tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65961975492953618522024-03-27T08:47:19.491-07:00Maine ArchitectureBlog focusing on town planning and architecture in Maine.Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-73335624083233404012019-03-27T07:43:00.000-07:002019-03-27T07:43:01.563-07:00Streets Are RoomsThe first step toward creating pedestrian friendly spaces is to treat each street as if it was a room in a house. By first, making sure all buildings have walls tight to the sidewalks, these buildings will form walls on either side of the street. The street then becomes an outdoor room. Whether the neighborhood is low rent or high rent, the outdoor space can be beautiful through city efforts.<br />
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On designated shopping streets, the first floors should have glass with shops or businesses visible. This makes for safe streets and active one's. One long blank first floor on a street can ruin the feeling of an area. </div>
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Lights and wide sidewalks of brick and trees creating shade and buffer for childs safety can all be done by the city. </div>
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In Portland, new buildings in the Bayside neighborhood have and have not been placed tight to the sidewalks. The DSS building sets back behind a parking lot in a suburban layout, destroying any hope for Marginal way to feel like a room there. The new university housing however, forms a wonderful outdoor street space and has a nice bus stop of glass in front. This simple rule can have dramatic positive results.</div>
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Streets are public space and have much potential for safety, and the pursuit of happiness!<br />
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(Originally posted 9/17/2008)</div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-85831692699364032662018-01-02T10:23:00.001-08:002018-01-02T10:23:38.576-08:00Warmth of a New Year<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTghojKWl34SW_nAJmK2cOH3ulThMY8oWQoZOjAJGLKp3AGLy9Cw_w7FphKSiqyWZnluIdkg8xbZ7ycNaOMSV-JCB7Rfgs0hb5oNApEHv5Yz0T2XjLC8SQiB3k6NTApm6X1yRELYeot4/s1600/Holiday+card+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1600" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihTghojKWl34SW_nAJmK2cOH3ulThMY8oWQoZOjAJGLKp3AGLy9Cw_w7FphKSiqyWZnluIdkg8xbZ7ycNaOMSV-JCB7Rfgs0hb5oNApEHv5Yz0T2XjLC8SQiB3k6NTApm6X1yRELYeot4/s640/Holiday+card+2017.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inviting materials of Hamann House interior by Michael Belleau Architect.</td></tr>
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When the holiday season comes along we thankfully switch our thoughts, concerns and feelings from me to us. Many of us naturally spend much of our year in a competition mode for perceived scarce resources or to protect our families in different ways.<br />
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But when December rolls around we begin to smile more, give more heartfelt greetings and as a culture agree to treat each other more as extended family. That warmth and generosity we normally reserve for guests in our homes extends out into the public space.<br />
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The care we put into making our homes as welcoming and warm and friendly and happy as possible can be extended into our public spaces in order to support our care for each other year round.<br />
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We need more chances to mix in public naturally, without signing up for anything.<br />
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I remember when I was studying in London and on new years eve my partner and I decided to go into the center and just be there. At this time in early 90’s there were armed police in the train stations due to terrorist attacks and in general people were more emotionally guarded.<br />
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We were in a random pub when the clock struck midnight and someone put on the old Monkees hit ‘Daydream Believer’. To our happy surprise immediately everyone began to sing along! People of all different walks of life bonded in that special moment.<br />
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Happy Holidays! -mBMichael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-8940159693279290602017-06-19T19:10:00.000-07:002017-06-19T19:44:07.981-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 20To finish this series of blogs on my urban design work in Maine, here is an article from Maine Home and Design ( https://mainehomedesign.com/aia-design-theory/1948-the-poetry-of-place/ ) articulating my approach to architecture and couple of sketches from my student thesis long, long ago; a mixed use project on Union Wharf in Portland incorporating urban spaces.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWYsRVrn12JNWNW8X_zBI5jdc8KYJw992ERYLNkBvhYeliWi5094XBc9N9kUzewb5q_9-Z5YRhsmUfh71f-46UlsipiHy8f8vkGAzm6_BM-oba6c_8tRX8J2n5IiEcy_SSS026o6Bd38/s1600/poetryofplace1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="559" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWYsRVrn12JNWNW8X_zBI5jdc8KYJw992ERYLNkBvhYeliWi5094XBc9N9kUzewb5q_9-Z5YRhsmUfh71f-46UlsipiHy8f8vkGAzm6_BM-oba6c_8tRX8J2n5IiEcy_SSS026o6Bd38/s1600/poetryofplace1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The Poetry of Place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Architect Michael Belleau’s favorite Emerson quote is from the
essay Nature: </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">"Standing on the bare ground,—my head bathed by the blithe
air, and uplifted into infinite space,—all mean egotism vanishes. I become a
transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all;..."</span></i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">. This transcendent state involves both a heightened awareness
as well as a sense of peace within. Belleau says his work seeks to create such
an opportunity for his clients. “</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">When I begin designing a
project my goal is to create a poetic condition- a space that the client would
describe to a friend in poetic terms because no other terms would suffice. This
involves manipulating light, space, materials, history, so that one is allowed
to feel uplifted and moved to positive emotion inside.” MH+D asked Belleau to
elaborate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Q: HOW DOES AN ARCHITECT DESIGN A
POETIC PLACE?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgZISB2_lJOvljYvgwoPRKh0nennzC6IDG8aGSPB_M_wQqrWi4MaBPcHS87FgDnV3TV0mQKGVGncNbjNxmKjsXDQSCuqzRivqaVXbAJuBcQE8xiRQsquy2Ov8-kBPLYmPq3yjFt_qTDo/s1600/sketch2+copy+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1476" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgZISB2_lJOvljYvgwoPRKh0nennzC6IDG8aGSPB_M_wQqrWi4MaBPcHS87FgDnV3TV0mQKGVGncNbjNxmKjsXDQSCuqzRivqaVXbAJuBcQE8xiRQsquy2Ov8-kBPLYmPq3yjFt_qTDo/s400/sketch2+copy+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">A: First, an understanding of what
“place” means and how our senses process our surroundings is necessary. For me,
“place”, is both a regional term in that there is an implication of a larger
geographic area distinct from another (New England vs. Deep South), and an idea
of a precise smaller definition so that you know when you have entered and when
you have left (The Old Port or the inside of a cathedral). The former involves
geography and culture, the latter as well but for me can also be a specific
neighborhood, building site, or one space. When I was a young fisherman working
on a dragger off Cape Cod I stood on a regionally crafted purposeful vessel
full of construction detail and imbued with local culture. In Kenneth
Frampton’s essay, “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an
Architecture of Resistance”, he argues for the creation of buildings which are
of their place, reflecting the local culture as a way to avoid the placeless
quality of so many modern buildings and the kitsch of so many postmodern
buildings</span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">. We see this placeless effect and kitsch in
generic places like chain stores and restaurants and parking lots and logos
that fail to change as we move from one end of the country to the other. As
Gertrude Stein said: “There is no there, there.” Frampton however, addresses
the design of buildings and how they can both participate in the local culture
as well as the universal culture. By using materials, construction methods,
programs, which are local, and some universal properties such as the industrial
process of manufacturing<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.<span style="color: #262626;"> </span></b><span style="color: #262626;">It’s no surprise
this approach is the most sustainable as well because we need to use the common
sense climatic building techniques of the past with the building science advances
of the present. When I teach I have my students read this essay.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Q: HOW DO OUR MINDS PERCEIVE PLACE,
ESPECIALLY IN AN EVER-CHANGING ENVIRONMENT?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-2hn3oXuF6sHlEDUcC_itQzFxaLy5JeqpES9xTtWvY7goY1o_rKSswGDg-ewZHhuig799OFl2MqRF33UQxAEPntA23QdaF5dSQwh2YmdxM6KvGOKkFdcLkfV0zzuP1HKFrasKGmw4RU/s1600/sketch1+copy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1538" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-2hn3oXuF6sHlEDUcC_itQzFxaLy5JeqpES9xTtWvY7goY1o_rKSswGDg-ewZHhuig799OFl2MqRF33UQxAEPntA23QdaF5dSQwh2YmdxM6KvGOKkFdcLkfV0zzuP1HKFrasKGmw4RU/s400/sketch1+copy.jpeg" width="383" /></a><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">A: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">When my first son learned to walk
on the steps down to Camden harbor, I felt a very distinct sense of place. </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Often a pattern of some kind- like a string of row houses or a
group of piers- can define a distinct place. Patterns are sought by the mind to
interpret our surroundings. How our senses process our surroundings is key to
understanding how architecture can create poetic places. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Architecture
is the stage for one’s interaction with space and objects around them. Our
minds process the information taken in through the senses and send reactive
signals to our bodies for physical response and to our minds to create emotions
and stimulate pattern searching. It is the architect’s responsibility to create
spaces that provide appropriate emotional states and patterns for the pleasure
of the mind and comfort of the body. When my children walk to school their feet
fall on ever changing brick pieces with various colored plant debris while
moving through a space filled with building volumes, trees hovering above and
paths that bend opening up new vistas. Every new day brings different colors
and weather and modifications to the day before. </span><span style="font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The world is a constantly mutating organism, each pattern of growth
and decay changing so that no such fixed state exists. This is true of our
thoughts individually and collectively. Every interaction of one thought with
another changes each thought into a new mutated one. The sciences of chaos,
complexity, fuzzy logic and fractal mathematics attempt to identify the
patterns of growth and change. Architecture must allow us to feel comfortable
in the world we find ourselves. Thus, the places we create should allow for
thoughts of constant mutation, recombination, dissolution and birth. My work
seeks to harness this energy to enhance the users quality of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Q: WHAT IS A PROJECT EXAMPLE WHERE
THIS IDEA CAME INTO PLAY FOR YOU?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4dP9pGW7eqzVfmGTWsmEY0E4o48YlQo_ybC9b-AXmnUWr3EsGcPagAXORRTfRDP2mG9cH8_85TkJPkTGwRYU0OEAUMtGFbYm88ZUIlvrlwa01Om8jTCd9Ey3Xf9lHoDDQznnUfklLEI/s1600/MH%252BD+AIA+Des+Theory+Belleau+sketch+1+copy+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1062" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4dP9pGW7eqzVfmGTWsmEY0E4o48YlQo_ybC9b-AXmnUWr3EsGcPagAXORRTfRDP2mG9cH8_85TkJPkTGwRYU0OEAUMtGFbYm88ZUIlvrlwa01Om8jTCd9Ey3Xf9lHoDDQznnUfklLEI/s400/MH%252BD+AIA+Des+Theory+Belleau+sketch+1+copy+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">A: I designed a </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;">little studio
addition to a farm house in Cape Elizabeth for Guggenheim fellow and Princeton
faculty photographer Jocelyn Lee. We have primal safety instincts to gravitate
to the cave or the tree and this project creates a sort of tree house effect by
hovering up and away from the rest of the house. Our regional culture feels
comfortable with gable roofs and wood shingles. Our universal culture is
comfortable with ribbon horizontal windows that allow broad uninterrupted views
of the landscape in back of the house, the obvious “place” which the project
focuses on. And when walking up into the studio space a sense of a distinct “place”
is apparent. The structure further displays modern traits by cantilevering out
in two directions; there are frameless glass window corners, and one set of
glass doors below lies across an end of the volume above. On the other hand the
roof is of plain old corrugated metal. The studio commands the back yard, the
play space below creates indoor/outdoor connections and a deck above and behind
the hovering studio allows access to nature from the large multi-dormered attic
level of the original farmhouse. Architects can transform the ordinary into the
extraordinary even in small projects. I often pass by small beach cottages and
imagine how they could be transformed from the banal to the wonderful.</span><span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "lucida grande"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-67408775107015178242016-08-16T07:44:00.001-07:002016-08-16T07:44:18.168-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 19<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DLIRTTSeXATODOrM9C30tyi_82MuTDU-pJDBX7-dpg8u17ZxNUqyXKyCJm_9T18euQRrmstSG2etSnPEmyfYkSkB7cCc7hVfdUHPOFaJKwGXve7lzLtaY1gjFNlS3q5ChToqrdTK1yw/s1600/19Belleau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7DLIRTTSeXATODOrM9C30tyi_82MuTDU-pJDBX7-dpg8u17ZxNUqyXKyCJm_9T18euQRrmstSG2etSnPEmyfYkSkB7cCc7hVfdUHPOFaJKwGXve7lzLtaY1gjFNlS3q5ChToqrdTK1yw/s640/19Belleau.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Portland Maine waterfront with proposed new buildings in black strengthening the existing piers as streets fabric, etc.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(Continuing with my July 2010 Maine Sunday Telegram article proposing a blueprint for a successful approach to development on Portland's waterfront...) Using historical analysis combined with a form-based approach, I suggested we treat the piers as streets with buildings along the sides of the piers. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Using the Thomas block as an example of how to build on that
side of Commercial we could make a continuous 4 story wall of mixed use space
with storefronts at grade. Then the piers could have a street running down the
middle and buildings on the sides with waterfront use on the pier level and
provide as much public access as possible. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Great read for those who care about building better places to live especially those with waterfronts. Here's the article text second half:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>...It
is clear the most crucial aspect regarding development on the piers is that a
street run down the middle of them that imitates the streets of the Old Port.
