Tackling Suburbia

The latest competition out there challenging entrants to envision visionary designs is Reburbia: A Suburban Design Competition that focuses on the suburbs as the venue for exploration. Sponsored by Inhabitat and Dwell, the premise is open and relatively simple:

"Show us how you would re-invent the suburbs! What would a McMansion become if it weren’t a single-family dwelling? How could a vacant big box store be retrofitted for agriculture? What sort of design solutions can you come up with to facilitate car-free mobility, ‘burb-grown food, and local, renewable energy generation? We want to see how you’d design future-proof spaces and systems using the suburban structures of the present, from small-scale retrofits to large-scale restoration—the wilder the better!"


The entry qualifications are relatively open-ended, and include 5 images and a brief statement - meaning there is going to be a wide variation of ideas and innovations - but a lot of it is going to hinge of zoomy graphics and provocative design. While not quite the star-studded jury for the WPA 2.0 competition (more on that soon), it's a great and lower-input way to generate a range of opportunities for a part of our development world that is dire need of it.

There's really no excuse not to at least have a quick brainstorm and submit. Deadline is August 1, 2009.

Interim Vacancy - Pt 2

A followup to the idea of interim use of vacant lands, the SF Chronicle surprised with expanded coverage of some ideas for these sites... and they are all pretty fun. King continues: "...a quartet of local designers see something else: a site that could become a sculpted realm of green folds spiked by artistic birdhouses - an evolving semi-natural terrain up to the moment when the 41-story tower slated for the site someday is ready to begin construction."

More on the article, but a glimpse or two of the visions by these groups. First, artist Ned Kahn - whose vertical work is amazing, gives a horizontal treatment - evoking Mono Lake. The "...Sebastapol artist... would turn an empty construction site at 535 Mission St., now covered by gravel, into what he calls "Memory of Water" -- a lakebed of sorts, created by shimmering metal discs. This is an aerial view from the roof of 560 Mission"




:: images via SF Gate

Another proposal from a great group (and instigators of Parking Day), REBAR, with 'The People's Public Workshop', which offers a suitable alternative and interactive use, in the form of "...a carnival midway with infrastructure as the theme. The pit would offer an array of ad hoc nooks where people could explore the nuts and bolts of city building. Explorers might encounter a workshop on pothole repairs, celebrations of public servants, participant games and artists-in-residence - all amid surplus piles of such urban arcana as backhoes and orange cones."






:: images via SF Gate

The final version, 'Vegetated States: Growth Between Booms' obvious has my heart with ample use of vegetation. Envisioned by a group including Sarah Kuehl and Adam Greenspan from PWP Landscape Architecture and Owen Kennerly and Sarina Bowen from Kennerly Architecture & Planning this multidisciplinary visage focuses on urban habitat. " A fence would still corral the long site - but with poles of varying heights topped by bird shelters tailored to local species. There'd still be a descent from Harrison Street - but steep forms churning up from the sidewalk would plunge deep into the site, native shrubs taking root. Jutting from the highest point: trussed sections of building cranes, clad in vines."





:: images via SF Gate

Interestingly enough, the comment stream seems to suggest that the property owners would never go for such a thing - as they would be sued when they wanted to actually get around to building on their site... it's a funny thing, isn't it. Leave it fenced and weedy and blighted - a-ok. Do something to improve it temporarily - lawsuit. I'd say it's a valid fear, but why don't we put the lawyers to use in the beginning of the process rather than use them as leverage towards the end - hammering out some agreed upon future use where everyone is happy and no-one is sued. These don't have to be long-term investments - but more along the lines of the ephemeral Pop-Up Park or temporary installations like PS 1 (which is really furry this year!)

We've become enamored with a fixed end use of any site and unable to see the potential forest amidst the potential buildings - happy to keep valuable land fallow, polluted land toxic, and open space fenced - until the price is right to put up another building.

Interim Vacancy

Ever have one of those moments when you read, virtually word-for-word and idea-for-idea about an urban issue that you've been mulling and kicking around in your brain for some time. The idea of vacant land is predominant everywhere in varying levels, but offers potential for future development as well as valuable real estate that often sits unused, contributing little to our cities behind fencing and covered with weeds.


:: image via SF Gate

The recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle urban design writer John King looks into the downturn in development and the remnant vacant lots left over until sites are developed in his article "High-rises on hold: What to do with empty lots?":

"The high-rise boom has gone quiet, and a new challenge faces San Francisco: deciding what to do with land cleared for towers that may not rise for another decade - if at all. At least a dozen large development sites in the city's South of Market district now sit empty or covered by asphalt because of the recession. If history is any guide, developers will either leave them fenced off or use them as parking lots."


:: image via SF Gate

The idea of interim use is powerful - and only limited by the duration of time between today and eventual development, and of course, our imaginations: "Some could be landscaped with fast-growing trees and shrubs that offer environmental benefits. Others could display art or offer casual spots for social interaction. There are no clear models to follow: Any initiative must be acceptable to landowners, with details worked out in advance regarding such issues as maintenance and security. Done well, though, the payoff could far exceed the cost - creating short-term showcases rather than blight that drags its neighbors down."


:: image via SF Gate

Another powerful idea (aside from use and productivity) is to use this interim period to be more proactive - going even further in using selected phytoremediation techniques to both beautify and clean existing pollution hot spots - reducing overall cost of cleanup down the road and resulting in less toxic materials hauled off of site. Each site will have a unique set of opportunities and constraints, so there isn't a silver bullet - but a unique set of typologies could be generated that would be applicable (and adaptable) to the most common scenarios. Think on it.

Read the rest of the article in full here.