Tkinter Baumgardner who is
the principal director of S.W.A.

yesterday a group in Houston as stubby a
group emerges as the West Coast office of

the saki Walker and Associates in
one thousand nine hundred three and

is now recognized as a world leader in
landscape architecture planning and

urban design with offices across
United States and in China and

projects in over sixty countries which
have garnered over six hundred awards.

Mr Baumgardner educational
background consists of a Bachelor of

landscape architecture from
Louisiana State University

as well as continuing a continuing
educational programs in planning and

design from Harvard University is
a registered landscape architect in Texas

and British Columbia has
experience in over eighty projects

all over the world ranges in all scales
of landscape architecture planning and

urban design some of his previous work
includes the campus in Beaverton Oregon

which is a one hundred acre expansion
to the existing campus and it received

an American Society of landscape architect
Merit Award in two thousand and two.

Along with that the West.

West chase long range plan in Houston
was the twenty five year long range

plan of capital improvements connecting
the district's many neighborhoods which

receive the Texas society of architects
and design ward in two thousand and five.

Internationally.

He worked on the Arabian canal in Dubai
a fifty fifty kilometer waterway cut

in line from the Dubai coast with a focus
on creating special places where land and

water collide this project want
to marry award from the S.L.A.

Texas chapter in two thousand and nine.

And also the American University in
Cairo new campus a detailed design for

a two hundred sixty acre university
campus in the desert above the now Valley

which received the U.S. ally global
award for excellence in two thousand and

nine his current work is spread throughout
the world in Egypt his office is working

on creating new community communities
above the now Valley and working with

the government of Cairo on the planning
and restoration of its downtown and.

There and Saudi Arabia and
the Gulf states.

Their work includes many universities.

The King Center for atomic and
renewable energy and the Burke.

Army of us said that incorrectly in China
they're creating urban park systems for so

it shines in Shanghai and
find an island here in the states

his current work includes various urban
design projects are leading the way for

urban development in multimodal
development in Houston and in Atlanta his

work is focused on transforming I seventy
five seventy five eighty five connector

and into a public territory with
the intent revert reinventing urban

freeways are perceived within
the American landscape the scope and

recognize quality of his work makes him
not only a model landscape architect.

But also a model within the mill to
display realm of urban design so

on behalf of the central and of progress.

The Midtown Alliance and
lecture series community.

I would like to welcome.

Can your Baumgarten.

All right let's see how is
that did you guys hear me.

People are sending me text messages I
was going to use this for my stopwatch.

So I wouldn't go over too much.

So we talk about an hour
about the thing on.

And I'm supposed to do that.

There start OK I'm going to
talk about just our work.

We're a group out of Houston but
we have like we said seven our offices.

People always you know when I start
a new project they're like S.W.A.

what you guys are Saki Walker
associates are like no no not anymore.

But what does it stand for.

Well it's dance versus
Saki Walker associates I guess.

Well were you guys the saki.

Well no we're not really
society they're like in Boston.

We're used to be but not anymore.

The repeater WALKER No not really.

So it's this you know we're the weird

all spawn from the same egg I
guess I don't know but anyway.

We're a group that keeps it pretty simple.

I'm going to talk about
landscape infrastructure and

that's what I find you know there's lots
of different ways I think about a project

and as a landscape architect we
do a lot of urban design work and

I think the way you come about a project
the way you sort of put the Freema around

that the lens you use to find it is really
the thing that's going to make it special.

If a client is comes and says hey I
need some landscape architecture and

you just kind of do some
landscape architecture.

I find that pretty boring.

But if he says hey I need you to
do some amazing project I know

you're a landscape architect.

What sort of special thing can you bring
to it then it starts to get interesting.

Let me show you talk a little bit about
this landscape every structure and

why we think it's important and

then I'm going to show some projects that
kind of relate to that and we're going to

talk about the the connector project
that we're studying here in Atlanta.

So we're clear there at this.

All right so this is serious stuff.

I grew up in the one nine hundred seventy
S. That's Farrah Fawcett probably a lot.

You guys have no idea who that is or
why she's riding a skateboard.

But she was one of Charlie's Angels I
can tell you that but in the seventy's.

You know this question like What
is landscape or what is a park.

You know that never crossed my mind
you know we rode skateboards all

over my little suburban neighborhood
you know in in the easy and

I just outside of New Orleans.

You know there's boats there's
ranch houses everywhere.

It's just you know it was
this great sort of place and

if I drew a map you know when I was a kid
of what my neighborhood was like It's

basically a really cool park there was
a street but it wasn't a street it was

a skateboard park I just rode this thing
down this this kind of skate board system.

There was a ditch in the back
that's what we called it.

It was like a storm water.

It was.

Bios oil that's what it was and
when it was dry.

You know we try to catch fish and
when it was full.

We go swimming in it but you know guys
have stream like through batteries and

all kinds of junk in the thing
the refrigerator's I don't know if

it was a mess but
when you're a kid this was just fun stuff.

There's a big tract of woods behind our
house that some developer was going

to eventually cut down and develop.

But you know we just built club houses
there was a trail that went to some scary

place that we never really went to you
know there was a lady that lived a couple

doors down which Hazel We called her
because she always kept her baseballs that

they were in the yard but this was
landscape to me this was a park the entire

place was a park and that question of
landscape and park never really came up

but it does come up quite a lot if
you ask my mother you know about

landscape she she's like very interested
in my profession because she thinks.

That's so sweet.

You know that a man like you has decided
that plants and flowers are going to be

his you know his curriculum his profession
and they are totally you know comfortable

with that you know I whatever but
that's what most

people think of landscape right this is
thing you consume right I buy landscape.

This lady she's she's a landscape
architect I guess she's going to buy

landscape.

You know and so you go to Home Depot you
pick out the stuff you bring it home and

you landscape.

That's not what I do but

that's what most people think
that's a big chunk of this right.

That's a problem.

Even my professional journal.

You know has a problem
landscape architecture right.

So what do we have a picture of you know I
know there's some water there's like some

plants over here they're not doing
very well it's like a wet one and

then really clever at the bottom it
says a watershed of innovation right.

Wow that's like really
innovative right there.

You know so I you know I don't
know what to do with this stuff.

If you do then you open up the magazine
landscape Well that's some

landscaping right but I would say that you
need a landscape architect to do that.

It's some shrubs and stuff.

It's beautiful it's great.

I'd love to have a backyard like that but
I you know that's not what I do so

you start to pose these questions about
landscape and this is all kind of

part of this big story about how this
stuff starts to relate to urban design.

So you know question.

You know what is this.

Well yeah that's landscape clearly if you
took the bridge out the question is was

this designed as anybody can you tell me
you know a few people know the answer

yes but if you ask these kids they say
no they have they would never think that

was designed this is Crissy Field it's
you know master work of George Hargraves

great an American landscape but
it's clearly a design space.

If you go to this space though.

Well landscape Yeah absolutely.

That's the question was this
designed anybody know probably not.

Well actually it is its
design with policy.

If we didn't have all of these public
policies in place and laws and

things this landscape what exist
there be smoggy here we would

have logged these trees somebody
would have shot the moose.

You know the.

The water would be you know cloudy.

So you know if these ideas of what is
landscape start to get kind of complex and

convoluted.

Then you start to take the sort
of look at different cultures and

what they think about it you know this is
a landscape over here if you're American.

Right.
I'm a Texan I'm from Texas that's that's

landscape.

Why because you know there's nobody there.

It's wilderness that's amazing.

That's what I want to be a part of but
if you're in China they want no

part of that this is landscape
to someone in China and

why is that why is this thing so important
is because this thing right here right

there is it's cultured landscape I'm
comfortable here because there's this but

go to that sitting here in
a space that's very natural.

It's full of nature but it's got
this culture thing about it as well.

So you've got to start to think
about where you're working and

how people perceive the thing that you do
IT architecture urban design or landscape.

You know I found this really
interesting this sort of idea what.

The perfect painting to an American
is versus the least perfect painting.

You know this is what American wants to
have hanging in their living room and

it's this great landscape and it's got you
know some people doing certain things.

