On October 5-7, 2018, CUDC staff brought 14 graduate architecture and urban design students from Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design to Toledo, Ohio for our annual Midwest Urban Design Charrette.
In partnership with the Toledo Design Center, and joined by partner schools Lawrence Tech University & the State University of New York at Buffalo, students spent the weekend studying the Swan Creek area of the Junction neighborhood. TDC has been working closely with Junction through the Junction Coalition on long-term neighborhood planning. The Charrette work dovetailed with that plan in order to envision future ideas for Sterling Field, Swan Creek, and adjacent post-industrial parcels.
Over 48 hours in Toledo, and pausing only for local Toledo experiences like Tony Packo’s and the Toledo Maritime Academy, students collaborated in teams to quickly generate four distinct plans for the Swan Creek area. The site challenges included floodplains, brownfields, active rail lines, and vacant housing stock; but the students identified opportunities for redeveloping the area and connecting the site back into Junction and to Toledo as a whole. Topics explored included stormwater management, recreation, remediation, industrial heritage, housing retrofits, year-round park access, vacancy & reuse, aging-in-place, and economic development.
Special thanks to the Toledo Design Center for hosting a wonderful weekend, and to The Collaborative, SSOE, AIA Toledo, AIA Ohio, Amy Odum, the Mastriana Endowment, and NAIOP for sponsoring the 2018 Midwest Urban Design Charrette! Also, thanks to CUDC Project Manager and Urban Designer Kristen Zeiber who did a great job in leading the event!