View allAll Photos Tagged UrbanRevitalization"
Displayed is the curved stainless steel sheeting of the new theatre (2004) of the Maison de Folie on the rue des Sarrazins in the Wazemmes quarrtier of Lille (France). It’s used for music and theatre with a capacity of 750. It also houses an audio recording studio.
The main building of the Maison de Folie is an old knitting factory which has also a cultural function –it houses exposition spaces, a restaurant, a hammam (North African type bath house) and office space.
The theatre and the modernization of Maison de Folie were designed by Dutch architect Lars Spuybroek (Nox). The Maison de Folie is a part of the program to revitalize Wazemmes – a multicultural old workers quarter. In this high contrast b&w shot the façade perhaps lost a part of the transparency and airiness the architect gave this building, but it did retain it’s coolly voluptuous quality.
A site with more info about this building is here.
Best viewed Large with a black background
Netherlands, Rotterdam, Katendrecht, SS Rotterdam, Sports deck. (urban frontiers 70).
It was a stroke of genius, albeit a very expensive one, when a Rotterdam social housing corporation decided that the restructuring an revitalization of the former red light harbour and industrial urban peninsula ‘Katendrecht’was best served with the permanent mooring of the transaltantic liner and later cruise ship SS Rotterdam there and to give it a cultural and social economic function.
She’s a former flagship of the HAL (Holland America Line) built at the RDM ship yards in Rotterdam in 1958 and one of the biggest ships ever built in Holland. She ended her sailing days some 6 years ago and a destiny at a breakers yard loomed.
The purchase and very costly and lengthy restoration eventually sat back the corporation a total sum of 225 million €. During the process there were many raised eyebrows and discussions and the central government stepped in when the corporation was almost facing bankruptcy. It temporally lost a part of its independency in the process.
The refitted SS Rotterdam was opened to the public some weeks ago and serves as a hotel ship, congress centre, restaurant and theatre now.
And what a treat it is to be there, enjoy the beautiful transatlantic design of the ship and take in the spectacular views of the Rotterdam skyline from it. An unique and quintessentially Rotterdam experience. Not all the facilities are opened to the public yet and when the ship is fully operational there will be some 400 new jobs involved. A part of the personal recruitment is handled locally (in the Katendrecht quarter).
Made during a mini-cruise with Meneer de Braker.
Best viewed: LARGE.
Real Title: The Sun Sets on the Steel
Bethlehem, PA was the home of Bethlehem Steel, one of the largest steel companies in America during most of the 20th century. Billy Joel's song, Allentown is really about Bethlehem and "The Steel" closing down. There is a revitalization effort going on in Bethlehem to use the brownfields that were left when things shut down. A part of the previous Bethlehem Steel property has become a casino and will eventually have shops and a hotel...and the part in this picture will become an Arts Center, the SteelStacks.
“Park Spoor Noord. Het project staat voor het omvormen van een oud en afgeleefd spoorwegterrein tot een hedendaags, duurzaam en uitgestrekt stedelijk landschapspark met het accent op groen, licht, ruimte, ontspanning, cultuur en sport.
Het terrein meet 24 hectare (1,6 km lang) en was lange tijd eigendom van de Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS). Sinds circa 1873 vormde deze gigantische sporenbundel een wig tussen de omliggende wijken Dam, Stuivenberg en Seefhoek.
Een eeuw lang werden er op deze industriële site talloze treinstellen geparkeerd, locomotieven onderhouden en hersteld en opleiding gegeven aan spoorarbeiders. Sinds 1998 is het gebied op het gewestplan ingekleurd als ‘zone voor stedelijke ontwikkeling’. De NMBS zette zijn activiteiten stop in 2001.”
From the website: Gemeente Antwerpen.
Clearly the park is still in transition and this adds lovely industrial flavour to it.
As an addition to the Urban Frontiers set which is about (sub-) urbanization and urban restructuring in Holland I created a new set: Urban Restructuring (World).
Best viewed: LARGE.
Netherlands, Zuid Limburg, Maastricht, Sphinxkwartier, Boschstraat, Eifelgebouw.
The back facade of the modernist Eifel building, one of the many now defunct "Sphinx Ceramics" factory buildings. The building has a concrete skeleton with an array of internal, mushroom shaped pillars (like Las Palmas in Rotterdam: here) and was built in 3 stages between 1929 and 1941.
It will be the historic core of a new living quarter that will be created on the site of this extensive factory complex: “Het Sphinxkwartier": here which is a part of the ambitious Belvédère urban revitalization plan: here.
Best viewed: LARGE.
