Update on The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

http://wwww.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-zumthor-design-20140625-column.html

Proposed LACMA building
Peter Zumthor
designboom.com

Hello Everyone:

It's time to revisit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's proposed expansion plans.  When we last left off, Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne was quite excited about Swiss architect Peter Zumthor's plans to replace the William Perreria and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer buildings currently on the LACMA campus with a building that appears to reference the Tar Pits from above.  In a related article for Planetizen Jonathan Nettler asked "How does it look to a family walking along Wilshire Boulevard?"  More important, "Will this be an improvement over the current campus?"  One of the overriding concerns was that the proposed design would encroach on the tar pits, located in the neighboring George C. Page Museum.   One year later and in response to said concerns, Peter Zumthor is back with a modified proposal for the LACMA.

Updated design for LACMA
Peter Zumthor
latimes.com

Peter Zumthor's new proposal significantly shrinks the footprint of the museum on the north side of Wilshire, allowing for ample space around the tar pits.  Rather dismissively, Mr. Zumthor said "...the early models were always subject to revision."  The new plan for the $650 million project, released on June 24 by the museum, made it clear that the Swiss architect took the concerns of conservationists and community activists seriously. To make up for the lost space, the museum has proposed extending the new wing across the boulevard, where it will land on property owned by the institution, on the southwest corner of Wilshire and Spaulding Avenue, currently in use as a parking lot.  Approximately one-quarter of the 410,000 square of the Zumthor-designed building would be housed on the new site, according to LACMA Director Michael Govan.

Peter Zumthor
dezeen.com

Christopher Hawthorne considers the decision to span Wilshire Boulevard, making drivers pass under the building in both east and west directions, a bold decision.  Mr. Hawthrone further observes, "the new location will change the character of the building in ways that Zumthor has only begun to grapple with."  Mr. Govan already has the support of city and county officials for this scaled-down plan.  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is also supporting the idea to span the boulevard.  Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents the Miracle Mile where the museum resides, said "the new design offers a 'tremendous vision' for the Museum Row section of Wilshire Boulevard.  'It retains the historic beauty of the La Brea Tar Pits and at the same time crosses the boulevard in a way that will make it the center of the universe of art.'"  A pretty grand pronouncement, typical of a politician.  Councilman LaBonge announced that the Wilshire corridor will witness other dramatic changes in the coming years with visitors being able to access the museum via a subway station at Fairfax Avenue.  "There is going to be an opportunity people across the region [to LACMA] through transit."

LACMA Wilshire entrance
arcthemagazine.com

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose district includes the museum, also praised the new design. Supervisor Yaroslavsky said, "It solves the tar pit problem, and it creates a unique structure in Los Angeles...It will be a magnet not only to people in Los Angeles, but to people from around the world."  Also on board with the changes is Jane Pisano, the director of the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, who is said to be pleased with the updated proposal.

Good feelings aside, Christopher Hawthorne points out, "...in trying to produce a more neighborly building, Zumthor and Govan have created some architectural

The Resnick Pavilion
Renzo Piano
lacma.org

challenges for themselves.  And it's unclear at this stage quite how they plan to surmount them."  When the museum was housed on the main LACMA campus, north of Wilshire and east of the Resnick Pavilion, Mr. Zumthor's "black flower" had a unique architectural power.  At once, it suggests the work of twentieth century French-German painter, poet, sculptor Jean Arp and Brazilian architect Oscar Niemayer.  The amoebic looking building, contained to the one site, is a "muscular graphic form."  It appeared to float above the site's expanse like a invertebrate-like creature.

Moving the proposed building above and across Wilshire fundamentally shifts the relationship between building and site.  It results in making the proposed building a more urban object, part of the boulevard and more situated in the public sphere.  Further, the new building will, essentially face itself, creating what Mr. Hawthorne calls "...a kind of hall-of-mirrors context."  The upside is museum patrons won't have to look onto passing traffic.  This proposed condition-a building spanning one of the world's most recognizable boulevards instead of a museum wing on an open site next to the tar pits-would appear to require a new architectural approach or a significantly modified one.

Rendering of proposed Grand Avenue development
Frank Gehry
articles.latimes.com

Christopher Hawthorne asks us to consider a similar project-an architectural project staking a claim on both sides of the street.  The one that comes to mind is the proposed plan for Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles by architect Frank Gehry and developer Related Cos.  These designs offer a new retail and residential complex across the street from the Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.  In this case, the Santa Monica-based architect has proffered a pedestrian bridge above Grand Avenue, connecting the two sites, however, it would have more of a modest affect than the LACMA modifications.  This is similar to the 2012 proposal for an addition to the Los Angeles Convention Center, never built, that would have spanned the less glamourous Pico Boulevard.

Screen shot of LACMA
lacma.org

 There is still plenty of time for Peter Zumthor to reconsider and resolve details such as cladding, scale, and the building's relationship to the roadway.  This is by no means the one and only modification.  Far from it.  Yet, like many civic projects, the engine driving this proposal is political and urban planning concerns more than architectural.  However, I still go back to Christopher Hawthorne's colleague at the Los Angeles Times, art critic Christopher Knight's suggestion of repurposing one of the abandoned factories or warehouses at the at edge of Downtown Los Angeles.  On the surface it sounds like a good idea because it would save tax payers money in new construction costs but my inner planner says "let's consider things like access to transportation and neighborhood amenities." My preservationist side says, "let's reuse older buildings."  Regardless, the proposed redesign Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus is far from a done deal and it remains to be seen what the final plan will be.  Stay tuned.

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The Future of Suburban Transportation

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2014/06/what-transit-will-actually-look-in-new-suburbia/3722580

Rendering of the Bridge Street District
Dublin, Ohio
dublinohiousa.gov

Hello Everyone:

Today we're on the topic of transportation.  The focus for this post is on what transit will look like in the new suburbia.  This is subject Leigh Gallagher considers in her recent article for City Lab, "what Transit Will Actually Look Like in the New Suburbia Or, why we should fall in love with ride-share, buses, and walking."  As the rest of America takes on the character defining features of Manhattan, New York, Ms. Gallagher observes that much of this transformation is taking place in the car-dependent suburbs.  As developers tout walkability as a way to create a sense of community and access the vibrant "Main Street environments," the car is still necessary for commutes to work and any substantial errands.  Kenneth T. Jackson writes in Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, "in many of these new developments, you can buy milk, an ice cream , and a great cup of coffee, but can't buy a buy a mattress."  Obviously, Mr. Jackson didn't consider online shopping for mattresses.  The bottom line is, most of the suburban households still need a car or two.

