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"This is a fresh, vibrant plan that highlights community pride and engagement, while advancing ideas about how the landscape can be used as a collaborative outdoor space, which is unique."- 2014 Awards Jury “它是一个新鲜的，充满活力的计划，突出社区的自豪感和参与感，同时推进将景观作为协作的室外空间的独特想法。” - 2014年评委 Midtown Detroit Techtown District by Sasaki Associates, Inc. 科技园区计划阐述了底特律中心文化区的科技园复兴的鼓舞人心的愿景。该计划充分利用地区内以下三个机构的潜力 - 韦恩州立大学、创意研究学院和亨利·福特医疗服务公司 - 创建一个创新、协作和生产的动态枢纽。精心策划公共领域的改进，重点围绕新的中央广场，将在一段时间内促进私人投资。 The TechTown District Plan articulates an inspiring vision for the revitalization of TechTown, a knowledge district in Midtown Detroit. The plan leverages the potential of the three institutions that anchor the district – Wayne State University, the College for Creative Studies, and the Henry Ford Health System – to create a dynamic hub for innovation, collaboration and production. Carefully curated public realm improvements, focused around a new central plaza, will foster private investment over time.
↑ A Heart for Techtown: The core plaza is the central feature of the plan, and will be the focus of early investment. A variety of public realm investments will encourange collaboration and the generation of ideas.
项目叙述 新经济要求新的学习、研究、工作和产生想法的模式，跨越学科和促进思想从教室转移到市场。这些变化要求机构重新考虑他们是如何组织，如何在物理环境中进行协作。科技园，一个新兴的文化区由底特律中心三个主要机构支撑 - 韦恩州立大学(WSU)、创意研究学院(CCS)和亨利·福特医疗服务公司(HFHS) - 从底特律领先的汽车经济过渡到创新型经济。在过去的几个月里，底特律中心公司(MDI)及其合作机构推动了区域性的规划过程，充分利用各机构的独特优势，并创造了合作和投资的新机遇。科技园的区域计划具有明确的长远目标和清晰的催化项目，可以促进经济发展，支持新的生活、工作和学习方式。由于加速这种变化的定义性特征，出现了公共领域。 科技园本身是独一无二的，以早期汽车创新中发挥了重要作用的建筑物为特点。如今，这个区域鼓励代替能源到医疗保健、创意产业的新模式的创新，保持其新思想发源地的传统。 区域目标：科技园区的目标直接响应园区的主要挑战。该计划旨在创造一个充满活力的安全的，并支持24/7活动的宜居社区。现在缺少住房和零售服务，公共空间也有限。定义不清的街道边缘、大型停车场、空白的墙壁、孤立的用途，缺乏地面透明度和整个小区照明不一致阻碍了人们加入这个区域。创建一个充满活力的社区，需要综合市民空间和基础设施，多样化住房选择，以及各种娱乐空间。我们的建议在公共领域的综合战略中合并了这些元素。 科技园区计划旨在鼓励试验，使创意的生成变得明显。试验对新的想法和企业的形成至关重要。虽然科技园区每天都有新创新，试验基础设施仅限于专门的机构，而不向更广泛的群众公开。联合工作空间，恒温箱，制造实验室，黑客实验室和测试厨房使试验变得可行。科技园区计划位于中央非常明显和方便的地点，同时跨越室内和室外环境，以激发思维和促进参与的方式来激活公共领域，鼓励研究。 科技园区计划的目的是促进合作。虽然新的想法往往是合作和自然对话的产物，但在科技园区内的机构主要在内在部门独立运作，很少参与公共领域或邻近组织。新的创新型经济的转变需要协作，包括规划和偶然的会议的召开地点，专门聚会空间，灵活和临时使用的空间。科技园区区规划在中央广场将这些元素组合在一起，邀请附近人们使用。于是在周边建筑物中出现越来越多公共领域的合作。 科技园区计划的目的是为该区域定义一个中心。分散模式的投资和底特律的地面停车特点的流行也确定了科技园。通过强大的开放式空间框架和城市设计策略，计划将车用空间转变为人用空间，同时为该区域创造一个明确定义的的中心和视觉形象。
分析和宣传 为了更好地理解主要的规划问题，需要采用各种分析技术，包括与利益相关者的对话，场地条件的照片专集，测绘房地产所有权和停车模式，现场参观，先例研究和“我的地区”调查。我的地区是分配给重要雇主和机构的网上图形调查，以帮助了解该区的定性印象。要求受访者确定产生新构想的地点、合作地点、最喜欢的用餐场所、最喜欢的户外区域，不安全的地区、普通行人，车辆和自行车路线，以及对地区边界的看法。受访者在地图上放置超过2000多个图标。他们的回答决定了最终核心广场的选址，并通过公共领域和建筑处理加强了解决安全想法的需求。 强大的宣传过程中也影响了设计策略。重点机构的利益相关者代表委员会在每一个标志性时刻进行协商。在晚上公开论坛提供项目更新，包括讲台上的演讲。项目的博客“科技园谈话”后来发展到记录规划过程，并提供另一工具来记录反馈。在论坛上使用互动游戏，如“电路板”和“硬币调查”来测试不同的设计方案，并进行偏好排列，来选择初始投资的重点。硬币调查可以确定街道和公园是该区内首选的重点领域之一。
核心地点 分析和宣传过程中既有助于在该区内产生长期的理想框架，以及重点围绕签名核心广场投资的短期催化项目。初始投资将东部拟定的轻轨站连接到西部的一个新公园。战略街道封锁和对现有地面停车场改造为该区定义了一个中心。稠密树林和长凳指引人们通过拟定的轻轨站直接进入广场。制造实验室通过跨越室内和室外环境的制造长桌，锁定广场南侧。在广场上放置合作立方体 - 或可移动的适应性强的工作站，可以根据用户的特定需求重新放置，重新定位。这些立方体形成了区域的合作性图标。 投影屏，攀岩墙和阴凉处的签名板组成广场的北侧，其中包括树丛间带座位的咖啡厅。这些设施作为附近灵活空间的补充，可以根据时间和社区需要进行规划。广场是秋季的“厂商展销会”和“黑客挑战”的场所。在冬季，广场可以容纳灯光装置和临时冰壶道，以及取暖的篝火。到了春季，广场使用太阳能测试方块的代替能源的挑战中心，还有流动餐车。块化处理彩色路面，形成区域中心的品牌形象。
