New(er) Urbanism A Thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture In the School of Architecture and Interior Design In the College of Design Architecture Art and Planning By Quinn Kummer BS Arch, University of Cincinnati May 2011 abstrAct Currently, federal urban policy is focused on the deconcentration of poverty, with the implicit notion that mixed-income living may allow upward mobility for the urban poor. A crucial assumption behind this mixed-income strategy is that social ties will form across socio- economic lines. The New Urbanist theory that guides housing design today espouses an ‘architecture of engagement’ that supports a sense of ‘community,’ but the requisite cross-cultural interaction remains to be seen. Through an analysis of theoretical and empirical works from the environmental-behavioral field, I suggest that building-scale design strategies may, in fact, encourage the formation of cross-cultural social ties. Specifically, I propose a reconfiguration of traditional circula- tion and threshold conditions on an existing rowhouse development in Cincinnati, the Glencoe Place apartments. These dwellings provide an ideal backdrop for innovative architectural strategies, because they represent, on multiple levels, a ‘failed’ housing strategy. ii cONtENTS 01 Introduction 1 02 the social History of Public Housing 9 Early Public Housing 10 Modernism 11 Postmodernism 15 Public Housing Today 17 03 the case for Mixed Income communities 21 04 the case for traditional Neighborhood Design 31 05 the case for Defensible space 39 06 contemporary socio-spatial theories 49 07 Precedents 57 Weinstein Copeland Architects 60 Jean Renaudie 66 Giancarlo De Carlo 72 Moisei Ginzburg 78 08 Project site 87 History 88 Physical Context 94 Current Conditions 96 Social Context 100 09 New(er) Urbanism 103 iv Image credits 01 Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance 02 Planning for .Disaster: DVD. Directed How Natural by Godfrey and Man-madeReggio. Los Disasters Angeles: ShapeMGM, 1983.the Built Environment 04 Ramroth, William G. Kaplan Publishing, 2007. 166. Timeline Images in chronological order: . 1800s Riis, Jacob. (1890). Hells Kitchen and Sebastopol From Wikipedia. JPG, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jacob_Riis_-_Hells_Kitchen_ and_Sebastopol_-_photograph_.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). 1898 Photograph of EbenezerToward Howard. New Accessed Towns forMay, America 17 2011. http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ebenezer_Howard.jpg 1924 Stein, Clarence. (1924). Cambridge: The MIT Press. 1925 http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2005/05/rein vent- ing_pub.html (accessed May 17, 2011). 1928 http://www.memo.fr/Media/Le_Corbusier.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). 1929 (left) Held, Louis. (1919). Portrait of Walter Gropius.Modernity From and Wikipe Hous- - ingdia. JPG, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WalterGropius-1919.jpg (accessed May 17,Constructivist 2011) (right) Architecture Rowe, Peter in the G. USSR. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1993. Fig. 138. 1932 Kopp, Anatole. London: Acad- emy Editions, 1985. p 71. 1933 Goldensky, Elias. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 1933. From Wikipedia. JPG, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FDR_in_1933.jpgCreating Defensible Space (accessed May 17, 2011). 1937 Newman, Oscar. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1996. Fig IV-6. 1949 Levittown, Pennsylvania. From The Urban Times. JPG, http://static. theurbn.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/09/LevittownPennsylvania. jpg (accessedTeam 10 May 1953-81: 17, 2011). In Search of a Utopia of the Present 1953 Smithson, Alison and Peter. Ideogram of a net of human relations. From , edited by Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel. Rotterdam: NAi, 2005. p 244. 1961 From BloombergCreating Businessweek. Defensible JPG, Space http://images.businessweek. com/mz/04/33/0433_12innova.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). 1972 Newman, Oscar. Planning for Disaster:. HowWashington, Natural andD.C.: Man- U.S. madeDepartment Disasters of HousingShape the and Built Urban Environment Development, 1996. Fig I-9. 1972 Ramroth, William G. Kaplan Publishing, 2007. 166. 1979 From Coastal Family Living. JPG, http://coastalfamilyliving.com/wp- content/uploads/2011/04/Seaside-FL.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). 1987 http://www.nndb.com/people/478/000062292/w-wilson-sm.jpgCreating Defensible Space (accessed May 17, 2011). 1987 Newman, Oscar. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1996. Fig IV-10. v 1996 From Zillow Blog. JPG, http://www.zillow.com/blog/mortgage / files/2010/01/hud_logo.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). 1996 http://i.bnet.com/blogs/henry-cisneros-lower-res-200x300.jpg (ac- cessed May 17, 2011). 1999 Courtesy Bing Maps. http://www.bing.com/maps (accessed May 17, 05 2011). 06 Rankin, Bill. Flavors of Blur. 2009. JPG, http://www.radicalcartography.net/chica- godots_income_big.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). 07 Rankin, Bill. A Taxonomy of Transitions. 