A Point In Design

View of Mystic Streetscape

This project offers a possible use for the burned out block on Main Street in downtown Mystic, CT which has sat vacant for the last decade. This site was previously occupied by a large building that abutted the Mystic River, but it burned down in 2000 in a massive fire. Many development schemes for the site have been proposed, but ultimately all development options collapsed with the faltering economy. My hypothetical scheme creates two new buildings on the site with the addition of a small park which overlooks the Mystic River.

Building 1 is a small house-like structure which is in keeping with the neighboring buildings. I envisioned this being a 2-floor retail shop. Building 2 is a multi-use structure with 2 restaurants, 1 retail store, and 1 luxury loft apartment. The park space would be adjacent to building 2 with one unique feature, an entrance to an underwater Apple outlet. Modeled after the Apple store in Shanghai (see here), the Mystic store additionally offers views of the aquatic life in the Mystic river while browsing for the latest Apple products.

By introducing a high traffic store like an Apple outlet to downtown Mystic, while offering recreational space with views of Mystic Seaport, this scheme is guaranteed to increase tourist traffic valued to the local businesses in a tourist town.

View of Park

View from the Mystic river

View of Loft Apartment

View of Loft Apt Kitchen/Dining Area

View of Loft Bedroom

Elevation view of both buildings

View of Upriver cafe

View of River View Restaurant Overlooking the Park

Underwater Apple Outlet

With more people moving into cities, having places to congregate and enjoy the company of others will become more important to forging and maintaining a sense of community in our increasingly virtual world. To that end, I decided to create a downtown cultural district showcasing designs for a concert hall, modern art museum with a pyramid-shaped restaurant, Omni theater, and an outdoor food court, all placed around a central plaza. A true urban development project. The plaza is accessible by both car and light rail/subway. These type of large-scale projects are not new, but I thought that I would venture into the commercial side of design after giving you lots of residential ideas to inspire. In addition to my own design, you will also find some more notable urban development projects by more famous designers than myself. As always feel free to comment.

Cultural Complex

View of Art Museum from Parking Lot

Interior View of Symphony Hall

Aerial View of Plaza

Other Designers
Louis Kahn’s Plans For Philadelphia mid 1940s

Triangle Area Redevelopment Perspective Drawing

Sketches of Triangle Redevelopment for Philadelphia

Moshe Safdie Architects – Marina Sands Resort Complex in Singapore

IM Pei – Government Center Urban Renewal Plan 1961

View of Government Center, Boston, MA

Many would argue that this urban project was not at all successful as the plaza around city hall remains an uninhabited wasteland today, failing to attract and keep people around the over-scaled and ugly Boston City Hall.

My design was selected as one of the 4 best in a design contest for new buildings for the Boston skyline. The design was published in the Boston Business Journal on Fri. Aug 21, 2009. Shown below is the online version of the article.

The contest was also covered in the local media on the New England Cable New TV Network. Click here for a video of the story covering the contest and its winners.

Below are larger pictures of the proposed skyline intervention and a close-up of the building itself. Click on the thumbnails for the full size images.