SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
by
Ryan E. K udbaum
Bachelor of Architecture
Kansas State University, 2005
Submitted to the Department of Archit ecture in P artial F ulfillment of the Requirements for the
degree of
Master of Science in Architectural Studies
Architecture & Urbanism
at the
11assachusetts Institute of Technology
June 2013
© 2013 Ryan K urlbaulll. All rights rese1ved
The author hereby grants to M IT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and
electronic copies of this thesis documen t in whole or in part in an y medium now known or hereaft er
created
Signanue of Author: ------------------:::--------;:-:---:--,------:-:---:::-::-::-:-::c
D epartment of Architecture May 23, 201 3
Certified by: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _:-:-_--:----==:---:A lexander D 'H ooghe
A ssociate P rofessor of Architecture and Planning
TIleS.lS Supervisor
Accepted by: --------------------------::-:-c--::----:-:----:Takehiko Nagakma
Associate P rofessor of Design and Computation
Chair of the Department Committee o n Graduate Studen ts
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
By: Ryan Kurlbaurn
Submitted to the Department o f Architecture on May 23, 2013 in
Partial Fulfi llm ent of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of
Science in Architecture.
ABSTRACT
CutTent urbanizatio n patterns and aging transportation infrastruc-
tures have marginalized millions of US citizens. The result is that 4 .5
million US residents live within 100 meters of a four-lane highway'
and have become hound to communities, which endure social hard ship and environm ental detriment. For too long, the physical form of
the city has taken a relaxed position on these endangered and often
hazardous urban edges. Considering the social, spatial and environm ental conditions. the central argument of this thesis is that architec-
Thesis Supervisor
Alexande r O'Hooghe
ASSOC iate Professor Arch itecture
& Planning
Thesis Reader: Alan Berger
ASSOCiate Professor. Head City
Design & Develo pment Group
Thesis Reader; Brent Ryan
Associate Professor of Urban
Design and Public Policy
ture built along major transportation corridors must respond to the
scale of the infrastructure itself
Dense concentrations of pollution and rising transient populations
(homeless, working poor and chronically unemployed ) surrounding
transportation infrastructure call for a new approach to contemporary
urbanism. The thesis Social Infrastructure investigates an eleva ted
3/4 mile stretch of highway 1-93 in South Boston - an infrastm ctural
remnant of the 14.6 billion dollar Big Dig'. TIle eleva ted highway built
in 1955, has formed a number of under-utilized and vacant sites along
and under the 1-93 corridor. This thesis explores a new mode of urbanism, which leverages policy, urban design, landscape, and architecture
to embrace the infrastructural scale and to demonstrate new potential
for this bleak urban condition.
The result is a set of three hybrid architecture and landscape typolo-
1 Brugge. Doug. John L. Durant.
and Christine Rioux. -Nea r-highway
Pollutants In Motor Vehicle Exhaust: A
Review of Ep idemiologic Evi dence of
Cardiac and Pulmona ry Health Risks. Environmental Health 6. no. 1 IAugust
9. 2007): 23.
gies which seek to resolve social inequity, reuse infrastmctural space,
and remediate environmental conditions.
2
Ryan Kurlbaum
2 -Boston's 'Big Dig' Opens to P ublic.Msnbc .com. hllp://wv.w.msnbc.
msn.com/i d/3769829/ns/u s _ news/t/
bostons-big -d ig -opens-publid.
4
Ryan Kurlbaum
6
Ryan Kurl baum
SOCIAL
I INFRASTRUCTURE
MIT SMArchS URBAN ISM /1 THE S I S
RYAN KURLBAUM
Adviso r Alexander 0 Hooghe
Readers Alan Berger + Brent Ryan
Socia ll nfraslructu re
7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis would not be possible without the supp ort and guidance
of the following people:
MYWIFE
To my wife, Kelly , who has supported me for two years as I pursued
my passion. You have been there to love and encourage me and I am
so thankful and appreciative of you .
MY PARENTS/
SISTER
To m y mom, dad, and sister who have dealt with a preoccupied
and absent-minded son / brother for two years. Thank you for your
amazing support and encouragement.
MY ADVISOR
To Alexander who has pushed me to think critically and rigorously
about design across multiple scales and disciplines.
MY READERS
To Alan who is a great mentor and friend - you have taught me how
to teach, think, and design with great ambition and intelligence.
To Brent who has always made time for my work and provided me
with fresh insights and commentary that have become instrumental.
8
MY CO LLEAG UES
W h o inspire me everyday with their intelligence and character. I am
so thankful for their amazing friendship and timeless enthusiasm.
You are wonderfully talented people who I am blessed to call
colleagues.
MY MENTOR
To Marlon who continues to inform h ow I think and practice.
Thank you for your endless wisdom into how to become a successful
practitioner with a great work/ life balance.
Rya n Kurl baum
LOCAL
To Cliff Boehmer and David Price who took time to s hare their
valuable perspectives and insights that established the foundation of PROFESSIONALS
the thesis.
To the Pine Street /1111 who has been an invaluable partner in
the early photographic work and a wonderful sound board for
understanding more about this amazing institution and its role in
the community.
PINE STREET INN
To Boston Public Works for their generous assistance and tour
around their facility. To Commissioner Massero, LeeAnn and Steven
for organizing such an informative meeting.
BOSTON PUBLIC WORKS
To the Boston Public Health Commission - specifically Dr.
Shehal Shah who provided countless insights and data for the
socioeconomic mapping.
BOSTON PUBLIC
HEALTH COMMISSION
To m y undergraduate institution for preparing me to succeed here.
There are many professors who have instilled in me lessons that
continue to shape my professional trajectory.
KANSAS STATE
UNIVERS ITY
Socia l Infra structu re
9
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
TA BLE OF CON TE NTS
02
Abst ra ct
08
Ac knowled gem e nts
01
BEGINNINGS
SOCIAL URBANISM
14
Experience as Urbanism
18
Disciplinary Trajectory
20
Thesis Trajectory
22
Committee Design
26
Albany Street Provocation
02
FIELD OF OPERATION
DOMESTIC URBAN DESIGN NEAR INFRASTRUCTURE
30
Abundant Acronyms - WPA. ARRA. NIB
34
WPA 2.0
03
FRAMEWORK
DISTILLING A METHODOLOGY
38
Kevin Lynch - A View from the Road
40
Keller Easterling - Organization Space
42
Urban Design Principles
04
CONDITIONS
LEVERAGING RESEARCH INTO PROJ ECTS
10
Ryan Kurl ba um
46
Existing Conditions
48
Social Conditions II Mapping
56
60
Spatial Conditions II Land Swapping
Environmental Conditions II Remediat ing
05
INTERVENTIONS
THREE HYBRID TYPOLOGIES
70
Form and Landscape
72
74
Site Flows II Urban Design Plan
Barrier Housing II Forested Blocks
80
Infrastructural Storage + Labor Stations II
Mechanized Wetlands
90
Urban Distribution Terminal II Pervious Access
06
IMPLICATIONS
URGENCY AS AGENCY
104
Disciplinary Insights
106
Disciplinary Precedents
110
Disciplinary Agency
07
APPENDIX
NOTES II CREDITS
114
118
Illustration Credits
Visual Bibliography
120
124
128
Bibliography
Author Biography
Initial - Rainer Maria Rilke
Socia ll nfraslructu re
11
BEGINNINGS
EXPERI ENC E AS URBANISM
..-
BEGINNINGS
~
It is difficult to quantify experience. The o n e thing we know is that
there are certain m oments in life in which we enter into one way and
come o ut another. Sometimes it is difficult to u nderstand h ow these
moments have chan ged who we are, but looking back you cannot
deny their role in shaping our life. The thesis begins by cataloging
41
t wo experiences, which have inevitably informed and s haped the
person I have become an d the thesis I chose to pursue. One is a soup
...
.. kitchen and food pantry located in New York's Alphabet City and
the other is Boston's nationally ren own ed h omeless s helter, the Pine
Street Inn.
FATHER'S HEART
Father's Heart Ministry is a multi-purpose soup kitchen , food pantry, service, education, and community center. Its humble exterior
Figure 1.02: Father's Heart Soup
Kitchen
faces south o nto 11th s treet between Avenue A and B. TIle o nly point
Take home bags prepared for the
of reference is a glowing n eon cross that says "Jesu s Saves': The firs t
gu ests ea ch Satu rda y wh ich ho ld
non - pe rishab le food that fe ed a sma ll
time I volunteered here I was skeptical and an xious. Would some-
fa mily fo r a week
one confront me? W ould I b e d o ing anything that actually would
Figure 1.03: Father's Heart Soup
help someone? But, the moment I turned the corner onto 11th street,
Kitchen
I began to see a line. O ver half the block was lined with a diverse
Regu lar attendance exceeds 700
peo ple who are fed a hot mea l, cared
fo r, pra yed for, and g ive n a food
pantf)' bag each Sa turd a y. Soc ia l
s e rvices are also ma de ava ilable for
thos e interested in see king free le gal
counc il. food stam ps, apart men t he lp,
or GED training.
immigrant and homeless population hours befo re the weekly soup
kitchen and food pantry even opened. "Excu se me." "Sorry." "Pardon
me." We finally reached the front door. It was then that I knew that
this volunteer opportunity was unlike any other community service
I had ever done. It was like watching a thriving General Motors fac tory or a Bethlehem Steel Mill. Volunteers everywh ere performing
very specific tasks to contribute to a larger goal - eventually feeding
over 700 people in an hour.
14
Rya n Kurl baum
Over time, we began to volunteer m ore and more. We met people,
prayed with them, served them breakfast, assisted them down the
stairs, saw them smile, saw them angry, but loved them all the same.
Father's Heart Minist ry serves between
600 - 700
people every Sat-
urday, h owever very few are tntly h omeless. TIle vast majority are unemployed o r working poor who are simply trying to make it through
the week. We were not only servin g the homeless, but people in
transition, - people who extended far beyon d the homeless demo graphic o n e might imagine, but defined a new urban demographic I
have called the transie1lt populatio1l.
We served at the Father's Heart for three and half years from
2008-11.
I have thou ght about how many people we must have served during that time and it must been well over 10,000. TIle idea that o ne
humble building on a small side stree t in New York could affect such
a diverse and immense population informed the aim of the following
thesis. As a result, the locatio n , programs, population, communities
a nd services have been inspired by this place. Perhaps a new building typology (or typo logies) could emerge from this experience,
which addresses the array of services for transient populations - a
social hybrid - specifically aimed at increasing social equity.
I hope that the work recorded here will reflect Father's Heart and all
that it contributes to those in need.
Social Infrastructu re
15
BEGINNINGS
EXPERI ENC E AS URBANISM
PINE STREET INN
The second experience s haping this thesis is more calculated than
serendipitous. Father's Heart had clearly informed the public interest related urbanism I wanted to study in graduate school, however
a photographic essay for Anne Spirn 's Sensing Place class became a
catalyst for the site and place in which the thesis would operate.
The day we chose our sites to photograph was signifi cant. I was
set on photographing Bosto n 's Fort Point Channell Waterfront to
hone my inner Edward Bllrtynsky. But then, before I claimed my
Figure 1 .04: Albany Street
1-93 cuts betwe en the South End
and Sou th Boston. The multi- la ne d
photographic territory someone said, ".. .industrial waterfronts of
Boston". Knowing full well that we could not repeat the same site, I
hi g hwa y is offset just 56 feet from the
remembered a conversation I had a week earlier with a local pastor
bui ldings along Alba ny stree t
who talked to me about this homeless shelter in Boston that shares
Figure 1.05: Pine Street Inn
a similar goal to Father's Heart in New York - the Pine Street Inn
Ins ide th is cele brate d Boston
located in South Boston. Before I could think twice, I had already
insti tut ion transient po pulat ions ca n
find rest in la rge rooms of twin beds
said the words - claiming this famous Boston institution for a photo-
ea ch de marca te d with a numbe r.
graphic essay exploring the n otion of place.
Gu ests a re a ls o offere d food, clothing,
a shower, and a myria d of soc ia l
servlces
The assignment had us photograph the same site through three
different lenses. Light, Significant Detail and Poetics, each of which
contributed to a final photo essay that was submitted at the conclusion of the semester. My first visit to the Pine Street Inn came before
the sun came up on a brisk fall day. I was o n my bike photographing
the morning light and the damp pavement around the building. As
I moved around the block-long building, I could not help feeling
intrusive. As I made my firs t full lap around the building, the rear
of the property is directly adjacent to a 3/ 4 mile stretch of massive
interstate - 1-93. TIle highway and the building are separated by only
56 feet - creating a lo n g, dark corridor along a vacant and otherwise
dormant Albany street. TIle multi-lane highway towers over Pine
16
Rya n Kurl baum
Street, however monolithic in form , the underneath revealed raw
beauty. Thin, p owerful seam s of light separate the north and south
bound routes and create an almost spiritual spatial condition. It was
this moment that I started to feel like this site was going to be more
than a photographic essay.
Throughout the semester, 1 developed a great relationship with
the people at Pine Street and received access to the interior during
daytime hours - when the building was predominantly vacant . TIle
vast, empty rooms are lined with blue mattresses and demarcated by
yellow numbers on the floor; shower rooms with air still damp from
the morning's departure; and lockers left open and empty. The interior was captivating and the traces of those in need are imprinted on
everything from the bed-side tables to the synthetically upholstered
chairs.
Pine Street Inn is located along a frontage road, Albany Street, in
South Boston. The urban fabric is littered with under-utilized parking lo ts, a bus depot, and a soccer field. What is most promising
Figure 1.06: The Poetic Underneath
The underneath of 1-93 is a poe tic
spatial cond ition. however tox ic. the
su blime beauty cannot be ignored
as th in s lots of light run between
overpasses above
Figure 1.07: Apolostered
Impress ions
A va ca ted sea t leaves the im print of a
guest who sat there just hou rs before
the photog raph was taken
about this area is the South of Washingto n Market (SoWa), which
activates this edge of the city fro m April - October with farmer 's
markets, galleries and antiqued goods. The opposing side of the
highway is a logistical hub for public works, department of transportatio n and a myriad o f food processin g and production facilities. 1-93
is the immense con crete infrastntcture that binds them together - 16
lanes o f elevated highway. l1lis bleak urban is not unique in the US
and begs for our recon sideration.
Now I had a thesis site.
Social Infrastructu re
17
BEGINNINGS
DISCIPLINARY TRAJECTORY
DISCIPLINARY TRAJECTORY
To propose a relevant thesis for the burgeoning yet undefined field
of u rbanism , o ne has no ch oice but to approach the contemporary
city a s an assemblage o f multi-scalar and multi-disciplinary layers.