Belgium, Antwerp, Park Spoor Noord, Former NMBS administration building, SPTM shed. The administration building is being converted into a school and development aid centre for children and parents. The SPTM (locomotive shed) is used for public gatherings and festivities now.
“Park Spoor Noord. Het project staat voor het omvormen van een oud en afgeleefd spoorwegterrein tot een hedendaags, duurzaam en uitgestrekt stedelijk landschapspark met het accent op groen, licht, ruimte, ontspanning, cultuur en sport.
Het terrein meet 24 hectare (1,6 km lang) en was lange tijd eigendom van de Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS). Sinds circa 1873 vormde deze gigantische sporenbundel een wig tussen de omliggende wijken Dam, Stuivenberg en Seefhoek.
Een eeuw lang werden er op deze industriële site talloze treinstellen geparkeerd, locomotieven onderhouden en hersteld en opleiding gegeven aan spoorarbeiders. Sinds 1998 is het gebied op het gewestplan ingekleurd als ‘zone voor stedelijke ontwikkeling’. De NMBS zette zijn activiteiten stop in 2001.”
From the website: Gemeente Antwerpen.
Clearly the park is still in transition and this adds lovely industrial flavour to it.
As an addition to the Urban Frontiers set which is about (sub-) urbanization and urban restructuring in Holland I created a new set: Urban Restructuring (World).
Best viewed: LARGE.
Netherlands, Rotterdam, Lloyd kwartier (a former harbour and industry zone, now a urban revitalization quarter) , OT Toneel & Opera building (arch.: Jim Klinkhamer).
Shot during an extended lunch with Leun. Her take on this facade is here.
Best viewed: LARGE.
The Java and the neighboring KNSM island in Amsterdam are artificial. Firmly rooted in Dutch tradition, the islands are claimed from the water (the IJ river). They started their life as breakwaters parallel to the embankment and were extended to a regular island when the harbour wanted to expand. The first building was erected in 1907. It was from then to the mid 80s the home of the KNSM transatlantic shipping company. After that to the mid 90s the island, with no official user, degraded rapidly. A transformation project started to convert the island to a high density housing area.
Sjoerd Soeters’ was responsible for the urban planning and also acted as architectural supervisor. His starting points were the Amsterdam canals (grachten). These are characterized by an enormous variety of relative narrow houses. So diversity was important in the design.
Soeters projected 4 canals on the Java island. These canals are concrete ducts measuring 4 meters wide and 1,5 meters deep. The canal houses were designed by 10 architects amongst them René van Zuuk en Bjarne Mastenbroek. The result is that nothing is the same: color, height, division, size. A very eclectic post modern ensemble.
The hand on the right is from a good friend.
Click here for a large version with a black background.
2023.07.24;- This is a large project, 62 floors and will anchor the entranceway to the city with the Banque Nationale building on the other side. Montreal has a height limit of 200 meters which this will be. Its designed to keep buildings from blocking out the view of the mountain (Mont-Royal) or the cross on Mount Royal, its not clear which.
May 2016 | August 2019
The previously vacant building at 12th and Broadway in Pendleton has been renovated and now contains Lucius Q, an excellent BBQ restaurant.
Netherlands, Rotterdam, Heijplaat, RDM, RDM Campus, Onderzeebootloods, The one and the many exposition
Shot during a visit to the Elmgreem & Dragset exposition The one and the many with Leun.
"Elmgreen (Denmark, 1961) and Dragset (Norway, 1969) have created a vast exhibition featuring a specially designed block of flats, an abandoned funfair ride and numerous other elements. The exhibition ‘The One & The Many’ transforms the 5000m2 former Submarine Wharf into a deprived neighbourhood with a sinister atmosphere. These are the fringes of society: a tough underworld with dubious characters and shocking activities."
The Onderzeebootloods once was part of the RDM wharf on Heijplaat. Until 1994 submarines were built here. After years of dereliction and mixed use it's (temporarily) used as museum space by the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. Part of the wharf is still used industrially and the major part (the administration building, and two large former production halls are redeveloped as the RDM Campus with the Port of Rotterdam (Havenbedrijf) Hogeschool Rotterdam and the Albedacollege as prime movers.
The ferriswheel depicted here strikes a strange and alienating pose against the industrial roof of the Onderzeebootloods.
This is #88 of the Urban Frontiers set.
Netherlands, Rotterdam, Kop van Zuid, Wilhelminapier, the New Orleans high rise, some 11 months and quite a few floors from completion.
The lower building mass is the new Lantaren / Venster theater.
Architect: Alvaro Siza Vieira
(Urban Frontiers 62) (uncut)
Best viewed: LARGE.
