Context and Exigency:
(Excerpted): Pigeon House Branch is infamous in certain circles. One of Raleigh’s most polluted waterways Pigeon House Branch originates near Cameron Village and runs downtown. It flows under West Street, where it curves north alongside Capital Boulevard and runs until it meets Crabtree Creek, which eventually empties into the Neuse River.
Most Raleigh residents who have noticed it haven’t thought twice. But most Raleigh residents haven’t noticed it. That’s because most of the downtown portion of this creek has been culverted into pipes and tunneled underground.
However, this long-forgotten and neglected waterway has been a recurring component of city planning discussions in recent years, and with the upcoming replacement of the Capital Boulevard bridge at Peace Street and the proposed reclamation of what used to be Devereux Meadows Ballpark, that conversation is reaching a fever pitch.
Raleigh’s Hidden Water: Background Presentation
Nascent Brand Opportunity (River walk for Raleigh)
If you build it, and promote it
In recent years, Ideas abound in specific regards to the potential impact and transformation (‘daylighting’) of Pigeon House Branch. N.C. State University professor Carla Delcambre sees the revitalization of Pigeon House Branch as an opportunity to take advantage of “all of these wonderful smaller creeks” that Raleigh’s geography offers. Everyone talks about Raleigh being the City of Oaks, but there are creeks everywhere. Let’s start to promote that, too,” Delcambre said.
How can the tiny creek system, that swells to about a thousand times it’s usual flow during rainstorms, rendering it unsuitable for development, be transformed from a problem to amenity?
Thinking bigger – the systems level
City officials are eyeing a piece of land north of downtown for a possible water feature inspired by the Riverwalk in San Antonio and the American Tobacco complex in Durham. “Our goal is to really establish Raleigh as an emerging, 21st-century city. We want those special landmarks, those special icons that define this city,” [Former] Raleigh Planning Director Mitchell Silver said. Read: Riverwalk for Raleigh? At its heart, Pigeon Branch House resides within a larger connected system of greenways, public parks, transit systems, etc.
Raleigh Urban planner Dan Douglas imagines a European (world class) vision for the Capital City. Read: Dan Douglas’ European vision for our capital city . What role could graphic design (BISd) play? How could an effort that would likely require cooperation between state, federal, city and private entities be catalyzed or visualized?
The technologies for change, transformation exist. Funding always an issue (and not the main focus here, for the charette). Thinking bigger will require a dramatic shift in perception of how Raleigh (and it’s urban dilemmas) can be addressed, as design-centric opportunities. Anticipating such a dramatic change, designers may have a unique opportunity to imagine ‘possibilities’ for bridging the gap between the state, federal, city and private entities.
Users and stakeholders
Ultimately, any aspiration (speculative or and real) is a conversation among stakeholders. To make a valuable contribution, designers will need to understand the “situation” from a systems level, while maintaining the perspective, scale, and needs of the individual users (scenarios, persona, etc). Focus, don’t get ‘lost’ in the urban scale plan 30,000 ft view – for our purpose over the next two weeks.
(Suggested) design opportunities – B or I or Sd:
- Interaction: Okay, lets get this out of the way: “urban explorer” Seeing / finding the creek for yourself_ think pokemon go – geo-caching adventures, gamification, etc. Playing hide and go seek with the creek.
- Branding: (the hypothetical) River Walk Raleigh
- Branding: The non-existent nonprofit development corporation (that Dan Douglas envisions) similar to the one that created the Research Triangle Park a half century ago, but this time it is aimed at making North Carolina’s capital city the equal of any in the world for economic innovation and quality of life. Read: Dan Douglas’ European vision for our capital city
- Service Design – Systems Mapping. Reveal, Relink, Restore, Rejunvenate, Reconnect…tells the user story, journey. Stakeholder maps, etc.
Starter Research / Resources
Despite rumors, Raleigh-will-still-get-downtown-water-feature-someday
An urban exploration of Raleigh’s most forgotten waterway (and future river walk)
The city-wants-resident-input-downtown-planning
Dan Douglas’ European vision for our capital city
Pigeon House Branch, A “New” Downtown Raleigh Waterway
A secret park: The ghost of Devereau Meadow Ballpark is alive and well
GD301_Branding, Interaction, Service Design 