The Pine and Broadway Entrance
Design of successful public landscapes is a difficult endeavor. Despite the use of good materials and beautiful plantings, and careful execution, there is one key component that can only happen (if one is fortunate) until after all other efforts have been completed: the peopling of the outcome. For unlike buildings, which have a program guaranteeing that they will at least be used — if not loved — by the public, participation in landscapes is largely voluntary, as landscapes do not have as thorough a set of programmatic requirements (if any) as do buildings. ‘Build it and they will come’ may work for buildings, but not for landscapes. Landscapes, therefore, require a conceptual order outside the confines of the landscape itself, one that artfully blends utility, beauty, and cultural/social relevancy in order to be inviting. Absent that balance, even the lushest landscape would pass underappreciated and underutilized, and therefore largely unsuccessful.
Case in point: Seattle Central Community College’s lovely – but largely unsuccessful – garden-plaza landscape at the intersection of Broadway and Pine Streets, the first of the Two Spaces. Despite having several great attributes (as described below) it is a space that is used only part-time, and typically only when SCCC classes are in session. Part-time success is not be bad per se, except that the landscape in question happens to be at one Broadway’s most important crossroads, and one that needs full-time use, full-time activity. Full-time occupancy.
As the photos herein depict, the garden-plaza is a surprisingly pleasant landscape, both nicely planted and well sculpted, as well as being a classically modernist design. The London Plane trees (its most immediately recognizable feature) are a traditional favorite throughout North America and Europe, and were specifically bred to achieve urban heartiness — making them a great choice for this location. The visual interest of their exfoliating bark and the dazzling light and shadow portrayed by their canopy is seldom bettered by any other tree, and the well-defined planting rows (allées) could not be more appropriate or truer to the tree’s artistic attributes and centuries-long distinguished service. At SCCC, they live up to their heritage.
Topographical relief (changes in grade) is effectively utilized in the garden-plaza and provides nice seating-steps composed of both hardscape and turf. The stepping defines a sheltered place, a refuge, which combined with the shade trees to provides relief from the busy intersection and adjacent streets. Concentrically arranged, the seating-steps focus on a bronze sculpture and a children’s play area.
View Looking East, Towards Broadway
A robust, rusticated wall neatly defines the landscape’s perimeter to the south and west, its materiality deftly reflecting that of the Broadway Performance Hall, just to the north (the wall was originally part of the buildings base, when it sat on the corner, prior to its being moved to its current location). On an opposite corner of the site, and at grade, wide entries welcome passersby into the landscape, and into the College, beyond. As aforementioned, sculptures (of varying levels of quality), pepper the landscape, creating points of visual interest, while another stepped-seating of turf and hardscape provides another prospect on the site northeast corner. So far, so good.
View Looking North, Towards the Broadway Theater
As so often happens, however, the sum is lesser than of its parts; for, despite all of these apparently good qualities (taken individually), the space is a largely a failure because it is introverted and self-absorbed. Again, this would not be a bad thing, except it is adjacent to an important Capitol Hill crossroads. It is not inviting to passersby nor is it a strong landmark, two qualities it should have given its prominent location. Its relationship to its context is muddy, and in fact it denies connection to much of its surroundings. It is a public landscape by ownership only, not by perception or use.
Bus Shelter and Landscape Wall Along Pine
The first problem with the design — if I were to order them — is the robust, architecturally appropriate wall, mentioned above. Too robust, it turns out. Too tall. Too long in its unbroken southern and western lengths, making it too daunting to surmount and gain entrance into the niceties described above. Below, one sees the rather abrupt (and frequent) edge the wall defines. Hundreds of linear feet, I dare say, and cliff-like for more than a few of dozen of them. And what of its dutiful retention of the turf, so true to the wall’s being? Alas, it is, but too much of a burden to bear as witnessed by the diminutive Metro bus patrons (above) awaiting the 3:17 and dwarfed by, you guessed it — too much retained earth — a few too many ‘toos’, I’m afraid.
The Southwest Corner Cliff
The inaccessibility delimited by the walls and grade challenges create an isolated space, an isolation furthered by the above mentioned stepped-seating, which also happens to focus inwardly. Conceptually, a contemplative space is not a bad thing, but as it focuses onto things that are not visible from the surrounding streets, it loses the opportunity to pique the passerby’s interest and tempt entry, and populate the space. And the object of the focus: a gated playground. The playground part is fine, just not the gated part. More isolation. Less inclusive. And again, not the quality for a space at one of the most important intersections on the Hill .