Octavia is a a fanciful mosaic with a purpose who lives in a Friendship community garden. She is the creation of two neighborhood artists. Among her services are to direct water that she collects in her head thru the drain pipes that are her tentacles, and she also serves to delight children who visit and help them to become interested in gardening.
Please see other photos in my Friendship set for a history of this wonderful Pittsburgh neighborhood.
Athens- Gazi-Technopolis – an old gas factory converted to a centre for modern art and design. Urban/industrial revitalization in Athens. An exciting place: Gazi. Comparable with Ontwerpfabriek Van Nelle.
The many catenary wires signal a depot for trolley busses nearby.
Belgium, Antwerp, Park Spoor Noord, NMBS SPTM loods. A former locomotive maintenance building (1886 one of the oldest train rail related buildings in Belgium) and now dedicated to public gatherings and festivities. And I love that old red brick here ;-)
“Park Spoor Noord. Het project staat voor het omvormen van een oud en afgeleefd spoorwegterrein tot een hedendaags, duurzaam en uitgestrekt stedelijk landschapspark met het accent op groen, licht, ruimte, ontspanning, cultuur en sport.
Het terrein meet 24 hectare (1,6 km lang) en was lange tijd eigendom van de Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS). Sinds circa 1873 vormde deze gigantische sporenbundel een wig tussen de omliggende wijken Dam, Stuivenberg en Seefhoek.
Een eeuw lang werden er op deze industriële site talloze treinstellen geparkeerd, locomotieven onderhouden en hersteld en opleiding gegeven aan spoorarbeiders. Sinds 1998 is het gebied op het gewestplan ingekleurd als ‘zone voor stedelijke ontwikkeling’. De NMBS zette zijn activiteiten stop in 2001.”
From the website: Gemeente Antwerpen.
Clearly the park is still in transition and this adds lovely industrial flavour to it.
As an addition to the Urban Frontiers set which is about (sub-) urbanization and urban restructuring in Holland I created a new set: Urban Restructuring (World).
Best viewed: LARGE.
March 2016 | August 2019
Previously vacant buildings along Broadway Street in Pendleton have been renovated and now contain businesses including Three Points Urban Brewery, CHX, Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey, and Lucius Q, with apartments above.
May 2016 | August 2019
The previously vacant building at 13th and Broadway in Pendleton has been renovated and now houses Three Points Urban Brewery.
One Near East Side resident whose name sounded like "Alia Robins" as moderator Charleta Tavares announced it, said people in the neighborhood should get jobs related to revitalization projects.
As a former resident of Cincinnati's Over the Rhine neighborhood during its revitalization, she said she was saddened when out-of-state workers got the jobs. Many members of the audience applauded as she pressed officials to say whether they have or will set a minimum percentage as a requirement for hiring people in the neighborhood to do jobs related to development projects.
"That's a good question, but we don't have an answer," said PACT Advisory Chair, Fred Ransier. "We have to look at why people aren't getting those jobs, and what has to be done to ensure they have the skills to do those jobs."
After Robins repeated her question about whether PACT officials would commit to a minimum percentage, James Ervin of the CMHA Board of Commissioners responded by saying, "We have to reach out to minority contractors and vendors. We're doing everything within our power and within the bounds of the law to give preference to local businesses."
Also in response to her question, Bryan Brown, Senior VP for Business Development, said PACT has put in its contracts incentives for working with minority-owned businesses.
Sam Argawal, an activist who's been involved with opposing the demolition of Poindexter Village said PACT has not taken into account the rich African American history of the area. She said the area's Blackberry Patch was an important spot for the African-American struggle for civil rights. Argawal said PACT officials have paid inadequate attention to the OSU African American and African Studies Community Extension Center on Mount Vernon Avenue.
Argawal asked PACT officials to account for how well they are acting in accordance with the Fair Housing Act. She said the act requires planners and developers to ensure that their projects don't end up re-segregating communities.
"Has CMHA followed the fair housing process? Has anyone done a racial analysis of what's happening as you force residents to relocate? 600 people have been moved out. Where's the paper trail so the public can see if this is re-segregating communities? Relief should be provided to those who've not been treated according to the Fair Housing Act."
Of all the public comments, Argawal's drew the longest and loudest applause. Afterwards, among the crowd at various places in the gymnasium of Trinity Baptist Church, middle-aged Black men and women, some in business suits and some dressed causally, leaned over to shake hands with the young petite Indian-American Argawal.
Brown responded to Argawal by saying, "The answer to most of your questions is yes...We've been communicating with our municipal partners. We have 40 zip codes in Columbus. Part of HUD's priority for assisted housing is that it not be concentrated in pockets of poverty and minority areas. This ensures equal access to jobs, housing, and transportation. HUD has actually called us to see how we've been so successful. I'd also remind you that when it comes to paper trails, our residents have a right to privacy. That's why the relocation data we have given so far uses zip codes."