Aerial view of Bridge Street District
scottcommercialrealtor.com

This logic is sacrilegious to transit purists.  In the transit purists' mind, "No matter how vibrant a newly developed downtown, if you're not removing the need for a car, you're not really urbanizing the suburbs and making them more livable.  Right?  Like Ms. Gallagher, I too, say no.  My excuse is I live in Los Angeles. The ability to live closer to your neighbors (not always a good thing), people watch on your front porch, or walk over to your nearest coffee emporium is a transformative experience for suburbia transplants.  This urban developments symbolize an important step in the process, even if the transportation issue is totally resolved.  Be that as it may, most of the United States' recent suburban developments is in places where there is little access to public transport-especially rail transport.  The dense transit-centric suburbs of the Northeastern states are a fluke because most of the American suburbs were built in the last fifty years and the commuters who live there drive themselves to work.  This is where the problem resides and this where the band aid solutions are being applied.

Casto Apartments rendering
dublinohiousa.gov

Yet, the facts lay bare that building rail transit in car-dependent communities is difficult for a number of reasons: density, geography, and cost are just a few of the challenges.  "The residential and commercial densities required for higher-capacity transit are usual far in excess of even the most dense 'town center' developments," according to Shyam Kannan, managing director of planning at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.  In opposition to older suburbs, New Suburbia developments are infrequently "strung together like beads on a string," adds Mr. Kannan.  This enables them to be linked together by an efficient rail line.  Therefore, the economics of a light rail lines becomes a big challenge without relying on huge subsidies.  Still, while the debate over the car's role in New Suburbia continues, there are a few emerging approaches worth mentioning.

Google Chrome loge
news.cnet.com

There are many new experiments in process involving ride-sharing, and while none have moved beyond the testing phase, they draw heavily from the Silicon Valley influence.  Leigh Gallagher's colleague Michal Lev-Ram reported in Fortune's "New Metropolis Issue" about the end of driving.  Silicon Valley giant Google has partnered with General Motors for a pilot ride-share program service at its Mountain View corporate offices which gives its employees access to a fleet of fifty electric Chevrolet Spark EVs that are linked to a mobile app, matching car to driver for the morning and evening commutes. This is not too unlike Streetsblogger Mark Gorton's idea for something he calls Smart Para-Transit, based on a fleet of cars with a central dispatch that matches driver to destination.  In Palo Alto, California Mercedes Benz is trying out "Boost by Benz," a program that replaces mom/nanny-as-the-driver schelpping junior to soccer practice or piano lessons with brightly colored van pools.  Moms and nannies everywhere rejoice.  Ms. Lev-Ram reports that General Motors and Toyota recently announced they would start giving new-car discounts to Uber drivers.

Bridge Park West Down Park Avenue
bizjournals.com

 In Dublin, Ohio, located seventeen miles northwest of Columbus, the city has rezoned 1,100 acres to create the Bridge Street District. This innovative plan for a dense mixed-use urban environment, featuring a $14 million pedestrian bridge intended to "create a rich and robust non-motorized environment."  Local developer Crawford Hoying is planning a $300 million mixed-used project on one side of the river and developing forty-two high-end condominiums on the other side.  "Walkability is the number one reason for every person," declares principal partner Brent Crawford.  Dublin has no access to rail transportation.  However, the Central Ohio Transit Authority recently announced it was reconfiguring is bus routes to offer more higher-frequency service to denser areas, including new routes to Bridge Park.  Mr. Crawford said this meant his residents would have access to everything they needed without using a car.

Washington Metro Rail car
washington.org

Shyam Kannan believes that cities need to seriously reconsider buses, a much cheaper alternative to buses, can carry a lot of people, and can go anywhere.  "Today's buses aren't your father's buses...they're high tech, clean, energy efficient, sleek, and in some cases, highly amenitized." Speaking from my experiences on Los Angeles buses, I can vouch for clean and energy efficient, amenitized, not so much.  However, there's still a stigma attached to riding a bus.  However, this mindset could change.  Consider the popularity of the controversial private buses in San Francisco operated by tech giants Google, Facebook, eBay, Genentech, and others.  Also, intercity carriers Boit Bus and Megabus have recently increased in popularity as an alternative to Amtrak as a way to travel along the Northeastern seaboard.  Something larger may be in the works.

School Street
Libertyville, Illinois
atproperties.com

Leigh Gallagher offers up another solution-best way to build New Suburbia is out of Old Suburbia.  Rather than build shiny new housing tracts, developers are pouncing on the opportunity to build updated, urbanized housing tracts where transit lines are already laid out. Another form of transit-oriented development? One example is in Libertyville, Illinois, a prewar suburb thirty-five miles north of Chicago.  John McLinden created School Street, a row of twenty-six porch lined single-family row houses on narrow lots.  This development runs through Libertyville's main street Milwaukee Avenue, dotted with boutiques and family-owned retail establishments, restaurants, and late bars.  Right behind the housing tract, commuters can can pick up the North Line into Chicago.  Mr. McLinden is now planning to replicate this model in Skokie with a new development called Floral Avenue.  Skokie is near the Chicago Transit Authority''s yellow line-"Skokie Swift."

To borrow a phrase from Robert A.M. Stern, "suburbs are like cholesterol: there are good ones and bad ones."  While we have more bad suburbs, the good suburbs have a lot of offer including old-fashioned urban DNA and a plethora of public transit.  Will Silverman, senior managing director at Savills Studley in Manhattan, enthusiastically predicts that inner-ring transit is going to be the next big thing because it has already emerged as a separate entity from car-centric suburbs.  This is occurring in places like Forest Hills, Riverdale, and Douglaston, Queens and inner suburbs such as Pelham, Hastings-on-Hudson and Bronxville.  All of this leaves one to wonder, what will happen to the private car?

