Graduate and undergraduate architecture students in Professor Brook Muller’s
terminal studio during winter and spring terms of 2012 examined potential
redevelopment scenarios for the Booth-Kelly site, located in downtown
Springfield. The city anticipated
redevelopment concepts and guidelines developed as part of the studio could
potentially be adopted into the Downtown Refinement Plan and implemented in
the future.
Students identified several programmatic schemes that describe how the site
could become a destination location with a pedestrian-friendly appeal. Seen as
a collision of industry and nature, sharing multiple habitats and crossing paths,
the site’s industrial beauty and rich history are ideal for unique design solutions
that exemplify these characteristics. An in-depth focus on its ecology led many
students to incorporate much of the surrounding context in a systems thinking
approach. Many of the designs seek to interconnect various processes, from
both onsite and offsite byproducts and resources, and to bridge natural and
urban resource flows.
Common themes emerged with different programmatic emphases, including:
adaptive reuse, agricultural production and distribution, community education,
linking downtown to industry, and adaptable piecemeal development. While each
project holds a different focus, the studio collectively promoted many of the same
design values.
Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.
Sustainable City Year Program Contact Info
Megan Banks
Sustainable City Year Program Manager
mbanks@uoregon.edu
(541) 346-6395
University Faculty Contact
Brook Muller
Architecture
bmuller@uoregon.edu
Local Government / Community Contact
Courtney Griesel
Economic Development Director
cgriesel@springfield-or.gov