Brown's response to Argawal got some applause, though it was comparatively small. PACT Executive Director Dawn Tyler Lee said, in response to Argawal, that the OSU African American and African Studies Community Extension Center was included in the 'launch' event for the project. Lee said there is a video about it "on the site." But I haven't found it on on the PACT site eastpact.org or the site for the center aaas.osu.edu
In a vein similar to the points and questions from Argwal, a person who moderator Tavares announced as Professor Newsom said, "We keep hearing a lot of talk about 'mixed income communities.' If that's the goal, is there a model? We hear words like 'revitalization.' But when these kinds of things happen, places become out-of-reach for low-income people. Some of us here might not want to hear the word, but it's called gentrification. So, what's being done to make sure that what you're doing to Poindexter Village and the Near East Side doesn't displace people and erase our heritage?"
In response to Newsom, Ervin of CMHA said, "I understand what's happened in Chicago, LA, and other cities where traditional African-American communities no longer exist. But we're doing all we can to prevent this from happening in Columbus." This drew a small amount of applause and some poker-faced looks from the crowd. Tavares said land trusts are part of the solution.
Tavares then she told members of the audience to ask questions and not give "long orations." All due respect to her, but it was odd she said that, given how some of the PACT officials spoke at great length as the audience sat patiently. The whole two hours should have been devoted to answering questions from the public, as far as I'm concerned. Members of the community can do without the usual death-by-lecturing some officials seem prone to subject us to. What do you think, more interaction between the hoi polloi and those in power and less speeches where they audience sits passively ?
I also didn't like how Tavares instructed the audience to not point out problems unless we had solutions to offer, as part of the rules for the town hall meeting. Officials should be willing to hear from the community about problems, even if the messenger or no one else for that matter, has a solution.
Andre Frazier suggested to PACT officials that bricks of the buildings of Poindexter Village be given to people in the neighborhood.
"We have a lot of young Black men who need something to do. We can use those bricks to make patios and porches. It's not that hard. Those bricks are something we can touch as part of the history of our community. If we have some of the bricks, we have a piece of our history. And it recycles the bricks."
Frazier's remark got some applause. But Ervin said, "Typically building materials from a demolition are rendered over to the general contractor."
A person whose name I hope I'm not misspelling, Baba Ashongo, said, "PACT is not giving indigenous people here anything in return for the land. I saw the same thing happen in Boston." Looking briefly around the church gymnasium, he said, "I suggest the affluent African-Americans here move back to the historically Black communities. We have German Village, Italian Village, Hungarian Village. Let's have an African Village."
Another person from the audience told PACT officials she is concerned that stricter codes for the upkeep of houses in the Near East Side will lead to some current residents not being able to afford to stay in their homes.
Allie, a short curly haired blonde with United Commercial Food Workers (UCFW)--- I'm not sure how to spell her last name but I know what she does for a living---asked officials if they would commit to a community benefit agreement (CBA).
Officials at the town hall meeting took that and a few other questions all together. They didn't give their opinion about a CBA during the event. But Tavares and others said they would respond in writing to the questions they didn't answer last night.
Deb Steele with Columbus Jobs with Justice said a CBA related to PACT would involve a local hiring provision and a career ladder for OSU employees.
"For example, someone working as a janitor should have a way to get training to work as a phlebotomist."
She said development in the Near East Side shouldn't follow the pattern of South Campus Gateway where few people from nearby communities were hired for construction and renovation work, and where national chains displaced local businesses.
As an example of what she's talking about, Steele refers us to the CBA a group called Pittsburgh United achieved. www.pittsburghunited.org/campaigns/one-hill/one-hill-cba
Netherlands, Rotterdam, Katendrecht, SS Rotterdam, Sky line, high rises. (urban frontiers 71) (uncut).
It was a stroke of genius, albeit a very expensive one, when a Rotterdam social housing corporation decided that the restructuring and revitalization of the former red light harbour and industrial urban peninsula ‘Katendrecht’was best served with the permanent mooring of the cruise ship SS Rotterdam there and give it a cultural and social economic function.
She’s a former flagship of the HAL (Holland America Line) build at the RDM ship yards in Rotterdam in 1958 and one of the biggest ships ever built in Holland. She ended her sailing days some 6 years ago and a destiny at a breakers yard loomed.
The purchase and very costly and lengthy restoration eventually sat back the corporation a total sum of 225 million €. During the process there were many raised eyebrows and discussions and the central government stepped in when the corporation was almost facing bankruptcy. It temporally lost a part of its independency in the process.
