Historic Freedmen's Town Revitalization
Location Houston, TX
Year 2021
Project Type Urban Planning
Collaborators The following graphics are part of a larger project, which is currently being worked on by the whole studio as a
team. However, I personally worked on the images shown here.
Freedmen's Town is a nationally registered historical site in Houston, Texas. As a destination for former slaves to create their own free community after the Civil War, the site has been an important treasure that has been changing and evolving through time. Today our studio is working on this project to revitalize and bring the neighborhood back to its original roots and to bring people in to create an awareness about it.
An important element that we can find here is the use of brick paving on two crossing streets, which we are calling the Main Axis: on Wilson St & Andrews St. Another important axis we found, even though it does not have brick paving, was along Robin St. The work presented here shows an assessment on how we can improve the neighborhood by looking for characteristics such as: surrounding buildings, energy levels, public VS private axis, and walkability.
First, a look at Wilson St. The axon above shows Freedmen's Town and its historical buildings. Along Wilson St, we can see a pathway that takes us along mainly religious, commercial and institutional buildings. Because of this we consider this axis as a public axis, where the interventions the studio will design are going to be directed towards bringing more people in, both from the neighborhood and tourists.
The energy level circles represent the amount of people that is expected to be coming to these areas. For example, the High Energy Level circles (in orange) surround important buildings that will attract a lot of people to the neighborhood. The Low Energy Level circles (in blue) represent areas that still have interesting and historical sites, but that will not have such a concentrated amount of visitors all the time.
The axon above shows a closer look at Wilson St along with a quality assessment graph. The images on the right present the current conditions by block (numbered), so you can follow along the street's promenade. The assessment graph ranges from a high to a low quality experience for pedestrians, which can help us see what is lacking or what needs to be improved to create a better experience for visitors.
The images below show the Before and After of what the blocks could look like to create an overall better experience. The 'After' pictures show things like fixing the streets and the brick paving, having a continuous and walkable sidewalk at least on one side of the street, more shading trees and sitting areas, along with the proposal for an underground cable system to clear up the overall cable cluttering.
Second, a look at Andrews St. The axon above shows Freedmen's Town and its historical buildings. Along Andrews St, we can see a pathway that takes us along mainly religious and residential buildings. Because of this we consider this axis as a private axis, where the interventions the studio will design are going to be directed towards a more quiet experience and to create spaces for the current residents of the neighborhood.
The axon above shows a closer look at Andrews St along with a quality assessment graph. The images on the right present the current conditions by block (numbered), so you can follow along the street's promenade. The assessment graph ranges from a high to a low quality experience for pedestrians, which can help us see what is lacking or what needs to be improved to create a better experience for visitors.
The images below show the Before and After of what the blocks could look like to create an overall better experience. The 'After' pictures show things like fixing the streets and the brick paving, having a continuous and walkable sidewalk at least on one side of the street, more shading trees and sitting areas.
Third, a look at Robin St. The axon above shows Freedmen's Town and its historical buildings. Along Robin St, we can see a pathway that takes us along a mix of religious, commercial and residential buildings. Because of this we consider this axis as a public axis, where the interventions the studio will design are going to be directed both towards a more quiet experience on some spaces and to create spaces for the current residents and for visitors of the neighborhood.
The axon above shows a closer look at Robin St along with a quality assessment graph. The images on the right present the current conditions by block (numbered), so you can follow along the street's promenade. The assessment graph ranges from a high to a low quality experience for pedestrians, which can help us see what is lacking or what needs to be improved to create a better experience for visitors.
The images below show the Before and After of what the blocks could look like to create an overall better experience. The 'After' pictures show things like fixing the streets and the brick paving, having a continuous and walkable sidewalk at least on one side of the street, more shading trees and sitting areas, along with the proposal for an underground cable system to clear up the overall cable cluttering.