This means sidewalks on both sides, or a totally pedestrian street wide enough
to drive down and walk alongside moving cars and nothing at the end of the pier
at the end of these ‘streets’ to block the view. These ‘streets should be
mandated public access corridors as the piers are private property. Buildings
could line both sides of these streets to a height of 2 or 3 stories without
blocking out too much sunshine or overwhelming the ‘feel’ of the old
established building fabric. Buildings should be required to build to the
sidewalk edges to make the ‘walls’ to these street ‘hallways’. Open air breaks
in these buildings for view and pedestrian access should occur at mandated
intervals to allow people to see the ocean from the ‘street’, walk to the
pier’s long edges from the street, and to break up the potentially long
building walls. It is this human scaled pre-industrial fabric that generates
the livability we enjoy and thus, attracts the income we depend on. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>Since
ALL uses except marine ones can be accommodated anywhere else, it is natural
that the ground floors of most space on piers beyond the depth of a Thomas
block size building be reserved for marine use only. Piers are built to
function as a way to allow boats to pull up alongside them- for marine use.
Once that space is handed over to non-marine use, the whole logic of the city
begins to fall apart and our sense of place unravels. We passed the marine only
zoning law because we panicked when Chandler’s private condominiums and gated
street went up. We instinctively knew the whole city as a place was at risk.
Seafood restaurants with moderate income menus like the Porthole and Becky’s
feel natural to us on the ground floor as does a fish market. It is the ground
floor of the buildings that we interact with and which provide us with a sense
of place. On the other hand, I’m not sure it makes much difference on the
floors above whether there are restaurants, offices or concert halls. The
exception is residential which can cause problems when condo owners act
naturally territorial leading to lawsuits and which cannot be changed to a
different use if the public changes the zoning. There must be a way for property
owners to make a deserving profit while the greater good and Portland’s
long-term interests are preserved.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5JMd_bxtGG2IFERn8-p0LWwJM6Tx5PKox-KyugBxkhh3DDyWjKQaodU2n3FjHm9jz3vveEqQlszJTaDGxg5juygPKPqgfhT1IaDCs7gSQfwQeI-nCsUi9WeZDCxbbxJ2kGnOtbQpSpk/s1600/DSC_0019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5JMd_bxtGG2IFERn8-p0LWwJM6Tx5PKox-KyugBxkhh3DDyWjKQaodU2n3FjHm9jz3vveEqQlszJTaDGxg5juygPKPqgfhT1IaDCs7gSQfwQeI-nCsUi9WeZDCxbbxJ2kGnOtbQpSpk/s640/DSC_0019.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Believe it or not this is a pier- Custom House Wharf.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>If
we write the zoning in such a way as to get the street space the way we want
and the form of the buildings similarly creating that street space- public
space- then Portland will always be the best experience we can get. This means
writing a form-based code instead of a function based code. Zoning language
should emphasize that use requirements may change to accommodate public
interest but that building form requirements will stay. This actually
stabilizes the owner’s long-term viability as they can build the form and fill
it with whatever use is approved at any point in time.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>Finally,
the actual pier edges running along the sides should be well thought out to
allow a certain amount of public strolling. This is easy if an 8 foot strip
along the water is open for walking along, exceptions made for actual work such
as unloading fish, etc., which would pose a danger to the public. Thus, the
public could walk along most of the waterfront edge for a magnificent
experience and lure tenants better than any brochure owners could come up with.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>So
we see that the solutions to our needs at our waterfront are simple: a street
down the middle with no building to block the end view; buildings like Thomas
Block along Commercial Street with storefront on ground floor; a human building
height along piers; access to the edges; marine only ground floors; and
buildings on either side of the ‘street’ that meet the sidewalks.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>It
is the unique street space that we love in our city. Pier streets have always
been Portland’s essence.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>Michael
Belleau is principal of Michael Belleau Architect, an architecture and urban
planning firm in Portland. He has worked since 1992 on Portland urban design
issues, writing many articles for this paper. He is a fourth generation Mainer,
former fisherman and Portland resident and can be reached at <a href="http://www.michaelbelleau.com/">www.michaelbelleau.com</a> or his blog:
www.mainearchitecture.blogspot.com. </i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-18419079456542908492016-08-04T17:14:00.003-07:002016-08-04T17:16:23.812-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 18<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgu1zuxI3d1iYgrWMyBajUHvBPX8KMhMwWIMg1d5BhnuIfvcfcaHm6TrDXvkzZmkwdyY53TJq7nH5shuuZMhLk3IMxgIu6l2pHzmOQaaw4CjKXZnbPZFq2Unn65xc2gjM6rnBfKK8Pbw/s1600/DSC_0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgu1zuxI3d1iYgrWMyBajUHvBPX8KMhMwWIMg1d5BhnuIfvcfcaHm6TrDXvkzZmkwdyY53TJq7nH5shuuZMhLk3IMxgIu6l2pHzmOQaaw4CjKXZnbPZFq2Unn65xc2gjM6rnBfKK8Pbw/s640/DSC_0016.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Historically Portland's piers acted as extensions of the streets with buildings on both sides only with water underneath.</td></tr>
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In 2010 Portland Maine's waterfront code and future was a big topic and
having analyzed it from the beginning of my career, I wrote this July 2010 Maine Sunday Telegram article to lay
down a blueprint for a successful approach to development there. Using that
same analysis as my thesis combined with a form-based approach I suggested we
treat the piers as streets with buildings along the sides of the piers. Great read for those who care about building better places to live especially those with waterfronts. Here's the article text first half:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1pIUL45CMNPh7zU36Ty6bBWOUYQw3N0XtEWZ-YLWKrJxfx7L5x2QD3_LQJya8eYrargUswRtnYS9wtJmsovKYzhHZO7UlSQANt4-Lg7rYRehH3oGO_nIcAu0e9Yt3bgmBDMIvFAe8LU/s1600/Slide18+copy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP1pIUL45CMNPh7zU36Ty6bBWOUYQw3N0XtEWZ-YLWKrJxfx7L5x2QD3_LQJya8eYrargUswRtnYS9wtJmsovKYzhHZO7UlSQANt4-Lg7rYRehH3oGO_nIcAu0e9Yt3bgmBDMIvFAe8LU/s640/Slide18+copy.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My July 2010 article and excerpt.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><i>Portland
Piers Are Streets</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>By
Michael Belleau copyright 2010<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>Special
to the Maine Sunday Telegram<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>July
7, 2010<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>When
we walk down to Portland’s waterfront and stroll through the fabric of the Old
Port or meander along Commercial Street, our senses are focused inevitably on
the water. The smell of the ocean when the weather warms up and the sounds of
boats and birds beckon but the site of the water is what we yearn for. Our
visual connection to this place is constantly broken by buildings and then
re-established through view corridors. Views from a distance are balanced by
walkways along the water’s edge. This variety of water view experiences is what
makes Portland itself a distinct place. In order to answer the question of how
to build here we need not get too complicated. We just need to acknowledge the
deep structure formed by history here that has worked all along.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>A
map of Portland in 1690 shows just three roads: one along the shore (Fore St.),
one going from this one up hill (India St. now), to one along ridge (Congress
St. now). When Captain Moet burned the city down in 1775 piers had begun to
sprout along the waterfront, a few of them aligned with the streets coming down
from the spine of Congress Street. By 1823 many more piers had sprung up, most
of which were extensions of the cities street fabric coming down from Congress
Street, across Middle and Fore and out into the harbor. Starting at the west
end and moving east we can see streets becoming piers at the streets State,
Anne, High, Center, Cotton, Cross, Union (the largest wharf, Union Wharf),
Plum, Exchange, Market, Silver, Willow, Deer, Moose, Tyng, King (India),
Hancock and Monitor. Tyng Street actually went out into the water as a pier and
came to an end at an ‘L’ intersection over the water with Thames Street’s pier
extension!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>As
these piers grew longer they began to differ little from the same streets on
land with rows of buildings along both sides of a street at the center of the
wharfs except the back of the buildings were at the waters edge with ships tied
up. The street fabric of Portland was one of the city running right out into
the sea.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>The
Portland experience was of walking down a street seeing the water at the end,
and as you approached that end, glimpsing the water on both sides between
buildings and realizing you were over the water. If you walked along the
waterfront down and between wharfs you could experience a myriad of building
forms, views, wharf edge depths, site lines, people, ships, etc. However, as
with many human scaled environments, the Industrial Revolution inadvertently
removed a large portion of this experience.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>In
1852 the railroad tracks to Montreal were laid across the wharfs out in the
water close to land. This line of tracks became Commercial Street when the water
between the tracks and Fore Street was filled in. The crenellated outline of
the waterfront edge was replaced by a monotonous straight one. Piers still
multiplied (I count 36 total from 1866 map) and grew further into the harbor
while railroad track spurs ran out down the piers to expedite the movement of
goods. The new tracks divided the waterfront into a city side and a wharf side.
You knew if you were out in the water and if you were not because you had to
cross the monotonous tracks first. Mystery and intrigue, essential components
to the heightened urban visual and spatial human experience began to evaporate.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LrHTQ9pPdz_TJ2h8p2OsHuOc08WGGl9pdtXX1DZipDAXtNOs0tuv7zDS9vs-IjO5PrTooSwmM6jxIPq6tS0Es96ilI1QZQNzzAbZG_YD9zaiWdTsMhjUamCpdH2398GMkC54IPC5lZ4/s1600/DSC_0018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8LrHTQ9pPdz_TJ2h8p2OsHuOc08WGGl9pdtXX1DZipDAXtNOs0tuv7zDS9vs-IjO5PrTooSwmM6jxIPq6tS0Es96ilI1QZQNzzAbZG_YD9zaiWdTsMhjUamCpdH2398GMkC54IPC5lZ4/s400/DSC_0018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><i>Now,
with trains long gone, we see the gradual restoration of the street fabric of
Portland especially down at the east end of the waterfront. Commercial Street
has become a sort of Main Street of the waterfront area. 100 Commercial St.,
the Thomas Block, exemplifies the kind of building form we generally enjoy
along the water side of this street. At four stories it is not too tall, curves
along the sidewalk forming a wall to enclose the street so that we experience
the street as an outdoor public room, and has storefronts at ground level to
engage the pedestrian and provide a sense of safety and activity. We can use
this building as a model for development along the water side of Commercial
Street to the depth of the Thomas Block. It is the building overall form that
we wish to guide to meet our collective needs, not strictly the use.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;">Next post will have rest of article and diagram explaining concept.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-78164158838788461562015-03-23T13:28:00.000-07:002015-03-23T13:30:53.192-07:0020 Year of Urban Design in Maine 17<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOHNEvXT0pGXOWHDuwnf_TA-F0_qmT7lI7_maXrWfEjHOFMpOTs257fm40bwG8PqB26hQxK3Jqj0d2BXbzGRskk6HRlVS4OF6dRkofXcKYfIAiF5QNqRSljz6TSN6xToSdyQyqrTAqoc/s1600/17Belleau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOHNEvXT0pGXOWHDuwnf_TA-F0_qmT7lI7_maXrWfEjHOFMpOTs257fm40bwG8PqB26hQxK3Jqj0d2BXbzGRskk6HRlVS4OF6dRkofXcKYfIAiF5QNqRSljz6TSN6xToSdyQyqrTAqoc/s1600/17Belleau.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We must move from object-oriented thinking to public space-oriented thinking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Continuing discussion of my generic good walkable urban design article
I wrote in September 2008 just as the world was about to collapse: </div>
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<br /></div>
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In my last post I talked about creating town buildings that formed great urban space and
each building may be used in any number of ways. And that specific function
buildings like libraries and gyms could be used by many ages and at all hours
so we didn’t waste money and space on having a different one of each for each
age group. I posted the article as well. </div>
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<br /></div>
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For instance we might have a post office booth in a town building so
there was a post office in each town without having to build a separate
building. Essentially that focusing on walkable neighborhoods that contained
life’s spaces made for a better quality of life.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Traditionally when we look to build a new public building we find a place for a building by searching for empty lots near the existing facility or greenfield sites near popular roads easily driven to. We create objects that are given a little extra care architecturally if they are important. This I call object-oriented city/town planning thinking. </div>
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This sort of planning leads to facilities scattered about, each dressed up according to importance and not necessarily linked in any way. They are like objects placed randomly on a table. Some of those objects may be beautifully designed but as each one is built there is no greater space or experience formed by them; no link between adding and a overall experience.</div>
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When you are in Venice walking down a path along a canal and into a piazza or over a bridge, you don't care what is behind one door or another. If one door had a school and one a post office and one a facilities maintenance bureau offices that's fine. It's the urban space formed by the buildings that makes for a great experience. </div>
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<br /></div>
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If you are making great spaces with your plan then every time a new building goes up a more wonderful public space is created. And each piece adds to the whole. With a good plan every time someone builds people of the area are happier as the public space becomes better and better; their place becomes better.</div>
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My mantra is, "Each piece adds to the greater whole."</div>
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<br /></div>
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We must break from object-oriented public buildings thinking and move to urban space-oriented public spaces thinking.</div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-27038405017161524232015-01-16T14:42:00.000-08:002015-01-23T07:03:10.945-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 16<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UeHQnjolsnQNgzxQvEQXLV2QDfQ63W7bMVlduJdUg_vO7UIOoGbaDwe1p7Q4txkjUJmSsZOTCBs0yPTbrrKAbYDfmLwAumeK5CArT6Hydy3GRWtcU5YoVLfvaJrRRH3X_y2mLsmdvr0/s1600/16Belleau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UeHQnjolsnQNgzxQvEQXLV2QDfQ63W7bMVlduJdUg_vO7UIOoGbaDwe1p7Q4txkjUJmSsZOTCBs0yPTbrrKAbYDfmLwAumeK5CArT6Hydy3GRWtcU5YoVLfvaJrRRH3X_y2mLsmdvr0/s1600/16Belleau.jpg" height="435" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> (Cheeky graphics by Telegram staff but town green clearly visible.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In September 2008 I wrote a sort of generic good walkable
urban design article just as the world was
about to collapse. My main point was that we could create town
buildings that formed great urban spaces and each building may be used
in any number of ways. And that specific function buildings like
libraries and gyms could be used by many ages and at all hours so we
didn’t waste money and space on having a different one of each for
each age group.<br />
<br />
Here's the article as it appeared in the Maine Sunday Telegram:<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Special
to the Maine Sunday Telegram Insight section:</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Close
To Home</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Copyright
2008 Michael Belleau</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Get in the minivan and drive to school
to drop off kids. Drive to work. Drive back to school to pick kids
up. Drive to soccer field for kids practice. Drive to grocery store.
Drive to music lesson. Drive to everything.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Until now, we have located all our
daily activities on the basis of driving to them. All of our
decisions were based on how much driving time it took. When building
a soccer field location was determined by how many minutes drive it
was for the most people. When locating schools we looked at how long
a trip it was for buses. When purchasing a home we looked at how long
a drive it was to school and work. All the talk of building village
communities with open surrounding land and the, ‘New Urbanism’,
movement did nothing to impact potential homeowners from purchasing
the best house and lot for the money they had regardless of whether
it was in town or not. Even the sustainability movement could not
change the power of best-lot-for-money and drive time equation.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now things are changing.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are trapped. We buy hybrid cars. We
still drive them in frantic pick up and drop off routines and time
consuming stressful daily circuits of pavement. Much of our time is
spent chatting on cell phones while driving, hoping to get some joy
from conversation while stuck in a discorporate (out of body) space.
Fat, stressed and isolated we feel happy to be a part of the culture
but strangely out of sorts. Something doesn’t seem right.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now is probably the time to bring the
sustainability movement, the new urbanism, the cost of oil, and our
own unease together to return to a pedestrian way of life.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Imagine waving from your front door as
you children leave to walk to school. Imagine if the soccer practice
was a 10-minute walk from home. Imagine walking by the grocery store
on your way home from the field. Imagine during that walk you were
accompanied by another parent also walking home! Our whole automobile
centered living paradigm must change.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We can start by creating neighborhood
zones using the 10-minute walk as our maxim. Luxembourgian architect
Leon Krier who had studied the work of the Austrian Camillo Sitte
forcefully propagated this urban design concept. By locating
elementary school, library branch, post office, sports field, grocery
store, YMCA, etc. in each neighborhood, our lives are made simple and
sustainable.
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Schools are most easily taken on as the
state could mandate this. By taking a facilities-centric approach we
can create flexible places for the community. If you have a
neighborhood gym then children can use it during the day and other
community events at other times. As number of children changes the
rooms used for classes can be used for other things if facility is
considered part of the neighborhood’s available space. Middle and
high schools can be located within a longer walk- slightly longer for
middle (15 minutes?) and substantially for high school (20 minutes?).</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Similarly with the library, we can
discard the old precedent of having one large municipal library where
all printed matter is stored as if we are still using it as the only
source of information. Branch libraries can be small and staffed by
few with a small children’s books section and one-day delivery of
interlibrary books and videos for others as well as internet
terminals and an expert on information retrieval on hand. Audio and
video books could be distributed with mp3 devices loaned out. These
places can have the latest technology for those who have older
technology. If this is part of a neighborhood building then meeting
space can be shared and the elementary school can use the same
library.
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Post offices should be just a stall
staffed by one in a neighborhood building with people in a hurry
going to the central city one.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Grocery stores are market driven but
can be encouraged through town incentives. If people are creating
pedestrian traffic, the market will respond and partner with town
planners.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sports fields are multi-use and best
located in each neighborhood. This may require eminent domain but at
fair market price they are well worth having in each neighborhood for
obvious reasons. Fields can be used as parks, sport fields, town
squares, and community activity hubs. Retired people can sit and
watch games and wildlife. Saturday vegetable outdoor markets can be
there. This is the single most important space from an American
culture point of view and we need to have large spaces for this in
each neighborhood.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, whether a YMCA runs the community
exercise facility or the municipality does, this type of gym, pool,
exercise space can be in a community building along with other
facilities so that space is shared and not locked into single program
ownership; a facilities-centric approach. By leasing these spaces to
the Y for community programs we can avoid complicated bureaucracy if
that becomes an issue (just as mail is best left to the federal post
office).</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now no one can make people move into
neighborhood centers and leave the open suburban lots behind but if
we work together as a state we can get the infrastructure in place
for healthy sustainable lifestyles. This old bumper sticker of mine I
found the other day says, “If the people lead, eventually the
leaders will follow.”</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If the state leads, eventually the
people will follow.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />
</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Michael Belleau is principal of Michael
Belleau Architect in Portland Maine. He has written articles on urban
design in Maine for this paper previously and can be reached at
www.michaelbelleau.com</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Next I'll discuss the break with traditional icon oriented, or object oriented city/town facilities thinking.</span></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-33988715861409748912014-11-30T19:19:00.000-08:002014-11-30T19:24:07.006-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 15<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iGyOiL02TLsmh7HMObswFC9pMqbK0N9XYWLoLem_Mw-fxgwKr-a_KIsy5hTudMX6fiyDgKJjhuBlTGTOn7w41izIVIQ3sg2pF61j3-yPZE25wDgO8tVAmvpnsc7su6xx8saSDZitwnA/s1600/15Belleau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5iGyOiL02TLsmh7HMObswFC9pMqbK0N9XYWLoLem_Mw-fxgwKr-a_KIsy5hTudMX6fiyDgKJjhuBlTGTOn7w41izIVIQ3sg2pF61j3-yPZE25wDgO8tVAmvpnsc7su6xx8saSDZitwnA/s1600/15Belleau.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deering Oaks Park as Portland's oasis.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;">This post continues to discuss my 2003 article proposing design changes to show Deering Oaks could be our Central Park.</span> I believe we are on the verge today of making moves to transform the park into Portland's great oasis. Removing the auto centric scars that State and High streets cut into the park is key and with the cleaning up of Kenduskeag Street so it stops a block short of Forest will enable us to move forward with Forest Ave as a pedestrian boulevard. Cutting out roads through the park forces us to make Forest Avenue a major auto and pedestrian route and this means boulevard. By eliminating the cloverleafs at 295 and substituting on and off ramps with stop signs, people and bicycles can move out and into town under shade trees and with a metropolitan flair.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
One thing about my proposal looking back would be to ignore the sinking of State and just eliminate it for autos entirely. This is on par with current models showing people will use a number of streets to reach each individuals particular destination and time is not lost eliminating one option. Also, pedestrian advocate groups like one in Portland are embracing turning the classic interstate through cities (like 295) into a surface boulevard and ending the poor planning of past.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="font-size: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here is the second half of the article </span><span style="font-size: small;">(part 2; see previous blog for part 1)</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">:</span></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px; min-height: 19px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #042eee; letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://mainearchitecture.blogspot.com/2008/10/to-jumpstart-livelihoods-create-true.html"><b>Dee</b></a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>ring Oaks Heading for Dead End</b></span></span></i></div>
<b style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By Michael Belleau copyright 2003</span></i></b><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">...As
it works now, many of those using the park arrive by car. A true city
park should be a natural walk from one errand or household. In order
to achieve this, we need to eliminate the two highway-like roads that
slice through the park like violent gashes in a gentle oasis. Healing
these wounds would allow residents and visitors to walk to the park
from all over Portland: the Portland Public Market, the main post
office, the University of Southern Maine, Congress Street, Middle
School, and the West End, Back Cove and downtown.</span></i><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In
order to transform the park into a true urban back yard, three
changes must take place:</span></i></div>
<ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Heal
the scars caused by High and State streets.</span></i></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Assuming
that federal funds are out of the question on a big scale, it is
State Street that does the most damage, cutting a third of the way
into the park's rectangle.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This
must be run under the park for as great a distance as affordable.
Obviously, the area alongside the lake would be a great place for the
road to disappear underground and allow park users to play on that
edge. Assuming dropping the road underground twice is expensive, the
city should study where to run State Street underground.
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This
study should look not only at easing the flow of pedestrians, but
also at the emotional perception of the rectangle as a whole. And if
a full tunnel is too expensive, running State Street underground can
be achieved by spending only for depressing the road and covering it
with a wide pedestrian area with soundproofing sprayed underneath.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Next,
High Street is close enough to Forest Avenue that the two should be
combined into a Parisian boulevard, with Forest Avenue at the post
office turned into a 15-mph one-way side street with parallel
parking, as a boulevard would have. Pedestrians must be able to enjoy
slow, casual pace crossing from the post office into the park,
waiting for only one light at High Street and then getting total
access to the park.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As
we all know, Forest Avenue is a nightmare to walk down going out of
town by 295 and almost impossible to walk across once you get to the
park area- and it stays that way going out of town.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The
park must feel like a room with buildings forming four walls, like
Central Park.</span></i></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This
means finding ways to build tight to the sidewalks surrounding it.
Park and Forest avenues work well as is. It would be great if the
middle school dide could be built tight to a large sidewalk and
indoor sports facilities could be built alongside 295.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Connections
in the form of sidewalks and lights must be run in straight lines
into Deering Oaks from areas surrounding the park.</span></i></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These
rhythms of light and path will strengthen the feeling for us, while
walking, of the park's being a room in a series of urban spaces all
liked as in a house</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If
Deering Oaks is the hub of the city, the real estate on Park Avenue
could be compared to the buildings that line Central Park.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And
to help establish the park as the city's mall-like showpiece (think
Washington D.C.), a major science museum or other crowd-drawing
institution should occupy the post office area. (This supposes that
the annex to the original will become available when the new
distribution center is built.) Twain Braden proposed the idea of an
indoor botanical garden to me a few years ago, and that would appeal
to all of us year-round. The park would then have neighborhoods and
institutions surrounding it.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Depressing
295 like 95 does in downtown Providence would be helpful to the city
in all areas but not critical to the park's fulfilling it's 80
percent of its potential.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In
2000, I took part in the Bayside design workshop run by Alan Holt of
Portland's planning department, and there were many schemes linking
Bayside with the park. (Look for the forthcoming book about Holt's
Bayside and waterfront meetings.) The star urban design guru
headlining the event, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, suggested sinking 295
as a way to reclaim the visual and pedestrian connections between the
sides.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Take
a map of Portland out of your kitchen drawer and it's obvious that
Deering Oaks is our chance to make a new center uniting both sides of
295 into a whole: our Central Park, our oasis in the urban fabric.</span></i></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-7036612476306298272014-11-12T17:21:00.000-08:002014-11-30T19:22:21.971-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxS4XzXwaBDLtQkIxakcT90B-o6_HqxCcXpB9GWgfvkETOJ05uIHlwmGC6-le3ljSe0gl75kHwgOQDgjdJeMUHzB2AZ4USqLTo-4XgI37dZbWNO56mAqw0SsFDb2LbrJKGKSS0E1jnhMs/s1600/14Belleau+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxS4XzXwaBDLtQkIxakcT90B-o6_HqxCcXpB9GWgfvkETOJ05uIHlwmGC6-le3ljSe0gl75kHwgOQDgjdJeMUHzB2AZ4USqLTo-4XgI37dZbWNO56mAqw0SsFDb2LbrJKGKSS0E1jnhMs/s1600/14Belleau+copy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In July 2003 I wrote this article thinking Deering Oaks could be our Central Park.
It was supposed to be. Both designed in the English pastoral and picturesque style. I thought how can
we make this our jewel in the middle of Portland? First we need to
get rid of State and High cutting through and make Forest Ave into a
boulevard. And strengthen access into it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see both parks dominate the surrounding areas:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0MpU6EC-kCABL5TTzygpsT7fU2xaGHvlJPAhMwF4HSDoTrxhtH_H5YKGKaHKoz2RvAvNCA1c_i7WC7A9nvr2c4_WOVH5wFNyun8ILQFpJqYQ-HgICNdRPrFckfBnvo0XkP-VL5-8tWE/s1600/central+park+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0MpU6EC-kCABL5TTzygpsT7fU2xaGHvlJPAhMwF4HSDoTrxhtH_H5YKGKaHKoz2RvAvNCA1c_i7WC7A9nvr2c4_WOVH5wFNyun8ILQFpJqYQ-HgICNdRPrFckfBnvo0XkP-VL5-8tWE/s400/central+park+copy.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Central Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxTLc95hUGCcdUwLL56o6fNvEbdZ0c17tuRjhDy8hydU71MrE-aaD3JA_wHaZN2USwo3OPrm69kmHiKMuz7kDeXI9jPZaaJ5ZAM85iVhNogtl3W8_HwabEeI0Qz4l_ElUrI7XU1Nspiw/s1600/Deering+Oaks+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirxTLc95hUGCcdUwLL56o6fNvEbdZ0c17tuRjhDy8hydU71MrE-aaD3JA_wHaZN2USwo3OPrm69kmHiKMuz7kDeXI9jPZaaJ5ZAM85iVhNogtl3W8_HwabEeI0Qz4l_ElUrI7XU1Nspiw/s640/Deering+Oaks+copy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deering Oaks Park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except that Deering Oaks has a freeway and cloverleaf exits bullying their way into what could be a peaceful oasis amidst the various neighborhoods.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is the first half of the article:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://mainearchitecture.blogspot.com/2008/10/to-jumpstart-livelihoods-create-true.html"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><b>Dee</b></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><b>ring
Oaks Heading for Dead End</b></span></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>By
Michael Belleau copyright 2003</i></b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 0; widows: 0;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Beautiful,
tall, shady trees dot the gently rolling grass. Children laugh and
dance through a pool of fountains that turn on and off, to the
youngster's surprise. Music soothes the souls of families who are a
mixture of ages, colors and means. People stroll between carts of
fresh flowers and vegetables. Baseball diamonds, basketball and
tennis courts, and playgrounds supply spaces to play. Skaters carve
generous arcs on the the large pond. As a public park was meant to
be, this park is ideal as an outdoor living room for all who visit or
reside in Portland.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And
then, as skaters sit down to take off their skates, a swarm of cars
whizzes by at 35 miles an hour- just a couple of feet away. Looking
across State Street, another two large areas of the park lie empty.
</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Deering
Oaks is our jewel- our diamond in the rough. Like Central Park,
Deering Oaks is a large rectangle in the middle of a city and
proportionally probably similar. If we put our minds to it, we should
be able to make a back yard out of it and use it to its full
potential.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Deering
Oaks takes its name from the Deering family, descendants of a wealthy
ship builder who bought up much of the land around Back Cove in the
1760s. Originally, the area of the park was full of thick woods and
tidal marsh. A wood in which Longfellow hunted ducks and read as a
boy, it was a wilderness amidst pastures.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After
the town of Deering was incorporated in 1871, an editorial appeared
two years later calling for the annexing of the town by Portland and
the creation of a park in this area. “It would be to them
(Portlanders) what Central Park is to New York....”, the writer
said. The Deering family and others agreed to the park idea and the
land became public in 1879.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Horse
races, sledding and circuses created activity in the fields. The
city's civil engineer transformed the park by creating a skating pond
and a bandstand and bridges. Portland architect Frederick Thompson
created a stone structure as a waiting room. Deer, bears and monkeys
were donated, eventually leading to a zoo. The first playground was
built here. The rose circle came in 1931 and Portland architect John
Calvin Stevens designed the post office facing the park. The park was
full of all kinds of people from all parts of the city.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In
the late 1970s and early 1980s, the park became a seedy place. The
city had neglected it. But in 1982, what became the annual Deering
Oaks Family Festival started, helping to reinvigorate the park. The
neighborhoods responded as well with foot patrols, and eventually,
the city began a park ranger program in 1991.</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A
master plan children's play fountain pool, Shakespeare in the park,
summer music, and a food and flowers market have combined with the
many playing fields to turn Deering Oaks into a true city playground.
But it is sliced in two by auto traffic and not truly integrated into
the city's urban fabric.</span></i></div>
</div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-10149788056461961672014-07-13T07:52:00.000-07:002014-07-13T07:52:09.673-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 13
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I loved the Camden Market in London and thought Portland Maine could use that great urban experience. The thriving, burbling market atmosphere jived nicely with the current ideas on economic stability. The relatively new science of complexity shows us that a healthy macrosystem can only be achieved through a large number of very small changing events. Economists use complexity theory to show that a healthy macroeconomic system can only be achieved though a large number of very small changing businesses. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In Maine, instead of people creating things at
home and then jumping to a storefront on Congress Street and failing,
we could have a street market as a step up from selling at home and a
step before opening a storefront which would ensure more likely
success and economic stability.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Here's the second half of the original article:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">(To Jumpstart Livelihoods, Create A True Marketplace<br style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />By Michael Belleau copyright 2001)</i><div>
<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></i><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 18px;">...I propose that Portland make a big space for a marketplace, say six to ten times the size of Monument Square. A location within walking distance to the Old Port is key, but marketplaces can be in any area. They do not call for precious sites like the Old Port.</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #737373; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">I have been to many markets in Europe, which you come upon by walking through the streets. These are dynamic places. Indoor markets, such as Fanueil Hall in Boston or the GUM in Moscow are one or two levels up from the starter stall of the street market. Frankly, they don't count as marketplaces in the traditional sense.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">They are more like malls, and that is why the wonderful Portland Public Market (since closed a few years after this article was published) does not work as a market but more as a mall with restaurants and outlet stalls. This market has done great things by placing a public place in an area in need.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">I lived in London for a short time and used to go to the Camden Market in the Camden Town section of the city on Saturdays. There, all kinds of products were for sale, and you could always find something someone made or resold that you needed.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">It might be a sweater, socks, jewelry, books, or things completely invented by creative people, who all looked different from each other and had different temperaments and attitudes.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">It is no secret that clothing designers go to marketplaces to discover the next trend.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">When I walk into a marketplace I always feel I am in the beating heart of life itself. A thriving human life, unpredictable and yet continuously celebrating human existence.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">A marketplace is the perfect petri dish for enterprise to grow. It is a seemingly chaotic system based on simple rules of stall and product that achieves remarkable success because it is always changing and adapting.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">The relatively new science called, "complexity", used by economists, shows us that a healthy macrosystem such as an economy can only be achieved through a large number of very small changing events. </span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">Success at the marketplace micro level can lead to opening a shop on Congress Street with a good chance at success.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">Without a micro success, macro successes are reserved for the gifted business person or the person with startup capital he can afford to lose.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">The marketplace is not just for those without money. A person from a household with some means may want to stay at home and knit sweaters that she can sell at a stall, her children by her side.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">Our education and career systems train us to go to school every day and learn how to focus for long periods of time in order to pick a career and then go to work from 9 to 5 and behave within very strict, "norms".</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">But people are all very different from one another and one person's normal is not necessarily another's. Employers expect a person to show up at a certain time and behave a certain way. Marketplaces are performance based. They allow for quirks in behavior and changing patterns of sales techniques. </span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">Our fixation on careers bypasses the most critical component of free enterprise: the mechanism to start from scratch with no established path of study.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #737373;">Creating a marketplace is like handing everyone a fishing pole instead of handing out fish.</span></span></i></div>
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Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-17049111212666219422014-05-26T08:48:00.000-07:002014-07-13T08:15:49.484-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In 2001, while living
in Portland, I had an idea that Portland could use an outdoor market
like I had gone to in Camden Town in London on the weekends. While living in London we would walk along the canal over to Camden Town on Saturday's and visit the market. There were permanent shops and large outdoor weekend stalls set up in various open spaces. Thousands of people swarmed around looking for bargains on a myriad of offerings. Never is a city so alive as when it's market stalls buzz with activity. From ancient times to today, the market continues to provide connections between citizens and place. </div>
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Despite all the Amazon's direct shipping and Google product searching, walking through stalls looking and discovering amongst people chatting and making direct personal connections in public or semi public space has no substitute. This is the urban experience. In Portland we had at the time a glossy indoor market attempt (since failed) but no outdoor market other than little farmer's markets. In addition there were/are plenty of people who could make things and sell them to begin to develop a business. So this
article discussed how Portland can use an outdoor market to bridge
the gap between making things at home and selling them and actually
renting retail space on Congress Street and paying utilities, etc.
besides which is way too big a leap for most businesses. It appeared in the Business section. Here's the first half of the original article:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">To Jumpstart Livelihoods, Create A True Marketplace</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">By Michael Belleau copyright 2001</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">What do you do when you have nothing: no job, money, higher education or particular skills?</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">You can attempt to get a low-wage job- say in fast food- or look for handouts. And while many of us have a career or two, many other Mainers lead simpler lives, lives that are productive and engaging, but which the shoe called career never quite fit.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">These days, high school graduates are under enormous pressure to pick a career and go to college to learn it. In America, we are expected to take out huge loans and then have some vague notion of our intended profession at the end.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But when we go for our first job interview, we have no experience and at 21 we are like 10-year-olds.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">For most American families, there is no daily life for children around working adults, which would help to educate and inform young people about the working world around them, and cultivate their interests for the future.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">American life- middle class life- depends almost exclusively on an academic path to choosing a career, leaving a whole underclass and middle class of people to fend for themselves.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Instead of career choice in the form of textbooks, we need to offer children daily exposure to careers and the American workplace. And not just through field trips.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">We offer community college as a great opportunity to learn web design or some other vocation, but with an assumption that there is money available to start an enterprise.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Where do we go to start making money to eat and cover other basic needs?</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Marketplaces have traditionally served this function. In the third world, they are places of commerce. In European cities, there are many marketplaces, such as Portabello Road in London (watch Disney's "Beadknobs And Broomsticks"), in which a person can attempt to make money from imagination with little capital.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Without these marketplaces we have no mechanism to start the process of success from scratch.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I propose that Portland make a big space for a marketplace, say six to ten times the size of Monument Square. A location within walking distance to the Old Port is key, but marketplaces can be in any area. They do not call for precious sites like the Old Port.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></i></span>Next blog I will include the rest of the article and discuss the step by step business success process (using the outdoor market as step two from home to storefront) while creating the urban place we all crave.</div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-11486880662091366362014-04-26T07:35:00.000-07:002014-04-26T07:35:00.582-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Picking up from where I left off in the last post regarding my 1997 urban design article in the Maine Sunday Telegram titled, "A Sense of Place"- </div>
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While living in Camden I noticed a new
high school was going to be built 3 miles out of town so I wrote an article in 1997. Camden Maine was an amazing little town with the town hall, police, fire, library, schools, Y, town landing in town. The current school was in town and almost all the
kids walked to school and walked down to bagel shop and over to the Y
in town for swimming or sailing and lived a wonderful holistic life.
The new state of the art school would mean all would have to be
bussed to and from and parents would have to drive them everywhere. I
thought the existing old mill building right in town over a stream
with high ceilings and lots of space would be perfect if they moved
the credit card telemarketing company out (that company eventually did leave). I said Portland school
stayed in town. They built the new Y out of town too so the kids couldn't just walk there for lessons, etc.</div>
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Speaking of walking I had time to write this for a few days as I was lying in bed barely able to move after injuring my back somehow during basketball game. Another anecdote is this time is when my first son began to walk and holding his hand we would step down the granite blocks along the stream and bay.</div>
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After the article the state did start looking at schools staying in walkable areas so perhaps my urban design work began to have an effect. It's always hard to tell as I've never been contacted by any state or municipal planners, etc. regarding any of my articles. </div>
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Quoting from the end of the article: <i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">An exchange student from Switzerland was interviewed recently regarding her experiences so far in the United States. She said it was so different, all this rushing around by car to run simple errands. In her village, people walk. ``Things are so hectic here,'' she said. ``We move a lot slower where I come from. My house is closer to everything there, and it's new to always have to drive somewhere. We don't even have school buses there.''</span></i></div>
<i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Where was she? Los Angeles? Miami? Some New Jersey suburb?</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">She was in Camden, Maine.</span></i>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.479999542236328px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is the second half of the article <a href="http://michaelbelleau.com/artwork/2993236_A_Sense_of_Place.html">'A Sense of Place'</a> as published in spring of 1997:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">In the future we will have access to unlimited alternate realities in 3-D video. Access to our institutions, such as libraries, town offices, police, fire department and even schooling may come through the video world. From a purely pragmatic view, there will cease to be a need for many institutional buildings. Based strictly on the numbers, we might say that life will be more efficient without them.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But no matter how many tasks we can accomplish with the computer or how entertained our children can be by one, we will always desire to be around people for a certain amount of time each day. How many of us go into a shop after work just to be around people, even if we don't need to purchase anything?</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Therefore, our institutions might simply change to fulfill needs that are not based solely on function. The library may be a ``quiet zone''; the police station will contain a ``safe zone.'' We can develop our public spaces based on emotional values.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">In Orono, I lived across the street from the road up to the high school, so I walked to school. The high school in Orono contains the public library. The building sits behind the middle school, which sits behind the police/fire station/town office building, which sits on Main Street.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">After school we could walk into town, and maybe go to Pat's Pizza or LaVerdiere's. The institutional buildings were all placed in town because it was common sense to do so. We must use common sense when placing our institutions in the future.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The zoning laws we write are the rules by which developers play. Any time we see a building go up that does not fit our concept of what our town should be, we have only ourselves to blame. The rules we write are the basis for the creation of our towns, and we need to incorporate goals that are in step with the experiences we would like to have in moving by foot through our town. These rules should incorporate networks of experiences such as the movement from library to school; from town hall to post office; from police station to town hall; from shops to school, etc.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">When we plan our public institutions around automobile traffic, we place the comfort of a large piece of metal over our own comfort. We try in vain to have a meaningful conversation in five seconds as we pick up a burger at the drive-through window. And while our cars sit comfortably in their spaces, we wander aimlessly through seas of asphalt to complete simple chores.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">In Camden, the best place for a new high school may be smack in the middle of town in the old mill now used as offices for a telemarketing company. That company with all its commuters may in fact be better off at the proposed high school site. That would make common sense.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">An exchange student from Switzerland was interviewed recently regarding her experiences so far in the United States. She said it was so different, all this rushing around by car to run simple errands. In her village, people walk. ``Things are so hectic here,'' she said. ``We move a lot slower where I come from. My house is closer to everything there, and it's new to always have to drive somewhere. We don't even have school buses there.''</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Where was she? Los Angeles? Miami? Some New Jersey suburb?</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">She was in Camden, Maine.</span></i></span></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-89739308689424601892014-04-10T07:37:00.000-07:002014-04-26T07:36:12.560-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 10<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Returning to Maine from London where I had studied at the Architectural Association, we settled in