The refitted SS Rotterdam was opened to the public some weeks ago and serves as a hotel ship, congress centre, restaurant and theatre now.
And what a treat it is to be there, enjoy the beautiful transatlantic design of the ship and take in the spectacular views of the Rotterdam skyline from it. An unique and quintessentially Rotterdam experience. Not all the facilities are opened to the public yet and when the ship is fully operational there will be some 400 new jobs involved. A part of the personal recruitment is handled locally (in the Katendrecht quarter).
The parking space and the green artery on display here is the space that once was taken in by the Hanno freight terminals.
Made during a mini-cruise with Meneer de Braker.
Best viewed: LARGE.
Keramaikos subway station – Technopolis exit. A recently opened station on the Blue Line (3) of the Attiki Metro (Athens subway).
Belgium, Antwerp, Park Spoor Noord, NMBS SPTM loods. A former locomotive maintenance building (1886 one of the oldest train rail related buildings in Belgium) and now dedicated to public gatherings and festivities.
“Park Spoor Noord. Het project staat voor het omvormen van een oud en afgeleefd spoorwegterrein tot een hedendaags, duurzaam en uitgestrekt stedelijk landschapspark met het accent op groen, licht, ruimte, ontspanning, cultuur en sport.
Het terrein meet 24 hectare (1,6 km lang) en was lange tijd eigendom van de Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS). Sinds circa 1873 vormde deze gigantische sporenbundel een wig tussen de omliggende wijken Dam, Stuivenberg en Seefhoek.
Een eeuw lang werden er op deze industriële site talloze treinstellen geparkeerd, locomotieven onderhouden en hersteld en opleiding gegeven aan spoorarbeiders. Sinds 1998 is het gebied op het gewestplan ingekleurd als ‘zone voor stedelijke ontwikkeling’. De NMBS zette zijn activiteiten stop in 2001.”
From the website: Gemeente Antwerpen.
Clearly the park is still in transition and this adds lovely industrial flavour to it.
As an addition to the Urban Frontiers set which is about (sub-) urbanization and urban restructuring in Holland I created a new set: Urban Restructuring (World).
Best viewed: LARGE.
“Park Spoor Noord. Het project staat voor het omvormen van een oud en afgeleefd spoorwegterrein tot een hedendaags, duurzaam en uitgestrekt stedelijk landschapspark met het accent op groen, licht, ruimte, ontspanning, cultuur en sport.
Het terrein meet 24 hectare (1,6 km lang) en was lange tijd eigendom van de Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS). Sinds circa 1873 vormde deze gigantische sporenbundel een wig tussen de omliggende wijken Dam, Stuivenberg en Seefhoek.
Een eeuw lang werden er op deze industriële site talloze treinstellen geparkeerd, locomotieven onderhouden en hersteld en opleiding gegeven aan spoorarbeiders. Sinds 1998 is het gebied op het gewestplan ingekleurd als ‘zone voor stedelijke ontwikkeling’. De NMBS zette zijn activiteiten stop in 2001.”
From the website: Gemeente Antwerpen.
Clearly the park is still in transition and this adds lovely industrial flavour to it.
As an addition to the Urban Frontiers set which is about (sub-) urbanization and urban restructuring in Holland I created a new set: Urban Restructuring (World).
Best viewed: LARGE.
The WaterWalk project in downtown Wichita, Kansas has been underway since about 2002.
The brand-spanking-new WaterWalk Place condominium and retail complex seen here is just one part of a larger plan to create an upscale residential-commercial-entertainment "village" that would anchor the southern side of the greater downtown area.
The local government has poured in about $40M or about one-third of the total projected cost of the project. A series of complications and the on-going economic recession have led to controversies, delays, and management changes.
Many North American cities have initiated revitalization projects in recent decades, but Kansas City, Missouri is rather distinguished in this respect.
Crown Center, located just south of Kansas City’s central business district, is said to be one of the country’s first major mixed-use urban redevelopment projects. It’s also somewhat unusual in that it was almost entirely funded by private investment, although it did benefit from special tax breaks designed to encourage such efforts. More typically, urban revitalization projects have been public-private partnerships.
One might say that this is a landscape built by greeting cards. Conceived in the early/mid-1960s by the owners of Hallmark Cards, Inc., the Crown Center project was intended to replace the declining and “blighted” neighborhood that surrounded the company’s world headquarters.
After the creation of subsidiaries to handle various tasks associated with the scheme and a period of property acquisition, the project was publicly announced in January 1967. Construction began in September 1968 and the first set of office buildings and supporting infrastructure was completed in 1971. Many other additional buildings and features have been added to the complex since then. Portions of the site and some of its buildings have also undergone periods of renovation over recent decades, as well.
