-incremental enlivening in residential streets-
2023
Advised by Mark Heller
The project proposes an incremental transformation scheme for residential streets. The impervious surfaces of the streets are gradually deconstructed and reconstructed into a series of soil plots that capture stormwater and provide habitats for wildlife.
As opposed to top-down and authoritarian redevelopments, the transformation is initiated by individual buy-ins and then advanced by collective buy-ins. By giving up the street parking spaces, individuals gain soil plots that can be used as extensions of their property. When parking lots are transformed on both sides of the street, the automobile lanes that are in between can be replaced by tilted, pervious planes. Eliminating all the street parking and car traffic along the street enables the replacement of pervious planes into a series of soil terraces. Taken all together, the project aims not only to address stormwater and biodiversity but also to cultivate a sense of are toward the neighborhood among residents.