You know I thought this was great
you know we want you know people

in groups about half of us
think that's really great

a lot of people think they
need to have clothes on.

I don't know why but you know animals.

You know all these things that make
the perfect landscape to us this

thing down here.

Nobody wants in the U.S.
wants anything to do with that but

if you ask the same thing to
other people in other countries.

It's going to flip flop and change.

So infrastructure that's you
know this is much easier.

I think so.

You know it's this stuff right.

It's.

These big systems that move
things like electricity.

It could be a place you know that
you've got a bunch of solar cells or

something like that that's
going to out of context.

But it's you know big big systems
like sea walls that actually shape

the land that we that we live on and
how we live with it.

It's in it's even kind of micro scale
stuff you know gas pipelines things like

that in the country is
riddled with it right.

I mean this is all the railway
stuff that cuts across the country

that's the reason Atlanta is here.

We think about the amount of right away.

That's in this with the freeways.

You know they own
the Federal Highway Administration owns

about forty seven thousand
miles of right of way.

I don't know how wide that is but
it adds up to a lot and a lot of land.

What they've started to do is say
hey you know what maybe we should do

other things with this.

What if we planted trees along
the side of it used it for

carbon Siskel Quest ration and
sold credits to airlines right.

And then later we'll harvest it and
build houses out of the stuff.

Suddenly something that was just kind of
this left over space people are starting

to kind of rethink about
what is infrastructure and

how might it affect you know the country.

There's things like
the national power grid.

Everybody needs that stuff.

A lot of it's built right now but
in the future.

They're going to be building more
power grid just move wind energy

to new places right.

This thing hasn't been built yet.

How should it be built should be built
the same way that we did the old stuff.

I don't think so.

It needs to probably have other ideas and

other uses in it other than
just moving electricity.

There's a lot of land wrapped up in this.

And the other big thing is you
know everybody knows right now.

I mean this is kind of like us right.

There's all these systems that we rely
on that kind of keep ourselves going but

we never really think about
them till they break down.

You know these pigs.

You know they live in these big barns
they don't know what's going on and

all the sudden when there's a flood the
same thing happens in New Orleans right.

Levees break dams break you never think
about it till it's you know it's a problem

and then there's stupid things that
we do I mean we build bridges and

we put a new layer on top
of them they get too heavy.

They collapse this is in
the Minneapolis right here in Atlanta.

That's not acceptable.

The connector floods.

You know just like that overnight leaders
cars here that are floating down it.

I mean that's that's crazy.

That doesn't seem like that should happen.

Gas my pipelines blowing up and
even like you know we use oil right.

We have to go get it from you know
tens of thousands of miles away.

That makes a mess when it spills all these
infrastructures systems affect us and

even little things you know a little
you know water main breaks and

it undermines this thing and next thing
you know fire trucks are falling it.

So landscape infrastructure so

that we've just put a book out
on this topic and I'll show you.

We're trying to keep up
with the Joneses but.

It's oftentimes easy to say what
the stuff is not so landscape right

infrastructure that's not what it is
OK It's got nothing to do with that.

Christine is not going to make it home.

What it's about is kind of
rethinking these words right.

Landscape infrastructure.

You know landscape considered
indispensable system that fulfills

the basic necessities.

Urban living spittles gas lines
power grids all that sort of stuff.

I mean we all know we need these power
grids you know to get electricity

to our house but we forget that
we actually need a landscape.

You know to keep ourselves alive to
make our cities livable all these things

that it does for us it's part of
the infrastructure of our country but

we don't think about it that way and
infrastructure you know it's

this thing that engineers tend to design
in a vacuum that's kind of over there.

We don't want to have to deal with it.

You know the connectors infrastructure
the power line is an infrastructure.

This is all about saying
look let's rethink what

is infrastructure in the city.

There's a lot of money and
resources it's tied up into it.

It affects the shape of our city
the fabric of it you know road

train moves through.

Atlanta suddenly a city is born.

That's infrastructure creating a city.

What if it was something else
more than just a railroad.

What would the city be then.

So these two guys.

Charles Waldheim and
they've started this big fight.

I don't know if you guys all
keep up with this or not but

it's always you know lots of
little blog things from it.

You know Andrius like you know
he's all about the street.

I think the Street is great.

I can walk to work right.

And Charles you know will
gardens are wonderful.

I can relax when I get home but

off to deal with people you know
they're both totally wrong.

They're both totally right.

You know under is like why don't you want
to see street trees because that just kind

of you know that's just
that's just making a mess.

And Waldheim you know I I don't
think you want to see any cars

you just want to see lots of green stuff.

It's more complicated than that but

I think it's important because this is
what's happening to our cities right

they create this stuff is that urban
design that helps make this happen.

Partly is architecture.

Maybe partly I like to think there's
a landscape architect that hey I'm making

stuff better.

My kids are skinny and
doubles over here there but I think this.

This picture is important because it
actually does show that maybe both these

guys are right if we think
about these argument.

In a new way it gets a little.

Better.

You know look this is a nice little new
We're going to development it's cute and

pretty it doesn't have to be but
it is but there are street trees.

That's pretty cool but there's
a park across the street you know so

Charles is happy but in the middle of this
farmer's market which I don't think would

be nearly as successful nearly as
successful if you didn't have the park or

if you didn't have the shops
on the sidewalks right.

So it makes all the stuff start to kind
of knit together in your rethink how

the city works and how urban fabric works.

So you know the everybody's
got to write a book now

about these topics the charter of Newark
is and I think kind of started it all.

I don't know how many years ago was that

I can't remember there were but the New
Urbanism I don't think there's anything in

this that uses the word cute but there's a
lot of stuff in this that probably could.

And then you know it's in the landscape
architects push back against all that

you know ecological urban ism landscape or

been isms getting complicated
then these guys come back.

Now you know Dwane's deal he's got look
there's plants in the city thing right.

And Peter Calthorpe who we do a lot
of work with you know same thing.

Starting to think about well maybe it's
not an either or thing maybe these things

need to work together to actually
create real places and then I

don't know what these guys are doing
temporal urban ism and dialectical or

you know I just found these because
I thought they were weird and then.

All right so then we add our case to to
the point here landscape infrastructure

and it's not like it's not a brand
new thing we did invent this word but

we're definitely starting to study case
studies and trying to think what is it and

how does it affect the city.

So the basic tenets are sort of four
key ideas that we get into with it.

One is just repurposing
infrastructure there's a lot of

dead dying old infrastructure
out there in the world

and we're thinking about what do
you do with that so that could be

something like the highline right that's
pretty simple the beltline in Atlanta.

So you have a great example of it.

But then the thing I'm probably most.

To than is mixed use and

pre-strike sure it's understanding
the role of infrastructure and

how it relates to basically the city
all these things that make a city.

So if I could take something
like an alley system which is

just infrastructure it's like
removing garbage around right.

And I could suddenly say that hey it's
going to deal with storm water in a new

way and maybe the storm water gets
stored there and I can reuse it for

irrigation and I could also get
a cup of coffee or something there.

Then I start to transform the city
by rethinking about a piece

of basic infrastructure.

There's lots of other examples power
lines that could be trails for example.

So self-sufficient infrastructure this
is this one I you know it's a little

far afield but
if you start to think about landscape and

landscape architecture in these
terms things become more performance

based rather than just pretty or
consumer things.

So this might be something
like a roof garden.

Renzo Piano came to us and said hey could
you guys grow some grass on my roof of my

building we said yeah we could do that but
we could also make it a lot better if what

if this was actually habitat on top of
your building so that the place where you

know we're kind of pushing out the birds
and the bunnies we could bring them back.

I mean now the roof of this thing is
actually well the they had to come back

and build this observation deck
because it's as popular as

the museum exhibits on the inside.

So people they relish this kind of
infrastructure they want you know

they want to see nature in the city.

This is how people experience nature
now most people don't go camping.

They don't go see those big scenes.

So it's important stuff to think about
these aggregate changes and how the stuff

start to affect the city and I think think
about catalyst of how changing landscapes.

If you go to a blighted area like Detroit
start tearing down old buildings.

