String Urbanism: 2006 Brickbottom Competition Entry for ‘Edge As Center’, Boston Society of Architects

String Urbanism creates and urban strategy for a vast swath of industrial land to the North of Boston that represents the future growth potential for the entire economic region. This area is currently an underutilized urban obstacle that cuts Somerville off from Cambridge and Charlestown.

KKLA was part of an interdisciplinary team that developed the design creating dynamic and adaptable interlinked networks of opportunity to engage for an endless amount of evolving physical outcomes. In our investigation, we use this dynamic context of landscape systems to influence our approach.

The notion of String Urbanism creates landscape and buildings that crossover streets and are intertwined to connect buildings and blocks at multiple levels and create denser yet more open conditions. These bundled strands avoid the uninviting and empty extruded blocks found typical mixed use developments.
The nodal conditions at the intersections of the strings locate elevators and stairs, and create rich opportunities for retail space and places of assembly and gathering.
The spaces on top and in between floors can be used as occupied landscaped spaces, rooftop gardens, freeing up the ground level spaces between buildings for other uses and purposes. Buildings and building elements are thought of as spaces to be inhabited by program and open space, and varying levels of programmatic density and enclosure foster varied environments.

Collaborators:
Architects: oceanUS, Cambridge MA (Robert Elfter, Eric Hanson, Kevin Cespedes, Tom Verbes) and Len Bertaux, Boston, MA
Environmental Scientists: Woodard and Curran Dedham, MA and Andover, MA
Transportation Engineers: McMahon Associates, Boston, MA