This northeastward-looking image was taken from the top of the Liberty Memorial tower. It shows only a part of the greater Crown Center complex which contains office buildings, hotels, condominiums, restaurants, a shopping center, tourist attractions, fountains, parking garages, and other features.
Also see my image of Crown Center Square Fountain for a close-up view of one of the more popular features of the complex.
Myriad Botanical Gardens is a city park located along the southern edge of Oklahoma City’s central business district. The 17-acre site is packed with different forms of landscape architecture (almost to a fault). This terraced garden and walkway visually and physically connect one edge of the park at its normal elevation to the sunken pond at the center.
The park itself is a product of OKC’s urban renewal initiative generally known as the “Pei Plan.”
In the late 1950s, OKC’s public and private leaders became increasingly interested in formulating downtown redevelopment projects. In 1964, they got serious about it when a group called the Urban Action Foundation commissioned famous architect I. M. Pei to develop a comprehensive urban renewal plan. The first version of the “Pei Plan” made its debut in December of that year. It was ambitious, to say the least. Covering approximately 120 blocks, it was designed to improve the core of the city with a major shopping complex, new residential housing, a revised street grid, and much more.
Among the enhancements contained within the Pei Plan was a public park that would somewhat resemble Tivoli Gardens of Copenhagen.
Although many elements of the Pei Plan were never quite realized, the idea of the park was championed by oil company executive Dean McGee. Throughout the 1970s, McGee, the city government, and a variety of interest groups worked on the planning and construction of Myriad Botanical Gardens. Since the initial clearance of the 17-acre property in the mid-1970s, it has undergone continuous development and revisions.
Crosstown Concourse in Memphis, Tennessee used to be a major warehouse, distribution center, and retail store that was operated by Sears Roebuck between 1927 and 1993. After Sears left, it sat empty for about two decades.
Thanks to an incredible effort by a variety of local interests, however, it has since been rescued and transformed into a thriving apartment-retail-and-service complex.
The renovation process was quite challenging. The Central Atrium – shown here – is not part of the original design. It was created by cutting out and removing the reinforced concrete floors from eight levels of the building.
For more on its history, see my image of the old main entrance and accompanying description.
The Community Center is part of the 80 acres and ten years of building spawn by the 1965 capital improvements bond issue, in which two-thirds of the money was provided by the federal government as a Title I renewal project. The community center is composed of three buildings: a Convention Center with arena and exhibition hall, a 2,400 seat Music Hall, and the Leo Rich Theater with 575 seats. These buildings are placed around a spacious central plaza, design by Garret Eckbo of EDAW, with fountains and other water features, which unfortunately have not been well maintained.
Although it seems to be near its end, Sears Roebuck will be remembered for years to come for many things such as its massive mail-order catalog and past status as the world’s largest retailer. It also will have a lasting legacy on the American commercial landscape. The company has left behind its old stores in aging mega-malls across the US. And, of course, there’s its old headquarters, the Sears Tower (aka Willis Tower) in downtown Chicago, which was the tallest building in the world for over two decades.
In Memphis, Tennessee, the greatest legacy of Sears is this complex – the Crosstown Concourse.
As Sears was rapidly adding retails stores across the country in the late 1920s, it also needed to quickly expand its capacity to supply them and its increasingly popular mail-order operation. Consequently, the company built five massive distribution centers between 1926 and 1928 in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Memphis.
The Memphis project was a big one but done very, very quickly. Groundbreaking took place in February 1927 and the entire building was completed by August of the same year! The 650,000 square foot building cost about $5M (or about $74M in today’s money). Between 1929 and 1967, Sears more than doubled its size through a series of five additions. In this image, the original 1927 segment is visible in the foreground; the newer segments extend on back. At its peak in the late 1960s, this facility (which also included a Sears retail store) employed around 2,000 people.
American retailing and distribution systems both “suburbanized” during the latter half of the 20th century. Sears was among the many companies that led these transformations of urban geography. Warehouses and stores like this one were being replaced by new facilities near interstate highway interchanges on the fringes of metro areas. And, indeed, Sears shut down the Memphis Crosstown store in 1983; the distribution center was closed a decade later.
After Sears left, the facility was all but abandoned for over two decades. Thanks to an incredible effort by a variety of local interests, however, it has since been rescued and transformed into a truly thriving apartment-retail-and-service complex.
On December 18, 2013, the Sears, Roebuck and Company Catalog Distribution Center and Retail Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP # 13000954).
The Lafayette Square neighborhood of St. Louis is where one can find a good general example of gentrification.
