Peds + Cars

Walking.  The cheapest mode of transportation!  So, why don't more folks walk- in a city like Detroit?  The Motor City is really designed for motor vehicles; its hard for folks to even think about walking somewhere.  The automobile is in our system- automatic answer to go somewhere.. 

An architectural design studio called Urban Engine [under the direction of Amy Deines, UDM, in collaboration with Will Alsop + Gregory Woods of Alsop Architects] explores rethinking the Woodward Corridor.  This is one way to think about Pedestrians + Car culture and the role of technology in an urban context.

Urban Engine :

‘What is the word on the street?  The street is the democratic metric against which the urban populace is measured and defined.’

The studio investigates an alternative design process to develop an urban strategy which  reacts to the deteriorating urban fabric of a post industrial city, Detroit. 

Perception of the city  is a function of speed and time due to the development of technology and mass communication.  The studio attempts to create a strategy which explores both  issues affecting city growth and development.

A team [Veronica Allen, Jeff Harris Evan Veit, + Kaija E Wuollet] urban strategy is developed using a contextual approach and the Woodward Corridor as an ‘urban engine’ for the development of the city.

Individual interventions are developed to test the central thesis.

URBAN PULSE

Pulse :
Every city has a pulse; an identity which is understood and created by the city dwellers, visitors and tourists experience. A city grows and develops its identity, creating place.  Identity is essential for the success of a city and its cultural growth.
Identity :
As a shrinking post industrial city, rethinking the urban fabric of Detroit is an opportunity to respond to the technological advancements of today’s society.  There is  great potential for growth and development through the perhaps fragmented, yet existing pulse of Detroit.

Unlike many urban cities of the world, the identity of Detroit is a secret.

The pulse of Detroit is identified in three layers: the public, the private and the secret.

The public:

The cultural venues provide a foundation of values and identity which the people of Detroit instill in the next generation.  It is a historical base, a foundation which society has built over time.
The private:

Neighbourhoods and local business provide a strong foundation for the existing and new generations of Detroit.  They serve as beautiful places which make living in Detroit a wonderful experience.  It is important to consider the city dwellers as a pulse and the environment in which they live.

The secret:

The underground venues which are the root of the city and evolve with the culture.

All of these layers are important to the growth of development of the city.  This exploration is a search of allowing these layers to be revealed and discovered.  

In ‘The Overexposed City,’ Paul Virilio explains how in ‘the new perspective devoid of horizon, the city was entered not through a gate nor through an arc de triomphe, but rather through an electronic audience system.  Users of the road were no longer understood to be inhabitants or privileged residents.” 

The deteriorating human connections which Virilio discusses, in security driven airports and the design of the new ‘gateway’ to the city, are manifestations of the direction of human interaction. This deterioration is an opportunity to develop a new layer of human interaction. 

The entrance to Detroit’s secret identity could be created through a venue where human interaction is the engine, but driven by a detached electronic system.  Through technology, human interaction can be encouraged: the engine is started.  The driver is the technological system, providing a network for secret information to be shared without revealing the identity of the person.

“From here on, urban architecture has to work with the opening of a new technological space-time’.  In terms of access, telematics replaces the doorway.”  

The use of telematics in society creates a new means of sharing information.  The definition of time and space becomes arbitrary, indefinable as separate entities.  This leads to a capricious, intangible concept: space time.  It creates an opportunity to use technology as a mode of communication, revealing the pulses in an intangible, secret manner.

Street + Bikes

An urban street condition is a means of transportation.  It is a means to get from one place to the next.  There are people walking, waiting, biking, riding, driving. But its about people.  So regardless of their choice of transit- its a place where people are moving. Starting with biking..

Riding my bike in Detroit all summer, the motor city... was an experience.  

Where some cities embrace bikes, (one of them being my home city Minneapolis- folks are blogging about it) Detroit is just learning to include bikes as an acceptable mode of transit.  One night, biking up Woodward Avenue, I was nearly hit by a bus. And it happened again, and again.  One particular night,  a bus passed me, nearly hitting me.  I caught up to the bus at the next stop and waved at the driver- later when she passed me again, she gave me plenty of room! Hurray for that Smart bus driver! Ok, so why do I refuse to ride the 'safe' sidewalk? Turns out the sidewalk is not so safe, after all.  Besides- the sidewalk is for the people walking or waiting.  A bicycle moves fast- not as fast as a car, but if you put bicycles on a sidewalk, which is considerably narrower than the 3-4 car lanes, that does not leave very much room for people to walk.  Motorists would yell at me, saying 'Get off the road!' - I couldn't help but wonder- ok, so where should I go? Anyway- they have 3-4 lanes and the traffic is not heavy on Woodward- unless there is event.

So, as far as Detroit goes- NOW is the time for implementing bike lanes and bike culture; before the inevitable growth of car culture which will take over the city when it grows.. and bikes will again be neglected and forgotten.  I have great hope for the future of Detroit Bike culture- not only from my personal experience with the bus driver, but with the successful Critical Mass rides and the upcoming Tour-de-Troit ride- these are showing the motor city what bikes are and that we too have a right to the road.  Even bike folks like the friendly employees at SunRise Cyclery in Minneapolis were impressed- they couldn't believe that this year's Tour-de-Troit is expect 3000 riders!  These efforts are designed to create awareness.  Its not about being aggressive and unfriendly- we all know those type of extreme bicyclists.. its about sharing the road and establishing a bike culture.  Well, there is one upside to having a growing but not established bike culture.. less bike thieves.  Guess they don't see the value or use in them, so they are not stolen as much as they are in other cities. 

So- what can we do in the Motor city to integrate bike culture in the street?  Some have said I am tenacious to bike in the city.  How can we change that to be a norm?  How does biking in the city help create a URban street condition?   

That's my rant on bikes.. next we shall explore peds and cars..

urban musings..

architecture is not simply buildings.. 
it is the art of creating spaces, making places.. SO, what is PLACE? 

This is a blog for asking questions, and not answering- but developing suggestions through design- through architecture, urban design, landscape and through urban ephemera..

As a designer, I do not claim to have the answers; rather, I seek to generate critical  discourse about place-making and architecture in an urban context.  An urban environment is all about social interaction within physical space.  

Architecture is about the PEOPLE so I want to hear from you..

The first topic of discussion is the STREET.   What makes an urban street?

Toronto, ON