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The Annual List of The 11 Endangered Historic sites

http://www.preservationnation.org

Hello Everyone:

First off, I want to welcome the readers in Algeria to the blog, hope you like what you're reading. Second, I saw this morning that we're at 13,001 page views, cool.  Let's keep up the great work and shoot for 15,000 by September 21st.  Now for today's subject.  It's time, once again, for the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of 11 Endangered Historic Places.  This list highlights places around the United States and its territories that are under natural or man-made threat.  They're not the bold face places and they're often overlooked.  However, they are all worthy of your time and attention.  Here's the list:

Shockoe Bottom
Richmond, Virginia
styleweekly.com

Shockoe Bottom
Richmond, Virginia
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Development

Shockoe Bottom was the epicenter of the slave trade between 1830 and 1865.  Over 350,000 African men, women, and children were traded here.  This area was home to slave jails, auction houses, and other businesses who participated in this evil enterprise.  In a bit of history meets Hollywood, this was the place where Solomon Northup, whose life was presented in the movie 12 Years A Slave, was held in the notorious Goodwin's Jail.

Today, Shockoe Bottom is threatened by potential development of minor league baseball team.  While it's tempting to say "let's get rid of every trace of this evil enterprise," Shockoe Bottom remains a valuable resource.  Most of the buildings leftover from the slave trade are visible in this eight block area and many of the pre-Civil War artifacts remain below the ground.  Shockoe Bottom should be protected because it allows visitors to experience this dark chapter of American history.

The New Jersey Palisades
Looking north to Bombay Hook
njpalisades.org

The Palisades
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Inappropriate Development

The fabled Palisades, cherished by a nation, the residents of New York and New Jersey.  This spectacular place not only offer amazing views but is also culturally significant to the Sanhikan, Hackensack, Raritan, and Tappan nations who used the cliffs as a shelter from severe weather for centuries.  In the late nineteenth century, new quarries and other development threatened to degrade the landscape, thus spurring some of the United States' earliest conservation and protection efforts.

Today the Palisades are under threat from inappropriate development at the hands of LG Electronics. The corporation has proposed building an eight story, 143 foot high office tower next to the Palisades which would wreck the scenic views of the New Jersey Cliffs that line the Hudson River.  Litigation and legislation to protect the Palisades emerged after the city of Englewood Cliffs granted LG a variance to build the office tower.  If construction does go forward, it would represent the first breach of the views in its hundred year history of protecting the Palisades north of the George Washington Bridge.

Battle Mountain Sanitarium
Hot Springs, South Dakota
en.wikipedia.org

Battle Mountain Sanitarium
Hot Springs, South Dakota
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Closure

For over a century, Battle Mountain Sanitarium in Hot Springs, North Dakota has provided medical care to veterans in the region.  It is on of 2,000 historic properties managed by the United States Department of Veteran's Affairs and is designated a National Historic Landmark. In 2012, it was declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Currently, the DVA is moving ahead with a proposal to vacate the facility and relocate the medical services to Rapid City, about sixty miles away. Isn't bad enough that veterans cannot even get a timely appointment or state of the art medical care? Now the DVA wants to make it harder by moving this regionally medical facility further away.

Historic Wintersburg
Japanese Presbyterian Mission, c.1910
Huntington Beach, Ca
huntingtonbeachca.gov

Historic Wintersbug
Huntington Beach, California
Year Listed: 2014
Threat; Demolition

Wintersburg tells the story of three generations of Japanese Americans from immigration in the late nineteenth century through the return from incarceration in internment camps after World War II.  The site holds six extant structures, open farm-land, and is one of the only remain Japanese owned properties held prior to California's anti-Japanese "alien" land laws of 1913 and 1920.  In opposition to other Japanese confinement sites, from the Second World War, Historic Wintersburg presents the history of daily community life and religious institutions of the Japanese settlers as they fashioned a new life for themselves.  The site also depicts the history of the Furata family, Japanese pioneers who established a farm for nearly a century, created Japanese civiv and business development organizations.

Currently, the property is owned by the waste transfer company, Rainbow Environmental Service. This past November, the Huntington Beach City Council voted to rezone the property from residential to commercial/industrial.  They also approved a Statement of Overriding Consideration, which allows the demolition of all six structures.  Even though the company has allowed preservationists time until mid-2015 to find an alternative solution to save the property, demolition still remains a real possibility.

Palladium Building
St. Louis, Missouri
landmarks-stl.org

Palladium Building
St. Louis, Missouri
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Insufficient Protection

In the forties, the Palladium was billed as the largest club in St. Louis, Missouri.  The club featured three floor shows every night starring African American jazz musicians.  Over the years, many well-known artists performed there.  The City of St. Louis's contribution to the legacy of American music reveal a greater and more significant understand of the role this venerable club played in the story.

The Palladium is St. Louis's last remaining link to the city's rich musical history.  It faces an uncertain future because it doesn't have local or national landmark status and because of its location, it isn't covered by the City's demolition review ordinance.  The building has been vacant for many years and increased awareness of the Palladium's fate would draw more attention the ongoing efforts by the Landmarks Association of St. Louis and Friends of the Palladium Building who are seeking recognition of the building's historic and cultural significance.

Chattanooga State Office Building
Chattanooga, Tennessee
nooga.com

Chattanooga State Office Building
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Demolition

Built in 1950 in the Art, the Chattanooga State Office Building served as the headquarters for the Interstate Life Insurance Building.  This Art Moderne style building's exterior is faced with ruby granite and grayish-white limestone with a bronze frieze that was meant to represent the hardy mountain character of southeastern Tennesseans.  The interior once held a penthouse lounge, auditorium, and basement bowling alley.  Cool.

This showpiece in downtown Chattanooga stood for the days gone strength of the insurance industry in the city and workplace innovations during the fifties.  The state of Tennessee acquired the building in 1981 and turned over to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in December 2013.  Instead of rehabilitating the building, UTC plans to demolish it.