That is to say that the city is no longer solely an act of urban design ,
architecture or landscape, in fact, its complexity continues to s tifle
designers who continue to operate with in the confines of traditional
practice. The thesis presented in the followin g pages is an active
investigation . The idea is to synthesize countless essays, provocations, and design methodologies that insist u pon a multidisciplinary
urbanism - an d actually produce something that is relevant and provocative. The result is a contemporary urban project that operates at
several scales of intervention and accommodates the ever changing
Figure 1 .08: Th e 1-93 Corridor
Existing Figu re Ground
Intersta te 93 runs rou gh ly 15 m iles
through th e c ity of Boston . The Big Dig
buried much of the highway, however
when the highwa y reappea rs in South
80ston we are left with urban vacancy
and large vo ids in the fabric
economic, environmental, social, political and spatial condition s.
To be specific, this proposal will design a series o f architectural an d
land scape typologies that are very large and very small. The aim is
to systematically inform new policy, urban design , landscape and
architectural tactics - into a project called Social Infrastruc t ure.
There are over 46,000 thou sand miles of urban h ighway that penetrate our cities today '. Alex Wall describes these major interstates
as more significant than static political and spatial boundaries. He
states, that "the influx of people, vehicles, goods, and informatio n ...
(inform an) urbanism that is dynamic and temporal"'. Transporta1 Wall, Alex. "Prog ramming the
Urban Sur/ace" from Corner,
Jam es. Rec ove ring Landscape
Essays in Conte m porary Landscape
Arch itect ure. pg . 234.
2 Off ice of Highway Poli cy Informat ion
[De cem ber 2011). Tab le HM - 20 . Publ ic
Road Leng t h - 2010 (Re port). Federal
Highway Adm ini st rat ion. Retrieved
May 9,2012
18
Ryan Kurl baum
tion corridors provide access for local econ omies and provide conduits for suburban commuters to work. However, the environmental
impact of these transportation corridors can no longer be ignored.
The harmful air pollutants endanger occupants within close proximity of the highway. H ighly contaminated sto rm water run-off d isables ecologies and micro landscapes. Finally, highway n oise debilitates property values an d prohibits development.
Conventional urban design wisdom would study the potential for
these monumental highway barriers to be porous. 111is form of
urbanism would make connections across the si te, under the freeway
and attempt to I'e-connect the disparate parts of the city. However,
this thesis rej ects that idea completely. The thesis Social Infra structure identifies the highway as detrimental to both environmental
and physical health and in order to develop along, underneath and
beside domestic highways, any work must adopt a new scale of intervention - the scale of the infrastructure itself.
Locating this thesis site at the intersection of 1-93 and 1-90 in Boston, MA, enables the thesis to pick up where the Big Dig left off. The
site along Albany Street in South Boston where 1-93 intersects 1-90
represents one of the densest conflu ences of infrastructure, social
need and pollution in the city.
With these realities in mind and the economic impossibility of another $14.6 billion dollar infrastructure project J , this thesis presents
a group of new urban typologies that not only serve local programmatic needs, but also reuses abandoned infrastructural space, and
rem ediates the harmful environmental conditions. Three hybrid
types emerge that act as both landscape and architectural interventions. The architecture is a series of site specific, large-scale form s,
which rest upon a landscape that is calibrated to treat highway runoff and filter air particulates. The architectural types compliment
this performative surface with mixed income housing that performs
as an air/ sound
barri er~ a
reappropriation of the underneath of
highway for programs that can withstand excess of air, noise and
run-off pollution - an ideal space for new modes of parking, bus
parking, maintenance equipment, and infrastructural storage ; and
a new urban distribution terminal that offers new office space and
educational opportunities for local workers.
3 -Boston's ' Big Dig' Opens to Publlc.Msnbc.com. Accessed November 11,
2012. http://WNW_msnbc_msn .com!
Id/3769829/ns/us _news/tlbostons·
blg-dlg-opens-public!
Socill ll nfril structu re
19
BEGINNINGS
THES IS TRAJ ECTORY
It is understated to say that the terms social and infrastructure have
lost their potency in current design practice. Perhaps it is the incessant attempt to merely attach the terms as adjectives to describe the
latest design project, but the fact remains that the contemporary
practitioner is in need of a new operative definition with formal implications. TIus thesis proposes that the architecture of the social and
infrastructural should become a perfonnative and productive bigness
that addresses the scale of the social need, the under-utilized infrastructural space and hannful environmental conditions caused by the
highway. TIle ambition of this thesis is to provide a replicable urbanism that can be deployed upon similar domestic circumstances similar
to Wall's notion of urbanization - peripheral sites defined by increase
mobility and need for an alteration of the formal terms with which we
view our cities 4 .
Now that the boundaries of the project have been established, the
thesis needed specific design faculty whom specialize in the myriad
of urban issues the thesis confronts. TIle goal was to allow their
expertise in large-scale urban design thinking to imbue the work
and provide a conceptual rigor, innovative research strategies, and
formal responsiveness to the immensity and scale of social, spatial
and environmental issues.
THESIS TRAJECTORY
Firs t, a diagram was constructed to visualize how variou s design
ambitions could be connected to disciplinary outputs. In the Disciplinary Manifestations diagram, (figure 1.09), the left side lists the
4 Wall, Alex_"P rogram ming the
design ambitions: the social or public interest; legibility or spatial
Urban Surface" from Corne r,
awareness; representation and new techniques of conveying mean-
James. Re cove ring La nd sca pe
Essays in Conte m porary La ndscape
Architecture. New York Princeton
Arc hite ctural Press, 1999. P9 . 234
20
Rya n Kurl baum
ing to broad audiences and finally the role of education as a means
to eradicate poverty while providing a disciplinary commentary for
Figure 1.09: Disciplinary
the profession. TIle right column, the disciplinary manifestations,
Manifestations Diagram
begins to synthesize how the design ambitions may be formally experienced in a contemporary urban environment. The project Social
A ca librated d iagram synthesizing the
thesis· passions an d amb itions with
their d isc iplinary outputs.
Infrastructure must engage and understand a plethora of spatial
and environmental issues before any building can occur. The design
solution must engage multiple forms of urbanism to connect very
disparate pieces of urban fabric: the eastern edge of the South End along and under the interstate; and a major logistics and production
center - the western urban fabric of Southie. This urban response
opens a range of possibilities su ggest a new urban policy design to
large-scale architectural interventions. All of which congeal into a
hybrid form of urbanism, which engages landscape, infrastructure,
and architecture.
DESIGN
AMBITIONS
SOCIAL
DISCIPLINARY
MANIFESTATIONS
I----------------f'' fr::::::::::::,,!,====I
URBANISM
TRANSIENTPOPUUTIONS
E()I.JCI,TI(lN f>ROGRA~S •
PVSiX WOf!K(51 FORCE
_
~ -
SHRlNKlNGCITIES
J>ERl PHER'I'
EOOE CITIES
OECENTRAUzt:O CENTt:RS
•
LEGIBILITY
- ,." .....
; ----
I
REPRESENTATION --------------'-=-=-"--"'-1::14;§~~~~ INFRASTRUCTURE
GPERATION ..... Ow.;RA~S ~
M.OJ>P1 NG
IMAGES
COLlAGE
ORAPHIC OESiGN
TEACHING
""''' ~
REPRt:OENTATION
CO ~~ UNICAT I ON
PRt:OENTATION
PRECEOENT ANALY5IS
ORAPHIC OESiON
OESIGN • SI.IILO
::::
L
~
TRANSP(lRTAT10N
GRHN/SUJE
SANITATION
PlJsue
CMe
~~::::>~<~.~ ARCHITECTURE
"I
...
TECTONIC
EXf'(RlENTI.t.l
~U LT I ·S(:AI...t.R
~~
Social Infrastructu re
21
BEGINNINGS
CO MM ITTEE DES IGN
COMMITTEE DESIGN
Once the thesis trajectory diagram was constructed, an explicit attempt was made to craft a thesis committee that could speak to each
discipline with intelligence and boldness. Each of the three members of the jury has expertise that was extracted into the work. The
advisor, Alexander D'Hoogh e, is a architect and urbanist invested
deeply into the forgotten territories of the contemporary city. His
work on many global projects negotiates multiple scales and provides an essential knowledge base for the work. TIle second member,
Alall Berger, has outstanding formal training in landscape architecture an d environmental systems. H is specifi c approach to the work
extends beyon d the tradition al role of urban landscape and looks
to the scale of ecology and environment. Las tly, Brent Ryan, was
chosen for h is immense knowledge o f how u rban design and policy
can inform real change in complex urban situations. In the case of
the South Bos ton site, Brent's contributions are essential in order to
understand how innovative policy can influ en ce urban design . TIle
site is disjointed an d m arginalized by the highway and comprehensive policy must be enacted to rescue this desolate urban condition.
Social Infra structure will become an appropriate solution for a site
where policy, urban design , landscape, infras tructure and architecture coalesce into a quintessential interdisciplinary urban pro ject.
22
Rya n Kurl baum
POLICY
URBAN DESIGN
LANDSCAPE
=======+B~
INFRASTRUCTURE
ARCHITECTURE
-
c.:::::::: ALEXANDER D'HOOGHE
TERR ITORY
URBAN DESIGN
INFRASTR UCTU RE
ARCH ITECTUR E
L'==
BRENT RYAN
POLICY
URBAN DESIGN
SHR INKING CITY
URBAN ACUPUNCTUR E
L'::::== ALAN BERGER
SYST EMS
ECOLOGY
LANDSCAPE
IN FRAST RUCTU RE
Figure 1.10: Commitee De sign
Diagram
An inten tiona l collaboration of design
and planning facu lty to address the
complex ity of the 1-93 corrido r and
the South Boston site.
Socia ll nfraslructu re
23
BEGINNINGS
SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
ALBANY STREET II BOSTON
24
Ryan Kurlbaum
- - --
Sociallnfraslructu re
25
BEGI NNI NGO'
S - -SOC IAL INFRASTRUCTURE
PROJECT PROVOCATIO;S:
26
Ryan Kurlbaum
-""""':~"""~'~"",,,'i:g!",
Social Infrastructu re
27
FIELD OF OPERATION
DOM EST IC URB AN DESIGN
NEAR TRAN SPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTU RE
FIELD OF OPERATION
The thesis Social Infrastntcture seeks to provide new urban design
strategies for domestic cities near transportatio n corridors. The following section will navigate multiple scales and design disciplines.
The goal a fter reading this chapter is to understa nd the how the
complex layers of mutual investment and interest affect AmeriFigure 2.01: American Reinvestment
can infrastructure. The cu rrent operation al field for transportatio n
and Recovery Act Lo go
infrastructure involves and impacts almost every a spect of contem-
The seal of the 2009 policy tha t
alloca ted an unprece nt ed $1 50 billio n
dollars to infrastructure Source
www.recove ry gov
po rary society - the political, the economical, the environmental, the
educational, the cultural and the social realm s.
In order to rigorou sly document and detail the profoun d importance
and attention of our urban highways, this section will first examin e
historical policies of the W PA; current re-investment into similar
principles with Obama's American Reinvestment an d Recovery Act
(ARRA); the ro le of the n ewly founded National Infra stntctural Bank
(NIB) ; and lastly, h ow contemporary practitioners have responded
with the
2010
WPA
2.0
design competition.
Once the field of operation has been briefly described, the thesis
will reflect upo n two texts by Kevin Lynch and Keller Easterling as a
means to illuminate the potential u rbanism n o t yet explored under
a nd alon g urban highways - to establish the disciplinary relevan cy of
infrastntctural space in contemporary cities. Finally, three research
studies, which reveal that u r ban sites located within
200
meters of
highways are often highly concentrated zones o f p overty, vacanti
under-utilized land, and pollution. These social, spatial and environmental factors are common amon g US cities and call for a new
scale of architectural and landscape intervention: a n ew form of
contemporary urbanism which combines principles of landscape
urbanism , m o n umentality, and landscape infrastnlcture into a
30
Rya n Kurl baum
composite strategy which confronts the infrastructural scale of the
social, spatial and environmental con ditions themselves.
ABUNDANT ACRONYMS
THE WPA, THE ARRA, THE NIB AND THE WPA
2.0
The operational field of the thesis is urban design near, under and
along highways. Recent political discourse and u n easy economic
trends have led to new policy, which invests, heavily into the remediation of these crumbling urban corridors. However, these new
infrastructural policies cannot merely con centrate on fixing our failing h ighways, bridges, and sanitary networks with mono-functional
scopes. If we are not careful we will simply give Americans jobs without considering the implications of the physical infrastructure we
are actually building - a lesson we should have learned from the 1956
National Highway Act. What we should do is re-examine Franklin
D. Roosevelt's WPA not a s a replicable model - because the scale of
such an operation will not happen in a contemporalY urban context
- but as a model of potential economic impact, societal inclusion
and community investment.
THEWPA
Led by FOR's New Deal and under Harry Hopkins' direct supervision, the Works Project Administration (WPA) employed roughly
Figure 2.02: WPA Road Building
So urc e FOR Library a nd Muse um
- htt p://docs. fd rl ibrary.marist .edu/
ima ges/photodb/27 -0834a .gif
Figure 2.03: WPA Adult Education
Programs
Sou rce . Nat iona l Archives and
Records Adm inistration - http !!
upload w ikimed ia_o rglwikiped ial
commonsl7nOlWPMdu lt EduC<lt ion.gif
eight million unskilled and unemployed Americans through a
variety of public works projects between 1935-1943 1. The Works
Project Administration (WPA) emerged as the means by which a vast
marginalized society could become integral to building the American landscape. Through public buildings, infrastructure, agriculture
and job skills programs, the WPA invested heavily into training
untrained workers to carry out monumental public works projects
1 Letter from Frankl in O. Roosevelt
on December 4. 1942 from The Final
Report on the WPA program - pg . V
Social Infrastructu re
31
FIELD OF OPERATION
DOM EST IC URB AN DESIGN
NEAR TRAN SPORTATION
INFRASTRUCTU RE
(figure
2.02 , 2'03).
Ranging fro m public buildings to road s to cultural
facilitie s - the WPA became a top-down labor program that catalyzed national development and rejuvenated local economies. The
physical footprint of the WPA was responsible for over 650,000 miles
of highways, roads and s treets; 800 airports, 120,000 bridges, 125,000
public buildings and 8,000 parks ' . With the abundant number
of planning commissio n s, n eighborhood a ssociations, and public
agencies, the scale and power of a contemporary W PA is almost
impossible to imagine. What is interesting is emerging voices like
Christophel' Jencks who states in his book TIle Homeless, the p otenFigure 2.04: President Obama
signing the American Reinvestment
tial implementation o f a day labor market as a remediatio n s trategy
and Recovery Act
for urban homelessn ess - an inferen ce to h ow a contemporary WPA
Source . httpJ/www.white ho use.gov/
<l5se ts/hero/624x3 51/s ignin gOl. jpg
might exist 1.