What they're looking at now is how urban
agriculture can come back in and start to

retrofit infill all this stuff and create
a new kind of matrix for this place.

It doesn't feel so negative.

No we haven't rebuilt it but

suddenly there's a positive energy about
the place as opposed to this kind of day.

To do thing that it feels like right now.

So application.

I'm going to talk about some of
the projects that we're doing.

There's a number so I might skip through
some if you guys think it's boring

just put your hands up like do that and
I'll skip forward but

so Houston this first project.

This is called West chase the West
District and what they did this client.

They hired is they said look there's
this little place right here.

We'd like to do a town center kind of
thing we saw that they did a town center

out the woodlands could you guys come and
help us do one of those here.

And we thought OK sure you know so

we won the project and came and
started looking at that but you know we

quickly realized that they thought that
this was going to solve their problem.

We did all this analysis about kind of
what's their kind of block size and

everything's a super block and
everything's diffuse and one story and

you know it adds up to a place
you don't really want to walk or

spend much time you just
want to get through it.

There really proud of their mobility.

You can get get there really quickly
we reminded them that you can also get

out of there really quickly.

There's no reason to stay but what we
do is we said you know this project.

I think is more important than just this
little town center thing we don't even

know what the landowners interested in
participating this was the business

district that asked us to do this so
we started looking around saying Look

why don't we affect your entire
district with something.

They had this network of
storm water ditches if you

want to call them that they had
some power lines or freeway.

All these giant blocks what we said is
let's look at all that stuff all this

public realm infrastructure that everybody
has ignored turned their back on and

think about how those things
can become something positive.

So this is one of these ditches.

I can't touch this thing normally
this it's owned by Harris county

flood control it's an easement.

You know there's federal money at play
in something as ridiculous as this but

by working with all of these different
entities we figure out how to turn that.

To this right.

And you do it partly with money and

partly by politicking and getting
the right people involved but you know

these different landowners that own stuff
adjacent to it suddenly realize that if we

built this canal system like this there
their land is worth a lot more these

declining apartment buildings next door
that are all kind of diffuse into stories.

Suddenly this is a real amenity for them.

So the city gets money.

Wes chase gets money because
the tax increment goes up.

But then the city needs money to build
this thing so there's ridiculous things

honestly you put like a water taxi
on a conveyance canal like this

there's federal money suddenly available
to make something like this happen.

So all these little things start to kind
of knit together by taking a piece of

infrastructure.

RE and visioning it repurchasing
it it still works perfectly for

stormwater actually works better after
you read all the calculations on it.

But you know there's other pieces taking
you know places that are streets and

thinking about how they become great
streets again this is a great example.

You know landscape architecture and urban
design are all friends in this picture.

They're all working together to
great this really great place and

I think you know if as West starts
to implement these things and

they already are implementing
a lot of this.

It's totally transforming this district
of the city other things taking these

alleys like this and
revisiting those streets public streets.

Suddenly the landowner doesn't
have to take care of the street

anymore the city takes care of it they get
more connectivity it increases the land

values all these things start to happen.

This is my favorite piece
I mean right now there.

It's against the law to put a park or a
trailer or anything along a power cord or

in Texas because the the actuaries I
guess that you know that work with

the power companies they will if something
horrible happened you could get sued.

Right.
So don't put something there.

What might happen what we don't know but
something mind.

So we actually.

Bill passed because of this project
through the legislature that would allow

us to actually do this put a trail put
parks and recreation facilities in this

district that has almost zero parks
by repurchasing powerline corridors.

So it's you know it's saying look I
can't take this single use thing anymore

I got to start to think about how
to read this and other other uses.

So in Dubai.

We do a lot of work around the world.

This is a this is probably the most
ridiculous project that I've ever worked

on I had this client whose name was
Saeed Saeed and I always asked used as so

when you say Mr Saeed are you going
by his first name or his last name.

Nobody was ever I don't know but he was
a little short guy really intense he

was like when he was younger he was ranked
number eight in the world in chess and

so you know the guy's always
three steps ahead of you right.

And he would call me I'd be sitting in
airplane getting ready to fly somewhere to

get a phone call and see it was you know I
was getting nervous when I talked to him.

All right.

Could or
I want to talk to you about strategy.

Why don't you know strategy I have
nothing to offer in this conversation

but it was this concert like
these sort of challenges that

he was always laying down the one
of the first times I met him.

We were at the parking lot in my office.

And we were we were shaking hands and
you know there's this moment of you

know when guys are shaking
hands were it's like you.

You both kind of sense that you let go
right and you just I don't know how it

works it just does but I I went to
let go and he didn't let me and

he kept talking to me kind of staring
into my eyes as we were like talking and

I thought OK well I'm not
going to try to like go again.

So we did this for
a while and then finally.

He let go but I didn't let him that
time and so it was kind like this game

was on I think we shook hands for probably
five minutes in the parking lot and

finally at some point it was like we both
agreed to let go at the same time but

I mean our relationship was
told about that he may.

Me which is totally
acceptable in Arab culture.

I had to go for a walk with him locked arm
in arm strolling the streets in Dubai and

I'm from Texas and
I got uncomfortable I just have to say but

he just knew I would be uncomfortable and
he made me do it.

So I said with this project.

I'm turning the tables on you.

I want to make you uncomfortable.

So what this thing is about
was Shaikh Muhammad came to

Saeed he was one of the what is.

One of the big developers in Dubai.

Everybody is going out of business there.

But he this project may have done it but
he said you.

I need from you.

Two days of tourism.

I need two more days of tourism and
it was kind of that was the design brief

because what happens is
people from the U.K.

they go to Dubai they spend four days and
they go back home.

Sheikh Mohammed decided look
we're kind of getting off

the oil we're running out if I
can get two more days of tourism.

I'm set.

I need six days.

This project is about that.

I want you to build a seventy five
kilometer long inland waterway.

You know canals are built for
industry right.

Well not this one.

This was built for two days of tourism.

So so the idea was it had to be totally

at sea level right well as you go into
the desert it rises about sixty metres.

That means you got to cut down sixty
metres to do this thing they don't

want locks it wanted this stuff to happen.

It was a nightmare of like grading to

trying to figure out how a project
like this could come together.

But what we convinced and we work with
Peter Khalil Thorpe on this was that.

Let's at least build
a great city here right.

This is we could have elephants
you know spring water on tours

as they come out of this thing but
you know it.

Five minutes down the road.

It's going to get pretty boring.

So what do you do with the rest of
the seventy five miles or kilometers.

So this is the basic kind of you know the
story line it starts here this is one of

the bombs there's the one they actually
built this one slowly washing away and.

You know this can now wraps around here
we were given this piece to design

what we thought was you know.

Well it's all the sort of transit and
roads and everything.

How it works but we thought was that
you're giving us all this water and

it's really just to put a ferry
boat on this and tourist around.

I think we can do better.

So we said look let's take
the water out of the can now let's

pump it into desalinization plant
which the idea was trying to get off

the grid the cell thing sort of came from
look we need nobody to make electricity.

We can't actually get electricity from
the by municipality if we do this sort of

tried generation thing we make electricity
we get some hot water that goes into our

district cooling plant.

We also make decelerated
water is a part of it.

This whole system starts to kind
interlaced work together so

you can actually start to take this whole
community that's seventy five kilometers

long and
forty kilometers wide off the grid and

make it something is highly sustainable.

So that all the water that you
kind of use from your waste

water starts to go into these constructed
wetlands there's things we're

actually going to have aqua
farming is a part of it and

it just creates this entire kind of
organic ecology of energy how we use it.

So he was not interested in this at all.

I mean this was not he said look
this is why this is not a real city.

It's not a real city.

You know people will just come and
they will build things you know and

it's just you know trying to
figure out how it worked.

I don't know when to hold that but but

this was basically our plan which
was really dealing with how does

the energy and how does
the infrastructure of this place work.

How do I move.

You know people along this thing and
create districts that are really urban but

more importantly how do I do things
we're actually reduce water and

that's really the deal there.

How do you reduce incrementally
the amount of water that people use

and hard to read here where there's all
these sort of techniques that we use to

try to get it down down down down down.

