Master of Regional and Community Planning / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / John W. Keller / In the 2009-2010 academic year at the Kansas City Design Center, four students undertook a design project seeking to transform an underutilized traffic median into a usable urban public space. The space, known as “Triangle Park,” is located at Avenida Cesar E. Chavez (West 23rd Street), West Pennsylvania Avenue, and Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. This report describes the existing site conditions and challenges to creating an inviting public space. The report explains how the students arrived at the finalized design using precedent studies, multiple design iterations, and community input from the Westside and Crossroads neighborhood stakeholders. The finalized design focuses on providing connectivity between people, the site, and the city as a whole. Opportunities for connection are offered by improved pedestrian circulation and a comfortable, well-defined outdoor space. Three major structural interventions are proposed: an illuminated overhead canopy beneath the Interstate-35 overpass provides shelter for pedestrians; a raised walking path enhances an already prominent pedestrian route; and a wooden deck provides opportunities for sitting and lingering. The ability of the design to meet the community’s stated needs and to serve as a social public space is evaluated to determine the likelihood of positive and worthwhile project outcomes.

The concept of my thesis is to employ architectural intervention in residual urban space as a catalyst for transformation. The goal is design of a building and environment that could be used for any combination of purposes, be used freely by all members of the community, be designed so that the art and architecture is interactive, and could be transformed by the users of the space. The project makes use of a residual urban space that would otherwise remain largely inaccessible. The project explores how the space could be designed to give a sense of ownership of it to the community, and how it could be designed to reunify areas of the city that have been severed by urban renewal. The site I have chosen is the Franklin Arterial in Portland, Maine, a four-lane divided surface highway surrounded by parking lots vacant lots, industrial sites and housing projects. Design interventions include a centrally located public market building, which would have a variety of uses throughout any given time period, a bicycle pedestrian path which reconnects the surrounding neighborhoods, and designated sites for art and performance throughout the area.

Hoy, en el mundo del arte de Lima, se puede percibir un fenómeno social definido por Robert Hughes (1992) como “Cultural Cringe”. Dicho fenómeno se basa en la incapacidad que tiene el artista para fundamentar su obra en una sociedad en la que el consumidor se ve condicionado por una exposición constante a medios de comunicación masivos. Al parecer, la solución se encuentra en la propuesta de una Escuela de Arte en Barranco, escenario principal de dicho “Cringe”. Dicha casa de estudios debe poder ofrecer una educación integral, teórica y práctica, que permita que los alumnos sean competitivos en una realidad internacional y, eventualmente, debe permitir que el contexto social en el que se encuentra se vea contagiado por el conocimiento y la cultura que la misma imparte. / Defined by Robert Hughes (1992);"Cultural Cringe" is a social phenomenon that can be perceived in Lima’s Art world. This phenomenon occurs when artists are unable to demonstrate their work as conceptually and intellectually coherent pieces, especially as a result of constant exposure to “garbage” mass media. Apparently, said “Cringe” can be corrected with an Art School Project in Barranco, where the problem is more latent. The proposed School should be able to offer a comprehensive, theoretical and practical education that allows students to be competitive in an international reality and, eventually, be the kick starter of a new knowledge and culture based set of customs. / Tesis