The area that is now Lafayette Square was first known as “St. Louis Commons” which was comprised of city-owned cropland and pasture situated southwest of the city. In 1836, the City of St. Louis established its first public park on a 30-acre site within the commons and sold off surrounding tracts to private interests. During the remainder of the 19th century, landowners developed their lots with residential, commercial, and industrial structures. Dozens of upscale houses were built on the tracts adjacent to or near Lafayette Park.
Although Lafayette Square is known for its many impressive Queen Anne, Romanesque, and Colonial Revival houses, the Mansard (Second Empire) style structures (seen here in the foreground) represent the most common residential architectural form found there. Mostly built from the late 1860s through the mid-1890s, these detached townhouses feature three-bay front elevations, slightly recessed arched entrances, bay windows, and bracketed wooden cornices with attractive ornamentation.
Lafayette Square went into decline from the 1920s onward. The neighborhood suffered from pollution emitted by nearby factories and broader decentralization processes. By the 1960s, many of the residences had been turned into transient rooming houses; some others were in need of considerable repair. The City of St. Louis had also started to acquire and demolish certain properties.
Historic preservationists, neighborhood activists, and other individuals have worked since the late 1960s to revitalize the park and surrounding area. Since 1970, the Lafayette Square Restoration Committee, in particular, has led collective efforts to protect, promote, and revitalize the neighborhood. In 1972, Lafayette Square became the city’s first Historic District and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places; the historic district boundaries were expanded in 1986.
Their efforts, along with those of individual homeowners and entrepreneurs, seem to have paid off. Most of the housing and commercial buildings in Lafayette Square appear to be in excellent physical condition and the neighborhood seems to have a safe, stable, and comfortable atmosphere.
Most importantly, and as I discovered when exploring this neighborhood on several visits in 2010, the revitalization process has not just been one of structural restorations and financial returns on real estate investments. Residents have been motivated by the special history and architectural beauty of the neighborhood. As a result, they seem to have a strong and positive “sense of community.”
The Old Town district of Wichita, Kansas has a variety of retail and service establishments. Many of these businesses are concentrated in a "town square" near the intersection E 2nd N and N. Mead.
The Paleiskwartier has converted a former industry quarter near the railway station of Den Bosch into a integrated commercial and living quarter. Displayed here are 2 apartments buildings of the Armada project, facing the business quarter with the high rise of the ING bank and the regional new court buildings with the pond covered underground parking space in between.
This is another example of ‘inbreiding’.
Click here for a large version with a black background.
Belgium, Antwerp, Park Spoor Noord, Former NMBS building, park
“Park Spoor Noord. Het project staat voor het omvormen van een oud en afgeleefd spoorwegterrein tot een hedendaags, duurzaam en uitgestrekt stedelijk landschapspark met het accent op groen, licht, ruimte, ontspanning, cultuur en sport.
Het terrein meet 24 hectare (1,6 km lang) en was lange tijd eigendom van de Nationale Maatschappij van de Belgische Spoorwegen (NMBS). Sinds circa 1873 vormde deze gigantische sporenbundel een wig tussen de omliggende wijken Dam, Stuivenberg en Seefhoek.
Een eeuw lang werden er op deze industriële site talloze treinstellen geparkeerd, locomotieven onderhouden en hersteld en opleiding gegeven aan spoorarbeiders. Sinds 1998 is het gebied op het gewestplan ingekleurd als ‘zone voor stedelijke ontwikkeling’. De NMBS zette zijn activiteiten stop in 2001.”
From the website: Gemeente Antwerpen.
Clearly the park is still in transition and this adds lovely industrial flavour to it.
As an addition to the Urban Frontiers set which is about (sub-) urbanization and urban restructuring in Holland I created a new set: Urban Restructuring (World).
Best viewed: LARGE.
Here’s a view of the Crosstown Concourse in Memphis, Tennessee.
It used to be a major warehouse, distribution center, and retail store that was operated by Sears Roebuck between 1927 and 1993. After Sears left, it sat empty for about two decades.
Thanks to an incredible effort by a variety of local interests, however, it has since been rescued and transformed into a thriving apartment-retail-and-service complex. On December 18, 2013, the Sears, Roebuck and Company Catalog Distribution Center and Retail Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP # 13000954).
This image -- taken from the top level of the parking garage -- shows the south side of the complex.
For more on its history, see my image of the old main entrance and accompanying description.
The Lafayette Square neighborhood of St. Louis is where one can find a good general example of gentrification.
