Peace and Quiet in the Heart of the City

Note: like the previous post, this is another assignment for school, in blog post format. Enjoy!

The Living Innovation Zones (LIZ) program is initiative by the city of San Francisco to improve and iterate upon public space by better connecting it to the people and businesses nearby (SF…, n.d.). The program is designed to quickly adapt to rising needs, tackle urban design challenges creatively, and use space that currently goes unused (SF…, n.d.). In our research, my group and I visited several such installations. One, named Pause, challenges visitors to stop and take the time to think, but most people we saw passing by just enjoyed sitting on the benches. Another parklet, the Annie Street Plaza, was deserted when we visited; we imagined it might be more utilized on workdays, as a spot to have lunch outside of the nearby office buildings.

Even after several months in San Francisco, I have still not adjusted to how loud Market Street can be. Having lived in suburban towns for most of my life, the noise generated by the amount of pedestrians, not to mention the public and private transportation, is incredibly foreign to me. As I sauntered down Market, the inspiration for a quiet bubble struck me; what if people had a spot to sit down and enjoy a moment of silence as they make their way to work, or had the opportunity to collect their thoughts in peace before moving on with their day? Enter the 'quiet bubble':

Preliminary render of the proposed 'quiet bubble'

In order to design the bubble, I considered several constraints. It should not become an easy place for illicit activity to take place; therefore, the outer frame is built from glass, which is also very visually pleasing. Should the glass prove too weak, a metal reinforcement frame might be required. The semi-circular shape was chosen to help reduce noise on one side, and offer an economical use of space on the other, as we cannot take over the entire sidewalk. The bench was designed for comfort and simplicity – it should be a structure that welcomes the user for five to fifteen minutes at a time, so that many people can enjoy it. On the whole, I strove for a clean and simple design; visual parsimony, if you will.

When attempting to analyze the utility of such an installment, I began by considering the audience it would be for. My primary intended denizens are pedestrians who walk on Market Street to work, for lunch, or on their way home. It could also serve very well as a meeting or waiting point, as it is visually noticeable and offers the comfort of sitting. As this installment is designed to be placed on Market Street, it will certainly be used by members of the homeless community as well. I see that as a potential advantage; if it saves people from having to sleep outside in the rain, that is a very worthy use.

Proposed render on location at 1412 Market Street, San Francisco

The next step in assessing the utility would be to estimate how many people might choose to take advantage of the installation. A 2010 study by the San Francisco Planning Department found that approximately ten thousand people walk in each direction in the relevant area on Market on weekdays, with weekend figures being lower, approximately seven thousand people walking in each direction (Popper, 2010). If out of those, only one in one hundred decides to enjoy the bubble, for five minutes, we arrive at the bubble being occupied for:

(10,000 + 10,000 people) * (1/100 who would use it) * (5 minutes each) = 1000 minutes, or almost seventeen hours.

Weekend figures would be lower – approximately twelve hours. These estimates don’t account for any growth in the pedestrian traffic on Market street since 2010, which likely occurred. Moreover, 1412 Market Street is one of the least busy parts of the streets downtown – the area near Powell and Market, for example, features about twice the pedestrian traffic. Therefore, should the first such bubble prove successful, there is great expansion potential to other parts of Market Street.

Now that the collective utility of such a structure is established, I can examine the individual utility. The cost of using the bubble is in time alone; it is there, it is free to use, and I do not foresee any social stigma or cost from enjoying the bubble. On the other hand, there are many potential benefits. For a person with anxiety or crowd issues, having a small space to disconnect from the world momentarily might prove invaluable. Even without any special issues, having a place to focus or mentally prepare for a meeting or interview can be the difference between success or failure. Even without any specific purpose, it can simply be nice to take a break for a few minutes.

When discussing my proposal with my group, several new ideas came up. One was to make sure the bench is long enough to allow sleeping on, which I believe it is, but physical prototyping would be necessary to be sure. Another was about the noise permeability of the shape - with it being half-open, and without any active noise canceling, it might still allow too much noise to truly provide peace and quiet. In that scenario, the structure would have to be closed from the front, which would also necessitate a door. Some form of ventilation might also be required in that case; perhaps some vents that could be closed in the winter and opened in the summer. Should this proposal garner interest, I would be happy to render in these additional proposals, and begin evaluating this structure for integrity and its ability to reduce noise.

References:

Popper, A. (2010, March). Walking, Bicycling & Public Space on Market Street. Retrieved 8 November 2015, from http://www.bettermarketstreetsf.org/docs/MarketStreetReport.pdf

SF Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation. (n.d.). What is a LIZ? | living innovation zones. Retrieved 8 November 2015, from http://www.sfliz.com/about/