Week 6: Part 1

This week i finalized the mapping analysis and chose sites which were deemed most suitable for the field station components.  I then proceeded to map out site conditions and layouts for site interventions which would fit into the DEGENTRIFIED scheme

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Field Station Components

3 community buildings will make up the components of an
urban field station.  These include a Recreational Center, Educational Center and an Arts and Culture Center.  These centers will all be connected by a proposed path along the canal which connects to Gowanus and surrounding context.  The aim of these centers is to act independently from one another but if the need arose, each center could support the other when the opportunity or need arises.

Chosen Sites map and reasoning

Chosen Sites from GIS Overlay

Site A Peninsula: Canal and Street View

Site B: Canal and Street View

The chosen sites will accommodate a Recreational Centre and Educational Centre.

For the Arts and Culture Center, the site chosen would need to adhere to a number of points such as:

-Historic Value
-Abandoned/Vacant
-Direct connection to Canal/Visibility from canal/close proximity to other chosen sites
-Size to accommodate retrofitted interventions 

BRT Power Station

http://allcitystreetart.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/11.jpg

Proposed site selection to segregated areas through canal circulation

Week 5: Part 2

Over the long weekend i produced a 3d massing model in revit of the Gowanus Canal.

I think being able to rotate and zoom the massing model has given me a new dimension of the canal.  This was especially apparent with building typologies, shadow castings and presence at street level.

In a setting placed 100+ years into the future, the massing model will be adapted to suit.

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Map 2: Revitalization 
The second mapping analysis identifies the lack of green space with areas that can be reworked into green spaces, which in turn could create a green conduit for residents to move through from the previously selected sites from Map 1: Gentrification 

Brooklyn Green Heatmap

Map found at

https://www.addressreport.com/image/5502190282080256

Green Space and Potential Green Space Map

Map based upon

https://www.addressreport.com/image/5502190282080256

The light green highlights areas which have little to no vegetation qualities whilst the dark green shows park facilities located in or near the suburb of Gowanus.

Hardscape Map

The light blue areas currently serve as parking lots, these areas are focused upon for regeneration as the future of Gowanus will become a sustainable suburb, limiting use of cars and promoting pedestrian and bike transportation as seen in Map 3: Connectivity.  The dark blue areas are identified as vacant sites

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Map 3: Connectivity
The third mapping analysis looks at the connectivity of site to areas which were analysed previously as areas of highest potential for gentrification.

As a general consensus, car ownership is set at 44% in Brooklyn and is slowly declining.  This does not take into account who and where in Brooklyn that own vehicles.

From a more sustainable point of view i decided to look at bike and pedestrian paths as the sole transportation through the suburb of Gowanus.

Bike Map

Bike Paths highlighted in blue.  These paths are dedicated lanes which share a portion of Brooklyns Roads.  This is seen in images sourced from Google Maps below

Images sourced from googlemaps.com.au

Pedestrian Map

Pedestrian paths highlighted in pink

Pedestrian paths feature on most blocks in the suburb of Gowanus.  There is definitely a defined edge between building and road whilst also lacking in character and vegetation.

Images sourced from googlemaps.com.au

Transportation Map

Pink circles indicate 800 meter radius whilst the green circles mean subway stations and yellow circles indicate bus stops.

I believe walk-ability of a site can only go so far and there needs to be connections within a walk able distance to different forms of public transport such as buses and trains.  The suburb of Gowanus is highly connected through public transport with opportunities for designated transport hubs connecting directly to pedestrian and bicycle paths.

Ideogram Before Circulation

Bridges are the sole means of crossing the Gowanus Canal with quite a few dead end streets meeting the canal in between.  There is currently no opportunities for people to move up or down through the canal, requiring one to cross over the selected bridges.

Ideogram After Circulation 

Proposed Connections Map

The green spots identify areas where pedestrians and people using bikes can enter into the new pathway, whilst bridges connect to the new pathway for occupants.  The proposed path network links the two segregated areas highlighted in red.

Revit map showing boardwalk (brown) and path which connects segregated areas (grey)

Accessing the canal boardwalk is shown in the following diagram.

Road rejuvenation , expanding upon greening footpaths and roads and widening bike paths.

Week 5: Part 1

This week i worked in preparation for critique of my ideas, focusing on gentrification as a major issue and sub issues which arise from gentrification such as poverty, crime, unemployment etc.