The area that is now Lafayette Square was first known as “St. Louis Commons” which was comprised of city-owned cropland and pasture situated southwest of the city. In 1836, the City of St. Louis established its first public park on a 30-acre site within the commons and sold off surrounding tracts to private interests. During the remainder of the 19th century, landowners developed their lots with residential, commercial, and industrial structures. Dozens of upscale houses were built on the tracts adjacent to or near Lafayette Park.
Although Lafayette Square is known for its many impressive Queen Anne, Romanesque, and Colonial Revival houses, the Mansard (Second Empire) style structures (seen here in the foreground) represent the neighborhood's most common residential architectural form. Mostly built from the late 1860s through the mid-1890s, these detached townhouses feature three-bay front elevations, arched entrances, and bracketed wooden cornices featuring attractive ornamentation.
Lafayette Square went into decline from the 1920s onward. The neighborhood suffered from pollution emitted by nearby factories and broader decentralization processes. By the 1960s, many of the residences had been turned into transient rooming houses; some others were in need of considerable repair. The City of St. Louis had also started to acquire and demolish certain properties.
Historic preservationists, neighborhood activists, and other individuals have worked since the late 1960s to revitalize the park and surrounding area. Since 1970, the Lafayette Square Restoration Committee, in particular, has led collective efforts to protect, promote, and revitalize the neighborhood. In 1972, Lafayette Square became the city’s first Historic District and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places; the historic district boundaries were expanded in 1986.
Their efforts, along with those of individual homeowners and entrepreneurs, seem to have paid off. Most of the housing and commercial buildings in Lafayette Square appear to be in excellent physical condition and the neighborhood seems to have a safe, stable, and comfortable atmosphere.
Most importantly, and as I discovered when exploring this neighborhood on several visits in 2010, the revitalization process has not just been one of structural restorations and financial returns on real estate investments. Residents have been motivated by the special history and architectural beauty of the neighborhood. As a result, they seem to have a strong and positive “sense of community.”
Peter Anderson graphic installation, Town Square, Castleford, 2004 - Peter took quotations from local people at public meetings, printed them on yellow ribbon and we attached them to lamposts and trees overnight, for 24hrs.
Lafayette Park has the great distinction of being St. Louis’ first public park.
Established by the city government in 1836, the attractive 30-acre site attracted various interests which developed surrounding lots with residential, commercial, and industrial structures throughout the remainder of the 19th century.
The park itself was re-designed in the mid-1860s by landscape architect Maximilian Kern who later helped develop the city’s magnificent Forest Park. Upon his direction, the lake (seen here) was deepened and expanded, hills were added, network of landscaped walkways were built. The park became one of the most popular recreational venues in the city over the following decades.
A devastating tornado in 1896 destroyed all of the trees in the park and other structures such as its popular bandstand. Pollution from nearby industries and broader decentralization processes in the 20th century sent the whole neighborhood into decline through the 1960s, as well.
Historic preservationists, neighborhood activists, and other individuals have worked since the late 1960s to revitalize the park and surrounding area. Today, the park is as charming as ever and the Lafayette Square has once again become one of the more prestigious neighborhoods in the greater St. Louis area.
Photo: Betsey Merkel
Article: The Pop-Up Retail Model by Nicole McGee, Artist and Entrepreneur goo.gl/rc6rMe
Nicole McGee, is Co-Founder, Cleveland Colectivo and Artistic Director, Upcycle Parts Shop and Collective Upcycle, a pop-up boutique.
Nicole is an artist and entrepreneur involved in community revitalization for regional impact. Nicole sells her artwork directly to local neighborhoods in showcase pop-up boutiques. One store, the Upcycle Parts Shop, specializes in the creative re-use of business waste.
Visit the Shop online at www.upcyclepartsshop.org/
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Along with the rehabilitation of old buildings, the efforts to revitalize historic downtown Alton, Illinois have involved a number of improvements to the public spaces. One of the more obvious goals is to make the sidewalks places where people can comfortably eat, drink, shop, and loiter.
Here along W. 3rd Street, parking spaces have been replaced by a rock fountain, benches, tables, and other landscaping elements.
The design of the fountain seems to be an attempt to symbolize the landscape found along the bluffs of the Mississippi River northwest of town. It lacks the elegance one might expect of municipal fountains, but I admire the concept.
The machine hall of the RDM Campus in tuindorp Heijplaat, Rotterdam. Check it out, it's a fascinating example of urban / industrial renewal and go there by Aqualiner.
Netherlands, Rotterdam, Kop van Zuid, Wilhelminapier, New Orleans - new Lantaren/Venster project, Building site, Fence, Gebiedsmarketing
(urban frontiers 64)
On the fence surrounding the building site, the usual suspects are carted out in the marketting of the New Orleans / Lantaren/Venster project.
Title based upon The usual suspects movie.
Best viewed: XL