Figure 2.05 (opposite) America's
Report Card on Infrastructure logo
Some eighty years later the United States found itself in a similar
- ASC E
economic d ownturn. In 2008, unemployment numbers in US cities
Source httpJ/www.
infra 51 ructu rerepo rtca rd.o rg/2009/
reached histo ric highs. Private investment had virtually come to a
stand-still leaving the con s tructio n and design communities reeling
for commissions. In direct response to this economic crisis, in 2009
President Obama enacted the American Reinvestment an d Recovery Act - commonly kn own as the stimulus package - as a means to
create new jobs, spurn economic activity, and revitalize our nations
economic and unemployment woes 4. W hat is most interesting,
other than the 2012 840 billion dollar budget approval of this act,
is the amount of m o n ey devoted to infrastructure. Over 150 billion
2 Ibid. pg . III
dollars was dedicated to infras tructure - the larges t investment in US
3 J encks , Christophe r. The Home less.
Cam bridge, Mass._ Harvard Un ive rsi ty
public works since the Interstate Highway System 5. This designation
Press, 1994. pg . 11 5
4 "The Recovery Act. ,. Accessed April
1, 2013. http://www.re cove rygov/
About/ Pa ges/The _Act ,8SpX
5 "ABO UT WPA 2.0 WPA 2.0-"'
Acc essed November 12, 20 12. htt pll
wpa 2,aud.ucla edu/info/ind ex php 1/
about/about!.
32
Rya n Kurl baum
was n ot only meant a s an econ o mic generator, but also a respon se
to the risin g concern of the condition of the roads, bridges and rail
infrastructure in American cities. Perhaps it was the levee breaches
in New Orleans or the I-35W bridge collapse in Min neapolis - two
catastrophic infras tructural failures were resonating in the public
consciousness, A government organized "Report Card on America's
Infrastructure" (figure 2,05) conducted a natio nal inventory of
infrastructural need-based projects, The findings were dis maL The
American Society o f Civil Engineers gave the nation a "D" - meaning that "only 65% of American infrastructure - roads, rail, transit,
aviation, bridges, waterways, energy, dams, drinking water, waste,
levees, parks, and sch ools met minimum s tandard s for fu n ction and
safety,'I(; In response, the results reported from President Obama's
first term rival those of the original WPA - over 350,000 miles of
US roads, more than
6 ,000
miles of rail an d repair or replacement o f
some 20 ,000 bridges 7,
More recently, President Obama has continued to push infrastructural development in his second term with the "Rebuild America
Partnersh ip," The goals of the second infrastructural based policy
encourages private sector capital to partner with a newly fou nd ed
National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to invest in urgent infrastructure
projects, ''''hat is mos t intriguing about the new plan is embedded
in the fine print. TIle Broad Eligibility for Infrastructure and Unbiased Pro ject Selection section describes the project types that are
m ost important - transportation, water and energy infras tructure
each to have natio nal or regional sign ificance and be at least
$100
millio n in size 8. Here's t h e interesting part: "each of these massive scaled infrastructural project s must have a clear public benefit
and meet economic, technical and environmental standard s and be
backed by a dedicated revenue stream." 9 As contemporary practitioners we should be ecstatic! A federal policy now mandates that infrastructure nlus t address econOinic, environmental, social concerns in o ther words infras tructu re can beco me what designers have been
pleading for - polyfimctional.
6 -2013 Repo rt Card on America's
Infrastr ucture ,. Novem be r 12, 2012
httpj/WWN.i nf rastructu re reportcard
o rg/
7 The "Re build Ame rica Pa rtne rship"
Pres ide nt's Plan to Encourage Priva te
Investme nt in America 's Infrastructure
- WWNwhi te house.gov!the -pressoff ice/2013/03/29
8 Ibid
9 Ibid
Social Infra structu re
33
FIELD OF OPERATION
DOMESTIC URBAN DESIGN
NEAR TRANSPORTAT ION
IN FRASTRUCTUR E
WPA 2.0
••••
....
WPA2.0
WIIOEVElI RlIUS TH{ SEWUIS RULES THE CITY.
Prior to this national announcement in March of this year, city-
Lab based out of UCLA was ahead of the game. In
2010,
cityLab
organized a national design competition to leverage the 150 billion
dollars outlined in the ARRA a year earlier. Led by Dana Cuff and
Roger Sherman, the cityLAB organized competition was the first
public design competition in recent memory to "place infrastructure
at the heart of rebuilding our cities.
lO
"
Following the WPA's mis-
sion and breadth of intention, WPA 2.0 asked designers to envision
Fi!lure 2.06: WPA 2.0 Competition
Logo
publicly-supported infrastructure projects as engineering feats and
Source .httpl/wpa2.a ud.ucla.e du/info/
robust design opportunities '" The respon se of the competition was
immense and the impact on the discipline has yet to be quantified,
however what is clear is that infrastructure has become the source of
many contemporary commissions. The question then becomes how
do architects begin to intervene - to leverage their skills, talents, and
abilities to encourage more thoughtful and publicly oriented infrastructural solutions.
Social Infrastructure begins to postulate what the design professions'
role may become with these newly funded infrastructural projects.
Perhaps the way in is through our most profound contribution - syn-
thesis. In other words, what competitions like WPA 2.0 illuminate
is the scale of architectural intervention and the disciplinary agility
that is necessary to design and work on these types of projects. If
new infrastructural projects must become economically, environmentally, and socially viable then someone must synthesize how a
pre-engineered solution can evolve into a public benefit - other than
providing a surface for mobility. Contemporary practitioners can
10 -About WPA 2.0: WPA 2.0,·
Accessed November 12, 20 12. http://
wpa2 .<lud .ucla. e du/info/index. php 1/
about/about!
11 Ibid.
34
Ryan Kurl baum
find space at the table when they engage policy, urban design, architecture and landscape at a new scale - the scale of infrastructure.
In conclusion, Dana Cuff's WPA
2.0
Working Public Architecture
article in Harvard Design Magazine clearly outlines a series of tactics
and principles that equip contemporary practitioners to contribute
WPA 2.0: WORKING
PUBLIC ARCHIlECTURE
at a new scale of intervention. Of the many listed by Cuff, perhaps
the following four offer designers the most agency.
1.
Infrastructure is the heart of the next generation's public sphere " .
TIlis is to say that contemporary infrastructure projects will engage
the communities in which they inhabit by providing a civic amenity or
public space that can begin to allow a more peaceful coexistence.
Figure 2.07 Harvard Design Magazine
2.
Infrastructure can no longer yield a singular purpose - new projects
will engage multiple s takeholders and multiple programs specific to
the sites they inhabit 13.
no. 33 feature on WPA 2.0
Source: httpllwww_gsd_harvard_
edu/ # /proj e cts/harvard -desig nmaga zine-fall -wint e r-20 10 -20 11 numbe r- 33.html
3. Infrastructural projects will become sites that are productive and
service oriented - perhaps imagining a new programmatic potential
between disparate urban conditions (i.e.: artists housing, homeless
services, and public works - in the case of this thesis).
4. To begin to repurpose, reclaim and recycle materials, spaces, and
resources for re-imagined public good
'4
(see the labor stations pg. 82).
While infrastructure continues to embed itself into public and
political consciou s ness, designers mus t s tart seeking new territories to intervene. TIle scale of operation is changing. Contemporary
practitioners must open themselves up to a new mode of urbanism.
One, which addresses the social, spatial and environmental realities of these remaining urban fragments. As our cities continue to
expand outward we have immense opportunities to imagine how the
conduits to suburbia can be developed. The scale of the architecture
12 Cu ff. Dana_ ·WPA 2_0: Working
Pub lic Architecture"- Harvard Design
and urbanism mus t adapt to the scale of infras tructure - this is the
central argument of Social Infrastructure.
Magaz ine no_ 33. Fall/Wint e r 20 10- 11
pg_ 40_
13 Ibid. pg . 40_
14 Ibid. pg . 42_
Social Infrastructu re
35
FRAMEWORK
DIST ILLIN G A METHODOLOGY
THE VIEW FROM TH E ROAD
The theoretical foundation of the Social Infrastructure draws from
KEVIN LYN CH, DONALD
APPLEYARD, JOHN MYER
numerous ideologies and insights that s hape the formal result. However, two pieces of literature are detailed here as a means to appropriately demarcate two positions one poetic and ephemeral the other
projective and opportunis tic. The fir st literary work is a brief work
from Kevin Lyn ch, Donald Appleyard and John Myer called "A View
from the Road". Where Lynch and company argue that "to our way
of thinking, the highway is the great neglected opportunity in city
design '. To this end, the beautifully illustrated set of observation s
and iconic ' Lynchian' m appin gs become an integral n arrative to this
thesis. First and foremost is Lynch's study of the northern route to
Central Boston traverses Route
2,
Storrow Drive and the Northeast
Expressway - and as previou sly mentioned this thesis begins where
Lynch's initial investigatio n concluded.
Figure 3.01 - 3.06 Views from th e Roa d
Clips from 'View From The Road' 119581
- Kevin Lynch I MIT1 50 I Massac hu setts
Ins titute of Tec hnology 150th
Through reading Lynch's richly illustrated and mapped set of observations, it becomes clear that the highway has merely become
Anniversary."' Accessed May 5, 20 13.
a feat of engineering and leaving urban design, landscape, and
http://mit 150.mit.edu/mult imed ia/viewroad - 1958-kevin -lynch
architecture for the city proper. This is important because some
60 years later we are still trying to find s ways to interven e. Lyn ch
argues that the highway should be considered a scen ographic and
choreographed sequence to and from the city (see figures 3.01-3.06)
- a place where the roads should melt into the landscape ' . Lynch
further insists upon the multifunctional potential latent to highway
design. Through a number of brief provocations Lynch refers to the
highway as a place of meaning, orientation, sequen ce, landscape,
1 App leyard, Donald, Kev in lynch, and
and meaning. The perceptual lesson s enumerated by Lynch are
Joh n Ra ndol ph Myer. The View from
synthesized into a set of mappings, which can easily be compared
the Road, Cambrid ge Pu blis hed for
the Join t Ce nte r for Urba n Studies
to those in his canonical work, Image of the City. The conclusion
of the Massachu setts Inst itu te of
by Lynch states that highways sh ould be works of art for the driver
Techno logy and Ha rvard Unive rs ity
by the M.lT Press, Massachusetts
to experience - a phenomenological awakening of ones sen ses and
Institu te of Techno logy, 1964. pg . 3
emotion s. However for this thesis, Lynch is most directly related in
2 Ibid, pg. 3
38
Ryan Kurl baum
his objectives of design. The following objectives became integral to
the proposed interventions for Social Infras tru cture:
1.
Develop a sequential form that defines a continuity and rhythm
of development. Highways can enhance experience by exploring
modulations in light, texture, space and colo r to become rich spatial
events 3.
2.
The highway can s trengthen the driver's image of the environ-
ment. This constructed highway image can envision the highway as a
place where o ne establishes proximity to the city and the surrounding landscape 4.
3. Eludes to a historical, functional, and symbolic understanding o f
the highway as a source of a kind of temporal education when he
states: "would it be possible to use the highway as a means of education, a way o f making the driver aware of the function, history and
human values of the world?" s
Lynch concludes this powerful essay with a series of vignettes that
propose precise interventions along the highway that incorporate all
three design objectives. Su ch interventions allow for a range of views
for the drivers - an immediate boundary and a distant goal. That the
space o f the highway could be framed toward a destination and u se
a series of architectural elements as a means o f orientation. Lynch's
ideas of enclosure, range of view, orientation and the city as a destination will become implicitly manifested into the proposed hybrid
design typo logies stated in Social Infrastruc tu re.
3 Ibid , P9- 18
4 Ibid , P9- 17
5 Ibid P9 . 18
Social Infrastructu re
39
FRAMEWORK
DISTILLING A METHO DOLOGY
ORGANI ZATIO N SPAC E
More recently, respected architectural theorist , Keller Easterling,
LANDSCAPES, HIGHWAYS, AND
HOUSES - KELLER EASTERLING
discusses the spatial implications of interstates. In Easterling's "Or-
ganization Space: Landscapes, Highways, and Hou ses in America"
she writes about the overwhelming redundancy and inefficiency of
our national highway network. Easterling argues that highways were
initially designed for long distances and war-time evacuation routes
and never meant to interface with the complexities of our cities. The
result is that urban highways were not sized appropriately and often
exacerbate congestion and commuting times. Easterling's states this
approach t o the interstate highway system was designed as a frozen
shape - a dumb network with dumb swit ches. 6 TIle question then
becomes, with a sterile system of obsolete transportation in place, how
can contemporary practitioners intervene and retrofit or even reappro-
priate these obsolete infrastructures?
One solution suggested by Easterling that becomes particularly important to this thesis is the notion of building parallelism. Parallelism
is defined as something meant to resemble, cOlTespond or repeat the
similarities of something 7 . TIus idea is fruitful when considering the
formal character of monofunctional transp ortation corridors. Easterling states our highways system is rich with switch sites for interchange and urban terminals 8. In other words, sites w luch have the
potential t o connect multiple networks (Le.: highway, rail, water, etc.)
into a multi-layered, linear zone of urban development. TIus stacking
of variou s modes of transp ortation infrastructure is denoted as loading intelligence into the network (highway, rail, water, etc.)
6 Easte rling, Kelle r, 1959Organi za tion space landsca pes,
hi ghwa ys, and houses in Ame rica /
Ke lle r Easte rl ing Cambridge, Mass
MIT Press, c1999 . pg_ 77
7 Me rrian -Webste r Dic tionaf)'
http://1NWWmer riam-we bster.com/
dictionaf)'/parallelism
8 Ib id, pg 78
9 Ib id, pg. 99
40
Ryan Kurl baum
9.
W hat is m ost interesting in Easterling's text is the unveiling of a new
field of intervention, TIle highway right -of-way and the surfaces,
fabrics, and economies, w luch it directly affects. For example, cities
would greatly benefit from the efficacy of consolidated infrastructure,
TIlis is most readily accessible in the stacking of routes, roads, and
networks associated with distributio n of goods and products. We can
imagine a new building typology that couples its mere proximity to
the city, with access to major highway infrastmchlre, space for warehousing and goods storage into a new form of urban distribution.
A key influence to Easterling's writing is Lawrence Halprin's 1966
book, Freeways. Easterling refers to Halprin's "Traffic Architecture"
which collapses and consolidates highway, transit, logistics, and
distribution within the urban fabri c 10. Halprin praises Geoffrey Jellicoe's TIlames Bridge and Le Corbu sier 's City for Algiers as m odels for
stacked sections of urban programs that facilitate intermodal use in
work
I"In both cases, architecture embeds itself within a larger infra-
Figure 3.07 Le Corbu sier's Plan for
stmcture creating a public asset. For this thesis, this notion of inject-
Algiers
ing new program s and insulating highway corrid ors b ecomes particu-
Sou rce . httpl/24.med ia.tumblrcom!
tumblr_lreqjqytnK 1qgpvyjo 1_1280) pg
larly important - not o nly to activate under-utilized and abandoned
land u ses, but also to ameliorate the environmental condition caused
by the transportation corridors themselves.
