Gardens in the City

Cities are not designed to prioritize food production. Citizens buy food in stores, leaving housing and commerce to take up the cityscape. However, there are a number of people who enjoy growing their own food, for political, social, or aesthetic reasons. They find growing room in sidewalks and vacant lots and transform those spaces into tasty gardens. This is not only appealing to people who want to grow food, but also to those wanting a little more greenery around the city.

One example is Alleycat Acres in the Central District, on the corner of East Union Street and 22nd Avenue. The photos were taken around 1:00 PM on January 17, 2013 on an overcast Seattle afternoon. Surrounding the garden are shops, restaurants, houses and other common city fixtures. To one side of the plot of land is a boxing gym and to the other is a 76 gas station. Across the street lies a fenced in vacant plot, waiting to be developed.
The U-District P-patch, on 40th and 8th, is a slightly different community garden. Squeezed in between high rises, I-5 and a Metro transit facility, the P-patch ispart of a city-wide gardening program which seeks to build community through developing unused space. It is organized into rows of individual plots, decorated with personalized signs and arches. General maintenance work is maintained by monthly work parties, which blends community and individual responsibility.  These pictures were taken at 1:00 PM on January 24, 2013.

Many Seattleites enjoy gardening, which can be seen just by walking down the street. The last photo is of a sidewalk garden. Though the garden probably has an owner, it is out in the open and its aesthetic qualities can be enjoyed by any passer-by. The street sign and utility pole also illustrate how one small space can have many functions.

Connection & Circulation

Photo Diary: shared city 
Rao Fu, Tianshi Guo

Hi, great. here is the Harbor Steps. 

Located in the central downtown Seattle, Harbor steps is the popular residential area. Many apartments and companies settle down around the area. Our group went to there at Sunday morning; it is not a typical busy time as weekdays. But we still see and feel a quiet urban “corner garden” in busy Seattle.
Boundaries and connections
There is no clear boundary to define the open space, except the steps. Besides the Seattle historical area, facing to the Pike Market Place, Harbor steps stands as a symbol of modern Seattle. We started the observation from the high points, took stairs all the way down to waterfront.
Circulation and sharing city
The steps itself is the main path networking with the other part of the city. all kinds of people walking through the steps with all the purposes.


The white collars views this steps as the relax space besides their working places.
Visitors come to the steps as a scenic point in Seattle. Residents living there view the steps as their home. Based on our observation, children like this steps because the falling water go along the steps. Mosaic material and lovely water sounds not only attract children to play within it, but also attract adults to enjoy the rhythm of the water.

According to our experience, The Harbor steps worked as an “escape-garden”. Along the change of the stairs, the view of city changes. Down to the stairs, close view of the ferry station and Waterfront Park, it seems you standing at the lower part of the downtown. However, when you climb up to the high point of the steps, it is totally different view and experience of the city.

Human | Urban | Nature

This set of photos explores the forms which exist along the boundaries between people and the non-human users of urban space. These forms can be designed or constructed, or they may arise naturally (pun intended) in the leftover spaces of the city. In each instance, constructed and natural spaces interface across boundaries that can be hard, soft, or layered.

Formal designs tend to use hard boundaries which strongly designate spaces as either natural or urbane, with the latter category reserved for human use. P-patches are examples of designed public spaces where the boundary between human and non-human use of space is layered: paths for people and patches for plants (photo 3); natural processes are modified and re-constructed in compost bins and rainwater cisterns (photo 5). These forms emphasize the priority of human users in space.

 On the other hand, unplanned forms arise in the leftover spaces of the city, where plant and animal life take hold in whatever locations offer the necessary resources (sun, water, substrate) (photos 6 and 7). While not directly regulated by design or planning, boundaries are defined by the existing conditions and the ability to survive and thrive. These boundaries can be intentional (photos 1 to 5) or unintentional (photos 6 to 8) 

Incorporating nature in the built city is increasingly a stated or implicit goal in many designs, projects and policies. City sharing in this sense is fundamentally about accomodating and prioritizing use of space by particular sets of human users. Incorporating environmental values and observing how all life takes advantage of opportunity simply widens the conception of how urban space is used to include all life.

 

Treatment to the Chaos

Treatment to the chaos in Downtown Seattle

Project: Freeway Park

Location: Boundary North by Union and on the south by Spring Street. East to First Hill, west to the Seattle's financial center.

Observation time: 01/ 18, 2013, Friday, 10:00-12:00am

Participants: Dian (Nikky) Zhang, Xiaoyang Zhu, Yuan (Evan) Lin.

Observation:
1. Context: The park locates in the center of downtown Seattle. The !-5 Freeway and The 8th Ave go through the park. There is a large city-owned parking lot underneath the park. And the boundary is defined by Washington State Convention and Trade Center.
2. Activities: There are 2 main open spaces and many pedestrian made of concrete. in this park. the activities include waling, jogging, gathering, passing through and getting into the building.
3. Plants: In order to reduce the pollution from the freeway, the designer selected some native evergreen shrubs and trees which have a high ability to resist the toxic dirt and noise. There are some other colorful plants to indicate seasonal change.
4. Texture: The artificial part in this park is purely grey concrete, with some obvious red movable chair. Some of the plants would turn yellow and hard, which makes a big contrast between hard and soft. Aesthetically, the interact of each material is well presented.
5. Plans create the space: Most of the plants grow high and dense to enclose the road and define the boundary, while there are also some individual trees with beautiful appearance standing on a wide and flat grass field.

Conclusion:
Freeway Park is a wise design treating the complex context around. The freeway and other streets through the park can also be regarded as a mimic aspect of nature. The project blurs the boundary of what is natural process and what is urban.

