After a short charrette design weekend, this week started off with a very informative jury over our research thus far on transit systems within the Cleveland area (more specifically Lakewood). I thoroughly enjoyed the change of pace from 4th year IDC studio to the abstract/conceptual weekend charrette. It was a relief to be able to think outside the box and have almost no limits on where our thoughts wandered.
We approached the charrette with an open mind and treated it as an opportunity to explore design ideas that may or may not have been thoroughly studied in the past. We investigated the concept of an elevated bike lane down the center of Madison Avenue in Lakewood as one of several aspects of rehabilitating the street into a ‘linear park’ that created connections between the Cuyahoga River Gorge and the Cleveland Red Line transit hub. While it may have appeared as a rather outlandish idea at first glance, the more we worked through the issues of the design we began to become more and more excited about the overall atmosphere that it provided in the given area, as well as the many benefits that it derived, such as: designated bike lanes with minimal safety issues, opportunity for linear festivals to occur on the elevated path, acting as a catalyst for the local businesses and overall city atmosphere, as well as a factor of diversity and flexibility of uses.
We approached the charrette with an open mind and treated it as an opportunity to explore design ideas that may or may not have been thoroughly studied in the past. We investigated the concept of an elevated bike lane down the center of Madison Avenue in Lakewood as one of several aspects of rehabilitating the street into a ‘linear park’ that created connections between the Cuyahoga River Gorge and the Cleveland Red Line transit hub. While it may have appeared as a rather outlandish idea at first glance, the more we worked through the issues of the design we began to become more and more excited about the overall atmosphere that it provided in the given area, as well as the many benefits that it derived, such as: designated bike lanes with minimal safety issues, opportunity for linear festivals to occur on the elevated path, acting as a catalyst for the local businesses and overall city atmosphere, as well as a factor of diversity and flexibility of uses.
Mid-week we began a new urban system: Open Spaces. After some dialogue between professor and studio I started to realize the diversity of the concept of open space, and how it is much more than mere green spaces and/or parks. I particular enjoyed the thought of ‘corridors’ as open spaces (i.e. railroads, rivers, roads, etc.), primarily due to the fact that I felt as if it presents a very unique opportunity with a great deal of experiential quality in terms of three-dimensional space.
Equally fascinating was mapping land cover and land use within our given area, and beginning to recognize the evolution of the city in terms of environmental influence.Cleveland, being an industrial city during its prime epoch, turned the river into a crucial aspect of transportation and goods, thus causing much development to initiate near the water source and disperse outward. It truly is a testament to the fact that cities are so informed by countless historical factors, environment being one of the most crucial, and even through the test of time it is never lost.
Equally fascinating was mapping land cover and land use within our given area, and beginning to recognize the evolution of the city in terms of environmental influence.Cleveland, being an industrial city during its prime epoch, turned the river into a crucial aspect of transportation and goods, thus causing much development to initiate near the water source and disperse outward. It truly is a testament to the fact that cities are so informed by countless historical factors, environment being one of the most crucial, and even through the test of time it is never lost.
