Occasionally, a group of emerging designers here at SERA will pool their talents and take on an independent design challenge. Such was the case when Krystan Menne, Kristin Slavin, and Jodi Hanson heard about the “[Imagine Downtown] Lafayette, LA” open-ideas competition a few months ago. Not only did this interdisciplinary team of designers dive into this […]
“Gray day. Everything is gray. I watch. But nothing moves today.” – Dr. Seuss It all started when I needed a place to eat my lunch. As a strong believer in the lunch break, I noticed that I had been skipping my noontime intermission. Our resilient foodcart owners are still peddling tom kha soup, but where […]
This is the third and final(?) installment in our series on the design, function, and future of Portland’s O’Bryant Square. To catch up on the conversation, be sure to read through the first two segments: Part 1 – An overview of the park’s history and some of its key challenges Part 2 – A look […]
Why do we enjoy certain parks over others? Is the magic in the design or are there other factors to consider? Welcome to Part 2 of our series on Portland’s O’Bryant Square, where we’re asking what it would take to improve this infamous urban park. In Part 1, we gave an overview of the park’s […]
Nestled in the core of downtown Portland, Oregon sits a tired city park called O’Bryant Square. With a checkered history and an uncertain future, we’re going to take a look at this infamous piece of the Portland cityscape in a three part series to address the looming question: What would it take to “fix” this […]
On a recent trip to New York City, I made time to visit the High Line – a postindustrial rail line that was recently re-invented (2009) as a place of urban wild. This elevated rail originally served as a way to transport goods from the Hudson River railyards into the Meatpacking District above the congestion […]