Assignment Bridge 3: Issues/Questions/Needs/Potentials

Bridge 3 Description:

For Bridge 3, you will present the gathered information about your neighborhood based on the seminar deliberation list (Potential problems & plan of action).

Please refer to the following questions:

1. Present a 2D Visual Plan (chart, mind map, or any other data visualization tool) of how are you going to edit and mark the information so that it is legible?
2. Choose the way of presenting potential problems:

Option A– 3D model.

Option B– a drawing that represents the 3D design: digital rendering and or hand drawing and or Photoshop collage, etc.

Refer to: how you can translate (indicate), the primary information indicating in particular:

• Spaces of interactions
• Public areas (in broad variety)
• Potentials
• Vulnerabilities

Process: 

2-D Visual Plan:

• General theme: haunted past, present separation, future concerns
• Geographic separation: The island is divided into the northern, middle and southern area. The red bus is the only public transportation on the island. It is not convenient for the north island resident to go to the southern island. Vice versa. 
• Communal separation: The apartments are shaped in a U shape. It is difficult for the non-residents to use the public space within the U shape apartment area. 
• Unused public area: Enormous green land were not used by the community effectively due to the frightening historical background. 
• Lack of communication and bonding in the community: There are not many public places (cafes, restaurants, gym, etc.) for people to bond and get to know each other. 
• History forgotten/ ignored: How the mentally ill patients were abused in the past were ignored. If people don’t pay attention to mental wellness, history can be replayed.

3-D design digital Rendering

 

Census information:

• Social: 40.6% of the population has an occupation in management, business, science, and arts.
• Housing: Majority of the buildings were built between 2000-2009(33.8%) or 1970-1979 (35.9%)
• Social: 63.3% of the population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• 9% of the population is foreign-born.
• 9% of the population lives in a non-family household.
• Demographic: 68.6% of the population’s age is between 18-65.
• Economics: Only 3.2% of the population is unemployed.

 

Main social and cultural characteristics, contexts, and broad issues

• Geographic separation: The island is divided into the northern, middle and southern area. The red bus is the only public transportation on the island. It is not convenient for the north island resident to go to the southern island. Vice versa.
• Communal separation: The apartments are shaped in a U shape. It is difficult for the non-residents to use the public space within the U shape apartment area.
• Unused public area: Enormous green land were not used by the community effectively due to the frightening historical background.
• Lack of communication and bonding in the community: There are not many public places (cafes, restaurants, gym, etc.) for people to bond and get to know each other.

 Explanation: 

The history of a neighborhood is vital to understand its present and future development. The three layers of my design respectively demonstrate the historical background, present situation and future concerns on Roosevelt Island. The problem I am targeting starts with the haunted history. The past shapes the current geographic division on the island. The center is the residential and commercial area where the resultants, grocery store and subway locate. The northern and southern tip of the island was not as developed and populated. There is an enormous amount of greenery in the south and north area; however, these public spaces were not used effectively by the community. The geographic separation causes communal separation. Most of the residents are college students and young professional and around half of them are foreign-born. These people work in high-stress industries and live alone in the apartments, which can cause a sense of loneliness and isolation. Without a bonding community, mental problems can be an emerging concern in the future. This will go full circle with the abusive mental health treatment history on the island. The stigma of the island can be removed by facing the problem itself. Mental health is an important issue that people should pay attention and talk about. A potential solution is to build a mental health discussion board and art therapy drawing station to help bond, relax and learn the scientific way of improving mental wellness.

 

Reflection:

1. The planning stage: Through bridge 3, I understand the importance of the planning process, including neighborhood research, watching Ted Talks, SCAMPER exercise etc. All these steps are necessary to understand the urban planning system more deeply. For example, the Ted Talk by Theaster Gates inspired me to use culture and history background as a catalyst for social transformation in a neighborhood. Writing down the problems and using mind maps to expand ideas is also vital for generating good ideas and eliminate the unnecessary.
2. The making stage: I chose 3-D digital rending as an option for the presentation. I exercised my photoshop skills and studied the ways to transform my ideas into images. I spent quite a lot of time to fix the lines and layers of my model to make it look more three dimensional. Details are essential during the process. Before I finished my final version, I realized some edges are not clean enough, which became a distraction for the overall look of the model. I spent more time to clean up the details and the effect was so much better. 
3. Afterthoughts: Design is a refining process. I found the SCAMPER exercise very helpful to generate new ideas and eliminate the unnecessary. Even the bridge 3 model is done, I think a better version can be made with another round of the SCAMPER exercise.