Selected Work
Shreyes Yohan Jos X NEWFORMED / Copyright 2024 / All Rights Reserved
Shreyes Yohan Jos X NEWFORMED / Copyright 2024 / All Rights Reserved
Negotiating Thresholds in South Boston
Urban Redevelopment, BostonHarvard GSD Fall 2023 - Elements of Urban Design
Advisers: Dana McKinney White, Stephen Grey, Peter G. Rowe, Michael Manfredi
Collaborators: Luna Kim + Shreyes Yohan Jos
Advisers: Dana McKinney White, Stephen Grey, Peter G. Rowe, Michael Manfredi
Collaborators: Luna Kim + Shreyes Yohan Jos
As one traverses through the urban tapestry of South Boston, the confluence of residential blocks and public parks and their entangled relationship with the industrial parcels interspersed in between, is foregrounded and highly registered.
This existing condition breaks the urban ontology of South Boston, and consequently turns the image of this neighborhood increasingly fragmented along the thresholds between the residential and the industrial areas and their relationship with the waterfront.
South Boston was once a peninsula and was rendered part of the mainland after its annexation in the 19th century through a series of land reclamation. Amendments to the natural fabric such as these coupled with the rising threat of global warming have increased the risk of sea level rise and have subsequently elevated the collective fears associated with their impact.
This project attempts to collate and stitch a cohesive image for South Boston while tackling the urgency of water management in tandem – whereby it focuses on softening the prevalent hard thresholds existing between the neighborhood and the industrial areas – as well as between land and water.
The envisioned urban intervention - is divided into 4 systematic interfaces:
1. Landscaped Edges
2. Pedestrian Pathways
3. Elevated Urban Blocks
4. Shared / Open Streets
1. Landscaped Edges
Landscape plays a pivotal role in this intervention - whereby it is an agent to break existing thresholds and open the urban fabric to the larger public while simultaneously acting as a key component for water management.
East first street, which is the main urban spine, is lined with a series of berms interjected by pockets of spaces that connect one directly to the waterfront.
These berms run along the perimeter of the site to open the waterfront to the larger public rather than designating them as private parcels of land.
Through a series of cuts in the existing landscape, cavities have been carved for water to bleed in during sea level surges and for greater efficacy marshy wetlands will function as sponges to absorb water and will aid in managing the susceptibility of flooding.
2. Pedestrian Pathways
For increased pedestrian accessibility, pathways run within the individual urban blocks and they connect to the landscaped edges on the perimeter and also to Memorial Park on the south through a pedestrian bridge crossing overhead East First street.
To maximize accessibility to the waterfront, an elevated pedestrian pathway is also provided along the waterfront which meanders in plan but also ascends and descends sectionally to bring the public closer to the water. The pathway partly touches and floats on water and will adapt to the changing level of the water during surges. Ultimately, the footbridge circumnavigates the site for a scenic experience along the waterfront and terminates on the east at castle island - symbolically acting as a ribbon that ties the currently stunted and fragmented experience of South Boston into a unifying and cohesive one.
3. Elevated Urban Blocks
To address concerns of sea level rise and flooding, habitable programmatic spaces have been positioned on elevated urban blocks - whereby vehicular parking is located on the ground floor under the block, and a public plaza is situated above. Buildings are proposed along the plaza with commercial spaces accessible directly from the plaza and residential units rise above.
The form of the buildings are configured to maximize the transmission of sunlight and airflow - whereby shorter buildings are positioned along the perimeter adjacent to the waterfront and the heights gradually rise as ones moves further inside the block.
4. Shared / Open Streets
Since the project is attempting to bridge silos and open up existing thresholds, it also proposes a shared / open street concept for East First Street.
On Sundays, stretches of the street between the outer confines of the three elevated urban blocks will transition into open markets exclusive to pedestrians as a gesture to promote a sense of community and encourage a pedestrian-friendly environment for the demographic of South Boston.
Through the 4 systematic interfaces, this project aims to blur existing thresholds contained within the fabric of South Boston in a purposeful manner - whereby it seamlessly connects the site with the larger precinct of South Boston’s neighborhood.
Through shared streets that foster community, a green belt that unites existing fragmented green spaces, elevated urban blocks configured to mitigate sea level rise and pedestrian pathways and bridges along the waterfront - the project harmonizes diverse components and offers a vision for a safer, pedestrian centric environment for this urban fabric.