SITE EXPLORATION
EXPERIENTIAL MAPPING
To gain a better understanding of each site, I devised a series of layered drawings to archive various characteristics of the Washington Park Neighborhood. The characteristics mapped in the image below include vacancies, assets, shadows, walkability and pedestrian paths, topography, and available housing stock.
The frosted-white, three-dimensional pieces represent vacancies and city owned parcels within a .25 mile distance of each site. The red three-dimensional pieces represent community assets within a .25 mile distance of each site. The assets documented on this map were identified by the Washington Park Partners Sustainable Community Plan. These assets include; Westside Academy II, Our Next Generation, Washington Park Apartments, Washington Park Library, United Methodist Children’s Services townhouses, Amaranth Bakery, the Urban Ecology Center, Bethune Academy, Family Dental Center, Lisbon Avenue Health Center and Express Yourself Milwaukee. The white figure-ground layer shows the housing units that are currently occupied. The red, dashed lines show the pedestrian path one may travel and the amount of time needed to walk from each site to a specified asset. A layering of shadow studies taken at 9:00AM, 12:00PM and 3:00PM on the shortest day of the year, December 22, is represented as a series of dark parallel lines. The housing stock is archived on the left portion of the piece. The condition of each vacant structure within a .25 mile distance of the suggested sites was evaluated and documented. Elevations with a solid red outline represent housing stock that is in poor condition. Elevations with a dashed red outline represent housing stock that is in moderate condition. Elevations with no form of red outline represent housing stock that is in good condition.
EVENING DRIVE
The short documentary below shows the Washington Park Neighborhood during the evening. It will be used to evaluate evening street lighting efficiencies and traffic activity.
WINTER WALKABILITY
The short documentary below explores the pedestrain paths that one may utilize to travel from the suggested sites to asset destinations. Weather is an important component when considering aspects of walkability and winter provides the most extreme conditions in which to evaluate pedestrian experience.