[re]Growth

The River Avenue District lies on the north bank of the Alleghany River in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. This vacant expanse of land was once home to a strong industrial core with a lively, dense community. However, due to its chronic flooding, it became negatively known as the North Side Flood District, and the once culturally rich neighborhood core has been left to degrade into a vacant brownfield.

re[Growth] as a concept indicates the regrowing of connections between the River Avenue District & adjacent communities. The connections are envisioned by a series of linear parks that relink the urban grid that has been severed by the highways. The linear parks dissect the vehicle-focused grid with spaces designed for people.

In the proposed circulation, multiple neighborhood streets are proposed to be closed or converted to pedestrian or transit use only. This method is controversial considering this area currently features large amounts of fast, cut-thru traffic. Suggestions by stakeholders had been made that we should increase the vehicle load of existing streets & increase efficiency at intersections to handle the cut-thru traffic. Alternatively, by reducing street capacity, my design reduces the desirability for drivers to use this neighborhood as a shortcut to the highway. This allows more space to be dedicated to people within the district & alternative transportation options.

In the core development, the concept of re[Growth] through linear parks works to repair the disconnection from point to point, but what about the lost connections between people? The relationships between neighbors are what make a community, so how can that be addressed through design? In the design of the building forms, the decision was made to create dense superblocks with an average height of 6 stories. This choice allowed for the allocation of public gathering spaces edged by buildings with ground floor gastronomy & retail.

A lot of factors were at play when designing the neighborhood core. The end goal was to create a well-lit space for people to enjoy with very limited interactions with vehicles. My thought process to achieve that goal, the design would center around the building forms and street layout. My buildings generally follow the principles of a superblock with an interior courtyard, but what makes the buildings different are the angles.

On the ground plane along the pedestrian promenade, the angled buildings create a "funnel" that draws people into the corridor. Then as you approach the riverfront, the angles of the buildings create a surprising, open plaza after being constricted along the promenade, similar to the methodology used by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Then the theme of angles continues to the roofs of the buildings. Angles & terraces are created to increase the number of sunlight hours in all outdoor spaces by limiting shadow creation & increasing solar capture. The terraces also work to lower the perceived height of buildings at street level by bringing the buildings close to the pedestrian scale.

This streetscape improvement shows an example of the commercial district along Progress Street. This is the main vehicular connection through the site. Instead of increasing the number of vehicular lanes, space has been dedicated to alternative uses and traffic calming initiatives are employed. These initiatives are designed to slow down drivers subconsciously via methods such as edge friction & shared-use spaces.

The choices employed here reflect the decision to enforce the idea that this is a neighborhood street, not a highway shortcut. If the street had been designed into a stroad (a wide, high-speed commercial strip), that would encourage more vehicular traffic, not relieve the current levels of traffic.

Within the design, Chesbro Street is proposed to be converted into a pedestrian promenade. This promenade connects a proposed passenger train station to Progress Street & the riverfront. The buildings that border the promenade, feature first-floor active spaces such as restaurants, cafes, and retail. These spaces create activity & life while providing residents with close-to-home shopping & dining.

The entire length of the promenade features a stream that replicates Butchers Run, a long-buried stream that once ran through the site. The stream creates a series of edges used for gathering, while also managing stormwater on the site.

On the riverfront, the promenade opens into riverfront plaza. In the plaza, a tight grid of trees slowly decreases in density as you stray further from the stream. Straight through the plaza, the River Avenue corridor is converted into a shared space for transit, bikes, and pedestrians, while on the riverfront a series of stairs creates an overlook & river access.