Bell Street Park - Seattle

A new project recently via the Daily Journal of Commerce unveiled by SvR Design Company in Seattle shows a pair of proposals for Bell Street Park: "The project will affect the area from First to Fifth avenues and create 17,000 square feet of park space. The city is converting one lane of traffic to public recreational space and reconfiguring parking to create a linear open space with landscaping, lighting and pedestrian amenities."


:: image via Seattle Parks

The team created a couple of different concepts, based on good streetscape principles and some of the cultural and natural history of the area of the city. A description of the concepts and some commentary from Nate Cormier, landscape architect at SvR is included in the article, along with a representative concept block of each plan:

CONCEPT ONE
The first 'Sluiced Surface Plan': "...was inspired by the earth moving that created Bell Street... it is meant to represent the changed landscape. The pathway through the park meanders down the street, moving from side to side. Cormier said it reflects the fact that cities are always changing, and that some landscapes are made while others are unmade. "


:: image via Daily Journal of Commerce

From a presentation on the design, some additional images to explain the concepts a bit further, exploring some of the significant 'flattening' that happened to topographic features through sluicing.


:: image via Seattle Parks

And finally a vignette sketch of the plan.


:: image via Seattle Parks

CONCEPT TWO
The second, called 'Measured Movement Plan': "...was inspired by the rhythms of the street and also reflects the area's history as Seattle's film row. In this design, the park would have a pathway straight down the street. “This one says, the people in a sense are the architects,” Cormier said. “It's more of a stage, more flexible, more taut compared to the other one that really sets up those opportunities more explicitly.”


:: image via Daily Journal of Commerce

The more formal elements of this plan are derived from a more mechanical processes and industrial heritage, as well as referencing the areas history of film. The repetition and modulation of spaces using the filmic idea of frames, using lighting and the tracery of impressions of people as a conceptual framework for organizing the site.


:: image via Seattle Parks

A vignette sketch of this plan as well.


:: image via Seattle Parks

Thickened Waterfront from AALU

An email from Jorge Ayala from the AALU shows off some recent Landscape Urbanism work, in this case an academic workshop with a focus on designing a Contemporary Garden in Xi'an, China. I've included the full text from Jorge, and some of the images of the project that were sent.

Thickened Waterfront
AA Landscape Urbanism Garden Design
Xi’an, China



The parcel has a distinct character but a series of strategies will be applied in order to integrate the Thickened Waterfront into the general design.

WATERSCAPE STRATEGY
Along these lines, artificial topographies, rippled organizations of diverse water features and multiplicity of floating structures will be considered to turn the linear character of the parcel into a multi layered spatial domain. The diagrammatic approach towards the work with the material structures of the mini piers, retaining structures and engineering techniques will help to define a rich spatial condition which will help to add layers of experience to the arrival through the park to the waterfront.





THICKENED WATERFRONT
Spatial and three dimensional experiences: The arrival sequence into the Thickened Waterfront augments the sensations of the pedestrians or focalises the attention into strategically treated micro environments.

Several bands structure the proposal to create the different habitats and will be flexible to adjust to other proposals.



EDGE CONDITION
The work is based on an expanded idea of the edge, turning into a field of distributed spatial experience what otherwise is defined as a line or a rigid boundary of the water edge. The main idea would be to blur the contact of land-water seeking to encroach earth structures into the lagoon while bringing it inland in other areas.



MULTIPLYING EXPERIENCES
The pedestrian should be able to read and perceive a wide variety of material and spatial qualities in a compressed setting.


A series of individual ponds will host a diverse catalogue of conditions of light reflection, water depth, colour, planting, fauna and potentially human interaction (bathing, pudding pool).



These mosaics of water features will provide the medium for further interactions and enriched version of the ecologies within the park, incorporating expanded ideas of performance, spatial experience and environmental qualities.



Credits:
Thickened Waterfront
AA Landscape Urbanism Garden Design
Xi’an, China

Lead by:
AALU Tutors Eduardo Rico, Alfredo Ramirez
AALU Director Eva Castro

Design Team: Jorge Ayala, Hossein Kachabi

Take Back the Streets 2

A follow up to the story from Korea and the daylighted stream that was realized upon the removal of a highway, this ephemeral project from San Francisco (via Streetsblog SF) takes the same idea of remnant roadway and thinks of it in terms of gardening: "A few weeks ago in San Francisco, a number of urban farmers opened a gate in a chain-link fence at Laguna Street, between Oak and Fell Streets, and entered an overgrown lot that has been unused for nearly two decades. The farmers brought with them steaming piles of mulch, which they cast over the edge of the ramps formerly used by cars to enter and exit the elevated Central Freeway spur above Octavia Street, arranging the soil in rows for planting vegetables and filler crops."


:: image via Streetsblog SF

"The new Hayes Valley Farm (HVF) inverts the paradigm and reclaims the space for city dwellers, if only temporarily. "We call it 'freeway to food forest,'" explained Chris Burley, Project Director for HVF and former organizer of My Farm. Burley was joined by nearly fifty volunteers at a HVF work party Sunday. "We're trying to create a successful, sustainable urban farm in the heart of San Francisco."




:: images via Streetsblog SF

The model is definitely transferable to a range of locales (both figuratively and literally). The temporary nature of the site makes it prudent to keep the process efficient, but that doesn't mean the site cannot become productive for a short period of time, then transform to a different use (the city-owned parcel will be developed to provide market-rate and affordable housing). See a Google Earth image of the site showing the large un-utilized space:



The ephemeral nature doesn't mean the plants won't have a shortened lifespan, but may travel to a different locale after the project is complete. More from Streetsblog SF: "Because the project is temporary, Burley said they are not planning to rip up the existing asphalt, which would cost thousands of dollars. Rather, the farmers will plant up to 150 fruit trees in pots that can be moved to other gardens or planted in back yards. Burley also said that in honor of the old Highway 101, they will be planting 101 beneficial plants among the fruit trees to help with pest control."