The Vacancy of Broadway along the College’s Main Facades
On the opposite end of the too defined, too isolated spectrum of design – (both geographically and spatially) is a space of too little definition. Yes, many of us are aware of the expansive sidewalk betwixt SCCC and Broadway (another design issue, to tackle another day). Not only does the expansive sidewalk damage SCCC’s frontage along Broadway, but it provides too little definition – containment – for the garden-plaza’s northeast boundary. Unlike the overly defined and inaccessible southern and western walled edges, the northeast corner spills out into a space that itself is spilling out. Double spillage? What a mess. An easy and understandable transition from one space to another is generally a positive thing in landscape, but in this case the sheer size of the Broadway sidewalk sucks the energy, the place-ness, right out of the landscape in question, and scatter-shoots it along the void that is south Broadway.
And the People go on Forever . . .
By contrast, a mere half block away, on the same sunny, 4th of July afternoon, we have another landscape (the second of our ‘two spaces’) that is almost over-burdened by its success: the Bobby Morris Playfield. “Unfair”, “cheap shot”, some would say. “It is a different space, for different needs.” “It has a program –that designer’s crutch.” Correct the nay-sayers are, but that misses the point. Despite its quality components and its different intentions from the Playfield, SCCC’s garden-plaza does lack the niceties of program, but it more importantly lacks the most important component of any public landscape — people — which Bobby Morris has in abundance. Even participants in landscapes of repose benefit from at least a few other users near by. Keeps the space, well, public.
Sunshine . . . that’s what the folks in the Playfield wanted! Sun and action. That is why the Playfield has people, and the SCCC landscape does not. What if the blazing sunlight and programmatic crutch of the playfield were snatched away? Would the Playfield still attract people? Hmm? Well, it would, and it did, for not quite five minutes later and 200 yards to the north, I took the photo below. In the shade. No action. Just folks relaxing. Much as they would do if they were in the SCCC garden-plaza — that is if the SCCC landscape functioned as it should and attracted them.
Made in the Shade . . . .
So, what to do with this under-performing landscape, located at a key Capitol Hill intersection and gateway to SCCC — tear it down and build on it. “What an architect” some would cry. Destroy a lovely landscape, and put a building there. Well, say I, I would rather spend my entire day at Volunteer Park, Cal Anderson Park, or Bobby Morris than any building on Capitol Hill, so my suggestions are not from my dark, egotistical architect’s perspective, but from a lover of public landscapes. The Broadway and Pine intersection needs the kind of strong, spatial definition provided by a building, not the vacancy provided by an underperforming landscape. And given the types of shortcomings described above, renovation is not an option.
So, let us consider replacing the lovely — but woefully underperforming — garden-plaza in its entirety, with a new hybrid-use type of SCCC building and a new, contextually relevant landscape plaza. Hybrid-use I say? Yes, for this site (and all future SCCC sites) should foster a dynamic, integrated engagement with the larger Capitol Hill community. A hybrid-use building and landscape would have, among other things, 24-hour, active uses, a transparent ground floor, and recognition and enhancement of its key location on the Hill, as well as uses outside of SCCC’s traditional educational-only ones. This hybrid-use building and landscape would provide the kind of 24 hour peopling needed (by all Hill residents) for this most important site. A tall order for an institution with a mixed history of building on the Hill, and one that will require a change of approach on their part and strong support from the community on ours; however, there is new leadership at the College, and with it new perspectives that may help achieve redefined and shared goals.
John Feit is an architect on Capitol Hill, and works at Schemata Workshop. He blogs frequently on design and urbanism, with a focus on how they relate to and effect the Capitol Hill community. This post originally appeared on the Schemata blog but we have been given permission to share the work here on CHS.
How about trees for trees sake? How many spaces on the Hill in this vicinity reflect that notion? Few.
Pine side is hill, hill. There is a retaining wall at street, I don’t know how you change that except to excavate the hill – horrors.
By the way, Ca
l Anderson is NOT the college, which is of itself important. More mixed usage de rigeur.
Interesting piece, which does not offer much.
Start over? With Cal Anderson a 1/2 block east. Not going to happen
By the way, I love the wide sidewalk … along Bwy.
I walk by this public space most days, and I would argue that it does get used. The landscape is usually dotted with sleeping homeless people, taking advantage of the shade created by those rows of trees. While it does seem like a wonderful place to relax, I’m not sure I’d want to with that presence.
I think, as you pointed out, the wall on the perimeter is most of the problem. You can’t walk through the park during your travels, you have to make an intentional decision to stop there. I love Cal Anderson Park, but I don’t think I would visit much if it weren’t for the fact that I can actually use it to get places. Sometimes when I’m walking home heading north on Broadway, I’ll walk the extra few steps east to go through Cal Anderson, a wonderful upgrade in scenery from the pile of bricks on the west side of Broadway or the nice enough contemporary condo building on the east, with its of generic national chain stores. The Pine/Broadway spaces offers neither the recreation opportunity of Cal Anderson Park nor the amenities and activities of Volunteer Park, so what good is it?
