Breaking Physical and Social Boundries Through Vertical Landscapes
The concept focuses on breaking barriers through verticality within a fragmented natural and urban landscape. The city of Baltimore is defined by strong physical and social divides, including major highways, bodies of water, and industrial remnants. This site embodies this fragmentation, it is isolated despite lying along a main road and is further burdened by heavy soil contamination, which creates a separation from the ground plane.
Goals & Objectives
Develop elevated circulation systems—including a raised boardwalk and sky bridge—to allow users to move throughout the site while avoiding contaminated soil.
Establish all primary routes above grade so the design remains independent of hazardous ground conditions.
Connect elevated paths directly to building entries, plazas, and roof spaces, reducing the need for ground-level intervention.
Create a second-floor outdoor plaza that acts as a central gathering space connected to the sky bridge.
Link a series of elevated spaces—plaza, sky bridge, green roofs—into a continuous public landscape.
Foster social interaction and accessibility by offering multiple entry points and experiences across different elevations.
Limit vehicular access to the site to protect the fragile ground plane and reduce the need for heavy pavement or soil disturbance.
Design the elevated circulation network as the primary means of movement, encouraging walking over driving.
Concentrate any necessary vehicle access at the site’s edges, keeping cars away from ecologically sensitive areas.
Use the sky bridge and boardwalk, to create a car-free public realm that supports safe, uninterrupted pedestrian flow.