向前发展 该广场被认为是该地区短期内的关键投资。它是所有利益相关者的连结和合作的共同基础，但还需要若干土地所有者之间的协调来实现愿景。这一规划过程为寻求必要资金实施这一项目奠定了基础。如果实现的话，其核心地点的公共领域战略可能点燃创新之火，推动底特律转变为新的创新型经济。
↑ Collaborative Potential: TechTown is anchored by three key institutions: Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health System, and the College for Creative Studies. While each institution had previously prepared individual development plans, the plans did not leverage opportunities for collaboration in TechTown.
↑ Site Considerations
↑ Engagement Strategies: A variety of creative strategies were employed to encourage stakeholder participation in the development of the plan, including interactive games, online surveys, prioritization exercises, blog streaming, and public open forums. A core committee of institutional leaders were consulted at each milestone.
↑ Framework Principles: The plan is driven by several planning and design principles that address site challenges and support aspirational goals for the district.
↑ Public Realm Framework: The vision for TechTown is structured around a public realm framework that defines key corridors and connects anchor institutions. Each corridor is characterized by a different public realm and land use strategy.
↑ Techtown Vision: The long term vision positions TechTown as the hub of innovation in Detroit. A renewed public realm ties together ideas-based industries within a vibrant urban neighborhood.
↑ Core Plaza Elements: The core plaza catalyzes new investment in TechTown. Engaging civic spaces and a carefully curated public realm program encourage participation, creation, and collaboration.
↑ The core plaza is designed to encourage collaboration and entrepreneurial activity the heart of the district.
↑ Collaboration Cubes: Mobile and adaptable collaboration cubes, specifically designed for TechTown, support a range of active uses from spontaneous brainstorming sessions to planned social activities.
↑ Fabrication tables extend from the adjacent fab-lab to facilitate the visible testing and development of new products. Shade structures and complementary landscaping create a comfortable environment for collaboration.
↑ The Brainstorming Grove and Think Tank provide an informal destination for meeting and socializing, with access to the nearby Short Circuit Cafe and food trucks.
↑ Plaza through the seasons: The plaza is designed for flexibility and to support year-round activity, from curling and campfires in the winter, to movie screenings and robot competitions in the spring and summer, to maker’s fairs and beer gardens in the fall.
↑ Realizing the Vision: The vision for TechTown will be realized over time. A launch party catalyzes the development of the core plaza, followed by incremental investment that reinforces the heart of the district.
↑ District Transformation: A district currently defined by surface parking lots and lack of identity will be transformed into a dense, well-balanced urban setting, with a clearly defined sense of place.
↑ Sustainability and Livability: The district strategy leverages existing sustainability investments, and supports a broad definition of sustainability. Social, economic, and environmental sustainability are foundational elements of the plan.
