Introduction
The large-scale infrastructure project in Seattle offers an excellent opportunity to re-engineer the old central waterfront and build a new waterfront. The conceptual plan involving the infrastructure area and the outline plan involving the adjacent area provided the design team with a complete view of the central waterfront redevelopment and the connection between Seattle and Elliot Bay projects.
The Seattle Waterfront District combines the size of the city, the size of the community, and the size of the waterfront to consider the planning and design of the central waterfront. At the same time, the design team has developed a sustainable strategy to continuously optimize the urban system from ecological, environmental, economic and social aspects.
Highlights:
Public participation;
A large number of urban design strategies and implementation strategies.
Details
The history of the Seattle waterfront is a history of industry, shipping and transportation. Over the years, all the constituent areas of the central waterfront have become increasingly separate and conflicting. The area around the waterfront was divided and fragmented, and the Alaska viaduct separates the city from the bay.
This time, a large number of urban design strategies were adopted to organize and cater to all activities and uses of the waterfront to form a complete vision; the design was rooted in the urban structure and built a continuous area with its own distinctive features. The waterfront consists of a strategic area, including specific neighborhoods such as Pioneer Square and Bell Town, the retail area of the historic marina, the transportation hub around Coleman Pier and the large public open area, which will be magnificent upon completion. Bay view.
The center of the new waterfront is the city avenue and sidewalk. As the backbone of the area, city avenues and sidewalks play a role in facilitating the links between existing shopping, dining, shipping and cultural activities, and continue to extend to new waterfront areas, even to the far end of the city. The new waterfront trail will connect to Pioneer Square and the Olympic Sculpture Park for people to rest, walk, jog, cycle and watch the bay. The transportation strategy includes analysis of each mode of transportation including cars, trucks, bicycles, ferries and walking, and designs a satisfactory and safe public domain by balancing the needs of all parties.The waterfront renovation design goals are summarized as follows:l Building a waterfront area that benefits the entire population;l Put the waterfront line and sustainable innovative design at the forefront;l Reintegrate the city with the waterfront;l Respect the past, present and future of Seattle;l Improve accessibility and mobility;l Create a bold and innovative perspective that keeps pace with the times;l Form a stable leadership team – from concept to construction to operation. Seattle and the general public participate in every detail of project analysis and planning through typical democratic procedures, including the selection of design teams. In order to involve the majority of the community in decision-making, the design team held a large-scale public meeting, released a briefing, development cooperation and held a round table with more than 50 organizations. The focus is no longer on the number of opinions, but on quality, that is, on the value of the design.
Conclusions
The scale of the project is huge and it has condensed an amazing public power. However, this massive architectural project is not soft. It is a great analysis and good communication practice.
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