2009. JPG, http://www.radicalcartogra- phy.net/chicagodots_race_big.jpg (accessedEnvironment May 17, 2011). and Planning A Illustration based on Kleit, Rachel G. “HOPE VI New Communities: Neighborhood 08 RobertRelationships Moses and in Mixed-Income the modern city Housing.” : the transformation of New York. 37, no. 8 (2007): 1413-1441. Fig. 1. 09 Robert Moses and the modern city : the transformation of New York edited by Hil- ary Ballon and Kenneth T. Jackson. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007. p 128. 12 . edited by Hil- ary Ballon and Kenneth T. Jackson. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007. p 262. Original Image from Wikipedia. JPG,http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ 13 commons/thumb/b/b9/Pruitt-igoeUSGS02.jpg/800px-Pruitt-igoeUSGS02.jpgCreating Defensible Space (accessed May 17, 2011). 14 Newman, Oscar. Defensible space: Crime Prevention. Washington, through D.C.: Urban U.S. Department Design. of Housing and Urban Development, 1996. Fig I-9. 18 Newman, Oscar. The Social Logic of Space New York: Macmillan, 1972. Fig. 150. 20 Hillier, Bill, and Julienne Hanson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. Fig. 121. Jowers, James. New York Public Library. Rochester: George Eastman House Col- 21-25lection, 1967. From Flickr. JPG, http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2987740376_ 26 d219204a1c_o.jpgA Right(accessed to Difference: May 17, 2011). The Architecture of Jean Renaudie Images courtesy of Weinstein Copeland Architects, Seattle. 27 Scalbert, Irénée. A Right to Difference: The Architecture of Jean Renaudie. London: Architectural Association, 2004. p 110. 28 Scalbert, Irénée. A Right to Difference: The Architecture of Jean Renaudie. London: Architectural Association, 2004. p 151. 29 TeamScalbert, 10 1953-81:Irénée. In Search of a Utopia of the Present . London: Architectural Association, 2004. p 153. 30-31 Team 10 1953-81: In Search of a Utopia of the Present, edited by Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, 220-224. Rotterdam: NAi, 2005. p 220 32 Team 10 1953-81: In Search of a Utopia of the Present , edited by Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, 220-224. Rotterdam: NAi, 2005. p 223. 33 Constructivist Architecture in the USSR., edited by Max Risselada and Dirk van den Heuvel, 220-224. Rotterdam: NAi, 2005. p. 221. 35-37 Kopp, Anatole. Constructivist Architecture in the USSR.London: Academy Editions, 1985. p 67. 38 Kopp, Anatole.Constructivist Architecture in the USSR. London: Academy Edi- tions, 1985. p 73. 42 Kopp, Anatole. Glencoe Place:London: Mount Auburn Academy Neighbor Editions, 1985. p 71. Cincinnati Dept. of Urban Development. vi hood Development Program 43 Glencoe Place General Plan . Cincinnati: Cincinnati Dept. of Urban Development, n.d. 44 Cincinnati City Planning Commission. Cincinnati, 1964. (top 3) Courtesy Google Maps http://maps.google.com (accessed May 17, 2011) 51 and (bottom) Courtesy Bing Maps http://www.bing.com/maps (accessed May 17, 2011). From ArchDaily. JPG, http://cdn.archdaily.net/wp-content/up- loads/2010/12/1292513155-03.jpg (accessed May 17, 2011). vii 01 introduction Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Bal- anceOne of the most enduring images of American public housing comes from director Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 film, . In a sequence entitled “Pruitt-Igoe,” a grave, foreboding score by Philip Glass sets the tone as the camera pans through various urban scenes, beginning with the canyons of Manhattan’s financial district. Af- ter briefly visiting a block of faceless, dilapidated tenements, the viewer is once again whisked away to an eerily abandoned urban setting. As the musical accompaniment turns a shade darker, the camera reveals various signs of urban decay: a rubble strewn playground, a broken streetlamp swaying gently in the breeze. The strings enter, then slowly languish in a descending minor scale. 1 Suddenly, the music becomes urgent and violent. The woodwinds Today, American public housing bears little resemblance to its be- and the strings join in tumultuous arpeggios, punctuated by a strident hemoth ancestors. As outlined by a group called the New Urbanists, trumpet call. The viewer is once again transplanted, now to the skies current design guidelines eschew the massive scale and alien form of above a seemingly endless field of identical 11-storey apartment build- Modernist housing schemes in favor of a more traditional urban mod- ings. As the tempestuous score rages on in the background, the camera el. By rebuilding American inner cities with historically-flavored row- pans quickly through the towers, revealing monotonous brick walls and houses and other low-riseKoyaanisqatsi: housing Lifetypologies, out of Balance the New Urbanists seek row upon row of broken windows. There is clearly something sinister to expunge the stigmatized image of mid-century public housing so elo- about this place. quently portrayed in . While they have As the scene unfolds, the camera settles on a wide-angle shot of a been largely successful in this endeavor, it seems that the New Urban- single building. A white cloud escapes from the lower windows, and ists have also abandoned the socially-transformative ideals of Modernist soon the mammoth structure begins to collapse upon itself. The build- architecture in their retreat towards traditional neighborhood design.