Growing in Place

Abstract

Growing in Place is a freeway removal study of Interstate 695 in Washington, D.C. In the American capital city, we find a microcosm of experiments in city building, many of which are beneficial to replicate elsewhere. Other urban development projects, such as the construction of this freeway through communities under urban renewal, must be addressed. The opportunity presented by this freeway removal contends with simply removing the freeway to render a blank slate, and ultimately retains the "scar" of this infrastructure as a physical and historical record. It records the misprioritized urban design philosophies that benefited the automobile and sprawl-based development patterns at the expense of city residents. Rather than demolishing this infrastructure, Growing in Place proposes a methodology for urban design and placemaking based on locally derived lessons and urban patterns from neighborhoods such as Capitol Hill, Southwest under urban renewal, the Wharf, and Navy Yard. It recognizes the democratic urban design patterns from L'Enfant's original plan, which have enriched urban life, and expands on these inherited American ideals to further articulate a future community rooted in place. It prioritizes urban community life that occurs along city streets, plazas, and parks for the city's residents and numerous visitors. This thesis blends urban history, design research, and speculative urban design to pose the case for retaining D.C.'s physical scars as a reminder of American priorities in city building. The design then is neither nostalgic nor utopian; rather, it is emplaced in this Capitol as a symbol of American virtues and democracy to be passed on to future generations.