Bay Harbor's East Island
Miami, Florida
cnn.com

Bay Harbor's East Island
Miami, Florida
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Demolition

Miami cool.  Bay Harbor's East Island is one of the biggest concentrated collections of mid-century Miami Modern style architecture.  MiMo is a unique interpretation of the Modernist movement-adapted to the local climate and embodying the mid-century concept of progress.  Several of the island's buildings were designed by famous architects such as: Morris Lapidus, Henry Hohauser, and Charles McKirahan.  These architects were best-known for guiding Miami's architectural tradition from Art Deco in the thirties to the MiMo of the mid-century.  Unfortunately, Bay Harbor's East Island is threatened with redevelopment as large-scale sweeps through the area.

Union Terminal
Cincinnati, Ohio
commons.wikimedia.org

Union Terminal
Cincinnati, Ohio
Year List: 2014
Threat: Deterioration

Monumental isn't it?  Union Terminal is the iconic landmark of Cincinnati, Ohio and one of the most significant Art Deco buildings in the country. Union Terminal was designed, in 1933, by Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner with Paul Cret. The terminal is listed as National Historic Landmark and is one of the last remaining grand-scale Art Deco train stations.  The enormous 180 foot wide, 106 foot tall rotunda, the second largest half dome in the world, features glass mosaic glass murals by Winold Reiss presenting the history of Cincinnati and America.  Unfortunately the Terminal is suffering from deterioration and water damage and is serious need of repairs.

The Terminal is jointly owned by the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.  Currently, it acts as the Cincinnati Museum Center, the largest cultural institution in the city.  Union Terminal greets more than 1.4 million visitors a years and is home to the Cincinnati History Museum, Cincinnati History Library and Archives, Duke Energy Children's Museum, Museum of Natural History and Science, and the Robert D. Linder Family OMNIMAX Theater.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Spring House
Tallahassee, Florida
floridatrust.org

Frank Lloyd Wright's Spring House
Tallahassee, Florida
Year Listed: 2014
Threat: Deterioration

Spring House was one of Frank Lloyd Wright's late works, designed in 1954.  It was the only private residence built by him in the state of Florida.  The unique hemicycle form of the house represents a late and little noticed stage in FLW's long and prolific career. Although there about 400 intact houses around the country attributed to FLW (at least five in Los Angeles), only a small portion were part of his hemicycle series.  Spring House was designated a significant structure and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 at the tender age of twenty-five.  Regardless of the unique design and the connection to America's most famous architect (not Mike Brady), the house is falling apart and is need of repairs.  Exposure to weather has led to leaks, and the damage is apparent throughout the house.  Additionally, the cypress columns have deteriorated at the base, the woodpecker and insect damage is visible on the cypress siding.  Spring House Institute is initiating to buy and restore the house.

Music Hall
Cincinnati, Ohio
en.wikipedia.org

Music Hall
Cincinnati, Ohio
Year List: 2014
Threat: Deterioration

Looks like a cathedral doesn't it?  Music Hall was designed by Samuel Hannaford in 1878 and built with private money raised in what is believed to be the nation's first matching grant fund raiser.  It is located in the Over-the-Rhine, a nationally important neighborhood that has undergone major revitalization since its listing on the 2006 11 Endangered Historic Places list. This red brick Victorian Gothic building contains a large auditorium, ornate foyer, carpentry shop, rehearsal and dressing rooms, and a ballroom.  Unfortunately is grand dame is suffering from deterioration, water damage, and in need of repairs.  Music Hall is owned by the City of Cincinnati and is home to the Cincinnati Arts Council, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Ballet, and the May Festival.

Mokuaikaua Church
Kailua Village in Kona, Hawaii
en.wikipedia.org

Mokuaikaua Church
Kailua Village in Kona, Hawaii

Year Listed: 2014

Threat: Deterioration

Aloha.  The Mokuaikaua Church was the first Christian Church in Hawaii.  This large stone house of worship is located in the middle of the Historic Kailua Village in Kona, Hawaii.  The iconic steeple has stood out amid the low rise village and has become a landmark for nearly 200 years, visible on land and at sea.  Finished in1837 and listed on the National Registers of Historic Places in 1978, the Mokuaikaua Church represents the western-influenced architecture of early nineteenth century Hawaii.  The building are believed to made from stones taken from a nearby Hawaiian temple with mortar made from burned coral.  The construction beams are crafted from Hawaiian ohia wood joined with pins from the same material.  The building has suffered from earthquake damage, faulty wiring, termite damage, and dry-rot.  A landmark for nearly two centuries, it needs immediate attention.

For more information on these and other buildings listed as endangered historic places, please go to http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/11-most-endangered/.  Coming soon is UNESCO's annual list of World Heritage Sites.  See if your country made the list.

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The Revelation of History

http://blog.preservationleadership.org/2014/06/12/reflection-on-history-memory-and-the-unknown/#.U59blpRdVYx

Independence Hall
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
en.wikipedia.org

Hello Everyone:

One of the great things about history, or any subject for that matter, is new scholarship.  With the emergence of new theories comes a critical rethink of long-held precepts.  Clement Alexander Price reports in his post, "When Historic Sites Reveal the New American Past: Reflections on History, Memory and the Unknown" for the Preservation Leadership Forum, "Never before have Americans been as receptive as we are now to historical narratives that challenge long-standing, mostly unfortunate, assumptions about our past."  New scholarship is a good thing.  It moves a subject forward, keeps it fresh and relevant.  This is just as true in American history, which in he last generation, has changed in leaps and bounds.  This has had a substantial influence on the national psyche, public history, historic sites, preservation, the film industry, the way history is taught in schools, public art, the internet, and in public conversations everywhere.  What was once called New American History, i.e "a history that placed a cross-section of Americans on stages of the past," is now the past.  It is considered dated and conventional.  Mr. Price ponders why did happen and why did a more liberal/progressive interpretation of history take over.  Let's find out.