If the perimeter of the Pine/Broadway space was made level with the sidewalks of Broadway, Pine, and Harvard, and an appropriate paved walking path was constructed through the space, I could see it getting a lot more use. People, in general, are lazy, so provide them with what they perceive as a more direct route, and they will take it, even if it might only shave a tenth of a second off their walk. A shortcut that also provides some shade during the summer months and perhaps a bit of isolation from the sights and sounds of the city around it would be welcome.
Side note, the brickscape of the wide sidewalk outside SCCC (which is used wonderfully by the farmers market, so it’s not completely useless) and the main campus building there give me flashbacks to my time at RIT, which has a campus known as “Brick City” (over 14.5 million bricks, all the same colors). The color palette is too close for comfort.
Anyway, nice piece! First thing I’ve read this morning, a great way to start the day thinking about our use of spaces in this city. I’m a huge fan of nerdy pieces like this one and the one the other day about the Capitol Hill LINK light rail construction.
the intersection of Broadway and Pine is a very loud, busy spot…it’s no wonder people wander a few blocks to get away from the chaos.
I have given this space much thought over the years. I rather appreciate the shady view of downtown through the trees when walking down Broadway. It provides some breathing space and relief from the cold, stark brick expanse that is SCCC. (I’m NOT a fan of that 2 block stretch of brickwork along the sidewalk on Broadway). I often make a point of walking through that corner to get to Harvard, cutting between the performance hall and the college proper and continuing north.
I agree that the wall along Pine is the barrier…retaining the earth to the north and debris and pages of the free weeklies to the south. It’s not a pretty or inviting space from Pine, contrary to the Broadway view corridor. I wholeheartedly disagree about building on this corner. Not only would it remove one of the greatest concentration of urban trees on this part of the hill outside of the parks, it would almost entirely block views of the beautiful Broadway Performance Hall, one of the oldest and most significant buildings along Pike/Pine (it was part of Seattle’s first high school, for those unaware).
It seems to me that a more desirable solution would be to look at terraced, landscaping options that transition from Pike up to the college. I wonder if that would be possible without destroying the peaceful grove created by the trees?
Replace the corner cliff with rounded off stairs heading up into the park. Voila, park access granted. Almost NO-ONE ever goes to the corner cliff part. With stairs, you will see people short-cutting through the park and enjoying it more often.
What David said. My wife and I were just complaining about this intersection feeling subjectively “ugly” and “too busy”, which only makes the problem of the gas station on Pike and the void of Neighbors worse… anything past Pine feels unreasonably far away as a result.
But with so many other easy wins around, I’d rather see this lovely park fixed to make it approachable before we replace it. It would need to be a special project indeed to bother starting over with this space.
not to mention the ever present problem of ‘from where would the money come to do this?’
Just what we need to “improve” this space is another “Multi-use” building. NOT. There’s nothing wrong with the park-like plaza just as it is.
Few more thought – the space belongs to the college, no other. The use of the land and trees is connected to their concept of what is best for the College. Like it or not.
The trees are now 30 years old, thriving. Any use can’t touch a single one. Interesting that urbanites can’t deal with a grove which is just a grove.
No mention of the plaza in front of the Hall which is used a lot for community events, low budget political and social stuff.
AND, redo the SCC parking lot, FIRST. Now there is blight and bad land use ….
The Neighbors void, now an entry side, less use that a rag store? Bad san. shop? Wonder what that means???
PEOPLE, PEOPLE AND PEOPLE -Good comment – and with major retail on two corners – and more retail in sight on three sides – very busy indeed. Not to mention all the bus traffic… major stops on either side of Pine … and soon the streetcar .
I agree, it wouldn’t be that big of a project to throw a set of stairs into the retaining wall on the southwest corner, and instantly you’ve got a space people can actually move through, as opposed to the current dead-end.
For the love of all that is good, could you please proofread your work before publishing it? You’ve basically found a vague and extremely long-winded way to say, “I think this green space should be less isolated so it can be used by more people.”
You’re off the mark on a couple points. First, it’s not public space. It belongs to the state, which owns and maintains all the Seattle Community College campus grounds.
