AURB 465

Spring 2014

[aurb465]

Federal Center South Building 1202

http://aiatopten.org/node/204

Federal Center South Building 1202 is the “redevelopment” of an existing warehouse (Building 1202) located at Federal Center South in Seattle. The project is the result of the confluence of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which focused on improving our nation’s infrastructure and creating jobs, and the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Design Excellence program which focuses on selecting design teams that will push boundaries and generate innovation in design of our nation’s federal buildings. 

The integrated design solution sets a new standard for high-performance, cost-effective, and sustainable workplace environments. The project was planned and designed in under 18 weeks via a design-build competition in order to guarantee the performance-based contract that met GSA’s construction budget, energy performance goals, and an aggressive design and construction schedule.

[aurb465]

Building a Real "Jungle"

To succeed in creating a truly green and regenerative architecture, we must design structures that don't just accommodate the natural world, but truly become a part of it. When you construct a building, you should be planting a forest at the same time. The Vertical Forest in Milan is one example, and there are a number of others, like the one depicted. The architectural ideal, of the future, lies in the design of the tree huts of the Korowai people from the Amazon Rainforest.

[aurb465]

New York Green Thinking - New Housing NY Legacy Project Competition

The winning team, including nationally-renowned green developer Jonathan Rose Companies, provided a vision of an urban village, called Via Verde (the Green Way) designed around rooftop community gardens parks (pictured). Of the 202 units, 139 are rental apartments for families earning between 40% and 90% of area median income (AMI) and 63 co-ops are for buyers earning up to 130% of AMI. The sustainable/green/healthy living elements are impressive:

- Community gardens that grow fruits and vegetables, - A health education and wellness center (Montefiore Medical) - Fitness center - Bicycle storage space - Rainwater collection system - Low-tech systems: Cross ventilation in all apartments, solar shading, planted green roofs to provide insulation and control storm water - High-tech systems: High-efficiency mechanical systems, energy-conserving appliances, solar voltaic canopies - Smart materials: Non-toxic paints, rapidly renewable wood products

http://cooltownstudios.com/2007/02/01/truly-triple-bottom-line-urban-village-coming-to-the-bronx/

[aurb465]

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Headquarters

http://www.aiatopten.org/node/265

Another green government building leading by example, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Headquarters building is part of a larger plan to invest in sustainable energy for the future.  The city of San Francisco has developed a long term plan to populate the city with new highly performative and sustainable buildings.  Desiring to lead by example, the city government is building several of these sustainable offices.  This example expects savings of $118 million over a period of 75 years.  The building also achieved a rating of LEED Platinum, and was carefully located on a site 80% of the building occupants could access by walking, biking, or public transit.  

[aurb465]

Zaragoza, Spain

Zaragoza, Spain has been a world leader in saving water in cities. 

"Zaragoza, a town of 600,000 inhabitants in the North of Spain, is regularly struck by water scarcity. In 1995, as many as 11 million people in Spain still suffered the direct consequences of repeated water scarcity. In 1997, the city made a first attempt at using new technologies to keep up people's quality of life during the dry months. As Spain joined the European Union it was given the chance to have a full-scale project financed by the LIFE programme. 50 publicly owned buildings were chosen as models to show how water-saving technologies can be put to work."

All in all 1.17 billion m³ of water were saved in one year through changes in people's habits and new technologies. The city government established a committee of experts from the local water board to coordinate and monitor additional measures of sustainability. A web site was set up to provide up-to-date information (www.ecodes.org).

Now they are hosting the 2014 UN Annual International Conference.

More info can be found here 

http://bestpractices.at/main.php?page=programme/environment/selected_examples/spain_zaragoza&lang=en

[aurb465]

[aurb465]

Site Visit Part 5

Mariano Park already has all the components to be a successful outdoor space: varied and comfortable seating, a number of restaurants and destinations, trees and bushes, and a food stand!

The only problem is that the park does not maintain such a strong integration with the surrounding space. It is a little island in a sea of sharks (cars). The only times that the space feels truly safe enough to enter, is when the prevalence of cars is at its minimum, aka very early morning and late at night.

[aurb465]

Site Visit Part 4

What if the site was a circus?

[aurb465]

Mariano Plaza's various occupants differ by day vs night.  On a nice day. people from all walks of life will gather on the plaza: people working, joggers, shoppers, mothers with their children, people with dogs.  At night the crowd becomes the crowd becomes an older crowd (division st. bars located up the block) and people gather near the fountain.

[aurb465]

Site Visit Part 3

The area already has a ton of restaurants, it's a perfect place to attract pedestrians!

Could the patio areas just spill out into where the road currently is? 

Would it make a better park than what is here currently? 

[aurb465]

Site Visit Part 2

What if we could pave over the roads? 

What if we could create a texture like this everywhere?

[aurb465]

Site Visit

We had pretty poor attendance on the site. If more people showed up, please post saying so!

Our site was Mariano Park in Gold Coast. We felt like this was a great place to create a small pedestrian only area. It currently acts as a kind of island among the intersections.

[aurb465]

[aurb465]

Tallin, Estonia

The old city of Estonia is an excellent example of a successful pedestrian area. This makes sense because this historic medieval city was designed all the way back in the 15th century - as a result, the city was designed at the scale of the human. (and sometimes the horse)

While it is easy to lose your way at first, the city is definitely navigable. It is structured around landmarks that naturally draw the pedestrian towards them an anchor your sense of place in the city.

The former royal grounds on the hill, complete with russian orthodox church (impossible to miss) is a great landmark. Many churches in the city have tall towers that serve as great meeting grounds.

The town square is another great landmark. This was historically used as a gathering grounds for the common folk and is used as such today. Spontaneous social events happen here in addition to the comfortable seating at cafes and restaurants along the periphery.

Even if you do have a hard time finding your way at first, the narrow, winding streets feel filled with mystery and adventure!

[aurb465]

SITE VISIT 4.4.2014 @ 10AM

site visit at mariano park - 10am 

bring drawing materials

tweet group photo on site for attendance 

(click on post for map)

[aurb465]

[aurb465]

1979 Chicago - Fail

The removing of cars in Chicago was a major fail.  Though many accuse the architecture and design more than the actual idea…

In 1979, under Mayor Jane Byrne, the city closed the Loop’s main retail corridor to all forms of traffic except buses, taxis and delivery vehicles in an effort to bring back customers who had been drawn away to suburban shopping centers and the burgeoning Magnificent Mile. 

State was redone with the jumbo sidewalks with bumpouts to make bus loading easier and several monumental abstract sculptures.

Many people felt that removing car traffic and widening the sidewalks made the street feel deserted and unsafe, which only seemed to hasten the economic decline. It didn’t help that the business mix at the time included a motley assortment of discount stores, theaters showing exploitation flicks, adult bookstores, strip clubs and flophouses (as pictured above).