March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom
August 28, 1963
en.wikipedia.org

One answer to this question is the maturity of the American Republic.  At nearly 238 years old, we may be a relatively young nation but we've grown up a little.  One of the most defining moments of American history was the Civil War (1861-65).  Next year, the United States will commemorate the 150th anniversary of this cataclysmic event, yet we know more about it than in previous years.  A conventional read on the history states that the Civil War put an end to the heinous ancien regime of slavery.  It is also accepted knowledge that the end of the War marked the beginning of a new nation with no more slavery, racism (?), as Americans sought to agonizingly "create a more perfect Union."  Another moment in American maturity was the Civil Rights Movement.  In particular, Mr. Price points to the 1963 March on Washington and the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.  According to Mr. Price, these moments represented "turning points in our collective understanding, not only of our troubled and contested past, but also how over time we Americans reconcile some if not all of our differences and move forward as a society."

Like Clement Alexander Price, I discovered historic preservation late in the academic game.  I stumbled upon it while working on a thesis proposal for an art history graduate program.  Whatever I know about the New American history or any new___history has been filtered through primary and auxiliary resources.  I have to agree with Mr. Price's point that what was revealed to me through my own discovery have been text long hidden by superficial research, largely indifferent to people of color and different ethnicities.  Mr. Price's specifically points to the indifference paid to what African Americans have long written and spoken about, now brought into the light of history.  Over the course of time, the United States came to know a new constellation of heroes whose lives as slaves and freed persons dramatically redefined and/or expanded our country's concept of the making heroes.

The Daisy Bates House
Little Rock, Arkansas
nps.gov

Clement Price observes, "the ascent of the African Americans and other Americans long on the margins of the society has enlivened interest in the acknowledgement and preservation of places where all sort of experiences were hammered out-in modest dwellings, churches, schools buildings, businesses, Indian communities, places that were safe haven, places that were battle grounds during the Modern Civil Rights Movement..."  The future of this past has long been debated,  yet it appears that we have broken free of the antiquated idea that our history is incoherent and without a unified narrative.  Personally speaking, I never believed that American or anyone else's history was disjointed and unclear.  Mr. Price recalls the "history wars" of the eighties and nineties which exacted a cost on the venerable Smithsonian Institution, raising the specter of revisionism and its backlash.  Citing the late cultural historian Lawrence Levine who observed in 1989, "The great majority of those who have sought to expand our historical vision to new groups of people and new areas of expressive culture mean to do just that: expand our knowledge, to supplement our approaches, not to erect new fences and shut still more doors."  Amen

The B.B. King Museum
Indianola, Mississippi
bbkingmuseum.org

As more historic sites are added to the list of landmarks it is, I as well as Mr. Price believe, an acknowledgement of the complicated, diverse, evolving, and thorough expansion of history and memory.  This particularly true in Mr. Price's field of African American history as the list of sites that reflect the New Black History continues to grow since it came into the spotlight in the seventies and eighties.  One example, was the discovery of an African American Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan in 1991 during the excavation for a new federal office building.  Elected officials, historic preservationists, and civic activists new the previously anonymous colonial slavery had to be acknowledged, culminating in the site being designated an important landmark, managed by the National Park Service.

The Verandah House
Corinth, Mississippi
civilwartraveler.com

Of equal importance is the new scholarship on slavery and emancipation which complicates the traditional narrative of both, especially in the way freedom came about.  Conventional history says that when the Emancipation Proclamation was promulgated, the formerly enslaved began to take matters into their own hands, in essence freeing themselves from the very thing that President Lincoln's great document ended and supposed primary objective of the Civil War.  In the early days of the War, not long after the first shots were fired on Fort Sumter, three young African American men: Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Sheppard Mallory sought refuge in the Union Army Fort Madison in Hampton Roads, Virginia.  Their successful escape and subsequent status as contraband marking the beginning of a chain of events that would come to fruition in 1863 and the end of the war-the Great Emancipation.  The significance of this scholarship shed light on the large body of evidence that African Americans were taking a proactive stance as the opportunity to be free became reality.

Marion Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial
April 9, 1939
newyorker.com

The historiography of the Civil Rights Movement has brought about new thinking regarding its origins.  Let's consider Marion Anderson's Easter Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, 1939 as the beginning.  The concert was performed in front of an interracial audience with The Great Emancipator as the backdrop, highlighting America's inferior treatment of its African American citizens and other minorities.  In the succeeding years, during and after the Second World War, civil rights activism was marking what historians have dubbed the Second Reconstruction.  The most iconic battle ground of the Movement, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama is currently a historic landmark and tourist attraction.  More than that, its monumental presence is a testament to the cross-section of people bravely stood up to violent attacks upon themselves, an acknowledgement of the defiance and heroism, synthesizing contemporary scholarship on the Civil Rights Movement.

Edmund Pettus
Selma, Alabama
redroom.com

Another example of the expansion of historical knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement is the way the City of Newark, New Jersey incorporated the memory of the July 1967 civil unrest into its ethos.  The civil unrest, at once tragic, accelerated the city's decline following World War II.  Still, Newark, a recovering city with an array of urban assets, may be the first American to preserve a site that symbolized the beginning of a riot.  The Old Fourth Precinct signifies the Newark's sheer will to survive as a post-industrial city with its complicated memory and dedication to justice, civility, and interracial harmony.  Civic activists and historic preservationists are currently working to save the Old Fourth Precinct as a place and use that power of place as an interpretative center for the nation's long tortured history of urban unrest.

History, like any subject, needs to be constantly refreshed with new scholarship.  New scholarship gives academics and students to understand familiar events in a new light and gain broader understanding of the historiography.  I whole heartedly agree with Lawrence Levine's quote, especially the part about how history should not be used to erect fences or shut doors.  I remember being a sixth grader in social studies, ignoring what the teacher was lecturing, spending class time reading about people and events that she wasn't discussing.  I found this to be more enlightening then another boring lecture on the American Revolution.  I still do like read histories of people and events not in the accepted textbooks.  As a preservationist, that outside reading gives me a greater understanding of how to manage change in ethnic communities.  It helps excavate the layers of history and bring to light new places that contributes to the greater understanding of who we are.