And then thinking about all
the things we can do with water

everything from aqua culture
how we use waste water for

irrigating a place that
otherwise just a desert.

All these things start to kind of a.

Worked together to create this place.

But ultimately for
Saeed It had to be beautiful too.

Right.
So

you know these are these canals that
we cut you know this is like you know

forty metres of cut that we had to cut
put through here big bridges you know so

there's a grid that goes
across of this thing.

Lots of shopping district gates that
actually we kind of let the water

force the water to move through so
it's constantly cleansing and changing.

Beaches amusement parks.

You know all this started stuff and

then you know these great
ecological parks as well but

basically all this this kind of thing
became this conversation and this sort of.

You know who's going to win.

Between ourselves and saïd in trying to
make this place truly sustainable and not

just kind of this arching fantasy place
and I think you know the lesson is that.

Well this is actually the explanation and
this was you know amazing.

These little guys appear and
even how they got there.

I mean or why they're there.

I mean this is about the forty meter cut
they had to get down another twenty in

a certain fill up with water.

I mean you know it's a mess anyway.

But I mean if you can push your
point to do something great.

It's that's when the conversation
gets interesting

different kind of project this is was for
the government and

they're trying to be very certain key
pet projects that King Abdullah has this

is King Abdullah care center for
atomic and renewable energy.

The Saudis are going nuclear.

What does that mean these guys
have all the oil in the world and

they are going to be.

The kings of atomic energy now.

That's what this project's all about.

So they give you this
kind of wasteland I mean

most to Saudi Arabia looks like and
this is you know the pictures

early the American West you know it's
like we can't touch this it's pretty and.

But culturally to these guys now we
need to go and build a city here.

We got all these people in the places to
live you know let's do something was going

to be so you know these are the kind
of spaces that we have on

this project huge canyons all this stuff
we're trying to be very sensitive to it.

They're just like build a city.

So in reality it was far
it's kind of over here so

there is a big sprawling you know city
that's right on the edge of this thing but

this is a huge scar but this in kind of
drops off of this flat plain that just

well there it is it just goes on
in Leslie comes up straight up and

then they're just kind of this eroded
plain that goes back to Riyadh.

So what we did was try to backing up.

They want to get into atomic energy and

that was part of this thing was actually
there's going to be nuclear reactors.

Not so much for running the city but
more about learning how it works.

So that they have their up on their
technology this is a place for

people to come and learn huge university
all this sort of stuff but for us.

You know it was so that's that sort of
thing like this ancillary thing but

we still needed to deal with it.

But the renewable energy side was the
thing that we were really interested in

really pushed on this project.

It was a huge opportunity for think
about how landscape in architectures.

You know really intertwined you know
moments like this on this huge scarp Mint

talk a minute about kind of how
this architecture works here but

the plan became this very rational
thing a lot of times when people work

in the Middle East they get really
excited about Mecca urban designers love

this thing because there's like you
know you're always pray to Mecca.

But Saudis like we do that
like five times a day.

It's not that interesting.

But we had this idea that the some of
the guys thought this was super cool so

you know that's what this thing is about.

But anyway the idea was that this was easy
to develop this was complex and difficult

to develop we would do this first it would
be more sort of industrial just kind

of work stuff then we have these sort of
community things that would happen here.

But the big deal was trying to
get the landscape to work with

it because once you start to put people
into that Saudi landscape you have to make

it green is totally inhospitable.

But the question is what is landscape in
that context how Green do you make it.

This is kind of start to be the plan but
I think this is the.

The deal was trying to figure out how you
kind of start to create landscape that in

farms of these sort of pods of these cells
of architecture right where people live

super narrow streets they're almost
completely Actually there's buildings

inside of these buildings I'll show
you how this works in a minute but

it becomes this really complex interplay
between our interlaced between topography

landscape architecture and how all
these things start to work together

to create this place but most importantly
they need to function really well and

our goal is to reduce the energy load
actually so we would just be carbon zero

like they are kind of thing we actually
wanted this to work and be even less so

one of the deals is which if you're
architecture guys are probably studied

this but I thought it was kind of fun cool
you know put a building inside a building.

If I put if I if I could just heat or
cool a building

ten degrees as opposed to having to cool
it fifty degrees to get out the Saudi sun.

That's kind of an interesting idea.

The way we started to work this
in principle was to say look you

eat this thing up here with the sun that
causes this heat to start well a negative

vacuum here.

It starts to rise right.

But it's got to bring
in air from somewhere.

So the air moves in through these green
walls the transpiration from the green

cools the air automatically and
it drops the temperature easily

ten fifteen twenty degrees even so
then you only have to do cooling within

these spaces instead of from
you know one hundred degrees.

You know Fahrenheit practically there
to fifty you know it's Anyway it's a.

It's just an incremental change that
makes it much more energy efficient.

We also looked at you
know these sort of P.V.

cells and how all this stuff started to
inform these big moves of the desert.

So all of this stuff is solar energy
that sits on top of all these things.

The trick to any of these
projects though is trying to

use solar cells for example to
power something is is really the.

This stuff which is not that I'm going to
power city off the solar cells the first

step is I'm going to reduce the amount of
energy that I use That's always the trick.

And so
that was a deal here was looking for

all these ways which were
I can't remember off hand.

Where's my glasses all these ways
that we brought the we brought

the the energy that we needed to
run the average Saudi city down.

So there's things that we always think
about like a nuclear they had on their

things or nuclear.

Down here that didn't do that much
actually geothermal you know that's a tiny

little step right there when
Generation almost nothing.

The things that are HUGE was how
we rethought about how energy

in transportation works more efficient
buildings that's really that's that's

this year.

Those are the huge ones and then we did
actually get a lot of solar cell but

we also had a lot of open space a lot
of just plain old landscape that desert

landscape that had no other use
was going to be soccer fields.

So our agriculture.

So we could actually cover
a lot of that with solar cells.

So you know we designed waste streams we
figured out how people would work and

where they would work and

how this place would generate jobs all
kinds of things like that it was fun but

this is my favorite you know image
because it's for whatever reason.

When you do these things at some point it
always comes down to well I got to put

some windmills on it you know otherwise
it's not sustainable and even

though we they did all the calculations
showing that we don't need them and

they're not they don't really
do much they don't really work.

The client insisted we need to women who
everybody can see that we're sustainable.

So but I know I love this
image because it's you know

the Saudis are getting going do clear.

I don't know what that means but it seems
like maybe they don't have as much oil as

we thought they did and they know
something we don't anyway so Cairo.

Working around the Middle East here.

This is a part this is a competition
we did for downtown Cairo and this is.

Where all the all the craziness
has happened over the last

six months I guess whatever but
it's downtown Cairo

it's a historic district that was done
designed in the mid eighty's hundreds.

It was a swamp it was drainage you know
the Nile Valley had all these sort of

swamps in the bottom and then people lived
kind of on the hillsides on the edge of

the valley in the he went to Paris
he thought Well Paris is beautiful.

It's an amazing city I want
to build one of those here.

And so that was his his goal with
with downtown Cairo and he was pretty

successful at it but there's been a lot of
neglect you know people power has changed

hands that could be was kicked out
than the British did their thing and

then they get they get kicked out in the
whole Nasser thing and he went away and

then there was Mubarak and
now they're what he knows what.

But you know these these pictures
I think are shocking because

you could have taken these exact pictures.

You know in one thousand nine

hundred where you could take them
in one nine hundred eighty four.

Today people still dressed
exactly the same as they did

one hundred years ago the same
tourists are going to see the pyramids

like they did a hundred years ago.

You know spices and the Lucas on the Nile.

I mean things have not really changed
there but there's been a lot of decay in

a city that was built for about three
million people has sixteen million people.

So it's just total chaos.

I love it.

I mean it's totally insane.

This is your square.

This is the district there's the powerless
that they could leave lived in and

it's kind of hard to see in the slide but
there's these big Basically these nodes

and these big broad avenues that
kind of tie them all together.

What they could they did know what they
wanted when they asked for this but

this competition together it was
really just a we need to restore and

renovate this place.

But we saw an opportunity.

Well road traffic that's probably
the biggest problem they have

is that right now.

