Developing Concepts

GM Stamping site poses a huge challenge in terms of its huge size, approximately equivalent to 28 downtown Indianapolis blocks. Thus, the typical top-down (from master plan to details) design methodology seemed unpractical.

The design started with figuring out the strategies needed to be established and they were boiled into four major strategies. They are: - Create and celebrate loops of connected "Water Systems". - Smart Growth using sustainable modes of transportation and models of the economy. - Connectivity to the context program. - Building community through a hierarchy of layers: open spaces, community assets, diverse housing.

With those strategies in mind, design started with developing programs for the micro-communities I envision to develop the site and connecting them with each other and with the assets existing at the site. There was a guiding direction in the design using the idea of "Designing from the River". Visibility and connection to the waterfront were majors issue attended. Creating connections, physical and physical to the surrounding program, more importantly to the downtown. Also, developing typologies and masses concepts for the major leading buildings in each of the micro communities. Finally, developing new ways of living together housing that capitalizes on the idea of greenhouses and shared spaces.