Figure 3.08 Geoffrey Jellicoe's
Thames Bridge
Sou rce Halprin. Lawrence. Freeways
New Yo rk. Reinhold Pub. Corp . 1966
pg. 119
10 Ibid. pg . 102
11 Hal prin. Lawrence Freeways
New Yo rk. Reinhold Pub. Corp 1966
pg. 118. 125
Social Infra structu re
41
FRAMEWORK
DIST ILLIN G A METHODOLOGY
URBAN DESIG N
PR INC IPLES
In respon se to Easterling's charge for parallelism, this thesis will perform a formal retrofit. A series of interventions that are interwoven,
yet autonomous, which 'resemble, correspond alld repeat the similar-
ities' of the infrastructural form. A set of h ybrid architectural types
that reflect the linearity of the highway and insulate the city from
its uncontained pollution. To avoid making these two texts mere
recitations - the following will critique and excavate Lyn ch's and
Easterling's texts about highways and the city. The goal is to theorize
how the thesis will develop a refined conceptual logic to be deployed
within the project - a set of urban tactics that will be evident and
legible in the final con s truction of Social Infrastructure.
First, Lyn ch 's View from the Road argues for an phenomenological experience for the drivers occupying the interstate. Lynch's
ideas about perception, enclosure, and space are u seful and deployable strategies for contemporary intervention. VVhat is miss ing from Lynch's text is how the sequential forms he describes are
programmed and more imp0l'tantlywhere they are sited. Perhaps
a m ore legible formal position would imagine the highway as an
insulated corridor - framing the city, providing a range and depth of
views, and enclosing the vehicular experience. These form s could
frame the destination and control the air pollution, noise, and highway runoff in a contained system.
Figure 3.09 Kevin Lynch's
View from the Road
Source . httpJIWNW.amazon .com/
Figure 3.10 Keller Easterling's
Organi zat ion Space Landscapes,
Highways, and Houses Book Cove r
Source . httpJ/www.amazon .com/
Second , Easterling's critique of the lack o f intelligence associated
with urban highways promotes new opportunities to intervene along
and underneath these existing networks. VVhat is not fully described
is the specific interventions - hard or soft - which can achieve the
idea of parallelis m. W hat the thesis attempts to do is declare that in
order to address the linearity and size o f transportation infrastructure, architecture must be built at a similar scale. On one hand the
city needs a p rotective air and sound barrier from a 3/4 mile s tretch
42
Ryan Kurlbaum
of elevated highway and on the other a new development strategies
which leverage urban proximity, access to major highway infras tructure (1-93 and 1-90) and direct alignment with existing rail lines to
become a new urban distribution terminal - Easterling s tates elsewhere that "the action is tlle!orm." u
These two texts each contribute to a architectural and landscape
logic that will become integral to an appropriate site proposal for
1-93 in South Boston. TIle texts inspire the following urban design
principles, which address the existing infrastructural character and
prevailing social, spatial, and environmental conditions on site.
The principles are as follows:
1.
REALIZE an urbanism in which the parts are autonomous and
cohesive.
2.
REVITALIZE the densest concentration o f infrastructure, social
need, and pollutio n as sites.
3. REAPPROPRIATE space along and underneath infrastructure as
an operational field.
+ RECOGNIZE local community needs with new o pportunities,
programs and econonlic generators.
5. RECOVER existing land u ses with new hybrid architecture and
landscape typologies.
12 Bhatia, NeeraJ, Infra Net
Lab (Fi rm!. and Latera l Office
(Firm l Cou pl ing Strat egies for
Inf rastr uc tura l Opp ort un ism. New
Yo rk Princeton Arch itectural Press,
201 1 pg. 12
Socia l Infra structu re
43
CONDITIONS
LEVERAGING RESEARCH
INTO PROJ ECTS
EXISTING CONDITIONS
SOCIAL, INFRASTRUCTURAL, ENVIRONMENTAL
The 46,000 miles of US highways ensure local economies and provide conduits for suburban commuters. However, the environmental
impact of these transportation corridors can no longer be ignored.
The harmful air pollutants endanger occupants within
200
meters of
the highway. Highly contaminated highway runoff disables ecologies
and micro landscapes. Finally, highway noise debilitates property
values and prohibits development.
Conventional urban design would attempt to make connections
across the site, under the freeway and thus re-connect the disparate
parts of the city. However, this thesis rejects that idea completely.
Social Infrastructure isolates the highway as a toxic vein in which the
city must take a more formally rigorous stand agains t. Sited at the
intersection of 1-93 and 1-90 in Boston, MA, Social Infrastructure
Fi!lure 4.01 Providence, Rhode Island
Removal of Highway 195
Source Au thor Photo
Fi!lure 4.02 Cheon!l!lyecheon
Freeway Waterfront - Seoul, Korea
Source Kyle Ni sh ioka via Flickr.com
picks up where the Big Dig (and Kevin Lynch) left off. One could
argue that the moment where 1-93 intersects 1-90 represents the
denses t confluence of infrastructure, social need and pollution in
the city. Recently a number of cities like Providence and Seoul (figures 4.01, 4.02) have removed their highways, however on this site
the highway is too vital to economic vitality to tear down. W ith these
realities in mind and the economic impossibility of another 14.6 billion dollar infrastructure project (the Big Dig), this thesis presents a
I
series of new urban typologies that reappropriate existing highways
with grafted interventions.
In order to quantify the extent of the social, spatial and environmental conditions three forms of research were conducted to expose the
1 "Boston's "Big Dig ' Opens to Public"
Msnbc.com . Accessed Novembe r 11,
2012. http://www.msnbc.msn .com/
id/37 69829 Ins/us_ newsltlbostons big-dig -opens- publ ici.
46
Ryan Kurlbaum
need for infrastructural scale projects. First, was a mapping exercise,
which studied census tract data on poverty, unemployment, lack of
educational attainment, and median income. The second research
exercise studied the existing spatial and programmatic distribution on the site. By performing a detailed photographic inventory of
the sp aces alo n g, under, and near the highway a number of spaces
and programs (i.e.: parking lots, bus depo t, etc.) that are occupying
valuable urban parcels were relocated underneath the highway can
to lerate the environmental conditions - the vacated land was assessed and reprogrammed. Lastly, these environmental condition s
were quantified by using recent scientific reports conducted by local
university researchers to create air and n oise sheds. The project then
translates the necessity for environmental remediation to inform the
urbanism, architecture, and landscape into performative and productive interventions.
Figure 4.03 Bos ton Big Dig Under
Construction
Sou rce: httpIIWNW_const ruc tionequi pmentg uid e_com/editoria l_
picslbigdig_Jpg
Social Infrastructu re
47
CONDITIONS
LEVERAGING RESEARCH
INTO PROJ ECTS
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
"The best short-run solution to these workers' problems would probably
be a day-labor market organized under public auspices. Everyone who
wanted a day's work would show up at atJ early hour,">
- CHRISTOPHER JENCKS
A TRANSIENT PUBLIC WORKS FORCE
Recently, Boston conducted its Annual Homeless Census which found
a reduced homeless population, which documents those "living on
the streets, emergency shelters for individuals and families, domestic
violence programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment
programs, transitional housing and specialized programs serving
homeless youth and homeless Veterans." However, a m ore recent
study by the Department of Labor describes a unprecedented rise in
the nation's working poor 3. In order to accommodate for the growing
population of a working class w ho cannot afford to stay out of poverty,
this thesis will expand upon the individuals addressed in the Annual
Homeless Census to include working poor and chronically unemployed individuals, which we will call the transient population.
Boston is a progressive city in its homeless policies and initiatives.
In fact , a transient citizen in need of temporary housing can find a
place to sleep in over So metropolitan shelters. ll1Us, a city like Boston is finding that housing the homeless is becoming less and less of
an issue. The question becomes not how the city can serve transient
populations overnight, but how the city can utilize transient populations during the day. The average shelter evacuates all emergency
and transitional dwellers between sam-6am and does not open their
2 Jenc ks , Christopher. The Home less_
Cambrid ge, Mass __ Harvard Un iversi ty
Press, 1994_P9. 115
3 http://www_huffingtonpost.
com/20 12/04/1 O/work ing - poo r- i namerica_n_ 1415649_html
48
Ryan Kurlbaum
evening shelter until spm or 6 at night. This thesis considers these
12
hours as new daytime work opportunities for transient popula-
tions. Instead of typical daytime activities of panhandling, loitering
and feeding addictions, physically and mentally able citizens will
be offered daily work opportunities through a series of re-calibrated
public works projects. The city spon sored projects strive to empower
transient populations to make daily contributions to the city and aim
to change public perceptions of this marginalized population.
Figure 4.04 Transient Population
Count
Sou rce: US Census 2010. MA Depart ment of Labor Statistics. Boston
Home less Census 2012. and MA
Depart ment of Labor
This emerging demographic needs accessible social services, job
training, case management, adult education, and temporary occupational options. Thus a new architectural typology is necessary - the
labor station. Providing opportunities for transient populations to
work and leam will not remediate the complexity of this unique
urban demographic, but it certainly will open new opportunities to
improve the lives of those in need and in retum begin to reappropriate daytime hours for able-bodied individuals.
4,591,112 METRO BOSTON*
2,568,460 METRO BOSTON LABOR FORCE
us CENSUS 2010
MA, OEPARTMENTOF LABOR STATISTICS
7,180 HOMELESS POPULATION
455 773 WORKING POOR
244458 UNEMPLOYED
BOSTON HOMELESS CENSUS 2012
II
MA OEPARTMENTOF LABOR STATISTICS
II
MA DEPARTMENT OF lABOR 2010
707,411 TRANSIENT POPULATION
28,296,440 WEEKLY HOURS TO WORK
*
APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE LABOR FOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
us OEPARTMENT OF lABOR STATISTICS
Social lnfrastructu re
49
CONDITIONS
LEVERAG ING RESEARC H
INTO PROJ ECTS
SOC IAL CONDIT IONS
SEEKING SOCIAL EQUITY
In order to quantify the underprivileged and under-resourced
populations located along the edge of 1-93, a series of mappings were
constnlCted to measure socioeconomics and health data. VVhat is
m ost interesting is that the four maps to the right virtually show the
same conce ntrations o f poverty and lack of educational attainment,
unemployment and lack o f income. These socioeconomic trends
closely reflect poor health su ch as asthma and diabetes. W hile it may
not be surprising that the poo rest citizens are also the unhealthiest,
poor health in these areas is not the result of typical urban p olicy.
Traditional urban design and planning would suggest m ore access to
healthy foods , open space and walkable neighborhoods. In fact , all
three measures are profusely distributed across the neighborhood .
Th e question then becomes wlwt causes tllese dense pockets of heal til
concern and social need? Could the Ilighway be tile main source of
the problem? These are questions that remain to be understood and
should continue to be studied in further research.
The major public entities within the neighborhood were interviewed
in order to understand h ow their needs could be better served. The
renowned homeless shelter - Pine Street Inn, the South o f Washington (SoWA) artists' community, and the Boston Public Works
Department each are major players in the neighborhood. This thesis
is explicit in translating the needs o f these institutio n s into building programs. From salt storage to social service, this thesis aims
to make site specific interventions that respond to local needs,
remediate environments and reappropriate infrastructural space.
The following will detail two original mappings that collapse social,
Figure 4.05-4.08 Population Density,
Educational Gap, Unemployment,
and Median Income Mapping
Source . US Cens us 2010, Ame rican
Comm unity Survery 2006-1 0
50
Rya n Kurl baum
environmental and health data into a composite graphic.
)
Social lnfraslructu re
51
CONDITIONS
LEVERAG ING RESEARC H
INTO PROJ ECTS
SOC IAL CONDIT IONS
MAPPING INEQUITY
The firs t map zoom ed out to better understan d the socioeconomic
...
and health implication s caused by the entirety o f highway. Each of
the 14 Bosto n neighborhoods were measured based o n the leading
h ealth indicators based on the
2012-13
Bosto n Public Health Com-
mission study. Each n eighborho od is o rganized by proximity to the
city center an d h ealth indicators stacked into cumulative bars. The
h ealth disparity became immediately apparent between affluent
neighborh oods like Back Bay and Beacon Hill when compared with
highway n eighborhoods o f Dorchester, Roxbury or South Boston.
However, what was m ost interesting is that inner ring neighborhoods like Jamaica Plain, which are quite h ealthy, border these
neighborh oods that are far unhealthier. Upon closer examination of
these neighborhoods, t he physical den sity and m edian incomes are
m u ch m ore similar than one might expect. Using this socioeconomic
••••IIII!.IIIII!.lIIIl!IlI.!!!!!!
-.
similarity we could investigate what potential difference exists that
could inform future physical planning efforts.
The second composite nlap, "real asset scarcity" exanlines the
economic, demograph ic, and health issues in m ore detaiL TIle map
was b orn out of anot her mapping, which was called "equal distribution - access to assets". The key takeaway from the equal distribution
map is that the many default urban design and planning principles
Fi gure 4.09 - 4.11 Equal Di stribution
of Assets : Ifrom top) Commercial
that are common to increase community health are already present
Land Use, Open Space, Access to
in all 14 Boston neighborhoods. Access to open space, h ealthy food ,
Assets
farmer 's m arkets, and adjacent commercial development are read -
Source . US Census 201O. Ame rican
Commun ity Survery 2006 - 10
ily distributed between the neighborhoods - yet the profuse access
to assets has not yielded an improved health conditio n. Finally,
the map entitled "real asset scarcity " locates the inadequate noncommuter public t ransportation coverage; those who commute
over 30 minutes to work; vacan cy; and recreational open space. This
52
Ryan Kurl baum
,,
,,
,
-
" M,~
. ·,·
•
n~»»
w._ • ..
. ...
~
Figure 4.12 Neighborhood Health
Di sparities (opposite)
Sou rces . BPHC Re port 201 2-1 3, US
Cens us 2010, Ame rica n Com munity
Su rvery 2006- 10
Socia l lnfraslructu re
53
CONDITIONS
LEVERAG ING RESEARC H
INTO PROJ ECTS
SOC IAL CONDIT IONS
map provides key insights into new interventions, which may spurn
healthier neighborhoods. TIle fact is that despite the major strains
of commercial fabric people are leaving the neighborhood during
the day for jobs that are located far away. Clearly the assets aimed to
improve local economies and health indicators are at odds. 111is map
infers that more investment and attention should be made to provide local employment and educational o pportunities for people to
access without using a car.
