Collision:
A collision of pedestrians and vehicles clutter the space present at the Race-Vine Expressway when intersecting North Broad Street. This forms an unsavory relationship for both parties. A proposed bridgeway aims to enhance the experience of the pedestrian. Through elevating the individual above the level of traffic, the intersection becomes safe, visually attractive, and engaging to the public. Currently, the immediate area is devoid of commercial shopping and eating spaces, yet the audience for these kinds of spaces is present. Pedestrians cluster at the corners of these intersections waiting for an opportune moment to cross. The bridge itself visually frames a prominent civic icon of Philadelphia: City Hall.
From leaving the Race/Vine subway stop from the west side of Broad Street, a niche is present within the façade of Hahnemann hospital which allows an opportunity for stairs to lift the pedestrian above the intersection. On the east side, a landscape has been embedded which serves a similar purpose. Pavilions of gathering and eating spaces have been included within the space as prime resting locations. At night, this area is illuminated through a multiplicity of colored lights coupled by an already existing mural that currently lays barren in the evening. The methodology in which this intervention came to be erupted from observations during all times of the day and night as well as model design, sketching, and investigation within the site.
Inspirational Design:
Automobile-Pedestrian Relationships
“In Brasilia the principle of interrelated opposites has received exceptional architectural recognition through the contrasting demands of the automobile and the pedestrian.
Brasilia is probably the only city that employs an expressway as the central feature of its residential areas. This represents an unabashed expression of the importance of the automobile in contemporary life. At the same time the city offers for the pedestrian a number of areas that are totally removed from vehicular traffic. The most remarkable of these is illustrated opposite. The entire roof of the Congress Building is paved with marble, and access to this balusterless pedestrian area is provided by the ramp leading up from the ground below… Unlike the mass-enclosed pedestrian spaces we have observed, this one is a plane suspended in space. It is totally devoid of mass definition and provides a superb vantage point from which to experience the rhythmic outflow of the structures of Brasilia as they penetrate the space volumes defined by the natural features of the region…
Oscar Niemeyer, the architect of Brasilia who designed all the major buildings and many of the minor ones, further emphasizes the concept of buildings which of themselves do not attempt to confine spaces, but rather play their role in continuous space” (Edmund Bacon Design of Cities pg. 237).
Vehicle Domination Observation
As part of a site analysis, I took pictures at prime traffic hours (12 PM & 5 PM) and noted the large amount of vehicle domination present on the street in the area.
Isolation of the Pedestrian
Sketching became a very important design tool during the consideration of intervening within the space. These sketches take the present state of traffic and highlight where pedestrians are located. One can conclude that the presence of vehicles is overwhelming.
Light observation at night
I found that at night, a once vacant parking lot adjacent to my chosen site, there existed a beautifully lit mural. Upon further research, I found that the mural represented the evolving face of nursing and wanted to honor their work.
Potential Intervention
Pedestrian Enhancement
The proposed intervention aims to better the walk of a pedestrian by implementing engaging spaces, place a focus on the safety of pedestrians, and bring needed commercial opportunities to an area that is lacking.
Intervention Abstract
Inspiration
Site Observation
Proposed Intervention
Proposed Intervention Modeled 1/8" = 1'
Proposed Intervention