You know if you're a taxi coming from
the airport that mean this is just

littered with people trying to move
across this thing to get to hotels and

things on the Nile.

I mean it's like traffic
you've never seen.

It's just.

You can't describe it but
this was the real problem.

They didn't have any open space these
green spaces are not actually open space.

They're not parks they're open voids in
the landscape of this of this place but

they're not actual parks there's no
parks really in this part of Cairo.

So that was the thing that we said look we
need to create this system of parks and

open space within downtown Cairo and
how do we do that.

So we looked at old photos and
really what Cairo is about is the street.

Everybody lives works.

They just use the street in a very
different way than we do in North America.

Cafés Yeah we do that but just people
walking the streets everywhere riding

street cars cars and people just
completely intertwined interlaced

that's what we let on with saying look
let's use the street as this armature for

change in this district in the main
armature is a great open spaces little

micro parks that people can
use in their daily life.

So they become spaces like this.

So we created this kind of series
of all these little prototype

sort of micro part could be thought
about then how we capture stormwater and

all this sort of new street systems that
we're kind of reworking start to become

a part of this system of feeding these
micro parks thinking about how transit.

You know if we're going to get rid of all
these cars that cut through that move

through the space right now and think
about how transit bring street cars back

all those things start to
add up to a real place.

So in the end you start to create spaces
that are like this tree lined boulevards

that don't or they're not tree lined in
a European way where you'd have these sort

of perfect rows in Cairo they don't really
care for things in the same way and

it's very hard to get different
people to do different things.

So this guy's going to take care of this
tree and it's going to take care of that

when we said let's use that as the
prototype for the fabric of the street.

It's very culturally.

Part of this place.

So you know things become very random and
loose but

you start to then create these little
park spaces in these little open

openings like this that
happened throughout everywhere.

So.

Think about what a street is people just
walking the streets as they are right now

but they put these giant guard
rails up people climb over them so

they can walk in the street
instead of on the sidewalk.

We said let's just get rid of the guard
rails the curbs let people walk wherever

they want to walk they do it anyway.

So we started to change the prototype for
the street going thinking about you know

sort of tourist spaces where we can bring
cafes and all these sort of things back.

But the main idea was to really work
with the culture of that place and

think about what it needed and
how how could we imply.

How could we not be sure we didn't take
our western sensibilities and try to put

that on this place knowing full well that
it would just die and it would work.

This is the Nile trying to rethink you
know the kind of the connective tissue of

how tourists embrace this is own and
so in the end what we ended up with

great green streets all these great green
nodes these park spaces where there were

just big parking lots that we turned
into open spaces and parks and

that sort of a project like that is what
we ended up with this was you know were

guys were riding camels and bull Webster
and things a few months ago it's it's

crazy to see that sort of stuff happening
when you think of a plan like this and

all the opportunity that they have so
hopefully the stuff will come to fruition.

So he used in a move to more this is
use and it will look at the connector.

Buffalo by you.

This is starting to think about kind of
freeways and highways stuff like that.

What happens with them.

You say just full by use you know it rains
it floods in the BY use are supposed to

take the water away.

But what happens is we start
to build all these houses and

all this stuff starts to flood and it is
a huge problem because all the runoff.

So this is our project Buffalo by

you which I'm going to show
you it's right through here.

We're now doing the next piece which
extends out this way downtown Houston.

This is Interstate forty five.

There's Interstate ten that's moving
through here U.S. fifty nine.

So its place.

Is chock a block full of
freeway infrastructure.

And all of the hold use it has.

He says it floods like crazy.

I mean constantly you know
multiple times a year.

So everything these that we built.

You know these giant guard rails and
things these

lights it all has to be totally bombproof
so that when it floods it doesn't just get

destroyed overnight they want to come
back and have a park the next day.

And lo and behold we build this thing and

used in the fattest city
in the country right.

People are out kayaking you know in
places where they never thought they

could they're running up and
down the only hill in the entire city.

I mean that's that's that's huge for
us this is attorney he's walking

from his office in downtown Houston
to the law courts on the other side.

He used to drive right.

And then we have this public
space where we could have parks.

Fourth of July events all
the sort of stuff that goes on.

Mary oxys or strolling you can
barely hear them because it is

a highway a huge interstate
highway up there but

it's OK because it's such a lovely
space just in time and the taking all

these ideas of infrastructure
thinking that hey they can be lovely.

Also I think that's a super
important part of what a city is.

In nature.

You know I think that's important to think
about where there's nature in the city.

All right so shifting gears to Atlanta.

Let's see.

So what are we doing here.

So we were invited to
propose on a project here and

we came to Jennifer and
said look we have this idea

it's a little different than urban design
it's more about landscape infrastructure.

We don't see the opportunity
here of getting rid of your

freeway it's going to be there.

And we also know that times are tight and
money is difficult to come by.

We need a fresh approach to
kind of thinking about this and

Jennifer said I don't
want just another planet.

I want to put on my shelf
that was extremely important.

I want something that's pragmatic that
we can build that we can actually.

Implement and do.

Which raises the bar considerably
because it's all you have to do

like the Arabian canal.

Man we dreamt it was great but

we didn't really you know
get around implementing it.

Not yet but
we do need to do it on this one.

So you know this transformation project.

So you know this is this
you know the opportunities

in this communication what is the project
so you know we have Boston and

the Big Dig This is the part that most
people think about right there which is

where all the parks and everything
sit on top of the old freeway and

then there's another tunnel here and
then this is us right.

So the the Boston project.

You know this park thing is about
three and a half miles long.

They spent twenty six billion dollars
are projects about five miles long.

We don't actually have a budget.

I just put it you know five hundred
billion that's probably like

ten times more than you have right.

And probably ten times
less than we need right.

You know at least to do this right.

So this is where the rubber hits the road.

This is a real problem.

This is a real project that we need to
figure out what do you do with that right.

Flooding it.

You know probably not going to go.

We were we were warned immediately do not
flood the connector someone's already

studied that I don't but we'll see.

Maybe we can.

So we start with metrics and
think about what are the problems here.

What are the things that really
are unique to this issue.

So you know about half
a million automobiles per day.

There's a lot of cars that
drive down this connector.

There's three hundred thousand metric
tons of carbon that are made every year

we do calculations on can we sequester
all that with sort of urban for

centuries and we figured we'd have to
plant in the city of Atlanta one and

a half times over completely canopy and
with trees to do that.

So we didn't have that ability but
it's great stuff to think about.

You know all this and
I know some big number.

There are lots of square feet of
impervious paving that's important.

I mean you know storm water this flood
that we had here you know I don't

know how often it floods but it's flooded
at least once since I've been working

on this project that's
part of the problem right.

But then all of the storm
water that comes out of it.

Where does it go.

What is the quality of it.

How do we use it or not use it.

We need to think about this stuff.

Elana has one of the worst feet island
effects in the country eight degrees so

if you're in the suburbs versus downtown
an eight degree difference if it's

ninety versus ninety eight.

That's huge.

And they're thinking about you know
what is the value of urban canopy for

example I mean Atlanta is
the city in the forest.

Right.
That's a huge idea of this city.

So thinking about how do you value it for
everything from using it for

storm water to air pollution
actually you know the home

energy kind of thing creating shade is
important but not nearly as important.

Some of these other
infrastructural things.

We can't forget about
the people that live here.

There's a lot of Atlantans
it live here and

there's a lot of people who are employed
right now when we do a project like this.

You always get these questions.

I don't have a job where you guys
trying to pretty up the connector.

So all these things you have to
think about what they mean and

how they tie back into a project
to make it successful.

And this is my metric that
the connector right now

eighty seven point six
three percent attractive.

That's borderline ugly.

So anyway so you know we do a lot
of freeway work around the country.

I find it actually kind of interesting
we've done a lot in Canada

work in the trance Canada Highway and

things in California visual
impact assessments for them.

But so these sort of seven
trends things that are going on.

This is I think the most important thing
that freeways are public space right.

It's part of the public
infrastructure of our country.

This was a road in New York right
where they said this is what's a lawn

chairs out you can't do that.

