Vision
Ebenezer Howard coined the term “Garden City” in the late 19th century for his utopian community vision. “Garden City” was intended to re-engage urban residents with the countryside environment and create a self-sufficient community for people to live, work and enjoy themselves. Soon after the garden city concept was imported in the U.S., many towns were built upon Howard’s concept, but most of them turned out suburban/ exurban environment rather than a constellation of self-sufficient communities….
The site and the surrounding neighborhood is the perfect example of typical suburbia of Atlanta Metropolitan Region. By revisiting the original vision of “Garden City,” our proposal came up with a variety of strategies/ design solutions to retrofit low-density suburbia into dense and active yet healthy living environment, which will be “Garden City 2.0” for the 21st Century.
Through this design exercise, we set following three goals for realizing Garden City 2.0;
By achieving these three goals, a set of strategies are tailored for this design exercise. The principles of these strategies are, however, can be replicable in other suburban context and will serve as a design toolbox converting existing low-density communities into “Garden City 2.0”.
Spatial Organization
This site plan is organized by two major factors: 1) Existing Infrastructure and Buildings and 2) Topography and Drainage System.
Since the project is an infill intervention, clear separation of construction and residents’ activities is extremely important. In addition, water/ gas/ electricity service should remain functional and uninterrupted by keeping infrastructure lines in the current location. This street/ infra alignment serves as the east-west spine of the site.
On-going flood issue should be carefully addressed as well in the site planning exercise. Runoff water from the huge impervious surface of parking lots on site and neighboring property (city central) to the north is the main contributor of flooding during storm events. As a mitigation measure, the underutilized parking lot will be converted to a community garden, urban farm and/or permeable paving surfaces. Bio-swale system is introduced north-south direction at the center of the site following topographic feature, which becomes the secondary spatial spine. At the intersection of N-S and E-W spines, the large central amenity area is provided and blended together with existing lush vegetation, that will serve as a part of green infrastructure system as well as the heart of this community.
Ebenezer Howard coined the term “Garden City” in the late 19th century for his utopian community vision. “Garden City” was intended to re-engage urban residents with the countryside environment and create a self-sufficient community for people to live, work and enjoy themselves. Soon after the garden city concept was imported in the U.S., many towns were built upon Howard’s concept, but most of them turned out suburban/ exurban environment rather than a constellation of self-sufficient communities….
The site and the surrounding neighborhood is the perfect example of typical suburbia of Atlanta Metropolitan Region. By revisiting the original vision of “Garden City,” our proposal came up with a variety of strategies/ design solutions to retrofit low-density suburbia into dense and active yet healthy living environment, which will be “Garden City 2.0” for the 21st Century.
Through this design exercise, we set following three goals for realizing Garden City 2.0;
- Economically Feasible
- Environmentally Responsible
- Socially Equitable
By achieving these three goals, a set of strategies are tailored for this design exercise. The principles of these strategies are, however, can be replicable in other suburban context and will serve as a design toolbox converting existing low-density communities into “Garden City 2.0”.
Spatial Organization
This site plan is organized by two major factors: 1) Existing Infrastructure and Buildings and 2) Topography and Drainage System.
Since the project is an infill intervention, clear separation of construction and residents’ activities is extremely important. In addition, water/ gas/ electricity service should remain functional and uninterrupted by keeping infrastructure lines in the current location. This street/ infra alignment serves as the east-west spine of the site.
On-going flood issue should be carefully addressed as well in the site planning exercise. Runoff water from the huge impervious surface of parking lots on site and neighboring property (city central) to the north is the main contributor of flooding during storm events. As a mitigation measure, the underutilized parking lot will be converted to a community garden, urban farm and/or permeable paving surfaces. Bio-swale system is introduced north-south direction at the center of the site following topographic feature, which becomes the secondary spatial spine. At the intersection of N-S and E-W spines, the large central amenity area is provided and blended together with existing lush vegetation, that will serve as a part of green infrastructure system as well as the heart of this community.