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(Sub)Urban Confluence
Author
van Waasen, Christian
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This thesis hypothesizes that by transforming large-scale underperforming commercial sites, scattered throughout suburbia into community hubs, they would be well positioned to serve as conveyors of essential social and economic stimulus for the suburbanites of the 21st century. Suburban populations are changing but their fragmented and sprawling landscape is not. Newcomers often find themselves in a vast isolated landscape, unable to access vital social services and form tight-knit communities that urban centers afford them to do. The lack of public, social, and political infrastructure is commonplace in much of suburbia and Seattle’s suburb of Shoreline is no exception. Among its sprawling tracts of single-family homes lies Aurora Square, a 60-acre suburban strip mall located along Aurora Avenue. A largely unchanged relic of 1960’s, this site has been identified by the City of Shoreline being in a desperate need of intervention; thereby designating it as a ‘Community Renewal Area.’ In hopes of stimulating business and community activities, the city’s current proposal does but little to transform the site’s archaic automobile dominated configuration and most importantly, lacks the impetus of addressing the needs of the changing face of suburbia. I believe that by looking at the local and regional contexts of Aurora Square, and other sites similar to it, they can be appropriately programmed to match the needs of a future population. Transforming from moated strip malls, to a network of dense, interconnected, community hubs with rich commercial, cultural, social, and democratic activity. This thesis builds upon existing and pertinent urban design theories, deploying them to form a variety of public spaces in a landscape that incorporates hydrology, the human experience, walkability, activity levels, infrastructure, connectivity, community, and density. Where the buildings strive to catalyze public space through their consideration for affordability, variety (design, type, and ownership), density, flexibility, configuration and connection to the street. By reshaping and reprogramming the site, this thesis ultimately seeks to create a community hub where all walks of life can live, gather and thrive.
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