In conjun ction with scarce public transit options and excessive commuter times two more layers were analyzed. 1110se who commute to
work by car away 30 minutes or more from there h omes are allocating significant percentages of their paychecks to fuel cost s. W hile
the future Fairmount Indigo Line promises to increase public transportation access for these impoverished neighborhoods it is only a
commuter rail. In the map to the right (figure 4.16) a large swath of
vacancy is denoted in yellow hatch along with scattered recreational
spaces which are programmed open space.
CONCLUSIONS
Through each neighborhood, the Boston Public Health Commission
(BPH C) classifies social, environmental and economic factors at the
social determinants of health. The BPHC is somewhat vague about
the cause of Boston's health inequity, however they su ggest that
access, opportunities and experience have significant roles to play.
Clearly, this s tudy would challenge the n o tions of access and opportunities as u seful planning tactics to remediate disparate health factors. Perhaps a more appropriate urban investment lies in solutions
that reduce fuel costs and commuting times meanwhile increasing
access to local employment options and programmed open space.
54
Rya n Kurl baum
Figure 4.13-4.15 Int ervent ion Points
Layers
Sources US Census 2010. American
Community Survery 2006- 10
Figure 4.16 Real Asset Scarc ity
Composit e Intervention Points [below)
Sources US Census 2010. American
Community Survery 2006- 10
•
•
0 ---'-"
Social Infrastructu re
55
CONDITIONS
LEVERAG ING RESEARCH
INTO PROJ ECTS
SPATIAL CONDITIONS
REAPPROPRIATING VACANCY - URBAN LAND SWAP
The second research endeavor reappropriates adjacent land uses
with more vital programs that engaged the community and offer
space for mixed income housing developments. In order to reclaim
the urban fabric covered currently with car parking lots and a MBTA
bus depot (figure 4.17) a rigorous photographic inventory was taken
to catalog programs that would not mind being relocated under the
h ighway. The goal would be to maximize the vast abandoned space
under the highway (figure 4.18) for a new modes of flexible programs, market stalls, and infrastructural storage for equipment and
parkin g.
A careful calculation of square footages along the highway that were
under-used and under-performing totaled approximately
690 , 000
square feet . Conversely, the allowable space under the highway was
a mesmerizing 730 , 000 squ are feet - more than enough space to
accommodate the vehicular surface parking on site. What is interesting to this research is how simple yet effective this land swapping
policy could become. TIle vacated land parcels to the west of the
highway have potential to leverage a burgeoning artist community
affiliated w ith SoWA w ith a growing need for perman ent housing for
Pine Street Inn residents. The mix of housing types could become
a new affordable housing typology in a city the prides itself on low
income h ousing optio n s.
Figure 4.17 Space Along the Highway
To Be Re loca ted
Fi!lure 4.18 Space Under the Highway
To Be Reoccu pi ed
56
Ryan Ku rl baum
01
ALONG THE HIGHWAY
UNDER THE HIGHWAY
Soc ial lnfraslructu re
57
/
I
1\
7
5 ace Under t e
Figure 420 P d IRlghtf
To Be Reoccup le
58
Ryan Kurlbaum
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Soc ial lnfraslructu re
59
CONDITIONS
LEVERAG ING RESEARC H
INTO PROJ ECTS
ENVIRO NMENTAL CONDITIONS
REMEDIATING POLLUTANTS - AIR POLLUTION
The final layer of research began to measure and quantify the spatial
implications of the air, noise, and highway nm-off pollution oil-site.
Air pollution surrounding highways causes many health hazards
including asthma and heart disease that will be discussed briefly
here. TIlere are many hazardous pollutants that flow from highways, however in this specific interstate (1-93) the two m ost harmful pollutants are particulate matter (PMlO and PM2.S) and Ozone
(03)
4,
TIle Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
keeps rigorous data sets m onitoring air quality across the state. TIle
closest m onitoring station to the 1-93 site in South Boston revealed
significant concentrations of the aforementioned pollutant levels
along the highway (figure 4.21). In fact a recent s tudy by Tufts University funded a research initiative called Community Assessment
of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH), which specifically seeks
to understand the repercussions of vehicular p ollution on nearby
residents. Thus far, the study's findings are generating change - low
income families are being provided with HEPA filters to insert into
their air conditioners to dilute the air. The question remains if air
filters are substantial enough to solve this problem.
The study concludes with two provocations for larger scale interventions that have a direct impact on the design profession. "TIlere may
be other solutions ... erecting tall sound barriers between highways
and people who live near them could contain most Ultrafine particles inside highway boundaries. Another study states that trees as
a natural barrier (to find that trees) can remove up to 80 percent o f
ultrafine particles."
One can infer from these two recent studies
4 "Big Road Blues." Tuft s Now
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and
Acc essed Nove mber 20, 2012. htt pll
nowtufts_edu/art ideslb ig - road - blues-
University of California Davis respectively that perhaps the scale of
pollution -highways
intervention to deal with air pollutants is far too small, thus larger
5 Ibid
60
5.
Rya n Kurl baum
scale interventions are necessary to address the scale of the problem.
Another report studying similar measures of environmental health
and proximity to highways states emphatically that people living or
spending a significant amount o f time within
2 00
meters of a highway
have significantly higher levels of exposure than someone living on a
busy urban street
.6
In the US alone over 14.5 million households live
within this hazardou s offset 7, TIle fa ct remains that living near high-
6 Brugge, Doug, J ohn L. Durant,
and Christ ine Rioux. "Near-Highway
Pollutants in Motor Vehicle Exhaust
A Review of Ep idem iologic Evidence
of Card iac a nd P ulmonary Hea lt h
Risks ,- Environmen tal Health 6. no , 1
[August 9. 2007): 23, doi .l 0.1186/1476069X-6-23
7 Ibid. "Big Road Blues. "
8 Ibid, "Near-Hig hways Pollutan ts ,.. "
ways exposes inhabitants to ultrafine particles (UFP), black carbo n
(BC) , Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) and carb on m onoxide (CO)
8.
Alo ng
with heightened PM and Ozone concentrations these infrastructural
spaces are detrimental to human health especially involving children,
Figure 4.21 Leading Air Pollutants
from Highways [Left and Right)
Source Massachusetts 201 1 Air
Quality Report - htt p://www.mass ,gov/
eea/docs/d ep/air/priorities/l 1aqrpt ,pdf
OZONE
UG/M'
".
,--------'----~---;;::.~
Social Infra structu re
61
CONDITIONS
LEVERAGING RESEARCH
INTO PROJECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
URBAN FORESTS - NATURAL PURIFIERS
This thesis will explore the potential of tall barriers to control air
quality as well as planting dense forests within the city. Cities across
North America have begun to strategize h ow to plant dense urban
forests to remediate air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
(GHG's). In addition to PM and GHG's urban forests also reduce heat
island effect. A recent EPA s tudy concluded that 100% tree coverage
can reduced hourly ozone by 15% and particulate matter by 13%. If
that sounds insignificant consider the some 784>000 tons of pollution these trees could collect annually 9 . While data is still being
assembled to increase the vitality of urban fore stry programs, cities
like Toronto have begun aggressive planting initiatives. In 2005,
Toronto s tated the goal of increasing tree canopy by 20% to 40%
by 2050 10. While Bos ton shares a similar tree canopy the landscape
along highways is vastly different between the two cities. Perhaps the
densely planted buffers seen in figures 4.22 and +23 will indicate the
potential of thinking of urban forests as a landscape infrastntcture
to be deployed across parking lots, edges, and abandoned parcels.
9 "Urban Forests - Cleane r, Coo le r
Air " The Dirt. Accessed March 4, 20 13
http!/dirt .<Isla .my/201 1/10/05!urba nforests-c leane r-ooo le r-a ir/
10 ·City of Toronto Urban Forestry
Services ." Accessed Marc h 4, 2013
http://www.toronto.caltrees/evelY_
t ree_counts_htm
62
Ryan Kurl baum
Figure 4.22 View of Toronto Urban
Forests
Sou rce Goog le Earth
Figure 4.23 Comparative Highway
Buffers - Boston and Toronto
Sou rce Goog le Earth
Social Infrastructu re
63
CONDITIONS
LEVERAGING RESEARCH
INTO PROJ ECTS
ENVIRONM ENTAL CONDITIONS
RECAPTURING RUNOFF - HIGHWAY SUR FAC E CONTAMINANTS
Highway runoff is often collected in a number of roadside best management practices (BMP's) su ch as landscape swales, wetlands, and
detention basin s. However, in the case of elevated highways there
is n o roadside to speak of. 111is presents a difficult runoff s torage
and filtration problem - considerin g the vertical drains often d ispose harmful surface runoff into large surfaces of gravel. Due to the
enduring presence of the elevated h ighways through urban fabric s
Fi!lure 4.24 DLand Studio - HOLD
System
across the country a n ew and more substantial approach to highway
runoff is n ecessary.
Source . VIM'W_dlandstud io_com
Dland Studio from Brooklyn , NY design s a compelling solution
with their HOLD (Highway O utfall Landscape Detention) System
(figure 4.24), which collects and filters vertical runoff. ll1ese micro
interventions are easily deployable alon g major interstates and are
planted with intelligent s pecies to address the "oil, heavy metals
and grease that contaminate outfalls n". Oland s tates that "selected
plant species break down or absorb copper, lead, cadmium, hydrocarbons, zinc a n d iron commonly found in the run-off.
12"
What is
m ost interesting to this thesis is how this micro infrastructure could
be woven into a much larger system of basin s or wetlands to perform
a similar task at a larger scale. In the case of Social Infrastructure
contaminants were measured fro m a recent thesis by Stephen Hyche
from the University of Alabama, which details the concentrations of
these contaminants from a number o f land u ses including highways.
In order to prevent the aforemention ed contaminants from entering
our water supply we must be m ore aggressive with the infrastructure
we con struct to collect, filter and store highway runoff. Oland Stu11 "HOLD System Flushing Bay""
dio's HOLD System is quite compelling and certainly thinking about
Accessed March 6, 20 13. http://www_
dla ndstud io_com/pmjects_ holds_
highway runoff the right way, but there interventions are simply far
flu sh in g. hlml Hpre tty Photo_
to o small to treat the scale of the problem.
12 Ibid
64
Ryan Kurl baum
HI GHWAY RUNO FF P,
LLUTANT LEVELS
120
10
100
8
80
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The graph above (figure 4.25) details the three leading con taminants
and metals found along US freeways compared to open space (as
documented by Hych e). Ifleft untreated the ammonia, TKN (Nitrogen Kjen dahl Total), lead, and oill grease can lead to con taminated
outfalls and disrupted road ecologies. Thus if we are to continue to
collect h ighway run off with in ternal scu ppers as a default solution
20
-",,--_
0
Figure 4.25 Highway Runoff
Contamination
Source: Graph Data from: -Expansion
of the National Stormwater Quality_
Database, Nsqd Ver. 3" By Stephen
Hunter Hyc he Accessed March 15,
20 13. httpJ/Unix_E ng .Ua_ EduJ-Rp itt/
Publica tions/' ' _Theses_and
dissertations/Hyche%20Thesis .Pdf
we must expand the scale of how run off is chann eled, collected ,
filtered an d stored.
Social Infrastructu re
65
CONDITIONS
LEVERAGING RESEARC H
INTO PROJ ECTS
ENVIRO NMENTAL CONDITIONS
SOUND BARRIERS SKINS - NOISE ATTEN TUATION
Anyone who has ever cleaned up trash along a highway will tell you
that the amount of noise that is generated by congested urban corridors is substantiaL Highway noise is most affected by congestion
and proximity and often ranges between 70-85 decibels. Contemporary sound barriers are used to reduce sound transmission to homes
located near major interstates. Typically these barriers are located
within zoo feet (60 meters) of the highway and are usually about 25
feet (8 meters) tall
13 .
Constructed in a myriad of materials su ch as
wood, concrete, metal, glass, and masonry these barriers range from
$1,000 to $z,ooo a linear foo t. Recently, MASSDOT was approved to
construct a 1.1 miles long barrier in Andover, MA, which was priced
at $8.4 million dollars "'. In other words, if we continue to spend millions of tax dollars to line our highways shouldn't we consider these
barriers with another function in mind.
Recent highway sound barriers have begun to generate energy
(figure +z6), collect particulate matter (PM ) (figure +z7)and provide the driver with a more pleasing driving experience (figure
Figure 4.26-4.28
+z8). While these new interventions are certainly considering these
Recent Sound Barrier Innovations
Source (from to p to bo ttom)'
necessary but o ften dumb forms of sound attenuation in new ways,
US FHA - http://www.fhwa .dot .gov/
a recent housing project by Dutch architects Buro Lubbers provides
real_estate/ publ icat ions!a lle rna! ive_
us es_ of _ highway-rig hI -of-way!
images/fig2b.png , Acoustica l Barr ier
+ Hessing Cockpit by ONL - http://
WNW. arch idose .o rg! J ul06/ooste rhu is 1
jpg ; Ove rschie - htt p//WNW
enterthe moth e rshi p.co m/ e n/ langs he! -tuinpad -va n - ove rsch ie/
the most vital insights.
Constructed in the Boschkens regions of the Netherlands along the
As8 highway, the nearlYl/ z mile (700 meter) long and 45 foot (14
meter) high barrier combines sound attenuation with building facade 15. The local resident live in units that are plugged into the back
side of the barrier where the architects have carefully located entry
for people and cars which then are parked along densely planted
berms that con ceal them fro m the highway.
66
Rya n Kurl baum
Fi gure 4. 29-4. 30 Bu ro Lubbers Boschk ens Housing
Sou rce http//WNW.burolubbers.nV
projecten/727_ Boschkens.htm
13 http/lWNW.fhwa_dot .gov/
envi ronmentlnoi se/noise _ barriersl
des ign _ construction/kee pd own.cfm
14 http/lWNW.boston_comfne ws/
locaVart icles/20 11/1O/13/i_93_
sound_bar rie r _to----Provi de_andover _
residents_wi th_ no ise _ re lief/
15. -Buro Lubbers - Project Boschkens.- Acc essed March 26.
20 13. http//WNWarchello.com/e nJ
projectlboschkens
Social Infrastructu re
67
I_
II
_
-'
----
.
•
\
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
FORM AND LANDSCAPE
Thus far, we have traced a profound interest in social and infrastructural urbanism and its impact on the city. The remainder of
the thesis will reveal the project by which the field of operation,
conceptual framework, and existing conditions are synthesized into
form. These formal calibrations of political, economic, environmental, infrastructural, and social conditions were initially treated
with a more contextual approach to urbanism. The social and the
infrastructural sought to insert acupunctural interventions in order
to re-stitch South Boston to the waterfront. These suppositio n s
proved to be far too timid when con sidering the severity of the social
and environmental field in which the thesis is sited. The scale was
miniscule w hen compared to the vastness of the problems created
by the bustling interstate. The architecture simply had to take on the
scale of infrastructure. To this end, three large scale hybrid typologies emerged that could operate within a larger framework plan as
autonomous entities and cohesive components. Each of the typolo gies emerges out of specific research, programmatic need and site
specificity. TIle goal of the thesis is propose a project that begins
to resolve social inequity, remediate environmental pollution, and
utilize infrastructural space.
