THE ARCHITECT FACING URBAN TRANSPORTATION

AN ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH TO THE PROBLEMS OF CITY LIFE CAN RESULT IN SOLUTIONS TO THE TRAFFIC PROBLEM. THE FIRST ARCHITECTURAL GESTURE IS TO PROVIDE SHELTER WITH AN IMAGINATIVE INTERIOR FOR AN INDIVIDUAL, THEN AN INTERIOR FOR HIS FRIEND WHO WILL BE HIS NEIGHBOR, THEN THE EXTERIOR SPACE WHICH WILL BECOME THEIR MEETING PLACE, AND EVENTUALLY THE PROCESS LEADS TO THE CREATION OF AN ELABORATE SYSTEM OF STABLE COHERENT UNITS. IN SUCH AN ORGANIC ORDER, TRANSPORTATION ASSUMES A NEW MEANING AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF ALL MOVEMENT. THIS APPROACH TO THE TRANSPORTATION SERVES BOTH THE PLANNING OF NEW SETTLEMENTS AND THE RENEWAL OF EXISTING OLD CITIES. EACH OLD CITY HAS ITS OWN SPECIFIC QUALITY WHICH MUST FIRST BE ENHANCED BY REVALUATION, PRESERVATION AND CONTINUATION OF EXISTING SYSTEMS WHEREVER POSSIBLE. CREATING NEW LINKS BETWEEN THE NETWORKS OF DIFFERENT SYSTEMS CAN RESTRUCTURE A CITY AT A RELATIVELY LOW COST. AS AN EXAMPLE OF PRACTICAL PLANNING, REHABILITATION OF A SECTION OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE IS DESCRIBED. AN ELEVATED DOWNTOWN EXPRESSWAY IS PROPOSED BUT WOULD DESTROY THE GEOGRAPHICAL UNITY OF THE DISTRICT AND WOULD PUT A BLIGHT ON THE AREA. THE ARCHITECT'S PLAN WOULD CALL FOR RECLAMATION OF THE JONES FALLS RIVER WHICH HAD BEEN COVERED UP; THROUGH THIS OPERATION, THE INNER HARBOR AREA COULD BE PLANNED FOR HOUSING, RECREATION, AND BOATING; CONTINUOUS GREEN SPACES, UNFETTERED BY VEHICULAR TRAFFIC, WOULD LINK THIS SPACE TO DRUID PARK. THE ORIGINAL GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES OF THIS PART OF BALTIMORE WOULD BE REESTABLISHED. THE EXPRESSWAY, ACCORDING TO THIS PLAN, WOULD RUN THROUGH A CHAIN OF BUILDINGS TERMINATING IN A TOWER; THIS ARCHITECTURAL COMPLEX WOULD FLANK THE RIVER, LEAVING WIDE ARCHES OPENING OUT ON THE CITY, GIVING A VIEW OF GREEN STRETCHES, FLOWING WATER, AND MASSED BUILDINGS OF DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE. A TUNNEL IS PROPOSED RATHER THAN A BRIDGE TO LINK TWO BRANCHES OF THE EAST-WEST EXPRESSWAY, THEREBY LEAVING UNMARRED THE LONG VIEW TO THE SEA. THE TOWER WITH ITS OFFICES, EXHIBIT HALLS AND OTHER FACILITIES WOULD ABSORB MOST OF THE CAR TRAFFIC AND COULD BECOME A MEANINGFUL LANDMARK.