Following recent natural disasters including the Northern California wildfires, the HASSELL + team have been inspired to reimagine the San Francisco Bay Area as a vibrant community hub, equipped to provide temporary facilities in an emergency. As part of the competition Resilient by Design, the ten teams were asked to provide solutions for the waterfront through site-specific conceptual design and collaborative research projects.
The HASSELL + team’s proposal integrates a network structure of ‘connectors’ and ‘collectors’ to improve the waterfront’s physical and social resilience. The recharged streets, creeks and enhanced ferry network are the ‘connectors’ that will become new slow and safe movement corridors to the points of collection, including adaptive open spaces that will socially recharge the area as a place for everyday gathering and civic celebration that can also provide the vital space needed for disaster assembly.
The team headed by HASSELL draws on their range of international perspectives; MVDRV, Deltares and Goudappel; to bring their wealth of experience for designing and understanding urban landscapes centered around water. In partnership with local experts – Lotus Water, Civic Edge, Page & Turnbull, Hatch, and Idyllist - they envisioned the social potential the waterfront could offer to communities.
HASSELL have previously worked with the Sydney Waterfront where they have taken items of functional necessity and transformed them into cultural icons that shape the brand image of the city. Their experience has led them to create a socially sustainable masterplan for the San Francisco Bay Area focusing on a range of different elements to help boost the vulnerable communities, healthcare, and local business. They believe, when designing for a disaster, it is important to forward think about how you will adapt and face the challenges as a result of climate change and the rising temperatures.
Applying their ‘collect and connect’ concept to the proposed sites, HASSEL + has envisioned a new Shoreline Park at Colma Creek. In order to reflect the community’s needs, HASSELL + will set up a drop-in center during the design process along Grand Avenue that is set to become a thriving hub. Working with the locals, they can draw on their ideas and opinions for the design solutions that will be presented this May. On top of the drop-in center, there will also be the opportunity to access a digital platform to visualize the plans for the Bay Area and get involved with the decision making.
Location
San Francisco, CA, United StatesArchitect in Charge
HASSELLDesign MVRDV
Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de VriesDesign Team
Nathalie de Vries, Jeroen Zuidgeest with Kristina Knauf and Vedran SkansiCollaboration
HASSELL+ (HASSELL, MVRDV, Deltares, Goudappel, Lotus Water, Frog Design, Civic Edge, Idyllist, Hatch, Page & Turnbull)Client
Project Year
2018Photographs
Courtesy of MVRDV and HASSELL+Architects
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News via: HASSELL.
Resilient by Design Announces Ten Winners Set to Re-Imagine The Bay Area
From a pool of over fifty submissions, Resilient by Design have chosen ten winning teams to collaborate with engineers, climate change experts, designers, architects and community members to imagine a better future for The Bay Area in the face of potentially devastating climate change.
