Riverside District

In unit 3, Flow, of Urban Planning we focused on what makes a city function and how its design affects the people living in it. We learned about some cities and how they had evolved into what they are today. During our external investigation we had to research a city and find out what could be improved. This lead us to our final action project, choosing a block anywhere in the world to pick out its flaws and redesigning it. It was really difficult when picking a space to reconstruct. There are so many places in the world that need fixing it is hard just choosing one. In the end I had chosen a space that was once a train yard because of all the possibilities I could do to improve it. I really enjoyed this project because I felt like it tied the whole unit together very nicely and it challenged me in different ways. Please enjoy my design down below.

The area I chose is southwest corner of Roosevelt Road and Clark Street. This used to be an old CSX rail yard that has laid abandoned for decades. The strengths this plot of land has is its location, it is next to the Chicago River and is in the Southwest Loop, causing it to be near many if the city's attractions. However location isn't everything and this area has lots of weaknesses. Despite its great location the old rail yard remains hidden by townhouses, railroads, overgrown shrubbery, and the elevated Roosevelt Road. Since it has been abandoned for so long it has hazardous materials all across the grounds posing danger to anyone that walks there. It also is a very unappealing site that many tourists see due to it being along a tour boat path. This space would benefit from adding a boarding dock, lots of plants, and a place where the community can get together. The area's shape is closest to that of a rectangle. The width is 1156.73 ft and the length is 2352.35 ft causing the area to be 2695893.24 ft squared.

TS "Labeled Map" (2016)

5 Redesigned Attributes:

1. Repurposed Bike Path - this path takes the old railway lines and fixes them so people can enjoy a small bike ride and have a clean path for walking 

2. Tour Boat Dock & Ticket/Refreshment Booth - gives tourists and Chicagoans easy access to the South Loop and access to food if people get hungry

3. Community Center - brings the community together and activity options for both children and adults

4. Park/Playground - gives the space purpose and a place for children to play since there are not many places in the South Loop that have playgrounds

5. Added Greenery - to bring the space some life, more appealing view, and a place where people can relax

TS "Sketched Design" (2016)

I was inspired by the TED talks and the docking system in Singapore. Singapore has many ports each within 1.5 miles of the last, and tour boats give easy access to major sites in the city. In Chicago tour boats are an extremely popular way to view the city all at once, but they only have a few docks to get on and off. Many tourists will end up where they started and have to make long treks to get to certain places. Since this area is located near the Buckingham Fountain, museums, and Soldier Field it seemed like a key spot to have a dock. The TED talker, Ellen Dunham-Jones, influenced me the most out of the three TED talks we watched. She had stated how empty spaces can be restored and repurposed and that adding green spaces would benefit both the area and environment. 

My area would benefit the flow of the city in multiple ways. For transportation it gives easy access to both the river and major Chicagoland attractions, along with the bike trail where people can enjoy the scene around them as they go down the paths. It relates to housing due to the ticket/refreshment booth and community center which can always act as a homeless shelter, especially during the winter season. The whole area would count as infrastructure, particularly the bike trail and the nearby bridge on Roosevelt Road. The solar panels on the dome of the community center will save money since they are providing their own electricity, this provides the services. 

Since my area had no previous buildings I had added two. The first was the ticket/refreshment booth which is a rectangular prism with a pyramid on top with an area of 3600 ft². The second was the community center which was a rectangular prism with a hemisphere on top with an area of 108000 ft². To find the volume of the rectangular prism with a triangular prism on top: (l*w*h) + (B*h) = (60*60*9) + (300*12) = 32400 + 3600 = 36000 ft³. To find the volume of the rectangular prism with a hemisphere on top: (l*w*h) + (2/3πr³) = (300*360*22) + (2/3π100³) =2376000 + 2094395.1 ft³ = 4470395.1 ft³.


I ran into quite a few difficulties when designing this project. The main problems I faced had been using Tinkercad to create my 3D model and coming up with the scale.  I had overcome the troubles with Tinkercad by asking a peer to help teach me how to use this program. After learning how to use this site it became fairly simple to use. However, since there were no curves, my bike trail had been difficult to create though I managed. To solve the situation with the scale I had asked my peers how they figured out theirs and then had done multiple calculations to determine the best sized scale. I have learned that you should take advantage of all the time you're given and that, even if a situation seems bleak, you just need to stay positive and work hard. If I were to change anything I would start working on it sooner rather than later and make sure I got feedback from my teacher.