While continuing my investigations and piecing together information of the Lloyd District, a couple overlying issues have come to my attention: 1) identity of district 2) definition of site 3) sharing of resources. Expanding upon these ideas, it has been stated by articles and people alike, that the area lacks a defined identity – lloyd doesn’t quite know what it wants to become. It’s not like the Pearl or the old Portland, but yet, it’s not quite that modern Portland it may be pushing to achieve. Through programmatic function and building design, a push for that modern focus, cold be a viable focus.

Thesis Statement

The waterfront site location within the Lloyd district is a non-place within a defined place – it has the people, the transportation, the activity necessary for success of an area, but it lacks the necessary program to fill that area. It’s kind of a funny, backward recipe. Normally, as a designer, you are dealing with the opposite problem where you are creating a program and a place in the hopes that it attracts the people to create that success. In my site location, there are a number of larger programs within the Rose Quarter, but they do not functioning year round – solely functioning partial times of the year. The thing that is working in this area is Steel Bridge and its developed function to connect cars/bike/max to the east/west sides, also that it is a major transportation exchange location. Being a designated EcoDistrict, I think that the right programmatic elements could create huge success for the area. Specifically, I would like my program to functions not only as a community space, but also on a more district wide scale with an element which caters to the Lloyd area. Like my movement diagrammatic model, a successful program must create “place” for its users. Because of the high levels of movement in this area, my program must cater to this populous. Current programmatic thoughts for strengthening the user “stay” amount of time, are a mesh between: utility | commercial/community | greenbelt.

Initial Program Thoughts

I believe a greenbelt along the waterfront is a smart programmatic element which will given a continued waterfront connection between the east and west side for walkers and bikers, as well as continuing the “give back the waterfront” effort of the city. Next, incorporating a utility that would function to serve the district, would facilitate a potential for Eco sharing – a concept equating to EcoDistrict success. This could not only be a strengthening feature for the further development of the Lloyd area, but could also act as an educational element in the city. While a specific utility has been decided, adjacency to the river could be a framework for possible functions of:

Heating/Cooling; Waste Water Treatment; Water Treatment; Power Plant Production

Because utility does not bring community to an area, this must function in conjunction with a user-driving element – an element to the program which makes people stay and use the area. Right now the equation is greenbelt + utility which equals people passing through and not staying. A programmatic element to keep people using the space, will be determined based on a balancing between adjacent program studies and implementation of what caters most to this idea of why Portlandians love being from Portland. Some programmatic ideas which fulfill this love Portlandians share could be a:

Brewery; Bike Library; Work-out Facility/Bouldering Gym (which may also act to generate a percentage of energy from users); Community Market; Vertical Agriculture

Program Decisions

Of the preceding programmatic discussion, I am currently most invested in the following three program proposals for the Lloyd Districts waterfront site location:

I) Heating/Cooling Water Supply for the District, Brewery, Greenbelt

II) Vertical Community Farm for the District, Market, Greenbelt

III) District Power Supply, Bike Share Library, Greenbelt