PIER 48: Collaborative Consumption

Abstract

Seattle's waterfront space has been largely unused due to physical boundaries that have disconnected the waterfront from downtown. The current redevelopment of the waterfront must address how to create a major connection and commitment within the community. Building upon my prior research on public participation models in my Master of Urban Planning thesis, "A Civic Waterfront", I propose an alternative approach to public space design that might help us develop more responsible and responsive strategies for designing with the local community. I propose and explore a self-evolving design process with public participation clearly affecting the decision-making process to ultimately test the influence such a process has on design. Drawing connections between the current practice of interdisciplinary design and research on user-generated design, I argue for a method of collaborative consumption−a sedimentation of user-generated program. Testing this method on Pier 48 in Seattle, I offer a design intervention with spaces for regeneration, connectivity, and exhibition to address how user-generated program could inform architecture through a self-evolving design process.