• Haiti Rebuilding Initiative • Kristina Alvarez, Sharon Clay, and Amy Marino. Urban Planning Group 1. M. Fox, Instructor, Cal Poly Pomona Architecture, Fall 2010.
• Haiti Rebuilding Initiative • Kristina Alvarez, Sharon Clay, and Amy Marino. Urban Planning Group 1. M. Fox, Instructor, Cal Poly Pomona Architecture, Fall 2010.
Hi, another bunch of comments on the masterplan you have posted:
ReplyDeletePOSITIVE ASPECTS
Designation of different city facilities on the greater scheme - this could eventually help achieve a self-sustaining settlement.
Thinking about markets near main connection roads is a good idea. and it will trigger small business opportunities alongside the roads as well.
Grey water treatment facilities and fertilizer depots are a good strategy for being off the grid and self-sufficient. Their location on the periphery is ok.
Main services are well placed in the center of the city.
ASPECTS TO IMPROVE OR CONSIDER
Meandering streets seem random and pointless - what is the intention behind them? They are more difficult to build and occupy more space.
Recreation parks and open areas should not be just on the periphery, but instead spread throughout the city. It helps with balancing dense areas. It would be interesting to mix recreations and parks with the idea of arable land, agriculture and fisheries. Pay attention on shadows and confort when thinking about open, recreation spaces. Take advantage of trees and vegetation.
Make sure every area of your plan, especially towards the center, has permanent residents (i.e. housing). If not, the center of the city, for example, will be empty at night, and highly dangerous.
A city hall might not be needed, much less a community center, based on Haitian community traditions. They donʼt use these buildings.
Schools on the peripheries of the city are harder to reach and are less safe. Schools are highly beneficial when triggering community participation. To take advantage of this, they should be placed in strategic, immediate locations and not in the outskirts of the city.
Again, feel free to question, refute or embrace any of the ideas I have posted, but please comment! We are working on site planning as well and we need your help and ideas!
Melissa
History have teach us that centralization is bad!
ReplyDeleteWith one single center with all the public services and governmental buildings you are designing a complete death night field for the develop of delinquency and prostitution. Gather together lots of building with one single functional schedule would develop in black spots in the city.
Also, research must be done in orther to specify the utility and need of building such as “city hall”, “community center” or even the amount of “recreation/parks” that have been propose. Haitians might not be familiarize with some of these extra-cultural facilities and could provoke un-useful building and peace ofland that could become new invasions with time.
Migue.
For Melissa's comment about the meandering streets: our thinking for this was to break up the monotony of the straight sight lines of linear streets. Our goal was that it would create importance of place and visual interest. Though it may not be the most practical solution, it was a design measure to achieve these ends...
ReplyDeleteFor Miguel's comments on centralization: Yes good point that centralization is historically not a good idea. With our plan though, I think it really isn't as centralized as it may seem: it is on such a small scale and repetitively common to neighborhood areas, I am not sure if it is as dire as a center for prostitution and delinquency... I am not sure that it really is so centralized as when the pattern repeats-- well, again, the plan is just a square mile, and it will repeat itself side by side, back to back, to create a network of stringing nodes, in essence I think it will not be so centralized in the big picture, the stringing nodes will eliminate any single large central area when put together