Common Places: Finding a Framework [AIA Regional and Urban Design Committee]

The American Institute of Architects, Regional and Urban Design Committee Common Places: Finding a Framework Todd w. Bressi Common places are woven into our cities and our lives in a variety of ways. Some are inciden­ tal, like a riverfront cafe that we discover with delight. Others are casual, like the neighbor­ hood playgrounds that anchor children's routines and social networks. Still others are monu­ mental, like the civic parks or cultural institutions that we visit only occasionally, but with anticipation or even fanfare. Such places are most effective when they are anchored within a framework — a system of infrastructure like streets or rivers, a network of public institutions like schools, or a set of civic expectations. 'These Irameworks help determine which places become lodged within our experience of and image of the city, which places receive the atten­ tion they need to thrive, which places are carried forward in visions for the future. Like San Francisco (which the RUDC visited last spring), Chicago is making vast in­ vestments in its common places. 'The fall forum in Chicago explored a range of common places — through tours and presentations by designers, public officials and community leaders — always searching for the frameworks that fix the position of these places in the city, in citizens' everyday lives, anil in people's expectations. Streets as Common Places Downtown, State Street is undergoing a remarkable revival. A century ago, it embodied the best of this brawny metropolis, emerging as a choice location for wondrous new skyscrapers, shopping palaces and civic life. Hut after World War II it began to decline. Suburban growth competed for retail and office activity; its architectural landmarks were becoming function­ ally obsolescent; local businesses that had proudly viewed State Street as a front door were being acquired by remote owners. In 1979, the street was turned into a busway. 'Two frameworks have been essential to State Street's revival: the history embedded in its architecture and in people's memories, and civic groups that have refused to let it die. 'The planning and design strategies have rested on several principles, which generally seek to recognize the complexity of the street and activities along it, and to strengthen connections to businesses, institutions and other common places downtown: Make 11 mixed-use street. The busway was reconfigured to handle both bus and auto traf­ fic; sidewalk space was reduced to concentrate pedestrian activity next to buildings; subway connections were emphasized with new entrance kiosks; space was reserved for a possible downtown light-rail connector. Cultivate a variety of activities along the street. Entertainment, retail and educational uses already anchor three distinct segments and generate activity at least eighteen hours a day. Planners hope for more housing, which could give State Street life around the clock; already, several buildings have been converted to student housing and live Establish work lofts. mvnership. Who's minding the store? asked Cregory S. Baldwin, TAIA, of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca. When State Street was a bus mall, the perception was that: it belonged to Chicago's transit authority; now a civic group, the Greater State Street Coun­ cil, has taken clear leadership in managing the street. State Street must still anchor itself more firmly into surrounding frameworks. First, it must integrate better with the downtown street network. Cross streets should serve as gate- P I A C E 5 1 1 : 3 J