TechTown District Plan / Sasaki Associates
The TechTown District Plan by Sasaki Associates articulates an inspiring vision for the revitalization of the district. An emerging knowledge district in Midtown Detroit, this town is currently characterized by surface parking, vacant properties, and inward-facing, siloed hubs of activity. The architects’ concept, however, aims to accelerate innovation, promote entrepreneurship, and build community around the generation of ideas in a vibrant, mixed-use setting. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Plan Envisages Reusing Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past to Bring The City Closer Together
With the advent of the High Line and the recent announcement about Chicago’s Bloomingdale Trail, it’s becoming clear that the ‘parkway’ is a powerful new force in urban planning, which has the potential to change the way cities around the world function. A new project in Pittsburgh seeks to harness these possibilities, as the city’s history of industry has left its stamp upon the city in the form of a rusting industrial riverfront. A plan by Saski Associates envisages re-using this space to create a green belt, tying the city closer together. By adding pedestrian, cycling and light-rail transport routes, and creating plenty of green spaces, they hope to tap Pittsburgh’s unrealized potential to be a river-front city, while encouraging geographical and social closeness amongst its communities.
More images and the architect’s description after the break…
Chicago Riverwalk Proposal / Sasaki Associates + Ross Barney Architects
Sasaki Associates, along with Ross Barney Architects, Alfred Benesch Engineers, and a broader technical consultant team, were tasked this year with creating a vision for the six blocks between State Street and Lake Street in Chicago. Building off previous studies, the team’s Chicago Riverwalk Concept Plan, which is currently in progress to be completed, provides the last, critical link between the lake, the city’s circulation, and the river’s urban branches. Once a meandering marshy stream, the river became an engineered channel to support the industrial transformation of the city, making this riverwalk an instrumental design in the city. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Lorain County Community College iLOFT / Sasaki Associates
Architects: Sasaki Associates
Location: Elyria, Ohio, United States
Team: Bryan Irwin, Katia Lucic, Jen Imbaro, Tala Klinck
Area: 109,000 sq ft
Year: 2012
Photographs: Scott Pease
The Drexel University Daskalakis Athletic Center / Sasaki Associates
Architects: Sasaki Associates
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Design Team: David Dymecki, Pablo Savid-Buteler, Nancy Freedman, Gerry Gutierrez, Sal Canciello, Dan Dwyer, Mette Aamodt, Elke Berger, Mark Delaney
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Halkin Photography, Robert Benson
Masterplan for National Creative Cluster / Sasaki Associates
The masterplan for the National Creative Cluster by Sasaki Associates integrates the urban form with the surrounding landscape by creating a series of green wedges, interspersed within the urban clusters and forming a series of community parks. Located near Songzhuang, a quiet village on the outskirts of Beijing, the success of the district is tied to its openness, where people can interact in both structured and spontaneous ways to exchange ideas and have constructive dialogue. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Wilmington Waterfront Park / Sasaki Associates
Architects: Sasaki Associates
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Principal-in-Charge: Steve Hamwey
Participating Principals: Nancy Fleming, Owen Lang, Tim Stevens
Lead Project Designers: Melissa McCann, Landscape Architect; Tim Stevens, Architect
Landscape: Caleb Bruner, Mark Eischeid, Raphael Justewicz, Joon Yon Kim, Chang Keun Lee, Shannon Lee, Conard Lindgren, Meghen Quinn, Simon Raine, Nitza Thien
Architecture Team: Grace Leung, Tomer Maymon, Scott Odom, Vitas Viskanta, Angel Cantu
Civil: Zach Chrisco, Chuck Coronis, Michelle Gauvin, Oswaldo Palencia, Jose Miranda
Client: Port of Los Angeles
Completion: 2011
Size: 30 acres
Photographs: Craig Kuhner
Universidad del Istmo Master Plan and Implementation / Sasaki Associates
The new campus of Universidad del Isthmo is located on a beautiful hillside in the rapidly growing community of Santa Isabel near Guatemala City, Guatemala. Sasaki Associates designed the 49-hectare site, and the first phase of the plan, which consists of the heart of campus, is currently undergoing implementation. The university aims to enroll approximately 6,200 students in successive stages of implementation over 20 years. The educational objectives and mission of the university include a strong focus on the individual and the community within the learning environment. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Water Works Park / Sasaki Associates
Sasaki Associates, with RDG Planning & Design and Applied Ecological Services (AES), were recently announced as the winning team of the Water Works Parkitecture Competition. The international design competition entailed the creation of a conceptual plan for Water Works Park to form dynamic relationships between the river, the watershed, and the community. Education and the connection between the river and the community were highly stressed in Sasaki’s winning proposal. More images and architects’ description after the break.
A Vision Plan for the Dead Sea / Sasaki Associates
The detailed master plan for the Jordan Development Zones Company (JDZ) by Sasaki Associates encompasses 40 square kilometers of land along the north and east coast of the historic Dead Sea. Over the past 15 years, the Kingdom of Jordan has focused on a balanced approach towards development and preservation in order to capitalize on increased tourism and to provide improvements to local existing communities. In 2008, a development authority was created to establish a detailed master plan as a sustainable framework for existing committed lands, future development parcels, infrastructure provisions, and natural resources protection. The resulting master plan establishes a comprehensive and site specific approach to the social, economic and environmental sustainability issues facing this stunning setting. More images and project description after the break.
