Connecting Westwood

Harvard GSD Studio, fall 2021
Westwood, MA

Studio partner: Liene Baptista

Instructors & Critics: Stephen Gray, Peter Rowe, Yun Fu, Michael Manfredi

With aging and yet ever-expanding suburbs, inward growth and incrementalism are needed. Here in Westwood, infill development and transit planning can influence the local economy and mobility habits. This project connects historic fabric to new development with a new common avenue and local linkages, repurposes underutilized space, and matches existing scales of buildings with new construction.

Sectional Site

Philosophy of Incrementality

Current Fragmentation

Case Study: Islington

Urban Renewal’s Affects
Possible Connections
Recentering Community

Area Plan

Everett Street
Sport Center
University Avenue

Outline:

Sectional Site

Topography, landscape, & age of structures together represent Westwood’s attempt at an ideal suburban experience but illustrate an unfortunate, disjointed reality.

Philosophy of Incrementality

Contrary to typical development trends, repurposing, repairing, and strengthening what already exists is extremely important. That could mean a gentle density increase in residential areas, not abrupt five-over-one apartments in single-family areas. In industrial areas, that means reusing large abandoned structures for similarly-scale programs such as sports or micro-manufacturing.

This technique ensures gentle change over time, preventing physical and financial displacement of communities.

Current Fragmentation

Being surrounded by one’s private yard is still the supreme goal of a suburban lifestyle, and the built environment in Westwood reflects that. Regional transportation routes and sporadic development lead to ecological fragmentation, mirroring the reality that a surprising lack of access to nature abounds without a car.

Ecology

Development

Case Study: Islington

Urban Renewal’s Affects

A local neighborhood intersection requires the repair of old urban renewal habits. Currently housing a grocery store, fire station, shops, and a community non-profit in a former church, it contains all the ingredients to be the true community center but lacks the structural or formal characteristics of one. Parking lots and car-centric details dominate.

Possible Connections

Two types of infill are recommended here: the development of parking lots to fill street frontages like missing teeth and completing roads to reduce dead-ends for various mobility types (bicycles, streetcars, pedestrians, etc.). Together, walkability is encouraged, strengthening local economies and producing a sense of destination.

Recentering Community

Critical to this intervention is reinforcing the scales and uses of existing buildings. Reducing paved areas (parking lots and street widths) and creating more efficient transportation systems free up space for these local businesses and residences while creating opportunities for new ones.

Area Plan

The principles from Islington can be applied to the larger region but adjusted slightly to each context. A common avenue can connect each node of development, new local roads link all types of mobility to destinations, and existing buildings are incorporated into expansion plans rather than being torn down.

Everett Street

Characterized by large manufacturing buildings right next to single-family residential areas, this street requires a scale transition, accomplished by adding a gradient of commercial and multifamily structures of various sizes.

Sport Center

In an area of former industrial structures and rail lines, structures are repurposed by uses of a similar scale, in this case, sports and recreation facilities.

University Avenue

The final node along the new avenue connects distant neighborhoods to a significant station on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, Route 128. Here, traditional transit-oriented development can replace underutilized parking with housing, shopping, and office space, strengthening this regional center without increasing traffic.

More information available upon request:

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