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KIRSTEN COWAN | Architecture
Portfolio Project: Master Plan for a Post-Industrial Town
 Existing Conditions in Elizabeth, NJThe former industrial city of Elizabeth, NJ has high crime rates, high unemployment, and low educational attainment. This project first called for the creation of a master plan to revitalize the city, beginning with intensive research and mapping current conditions. The master plan was done in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of four. |  NarrativeBased on current conditions, the team developed a series of diagrammatic narratives, imagining alternative experiences of the city for its residents. |  Partnership web diagramOne of my individual contributions to the master plan was to research and develop this diagram. Incorporating and categorizing our team's proposed interventions, each proposal was cross-walked to pre-existing funding sources and government agencies who could potentially make those interventions a reality. |
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 Axonometric of neighborhood planFrom the master plan, the project zoomed in to look at a single neighborhood, and proposed landscape and architectural interventions that would work together to make the most of its existing assets: the river, the nearby college, and the retail streetscape. The axonometric summarizes and maps our proposed interventions. |  ModelThe team created a model synthesizing the vision for the neighborhood, with CNC-cut buildings and laser-cut topography. |
Click the thumbnail images to move through this project. Mouse-over the upper image for a text description, or click on the upper image to see a full-sized version.
Offered the opportunity to think at the scale of the city: our team maximized an interdisciplinary approach that incorporated community awareness, urban design, landscape, and architecture. The end result after intensive research and charetting was a master plan that harnessed the enormous potentials found in this formerly industrial port city.
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