Portland Urban Park Corridor

Abstract

Downtown Portland, Oregon is divided into two sections because of the sunken Interstate 405 (I-405). When built in 1965, I-405 eliminated 35 blocks of downtown Portland. Although I-405 runs directly through the downtown, it is sunken below street level and the street pattern of downtown is not affected. Between the street crossings, there are a series of block-size spaces open to I-405 directly below. These physical open spaces provide the potential for an Urban Park Corridor. The Urban Park Corridor will resolve the economic and social problems caused by the I-405 physical barrier with residential, commercial and recreational spaces.The purpose of our investigation was to explore what role such a development would play in the larger environments of the adjacent neighborhoods and overall city context. The issues of scale, density, context and architectural and landscape architectural characters were the key elements from which our project was generated, designed and developed.