Studio Process: Future City_02_Falling in love with the city

Downtown Houston

The past week we have been documenting and collecting data about how we use our city. Houston is a commuter city. You (almost) have to have a car to get around this city because everything is so spread out. Sure, there are adequate means of transportation services within the city, but for a lot of us that live 'outside of the loop' [Loop 6-10] there isn't much of a choice other than to use a park and ride. The problem with a park and ride is it turns a thirty-minute car ride into a three-plus hour transportation waiting nightmare to get to a specific location.

Step one: Document our route home

Beginning route through downtown. A city for parking

Ending route home. Sorry about the uncleaned windshield

The first part was to document our route to or from the studio to our home with a series of photos. It felt like any other day. I was driving home seeing the same thing I always see. I usually take a route right through downtown, because I would rather get stuck in traffic watching people than on an overpass looking at other cars. I figure at least the people walking are getting somewhere. Yeah, it was a pretty normal day -- there wasn't much going on other than trying to figure out interesting points to document through photos while trying to drive.

So, an interesting point here is that I am documenting the process from inside a car. The environment inside my car is constant. Meaning, my comfort level is pretty much the same other than the stress from driving. I am able to control the conditioned air, my field of view isn't changing and I am experiencing the city from a specific point that doesn't move (car seat). It almost feels like I am watching TV.

But, I do get some value from the exercise. I usually am aware of my surroundings, but I never payed too much attention to the changes in density throughout the route. The urbanscape (urbanscape meaning everything but the traffic of cars and people. Like the buildings and developments) density starts high and tapers to less dense areas. Then, density gets less dense and more dense and less dense aaaannnnd a little more dense.

Step two: Visit and document the site

My focus is site 1

On the map above are the areas of Houston our studio is using for our project. We visited all three locations and walked the majority of each site. The difference between walking through an area and driving through an area are completely different. Walking is a much more dynamic activity than driving and you're able to be more aware of your surroundings. *Side note* Even though we walked through all three sites, I will mostly talk about site one.

Look at that section! Photo taken off of Main street in front of Greyhound bus station.

First off, It was a GORGEOUS day! It really was perfect weather for anything outdoors. When you're walking, you're actually there -- you're not in a car, you're on the sidewalk experiencing the sidewalk environment. Meaning, moving through different elevations, feeling different textures, smelling different scents, interacting on some level with different people and hearing much more sounds than just being in your car. It doesn't matter if any of that I described is enjoyable or not, because it is about the experience. Its like when I go to a bar. I hate the smell of people smoking, but I don't mind it at all when I am at a hole-in-the-wall bar. Why? Because that is just part of the experience that makes that place unique.

You're able to have a sense of being vulnerable. I think being able to have a sense of vulnerability or a sense of the fear of the unknown is like a shot of tequila! It just opens-up your awareness and gives you the most bang for your buck to take in your surroundings. You try walking through a group of some sketchy lookin folks with an exposed camera you've saved up for and don't think about holding that thing a little tighter #IJudge. But, that is the beauty of the environment! There is a mix of all different sorts of people. You interact with the homeless person next to the businessman next to the student running for the train to make their job. You see the faces of struggle trying to make it through the day from the pan handler and from the person with the $5 coffee that couldn't wait to get off of work. You see the mother with child taking the metro just wanting to get home. The small group people hanging outside a convenience store because they 'aint got no' place to go or just want to catch up with their buddies. You see a grungy-lookin' fella looking like he is having a bad day instantly smile like a kid on Christmas morning when he walks past a beautiful woman. All of this within a city block. To hell with reality TV, give me a highly dense urban block at 5 o'clock! You cant replicate that experience by driving through an area in the safety of your car. You need that slower, more 'in your bubble' experience to appreciate your city. As designers, we do much more than just design buildings. If you notice, I didn't describe much of any building. We design environments for a better society.

Granted, Houston being Houston, we still have a long way to go to have a decent downtown environment. Nearly a third of downtown is just parking, the underground tunnels close at 5-ish along with the rest of downtown, downtown isn't really designed for people to live and support the are and it isn't pleasurable walking next to hugely massive scaled buildings with nearly zero street interaction. But, there's a gem in there. You just have to walk around to find it.