Public Art/Public Claim

  

Team: Mickala Loeffelbein, Kathryn Christensen, Chris Morris
Location: Seattle, WA

Our group chose to investigate numerous examples of formal and informal

pieces of public art found throughout Seattle. Artists take claim of urban spaces in a way that

many people usually do not. Because of this, public art is not only a way that Seattleites share

the city, but also a way for artists to add new interest to Seattle. We define formal art as work

that the City of Seattle was a part of, and informal art as purely citizen-driven creations. The

formal pieces pictured are The Blue Trees and Children’s Art Tiles in Westlake Center, and The

View from the Canoe images near the Justice Center. Although all three are successful at

transforming the spaces they are in, they tend to look like “art-bandaids” applied to ugly or

uninteresting areas of the city. Our informal pieces, however, exemplify how organic,

spontaneous artwork enhances the urban setting. The Gum Wall in Post Alley, Ghost Bike in

the U District, and graffiti found around Seattle reflect the creativity of people who inhabit the

city. When Seattleites take a claim over public space like this, they add their stories and

experiences to the urban fabric. The Ghost Bike, a bike painted white, chained to a post on the

intersection of NE Campus Parkway and University Way, is a memorial to a rider who was hit by

a car at that spot. By installing the Ghost Bike, the artist transformed the intersection into a

memorial for the rider. The Gum Wall and graffiti are unique pieces with varying contributors,

but both achieve the same goal of beautifying blank city walls. After observing all these sites,

we conclude that informal installations are more successful than formal ones when it comes to

city sharing. Government-issued art is not always reflective of Seattle.

Portions of Public Parks

Lindsay Sauerlender

Harminder Dhaliwal

Adrian Servetnick

                 

Our group went to two locations in Downtown Seattle on January 17^th during mid afternoon. The first was Westlake Park, which was not as busy as we had expected, but there was an interesting dynamic among the different types of people. In Photo 1, you can see the large group of, if not homeless, then malcontents gathered in the corner of the square by the bus stop. Other than this group, the only other people sharing the square were the three police officers patrolling the park (Photo 2). Also in this photo you can see a large arch and stage, which was constructed as a means to facilitate entertainment to the public. It is interesting that, despite the openness of the square, any and all people in the area are grouped to the corners and sides. The art (blue trees), lights, and benches in Photo 3 demonstrate the effort made to appeal to public enjoyment of the park. These benches also serve as a resting place for shoppers in the area. The second location we visited was Victor Steinbrueck Park. In these photos you can see how the park was designed with a seating area to showcase the views of the water (as well as the recent addition of the Great Wheel). The canopy here provides a necessary shelter for people to share in the frequent Seattle rain (Photo 4).  Photos 5 and 6 were taken a bit farther away from the water, but they demonstrate the appeal to tourists with the cement benches that, in addition to providing seating (Photo 5), are also used for community business when they are filled with the wares of vendors (Photo 6).

The Urban Gallery

On Sunday, January 20th we examined the process of privatization within the public spheres of the famous streets of the most touristic hotspot of the city, Pike Place Market. Our focus was centered on the unspoken private “businesses” of those individuals that shape our experience at the market, rather than the authorized shops and restaurants that only attract attention behind closed doors. The concept of designing an experience into a space as opposed to designing a space to match a certain experience, is greatly evident in the streets of downtown Seattle. Throughout our walkthrough we found it fascinating the utilization of street space by lower classmen and their positive impacts on the experiences that are designed into an area. Not only how they are purposely designed, but how they evolve organically. Among the arts we found were street performers, three-dimensional Sculptures, both approved and unapproved, and works that arise from the many hands, like the graffiti walls and the infamous gum wall. The streets became a stage for the performers, while the walls became a gallery all emphasizing the beauty behind the shared city.

Sculptures such as the Tree of Life and the Market Foundation Piggy Bank were public works constructed as art pieces for the city and its citizens. Both of these works were paid for in donation from private entities. As private businesses attempt to become more involved in communities, they simultaneously help pay for public works. Repetitive private advertising found throughout the community satisfies both the private sector and meets the public’s needs. On the other hand, the blurred boundary is found in organically formed art, in the form of street artists and street.

~Jake Mellinger, Nick Durig, and Yair Cohenca

Boundaries Blurred: PARK(ing) Day in Seattle

             Founded by the Rebar group, a San Francisco based design and art studio, PARK(ing) Day is " an annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.”¹ The goals of PARK(ing) day are to bring awareness to the need for more open, public and green spaces in urban areas. Since the inaugural parking spot was transformed into a temporary park back in 2005, the event has become an international phenomenon, reaching cities (and parking stalls) across the globe. What makes this event particularly compelling to examine as an example of the idea of “City Sharing” is how not only the physical boundaries of the parking stall but also the social boundaries within an urban environment become blurred. As depicted in the photo slideshow, urban dwellers from a variety of unique demographics and socio-economic backgrounds are able to come together and cohabit a single parking stall space, transforming it into a fun, active and unique shared city space.            

          The creativity of designers and community activists who reimagine and work to temporarily transform these parking stalls is astounding. Providing different experiences through the physical design and inclusion of seating and activities, these seemingly mundane parking stalls become active places for social interaction and engagement. Many PARK(ing) day stall designs include the use of vegetation and landscape elements, creating the visual appeal and ambience of a community park or garden, which can be interpreted as an example of Rutherford Platt’s discussion of the “Garden City” movement in the early 1900s-- which targeted the design for open spaces in town areas for community parks and gardens which would be nostalgic of previous colonial gathering periods” (6:1994)².            

          Seattle’s participation in PARK(ing) Day illustrates the creativity and power of ordinary citizens to transform and share city spaces for the benefit of all.

Sources

1) http://parkingday.org

2) Platt, Rutherford H. 1994. From Commons to Commons: Evolving Concepts of Open Space in North American Cities.