Post-industrial ports are an armature to be approached heedfully. They offer a rich maritime history, serve vital economic roles, and carry significant environmental burdens. Further, they are gems of relatively undeveloped waterfront real estate. The debate for who and what takes priority in these abandoned pockets is a long and messy one. Additionally, opening these neighborhoods to potential development brings the question of how transportation can play into the infrastructure, and if the current transportation networks can support the traffic these new neighborhoods will bring. This has been a constant tension at the now mid-point in Boston’s planning of the Seaport District. The contemporary zone is stuck in a state of being isolated from the rest of the city in both its physical infrastructure and programmatic ideologies, simultaneously creating two worlds within the context of the historic port. With this district-wide disconnect between the new and old comes need for new bonds, those which weren’t originally considered when developing the existing infrastructure of the city's core. The Seaport needs to be smoothly integrated into public transportation without overburdening a congested system. Planning needs to be reconsidered at a city-wide scale, and brought back down to specific applications relevant to this controversial, ambiguous district. The subway is over-utilized, the highways bursting, and there are limited vacant channels to expand train tracks. New means of transit need to be implemented that are enticing to commuters, residents and tourists alike. Maybe the solution isn’t embedded in the current routes, but rather looking to the waterfront as a way to reposition an alternate artery, reclaiming the port in its initial state. Proposals for waterfront redevelopment and transit have been contemplated for decades, yet they fade out as water transit systems are underutilized, making funding improvements ironically more difficult. Terminals weren’t planned to correlate with desirable landmarks or additional transit links, and simply fail to stretch vast enough distances to make them necessary; until now. This thesis explores the symbiotic relationship between water transit and the post-industrial port. Through architectural analysis, transit stops can foster success through re-modeling their network, amenities, branding, and program. In reestablishing this relationship, the city can re-link physically and in reflection of its historic identity with the coast. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_94261 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Contributors | Federman, Amy (author), Roser-Gray, Cordula (Thesis advisor), Tulane School of Architecture Architecture (Degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | electronic, electronic, pages: 51 |
| Rights | Embargo, No embargo |
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