The deployment of the following typologies is a rigorous study
incorporating a hybrid urbanism, which operates at multiple scales
and exercises broad strokes of intervention - a productive and performative bigness - architecture as infrastructural and infrastructure
as architecture. Each typology should read as an essay and provocation for the discipline to consider, challenge, and critique.
Figure 5.01 Site Map
Source Goog le Ea rth
70
Rya n Kurl baum
The typologies are described across threes scales: the scale of the
highway, the scale of the elevated infrastructure and the scale of the
street. Programmatic insights were gathered from various stakeholders, professionals, developers, planners, and advocates. ll1ese
insights were then coupled with the research to discern a set of u rban design tactics that informed each of the hybrid typologies listed
below:
1.
An air and noise barriers n ow operate as mixed income housing
with social and community services.
2.
Vacated and abandoned infrastructural space become a place of
temporal use, parking, and site of a new transient work force.
3. Unorganized and scattered public works and logistics are consolidated into an efficient form that becomes a new terminal for urban
distribution.
+ Highway runoff is now channeled, collected, filtered and stored
within a large-scale landscape infrastructure.
5. Urban blocks are no longer filled with new buildings that are
exposed to the air pollution shed, but planted densely with concentrated forested blocks.
6. Finally, a heavily trafficked surface and berm not only channel debris to the landscape infrastructure, but also shield incessant activity
from the neighboring communities.
Social Infra structu re
71
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
SITE FLOWS 1/
UR BAN DESIGN PLAN
The existing figure ground of the site reveals a scattered and unorganized eastern edge of the site and two enormous holes in South
Boston - o ne occupied by the immense infras tructural bundle that
is the product of the Big Dig; the o ther the under-served and underutilized rail yard . Once the proposal is inserted into the large swath
of vacancy the project acts as an urban suture to the infrastructural
void . The formal intention is to connect each side not through the
infrastructure but onto the infrastructure - to engage the highway as
a seam through the city. The m ore dense and urban fabric occupies
the west side; the distribution and educational training operationalizes the east. Together the two sides meet underneath the highway - but never touch. Thus the typical m odes of urbanism, which
promote connectivity, will simply not work here due to the lack
of access points and the vast distance between Albany Street and
Dorchester Avenue.
The new pro p osal was informed by the existing site flows and how
these flows might be re-imagined. The fl ow diagrams (figures 5.02-
5.07) document vehicular, logistical, pedestrian, air, and noise movement. Documenting these flows became paramount in the development of the new hybrid typologies. To introduce the plan the thesis
will discuss each of the typologies and how they address specific
social, spatial, and environment circumstance while operating as a
cohesive urban strategy.
Figure 5.02-5.07 Flow Diagrams
(From Top to Bottoml Logist ical
Circu lat ion, Ve h icu lar Circulation,
Pedestrian Circula tion, Particulate
Ma tter Circu lation, and Nois e
Circulat ion (Re verbe ration I
72
Rya n Kurl baum
/
Figure 5.08 Site Plan
Opposite Proposed Site Plan
/
,
INTERVENTION
THREE HYBRID TYPO LOGI ES
BARRIER HOUSING
PREFABRICATED UNITS
74
Ryan Kurl baum
FLOOR PLATES
CIRCULATIO I
I
L
PUBLIC STAIR
CONCRETE
ENCLOSURE
HEPA FILTER
WALL
WOOD NOISE
BARRIER
Socia l lnfraslructu re
75
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
TYPE 01
BARRI ER HO USING /1
FOR ESTED BLOCKS
The first hybrid type to discuss is the barrier housing / / forested
blocks. On the western edge of 1-93 the city is erratic. Develo pment
and vacancy have evolved unexpectedly, yielding divergent results.
On one hand, 19th century warehouse buildings line perpendicular
streets with slender volumes - ideal for the artists who currently
inhabit them. On the other, a large MBTA bus depot, a soccer field ,
and an array of surface parking lots that are seldom used and contribute little to the community. The Barrier Housin g architecture
is conceived as a series of layers. TIle facade facing the highway is
designed as an air and noise barrier that a public stair can attach to
offering a new public asset - elevated views of the highway and the
city (figure 5.09). TIlen three housing unit types clip onto the public
stair volume and allow for permanent supportive housing, single and
double unit condos to coexist as a mixed income development. The
disparate urban fabric is bound to a formal bookend establishing a
new urban edge. Other infill opp ortunities are proposed which follow the existing warehouse precedent and remove buildings that is
scheduled for demolition or not contributing to the neighborhood.
The barrier housing is coupled with the forested block as a landscape s trategy. From recent studies by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) we know that densely planted urban forests
can reduce up to 15% of particulate matter from the air. In addition,
to the performative aspect of the forested blocks - a new kind of
public courtyard is created which fuses together the interior block of
Cerda's Barcelona (figure 5.12) with the forested clearing. Blocks are
planted densely, but open up in certain moments to form a new idea
of a public commons with views through the trees and up to the sky
Figure 5.09 Hybrid Type 01:
Barrier Housingl/ Forested Blocks
[previous spread)
Figure 5.10 Barrier Housing
Approach
Figure 5.1 1 Forested Blocks
76
Rya n Kurl baum
(figure 5.U).
Socia l Infrastructu re
77
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYBR ID TYPOLOGI ES
TYPE 01
BARRIER HOUSING 1/
PHASING STRATEGI ES
PHASING
The final ques tion is that of phasing these units. First each unit will
incorporate the barrier facade for the highway elevation. Second,
developers will adhere to open space requirements for residents
depending o n the number of units d eveloped and income levels
they accommodate. In conjunction w ith the barrier fa cade a nd open
space requirements, 5-6 future developers are imagined to construct
this project over time. TIle phasing is designed at two scales - the
highway and the city block. TIle larger scale phasing allows for developers to build multiple units that can easily interlock with each
other (figure 5.13).
At the s maller scale, of the block , various unit types are s tacked (figure 5.4) as potential outcomes eac h respondin g to highway facade
a n d open space stipulations. Also on each block, the ground floor is
double height and programmed to accommodate social a n d community services. TIle goal of the housin g type is to adapt to market
growth and shrinkage with s tackable, pre-fabricated s teel chan nel
units. The type e n cou rages low income housing to s tack on top of
highly valued double unit condos and be readily con s tructible to address the neighborhood's immense need for h ousing.
Fi!lure 5.12 (above) Typ ical Cerda
Block - Barcelona, Spain
Source Google Ea rth
Fi!lure 5.13 (top) Barrier Housing
Phasin!l
Fi!lure 5.14 (bottom) Block I Unit
Phasing Alternatives
78
Rya n Kurl ba um
•I I.--, ~:"Hl
f. - .. ';,.
-~-i ~ ··
ir
, -o;·,i
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..
-.
-'Social lnfraslructu re
79
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
INFRASTR UCTURAL STORAGE
PARKING
MARKET STAllS
SOWA RETAIL
FOOD TRUCKS
BUS PARKING
BUS DEPOT
CIT Y USE
80
Rya n Kurl baum
LABOR
CITY C I
LOGISTIC
LOITE
TEMPORAR'I
COMMU
INF.RASTRU
STATIONS
~ANNELS
CHANNELS
RPARK
, RECREATION
TERCAFE
SALT STORAGE
RECYCLING CENTER
CAR AUC TION
DEMOLITION PARKING
MAINTANENCE STORAGE
EQUIPMENT PARKING
LARGE VEHICLE PARKING
LOGISTIC USE
Social lnfra slructu re
81
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
TYPE 02
INFRASTRUCTURAL STORAGE 1/
LABOR STATIO NS!!
MECHANIZED WETLAND
The second typology bundle attempts to solve perhaps the most
complex spatial condition on site - the underneath. The underneath
is equal parts toxic and poetic. Three-quarter mile long slots separate elevated roadways and gently curve toward the city - at the same
time one can become immediate affected by the air quality and
begin to cough after pro longed exposure. The previously mentioned
land swapping exercise identified the existing surface programs
along the highway that could endure prolonged exposure underneath. To contain these programs large corten channels act as containers directed toward the side in which they serve (figu re 5.16). After those programs were relocated the idea of tempo ral use emerged
as a viable way to allow the vibrant and immediately adjacent SoWA
market to occupy the channels with farmer 's markets and artists
stalls. We could also imagine these channels becoming particularly
interesting for night use. Outdoor events, dance parties and evening
programs could become prominent as traffic conges tion above ceases
and air quality improves. In addition to the infrastntctural storage a
large linear wetland is conceived as a landscape infrastntcture that
collects, stores and filters harmful highway nllloff (figure 5.17).
Finally, the labor s tations are cornerstones of this hybrid type. Since
daytime occupation o f the underneath should be strictly limited
- the labor station program is appropriate to employable-bodied
transient populations with daily occupations throughout the city.
Figure 5.15 Hybrid Type 02:
Infrastructural Storage/ Labor
Station/ MechanizedWetland
(previous spread)
Figure 5.16 (top) Infrastructural
Storage
Figure 5.17 (bottom) Mechanized
Wetland
82
Rya n Kurl baum
- ,;-
--
~
----.~.
--
Socia l Infrastructu re
83
INTERVENTION
THREE HYBRID TYPOLOG IES
TYPE 02 :
LABOR STATIONS /I
RECLAI MED TECTO NICS
01 MATERIAL CONFIGURATIONS
o.
FRACTURE
I
Figure 5.18 Recl .. lmed Tectonics
Jersey Barriers as Construction
Ma terial
84
Ryen Kurlbeum
I
07 INSERT MILLWORK
03 ELONGATE
02 MULTIPLY
I,
J
d
IlfJ! II ' I
Il if ~ /
Ob GLAZE
05 BOOKENO
09 ENCLOSE
08 STACK MOOULE
Social Infrestructure
85
INTERVENTION
THR EE HYBRID TYPOLOGI ES
TYPE 02:
LABOR STATIONS//
RECLAIMED TECTONICS
TIle labor stations reimagin e the profuse and discarded jersey barrier
as a viable building material- a reclaimed tectonic is born. A short
and intense study analyzed the fonnal and structural potential of the
concrete barriers an d organizes them into modulated parts - easilyas-
Fi!l ure 5.19 Existing Fronta!le Road
sembled on site with untrained labor (figure 5.18). Perhaps becoming
Fi!l ure 5.20 Prop osed Frontage Road
Labor Stations, Infrastructura l
Storage
........
~
- ..-..
~
.
.
PUBLIC WORKS
SALT STORAGE
86
Ryan Kurlbaum
BUS DEPOT PARKING
the pilot project for the transient work force. When deployed on-site
in conjunction with the infinitely flexible infrastructural storage units,
buses, salt storage, car parking, labor stations and a worker cafe and
series of sports courts occupy the desolate underneath.
LABOR STATIONS
PUBLIC WORKS
SALT STORAGE
Social Infrastructu re
87
INTERVENTION
THRE E HYBRID TYPO LOGI ES
TYPE 02
LABOR STATIO NS!!
RECLAIM ED TECTO NICS
Figure 5.21 Labor Station
Appro ac h
88
Ryan Kurl baum
Socia l Infrastructu re
89
INTERVENTION
THREE HYBRID TYPOLOGIES
m
I
I
FACILITY TRAINING
ADULT EDUCATION
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
90
Ryen Kurlbeum
-=
---
- --:::;;: -~':j
I-
~
-----
DISTRIBUTION CE
I
-
r
:NTER
LARGE SCALE WAREHOUSE
RECE IVING
LOADING f UNLOADING
G
Social lnfraslructu re
91
INTERVENTION
THREE HYBRID TYPO LOGI ES
FORM TYPE 03
UR BAN DISTRI BUTION
TERMINAL
II PERVIOUS SURFAC E
II SOU ND BERM
" The action is the form" - KELLER EASTER LI NG '
The third and final type emerges out of a new model of urban distribution centers. One in which closely follows online juggernaut
Figure 5.22 Hybrid Type 03: Urban
Distribution Terminall/ Pervious
Surface /I Sound Berm
Figure 5.23 (top) Educationalll
Training Centers
Figure 5.24 (bottom) Sound Berm /I
Pervious Surface
Amazo1l. A recent article by Farhad Manjoo tracks Amazon's unprecedented investment into metropolitan distribution centers. This is
significant because sin ce the company's conception, Amazon has
minimized its physical footprint to avoid paying sales tax in those
states 2. Now we are witnessing a massive sea change, w hich we can
see in their S675 million dollar con s tructio n of 18 new distribution
centers (Amazon refers to them as Fulfillment Centers)
3.
So why
would Amazon assume these states' sales tax - to eventually provide
same-day delivery. You order something online in the morning and it
is waiting for you when you get home from work. As Manjoo s tates,
this will unequivocally alter the way we purchase goods and completely transform conventional retail as we know it.
This recent aspiration for same day o nline delivery illustrates the
need for a reorganization of the east side of the site. Currently, Bosto n Public Works occupies two-thirds of the site with an array of vehicles waiting to be repaired and a half-empty parking garage. To the
south, is the department of transportation, the city impoundment,
and a number of small food production facilities. What is missing is
a m ore coherent and economically viable vision. W1wt
1 Easterl ing, Kelle r "Fresh Field"
from Coup li ng Strateg ies for
swath of land could become the first major metropolitan site for an
Infrasl ructural Opportun ism. Bhatia,
urban distribution terminal (UDT)?
NeeraJ. InfraNe! Lab (Firm l. a nd
Latera l Off ic e IFirmlNew Yo rk-
Prin ceton Arch itectu ra l Press, 20 11
pg 12
2 http://WW1N.s late .com/an icles/
bus iness/sma ll_ bus iness/20 12}07/
amazofl_sa me_day-delive ry_ how_
the_e_commerce_g ia nt_will_destroyloca IJeta il_.htm l
3 Ibid.
92
if this large
Ryan Kurl baum
\I
... ~-
.,
Socia ll nfraslructu re
93
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
FORM TYPE 03
UR BAN DISTR IBUTION
TERMINAL
One could easily imagine a company like Amazon yearning for a site
with access to an intensive rail network, h vo majo r interstates, water,
and a metropolitan population o f over 3 million. Initial development could simply capitalize o n bringing a wholesale retail experience to Bosto n , but overtime with market growth and the proximity to major transportation infrastntctures utilized the UDT could
grow incrementally. Each development capable of growing within a
defin ed framework. Both ends of the develo pment are punctuated
with towers that could become for public mixed-use o r for a corporate h eadquarters. In addition to t h e UDT, the project proposes that
each development invest in local labor by providing education and
training centers to either work within the UDT themselves or be
trained to be deployed elsewhere. The other interesting component
to this linear strategy is that a s the site swells toward t he south m ore
space can be allocated for multi-purpose warehouses. Companies
Fi gure 5.25 Urban Distributi on
Terminal Phasing /I Programmatic
Potential
like Amazon have demonstrated that wareh o u ses no longer only
store goods, but to sto re other peoples goods wh o u se the website as
-
I
EOUCATION II WHOLESALE
INTIIAL: DEVELOPMENT
94
Ryan Kurl baum
TRAINING
II WHOLESALE II WAREHOUse
MARKET GROW H
a personal sales platform or perhaps to house the data warehouses
necessary to secure vast amounts of consumer infonnatio n.
