Architecture

the new plan

The sense of place is a concept that places a value on a certain location.
This is especially important in our ever expanding society and ever ex-
panding technology. As we spread out physically because of the links to
each other digitally, a regional headquarters is placed in a location that is
consequently more prized because of the disconnect from its employees
or clients. This strategy can improve the sustainability of the building be-
cause of the lack of transportation to and from a building.

As the sustainability of a building becomes more prevalent during the new

green movement, the more connected with the environment it becomes.
This includes using passive systems and sustainable energy sources to try
to become as carbon neutral as possible. Similarly, this impacts transpor-
tation by moving toward a sustainable energy source. That means looking
at hybrid, electric, and hydrogen alternatives. Looking into the future is
always an interesting pastime, as Crane explores in “Autoweek” magazine,
(2008). He looks at what the next fifty years will hold for transportation.
The futuristic “car” runs entirely on hydrogen while communicating with
the environment around it. It only requires the traveler to be inside the car
to reach the destination. The green movement that is carried today by the
architectural field will naturally bleed into transportation.
Architectural design is primarily designing the environment we live in. It
allows us as humans to dictate what we want around us and control our
environment- to a point. The environment can be on a personal scale, such
as an office or bathroom, or it could spread to a grander, more holistic scale,
such as a city plan.

Architecture has grown from a field that designs monumental structures

to include a more personal variety of projects. This creates a human in-
teraction with the environment, something which has seen a significant
resurgence. When a building interacts with a person, it engages senses.
Generally, the more senses the building taps into, the more meaningful the
interaction can be. It can truly define what a building is to a person and
dictate what a person thinks or feels within a designed structure. To en-
gage vision intellectually is good; to control what a person hears is better;
to control texture and what a person touches is great; to control what a
person smells or even tastes is on a different level.

A building’s design depends heavily on scale. Small scale tries to address

the details of nuts and bolts, sometimes quite literally; whereas large scale
tries to address the relationship of building on site. Architecture generally
uses a small scale to large scale strategy. An initial inspiring idea is devel-
oped from a relevant source, such as the users. Then the building is built
from the ground up based on that idea, or parti. Human scale is taken into
consideration along the way to ensure an experience for the user. Archi-
tecture then, creates a sense of place to transport to.
How will architecture impact transportation in the future? The move-
ment toward green design will continue and also express the capability
of what we can do. The technology developed will transfer into the trans-
portation industry and we will see more innovations by interested design-
ers. As Tom and Ray Magliozzi explored in the PBS series NOVA, (2008),
the future of transportation is very bright. Many small entrepreneurial
designers have taken a leap forward to examine what it really means to
transport, what is needed, and what is the future. Tom and Ray use their
“car guy” attitude to take a critical look at these innovations. They find
that although the future is very exciting, they are not ready to let go of the
past. The attitude of the rest of America is similar. We do not want to let
our horsepower driven attitude to disappear into the dust. But it is curi-
ous to see how we are willing to use new innovative solutions to solve our
building problems and we are unwilling to let our powerful cars go.

Architecture encapsulates our obsession with transportation as illus-

trated by both Meyhofer and Jones in their books Motortecture and New
Transport Architecture, (2003, 2006). These examples pull from the essence of
transportation and form it into purposeful structures. One cannot help
but be inspired by these masters of form and function. Today, we can see
how these two fields work together to create something more than just a
building and more than just a highway.
These two cooperate by borrowing
technology, materials, and a qual-
ity of feeling. In the future, I
am confident that we will see
more harmonious designs
between the two. As the
public desires a greener
future, designers have
no choice but to
step into the un-
known and find
new solutions.
Transportation and the impacts on the travelers come in many forms, each as relevant and important as the next. As Siddell argues in his essay
“Transportation and the Experience of Travel”, (1987)as technology increases our ability to travel in an easier, more efficient way, the essence
of traveling has been warped into a necessity instead of an enjoyable experience. Take walking for example. Before the widespread use of fos-
sil fuels, one was either to walk or employ some sort of animal. Walking was sought after as a past time that people would do for fun. People
enjoyed being out and about among
their neighbors and environment
because they knew nothing more.
As the transportation industry grew
ever quicker, the value placed on a
lazy stroll through the park was re-
placed by a Sunday drive, or a day
trip on the train. People soon real-
ized how these modes of transpor-
tation dissociated a traveler from
the environment. People did not
stop by shops on the boardwalk nor
did people take time to walk to the
park. This can be seen all through-
out the transportation realm. How
much more disconnected from the
environment can you be by flying
30,000 feet over the landscape?
How do these experiences affect architecture? Ar-
chitecture is the design of the built environment. As
Architects, many factors impact the environment
and consequently the design: site, community, cli-
mate, history, geography, available materials, and
surrounding structures to name a few. When trans-
portation is used wisely, it oftentimes can create
community, transform geography, and influence
history for the better. As we can see in historical De-
troit, Michigan, transportation as a business built
this city economically while a careful planning of
the streets brings people into the city in a grand
way. The routes around town give respect to mon-
uments of history, and also draw people in with a
scale that is comfortable and easy to experience on
foot.
T ransportation of people and things
is the engine that runs our society.
We use these systems to feed our need
to consume and experience. Conse-
quently, the transportation industry
has dominated the great American
landscape for decades. Canals, rail-
roads, interstates, and even the ports
that connect the web of invisible air-
line paths have created, removed, and
molded our civilization into what it is
today.

From the ancient metropolis at Xochicalco, Morelos, Mexico, we can see evidence of intelligent transportation design. Hirth
explains in “Transportation Architecture at Xochicalco, Morelos, Mexico”, (1982), these great builders of Mesoamerica created
winding communication and trade routes throughout the mountains. These rugged pathways were designed with ease of assent in
the mountains, but once within the city, a Cartesian grid was drawn off of the major trade routes. The city streets were extravagantly
paved with mosaic tiles bordered with cut stone curbs, smooth ramps to boardwalks, and major roadways dictated the pattern and
placement of civic buildings. Residential, commerce, and leisure zones such as parks were all directed from a grid that was well
before its time. It is hard to tell what exactly the designers of this era were taking into consideration with these projects, but one
thing is for certain: they were designed.
Transportation has the power to rationalize an architectural
plan on any scale. However, transportation routes are generally
designed from large to small; for example, an interstate system
to an alleyway. A traveler’s experience along the routes can see
that the perspective gained by each stage of the route changes
dramatically. The major arterial routes create an A-to-B attitude
that can only be satisfied by easy flowing efficiency. Supporting
streets such as a Main Street pull off of the major routes and
distribute into numerous veins of streets and avenues. Each of
these levels of movement creates a different experience from
the last. Entering a city for example, a traveler is compressed
by the increasing number of structures, and naturally feels the
need to slow down. When getting into smaller streets, the speed
decreases more yet because of the environmental perception.
Transportation
the master plan