2017 Annual WASLA Conference

Spokane Convention Center, April 21, 2017
One Day, Dynamic Sessions, Ultimate Location

1:30-2:30 PM
Regeneration of an Urban Corridor to Plan a Stronger Community

Description:

Between the start of the last century and the beginning of this one, monumental infrastructure for the movement of passengers and freight were built, rebuilt, and then abandoned throughout the United States. Today, architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects and city leaders are recognizing opportunities for developing new networks of mobility as an approach to urban regeneration. The growing success of regional corridors and linear park projects as the NYC High Line demonstrates the potential for interstitial open space to connect larger landscapes while influencing the spatial dimension of the urban fabric. Illustrating this effort to re-imagine our regional corridors to meet the future demands is the planned economic development of Tacoma through the integration of the Prairie Line Trail (PLT) with the unused Northern Pacific Railroad line. The PLT is historically significant as the first transcontinental connection to the Puget Sound, which shaped the early development of the City. It’s conversion into a public space provides an exceptional opportunity to create a truly distinctive public asset. The Prairie Line is envisioned as a development catalyst for the revitalization of the Historic Brewery District, a unifying feature connecting different districts of Tacoma, and a pedestrian/bicycle gateway to Downtown and the Foss Waterfront.

Lead Speaker:

Phoebe Bogert 

Speaker Bios:

Phoebe Bogert, Principal, ASLA, PLACE
Phoebe is a Landscape Architect and a creative Design Director of the PLACE Seattle studio. Her extensive experience in the planning and design of public and private urban design projects fosters a strong sense of place, healthy neighborhoods, and vibrant communities. As a long-time resident of Washington State, her comprehensive approach recognizes the local area, users, infrastructure, and systems, as contributions to the region’s ecology. With a demonstrated track-record of utilizing artful and ecologically sensitive language of landscape architecture, Phoebe’s work has been reflected in beloved public open spaces throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Diane Waitr, Planner, AICP, City of Seattle Department of Transportation
A Principal Planner with the City of Seattle Department of Transportation Policy and Planning Division, Diane Wiatr manages long-range sustainable transportation planning and implementation with an emphasis on placemaking. As exemplified by an award-winning effort with the Prairie Line Trail in Tacoma, she has been instrumental in regional city planning that exemplifies an essential sensitivity to each site’s distinct history, its future potential, and the natural processes that shape it. Contributing to education and encouragement programs to get residents out on the streets walking and bicycling, she served as the Active Transportation Coordinator for the City of Tacoma working in the Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability. Diane received a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute in 2005.

Mauricio Villarreal, Principal, ASLA, PLACE
Mauricio J. Villarreal, ASLA is a Founding Partner of PLACE design studio with more than 25 years of experience creating transformative environments that embrace environmental stewardship, reinforce design excellence, and provide vital spaces for generations to enjoy. Mauricio is committed to developing resources and expertise of lasting impact on the design profession and the natural and built environments across the globe. In addition to his international work, he has remained grounded in the region by providing community design services, teaching, and recently serving as the President of the Oregon American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) as well as an executive member of the Portland
Parks Board and the AIA/APA/ASLA Urban Design Panel.

Learning Objectives:

• Resolution of complex systems through a layering of functions including storm water treatment, pedestrian & bicycle movement, trail alignment, network of open space, economic development.
• Examine how balancing continuity, identity, functionality, and flexibility within an open space network was utilized to create a new civic heart.
• Obtain insights how the project reestablished public private partnerships to spur economic development leading to Tacoma’s urban regeneration.

• Examine a case study of an urban corridor and its potential to serve as a prototype to rejuvenate and reinvigorate the community development process adapting to the changing dynamics of societal values, ecology, and economics.
• Understand how collaboration with PSU Architecture Design Studio created connections to next generation of design professionals to the increasingly relevant issues of unifying public spaces, understanding new trends in urban development, and new drivers shaping reconstruction of cities.

• Understand how the collection of 42 acres of urban runoff, the project is harvesting storm water from the city streets, treating it through the rail corridor and returning it clean to the Puget Sound.
• Analyze a success of current bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and proposing interventions to prepare for the future as alternative modes of transportation reach a critical mass.

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21.APRIL.2017 Where History Meets Nature Spokane Convention Center Spokane, WA