Eventually, customers are finally going to b e given the immediate
satisfa ction of the retail experience without leaving their homes. TIle
third and final hybrid type accept s this typology as an economic generator for the city and become a significant employer of an untapped
labor force.
MIXED US£ TOWER
DEVELOPER DRIVEN
MARKET RATE ..
MPLOVEE HOUSING
EMPlOYEE PARKINGII VEHICULAR SOTRAGE
EDUCATION II DISTRIBUTION II WAREHOUSE
LOGISTICS EXPANSION
MARKET GROWTH
Social Infra structu re
95
INTERVENTION
TH REE HYB RID TYPOLOG IES
FORM TYPE 03
UR BAN DISTRI BUTION
TERMINAL
The landscap e strategy that supports the UDT typo logy addresses
the surfa ce in which these truck s will load and unload goods for
distribution. Typically, impervious surfaces collect debris, o il and
grease, but with pervious channels cut into the ground plane we can
begin to collect this debris and transfer it to the mech anized wetlands (see figure 5.24). These slots could easily be cleaned an d a ct as
a green gutter for the site. TIle other component to the UDT site is
the amount of noise that the site mu st attenuate. Constant m oving
of trucks and goods will be minimized by a densely planted , vegetated sound berm that rises alo n g the southern mos t point of the
site. TIle pervious surface and sound berm become a reconsideration
of h ow to make pervious surface s perfo rm o n highly trafficked paths
while s hielding n oise from adjacent communities.
Fi gure 5.26 Urban Distributi on
Terminal Phasing /I Programmatic
Potential
EOUC;ATION II WHOLESALE
96
Ryan Ku rl baum
The Urban Distribution Terminal coupled with a new pervious
surface and sound berm becomes a hybrid typ ology that will yield
immediate dividends. If we know, that companies like Amazon aspire to build closer to cities to increase customer proximity this site
becomes immediately marketable. A reorganization of the existing
scattered big boxes envisions a m ore efficient and economically viable model of development, which takes advantage o f the interstate,
rail and metropolitan proximity to become one of the most valuable
and marketable zones in New England.
,,
!
LARGE SCALE COI'lPOAATE
LARGE SCALE COI'lPOAATE
LARGE SCALE CORPORATE·
DlSHUBUTlON CENTER
DISTRIBUTION CENTER
OISTRIBUTION CENTER
Socia l Infra structu re
97
g NTERVENj"ION
L -.
• THREE HtBRID TYPOLOGIES
-
L
-
-
Figure 5.27 1-93 Soul bound
98
Ryan Kurl baum
--
--
--
_.
-
•
-
ntr85tructure
S008 l, ..
99
INTERVEN;~~POLOGIES
THR
EE HYBR
•
...
,
•
I
Fi gure 5.28 1
Ae ri a l View
100
,
•
Ryan Kurl baum
, - taib
Looking
..
-
...
•t
.~
. !
,
•
.
•
--
-
Socia ll nfraslructu re
101
a
--
IMPLICATIONS
THE URG ENCY OF AG ENCY
DISCIPLINARY INSIGHTS
The thesis Social Infrastructure pro p oses three hybrid typologies
that respond to emerging social need, abandoned infrastructural
space, rising environmental concern along 1-93 in South Boston. The
goal of this thesis was to provide the discipline with new insights
about how to approach urban design and highways. As our pro fe ssio n becomes more and more marginalized we need to constantly
question the roles in which we play and the m odes of our contribution. If we could return to an initial statement about our most valuable contribution being synthesis - we can begin to strengthen and
amplify our profession simultaneously.
STRENGTHEN OUR STRATEGIES.
We understand that the master builder ideology is all but diminished and o nly a selectedfew have the liberty to make unencumbered large scale design decisions. Many contemporary practices
have begun to employ a diverse staff of employees across architecture, landscape, urban design, transportation, ecology, strategy,
etc. to bring a more coherent approach to design competitions and
RFP's. With diverse staffs in our offices, this generation of architects,
urbanists, and landscape architects need challenge the way in which
we get work. The position of this thesis is that project s are b orn out
of research and presented to clients that do not know they are clients yet. In other words, our approach should b e to illustrate a problem - preferably one with environmental and economic implication s.
Then, demonstrate how that problem/ issue has grown to become
unsustainable over time. Finally, demonstrate that our project is the
m ost logical and viable solution to the emerging concern.
This thesis began as an investigation into how to increase the role of
transient populations in our cities specifically along transp ortatio n
infrastructure. But, as the initial inclination evolved the work not
104
Rya n Kurl baum
only became about providing opportunities for transient populations, but also sought to remediate the environment and the underutilized spaces along and underneath the h ighway. These intuitions
were mapped and quantified to give the three hybrid typologies
validity. All three types explicitly address social n eed , spatial abandonment, and environmental health. Social Infrastructure is a case
study in h ow we can leverage contemporary pro jects out of research.
AMPLIFY OUR APPROACH
If you agree that s trengthening of our strategies s h ould begin with
research then you may question if we are minimizing our roles in the
built environment and forfeited any remaining p ower we have to private clients an d developers. 111is thesis would argue that the po tential field of investigation for the contemporary practitioner is seldom
going to be in city centers. If fact this thesis would pro m ote what
Alex W all calls "p olycentric , web-like sprawl: a regio nal metropolis" '. As our cities continue to move outward and toward formerly
suburban zones - we have a remarkable opp ortunity to reorganize
vast territories of scattered and siteless developments into efficient,
polyfunctional proposals that combine public benefactor, econ omic
generator, and environmental remediator. Transportation engineers
need to design with ecologists - sanitation en gineers need landscape
architects - Logistics and Dis tribution Centers need architects and
po licy makers ... they need all of u s.
This thesis is a call for multidisciplinary agency. We can n o longer
accept that theorizing about multidisciplinary practice yields any
recognizable change. Instead, this thesis attempts to present new
1 Wall. Alex. "Prog ramming the
conduits for intervention, new opportunities for synthesis, and new
Urban Su rface-from Corner,
m odes of research. We have great contemporary examples of practices that seek to chan ge the practical paradigm from waiting for
James . Recovering Landscape
Essa ys in Contempora f)' Landscape
Arch itectu re. New York Princeton
Arch itectu ral P ress , 1999. pg . 234
Social Infra structu re
105
IMPLICATIONS
THE URG ENCY OF AGENCY
"'" clients calls or responding to an overcrowded RFP. TIle following will
briefly describe three offices that have begun to navigate between
multiple disciplines and scales as a means to leverage n ew work.
DISCIPLINARY PRECEDENTS
LATERAL OFFICE
Mason White + Lola Sheppard
Lateral Office is based out of Toronto, Canada and provided the de sign profession with the relevant and prescriptive approach to contemporary practice. In Pamphlet Architect ure #30, Coupling, Lateral
Office describes the urgency for agen cy as it pertain s to infras tructure as the idea of bundlin g processes is manifested in their work
by identifying infrastructure as a productive surface, programmed
container, and civic conduit. '
••
••
-
Figure 6.01 Waterstructures of the
Lateral Office expands upon these spatial format s as fo llows:
SU RFAC ES are plan es of mediation, thickened and intelligent
CONTAIN ER S are s hells of enclosure, processing and performing as
Sou thw est - Lateral Offi ce
nodes within a n etwork.
Water Ecologies / Economies
http://1NWW.lateraloff ice .comlwa tereconomies-2009- 1O
CONDU ITS are carriers of matter and en ergy, exchan ging and
transferring within a larger network.
1
W h at is important about Lateral Office's work is that each project is
2 Bhatia, NeeraJ. In/ra Net lab (Firml.
and Late ral Office (Fi rm l Coup li ng
Strateg ies for Infrastructural
Opportunism. New York Princeton
Arch itectural Press, 201 1 pg .9
3 Ibid.
4 MAS CONTEXT ANA LOG
I AND REW MOD DRElL &
CHRISTO PHER MARCINKOSKI. 2012
http://v ime o.com/34 561650.
5 Ibid.
6 1bid
10 6
Ryan Kurl baum
u sing clearly outlined tactics to be deployed at a number of scales.
Typically, each project develops a systematic set of typologies that
respond to a myriad of architectural, environmental, ecological and
tech nological issues and synthesize those issues into legible processes and spatial experiences.
PORT ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM
Chris Marcinkowski / / Alldrew Moddrell
The second practice which has begun to expand their design thinking is PORT Architecture + Urbanism. Chris Marcinkowski and Andrew Moddrell Similarly argue for a reclamation of territorial scale
physical planning~. PORT A+V states that their practice is critical of
contempora ry American Urbanism in its absence of optimism , predictable design ta ctics, predisposed solutions, and mono-fun ctionality s. They state that we must be "thinking spatially at the sca le of the
me tropolis while simultaneously thinking catalytically at the scale of
design ." 6 What afe useflt! for contemporary urban d esign thinking
are the four provocations for em erging urbanism to conside r:
1. LEVERAGE URBAN LATENCIES
2. ACTIONABLE DESIGN SPECULATION
3. PR IVILEGING THE PUBLIC REALM
4. PUBLIC ADVOCAC Y
Each of these practical operations is useful for contemporary discourse and broad ens the scope by which we think about large-scale
urban design proj ects. Their specific implications for conte mporary
Figure 6.02 Carbon TA.P /I Tunn el
Algae Park - PORT Architecture and
Urbanism
Winner Entry for the WPA 2.0
urbanism are project and site specific. PORT simply argues that
Competit ion
these principles provide traction for contemporary urbanism to un-
Source, http://po rtarc hi tecI5.com!
profile/carbon-ta p- -tunnel-algae-
derstand physical and spatial implications of large-scale design.
P''''
Socill li nfraslructu re
107
IMPLICATIONS
THE URG ENCY OF AG ENCY
cityLAB - UCLA
Dalla Cuff + Roger S11erman
The final contemporary institu tion st udying large-scale, territorial
\!IUlIlI
urban ism is UCLA's cityLAB. Dana Cuff an d Roger Sh erman use an
academic framework to s tudy the m et ropolis' most pressing ch allenges. CityLAB acts as a research center committed to investigatin g
t he fo llowing four core init iatives:
Fi gure 6.03 Infrastructu re Matrix WPA 2.0
A Com prehensive List of Eve ry Ty pe
of Contemporary Infrast ru cture ci tyLAB
Source . httpJ/wpa2.<l ud.ucla .edu/inlo/
index.php ?/resources/inf ra structu remat rix!
1. POST SUBURBAN M ETROPOLIS
2. RETHINKING GR EE N
3. URBAN SENSING
4. N EW IN FRASTRUCTUR ES.'
Perh ap s the m ost significant con tribu tion cityLAB h as m ade thus far
is the 2010 WPA 2.0 Working Pu blic Architect ure ideas competition
t hat challenged contemporary practition ers to reinvent u rban infrastru cture as hybrid community amenities s. Rooted in academia,
cityLab is positio n ed as a p rovocateur, p romoting new design t h in king that is retrofitted , research driven , and relevant to the complexity of 21st century expan din g metropolises.
7 http://c itylab.aud .uda.edu/miss ioW
8 http://c itylab.aud .uda.edu/projecls/
wpa -20!
108
Rya n Kurl baum
Socia l Infrastructu re
109
IMPLICATIONS
THE URG ENCY OF AGENCY
DISCIPLINARY AGENCY
This thesis uses the aforementioned practitioners as a means to understand how large scale urban design thinking translates into projects. W hat is common among the three practices is scale and agen-
cy. Both of which are explicitly and implicitly addressed through
the thesis. The disciplinary goal of this thesis is to create a set of
hybrid typologies that emerges from the research as pertinent agents
for change. The scale of these operatio n s is significant yet sensible.
W ith the tremendous investment in the nation's infrastructure, our
federal government is working on m onumental and monofun ctional projects at a frightening pace. Unfortunately, this tremendous
budget allocation is o nly affording u s more of the same - short-term
solutions that are calibrated for 4-year presidential terms.
The operational and spatial lessons from the three case s tudies are
foundational to our own thinking of scale and agency. We can begin
to inform our own ideologies about urbanism, landscape, and architecture with a new lens. One in which thinks pro jectively about our
role. As PORT suggest we must take a firm p ositio n against a particular initiative and pro m ote it 9 . TIle mode of h ow we pro m ote our
work is up for interpretation, but the core principle is crucial - we
must understand the social, spatial and environmental ramifications
of current planning and urban design and commit to catalyzin g a
new approach. We must expand our territories of investigation to
address the larger scale urban issues facing our cities. With rising sea
levels, populations, and social needs our cities have the potential to
enact dramatic change. However, this change will not be born in disciplinary publication s or through esoteric design competitions. We
must bring our m ode of thinking to a broader audience - to make
9 MAS CONTEXT ANA LOG
I AND REW MOD DRElL &
CHRISTO PHER MARCINKOSKI, 2012
http://v ime o_com/34 561650
11 0
Rya n Kurl baum
the work dear, concise and compelling - while preserving powerful
urban experience.
Social Infra structure has been resolute in designating forgotten
urban territories as sites The ambition of this thesis is to challenge
design preconceptions - specifically regarding urban design and
highways - in order to expand the n o tion of scale and challenge our
understanding of agen cy.
The purpose of this thesis is two-fold: first, to synthesize urban
complexities into a ccessible and implementable parts that over time
resolve social inequity, reuse infrastructural space, and remediate
environmental conditions. Second, the thesis argues that design
interventions along, underneath, and beside highways must take
on the scale of the infrastructure itself W ith these tenants in mind,
undesirable sites become coveted and marginalized communities
become clients, and our contemporary cities become urgent fields
for u s to act.
