Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH
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University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
2011
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin13064992702021-08-03T06:14:35Z Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH Weaver, Alissa N. Architecture architecture connection aging industrial city urban waterfront Toledo identity <p>The cores of America’s aging industrial cities have declined. With the rise of the suburbs, the substance of these cities – people, spontaneity, exchange, and interaction – has migrated outward from the central core. As a result of this migration and its corresponding disinvestment, these cities suffer from a weakened urban identity, manifested in negative perceptions and attitudes about these cities and their offerings. Identity for each city is a projection of meaning that accompanies an individual’s interpretation of its environment. Because projected meanings vary based on the individual, meaning is not the focus of this thesis; instead, this thesis asserts that in order to strengthen a city’s identity, the environment – both built and unbuilt – must change to allow for increasingly positive perceptions and attitudes. </p><p>Changes in the unbuilt environment influence a city’s geographic identity – its topography, climate, and resources; whereas, changes in the built environment influence a city’s urban identity – its daily flows and social interactions. For many aging industrial cities, the only enduring symbol of the unbuilt environment is a major waterway, a transportation channel that coincided with the city’s beginnings; the datum against which built interventions are measured. At the waterfront, where landscape, urbanism, and architecture intersect, design must respond with flexibility, enabling current social interactions and anticipating future uses. The methodology for creating this dynamic urban landscape requires formal strategies that challenge the functionalism that formed these cities, allowing for spaces with multiple programs and functions, both known and anticipated. The thesis design proposal attempts to create a dynamic urban waterfront in Toledo, Ohio, reorienting the downtown to the Maumee River and connecting existing assets to a web of new interaction. The design approach uses Alex Wall’s surface strategies: thickening, folding, new materials, nonprogrammed use, impermanence, and movement – to incorporate a new program of housing and entertainment spaces within the existing context and provide for new social interaction along Toledo’s waterfront. The resultant intervention must connect people to the waterfront, improve access to the river’s edge, allow for previously unplanned social interaction, and promote an increasingly positive perception of Toledo.</p> 2011-09-26 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1306499270 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1306499270 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center. |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Architecture architecture connection aging industrial city urban waterfront Toledo identity |
| spellingShingle |
Architecture architecture connection aging industrial city urban waterfront Toledo identity Weaver, Alissa N. Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH |
| author |
Weaver, Alissa N. |
| author_facet |
Weaver, Alissa N. |
| author_sort |
Weaver, Alissa N. |
| title |
Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH |
| title_short |
Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH |
| title_full |
Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH |
| title_fullStr |
Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Urban Surface: Improving Identity through Formal and Social Connections in Toledo, OH |
| title_sort |
urban surface: improving identity through formal and social connections in toledo, oh |
| publisher |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2011 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1306499270 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT weaveralissan urbansurfaceimprovingidentitythroughformalandsocialconnectionsintoledooh |
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1719433365888696320 |