Second, it’s not inaccessible through the architect’s oversight, but by design, and a rather clever design at that. When the campus expanded with the addition of the large red brick building, the project was probably required to have green space to win city approval, and they chose a nice green buffer between the plaza and the bus stops that wouldn’t break the bank to maintain. They decided that the money the state had allocated for this campus should go to teaching, not maintenance of grounds. It’s expensive to replant grass and pick up trash all the time, so they found a way to make it usable, primarily by students, without having to spend a ton on maintenance by inviting too much public traffic.
So if the state is developing city property near where you live, let the city council and mayor know that you want any green space to be made usable by the public. The state’s architects will have to plan for the use and someone will have to commit to the maintenance. It has to be decided during the design phase, because as we’ve seen with the recent skate dot debacle, it’s nearly impossible to go back and change a bad design once it’s been built.
Put stairs in the SW retaining wall and the entire intersection is transformed instantly. Love it. Any enterprising students at the campus want to take this on as a campaign?
I was thinking about this post today and I wandered through the packed Sunday farmer’s market that goes until Dec 18th — a week before Christmas! Sure, that is not every day, but (and as others have commented), putting a building there is not a good idea.
When I went to SCCC I always enjoyed the seclusion and relative peace of that area if I wanted to read something outdoors.
Plus, you know there is a day care right there? Or was, I don’t remember seeing the playground area recently… but yeah… kids and etc. Maybe not as low use as you think!
well now – go north a bit, next to the Hall there ARE stairs up to the plaza – new stairs would go where? Perhaps the plaza.
Get a clue.
These comment reads like a really long bad haiku.
How do you do more stairs and keep ALL the trees intact …. this is so people don’t have to walk to the corner and go where ever they wish … major intersection right there.
Is people trying to make a name for themselves on the back of local spaces that local people have enjoyed for years the way they are.
I don’t know who John Feit or Schemata Workshop is, but I can read and see lots of dumb ideas being applied to a space the author seems to think are better than just leaving things the way they are.
I wish he’d use his education and talent on spaces he’s actually hired to mess with, rather than volunteering to mess with something that many of us just might like more the way it is now than being changed.
Capitol Hill is victim of a lot of well-intentioned “urban planning” .. every year we get more. The city’s always messing with density rules, where busses go, what block is now going to be cratered to become a subway (destroying businesses with decades of history in the process). I read this comment as more of the same: someone fresh out of design school someplace trying real hard to make a mark.
Capitol Hill needs more preservation of things and buildings and less sweeping change, particularly sweeping change brought on by people that don’t actually live and work here.
Do gooders that think they know better than the rest of us are constantly screwing with things they don’t own. I wish they’d occasionally just leave things be, even if their years of education and training and expert eye tells them they just must fix what we uneducated rubes are using already.
It’s a lovely, green oasis just as it is. The old saying applies: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Thanks for your response, and for taking time to get engaged. Spirited debate is welcome. A Couple of clarifications:
– I left ‘design school’ almost a quarter century ago;
– I have lived on Capitol Hill for over 8 years;
– I have worked on Capitol Hill for 2 1/2 years.
Please stay involved; or, get more involved. If you were, our paths would have crossed by now.
John, these photos are unfair. You show the space on the 4th of July when the college is closed and the performance hall not in use. Those wonderful walls along the street are often festooned with folks sitting and waiting for the bus, and they are referent to the buildings that were there before — Broadway High School. The playground is a special space used by the college for the early childhood education program — we almost lost this in the budget cuts. It is not a public facility, in the sense of being a public playground. It is an important component of the child care program, however, and gated by state law. Moreover, the plaza in front of the Broadway Performance Hall is often crowded with patrons when the Hall is in use, and there is overflow to the garden on the south side of the building. Right now, of course, the sidewalk and the plaza offer temporary shelter for the Broadway Market — take a picture on a Sunday! Also note that those wonderful trees offer shade, and on one of the first sunny days we’ve had this year (July 4) people were looking for a little sun, yes?
From my perspective (I’m short), the grade changes in the green space forming the step amphitheater are too steep. I like the design, and enjoy it, but it is difficult to get from one level to the other. I’ve often wondered if it would be possible to add interim levels, step in more shallowly into the center. I think that would make the space more accessible.
I remain grateful to Seattle Central Community College for the breathing space and the Broadway Performance Hall, which were a gift to the community when they demolished Broadway High. This space doesn’t need more built space. But it could use some modification, perhaps one could be found that stays true to the concept but makes the space more physically accessible AND PRESERVES THE TREES.
Awesome idea: short cuts are great!
Agreed – now that the NE and SW corners of this intersection have been developed to high heaven, the low, open and especially the green space of SCCC on the NW corner is especially needed.