Map 1: Gentrification 

Comic sketch of Gentrification

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1703122!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/spike-lee.jpg

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Images of Brooklyn before and after Gentrification
http://gizmodo.com/tracking-brooklyns-rapid-fire-gentrification-with-googl-1594799132

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Gentrification definition: the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.  

Utilizing GIS overlay, i identified the areas at the highest risk of future gentrification by overlaying the following maps. Figureground Map, Poverty Percentage Map, Suburbs Map, Land Prices Map, Household Income Map, Crime Rates Map, Demographics Map and Education Level Map.  This process was done by converting the most undesirable characteristics of each map to white whilst working to the most desirable which would be grey.

Used Maps

GIS overlay map showing in red the highest potential gentrification levels

To better explain these maps when it comes to presentation time, there will be a number of representative icons which show the process involved as to how these sites were selected.  This graphical method of explanation will follow through for the ensuing map analysis.

The questions now lie.  How will a chosen site or sites bridge the connection between the 2 segregated red areas? How will the site or sites promote the community change of the stakeholders needs and wants? and how will the site or sites effect their immediate contexts and future growth?

Week 4

Poverty Percentage Map

Map information located at

http://visual.ly/poverty-brooklyn-block-block-analysis

Level of Education Map

Map information located at

http://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/files/2012/10/ICPH-nyc-education.pdf

Brooklyn Suburbs Map

Map information located at

Land Price Increase Map

Map information located at

http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/ny/New-York-City/Maps

Crime Rates Map

Map information located at

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ny/brooklyn/crime/

Week 3

This week i was designated aspects of social landscapes whilst also reading the community stakeholders needs and wants which i have abbreviated below.

Community Stakeholders needs and wants abbreviated
The community stakeholder’s general consensus is to promote equality and sustainability over the long term through a variety of methods such as context revitalization, creative settings, employment opportunities, and educational awareness.

Over the following weeks i will map these conditions which will eventually inform me in how i will choose my site.

Demographics Map

This map shows the different demographics currently calling Brooklyn home.  This map is important when it comes to designing an intervention as social and cultural equality will influence this process.

This map was sourced from

http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/comparinator/pluralitymap.htm

Population Density Map

This map was sourced from
http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?useExisting=1

Social Infrastructure Map

This map shows the study areas many social infrastructure buildings and services. This map will be valuable when it comes to designing an intervention as buildings and services can help support or improve.

(Not sure why blogger does this to images but this image is not meant to have a grey overlay)

This map was sourced from

http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/comparinator/pluralitymap.htm

Average Income Map

This map was sourced from

http://allenspector.com/mappinggowanus/gis.php

Week 2

Met everyone in group 4 today, and formed a group with Peter and Sepideh.

Our homework for next week was to do some mapping analysis which will contribute to assignment 1 and 2.  For my part of the analysis as part of the group i chose land use.  Aside from land use i created a figure ground and transportation map to better understand the area as well as use them for further map underlays

Base Map

This map will be used as the underlay for the ongoing map studies.  The map was zoomed in and screen captured a number of times to gain greater detail of the study region.

The map was sourced from 

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Brooklyn,+NY,+USA/@40.6742345,-73.9897368,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c24416947c2109:0x82765c7404007886

Date of Buildings built

This map was produced in order to see when these buildings were built which could give a better understanding of the areas uses during different time periods.

Information from this map was sourced from

http://bklynr.com/block-by-block-brooklyns-past-and-present/

Figure ground Map

This map was produced to gain an easier understanding of how dense this particular section of Brooklyn is in regards to block size and building size.

Information for this map was sourced from

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Brooklyn,+NY,+USA/@40.6742345,-73.9897368,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c24416947c2109:0x82765c7404007886

Land use map

Understanding land use could possibly determine the growth of Brooklyn and the development around the Gowanus Canal.  

Information for this map was sourced from

Property Boundary Map

Property boundary maps are useful as you can quickly determine the extent of a selected site.  This will be valuable when the time comes to choose a site for the rest of DEH701

Information for this map was sourced from

http://maps.nyc.gov/taxmap/map.htm

Transportation Map

Understanding traffic flow can give another indication of how Brooklyn and surrounding areas have grown.  Breaking transportation down into colors can easily identify types of transport.

Transportation Map

Information for these maps was sourced from

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Brooklyn,+NY,+USA/@40.6742345,-73.9897368,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c24416947c2109:0x82765c7404007886