarks emerge - like the views from highpoints such as the volcanic Mt. Tabor:


:: image via Flickr - Eric Fischer

And the photogenic St. Johns Bridge from Cathedral Park.


:: image via Flickr - Eric Fischer

More interesting are how the photographic lines start to create a map of the density of the city - streaming down major commercial and mixed-use corridors aligning with the land-use patterns - in this case, commercial corridors along East Burnside and to the South.


:: image via Flickr - Eric Fischer

The atlas contains 100 maps of various cities worldwide - find your favorite here.


:: image via Flickr - Eric Fischer

These maps always remind me of a passage from Don Delillo's fabulous novel 'White Noise' regarding a visit to the 'Most Photographed Barn in America', a parable on our relationship with our cultural icons. A passage to sum up:

""Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. It literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism."

Sunday Parkways

I thought it apt to post something about Portland's Sunday Parkways, as today the route leads right in front of our house in Northeast. This concept, inspired by the Bogota, Colombia concept of Ciclovía - which is the temporary event or permanent closure of a street to automobile traffic. This is the third year that this is happening in Portland and last years events (there were 3 in Portland) included over 60,000 participants. The Northeast is the first of five this summer through every quadrant of the city. You can also follow the events and get updates on Facebook.


:: image via Portland Transportation

While relatively new to Portland, it's a natural fit for a bike-friendly city that has a vibrant culture of cycling and a extensive network of trails and bikelanes. It's still an opportunity to recapture the streets in whole - for a time - to truly 'take back the streets. An example routing from this map from Northeast from last years parkway - that ended up a block north of us. Notice the connected network running by public parks and limited crossings of major roadways.


:: image via Portland Transportation

A bit of historical development via Ciclovia Recreativa, which has been working on these bike-free corridors since the mid-1970s.


:: image via Ciclovia Recreativa

Check out this video from Streetfilms from a couple of years back in the first Sunday Parkways event. I gotta go move my car: