RESIDENTIAL

The first model depicts life on a residential street. To clarify, this model is not set on any specific street, rather it is merely an example of
what could appear if our idea is implemented.

The red surface that is shown represents the brickwork that will be used on the streets and sidewalks. This brick will come from fallen factories
and buildings throughout East St. Louis. Not only will this cut costs, but in essence, the old will be building the new. We will this is a very
important feature of our design and something that the residents will be able to relate to and become more comforatble with from the very beginning
as opposed to an entirely new and foreign material.

This brick will aid us in solving a major problem that has been expressed to us by the residents. The problems surrounding the automobile. High speeds and wreckless driving is a concern of many. The people of the community have lost their streets, and subsequently their sidealks, to the automobile.  We hope to reverse this situation. By decreasing the width of the residential streets from 30' to 24' we hope to bring the situation back to the human scale. The detail of the bricks will also aid in achieving this. This layout of the brickwork has indeed been placed to cater to the
residents. Bricks filter from the paved driveways until they become a solid mass on the street. This is a subtle feature that we hope will draw
residents into the street and encourage activity along it. On street parking in front of the houses is also dilineated by brick pads, essentially
a specific area in which to park a vehicle. This discourages haphazard parking and the order that it will create seems to tame the automobile. On street parking also encourages life along the streets and sidewalks. Getting out of the vehicle and saying "hello" to a child on a bicycle as they pass by is one of many scenarios that could occur. The placement of trees along the roadside also aids in decreasing the scale.

Lighting is also an important feature. Safety has been a great concern of the residents. However flood lighting every portion of the neighborhood is not an appropriate response. We propose to bring street lighting down to those who need it. Curbs have been designed to "lip" out into the street to not only create a defined parking space, but to also provide space for 7' lighting fixtures that light both the street and the sidewalk. Providing hoods for the lights insures that light pollution will not be an issue.

Next to the light fixtures sits a "kiosk" of sorts that provides space for garbage cans on designated garbage removal days and a space for a mailbox.
Once again providing a subtle feature that will encourage interaction of residents along the street.

It is on our opinion that the house is a shelter, however in Lansdowne we feel it has become a prison in some cases and a fort used for defense in
other cases. It is desirable that the street becomes a center for life in the community, just as much as any building or park.
 
 

COMMERCIAL

In our second model we chose to depict what could be created along a commercial zone. Once again this commercial zone is in no specific area
within the neighborhood of Lansdowne, it is merely a representation of what could happen. Many of the same concepts found in the residential
model can be found in our commercial model, as it should be. Our idea of a "walkable" Lansdowne relies on the ability of the resident to feel safe
walking house to house, house to store, store to store, church to house, house to school, etc. etc. There are unique characteristics to this model
however.

We realize that any commercial zone cannot be tucked within the contingency of a defined residential street. Commercial zones are, in
most cases, found along busier streets, which indeed means wider streets.  We still feel we needed to make a conscience effort to scale down the
environment to make it more friendly to the residents as opposed to the automobile. Thus, we split the street in half, creating avenues that
contained a landscaped median that also provided appropriate lighting, consistenty with ideals already stated. We feel that isolating one path
of traffic from the other will reduce speeds and cutdown the "showmanship" of today's drivers. Crosswalks are also designed to coincide with our
idea of subtley encouraging individuals to participate in street life. As an individual crosses the street the bricks begin to fade out, this is the
automobile's territory. However, past the medians, the bricks become more dense and the individual feels the safety of the grand sidewalks in front
of storefronts and other commercial entities.

Sidewalks in front of storefronts are comprised of all brick and the patterns encourage entrance to the stores and congregations at corners and
benches that can be found throughout the model. Sufficient siting areas not only provides a place to rest for weary consumers, but also an area to
be seen by others, a place to congregate, relate, and communicate.  Benches in front of stores and wide benches surrounding lit corners all
aid in making this idea work. Garbage cans dotted throughout the space are also important in encouraging individuals to keep the area clean.
 
 

The "big idea" behing the entirety of our design is to bring the most important player in any type of design back to the forefront. That player
is the human being. We believe that once the streets and sidewalks are safe, clean, and attractive residents will begin to feel they belong to
the neighborhood again not just their own property. Once life is restored to the streets, the community will begin to become healthier and it will
begin to evolve into what it wants to and should be. It is essential that this course of action be taken in the very early stages of neighborhood
development.