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Public Transportation and Healthier Lifestyles

http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/global-site-plans-grid/dublin-prioritizing-active-transportation-healthy-living?utm_source=hootsuite&medium=tw

O'Connell Bridge at dusk
Dublin, Ireland
metroscenes.com

Hello Everyone:

I'd like to start by saying hello to Paul Mackie, the editor-in-chief of Mobility Lab.  Mr. Mackie commented on yesterday's post on the Arlington model.  Please keep reading.  On to today's topic, prioritizing active transportation and healthy living in Dublin, Ireland.

A recent post on the Sustainable Cities Collective discussed how Dublin, Ireland is promoting healthier lifestyles through planning for growth.  A key part of Dublin City Council 2011-2017 Development Plan includes better transportation links and improvements in pedestrian and bicyclists facilities.  The Development Plan also called for more sports and recreational facilities.  The core vision of the plan states,

Dublin City Council's core strategy between 2011 and 2017 is to develop Dublin as a place that:
* is clean, green, compact and connected
* has an innovative, smart economy
* contains sustainable neighbourhoods and communities (www.dublincitydevelopmentplan.ie/)

Southanne
lovindublin.com

Updating pedestrian facilities has been a growing priority in recent years.  Ireland's best-known shopping street, Grafton Street was pedestrianized in 1982, along with a number of other streets over the years.  In 2011 the city adopted The Public Realm Strategy-Your City, Your Space whose goals are providing "...overarching framework for integrated planning and management of the public realm of the city within the canals." (www.dublincivictrust.ie/news-entry.php?title...public-realm-strategy...)  One of the actions taken toward improving pedestrian facilities was the removal of possible hindrances such as street furniture.

Another component of improving transportation and encouraging healthier lifestyles is the growing popularity of the city's Dublinbike public bicycle rental program.  This program was created by Mayor Andrew Montague with the idea of providing a free bike for everyone.  Mayor Montague was inspired by the successful bike schemes in cities such as Copenhagen.  As in Copenhagen, the idea was initially met with cynicism. (www.thejournal.ie)  Nevertheless, Dublinbike is considered one of the most successful public bike rental schemes in the world and there are plans to expand it into Ireland's next three largest cities.  The recent visit to the Emerald Isle by Giro d'Italia couple with the success of Dublinbike proved that cycling can become a prominent feature in promoting healthy lifestyles for Dubliners.

Ha'Penny Bridge
ytravelblog.com

Public transportation is also a target for improvement.  Some commuters in Dublin must travel great distances for work.  This means increased dependency on the car and a greater need for improved transportation links.  In recent month, major advances have been made in the planned improvement of transport links, including the apparent revival of the DART Underground plan.  DART Underground a network of tunnels approximately 7.6 kilometers in length that will connect the Northern and Kildare lines with underground stations with strategically located stations at Spencer Dock, Pearse Street, St. Stephan's Green, Christchurch, and Heuston Station, as well as an above ground station in Inchicore. (www.irishrail.ie/about-us/dart-underground)  Although there has been no official announcement, Irish Rail has issued compulsory purchase orders to a number of city center retailers and homeowners on the sites of the planned development.  In 2011, hard financial times put the proposed underground railway system on hold.

Dublin street sceen
prometheus.med.utah.edu

Increasing the use of public transport in Dublin must become a greater priority if there's to be significant reduction in the city's pollution and congestion levels.  Yet, there have been recent increases in public transit rider fare which has reinforced the need for a car.  Essentially, why spend the money on train or bus fare when a car costs less.  In 2012 close to €11 million was authorized to a number of sports facilities in Dublin by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, under the Sports Capital Programme (SCD).  This program is intended to "develop high quality, safe, well-designed, sustainable facilities in appropriate locations and and to provide appropriate equipment to help maximize participation in sport and physical recreation."  Encouraging a healthy lifestyle through proper planning is key component of the SCD, which also puts a prioritizes grants to underprivileged areas.

It has just occurred to me, that the common thread in these posts has been transportation.  Specifically how transportation can affect positive changes people's lives.  For example, in New Delhi, by simply introducing safe, reliable, and efficient bus and transit lines along the vast stretches of road that crisscross the city, women and girls can travel to work or school without fearing for their personal safety.  In the Virginia-Washington D.C. area, we've looked how transit-oriented developments has the potential to revitalize once neglected communities, turning them into vibrant places to live and work.  In today's post we looked at how the City of Dublin is looking to encourage healthier living through increased public transport use.  In all of these examples, transportation is being used in ways other than just the basic get-from-point-a-to-point-b.  When properly planned transportation has potential to (re)create exciting urban centers.  If only Los Angeles civic officials could understand this.


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The Wisdom of The Arlington Model

http://mobilitylab.org/201/0527/other-places-nipping-at-of-arlingtons-transit-oriented-developments/
http://www.washingtonpost.com)



Hello Everyone:

I hope you all had a chances to read and consider yesterday's post on urban planning and rape prevention.  I just want to mention one more thing on the subject, safer streets is one element of reducing sexual violence.  Strongly enforced laws aimed at prosecuting those commit sexually based crimes and changes in cultural attitudes towards women is also part of the equation.  Of the two, changing long engrained attitudes towards women is the most difficult but if we-meaning humanity-show that we will not tolerate sexually based crimes and are willing to back it up with criminal prosecution, it might just make the difference.  Alright, switching to a more pleasant topic, Today I would like to spend some time talking about transit-oriented development (TOD).

Arlington, Virginia
nragent.com

Arlington, Virginia has long been considered the national and regional leader in walkable and bicycle-friendly neighborhoods, emphasizing choices in public transit.  Sounds like something I touched on yesterday.  Mobility Lab's urban-affairs's reporter Paul Geddin's article "Other Places Nipping at Heels of Arlington's Transit-Oriented Development" looks at how other cities in the Washington D.C-Virginia area are giving Arlington some competition in developing and promoting TODs using Arlington's model.