PROJECT NARRATIVE The new economy requires new modes of learning, researching, working, and generating ideas that cut across disciplines and facilitate the transfer of ideas from the classroom to the marketplace. These changes demand that institutions reconsider how they are organized and how they collaborate within their physical environments. TechTown, an emerging knowledge district anchored by three key institutions in Midtown Detroit - Wayne State University (WSU), the College for Creative Studies (CCS), and the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) - is leading Detroit’s transition from an automotive to an innovation-based economy. Over the past several months, Midtown Detroit Inc. (MDI), along with its institutional partners, has facilitated a district planning process that leverages the unique strengths of each institution, while creating new opportunities for collaboration and investment. The district plan for TechTown articulates a long term vision, with clearly defined catalytic projects that will foster economic development and support new ways living, working, and learning. The public realm emerges as the defining feature that accelerates this change. The character of TechTown itself is unique, featuring buildings that played an important role in the automotive innovations of an earlier era. Today, the district fosters new modes of innovation from alternative energy, to healthcare, to creative industries maintaining its legacy as a birthplace for ideas. Goals for the District: The goals of the TechTown district directly respond to key challenges of the site. The plan aims to create a vibrant and livable neighborhood that is safe and supports activity 24/7. Today, there is a shortage of housing and retail services, and limited public space. Poorly defined street edges, large parking lots, blank walls, isolated uses and lack of ground floor transparency, and inconsistent lighting across the district discourage people from engaging the site. The creation of a vibrant neighborhood requires a combination of civic spaces and infrastructure, diverse housing options, and a variety of third spaces. Our proposal integrates these elements within a comprehensive public realm strategy. The TechTown District Plan aims to encourage experimentation and make visible the production of ideas. Experimentation is critical to the formation of new ideas and businesses. While innovations occur daily in TechTown, experimental infrastructure is limited to specialized institutions and is not accessible to a broader audience. Co-working spaces, incubators, fabrication labs, hacker labs, and test kitchens enable experimentation. The plan for TechTown situates these spaces in central, highly visible and accessible locations that span both indoor and outdoor environments, encouraging inquiry, while activating the public realm in a thought-provoking and participatory manner. The TechTown District Plan aims to facilitate collaboration. While new ideas are often the product of collaboration, and spontaneous conversations, institutions in TechTown largely operate as internalized siloes that rarely engage the public realm or nearby organizations. The shift toward a new innovation economy requires places for collaboration, including landing spots for planned and serendipitous meetings, ad hoc gathering spaces, and flexible and temporary spaces. The TechTown District Plan brings these elements together within a central plaza with inviting adjacent uses. Collaboration occurs in the public realm as much as in surrounding buildings. The TechTown District Plan seeks to create a defined heart for the district. The decentralized patterns of investment and prevalence of surface parking characteristic of Detroit also define TechTown. Through a robust open space framework and urban design strategy, the plan transforms places for cars into places for people, while creating a clearly defined heart and visual identity for the district.
Analysis and Outreach To better understand the salient planning issues, a variety of analytical techniques were employed, including conversations with stakeholders, photographic essays of site conditions, mapping property ownership and parking patterns, site tours, precedent studies, and a “MyDistrict” survey. MyDistrict is an online graphic survey that was distributed to key employers and institutions to help understand qualitative impressions of the district. Individuals were asked to identify where ideas are formed, where they collaborate, favorite dining locations, favorite outdoor areas, unsafe areas, common pedestrian, vehicular, and bicycle routes, and perceptions of the district boundaries. Respondents placed more than 2,000 icons on the map. Their responses informed the ultimate site selection for the core plaza, and reinforced the need to address perceptions of safety through public realm and building treatments. A robust outreach process also influenced the design strategy. At each milestone, a stakeholder committee with representatives from key institutions was consulted. Open forums in the evening provided venues for project updates, and included presentations from spotlight speakers. TechTownTalk, the project blog, was developed to document the planning process and provided another vehicle for feedback. Interactive games, such as the “Circuit Board” and the “Coin Survey” were employed during the forums to test different design alternatives and to rank preferences for where to focus initial investment. The coin survey identified streetscapes and parks as one of the preferred focus areas for the district.
Core Site The analysis and outreach process helped generate both a long term aspirational framework for the district, along with a near-term catalytic project that focuses investment around a signature core plaza. Initial investments link the proposed light rail stop to the east with a new park to the west. Strategic street closures and the transformation of existing surface parking lots create a defined heart for the district. A dense grove of trees and linear bench direct individuals from the proposed light rail stop into the plaza. A fabrication lab anchors the southern side of the plaza with fabrication tables that span both indoor and outdoor environments. Collaboration cubes—or moveable and adaptable work stations—populate the plaza and can be reconfigured and relocated to meet the specific needs of the user. These cubes create a collaborative icon for the district. A projection screen, climbing wall, and signature shade circuit define the north side of the plaza, which includes a café with seating among an informal grove of trees. These amenities complement a nearby flexible space that can be programmed according to time of year and community needs. The plaza is home to the “maker’s fair” and “hacker challenge” in the fall. In the winter, the plaza accommodates a light installation and temporary curling lane, with collaborative campfires for warmth. Spring transforms the plaza into the epicenter of an alternative energy challenge with solar test cubes and food trucks. Colored pavers pixelate the ground plane, and create a branded identity for the heart of the district.
Moving Forward The plaza is regarded as the near term critical investment in the district. It serves as the nexus and collaborative common ground for all stakeholders, but requires the coordination of several landholders to realize the vision. This planning process provides the foundation for seeking funding essential to implementing this project. If realized, the core site public realm strategy has the potential to ignite innovation and drive Detroit’s transition toward a new innovation economy.
MORE: Sasaki Associates, Inc. |
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