Social Infra structu re
11 1
APPENDIX
NOTES AND CR EDITS
ILLUSTRATIO N CRED ITS
114
Ryan Kurl baum
01 BEGINNINGS
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
Figu re
1.01
1.02
1.03
1.04
1.05
1.06
1.07
1.08
1.09
1 10
1 11
1 12
The 1-93 Co rridor - Drawn by RKu rlbaum
Fathe r"s Hea rt Sou p Kitch en - Photo by R KurLbaum
Fathe r"s Hea rt Sou p Kitch en - Photo by R KurLbaum
Alba ny Street - Photo by R.Kurlba um
Pine Street Inn - Photo by RKu rlbaum
The Poetic Un dernea th - Photo by RKu rl baum
Apo lste red Imp ressions - Photo by R.Kurlba um
Existing Figu re/ Ground - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Disciplina ry Man ifestations Diagra m - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Committee Design Diagram - Dra wn by R.Kurlbaum
Existing Alba ny Street - Photo by RKurlbaum
Proposed Albany Street - Photo by R.Kurlba um
02 FIELD OF OPERATIONS
Figu re 2.01 Ame ri ca n Reinvestme nt a nd Recovery Act Logo
http://wwwrecovery.gov/ Pagesldefault aspx
Figu re 2.02 WPA Road Bu ilding
http://e n.wikipedia .org/wiki/ FileWPMdultEducation.gif
Figu re 2.03 WPA Adu lt Educat ion Programs
http://e n.wikipedia .org/wiki/ FileWPA_ road_ proJect gif
Figu re 2.04 President Obama s igning the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
https//upload.wiki media .org/wikiped iaicommonsl4/4dBarack_Obama_s igns_
American_ Recovery_and _ Reinve stme nt_ Act_ oC 2009_ on_ Feb rua ry_17.jpg
Figu re 2.05 Ame ri ca's Report Card on Infrast ructure logo - ASCE
http://wwwinfrastructurereportcard.org/2009
Figu re 2.06 WPA 2.0 Competition Logo
http://wpa2.aud .ucla .edu/info/
Figu re 2.07 Harvard Des ign Magazine, no. 33 fea ture on WPA 2.0
http://www gsd .ha rva rd. ed u/ #/p rojectslharvard-des ign-magazine -fa ll-winte r -20 102011 -numbe r-33.html
03 FRAMEWORK
Figu re 3.01 - 3.06 Views from the Road
http://m it 150. mit edu/muLti med ia/view-road - 1958- kevin-lynch
Figu re 3.07 Le Corb us ie r"s Plan for Algiers
http://24.me dia tumbLr.comltumbLr_lreqJqyt n K1qgpvyjo 1_ 1280)pg
Figu re 3.08 Geoffrey Je Llicoe's Tham es Bridge
Scanned from Halprin, Lawre nce. Freeways. New York, Reinhold Pub Corp. 1966. pg. 11 9
Figu re 3.09 Kevi n Lynch's View from the Road
http://wwwamazon.comNiew- From - Road- Dona ld-App leyard/dp/02620 10 151
Figu re 3.10 Kelle r Easterling's Organiza tion Space La ndsca pes, Hig hways, and Houses
http://wwwamazon.com/O rganiza tion-Space-Landscapes- Highways-Ame rica/
d p/0262550407 /ref=sr_1_3?s=boo ks &ie=UTF8&qid =1369274786& s r= 13&keyv-tords=ke Ller +easte rling
Socia l Infrastructu re
115
APPENDIX
NOTES AND CR EDITS
ILLUSTRATIO N CRED ITS
04 CONDITIONS
Figu re 4.01 Providence, Rh ode Island Removal of Hig hway 195 - Pho to by R_Kurlba um
Fig ure 4.02 Cheonggyecheon Freeway Waterlront - Seoul, Korea - Photo by Kyle
Nis hioka via Flickr
Figu re 4 03 Boston Big Dig Under Construc tion
http://wwwconstructionequip mentgu ide .com/editoria l-pics/bigdi9-JP9
Figu re 4.04 Trans ie nt Popu la tion Coun t
US Census 20 10, MA Department of Labor Statistics, Boston Homeless Census 2012, MA
De pa rtme nt 01 Labor
Figu re 4.05 - 4_08 Popu lat ion Dens ity. Educa tional Gap, Unemp loyme nt. Med ian Income
US Census 2010, Ame ri can Community Survey 2006-2010
Figu re 4 09 - 4.1 1 Equa l Distribu tion 10 Assets - Commercial Land Use, Ope n Space ,
Access to Assets
US Census 2010, Ame ri can Community Survey 2006-201 0
Figu re 4.12 Neig hborhood Healt h Dispar ities
BPHC Report 20 12- 13, US Census 2010, Ame rican Community Survey 2006-201 0
Figu re 4.13 - 4_15 Int erven tion Points Layers
US Census 2010, Ame ri can Community Survey 2006-201 0
Figu re 4.16 Real Asse t Scarcity Composite Intervention Points
US Census 2010, American Community Survey 2006-2010
Figu re 4.17 Space Alon g th e Highway - Photo by R Kurlbaum
Figu re 4.18 Space Unde r t he Highway - Photo by R Kurlbaum
Figu re 4.19 Space Alon g t he Highway - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 4.20 Space Unde r t he Highway - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 4.21 Leading Air Poll utantslo rm Highways - Drawn by RKur lbaum
Adapted lrom Massachusetts 20 11 Air Qual ity Report
Figu re 4.22 View 01 Toron to Urban Fo res ts - Sou rce: Goog le Earth
Figu re 4.23 Comparative Highway Bullers - Boston and Toron to - Source Goog le Eart h
Figu re 4.24 OLand Studio - HO LD Syste m
www.dlandstud io_com
Figu re 4.25 Highway Runoff Contamination
Adapted lrom Stephen Hyche thes is in March 15, 20 13
Figu re 4.26 Rece nt Sound Barrier Innovationslrom the Net he rlands
www.lhwa .dotgov
Figu re 4.27 Rece nt Sound Barrier Innovationslrom the Net he rlands
www.archidoseorg/JuI06/00sterhu is 1 jpg
Figu re 4.28 Rece nt Sound Barri er Innovationslrom the Net he rlands
www.enterthe mo the rship.com/en/langs -het -tuinpad-van-overschie/
Figu re 4.29 - 4_30 Buro Lubbers Boschkens Housing
www.burolubbers.nVproJecte n1727_bosch kens.htm
05 INTE RV ENT ION
Figu re 5.01
Figu re 5.02
Figu re 5.08
Figu re 5.09
11 6
Ryan Kurl baum
Site Map - Source Google Ea rth
- 5_07 Flow Diagrams - Drawn by RKu rlbau m
Urba n Design Site Pla n - Dra wn by R Kurlbaum
Hybrid Type 0 1 Barr ie r Hous ing II Forested Blocks - Drawn by R_Kurlbau m
Figu re 5.10 Barrier Housing Approach - Drawn by RKu rl baum
Figu re 5.11 Fo rested Bloc ks - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 5.12 Typica l Cerda Block Barcelona - Source Google Earth
Figu re 5.13 Barrier Housing Phasing - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 5.14 Block! Uni t Phasing Alte rnat ive s - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 5.15 Hybrid Type 02: Infrastructural Storagel Labor Stationl
Mechanized Wetland - Drawn by RKurlb aum
Figu re 5.16 Inl rast ructural Storage - Dra wn by R_Kurlbaum
Figu re 5.17 . Mechan ized Wetland - Drawn by RKu rl baum
Figu re 5.18 Recla imed Tectonics: J ersey Bar riers as Co nstruction Material - Drawn by
R_Kurlba um
Figu re 5.19 Existing Frontage Road - Pho to by R_Kurlba um
Figu re 5.20 Proposed Fron tage Road - Drawn by R_Kurlbaum
Figu re 5.21 Labo r Station Approach - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 5.22 Hybrid Type 03: Urba n Distri bu tion Te rmina l - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 5.23 Educat ional Training Centers - Drawn by R Kurlbaum
Figu re 5.24 Sound Berm II Pe rv ious Surlace - Drawn by R_Kurlbaum
Figu re 5.25 Urban Dist ribution Te rmin al Phasing II Programmatic Potential - Drawn by
R_Kurlba um
Figu re 5.26 Urba n Dist ribution Te rmin al Phasing II Programmatic Potential - Drawn by
R_Kurlba um
Figu re 5.27 1-93 Southbo und - Drawn by RKu rl baum
Figu re 5.28 1-93 Northbound - Drawn by RKu rl baum
06 IMP LICATIONS
Figu re 6.01 Wa terst ructures 01 the Southwes t - Wate r Ecologies - Lateral Office
Bhatia, NeeraJ, InlraNet Lab [Firm), and Latera l Oflice [Firm). Co upLing Strateg ies for
Inlrastruc tura l Opportunism . New York: Pri nceton Architectural Pre ss, 2011 pg_ 9
Figu re 6.02 . Carbon TAP II Tunne l Algae Pa rk - PORT Archite cture + Urban ism
htlp://portarchitec tscom/proli le/ca rbo n-ta p-- tunn e l-a lgae -park!Ca rbon%20Tap_
Maste rplanBBTJpg
Figu re 603 Inl rast ructure Matrix - cityLAB WPA 2_0
htlp://w pa2_a ud_ ucla .edu/inlo/indexphp?/resourceslinfrastructure -matrix!
Figu re 6.04 Ae rial View 01 Site - htlp ://W'NW_ pictometrycom/
07 APPENDIX
Figu re 07 .01 Visual BibLi ography - W'NW_amazon .com
Figu re 07 .02: 1-93 Northbound - Drawn by RKurlbaum
Figu re 0703: MIT ChapeL- Photo by RKurlbaum
Social Infrastructu re
117
APPENDIX
NOTES AND CR EDITS
AVISUAl
BIBLI OGRAPHY
11H
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POOR
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Socia l Infrastructu re
119
APPENDIX
NOTES AND CR EDITS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ALLEN, STAN. Pomts + Lines diagrams and projects for t he city New York
Princeton Arch itecturaL Press, 1999
APPLEYARD, DONALD, KEVIN LYNCH. AND JOHN RANDOLPH MYER The view
from the road._ Cambridge: P ubLished lor the JOint Center for Urban St udies 01 the
Massachusetts Institute 01 Technology and Harvard University by t he M.lT Press,
Massachusetts Institute 01 Technology, 1964_
ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGIATE SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE. "JOURNAL OF
ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION JAE - Journa l 01 arch itecturaL education JAE
11984)
AYMONINO, ALDO. AND VALERIO PAOLO MOSCO. Contemporary pubLic space
un -voLumetric arch itecture_ Milan; New York: Skira . Rizzol i Internat ional
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BELANGER PIERRE. "Landscape as Inf rastruct ure." Landsc. J. Landscape
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Deslgn© can change the world. Utopia's practicaL COUSin. Amsterdam. Baarn:
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In
the Uni ted States by North Light
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Ciudades,
X formas una n ueva m irada hacla proyecto urbanlst ico. ICambridge, MA 1;
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CUFF, DANA, AND ROGER SHERMAN. Fast-Iorward urba nis m rethinki ng
a rch itectu re"s e ngage me nt wi th the c ity. New York: Pri nceto n Archi tectu ra l Press.
2011
CZERN IAK, JULIA, GEORGE HARGREAVES, and Harvard University. Grad ua te
School 01 Desig n Large parks. New York; Cambridge, Mass .. Princeton
Architectural Press, In Association with the Ha rvard University Grad uate Schoo l
01 Design, 2007.
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DUYS ER, MITCHELL ""Hybrid la ndscapes te r ritories 01 s ha red ecological
a nd Inlrastr uctura l va lue : 20 10. http://raveoh iolinkedu/etdc/vlew cgi?acc_
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FORMAN, RICHARD T T Road ecology sCie nce a nd solut ions. Was hing ton, DC:
Isla nd Press, 2003
FRAMPTON, KENN ETH. Megalorm as urba n la ndscape. Ann Arbor, Mich ..
University 01 Michigan. A. Allred Taubman Co llege 01 Arch itect ure + Urban
Planning, 1999.
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twentie t h centu ry [Denver, Colol [Columb us. Oh io); [New York): Denver Art
Museum . Colum bus Muse um 01 Art. Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1994
GRAHAM, JOHN R, CHRISTINE ANN WALSH, AND BEVERLY A SANDALACK
Home less shelter design considerations lor shap ing shelte rs and the pu blic
realm. Calgary: Detselig Ente rprises, 2008
GRAHAM, STEPHEN, AND SIMON MARVIN Splinte ring urba nism netwo rke d
Inlrast ruct ures, tec hnological mobilit ies a nd the ur ban condition . London; New
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urbanism addressing the In - between. Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2011
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HOOGH E, AL EXAND ER 0 ' The liberaLmon u me nt ur ban des ign a nd the la te
mode rn project New York; Ro tterdam Princeton Architectura l Press. Berlage
Institu te, 2010
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stu dies by SWA Base l: Birk hauser, 20 11
JENC KS, CHRI STOPH ER. The homeLess . Cambridge, Mass Harva rd University
Press, 1994
JU EL -CHRI STIANSEN, CARSTEN , AND GILBERT HANSEN. Transitions space
In
the d ispersed c ity Cope nhage n. Den ma rk Arkiteturtidsskr ilt B/Arch itect ural
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PraX Is, 20 11
LLOP, CARLES, AN D ST~PHANE BOSe. Worki ng with the te r ritory st ra teg ies fo r
the new territorialities
=
travaille r avec Ie te rr itolre s tra teg ies pour les nouve lles
te rri to rla lites . Barcelona; Basel; New York: CREPUD - MED ACTAR. 2012
LYNCH, KEVIN. The Image of the c ity. Ca m bridge, Mass. MIT Press. 1960 .
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School of Design Ecolog ical urbanis m . Baden, Switzerla nd : Lars Muller
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MUM FORD, LEWIS The highway and t he city. New York: Ha rcourt, Brace & Wo rld ,
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OLMSTED, FRE DERICK LAW. Civilizing American cities; a se lection of Frederick
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photog ra phe r. Gbtlinge n; New York: Steidl, Wh it ney Museum, 2006
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RYAN , BRENT D. Design after decline how America re builds shrinking cities
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Social Infrastructu re
123
APPENDIX
NOTES AN D CRED ITS
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
126
Ryan Kurlbaum
Ryan Kurlbaum is a gradua te of Kansas State University and
scheduled to comple te his post- professional Master's of Science
in Arch itecture and Urbanism at MIT this Spring. He has worked
at nationally recognized design practices both in Pennsylvania
and New York City. While in New York. he taught a 2nd year design
studio at NYIT in Westbury. NY and, mo re recently, has served
a number of design juries at MI T. Wentworth and Northeastern
Unive rsity. Currently, at MIT, he is a department fellow and depart ment scholarship award recipient. He is most interested in how
the disc ipline navigates multiple scales specifically policy, u rban
design. landscape, and architecture whi le serving underprivileged
populations. After graduate school. he hopes to teach and practice
and continually question how he can contribu te to the design disci pline across multiple scales.
Socia l Infrastructu re
125
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Ryan Kurl baum
Let your beauty manifest itself
without talking and calculation.
You are silen t. It says for you I am.
And comes In meaning thousandfold .
comes at long last over everyone
Initia l, Rainer Mana Rilke
Social Infrastructu re
129