A May 16, 2014 op-ed piece in the Washington Post by David Alpert made a strong case for why Arlington needs to stay on its present course regarding transit development.  In the

Columbia Pike Streetcar
columbia-pike.org

article, Mr. Alpert cites the example of the Columbia Streetcar a good example of the benefits of a TOD.  The Columbia Pike Streetcar project opened in March 2013 with a prototype on Columbia Pike and South Walter Reed Drive.  The line is estimated to cost about $358 million, including a twenty percent contingency, Crystal City segment which will bring the total up to $585 million. (Alpert, 2014) While it's hoped that the relatively new project will bring all the benefits of the Washington D.C's Metro system, opponents argue that the opposite is more likely and it holds the creation of needed bus routes.  Mr. Alpert sums up his argument thus, "Arlington's success today builds on yesterday's investment.  The next generation needs a similar investment, and now is the time..." (Ibid)  Mr. Geddin concludes, "This streetcar will maintain Arlington's competitiveness at a time when it's all the more crucial to do so." (Geddin, 2014)

Washington D.C. metro train
en.wikipedia.org

Arlington's road to transportation and urban planning innovation began in the seventies, with Arlington County's decision to locate the Orange Line Monorail stops below Wilson Boulevard instead of the more convenient above ground stops along Interstate  66.  This was a controversial choice at the time but was instrumental in creating the dense better connected "urban villages" which dot the county and make it a highly desirable area to live and work.  Presently, more municipalities are recognizing the wisdom of this move, especially when it comes to transportation options.  Fixed-rail transit projects are planned for a number of localities. Virginia's Silver Line Metro expansion, Maryland's Purple Line, Washington's H Street streetcar, and the Columbia Pike Line are all examples fixed rail transit projects that offer the promise of huge economic benefits.  At the national level, fixed rail transit projects are having their moment in the sun with hundreds of planned regional projects in the offing.

Residential property in Tysons Corner, Virginia
novaproperties4sale.com

Rather than use transit as end in itself, it is being recognized as a unique opportunity for revitalizing blighted or car-centric, transforming them into more mixed-use, walkable, well-connected, denser, and livable communities.  This could be one way to combat New Delhi's ongoing epidemic of sexually based crimes.  The four latest Silver Line stations in the regional Metrorail system have become Tysons' motivation for reinvention from a sterling example of congestion and sprawl into a well-laid out, mixed-use. pedestrian oriented group of villages similar to Arlington.  This isn't mere coincidence, Katy Gorman, a spokesperson for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project told Mobility Lab, "Tysons', TOD redevelopment is an attempt to 'mimic Arlington.'"  Tysons isn't the only city in the D.C. metro area encroaching on Arlington's turf.  Arlington County Commuter Service Bureau chief Chris Hamilton outlined the city's competition: Bethesda, Silver Spring, White Flint, NOMA (North of Massachusetts Street),  Ballpark District, and Tysons.

Downtown Arlington, Virginia
streetsblog.net

Livable well-connected communities are on trend but, as Paul Geddin tells us, "...they have again and again to make economic sense as well.  The Brookings Institution is among those finding strong correlations between public transit and economic competitiveness."  Senior fellow of Metropolitan Policy Program Robert Puentes recognizes the temptation to "rip the wires out of these transit systems."  Mr. Puentes adds this warning, "Some people may think that transit systems are easy targets for budget savings/budget slashing but...this is the wrong time to be doing that."  Regarding the Columbia Pike streetcar, Mr. Puentes' admonition is particularly on the mark.  Admittedly, the streetcar project is expensive but, as Mr. Geddins argues, it will pay for itself many times over.

With regards to growing consumers' need for urban developments with good transportation, the rise of the Millennial generation will only accelerate this demand.  This generation has a well known preference for transit and pedestrian oriented urban places.  Given this, Arlington is the epicenter for this trend thanks to its transportation options, urban lifestyles, connectedness.  Real estate developers also are eyeing this county like hungry cats.  According to Chris Ballard, principle of McWilliams Ballard recently praised the city's strengths at an Urban Land Institute seminar, "The Changing Condo Market in Washington D.C." in context to the county's unmet demand for high-density residential needs.  Mr. Ballard said "We could do Arlington all the time."  Mobility Lab Director Tom Fairchild agrees with this statement, adding, "Arlington's experience with transportation is that options are important.  Transportation options have reaped an economic bounty for Arlington and provided better access for all residents.  The individuals rushing to build and live in Arlington is further proof that the this model works.  Yet transit-oriented development is, in a sense, under attack from within.  This internal debate is coming at a time when Tysons is nipping at Arlington's heels in the same way that Samsung is becoming more competitive with Apple.  This may sound like a good thing but innovation and forward movement are far more important.

Dovetailing a little on yesterday's post on urban planning and sexually based crime reduction, if we've learned anything from the Arlington model it's that wise and strategic moves to increase transportation options which help create urban villages lead to more walkable and livable cities.   The implications for New Delhi mean that women, girls, and by extension, everyone will be able to travel throughout the city with less fear of being assaulted.  Further, it will increase access to social, cultural, educational, and economic opportunities for everyone.  Perhaps, urban planners and designers the world over can look at the Arlington model and adapt it for their own purposes.

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How Urban Planning Can Prevent Sexually Based Crimes

http://www.citylab.com/crime/2014/06/how-urban-design-could-help-reduce-rape-in-india/372612

A woman in New Dehli, India protesting epidemic of rapes
felixonline.con.uk

Hello Everyone:

Today I want to write about an extremely uncomfortable, yet important subject-rape.  With so much attention in the media focused on the subject and the recent brutal rapes and murders by hanging of girls in India, I feel that this is a timely subject.  Specifically the role that urban planning can play in reducing the epidemic of brutal and deadly assaults on women in India.  This post was inspired by Neil Padukone's article in City Lab from The Atlantic, speculating how better urban planning in the subcontinent can mitigate the epidemic of rapes and murders of women in the capital city of New Delhi.

In December 2012, a twenty-three year old doctor, referred to in the article as "J" was gang raped and murdered in the Munirika neighborhood of southwest Delhi.  In the wake of this horrendous crime and others, New Delhi gained the disgraceful distinction of India's "rape capital."  In the aftermath, rape prevention measures have slowly gained traction but many have, correctly, criticized Northern India's misogynistic cultural traditions in the face of national activists' demands for better public safety initiative.  However, Mr. Padukone points outs, "But one simple, yet vital, issue has been under-discussed: how urban design influences safety, especially for women and girls.

