The things that make a city successful are the same things that make a building successful.  A successful city engages its residents. All diverse elements of a city work together in a massive system to benefit each other.  I speak of this with social aspects in mind.  This isn’t only about what makes a city or district work; it’s about what makes a city or district enjoyable and desirable.  For people to thrive in an urban environment, they need to be able to engage in an array of various activities all within one’s reach.  The urban fabric works best when one can live, work, and play within a small radius.   Without one element, the others surrounding fail to reach full potential.  I kept this in mind while developing a project that I think can incorporate missing elements into the Lloyd / Rose Quarter area.

Just as a successful urban fabric intricately weaves diverse elements into a cohesive plan, an effective sustainable building (or district) utilizes diverse systems that when interwoven benefit and elevate the other.  If singular systems are implemented without the thought of how they interact, they are definitely not reaching their full potential.

I propose two questions.  What type of buildings can enrich the urban fabric of Portland’s Rose Quarter, and what diverse systems can be implemented into their development that not only help multiple structures become more sustainable, but the systems themselves help others to be more efficient?

My intentions are to provide the diversity in building type necessary to elevate the urban experience by including mixed-use buildings along NE Broadway just north of the Rose Garden, and Memorial Coliseum.  I also intend to incorporate a large public market adjacent to the river on the Thunderbird site.  The market will be diverse in its products sold, much like Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. These new structures provide the elements mentioned above, a space to live, a space to work, and a space to play.  I intend to fully develop the public market into a complete comprehensive design, while the mixed-use structures will basically just be indications of what could be.  I feel it is necessary to include all types to not only comprehend how they function together in the social world, but how the systems used in the spaces can intertwine with systems used in surrounding structures to create a large scale flow of resources.

With respect to resource flow, I placed the market space near the river specifically because I intend to examine the potential of using the Willamette River as a part of these resource systems.  My initial idea was to develop a hydro heating cooling method, and that may come into effect.  In learning about resource flows happening on various scales, I would also like to look into the assets coming into the market, and how they might be cyclical, benefiting not only the market, but also the district on a larger scale.

I feel that the Market will be educational in sustainability on numerous levels, not only speaking to sustainable practices in the structural world, but sustainable practices in agriculture, fishing, and the production of other products sold within.