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comment AIA Reports on Successful Transportation Projects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies have published a wealth of information on designing and implementing transportation projects to maximize public benefit. The report, “Moving Communities Forward,” is the result of a study authorized by Congress in the 2005 transportation bill and funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Highlands’ Garden Village features more than 300 housing units, office and retail space, a school, a community theater and carousel building, and 140,000 square feet of open space. Perry Rose, LLC, planned the project, which is located on the former site of the Elitch Gardens amusement park in Denver. It is among 30 projects featured in a recently released report examining the keys to designing and implementing successful transportation projects.
Based on what you have seen and read about this project, how would you grade it? Use the stars below to indicate your assessment, five stars being the highest rating.
The report showcases 30 transportation projects around the country, explaining the general principles and specific strategies employed in each one. The case studies represent a range of regions, demographics, and project types. Featured projects include transit-oriented developments along the Metro Orange Line in Washington, the Highlands’ Garden Village infill development in Denver, the Intermodal Hub Facility in Salt Lake City, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River, connecting Virginia and Maryland.
The authors note that “this study does not focus on the so-called ‘Bilbao effect,’ [or] the phenomenon associated with civic investments in iconic architecture to create destinations,” named after the role that the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum played in the renewal of Bilbao, Spain. Instead, the authors selected projects that demonstrate “the measurable improvements to communities in well-designed transportation projects for, and by, residents.” Based on this research, the authors identify six general strategies that characterize successful transportation projects:
- Employing an integrated design process where planners, designers, transportation officials, and builders develop a unified plan;
- Including all community stakeholders from the outset;
- Using three- and four-dimensional graphics to encourage citizen involvement, understanding, and buy-in;
- Creating human-scaled structures and spaces that make busy transportation hubs more manageable;
- Using clear signs and directions to make complicated multimodal systems easier and safer to navigate; and
- Designing projects to be both durable and adaptable to new transportation modes and community needs.
The report finds that transportation projects can benefit communities in five categories: the economy, the environment, aesthetics, community participation, and safety. “The findings show that small decisions have major effects on how a transportation project impacts its community,” said David Downey, Assoc. AIA, managing director of the AIA Center for Communities by Design. “In particular, it was striking to see how involving the public in a design process that incorporates all applicable disciplines—architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, contractors, and government officials—can achieve a solution that has multiple benefits for a community.”
The report is available online, free of charge. For more information about the study and to access the report:
www.movingcommunitiesforward.org
This article was produced by BuildingGreen, Inc.- www.buildinggreen.com
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