15th Ward North

This thesis creates a picturesque walkable urbanism, infilling a neighborhood still bearing the scars of urban renewal and the construction of the I-81 viaduct. In a rare opportunity, the New York State DOT's Community Grid design for the replacement of I-81 allows this neighborhood to come to life once again, tying back together broken fragments of the city of Syracuse. Ultimately, this project produces a framework for a responsible and beneficial incremental redevelopment of the 15th Ward North, to meet the expected demand that will occur from the highway removal and general trends of urbanization. This project is explored in greater detail in a thesis document, available for viewing at this link. It is also available for download here. This document contains in-depth descriptions of the ideas and images here, plus more visuals.

Walkthrough Video of the 15th Ward North

The current condition of the 15th Ward North

The 15th Ward North after new development occurs

Full Thesis Presentation

Thesis Contention

This thesis argues in favor of walkability at the scale of the city, neighborhood, block, street, space, building, and detail. Walkability is a condition that allows for interesting and useful walks on a daily basis. This is created from a mix of strategic, planned civic conditions, and an urban fabric of unplanned, fine-grained, bottom-up developments. The walkable city is necessary in terms of human experience, sustainability, and connectivity. The interesting aspect of the walk is determined by parallax and the picturesque.

Parallax is the “displacement of the apparent position of a body due to a change of position of the observer,” as defined by Yve-Alain Bois1. This is best experienced with spatial enclosure and irregularity, objects of identifiability, and an occurrence at both the scale of the space and the detail.

The picturesque is an aesthetic created by perceptible inflection, variation, and irregularity, that reference human scale and human imperfection through movement, distance, and framed views. This operates best through unique and irregular urban compositions at multiple scales from the space to the detail.

Both parallax and the picturesque improve walkability by creating urban experiences of interest that draw people through space, in a delicate balance between irregularity and cohesion.

These factors, in combination with more practical concerns of physically walkable infrastructure, dense mixed-use development, socioeconomic equity, and building upon extant local identity, create walkability.

These theories take inspiration primarily from the picturesque of John Soane and Robert Venturi, the parallax of Yves-Alain Bois, the imageability of Kevin Lynch and Léon Krier, the sequence of Gordon Cullen, the streetscapes of Allan Jacobs, and the general urban principles of Jeff Speck and Charles Marohn. This thesis blends these ideas together into a new, more comprehensive theory of picturesque walkable urbanism.

Concepts

Relevance of This Thesis to the 15th Ward North

This thesis applies to the 15th Ward North in terms of how this part of Syracuse can be developed going forward. New York State likely will remove the I-81 viaduct and replace it with a less divisive street that connects into the city grid. This neighborhood, no longer plagued by I-81’s intrusion, and sitting a twenty minute walk in either direction from the heart of Down town and Syracuse University’s campus, will become a new center of development and construction. Therefore, this thesis creates a framework in which this area can be developed responsibly, in a resilient and comm unity-focused manner.

Walkability, as a condition that allows for interesting and useful walks on a daily basis, can be applied to Syracuse as the city’s urban core expands. Down town and University Hill are currently separated by I-81, anti-urban buildings that ignore the streets, parking lots, and vacant fields. By tying these areas together with this thesis, the 15th Ward North, as well as Blueprint 15, can help this city reach a critical mass of walkable development to the point where Syracuse can become a truly car-optional city for all demographics. Walking would comfortably, interestingly, and usefully apply to daily errands, tasks, and leisure. This creates a more enjoyable, less expensive, and more sustainable lifestyle.

Occasional planned civic conditions are needed, but bottom-up developments are the life of a successful city. Some urban developments favor large governmental programs or big out-of-town developers. However, to build local wealth for all demographics, to create diversity and resiliency in what is built, and to create diversity in the users and owners of buildings and spaces, fine-grained incremental development is key.

Parallax and the picturesque address the human need for flexibility and complexity and place focus on key moments within space that draw people together and define local culture. These tools can build an iconic and inviting image and experience of Syracuse. This can occur at both the scale of spaces and at the scale of building details.

Infrastructure, mixed-use development, socioeconomic equity, and building upon extant local identity, geared towards the pedestrian, are essential as supporting factors to take the aspirations of walkability, fine-grainedness, and parallax out of theory, and into a meaningful experience for the people of Syracuse.