04_16_24 BACKGROUND

 Disclaimer: This is not everything I'm going to write just yet. I gave myself a time limit for writing in order to successfully finish my project for review tomorrow tonight.

Background_04.16.24

 

The built environment is riddled with various planning issues. One of them happens to be the creation of residual spaces left over from modern and contemporary city planning practices. Erick Villagomez, educator and researcher at the University of British Columbia, defines residual spaces as, “A natural result of modern urbanization and the complex interaction of social, technological, and economic processes that drive contemporary urban growth.” These spaces often appear near, within, or in between automobile infrastructure, deindustrialized sites, and buildings.

 

It so happens to be that these residual spaces yield nothing to communities afflicted by them. They’re simply unused space waiting for some niche development to come along, or not at all. Historically, residual space hasn’t been much of an issue. In medieval times, land was used intensively in order for people to put their money, goods, or services to work as land value was exorbitantly high. While similar contemporary issues now, America historically has been plagued by excess space which has made land generally inexpensive to develop.

 

That begs the question now. How is it possible that we could leave this residual space to not be used? If land is more expensive in America now than ever, what are ways we could use residual space to benefit ourselves and our money? These are some questions guiding this capstone and have led to the study of hybridization of space.

 

Hybridizing space intensifies land usage and becomes more necessary over time to consider how to hybridize architecture and space when designing. For example, Landing Studio, based in Boston, MA, provided a creative solution to a seasonal problem.

 

Boston’s weather and climate patterns demand the usage of salt to make automobile infrastructures safe and usable during winter snowstorms and events. This salt needs to go somewhere, but salt isn’t needed all year round. Consequently, Landing Studio designed the PORT project. Acronym for Publicly Organized Recreation Territory, PORT seeks to utilize and counter creation of residual space in the form of reimagining a 13-million-gallon oil tank farm into a season park in warmer months when salt is not needed for roads.

 

In effect, an improved relationship between citizens and the waterfront is emphasized through shared resources of salt and space. Citizens feel connected to the city through appreciating the presence of necessary material to keep the city moving. Access once denied through privatized space is now open for the public to enjoy.

 

However, what is most compelling about this project is that it starts to not only consider the architectural realm, but the infrastructural realm’s connection to the public sphere. Generally, an untapped resource for residual space creation, infrastructure provides definite space to capitalize upon that can be open to the public anyway in some form or fashion through provision of funds through taxes to create a product for all to use.

Evident of this are some speculative projects devised in the modern era.