Delhi girls protesting
ndtv.com

The majority of the Indian capital is built in a manner sometimes referred to by urban planners as "single-use" design.  This means that sections of the city are dedicated almost exclusively to one purpose: industrial, residential, retail and separated from each by open space, road, or other barriers.  The original thinking behind this planning concept was ensure that people didn't live in cramped quarters or next to industrial plants.  On the face of it, sounded like a good idea at the time but following industrialization, Delhi copied the American model of suburban sprawl to the point where the distances between destinations was so great that walking, taking public transit, or bicycling became nearly impossible. Safe travel almost always meant taking a car.

Visualizing violence against women
humanosphere.com

You can contrast "single-use" design with "mixed-use" design, which strategically integrates residential, retail, commercial, et cetera into the same area-places easily accessible by foot, public transit, or bicycle.  There are a number of reasons planners prefer this approach to design, including creating a smaller carbon footprint, increased access to social and economic opportunities.  This easy and efficient access to work, recreation, home and childcare make dealing with all these responsibilities easier, especially for women.

One of the patron saints of mixed-use planning, Jane Jacobs, called the positive aspects of this design strategy "eyes on the."  What this oft-repeated aphorism implies, "if an area is used for multiple purposes, there will always be somebody-a homemaker, shopkeeper, pedestrian, peddler, or office worker-keeping a passive watch, inadvertently but effectively policing it 24 hours a day."  Street vendors are the most common example of "eyes on the street," something the police understand very well.  Potential criminals are discouraged because of the possible witnesses that can intervene or prevent sexual harassment.  On this point, I beg to differ because sexual harassment can also take verbal form not necessarily physical form.  When physical harassment does occur it is often done in such a way that potential witnesses don't see the actual act.  Mr. Padukone also writes "Mixed-use planning provides a social accountability system: much as it takes a 'village' to raise a child, it can take a whole neighborhood to keep her safe, a reality brought home by the recent "bell bajao" campaign that urges neighbors to intervene against domestic violence."  Again I take issue with the Neil Padukone because he doesn't seem to realize that there people in India, and by extension throughout the world, that view sexual and domestic violence as private matters.

Indian women protesting again
usilive.org

To be certain, the Delhi's wide open spaces does not cause rape.  Citing Chris Kilmartin, the author of The Masculine Self, "the sources of sexual violence are a culture of hyper-masculinity which tells boys that aggression is natural and sexual conquest [is] enviable."  It almost sounds like Mr. Kilmartin could be referring to the uptick of rapes on American college campuses.  Mr. Kilmartin further writes, "...laws and language that cast women as inferior, pliable, even disposable.  We teach boys to disrespect women."  How true this is. Nevertheless, the sprawling suburban subdivision strategy of urban design, in the Indian context, was championed by New Delhi thus providing an enabling environment for sexual and other crimes to proliferate.  I would also argue that British architects and planners working in India during the British colonial period had something to do with this suburban sprawl.  We can contrast this single-use sprawl with Mumbai's denser more mixed-use land use.  The difference being is that Mumbai has a generally lower incidence of sexual violence and the more isolated parts of the city, Shakti Mill for example have seen higher incidence of sexual assaults.

Add caption

 Yet, this sparse single-use planning is what most Indian cities are still trying to copy.  As a matter of government policy, street vendors are being shooed off the pavement because of their unsightliness.  Throughout India, development follows the Gurgaon model-high-rise apartment complex kept far from malls and offices, connected by car-choked streets devoid of any liveliness.  These long stretches of desolate roads abet crime and, yet despite this, are still being replicated in new Indian satellite towns such as Noida, Navi Mumbai, and Yelahanka.

Over the coming fifteen years, over 300 million are expected to migrate to the cities.  As these migrants slowly climb their way up the ladder toward the middle class, they will, with all certainty, take on the trappings of their newly acquired social status, with personal space being the greatest of luxuries.  This perceived demand for personal space is what drive the explosion of this obviously misguided planning and development model that has put large isolated apartment blocks throughout the country.  As these deserted island-like development spread, the demand for luxury housing grows into a debilitating housing bubble.  India's economic downturn has not been a good thing, the tightening credit market and new government provide an opportunity to reconsider just how out of date the single-use model of urban development  is and how mixed-use development can offer a better way to prioritize physical safety and livable streets.

Bogotá, Colombia provides us with an important case study of how the mixed-used model of urban planning and design can work in the developing world.  As recently as twenty years ago, Bogotá was the very definition of danger; laid to waste by drug wars and gang violence.  The city urbanized at a rates of nearly 90%-higher than India's current 35%.  However, interventions by dedicated leadership dramatically altered the urban landscape with more efficient mass transit mobility, recaptured public spaces, mixed-use design, and attention paid to people and pedestrians.  The result was a highly applauded model of urban development: reduced violence, increased social access, and a greater sense of civic pride and safety which includes an annual "Women's Night Out," which raises awareness and has begun to stem the tide of gender violence.

I would like to conclude by saying this, rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, call it what you will, all means the same thing in my opinion.  It is taking an act that is meant to be a supreme expression of love between TWO CONSENTING PARTNERS and weaponizing it.  When one partner is so intoxicated that he/she cannot give consent, THIS IS NOT SEX, IT IS ASSAULT.  Good urban planning and design, as advocated by Neil Padukone in this article, is a step in the right direction.  What will also make a difference is when parents take it upon themselves to have regular, open, and honest conversations with their sons and daughters about sex, drugs, and alcohol.  Yes, it's uncomfortable and embarrassing but those feelings will pass more quickly then the anger you will feel when your daughter is raped or your son stands accused of a sexual crime.  If we've learned anything from the recent media attention on sexual crimes is this, sexual and domestic violence are not private matters anymore.  They cannot be swept under the carpet or dealt with privately.  The aftermath affects all of us in the public realm.  This must change and change begins with YOU.

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