I’ve always been a huge fan of the wide brick sidewalks in front of SCCC on the west side of Broadway. Admittedly the window insets of the school look busted now, thanks to skateboarders, but the overall effect is welcoming. I’ve spent several lunchtimes in the park area and it’s very nice, and of course the plaza is used often for political rallies and now the farmer’s market. A space can be successful even if it’s not teeming with people 24/7.
For the person who mentioned it upthread, the daycare is for SCCC students. I’ve always liked the way the daycare play area was folded into the larger design of the plaza – that most people don’t notice it is kind of the point.
I agree that the SCCC garden plaza should be taken out and replaced with something that would actually activate that corner. That’s not to say I don’t like the landscaping, I do. But it lacks the sort of definition that could make it a successful space.
Personally, I’d like that entire SCCC super block re-done. Split up the main SCCC building into two, re-connect E Olive and Broadway, let E Howell connect through (as a proper road), put the student cafeteria/coffee shop in a prominent position facing the street between the two new SCCC buildings, replace the garden plaza with 3 to 4 stories of classrooms, student housing, offices (whatever SCCC wanted to use the space for). I’d leave the performance hall, because that is a beautiful building. Shape the performance hall and new SCCC buildings into a U, plants trees in the middle along with tables and benches, and SCCC would have a beautiful plaza that would actually be used (and not simply as a homeless person rest stop).
It’s really not rocket science why that section of Broadway feels so uncomfortable. The block is too long, the main building is an eyesore, there’s too much sidewalk, wind swept plaza. I’d bulldoze 90% of it.
Wow, THIS is what we lost to build the garden plaza?
That picture is pretty much what I put there, except a deeper U with trees in the middle.
Also, can anyone explain the rationale of the SCCC campus? Is it supposed to look like a fortress?
The plaza is well-intentioned, but John hits the nail on the head here. It just doesn’t work.
Here’s what I would do to improve the intersection at Pine & Broadway as well as the entire SCCC super block. I know this isn’t going to happen anytime soon (with the government cutting programs everywhere :-( ) but still it’d be pretty cool and I think please all parties. See link.
Thanks for your comments. My intention was not to be unfair, and your point is taken; however, my point is that the space needs to work for all CH residents, regardless if class is in session, which is why I compared it to the Playfield — which works, regardless of the time of day or year, and it works for a greater diversity of users. Given the huge importance of this intersection to the fabric of Capitol Hill, this intersection must be one of the most vital, energetic places on the Hill, which it currently is not. If this were an intersection of lesser importance – say Thomas and Broadway or even Roy and Broadway, I would not be so emphatic.
The Farmer’s Market is a great use for the space, but again, one day a week. And, it will only be there until 2016, after which it moves to it new permanent home on the Sound Transit sites. What then? The plaza will again be vacant every weekend throughout the year, except for sporadic uses here and there. A new design could easily include trees, spaces for children, plazas for theater goers, just in a more compact, integrated form that also addresses larger, macro needs this most important intersection demands.
You’re fanciful ideas are interesting and kind of wonderful…too bad you weren’t part of the original design many years ago!
But, as you indicate, this is not going to happen. It would cost an enormous amount of money and would disrupt SCCC operations for years.
The “too isolated” aspect makes this area unsafe. There are often loud homeless-looking people in that area, it’s not visible from the outside as mentioned, which makes it a terrible choice for young women alone. I did not even know that a park-like atmosphere was inside despite years of passing this spot.
Feit is right: it does not work.
All the Macro talk in the world does not change the real fact that Cal Anderson park is 1/2 block from that intersection.
All this interesting conjecture is just pie in the park sky.
Nothing will change at SCCC unless they deem it needed for the college. The staff there calls it “our park”….. and they hang out there from time to time.
You are barking about the wrong space for changes.
Feit writes:
“Given the huge importance of this intersection to the fabric of Capitol Hill,…”
That’s an academic concept, it’s not reality. He should go live in a cul-de-sac, he’ll be happier with the simple logic of its planning.
But if the property belongs to the state, then it belongs to the people, right? We are a government by the people still, aren’t we?
I agree with the author that the space is inaccessible and disconnected from its surrounding environs. And that brick-on-brick monstrosity on Broadway is begging to be blown up.
I don’t think the failed park (or glade or meditation space or whatever) should be replaced by a building. Just fix the park. Make it serve its community better (because who do you think SCCC students are?).
What’s all this conservative nonsense you’re spouting, c-doom? Repeat after me: “change is good”!
No, it does not belong to the people.
I’m sorry the space at SCCC doesn’t live up to your standards. I, for one, enjoy seeing that space on my commutes. It’d be a shame to have a busybody such as yourself do anything to try to change that.