Camden where my first son was born in 1995. Camden is an idyllic small town with a thriving Main street and cozy harbor. In Camden the kids walked
to school for the most part and then downtown and to the Y and bagel shop. Parents
could let them get there by themselves. Children could walk out the door in the morning and go to school, hang out after, go to swimming lessons, etc. all downtown and walk home for supper. Then I saw they were going to
build the new high school 3 miles out of town. Now everyone was going
to bussed to everything.<br />
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Here is the first half of the article <a href="http://michaelbelleau.com/artwork/2993236_A_Sense_of_Place.html">'A Sense of Place'</a> as published in spring of 1997:<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's three o'clock in the afternoon and Camden's village center is full of kids. The library, the parks, the churches, the YMCA - institutions all clustered in the village center - begin to fulfill their roles as stages for the next generation's concept of who they are - where they're from.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Each morning, children clamber onto bicycles or walk the short distance to school, which is centrally located. Buses reach out to gather those living on the periphery. This ritual, repeated over and over, becomes one of the strongest identity factors in each child's life: ``I am from here; this is my street; this is my path to school; this is my town; this is my place to play hackysack.'' Although we live in the information age, some things, like our senses, never change.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">When it came time to expand Camden's library, the town didn't think, ``Hmmm, let's sell this old landmark and build a new library on a greenfield site a couple of miles from downtown, where square footage costs will be low and vehicle circulation will be optimal and there will be plenty of parking.''</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">No, the thinking went more like, ``How can we add the space and preserve the character and enjoyable space outside as it relates to the town as a whole?'' Priority was given to strengthening the quality of the village concept. This respect and commitment to the idea of village was so strong that the new library wing is actually underground.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Now Camden and its surrounding towns are going to build a new regional high school on a greenfield site three miles from downtown. It will be a wonderful school and everyone is very excited about it. Many of our new schools around the state are being built at similar locations. This is logical, given the need for a large building, for large amounts of land for athletic fields and for easy access for buses, which will be necessary for transporting so many kids who used to walk to school.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But it occurred to me that something precious will be lost. And will continue to be lost unless we put our heads together and come up with some solutions.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">On the one hand, each new facility built on an open site on the outskirts of town will function very efficiently, with one building, ball fields and bus traffic all taken care of.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">On the other hand, the car appears to have won. Traffic engineering would appear to be the most important factor, along with square-foot costs, in deciding where to build a school. Almost all the kids attending the school will be bused in, or will arrive by private automobile. The same criteria that govern the building of suburban malls by private developers appear to have been applied here. No more stepping out of the classroom and into the town square; the kids will line up at the curb waiting for rides home.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">BASED PURELY on the numbers, the greatest need in planning a new school is classroom space, followed by athletic fields and traffic. The classroom space can be easily accommodated in any town, if the state would support efforts to keep our kids in the town center and therefore strengthen our town identities. As for the athletic fields, they can be located at various places and used by everyone. Imagine everyone in town playing on the town green surrounded by some of the institutional buildings we all use.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">As long as we allow decisions to be made on the basis of pure numbers, the way life should be is in trouble. Slowly, we are disassembling our towns piece by piece. Soon, no discernable town will exist, only traces: ``That building used to be the post office. That police station used to have a town hall next to it.''</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Our tendency to see a building as an object alone and unique keeps us from seeing the relationships between buildings, and between us and the street space. We then continue to build our buildings standing alone, heroically fulfilling their only purpose, be it school, library or town hall, without also forming a part of a greater whole called the town.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Several spaces come together to form the experience we call a town. And several spaces come together for each child and us as we move from front door to school or library or town offices or five-and-dime. In today's world disorienting gaps appear in our spatial experiences when we suddenly change from walking down the sidewalk to hurtling through space at 50 mph to sitting in a room some distance from home. We need to create wonderful town spaces to reconnect ourselves to our surroundings.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">In Maine, high school is not merely a step on the road to a bright future. Each town's high school is a container for the town's living history. The basketball games are dynamic events to be cherished and discussed for eternity. The identity of each town is formed in large part by the stories from events occurring in the schools. Our high schools are in many ways our most significant buildings, and perhaps in our should be placed in the center of our towns.</span></span></i></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-3721175704700861522014-03-25T07:29:00.002-07:002014-03-25T07:31:18.448-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8er6HGX-zdHsCRkIf2GY-p0g7cC6i9I2QFQ62Lf2H3le75AoNHG_JA4AiFvMa4519-SMTYfYzbUujSFDSzeS2lRuEpnSwfOrcVolmF99y5wFQK3IT-R5pWOYafizntqqlbCdAz5KQMs/s1600/09Belleau+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8er6HGX-zdHsCRkIf2GY-p0g7cC6i9I2QFQ62Lf2H3le75AoNHG_JA4AiFvMa4519-SMTYfYzbUujSFDSzeS2lRuEpnSwfOrcVolmF99y5wFQK3IT-R5pWOYafizntqqlbCdAz5KQMs/s1600/09Belleau+copy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Continuing from my last post, discussing my 1992 fall <a href="http://michaelbelleau.com/artwork/3094974_Newspaper_and_diagrams.html">article</a> on Portland Maine's downtown and the mall, I was discussing how Portland's peninsula pedestrian brick fabric was a great lure as all the mall was not.</div>
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You get the idea, everything downtown
was historical, craft, emergent, regional, experiential. We had
weather and very high quality urban experiences to use to draw people
in. In fact both the mall and downtown could grow together by being
opposites.</div>
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Here is the second half of the article as published back then:</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Growth guidelines</span></span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #737373; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Back in the city, lets’ establish a few guidelines to planning:</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">-Rule number one: Never build more than 10 subsidized housing units in one place and allow at least one mile between those places. If you create hell, you get hell, not a big surprise.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">-Rule number two: It’s OK to bust up hell. Eminent domain and public redevelopment are OK in areas with profound social problems, but not in others.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">-Rule number three: Design as if you made $8.50 an hour and had a wife and two kids. If you blow a head gasket your finances are shot for a year. But if you had a bike path and a light rail system to help you get around then things will be OK and you needn’t be too upset.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">A “bread and circuses” policy would emphasize free outdoor concerts and festivals, skating on the pond and other activities that make life for your family delightful without costing you money. A beautiful city is part of that policy.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Now we can work on the orchestration of the beautiful city.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Let’s envision Portland as a city where a light train carries people from the mall to Union Station and back. Bike paths link surrounding towns with the city. Automobiles arrive at high speed along I-295 and at medium-high speed along Franklin Arterial, Washington Avenue, High Street, State Street and St. John Street.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">-This brings us to rule number four: Where two paths intersect, each carrying a different load, the less powerful load is not interrupted. Therefore, Franklin Arterial, High Street and State Street are moved underground at their intersections with Congress Street.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Vital central avenue</span></span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Congress Street, as the city’s spine, will control and support the experience of being in Portland. </span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">First, a continuous running trolley moves from Union Station to the Eastern Promenade and back. The whole street is pedestrian oriented, with the area from High Street to Franklin Arterial pedestrian only.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">As development occurs, pedestrian-only sections of the street are added. Streets such as Cumberland Avenue, Free Street and Federal Street- re-established across Franklin Arterial- are designed as delivery streets to support Congress Street.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Plaza-to-plaza mapping can start at Congress Street with the existing Longfellow-Congress-Monument squares used as a base. With Franklin Arterial underground at Congress, a new Franklin Square could be the next plaza. Other new plazas could appear at Union Station and at the intersections of Congress with Deering Avenue, North Street and the Eastern Promenade. </span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">In this pedestrian-oriented city, the streets running parallel to Congress Street would be service streets, oriented to motor vehicles. Beyond the service streets, more plazas could be established along the second streets down from Congress such as Spring Street (west of High Street), Middle Street and Oxford Street (re-establish across Franklin Arterial).</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The system of alternating pedestrian-only and service streets could be altered to create pedestrian-only parts of Fore Street and Exchange Street. Commercial Street could accommodate both autos and people. More plazas could be established on the water.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The establishment of plaza could proceed along these lines: The city identifies intersections as good locations for plazas in a master plan. When activity picks up enough at one of these intersections, merchants petition for the city for “plaza” status. A contest is held to create a sculpture that celebrates some aspects of the city and is built with city funds. Lamps, benches, trees, and brick or stone paving are installed by the city, usng a different design for each plaza.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The key to successful Portland is activity along Congress Street. As I drove along the street one night recently it was dark and no one was around. The feeling of being in a city at night with no people in sight was very unsettling.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">We need to provide incentives that will encourage development of appropriate nighttime activities. These businesses include hotels, restaurants and theaters.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Stores would be encouraged to remain open later if police foot patrols and hotel-restaurant-theater activity gave people a sense of security during the evening. A new convention center close to Congress Street would help.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I hope this article has stimulated dialogue and revived dormant ideas. It is possible to build the path of least resistance, both physically and emotionally.</span></span></i></div>
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Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-14252952212476179142014-03-13T12:45:00.000-07:002014-03-13T12:45:58.949-07:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 8<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1992 Maine Sunday Telegram article.</td></tr>
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Before leaving to study in London, still in the 92 recession, I felt that if everyone loved the mall then downtown could grow by emphasizing how it was the exact opposite. That if the mall was a hermetically sealed indoor private conditioned shiny auto destination then downtown could be promoted as an outdoor, brick sidewalked pedestrian wonderland. So I wrote an <a href="http://michaelbelleau.com/section/302724_Downtown_mall_can_feed_each_other.html">article</a> published in the Insight section of the Maine Sunday Telegram in the fall of 1992 while I was starting studies at the Architectural Association in London.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8KSYzhLbyCMVI52FNMbH5oxcssWqDNl9Z93eaomVWX1uVMB2oTQPIYpzVracmkt84OrOkqjQ7b59QUKQuTA8HTbbeYntkYicIDXrLG1gaqvD7DP0TWomFRNR9qFs6fOtOIJdQvpBfRg/s1600/slide8b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8KSYzhLbyCMVI52FNMbH5oxcssWqDNl9Z93eaomVWX1uVMB2oTQPIYpzVracmkt84OrOkqjQ7b59QUKQuTA8HTbbeYntkYicIDXrLG1gaqvD7DP0TWomFRNR9qFs6fOtOIJdQvpBfRg/s1600/slide8b.png" height="248" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maine Mall object in empty sea of parking vs. Portland waterfront spaces between buildings.</td></tr>
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Here is the first half of the article as it appeared:<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><a href="http://mainearchitecture.blogspot.com/2008/10/to-jumpstart-livelihoods-create-true.html"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Downtown, mall can
feed each other</span></a><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>By Michael Belleau copyright 1992<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Two sources of
energy dominate the relationship between Portland and the communities that
surround it: downtown and the mall. By understanding the source of each one’s
energy, we can begin to understand how the city relates to its suburbs and find
ways to help the city grow.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The mall is a
product of the suburb, itself a product of our love of nature, our distrust of
the city and our drive for self-sufficiency. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Self-sufficiency
is at the core of our collective conscience, and the single-family home and
single-owner car are its means of expression.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Once we were all
independently driving around, we needed a place to drive to. First came the
drive-in, followed by the supermarket, and finally the mall, where we can do
our shopping in one comfortable location.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Now the
easier-to-park-at-and-more-comfortable-with-everything-you-need mall has wholesale
warehouses springing up around it, providing us with the lowest prices. Nearby
we find office parks to centralize our activities further.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>All are guided
by the maxim: Easy to get to. The mall’s powerful lure is predicated on the use
of the car to run errands: a definition of suburbia.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The city has
historically been a place where we could walk through the streets from shop to
shop to run our errands. But now it is easier for most people, who live in
suburbs, to shop at the mall. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The city has become
a place for doing business, a place for people (mostly young) to get to know
each other. It is a place to find graphics centers, banks, and bistros for
schmoozing.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>It is easier to
find a good restaurant in the city. It is easier to find cultural events and
attractions. It is easier to experience beauty in built form, as you are
walking or sitting. And it is easier to strike up a conversation in the city,
because you’re probably not in your car.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The city’s power
lies in culture and human interaction, with man-made buildings and plazas its
stage.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>For Portland to
