Take Me to the River: Designing the Intimate Waterfront

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to establish design guidelines that will encourage an intimate relationship between waterfront users and the adjacent waterway through increased immediate physical, visual, and audible access to water. This thesis includes a literature review to build an understanding of: (1) the relationship between people and water; (2) the evolution of urban waterfronts in the United States and how intimacy with water is limited by the siting of buildings, construction of transportation infrastructure, and installation of flood control measures; and (3) three approaches used to create design guidelines for an intimate waterfront design. The established design guidelines are then used to analyze three waterfronts: the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland; Carroll Creek in Frederick, Maryland; and the Georgetown waterfront in Washington, D.C. This analysis leads to the position that successful urban waterfronts must allow for immediate access to the water to foster an intimate experience for waterfront users. This position is then tested through the anaylsis and design of the Rock River waterfront in Janesville, WI.