This is like you know Broadway you
the whole city will come to a standstill.

Well they did it is working great.

Right.
It's public space in

the connector is the same.

I don't know about launchers on it but
the freeway.

You know idea of District
thing right now the you know

the Federal Highway Administration they
have sort of guidelines that are not

particularly unique to different
regions and different cities and towns.

We need to think differently about that.

So that as you drive down the freeway
you get a sense of where you are right

something this kind of binoculars.

Ecological connectivity.

You know people learn about
the ecology today and

in cities right they don't go out to
the countryside to learn about ecology.

Nobody lives on the farm
anymore not that many.

So we need to think about how can I
put ecology in ecological systems

in the heart of the city so that people
actually do have an opportunity to learn

about the stuff because that frames
their experience then when they think

about should we preserve some mountain or

some woodland somewhere because of what
they learned in the city they're going

to decide what they should do with the
real wilderness urban connectivity we've

got to think about how to you know not let
urban freeways just be this big barricade.

Thinking about way finding kind of
using iconic graphic elements to help

people find their way around the city.

Stormwater we talked about in micro
habitat you know there's lots

of little habitat zones that we kind
of lose track a little threads here and

there we can start to do things with.

So the way we start a project like
this is just brainstorm ideas we

often have these brainstorming meetings in
the office we try to tell people hey you

got to get your idea down
to a like a little Twitter.

You know hundred forty four characters
you know people tend to go on and on and

like I'm doing now pontificating
checking my time but

you know you need to get ideas
down to short little mediums.

If people are going to spend
the time to understand them.

Sometimes you just have to clobber
them over the head with it.

So you know to me this was a pretty
important concept you know Atlanta.

The city that's in the forest right.

And what I want the connector
to be like is this.

This is what it feels like when I'm
done to drive down the connector.

I don't know that will be two lanes but
it should be this much fun right.

When you get on a road you're like I
mean that's like that's adventure.

Right.
You're going out.

You don't.
What's going to happen right.

Your days pretty scripted but

when you get on the road you're going
man that's like that's amazing.

That's would that's what
the connector could be why not.

So the basic idea is that we just
started with urban forest right.

That's pretty basic.

Just because of what Atlanta is known for
but I think it's more important when you

start thinking about landscape
infrastructure and metrics and

performance landscape where an urban
forest can do a lot of other things.

Most importantly it soaks
up storm water right.

Totally reduces your dependency on storm
water systems and all that slow paving and

lawn lawn actually doesn't work very
well for soaking storm water and

all that stuff wasn't along the connector
that big flood we had not too long

ago probably would happen or it would have
been watch less of a flood than it was.

But those things start
to create habitat and

habitat creates urban wildlife
citizens love that people that live

in the communities this is important stuff
you need them to buy into your projects

to make them successful so
they actually happen.

But then you need to think about
the people that live here right.

So that's kind of like this metric stuff
that we're trying to make the city better

think about heat island even thinking
about just the brand a plant but

there are things about trails.

How can trails be a part of a freeway.

We have some ideas.

There are some places where
you just can't put forest.

You can't put trails What do I do.

Well start you think
about John Nouvelle and

how he decorated this museum in
Paris with these green walls.

They're not just vines it's actual
real walls that I mean a real gardens.

The thing we did at
the piano is project in

California real habitat on a rooftop
that otherwise would have just been

lawn if you just did what
he was originally thinking.

So there's lots of different opportunities
that think about landscape and

how they interact with the free way we
do create moments that are gateways but

I tend to think of rather than a gateway
being just this sort of thing who

you drive through it's
more of an experience.

It's a trying to think
how you stretch that out.

And I think my most I think the thing
that's to me the most important part of

this project that we need to figure
out is this museum of freeway art and

it's the idea that you have this
five mile linear museum that people

drive through it has a permanent
collection like any museum.

It has a curator that
decides what kind of art.

They're going to have and they have
rotating collections that they bring in

international artists do this
thing there's a gift shop.

You could be a member right.

Anything that you can do
with the High Museum.

You can do at the Museum of freeway art or

you can do this from
the convenience of your car.

Right.
It's great.

But I mean that changes the face of what
a freeway is right if a freeway is about

art and the art is actually part of the
experience of the city not just a piece of

something that's sort of landed there on
the court in front of the courthouse for

something that nobody really interacts
with it's just kind of always been

there thinking about it as a museum
that's really functional and

functions as that I think it's transforms
it's transformative for the freeway

experience for people's idea of Atlanta
and I think it starts to ripple out.

So the project what are we
basically doing here.

So there's there's Atlanta
there's your you know your

urban tree canopy that you
have now there's a lot of it.

The name works generally until
you start to get into the city.

So here's the connector here city limits.

You can see that canopy serves
to kind of fade away right.

When you get right into the city.

It's almost gone.

But our you know so our.

You know thesis our party.

If you want to take all this stuff and
bring it in to the connector so

the connector is this opportunity for

reinvigorating that connective tissue
that everybody thinks of as Atlanta.

That's kind of I think the main thing and

then it does all these other you know
all that sustainable stuff right.

It does all that.

But it looks beautiful too so
then you know we looked at today in class.

We looked at the transect that you guys
cut with the building blocks of the city

right over time and you know the one thing
that's missing from those things you know

that's a fantastic exercise and it really
helps you understand going to help places

evolve but you can't forget that there's
a lot of other stuff at work right.

I mean elevation.

You know downtown sits on a hill
the old trail sits on top

of a hill Georgia Tech
sits down in a hole.

What is that and why and how does that
actually influence urban form as much

as the car in the trains and all those
things right in the Peachtree Street runs

where it does because the Native Americans
walked a trail on top of the hill.

I don't know what that means but
there's something there.

You know the thinking about you know what
this little rim that a forest that's

left right in the heart of City and then
thinking about kind of the more the stuff

that you guys are studying how all this.

Urban fabric kind of comes up
against this this freeway.

So we then start if you kind of go back
to those ideas starting to think about

solutions.

These are you know this is the basic

kit of parts that we're using to try
to create a solution for the project.

So there's these huge permeable
spaces say the I twenty

interchange here the Brookwood
interchange there.

There's a lot of opportunity for

urban forest to be inserted
into those spaces right.

That would change the character of
the lot right now there are some trees

here and there.

They're not forests right.

They're not native they're
not even interesting.

If they're non-native they should
be at least the wonderful nobody

really cares for
them they're just kind of there.

So I think if you start thinking about
robust forest this like huge thing that's

really you know pervasive in persuasive
also that becomes I think a major

part of this project and I think it
starts to really sort of set the tone but

then thinking about greening it is there's
other techniques we have to use as well.

But it night time right.

Things change.

Atlanta is a big modern city
the capital of the southeast.

Light is a huge way of kind of thinking
about how those opportunities.

Start to be exhibited through that.

So thinking about lighting
that's already happening.

You know with sort of street grid and

major streets where there's kind of
a lot of energy and activity but

they give out how that stuff starts to be
revealed back along the connector right so

bridges get lit some of these trails and
things I want to talk about and

then it get lit lighting
becomes part of the theme and

then Art The purple is what's happening
already with the art scene in Atlanta.

So basically where there's galleries some
concentration of that are museums that's

been in purple and pink is where we're
saying that we want to add that right.

So it starts to create There's an tension
that's here between midtown and

downtown it's like a great sort of
stitching together moment they're thinking

about how this art starts to be a part
of these kind of gateway moments that

are expressed through these big urban
force in the lights that we see here.

So all these things start to work together
we can't forget about urban design

right now.

So the other important part of it.

You know this is not unlike some of
the stuff that you guys looked at today in

class but what we were starting to think
about was not just where the buildings and

how big are they.

It's more kind of like the form and
how things are going to.

Pressed up against the connector and
how the connector

respond responded in response to
this architecture into the urban

form thinking about the spatial definition
of the connector is that it's easy to

think of it just as road that's got some
with to it is just going to go along.

But it's very substantially constantly
changing and I think that's important.

I don't you know we have to figure out
what that means as you get into more

detail design with these things but it's
experience fully going back to the museum

thing kind of an interesting thing think
about how you move through a museum and

then starting to look at diagramming
out how if you take these ideas.