grow in the future it must copy the mall in some ways and strive to be opposite
in others.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>If the mall is
easy to get to, then Portland must be easy to get to as well. If the mall has
public toilets, pedestrian-only streets, is well lit, and has security patrol,
then downtown must also have these amenities.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>On the other
hand, if the mall area is ruled by the car then the city can emphasize the
pedestrian. A light-rail link between downtown and the mall seems to be the
ideal solution to the mall-downtown equation. The mall area is for cars and
parking; the city for people and walking. Bother are for bicycling.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>By building
brick by brick, a pedestrian dreamscape in the city, the city will strengthen
its natural source of power. Not only can it emphasize culture, but also
intimacy, the kind of day-to-day interaction with others that the suburban
lifestyle has nearly eliminated. And, with a little ingenuity, it could compete
on the mall’s home turf: shopping.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The city can
never compete with suburban shopping centers for wholesale-priced business
unless city stores can move the merchandise to the customer’s house by
delivery. Then only a showroom is required, and the customer is free to roam
without bags.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Next we need to
make roaming the city fun.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><i>Escape to the city<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>As the mall area
grows into a behemoth of endless parking lots and warehouses, signs of varying
degrees of loudness act like a thousand television commercials simultaneously
screaming for our attention. Driving through this zone we become anxious,
confused and physically taxed. The city can offer relief.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Let people hop
on a rail line or bicycle and come into town to shop amid a complex of
beautiful plazas and pedestrian-only streets carefully orchestrated to provide
the most soothing experience.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Conversely, for
the mall area to strengthen the city as the opposite face of the same coin,
steps must be taken to boost the source of its power: the countryside.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The mall area
now is an anarchic free-fire zone that is rapidly dissolving into an
anywhere-USA-but-most-likely-New Jersey. Residents of South Portland and
Scarborough may wish to think about the identities of their towns and how they
would like their towns to look in the future. A good theme for development here
could be “A peaceful drive through the countryside.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span id="goog_1829751217"></span><span id="goog_1829751218"></span><br /></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-72018775097546215802014-03-06T15:06:00.000-08:002014-03-06T15:06:28.331-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vdUh2A2nKoJbHfphPyxFbSaUASKUxR4MSsj7kTxDVMshuesTg40Ca5XzE3g0jA2mZ-ZRd8uDNb37e_ZOBYM8sc555KxhzghJujS05xPMmCGpYA0RiOFFOsfx-l8BaVX95NAtfTfWV-Y/s1600/07Belleaubridge2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_vdUh2A2nKoJbHfphPyxFbSaUASKUxR4MSsj7kTxDVMshuesTg40Ca5XzE3g0jA2mZ-ZRd8uDNb37e_ZOBYM8sc555KxhzghJujS05xPMmCGpYA0RiOFFOsfx-l8BaVX95NAtfTfWV-Y/s1600/07Belleaubridge2.png" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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"Arc of a Sturgeon" Casco Bay Bridge sketch</div>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In spring 1992 George Neavoll, the Editor at the Press Herald, didn’t like the proposed
new Casco Bay Bridge which looked like just a highway over the water so he
called for sketches from the readership. I proposed a big arch thinking of St. Louis and called it
ARC OF A STURGEON. He published 3 of the sketches with mine at the top stating:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i>"I rather like the top design, myself, submitted by M. Belleau of Portland. When I learned he wears a T-shirt with the Einstein quote, 'Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds,' I thought to myself, this is my kind of guy."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF5HomZT53dvN-PN9xz6IOtOE1Cqr6n2XzR7Tlsh_GESET5WMK10RRIAsRuDkyLRQ_Q0RMGZkxOKdWVuuYQIhIT4oxTZCt0qRGzf7lk6rX2CoUXM3_oYUHG2Yzu3moJG80V_h_To-Mls/s1600/07Belleaubridge1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF5HomZT53dvN-PN9xz6IOtOE1Cqr6n2XzR7Tlsh_GESET5WMK10RRIAsRuDkyLRQ_Q0RMGZkxOKdWVuuYQIhIT4oxTZCt0qRGzf7lk6rX2CoUXM3_oYUHG2Yzu3moJG80V_h_To-Mls/s1600/07Belleaubridge1.png" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Portland Press Herald snippet.</div>
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And no drawbridge.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ayaCAs0KxRGuX1JCxDlX_jaHW7vwc0U6_ZogBpRZTxDR7GZ6MYkE3BOl_7XXHm5uJPGtw_1I7ms4UiwE40PHb7UClx9Q3jloNatDb_fpbvJpwZw5gwNUxhlzRYPiYlezjnBX2JXZmTM/s1600/07Belleau.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ayaCAs0KxRGuX1JCxDlX_jaHW7vwc0U6_ZogBpRZTxDR7GZ6MYkE3BOl_7XXHm5uJPGtw_1I7ms4UiwE40PHb7UClx9Q3jloNatDb_fpbvJpwZw5gwNUxhlzRYPiYlezjnBX2JXZmTM/s1600/07Belleau.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-14668700438606410212014-02-27T17:56:00.000-08:002014-02-27T17:57:46.407-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 6<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MvIcKLuk9G_0aeLksHCdgZf51itRNGfHDZbtnn-iCoCvPFfou7xD9OhsCXingweZmYP9Vv4F-oIKUvBZbzU6o8ac4CElIc9EQdk1cdpiSciT_KwtPZnrRb4J-T4eFWbW6KkNFns6zYY/s1600/06Belleaucrop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MvIcKLuk9G_0aeLksHCdgZf51itRNGfHDZbtnn-iCoCvPFfou7xD9OhsCXingweZmYP9Vv4F-oIKUvBZbzU6o8ac4CElIc9EQdk1cdpiSciT_KwtPZnrRb4J-T4eFWbW6KkNFns6zYY/s1600/06Belleaucrop.png" height="435" width="640" /></a></div>
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Diagram showing potential new plazas as red dots in string along Congress St. </div>
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and red arrows showing reconnecting streets.</div>
<br />
Continuing previous blog entry discussion around my 1992 <a href="http://michaelbelleau.com/artwork/2744965_Portland_Back_to_the_Future.html">article</a>, "Portland: Back to the Future":<br />
<br />
I advised we could create string of plazas along
Congress Street up to the Eastern Prom to make a seamless pedestrian
experience using the existing Longfellow Square- Congress Square- Monument Square sequence to build upon. Thus, pedestrians would always be moving from one great public space to another.<br />
<br />
(from the article:) "<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This means: sidewalks of brick with lampposts, benches and trees; buildings with ground-level shops and architecture that engages the passer-by; street widths that allow for across-the-street conversations and window shopping; plazas at every square and major junction, like Monument Square; a master plan of linked plazas along Congress Street that continue up to the Eastern Promenade and down to the Greyhound station as well as along Commercial Street and into every pocket of the city."</span></i></span><br />
<br />
In addition, the "urban renewal" created in 1960's by the removal of delicate urban fabric for the Franklin Street Arterial smack in the middle of the peninsula and the similar destruction of building and streets by the Spring Street arterial I suggested back then, should be repaired. These gashes in the urban street and building fabric of the city required careful stitching back together. The red arrows in diagram above show my suggestion back then to reconnect all the cutoff streets to establish proper urban block sizes.<br />
<br />
I offered this example for how to start revitalizing the at the time poor Munjoy Hill area which would be part of a Congress Street plaza sequence as noted above:<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Munjoy Hill would be a good starting point for the definition of communities. A central plaza, office building, cultural center, and light-industrial facility would be a good start. With a clear, long-term development plan, banks might loan on a longer time frame."</span></i></span><br />
<br />
And finally at the end of the article I suggested Portland could use an economic symbol, what is called "brand" now to communicate world wide:<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"In addition to egalitarian zoning and development, it is necessary to provide a commercial symbol to anchor Portland’s place in the global community.</span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Just as Zurich has banking, Oslo has shipping, and Houston has oil, Portland should have a symbol by which to communicate with the rest of the world. Wood products might become such as symbol. </span><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Then by taking up this symbol and focusing on becoming an international center for this commodity-product-service, an identity can emerge over the next 50 years or so. No hurry."</span></span></i><br />
<br /></div>
Although I received almost no response in the community, the seeds had been planted.<br />
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<br /></div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-79636506340300253432014-02-21T11:00:00.000-08:002014-02-27T17:02:12.973-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXqThWYcO7A6QVtmQgKxJjn5P9E88aircmW2s39zvppeGB1i6DPPHmJ2fAczgXK2EwgqBthVkuIfHn2-h8lezlO4qU_s3XQtGr12m_4OrNq_CIcaoP-YGTVYwWCuAaZxvtdMvDw939eI/s1600/05Belleau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXqThWYcO7A6QVtmQgKxJjn5P9E88aircmW2s39zvppeGB1i6DPPHmJ2fAczgXK2EwgqBthVkuIfHn2-h8lezlO4qU_s3XQtGr12m_4OrNq_CIcaoP-YGTVYwWCuAaZxvtdMvDw939eI/s1600/05Belleau.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">1992 article in Maine Sunday Telegram.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
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In 1992, a recession year, I wrote this <a href="http://michaelbelleau.com/artwork/2744965_Portland_Back_to_the_Future.html">article</a> as a pep talk to the city. I talked about what an amazing pedestrian experience we had here and how we could strengthen this by looking at our past, our present, and our future. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Using the diagrammatic historical analysis described in my previous post, I laid out a roadmap for urban design work that built on the cities past. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf-JA_enPhzzfS9aF7iB_2goRun_8b7_6PEUzu6Lf_3bSSt91DzO_6Sum7lsjHFpTcoKDVFCqiEdOxqKMFC55Dd-fpAp9sxG4MZrkW3Fq9bMsoCSTezofeRbgzmTdMOHrp6v-n_QdJeAA/s1600/photo-5+copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf-JA_enPhzzfS9aF7iB_2goRun_8b7_6PEUzu6Lf_3bSSt91DzO_6Sum7lsjHFpTcoKDVFCqiEdOxqKMFC55Dd-fpAp9sxG4MZrkW3Fq9bMsoCSTezofeRbgzmTdMOHrp6v-n_QdJeAA/s1600/photo-5+copy.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Diagram from article.</div>
<br />
We needed to reconnect streets from Congress across Commercial Street out into the waterfront and be able to walk all around the piers. The whole peninsula I suggested could have a marginal way walk around it. Plazas along the waterfront would encourage public use and hence economic activity. People should be able to walk all around the nooks and crannies of the waterfront. Mixed use buildings with waterfront use out on piers at pier level and other non-residential uses above with most density at Commercial Street. Imagine an outdoor fish market.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeLMffei2K_rHU3VAl5uMwb6oTqPtPPf5FEyn2J8c1CxvlvOlHBLk7YbsYvXQHaadkCqru0PRJIdxl8zhcgOb098yehhaoCWsGi97TU8aKZ3TWvQ5mh2Rz7zJcrroP9QHpC23zav8Yp-k/s1600/photo-4copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeLMffei2K_rHU3VAl5uMwb6oTqPtPPf5FEyn2J8c1CxvlvOlHBLk7YbsYvXQHaadkCqru0PRJIdxl8zhcgOb098yehhaoCWsGi97TU8aKZ3TWvQ5mh2Rz7zJcrroP9QHpC23zav8Yp-k/s1600/photo-4copy.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Graphics from article using my thesis project as example.</div>
<br />
Commercial Street itself at the time was a giant gap between the waterfront side and old port. I proposed narrowing this length for pedestrians by extending the sidewalks the depth of the angle parked cars narrowing the distance from 60 feet to 36 feet. Also, to plant trees and put lights and bench infrastructure in. And to use form based coding to create a variegated building profile along the water's edge (nooks and crannies).<br />
<br />
Portland has the bones of a medieval european pedestrian city with our brick sidewalks and historic center. In 1992 while malls ruled the country, this article stood for the human scaled life. Next, further discussion of the article's ideas.</div>
Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-24406544101754783722014-02-11T10:51:00.000-08:002014-02-11T11:36:38.636-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEpByJfsBXhU3wNLWD4UkAqmUnIujSi4DoETYKNnl44D-7VqSA-6z6ST0LoLDHzukWfaZexfguLjfjfYw76k5Pn8gnJm-vwVjbJn7gt2XlYR-EuHU4_JmaGCVR3FaVOUbbONGosutYOs/s1600/04Belleau.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQEpByJfsBXhU3wNLWD4UkAqmUnIujSi4DoETYKNnl44D-7VqSA-6z6ST0LoLDHzukWfaZexfguLjfjfYw76k5Pn8gnJm-vwVjbJn7gt2XlYR-EuHU4_JmaGCVR3FaVOUbbONGosutYOs/s1600/04Belleau.png" height="492" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I drew these diagrams in 1988 studying
Portland Maine while working on my thesis, a mixed use project on Union
Wharf. At the time I lived in Boston. For me, being from Maine lent a sense of urgency to working on our urban design issues. I chose Portland as the most interesting urban environment. As a former commercial fisherman, I wanted to explore the overlap between the working waterfront and regular urban living. The first step was to use historical maps to analyze the waterfront.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the first sketch a street along the waterfront (now Fore Street) for water access is balanced by a street up to the peninsula spine and one to the eastern shore. Just enough path to manage a settlement.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The 1775 diagram shows wharfs for ships but three horizontal as it were (Fore, Middle and Congress), dominant streets tell an almost agrarian story in that movement along the peninsula was important.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
1823 diagram clearly shows a radical change. You can see how the city streets used to go right out into the
water. The pattern is for a very aggressive urban leap out into the harbor. Sea commerce was in full swing. The Portland urban experience became constantly moving along a street with buildings on both sides that may or may not be hovering over the water. You could look between buildings to verify this.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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The 1831 diagram highlights the delicate "soft edge" created by all the wharfs and large and small buildings and pathways along the water front. This crenallated edge provided a rich variety of pedestrian experiences unique to Portland defining it experientially from another place as all site specific spaces do.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Then they built the railroad which after filling in behind
became Commercial Street which cut the city off from the sea. The bottom four diagrams describe this new beginning; loss of the delicate soft edge; loss of the streets all running right out over the water; and finally a separation of the waterfront from the rest of the city.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Analysis like this helps us all create urban design plans which strengthen what we love about a place and move in a direction with confidence.<br />
<br />
Here are two sketches of my thesis a mixed use development on Union Wharf using the above analysis. Offices and retail are toward the street and fish unloading and processing buildings are toward the pier end. The first sketch shows a movement from dense brick Commercial Street fabric (tiny piece of this shown far left and poking out at mid pier at bridge) to a pier column structure lighter wooden fabric with walkways along the edge.<br />
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Union Wharf thesis drawing. </div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The next sketch shows the glass atrium arrived at from the brick courtyard just behind Commercial Street. The atrium has the brick fabric 4 stories on one side and the 3 story wooden fabric on the other. Eventually walking to the end of the atrium leads back into the brick fabric and either out to the fishing buildings from a fish market at grade or on second floor to the pedestrian bridge linking to the adjacent pier. This sketch is looking back toward Commercial Street direction.</span></div>
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Union Wharf thesis drawing.</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Next we'll look at how the diagrams can inform an overall urban strategy for Portland.</span></div>
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Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-23610176828985542072014-02-02T10:41:00.000-08:002014-02-02T10:41:08.206-08:0020 Years of Urban Design in Maine 3
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My first experience with truly great urban
space was traveling through Europe during architecture school where I
fell in love with medieval Seville and the spaces at the Alhambra and Mezquita in Spain.
