Blog 4 (Finding Houses)

The current side of Bowen Hall that faces High Street is bland and empty. The current design entails a façade that has three dark gray rectangles that resemble garage doors on the first floor. These appear to be unwelcoming and do not catch the eye of any passerby. With the implication of a stronger art presence, this area could be livened with the use of bright colors. This would encourage pedestrians as well as those driving by in cars to look at the building and allow it to stand out amongst the others. When viewing the plaza across the street, it has a basic color scheme, and does not look inviting. The plaza does not have any features that draw pedestrians or street traffic in, and by adding art to this area, it would allow this space to be brighter, and encourage people to stop by.

On the façade of Bowen Hall, there could be murals placed on each rectangle that faces High Street. The middle rectangle would be of what appears to the viewer to be a postcard that has “Welcome to COLUMBUS” on it in large letters. Each letter in “Columbus” would contain a different aspect of the city. This would largely include landmarks such as the reindeer, the Shoe, etc. The neighboring rectangles would contain campus related art, such as Brutus and the block “O” on solid backgrounds to encourage school spirit since the murals would be on campus. This art would draw the eyes of passerby, and encourage pedestrians to take photos with the murals, which would then bring in revenue as others would want photos with the murals as well.

The plaza across the street could be revitalized by adding in overhead lighting and a mural to the pedestrian wall that separates the sidewalk from the plaza. The overhead lighting would include bright lanterns. This would  allow for a brighter atmosphere at night, increasing safety of the area. The mosaic along the sidewalk would bring color to the area that would contrast the currently matching color of the building behind. This would provide vibrant colors in the glass that would draw in the eye of those passing by. This could also allow for a ‘photo opportunity’ to aid in bringing in revenue. It makes a once boring plaza into something memorable.

In order to implement the first option, OSU or an alumni could provide funding. The reasoning behind this funding would be to bring more school spirit into the area as well as to bring in future revenue. With OSU’s approval, a pervious graduate art student could accomplish completing the murals. This allows for the art to be placed in the community and completed by someone in the community. For the plaza, the funding could come from OSU or the Ohio Stater Student Housing building in the plaza to aid in bringing in potential customers. The lanterns for the lighting would be designed by a local artist in Columbus, and the mosaic would be completed by either a local artist or even art students at OSU. Due to all of the new buildings being added to High Street, the new developers could be required to give a small portion of their profits to these projects as well to renew these older areas to account for any potential revenue that could be lost to the newer buildings.

Blog 3: Field Assessments (Finding Houses)

Sidewalks

While walking around campus, it seemed at first to be that all of the sidewalks were in decent condition. They were level and nonhazardous throughout, but upon entering near the Oval and near South Campus, the sidewalks became extremely uneven, and any pedestrian could easily trip if they are not cautious. The sidewalk was not super cracked or full of gaps. A biker or skateboarder could have trouble riding through these areas though if a tire gets caught on the sidewalk at the wrong angle. In order to improve upon this, OSU could repave the sidewalk to avoid any injuries.

Street width

Due to the use of scooters and bikes on campus, it becomes an issue that the streets on campus do not have separate bike/scooter lanes. If these uses of transportation weren’t so popular, this would not be an issue. Many students tend to ride their bikes and scooters on the sidewalks rather than the road, which adds traffic to sidewalks, as well as lowers the safety of pedestrians. While some bikers and scooter riders do ride in the road, this can cause car traffic to slow. In order to improve upon this, smaller bike/scooter lanes could be implemented. This would relieve traffic on sidewalks as well as streets.

Street safety

OSU has many street lights placed along its roads and sidewalks to provide light for anyone walking on campus at night. There also is a fence and grass median along the sidewalk on Woodruff to provide a space between pedestrians and street traffic. There also are crosswalks at every intersection, as well as many placed along roads to allow for students to cross the streets safely. Some of the intersections even have a speaker by the crosswalks to provide audio to let pedestrians know when it is their turn to cross the street. OSU has done an impeccable job with its street safety.

Traffic flow

Traffic lights allow for traffic on campus to stop and go as pedestrians need to cross, and to keep traffic moving. The bus stops on campus have sidewalks separate from the main sidewalks to allow for those waiting for buses to stay out of walking traffic. OSU has many different traffic flow patterns. There are one-ways as well as two-ways. In some areas, such as behind the Gateway on High St, one-ways can be confusing and can cause a driver to have to go farther away from their destination before they can reach it. The overall speed of the traffic is safe, and the frequent crosswalks keep drivers from speeding too much.

Setbacks

The place in front of the Department of Physics building is underutilized and wasted space. It serves no purpose and adds a large slab of concrete to what could be a useful space. As an alternative, OSU could turn the plaza into a smaller walkway and plant flowers and other vegetation to the surrounding area to enlarge green space. Areas near the Wexner Center are set up in this way as well. There are other areas though where the setbacks are appropriate. Near residential buildings, there are courtyards and green space.

Building Use

OSU does a very good job with its building use. For the most part, the buildings seem to flow from academic use, to residential, to commerce. The dining halls are placed closed to the residential buildings, and the fitness centers are also placed near the dorms. None of the buildings seem to really be out of place, as they all have their own purpose and use on campus for various reasons.

Parking-

Along Tuttle Park Place, there are multiple parking lots and garages that provide adequate parking. On the opposite side of campus though, on the far side of south campus near high, parking is no longer as available. There are less garages, and even less surface parking. This can cause trouble for students, especially those with surface passes, because they cannot park on south campus, and instead have to park on north or west. The surface lots on south are also not entirely paved and many are made of just gravel. This causes there to not be any lines on the ground to form separate parking spaces, and some cars will then make their own spot, taking up two spots instead of one. This further lowers the availability of parking. If more garages are built, students would be able to park closer to their final destinations.

Accessibility

Due to the construction on Cannon Drive, south of John Herrick Drive, the intersection pictured above is not very accessible for pedestrians. This intersection is used heavily by students getting to the med campus, west campus and to the RPAC. Making the walkways more clear, it can be made safer for pedestrians until construction is completed and the sidewalks are open and complete. On Tuttle Park Place as well, there is limited accessibility. The street lights are placed very close to each other that wheelchairs cannot pass by or through them easily. Due to construction along this street as well, warning signs have been placed on sidewalks, increasing the inaccessibility.