COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Relink Houston: Restoring Mobility in a Broken City
Creator:
Mackie, Taylor O'Neill
Subject:
Thesis (M.Arch.) -- Architecture
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Architecture
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
Architecture is and always has been a never ending process of adapting and accomodating the needs and societal behavior of humans. History, technology, and social trends have shaped the build environment we live in today. We as designers hold a responsibility to improve the conditions and anticipated development of urban life. For the first time ever in history, more people reside in cities than in rural communities, which has demonstrated a complex dynamic of growth patterns and issues to address.
Cities in the United States reflect the societal values in which they have grown upon. A country grounded on the ideals of “the American Dream” valued home ownership and life outside of the city, inverting the urban fabric. Urban development during an era based on automobile reliance has left merely remnants of the great American city centers. Inner city neighborhoods were left to dilapidate, suburban and exurban communities sprawled outward, extracting prosperity. What defines the makeup of a proper city in the United States is questioned. Lacking population and infrastructure density, American cities can be more accurately classified as expansive conglomerations of isolated pass-through neighborhoods, disconnected.
Inevitably, urban society in North America have taken a shift. Younger generations have taken interest in the restoration, revitalization, and urbanization of their inner city sectors. Adaptability has proven to be difficult in American cities in comparison to city life in Europe due to the fact that mobility has become scarce and increasingly limited due to the fragmentation of the urban fabric. Design efforts for current conditions have taken the course to invest in the improvements of transit and circulation. There is a mobility crisis in America. To strategize adaptability in the existing built environment, requires innovation.
Cities in the United States reflect the societal values in which they have grown upon. A country grounded on the ideals of “the American Dream” valued home ownership and life outside of the city, inverting the urban fabric. Urban development during an era based on automobile reliance has left merely remnants of the great American city centers. Inner city neighborhoods were left to dilapidate, suburban and exurban communities sprawled outward, extracting prosperity. What defines the makeup of a proper city in the United States is questioned. Lacking population and infrastructure density, American cities can be more accurately classified as expansive conglomerations of isolated pass-through neighborhoods, disconnected.
Inevitably, urban society in North America have taken a shift. Younger generations have taken interest in the restoration, revitalization, and urbanization of their inner city sectors. Adaptability has proven to be difficult in American cities in comparison to city life in Europe due to the fact that mobility has become scarce and increasingly limited due to the fragmentation of the urban fabric. Design efforts for current conditions have taken the course to invest in the improvements of transit and circulation. There is a mobility crisis in America. To strategize adaptability in the existing built environment, requires innovation.
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2014-05
Format:
PDF : 106 p. : ill