Just great spatial urban experiences.</div>
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Orange tree grid in the cathedral courtyard- Seville</div>
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Here sketching the courtyard attached to the cathedral in Seville I discovered how gardens can become an outdoor room with walls and paved floor. Each tree placed in a grid spot with water channels running in the paving irrigating them. Moorish garden design at it's best.</div>
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Mezquita de Cordoba- Cordoba</div>
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Having admired Escher's prints I fulfilled a dream of sketching the same tiles and scenes he had as in this sketch I made inside the infinity inducing Mezquita de Cordoba. Truly a spatial experience of the highest order.</div>
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Entrance to the Alhambra- Granada</div>
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It is at the Alhambra though where it all came together: entrance sequence, courtyards, gardens, mathematically complex tiling, intricate vaults, etc. I remember walking up the ramp to the entrance surprised when water began to flow down channels in the handrail height walls on either side of the ramp. A poetic experience if there ever was one.</div>
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Alhambra Palace- Granada</div>
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Here in the Alhambra the most extraordinary sequence of complex variety of spatial experiences created a lasting impression on my architectural mind. I wanted to create these experiences at home in Maine some day.</div>
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Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-28120700978919041732014-01-24T10:57:00.000-08:002014-01-25T09:25:36.218-08:0020+ Years of Urban Design in Maine 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I grew up in Orono Maine, a small college town in the middle of the state outside Bangor. We lived right on Main Street across from the road up to the schools. I walked to school every day and walked downtown to meet friends. The schools sat behind Main Street as they do in many Maine towns. The downtown had the town hall, police/fire station, post office, etc. all right there. Nice homes and churches lined Main Street close to town.<br />
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The state university main campus is on the other side of the Penobscot River which runs through the middle of the town. The University of Maine at Orono (UMO) is organized around a quad with the library on one end and the gymnasium on the other; mind and body. Students walk around, along and across the quad from class to class.<br />
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It's about the same distance, 1400 feet, from my house to Pat's Pizza (the original where Pat would stand behind the counter with his cigar and lip burn) as it is from the UMO library to the gym. This is the foundation for my personal sense of walkable neighborhood space and scale. I believe we can use these two examples to strengthen our state's town and city urban fabric ensuring economic success in the long term.Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-31269493043494724382014-01-16T17:06:00.000-08:002014-01-16T17:06:09.004-08:0020+ Years of Urban Design in Maine 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been working on solving Portland and Maine's urban design problems for over 20 years. My first urban design proposal was an article addressing how to build on Portland's existing at the time great urban fabric to create economic success during the 1992 recession. Since then I've outlined numerous urban design solutions for Maine and Portland in particular. Here is a link to the Pecha Kucha presentation I did last winter quickly summarizing my work in this area: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FDol1wpsoc&list=PLubYNtWpggW5NvljwXuHdUEWOwbvrWMam">20 Years of Urban Design in Maine by Michael Belleau</a><br />
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The slide above represents the locations of the generations of my family. My great grandfather took big city tourists out hunting as a guide. My great grandparents raised my grandmother in Dover-Foxcroft, a small town, where they had a cow in their yard. My father went up to work during Med School summer and apparently got jaundice drinking the cows milk, a condition expertly diagnosed by his professor that fall.<br />
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My father grew up in Sanford, a small town from where he, at age 12, got dropped off on his own at the closest train station and went to Boston for the day. There, wandering the Commons, a group of kids playing baseball commandeered him to be umpire and then, when inevitably the calls did go someone's way, they yelled at him, sending him scurrying off. His dad, a manager at Stop and Shop, had a camp built on a lake nearby where where we kids went every summer.<br />
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I grew up first in the Boston/Cambridge/Lincoln PBS-ish world in Massachusetts before moving to Orono, a small town with a University. Many of my friends parents were professors and there was always an air of intellectualism about amidst the intense practicality of a rural environment. This combination of thinking while shoveling snow colored my future urban design outlook.<br />
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And now my kids are growing up in Portland on the "gold coast" as some of us Mainers like to snicker. They do, however, go to Bangor for winter vacations to hang out with my mother, their "Oma", and down to Shapleigh for summer vacations at camp and thus enjoy a similar geographical comprehension of the state.<br />
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<br />Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-50250134208583122972013-11-18T09:24:00.000-08:002013-11-18T09:24:13.979-08:00City Center Streets for Bikes & Pedestrians<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Currently we are on the cusp of the movement to convert our streets from automobile only to "complete streets", those that fully accommodate all modes of transportation. This means the creation of bicycle lanes first and foremost. These bike lanes are best made as separate from auto lanes with barrier to get parents with kids and the vast majority of people who will bike to feel comfortable. This means more width sometimes in street section and more infrastructure.<br />
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Of course this is wonderful to get the kind of dedicated bike lanes like Copenhagen has but perhaps in city centers we should think about how wonderful narrower streets feel to walk down and that it may be best to turn the street lanes in city centers into bike lanes. A gradual shift from sitting in a high speed vehicle to pedaling to walking as primary mode of transportation can follow the gradual shift in urban fabric from isolated building in countryside to tight walkable medieval pedestrian street city centers.<br />
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Sometimes its better to skip the intermediate step of building for current trends and save money by just converting what we have bit by bit.Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-40679340610948761392013-10-02T11:22:00.000-07:002013-10-02T11:22:24.261-07:00Park(ing) Day Portland Maine 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once a year in September in cities around the world <a href="http://parkingday.org/">Park(ing) Day</a> is held to celebrate alternatives to automobile centered urban living. From the parkingday.org website: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><strong>PARK(ing) Day</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"> is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.rebargroup.org/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Rebar</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.</span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!"</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I designed and built an installation in a parking spot in front of the building my office is in. As our public spaces are teetering on irrelevance due to the domination of the automobile for mobility and the television and computer screens for public forums, there is certainly a need to promote urban spaces. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My installation titled, "Piazza", creates a scaled down urban space of the sort common in medieval city centers. Buildings with no gaps between them form blocks which create streets and plazas in the space between them. My installation creates benches as blocks which are free to be moved about as they interlock to a piazza flat surface where your feet rest. This micro urban experience is a great instructional tool for children and adults who may not have lived in Venice or the Old Port.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Together we can promote these urban spaces and raise the quality of our Maine living experience and the health, community and sustainable benefits which go along with these environments.</span></div>
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Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596197549295361852.post-90888475527507639222013-09-10T07:50:00.000-07:002013-09-10T07:50:11.619-07:00Complete Streets Restore Immediate Surroundings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The future is bright for humans moving through space. As we move back to a more body centered environment and away from the automobile centered 20th century, the quality of space increases dramatically.<br />
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When we slow down our movement through space our eyes pick up more information about our surroundings. Driving fast in a car, eyes can only pick up that there are some buildings or woods or parking lots around us. However, walking we begin to notice every little detail around us. Who cares what kind of elaborate trim detail is around that door or what the door joinery looks like at 35 miles per hour? Walking by our eyes scan and pass over the granite curb, every brick in the sidewalk, the craftsmanship in the wrought iron lamp post, the way the storefront glass meets the frame. And each door is a statement about design and care in the area.<br />
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Same with bicycling. Biking makes us notice every bump and object in our path as well as what each biker and each pedestrian is wearing. I believe the bike lane separated from the roadway entirely as shown above is best. Believe it or not, if complete separate bike lanes are available a kazillion more people will get out of their big nasty cars they can't park anyway and bike places. And kids can finally get around without chaperones. And one car families....<br />
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For a short video on complete streets in NYC: click <a href="http://vimeo.com/22886687">here</a>.<br />
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The slower you move the closer your field of awareness becomes. Because of this natural visual and sonorous and olfactorous heightened awareness of the near, we care about much smaller pieces of the built environment than when driving.<br />
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Freeway architecture can be big boxes of ribbon windowed office buildings because we can only catch a glance at them. We are interested in 500 foot segments. Pedestrian architecture must be interesting at the 1 foot segment level. This means the more pedestrian environments we create, the better quality architecture and urban space will result.<br />
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Let the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/CompleteStreets/complete-streets-presentation">complete streets</a> begin! Michael Belleau Architecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12365772827216751305noreply@blogger.com4