The notion that the city and the connector
start to kind of layer together

right one influencing the other over time.

I think that if you do the things in
the previous slide where the connector

becomes something it's not a negative.

It's a positive right.

You want to be you're comfortable.

Walking along it as opposed
to uncomfortable right now

if you're comfortable walking along it.

You probably want to
get across it as well.

Right.
If you get across it and

it feels nice and comfortable.

That's another upgrade right.

If people suddenly have this
more positive experience along

the connector it changes land use patterns
along the connector right so suddenly.

If someone has an empty lot here they
might think well you know there's a lot of

pedestrians walking along this kind of
newfound open space along the connector.

Maybe I should build a cafe in
a hotel where I didn't have

a parking garage right.

So I think this sort of unfolding
in this layering starts to happen.

It moves back from the connector
into the city in vice versa.

Things become porous they start to work
together and then those things start to

tell you what sort of where actual urban
design interventions need to happen.

Some of it's you know fairly pragmatic
in that it's a project that needs to get

built right.

And we need to have dollar
signs associated with it.

So we look at opportunities for
places where you might actually cap it.

You know it's interesting just the kind of
neglect that the state capitol building

has had over.

I mean actually that's pretty much
the first map that had it on it in

class today.

But you know there's a Grant Park.

This is this was our idea there's others
have shown this but it's a it's a great

opportunity this Grant Park that kind of
is a part of that capital experience.

If we think about getting
underneath the connector downtown

over here where you is and
then getting over it.

Here you dropping down into the deep
canyon as you go along the connector

thinking about how do we have development
parcels do we take these big you know

the folk art part art thing going to re
invasion how that works with these big

rotaries that are landscape that feel
really comfortable at a pedestrian scale

that totally changes that I now make of
moving across this thing having walked

across this thing in the summertime
I mean it's miserable.

There's no reason I would want to walk
across this deal but if I kept it and

maybe there is a hotel or a park.

Are there some retail or if I could
reinvention just one of those decks so

that you know a rotaries has a coffee shop
and other things are kind of part of that.

That just transforms at
pedestrian experience.

I'm not trying to go so far as to say
let's just get rid of the connector and

put the giant cap on it where
I'm trying to do is make it so

that people can move across it.

It changes it opens up new development
opportunities on both sides and

I think makes the city for more vigorous

think about this art walk in this is
the area we had a lot of the art so

the idea is a sort of can a leverage
system of this urban trail that moves

along that you can actually get out
of your car after you saw the art as

you drove through like wow actually I want
to go back and walk and see this stuff and

it thinking about pedestrian connections
or the tunnel reinventing that but

new pedestrian connections that
can actually bring people across.

We're not looking at this
point a new vehicle or

connections because again dollar signs.

But we do want to look for

ways to get people across the connector
wherever we can and then these are these

this trail system that we've looked
at the kind of moves along it.

I think you can you know a lot of people
said why would you put a trail on

the connector is horrible.

You got to go back to the other slides and
think about all the things that we're

going to be doing to make the connector
really his spittle in a place that you

would actually want to be alongside
of if we start to have events here.

We talked about you know in Atlanta
in L.A. They just closed the four

hundred five right for three days
because it Carmageddon then there's

no way the cities can survive that man
everything's going to be a nightmare.

What if nothing happened.

It was like they shut down this
major freeway didn't even matter.

You know if you started like draw
awareness to the connector by saying let's

have an event.

Let's actually shut it down from here to
here on a Sunday morning for three hours.

You could do it.

It's been done in other cities they
closed the Golden Gate Bridge.

You guys were and seems survive.

It changes your perception right.

If you did in the evening you showed
movies on the concrete walls down here.

You do it just once a year.

It would be a pretty cool thing and

people start to that appreciate this
public open space in a different way.

So this is the basic plan I could
dig too much into the details of.

Of the plan.

But it's going to.

Draft right now the stuff
still in process but

it's you know there's lots of places and
points of interest that we've started to

highlight along the way I think this
thing probably tells the story better.

This is this and
a montage that we threw together so

this is basically the Brookwood
interchange midtown.

There is the Varsity the Spring Street
interchange this is the sort of walk area.

The Parkway the Grady curve and

then I twenty right so
moving through from I twenty down.

We got our urban high
urban forest there but

all this kind of cool lighting
stuff that we're doing.

Here's the capital park on a bike
a we're making a big deal out of

the capital again.

Thinking about what is the character
of the forest as it comes into the city

does it change to something else.

Art Walk park and kind of big elaborate
sculptural pieces that are happening.

Moving down.

You know there's lots of sort of
leftover space near the varsity that

could start to connect.

So maybe the tunnel space that under
under the connector right over here.

It starts to bring people to midtown
as I get into midtown big urban

markers that kind of show haven or is a
city happening back here there's all this

street grid that used to in or that does
in some sort of big marker there and then

think about greening these giant retaining
walls that are happening along the edges

there doesn't just have the vines could
be something that's more floral amazing

interesting patterns and then back to the
forest at the other in the other gateway.

So what are these things look like.

So this is the basic kind of diagrams this
is where the urban forest goes right this

is the spaces that are permeable.

We talked about why you do it.

There's all the you know all this
good stuff that you get out of it but

you know simple interventions like say
the sound wall of this horrible sound wall

that's up here that you speak publicly
housing on the other side the public

housing is gone the sound
wall has no purpose.

Take that down and start to build urban
forest reading this stuff into the city.

Taking spaces like up in midtown.

There's this huge sixty
meter sixty foot wide.

Asphalt area.

It's inaccessible to automobiles
it's a leftover relic

from some changes that happen that were
really done to the to the freeway there.

What if we came in just planted
ceilings and totally green that space.

It would transform the experience of
driving through midtown and it would

transform the experience of crossing the
bridge the seventeenth Street Bridge or

that fourteenth fourteenth Street Bridge.

So all these things little moves but
HUGE who usually transformative.

And they're thinking about
these sort of gateways right so

if I'm driving down the freeway and

I come to this right now all I see is
just these huge bridges and grass.

You know it's not much there.

If you start to think about how landscape.

It really start to highlight
the bridges so that the structural so

much some cool structural stuff that
happens with some of these bridges

think about how they start to work
together to create these gateways

to highlight this idea of
the city in the forest and

then do all the environmental you know
good stuff that we want to do as well but

it doesn't just have to be a native force
we can also look at things that are taking

more botanical approach to
how we deal with forces that

Bamboo is that Mexican Sycamore there's
lots of species that aren't really used

too often in Atlanta but grow really well
here they could even you know even more

heightened that Gateway experience and
then if you start to add lighting to it.

I mean as you arrive in Atlanta.

Well you get it right.

I'm here and I'm someplace special
it's not just the highway anymore and

it's not just kind of this place between
Canada and Florida that I'm going.

It's something that's the trick.

So vertical greening I can't
put trees everywhere right.

There's lots of other things
we need to look at doing.

There's a bunch of techniques we've
looked at and how did how to do it.

It's kind of complicated in some cases but

effect starts to be that retaining
walls change right there.

Part of this whole green strategy this is
it Spring street here we're showing this

kind of exotic forest it's bamboo or
something like that.

But again totally changes
the whole idea of the space

thinking about you know do
I take with just a flow.

Retaining wall if I start to
use some architectural elements

to let that greens actually start to climb
and sort of move up and down as it moves

through midtown start to get pretty
sculptural I think it starts to get far

more interesting than just kind of a plain
old retaining wall with some vines on it.

And then how the properties behind us
actually start to interact into this

process to make a project like this real.

Private landowners as well as you
know people like that to participate.

So if this guy that owns this
parking deck participates.

You know there's a lot of synergy that
suddenly starts to happen between

the connector and that sort of project.

You know thinking about T.V.'s and
how they might participate.

This would be kind of the space
where you download your kind of

if you're in a motorcycle trip and
along with greening spaces.

Thinking about how art becomes part
of the fabric of the infrastructure.

So this there's an artist
who does these little metal

it's actually looks like fabric that it's
made these sort of little metal pieces

we started to look at what kind
of artist we would use and

who would do what the different
parts of the connector.

