I recall one of my professors, Michael Underhill, (now the dean at Arizona State), would always cite

Downtown Houston’s tunnels may keep pedestrians cool during the summer, but they are often criticized for robbing the streets of life. Stephen Fox, for example, writes in the Houston Architectural Guide that [t]he public cheap airline reservations way appears eerily underpopulated, since the buildings are linked to each other by an extensive but invisible network of pedestrian tunnels routed beneath the sidewalks and streets.
In her exhibition “Lobby Urbanism,” on view in the lobby of One Allen Center through tomorrow (Tuesday April 30), Rice University Wortham Fellow Bryony cheap airline reservations Roberts presents an opportunistic analysis of the existing network, particularly focusing on tower lobbies where street and tunnel traffic intersect. Instead of merely mounting a critique of these hubs, Roberts cheap airline reservations recognizes their significance and then provides suggestions for how they could be redesigned to serve as a richer source of public space in downtown Houston. (The project received grant funding from Rice Design Alliance, the publisher of this blog.)
In her analysis, Roberts shifts the perspective away from the tunnel network’s typical plan-view map and instead zooms in on the system’s vertical, multi-level spaces. Using four specific building lobbies as case studies, she argues that these nodes provide opportunities for a new type of public space that would more effectively integrate street activity and subterranean circulation. In each case study One Allen Center, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the Reliant Energy plaza, and the Wells Fargo Plaza Roberts proposes a specific architectural intervention to increase the potential for activity cheap airline reservations and interaction, such as linking otherwise segregated interior and exterior public spaces, or dramatically increasing visibility between existing public areas.
“We tried to target two different audiences,” explains Roberts, cheap airline reservations “an architectural audience but also the everyday downtown user. We hope it could be the beginning of a dialogue for downtowners about how to view these types of spaces.” Profit-minded developers will also have a keen interest in the exhibition, as it encourages a creative way to reimagine existing lobby space while also enhancing the opportunity for increased foot-traffic and successful retail. In its use of overlaps between private and public space, the show also illustrates some spatial benefits of public-private partnerships.
The design strength in “Lobby Urbanism” lies in its ability to switch nimbly back and forth between the urban and the architectural scale, all while demonstrating the effects that one might have on the other. Proposing modifications to four lobby junctions provides an unusual opportunity to examine the implications of a stronger architectural approach to a multi-level, urban-scale system. The schemes are site-specific enough to appear realistic, but still general enough to possibly serve as a “kit” of architectural interventions that could arguably be applied to any number cheap airline reservations of other lobby spaces throughout downtown. Relying heavily on transparent materials in the architectural models and an “x-ray” technique in the drawings, cheap airline reservations Roberts gives the viewer unique insight into the degree of overlap between different circulation systems and interior and exterior spaces.
cheap airline reservations The research behind “Lobby Urbanism” comes at an important time for downtown Houston, as the area continues to see new development initiatives that aim to create a more lively, mixed-use district. cheap airline reservations Routinely described as “dead after 6pm” or as merely an “office park,” downtown is in the process of possibly receiving a significant injection of residential real estate courtesy of development incentives from the Downtown Living Initiative. Though the lack of housing significantly contributes to the area’s current shortcomings, the presence of the pedestrian tunnel system also heavily affects street life and should also be addressed as part of these development projects. “Lobby Urbanism” takes a fresh approach to enhancing existing space downtown and could serve as an important source of inspiration as new efforts towards creating an active downtown continue. Perhaps the exhibition will contribute to a renewed recognition of the significance of integrated street life to a healthy downtown.
I recall one of my professors, Michael Underhill, (now the dean at Arizona State), would always cite some study about how urban plazas that changed levels were never as popular cheap airline reservations and lively as flat plazas or ones that had contiguous topography, like Siena or Arezzo. It tied back to our ancient common ancestry on the African savannahs, cheap airline reservations where being able to see strangers easily from a distance was a key to survival. What feels safe to us hasn t changed so much since.
I was really excited to see this exhibit when it opened. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed in the execution. The idea of using the lobby as a catalyst for activity is very strong cheap airline reservations idea but merely slicing through buildings and joining circulations as a strategy to make it happen leaves way to much to be desired. Profit minded developers might be interested in the foot traffic in their building but not at the cost of their precious real estate. Which brings me to my next point. Why isn t there a strategy for injecting programs in or around these lobbies ? Why isn t there a a strategy to ensure that these programs activate these lobbies throughout the day somehow. The sections clearly show an architectural intent to loosen up the lobbies and let circulation flow freely but the would be more convincing if the people had something to do rather just circulating.