Re-Portlanding Portland

BurasWorks / TOPAFranklin StreetCommercial StreetCongress StreetCongress SquareIndia Street

Classic Planning and Shared Space

P a r i s o n T h e A n a c o s t i a

F o r e s t H i l l C i v i c C e n t e r

L a s V e g a s C i v i c C e n t e r

B a j a P a c i fi c o

P o p l a r P o i n t M a r i n a

M a V i l l e C o r r e g i d o , H a i t i

A Classic Town with Shared Space

There is no good urbanism without good architecture.

Traditional and classical buildings

make the best streets and spaces.

All urbanism is based on precedents, all of them from the traditional realm.It is unreasonable to propose to people an abstraction of what is a physical experience.

Facts

The Character of Commercial StreetFrom High Street to India Street

2 6

4

1. Anchors2. Fore Street3. Parking

4. Access to water5. New buildings6. India Street

113 5

Distance from High Street to India Street1.04 miles

Balancing Act

1. Keep waterfront industry 2. Increasing tourist loads3. Residential and commercial

real estate pressures

Existing New % Increase

Street Parking for Cars 277 340 23%Commercial Space 40%Street Parking for Trucks 5 12 140%Increased Traffic Capacity / Hour 625 1829 193%Trees 35 330 843%Pavilions (Restaurant / Café / Retail) 0 10 1000%

Defining the Space

Re-Portlanding Portland

Urban Design Goals

• Restore and create the types of places that make Portland unique and center-city resources in keeping with the community’s needs and character.

• Be viable from a Sustainable, Smart Growth, Green point of view.

• Where possible, fund the project from the development itself.

• Not to displace a single citizen (minimize eminent domain).

THE WORKING WATERFRONT OF PORTLAND, MAINE. Dave Cleaveland. HTTP://WWW.MAINEIMAGING.COM/

Classic Planning Principles / Assumptions (i/iii)

I. We take the 100 year perspective (sustainable).

It is a holistic, organic approach that pays for itself

with social, economic and political benefits, builds

memory into the fabric and heals gaping wounds with

common heritage and meaning.

Classic Planning Principles / Assumptions (ii/iii)

II. Portland’s classic plan(s) are its urban DNA.

Portland was formed on the stability of humanistic

values, as a working Yankee city, around ships, trade

and waterfront industry.

Classic Planning Principles / Assumptions (iii/iii)

III. Classic Planning and its subset shared space provide a basis for the continued development of the City.

Everyone on the street are people, whether on foot, in a car,

in a bus, or on a bike. If the street is not going to work for

people, it is not going to work.

India Street Neighborhood

Congress Street

Fore Street

Commercial Street

Cumberland Avenue

Indi

a St

reet

Fran

klin

Str

eet

Marine Use

City Fabric

Waterfront Fabric

Fore Street

Edge of Shared Space

improvements?

???Fabric

I. Use and follow the grid(s)a. Minimize curved streets except to reflect topography. b. Minimize angles in streets as they are perceptually

straightened out to 900.

II. Properly size streets, blocks and plazas following original precedent.

III. Use small blocks and small lots. a. No building larger than ¼ block.

IV. “Use” is ephemeral.a. Conflicting uses are rare but serious

A Classic Plan Code (i/iii)

V. Buildings a. No more than 10% buildings in styles dating after 1927.

b. Cornice lines at four to six stories.

c. Belt courses at one and a half to two stories on important streets.

d. Building heights measured in floors, not feet

e. Authentic Construction (for sustainability, pre 1933 technology).

f. All buildings with operative windows.

g. Use a minimum of steel in construction. Cast iron is allowed for up to 10% of necessarily exposed structure.

A Classic Plan Code (ii/iii)

Building Types

Distribution of Building Types on Commercial Street

Wharfside Landside

1 Story Buildings 9% 0%2 Story Buildings 35% 27%3 Story Buildings 24% 15%Substantial Commercial 21% 42%Larger Commercial - 6 Stories 6% 3%Large Industrial 3% 9%Large Sheds 3% 3%

1 Story Buildings

2 Story Buildings

3 Story Buildings

Substantial Commercial

Larger Commercial - 6 Stories

Large Industrial

Large Sheds

Distribution of Building Types (excluding small single family structures) on Franklin Street (Munjoy Hill?)

Building Type Rough Distribution

Bay 25%Mansard 25%Gable and Gambrel 25%Cornice / Square 20%Porch 5%

Bay

Mansard

Gable and Gambrel

Cornice / Square

PorchYou don’t need a form based “code” if

you are architecturally literate.

Re-Portlanding Congress Street

No definition of space (too big?)

Too much space between buildings

Large lots still vacant

The drive is tedious

Spring Street difficult to

reclaim

One way streets have

to go

Scientific Basis

Mathematics of perception

Neurobiology of

environmental well being

Mathematics of classical

orders

Your brain does not know whether you are looking at a classical building or the African savannah.

The brain scans in fractal patterns, seeks fractals, and when it finds them, is satisfied, and thus releases endorphins

Homo sapiens who came out of Africa 50,000 years ago or more were identical genetically, and

hardwired in the same way for perception and orientation.

“Home” to Homo sapiens is

the African savannah .

Experience of beauty

Perceptual mechanism

Sense of well-being

Congress Square 1907

A Shared Space

Progress in Congress Square

More Progress

By the Way…

Congress Square Aerial

Congress Square Shared Space

A Classic Plan Code (iii/iii)

VI. Design at any scale must be sustainable and withstand the test of time. Designs are judged on:

a. Firmness which is…… longevity and sustainability.

b. Commodity which is…… functional flexibility, easy adaptation, and local / regional appropriateness.

c. Delight which is…… timelessness and beauty.

4

1

2

3

Shared Space increases capacity 10%

For Design Speed 14.45 mph + 9.00% For Design Speed 18.00 mph + 20.69%

Franklin Street

Total traffic in 24 hour period : 35,000Rush Hour is 5 hours per dayAll traffic goes through during Rush Hour

Distance: 0.723 miles Travel Time: 3.00 minutesAverage speed: 14.45 mph

Can cost be $0.00?

• Shared Space improves safety.• No resident is moved. • Community Garden stays. Compare cost to alternatives: • Boulevard $20 to $23 M• Reconfiguring lanes $16 to $20 M• Shared space $10 to

$15 M

The project reclaims thirteen acres of public land. Proceeds from sale can pay for roads and infrastructure.

3-5 stories of mixed used development can be built throughout.

Franklin Market

Gateway Market

The Purpose of Urbanism Is to Design a Legacy of Beautiful Places for People

• When unpenalized, people choose to use beautiful places over others.

Beautiful spaces are functional and economical. • Beautiful spaces elicit statements of “it’s beautiful” regardless of their date

of construction. People often choose to maintain them for generations.

Beautiful spaces are fundamentally sustainable. • People in beautiful places are often on their “best behavior”, generally

seem less prone to aggression and frequently less easy to victimize.

Beautiful spaces are safer, calming, and encourage respect.

Beauty is the Key.

Re-Portlanding Portland

Thank YouBurasWorks / TOPA1080 Wisconsin Ave. NWWashington DC 20007www.burasworks.com202-415-5987

© BurasWorks 2014