WINNER OF Cyril M. Leeder Prize for 2005_2006:

Adriana Ross was born and raised in Bulgaria and developed a keen interest in design and architecture after moving to Canada. She graduated and received diploma from Algonquin College, Interior Design Advanced Program and was employed by Susan Firestone Design Inc, where she worked on many residential and commercial projects among which are Luxe Bistro, Blue Cactus Restaurant and Aristocrat Hotel. Presently she is a fourth year student in the Bachelor of Architecture program at Carleton University. In 2006 she was on of the ten international finalists whose work was exhibited at the WUF 3 UNESCO stand -- AN INTERNATIONAL UN-HABITAT EVENT ON URBAN SUSTAINABILITY in Vancouver, Canada, June 19-23, 2006. Her interests in architecture are span from the large scale of urban design to the human scale of materiality and detail. As an architectural student she believes that the quality urban design is about understanding buildings, places and spaces not as isolated elements but as integrated parts of the macrocosm and microcosm of the layered temporal urban experience. The vitality of the city therefore comes from the building up of new ideas upon the existing cultural systems and urban fabric.

Project: Urban Renewal Proposal

The transformations and changes that are taking place in the urban context are accompanied by conflict, by increase population, pollution, gentrification, emigration and poverty but also by an increase in information, remarkable energy and by new culture in which different origins are mixed together, giving life to new expression and vitality.

The purpose of my proposal is to describe the transformation of the urban environment from the past to the present through the influence of telecommunications and to present new ideas about human interaction within the community.

VISUAL 1

VISUAL 2

VISUAL 3

1. General thoughts and observations

The city districts addressed in my urban renewal proposal are Bayview Yards, Chinatown and Little Italy. At the beginning of the 20th century, information traveled great distances mostly by face-to-face communication, rumors, letters and parcels. This was long before space-dissolving technologies, such as telecommunications, made communication very fast and easy. From a walking society, we have been reshaped into a wired city. There are now a large variety of “tele”-activities such as telecommuting, teleshopping, telelearning and telemedicine. These concepts will lead us to a future of non-mobile accessibility known as cyber space or the virtual city; places where we don’t need to interact face to face. Everyone can stay in their parlor and interact with anyone around the world. In spite of this independence, our survival as human beings must still rely on our social interaction with others, and our health will still depend on activities spent outside surrounded by our urban and natural environment, our culture, and the city’s future.

Urban and natural environment proposal:

1. To create more areas for social interaction

2. To create more green areas (street or roof levels )

Places like China Town and Little Italy still hold on to the “romantic” idea of interacting on the street. Unfortunately even in those districts because of the housing density we see less and less places for face-to-face social interaction. Throughout my observations I found that those two districts have not advanced technologically, and their urban conditions have not changed drastically since the early 1920s. Despite this, the two communities appear vibrant with their rich immigrant backgrounds, successful restaurants, and very colorful street atmosphere. Is there a place for communications to improve the urban fabric in these communities while keeping the identity of their culture? This project proposes two types of urban oasis: the physical and the digital.

Cultural proposal:

1. To create outdoor objects that use communication to reveal information about Asian and Italian cultures more broadly than is possible by a collection of restaurants

Since the 1850s the Bayview Yards and the neighborhood of LeBreton Flats were lumber boomtowns. Leveled by a huge fire in 1900, the area was rebuilt and repopulated by a new generation of tradesmen, merchants and their families who shared the region with industries such as sawmills and rail yards. Now LeBreton Flats is an example of the gentrification of the area. This site is ready for a young professional condominium community. They will be able to exist on their own like a village within the city. The proposal suggests;

1. Urban planning that links the four districts: China Town, Little Italy, Bayview Yards and LeBreton Flats

2. To create new community services at Bayview Yards to be shared by all four areas

2. Proposal detail

2a. Throughout the streets of China Town and Little Italy I am proposing to plant new trees that identify each culture. Although the symbol of a tree has many meanings in different cultures, I will present my own interpretation, with the roots representing our past, the stem representing our present and the leaves representing our future. The trees will also provide many benefits to our urban fabric:

· trees help clean the environment

· trees are natural buffers to harsh weather conditions (as in Ottawa)

· trees reduce noise pollution by absorbing urban noise

· trees increase economic stability by attracting and keeping businesses and shoppers in a community

· trees help create relaxation and well being

· a study of public housing residents in Chicago has shown that trees can play an important role in reducing urban violence

· trees add beauty and reflection to our everyday life

In China Town cherry trees will be planted.

In Little Italy olive trees will be planted.

For Bayview Yards, maple trees representing Canada, as well as cherry and olive trees will be planted.

On the bridge connecting Bayview yards and LeBreton Flats, maple, cherry and olive trees will be planted.

2b. Dispersed between the natural trees, will be a new digital tree design (see sample boards for details) showing information relating to the history of the area, the main communal events, the history of the Asian and Italian cultures and aerial views of the neighborhood to reduce crime. The ICE (interactive communication experience) panel is made from a “memory gel” called Technogel. Once you approach the screen, there are infrared sensors that detect your presence and you can begin to interact with the data. This means we will no longer need to be indoors to the gather information. People can go outside to meet friends, interact at the coffee park areas while walking their dogs, and learn about different cultures on the way to Luciano Foods at Preston. The entire time they can enjoy the smell of the cherry and olive trees leading to the Bayview Yards market.

2c. On the three open lots in China town and Little Italy I am proposing an interactive coffee-park area which will combine the digital and full sensory experience of eating and drinking. The third one is for dog lovers as well. Those pockets will act as the seed for the future urban renewal.

2d. The procession of cultural trees will lead to the Bayview yards where I am proposing to build a new multicultural commercial and residential development. This will include affordable housing, a retail block, a civic building for a new city library and for the Canadian archives, and a Museum of Communications. In addition, the development will provide a childcare center, a school for the arts, underground parking, a summer market and green communal areas. The exterior fabric of the civic building will remind us of the past when this area was a lumber district (see drawings).

2e. The Bayview Yards center will be connected to the LeBreton Flats by a bridge for pedestrians and bicycles. The experience of walking through the bridge will be enhanced by the presence of the multicultural screen-trees. On the bridge there will be “a pick point” where visitors can enjoy the entire view of China Town, Little Italy, Bayview Yards and LeBreton Flats.

http://www.dramatispersonae.org/CyrilMLeederPrize/CyrilLeederPrizeInUrbanDesign.htm
 
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/