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Collaborators
- Director of Research
- Coordinator, MS in Urban Planning for Transition
Student Projects
Schuylkill Yards Master Planning
The Schuylkill yards development project is the attempt to link University City section of Philadelphia back with center city, through the bridging of the rail yards. The project aims to create vertical communities and connections to all of the existing transportation networks (SEPTA rail and bus service, AMTRAK regional, pedestrian vehicles), as well as extend space for new networks (such as a hyperloop system).
Our development process was focussed on the core ideal of knitting the urban fabric, and as such many of our constraints and decisions were based on questions such as “How will this project support the universities?” and “How do these new buildings affect the surrounding community?” By focusing on these simple questions, we were able to create a framework that supported the city while also building a new community from the ground up.
Several main corridors intersect the project and feature wide pedestrian directed pathways. 90% of the corridors are implemented as linear parks as well, as Philadelphia is famously the garden city and our extension should emphasize this core belief rather than shying away from that history. They not only reduce effective heat island and improve visual cues, but bring the population health higher in line with what we see in European cities.
After establishing the base network of buildings and context, and proposing a clear way to knit the city back together, we dove into individual beacons of design that emphasize our ethos, projects whose individual elements would be taken and applied throughout the site post development over time (See subprojects “Schuylkill Yards One and Schuylkill Yards Two).
Schuylkill Yards One
- Daniel Paul
Programmatic Goals of the Site:
- Create a termination point for The Vine Street Park Project
- Knit the Urban Fabric of University City to Center City
- Create an inviting and active space along the Schuylkill River
Invite Businesses to collaborate in a new prototype urban environment for the city of Philadelphia
One Schuylkill Yards Accomplishes:
Developing a centralized transportation hub around 30th street station and the new hyperloop system and an all encompassing vertical city in the tower above that features centralized neighborhoods of mixed use. This provides varied housing options for both middle and upper end development.
Utilizes elevated commercial spaces that are designed for both the inhabitants of the tower and those who come to visit it.
Creates interconnected systems with SEPTA and Amtrak that allows the development of a new transportation hub in Philadelphia.
Brings Philadelphia’s signature Biophilia and parks to a vertical building as a showcase of how we can develop green cities both horizontally and vertically.
Schuylkill Yards Two
- Onel Santiago
As part of our thesis project my partner and I were tasked with re-envisioning what Philadelphia's Schuylkill yards will look like by the year 2050. To adapt to population growth and the threat of rising water levels, our proposal explores the idea of extending the city fabric above a vacant industrial zone and active railyard. This allows for the safe extension of urban conditions and allots opportunities for creating a prototype community of forward thinking construction. Introducing two skyscrapers offering an vast assortment of housing, infrastructure, and commercial spaces