Urban Planning:
Re-centering the Western Addition
Despite the Western Addition in San Francisco having a high number of African-American residents, the site specifc to our project is suffering from a decrease in African-American population. One speculation is that the affordability of this neighborhood has decreased drastically. Before designing, we payed close attention to the history of the Western Addition as well as the Census information of our site’s tract. We did site inventory to see what was available to the inhabitants of this area, particularly Tract 161 of our site. The goal of this project was to increase the diversity of the Western Addition by providing affordable housing to those that previously lived in the area while also increasing urban density.
Western Addition
Tract 161
Above: A walking map of Tract 161 and 159. This map depicts the distance a person could walk from our site in five minutes (yellow) and in ten minutes (red) as well as some of the local amenities.
Upper Right: Pie chart showing means of travel to work.
Right: An illustrative of our proposed site design. This design promotes mixed-use buildings while also trying to increase the sense of community in the area. The corridor running through the site is meant to draw people inward to see the different shops and sights and thus ensuring economic success. My particular area of interest is highlighted in red. Parking is hidden underground and behind buildings, stressing the idea of “eyes on the street” for safety.
Lower Left: Median household incomes for San Francisco, the Western Addition, and Census Tract 161. One can’t help but notice the steep downward slope.
Lower Right: Axonometric view of site intervention
Far Bottom: A block-long panoramic view from the top of Jefferson Square Park.
More than a Lot:
Parking Lot Design
The four colleges comprising the UC Davis campus are represented in the artistic paving of this parking lot. With Shields Library nearby, students often park in this lot before commencing their studying. As you make your way through the lot to the library, you begin to notice that you are walking into a naturally lit, uncovered area. The canopies become less dense as you head towards the library. This is representative of the studying process and how your mind becomes more and more clear with the more studying you do. The paving also depicts the chaos of the human brain and how our minds become more open and free as we expand our knowledge.
Above: Water runoff and vehicle and pedestrian circulation are important factors in parking lot design. Vehicles and people must both be able to travel around the site safely.
Above: Since parking lots are often linked with crime, it is imperative to pay close attention to the lighting of the lot. This diagram shows how the lot will be lit based off of light pole location.
Commercial Design:
CPMC-- Pacific Campus
Designing for clients that have little landscaping or design experience can be a great challenge. This client insisted on seeing “lots and lots of color” in whatever design plans or schematics we showed him. A happy medium had to be found to create colorful renderings for the client while also aesthetically showing what the sight would look like. The first plan created did not have enough color. The second plan (lower right) is done to the clients’ wishes, but wasn’t
a piece I was comfortable attaching my name to due to the bright color palette. Drawing out the plan on a trace overlay helped diminish some of the harsh colors, but ultimately a perspective rendering of the site was what we submitted to our client. This design was approved and installed.
Upper Right: A trace drawing of the site was less harsh, but still didn't feel quite 100% developed.
Right: An extremely colorful plan, per our client's request. My goal was to create a better way to represent our intentions of the site.
Left: The hospital entrance condition prior to design implementation
Below: Perspective created to portray the site to the client in a more pleasing manner than the colorful planting plan. The perspective still shows the colors to be used on site, but in a less jarring manner than the created plan.
Far Bottom: Plant palette recommended and used on site.
Projects
WebMD
PiikUp
