Abstract

As American metropolises continue to grow, traffic increases, and capitalization of these areas often leads to gentrification. In order to address this, growing cities gradually become more dense. Building vertically becomes a necessary response. Mixed use housing develops, and consequentially commuters and traffic increase. 

While these dense social nodes have been created in other parts of the world through mass transit hubs in cities like Tokyo, Japan or Melbourne, Australia, the dynamics between human movement and the programs of these mixed used hubs have yet to advance in the U.S. to the level of it’s counterpart stations internationally. Opportunities to create social interaction, wander the city, and enjoy a sense of place have been often overlooked. Instead, haphazard developments often do not address or inappropriately address needs specific to a given situation such as; scale of density, or encouragement of the rider or pedestrian.

As building scale increases, circulation must be redefined to better convey a sense of connection and movement between spaces. The transition from mass transit to motor vehicles to bikes to walking all have different scales in both time and space, and necessary required programs. These two architectural elements (circulation and program) are constantly changing. In many cities they overlap at stations, creating a new dynamic of superimposed levels of circulation. This can be seen in most subway systems today, and in many cities that have continued to build on top of and around these underground or aboveground platforms. The transition from the point at which a rider exits mass transit and out of the station is not simply met by another street, but shops, eateries, and entertainment. Housing and offices may also be found here.

The connections and transitions between various programmatic areas can be graceful and allow the busy mind of a commuter, tenant, or employee to either rush or pause. These spaces and their circulation can create a sense of rhythm and dynamic that any tenant can enjoy, linger, wander, or rush through. By redefining circulation around these spaces and then the form of the building around circulation, a hierarchy of movement can be addressed shaping the extents of verticality and horizontality of the building.

Building vertically allows more programs to be stacked. However, this may also decrease entry to the upper levels. Consequentially, retail spaces often end up with the most entrances on the level with the highest pedestrian access, and more private spaces (usually residential or offices) end up on the upper levels. This begs the question; could retail spaces be successful if there were more readily accessible entries on upper levels? If entries and circulation were directly related with specifics of programmatic spaces, how then can high-rises and mass transit experientially explore the rhythmic nuances introduced by these entities? Likewise if circulation begins to stretch out horizontally with minimal entry points, what kind of programmatic experience would accommodate the increase in space? 

Many of types of programmatic spaces and circulation types of pedestrian, bike, vehicular, and train overlap at large train stations. Today in the U.S., many stations do not yet match the scale of other stations in other cities simply due to differences in use, density, and popularity. Many Americans still prefer to travel by the faster car or motorbike. In light of America’s planned advancements in vehicular technology, the need for housing such transportation increases. Future stations grant an opportunity to serve as new social hubs, and promote the different modes of transportation. An already heavy commuter city, Los Angeles has the potential to see new options surrounding and growing into and above the historic Union Station with the introduction of the high speed rail. Growing up and out and redefining methods of circulation connecting all the modes of more advanced transit like the hyperloop, high speed rail, autonomous vehicles, electric vertical and take-off vehicles, and rideshare, may be exactly what Los Angeles needs to answer some of it’s traffic problems reinvigorating pedestrian movement through and architecture that facilitates the ebb and flow of human movements at varying scales.