The University of
Washington Center for Environment Education and Design
Studies (CEEDS), Washington State Department of
Transportation (WSDOT), and City of Seattle CityDesign
cosponsored a week-long design charrette in April 2003,
with support from OTAK, Inc., SoundTransit, and Vulcan
Inc. Following an eighteen-year-old tradition, the
charrette brought students, faculty, and practitioners
from various disciplines together with key stakeholders
to develop long-term proposals for a transportation
community in the area surrounding King Street Station in
south Seattle. This area, which serves as a
transportation hub for the region and the state, is
already undergoing transit expansion and construction
(Sounder commuter rail, LINK light rail, transit bus
service, Amtrak Cascades, monorail, intercity bus service
and Washington State Ferries terminal), and is also
experiencing commercial and residential development. By
exploring a range of urban design strategies, the
charrette cosponsors hoped to foster a unified vision for
a transit community that serves the needs of the
traveling public, the city, and the
Chinatown/International District and Pioneer Square
neighborhoods. The participants included
three design teams consisting of 46 graduate and
undergraduate students in the College of Architecture and
Urban Planning and six team leaders, three Seattleites
who have worked in this area, three from older cities
with sophisticated public transit systems. This group of
52 persons contributed in excess of 2,500 hours between
Wednesday afternoon, 02 April 2003, and Sunday evening,
06 Apri 2003. Design teams were joined by key
stakeholders, who participated in biweekly meetings from
January to March to plan the charrette, contributing
approximately 1,000 hours to the effort. During this
planning period, students in a graduate seminar conducted
focus groups with neighborhood constituents, including
two with teenagers, and designed a visioning session that
took place on the second evening of the charrette.
Because of such extensive participation, the charrette
has been an important step in an ongoing iterative
process for the redevelopment of this
area.
City of Seattle CityDesign
Washington State Department of Transportation
Sound Transit
OTAK, Inc.
Vulcan Ine.