But starting to think how that
stuff starts to work together.

How Whiting starts to inform you know
very pragmatically where the lights go

What color are they with spaces like this
you know I hear stories about how you know

people the suburbs don't want to
go downtown because it's scary

because of stuff like this right
you go underneath these big

decks I can't see what's
going on out there.

I'm in a city wow this is kind
of kind of frightening but

if suddenly there was friendly lighting
something evocative interesting.

Maybe a change from time to time
transforms again the experience of

going downtown.

Maybe there's a giant you
know these huge light columns

like this kind of
War Of The Worlds look maybe.

But then other spaces where we can start
to think well what does light do is

maybe it marks rhythm marks time as
you move through the connector right.

I think you know there's sort of some
huge opportunities with what these

things could be.

They could also talk about information.

I mean not so much is like saying
Hey there's a football game today.

But you could start to
do things with color in.

Light and maybe some of these
things depending how they

get designed they have words and
messages that are part of it

about daily life in Atlanta that could be
pretty cool and pretty inspiring I think.

And then you know talking about
maybe SCAD they get involved.

Here's my urban forest right
where I can put it but

then Sharia think about light and
architecture and

then bringing that stuff down to
the fabric of the connector as well.

And then my my museum.

I mean this is I think this is a huge
opportunity when we look at this already

but you know part of it.

I hate to dumb down art
to stuff like this but

you know our tourists and
more money than any other tourists.

That's that's the thing if you can get
are tourists coming to your city then

you've made it right.

That's the demographic that you want.

So trying to get you know
creative class people.

That's you know that's the people
that you want to live downtown.

If they have things to do if they
feel like they're part of this

art scene like this.

It attracts people that changes
demographics of they were hoods it

increases pop the value land values
right it's transformative it changes

the urban fabric of the city because I
made a highway a little bit nicer right.

But you know we kind of study
like when what happens with art

you know that there's I think it's kind
of starts get confusing you know that

the first Thursday or the first Friday and
was to go to this part of town or

that part of town for these different
events that go on but you know

the connector could start to be this thing
that kind of ties it all together right.

There's a big events that happen
in Atlanta at certain times of

the year same thing that can actually be
part of that it can't just be some plop

art it sits there quietly by itself it's
going to be part of this whole story.

It's a museum.

And the places where it works how it
all works thinking about what is art.

This is tough.

This is really difficult.

I'm not an artist and
we have subsequently hired an artist but

when you start trying to apply art
to the to the walls of these spaces.

It's really hard to figure out what's good
what's bad this stuff scares the hell out

of most people we show it to so
we try not to show it too much.

I mean it's like you would believe
the comments that I get if I

you know if I put certain
you know images there it's

just like wow that's art that
scares the hell out of me.

So you know I thought
you guys can handle it.

But you know there are things you know
everybody loves oppression to start

right that's great.

So if we painted our bridges
using point list fashion.

That's pretty artful
it's pretty interesting.

It certainly transforms the fabric
of the of the the freeway.

Especially when you start to think
about all the other pieces that

are kind of part of that and

then that's kind of non-confrontational
right that's easy stuff for people to get.

Maybe we start with that I don't know.

And then you know furniture you know
hopefully this piece will fall off of

a bridge but it gets a big bolt.

But you know thinking about what is the
experience of crossing the bridges because

right now the pedestrian experience with
a couple of exceptions pretty pretty harsh

and so
you know bridges need to be different.

They're all if we can think about how
we can actually display the structural

features that make some of these bridges
quite beautiful and maybe hide some of

the pieces where they're not thinking
about is it part of this kind of green

matrix that is it lanta Is there
information that's kind of part of it or

shading and there's all sorts of different
ways you can start to take a simple

system like this and customize it.

Each bridge and
this is this is your guys' front yard.

We'll talk about this later but ideas
of thinking about how we can take you

know the guts of what goes on
inside the university here and

pull that out onto the street.

The idea is that we've got this.

I didn't bring any of the samples but
there's like a.

Wind generation technique that uses
the strips that kind of vibrate is when

from the cars goes by creates a lot
of electricity a lot of energy.

There's these sensors that are in these
little walls in the sensors start to.

They tell you what's going
on with the freeway.

You know how much particulate matter
is in the air ozone all this sort of

stuff that's going on.

That starts to get real.

Field in this sort of this electric system
where different lights mean different

things depending on what's
happening with the air quality and

the traffic and
all these things that are going on.

How much electricity we're generating and

I like the idea that I could
take all this electricity and

send it back into the campus and if you
want to power your phone with free energy.

You know you could somehow do that right.

So think about how all
these things tie back into

landowners' that followed along
the edges I think is a huge opportunity.

Imrie think about what they
can do in working with

Marta So you know urban connectivity.

This is I think this is another
huge opportunities think about how

the this would be a long way in
St these three lanes of traffic.

There.
Now you need like one and

a half I think so.

What if you started to take some of those
lines away turn them over to public space

and if we sort of think about how
maybe we can to lever some of

this stuff out over the freeway.

So that a new public space is born.

It's multi-modal right I can ride a bike
along it somedays I can ride the bike

faster than the cars are going.

That's huge.

I can live now in midtown
a river these things happen

you know walk down to this thing.

Take that to work.

That's huge.

Suddenly this place that was just like you
know I turn my back on I think the Midtown

plan right now calls for a let's build
a cell wall along this thing but

I want to sound Well now
if you go to the High Line.

There's places the all the big
amphitheater that they've built that just

sort of looks at cars.

You know it's amphitheater
that looks at cars.

There's no performance they just look
at cars and we can top that here right.

We'll have more cars but I think you
could do something pretty amazing.

If you started thinking about you know
sound attenuation is maybe part of this

system anyway.

It could be could be a huge opportunity.

You know here's my big trail this
is my little overlook thing.

These are my giant botanical I think
these I think I lost the somewhere along

the way but the Giants.

Animal garden.

Pieces that are strong on
cables over the freeway.

You know it's trying to say hey this
reinvent the space you're passing through

something that's amazing.

I don't think it's going to go for it.

So that kind of puts
it all together right.

So I got the systems so wrapping up but

my last kind of little thought here
is way finding right on this project.

This is a little idea that I've been
playing with this goes back to hey can we

flood the thing.

So here's our Connector of right.

So you know I think that the real problem
with the connector right now is that.

Well I mean it's a simple problem we've
got these two interstate highways that

someone decided let's put them
through the heart of a really

important city right now
doesn't make any sense.

I mean Vancouver British Columbia.

There's no freeway they go through
the city you find your way through and

surface roads San Francisco same way
if you're moving from north to south

on the California Highway want to one you
take surface roads right there's a lot of

cities like that your
cities that they're taking.

Freeways out in in Korea forget which.

City but you know I can probably soul but

you know the taking the freeway
out of the heart of the city.

My suggestion is that maybe this
is redundant infrastructure.

There's Interstate seventy five right
because through the heart of the city.

If we get eighty five that
goes through the city.

What if we just put a new
sign up here instead.

OK This is Interstate
seventy five anymore.

This is enters this is Interstate seventy.

So now that's the traffic pattern and

then I put a sign here is that you know
that's Interstate eighty five over there.

What have those people in Canada when
they get on whatever highway it is and

are going to Florida.

They just follow that line right there
like you know I'm going to eighty five

I got to take eighty five to get there.

That's how I get there and
when they get here.

There's a sign that says Take two
eighty five I forget what the name of

the perimeter road is they don't follow
that they just take eighty five and

weigh finding that's like important
stuff I just follow that.

So if I could then you know
resign that would then.

You have this redundant system here right.

I mean if you if you then said Well
this is maybe more like San Francisco or

more like Coover.

Theoretically you could take it out or
maybe don't take it out.

There's anybody from sheet out here.

You just make it smaller right.

Theoretically you could do that right.

You could take out you know a few lanes.

Because now it's redundant.

Now sure there's ramifications for
what happens out here but I at least like

the idea that if you start to think about
a system like this in a different way.

It could lead to really
important possibilities.

So that's it.

In my show because of questions.