In a fourth-year studio project, I was tasked with designing an urban design framework for a 14-acre site in the neighborhood of Mission Hill. Urban-Scaled introduces new homes into the community, of varying density levels, in order to alleviate the housing crisis facing Boston. The neighborhood has extreme tensions between long-term residents and its newer population, primarily students and young professionals. Through my research, I found that there were no common spaces shared between these populations. I intended to help address these tensions through an abundance of public community space. A large central market, dubbed the “Station Street Market”, introduces a shared program for the surrounding neighborhoods.

Careful consideration was paid to the density, form, and layout of the new urban complex. The periphery of the site is lined with brownstones, equal in height to the surrounding neighborhood, but the interior contains the public programs and taller housing complexes. Historical landmarked buildings are kept in place and adapted into the market space. Exterior public spaces were a primary focus, with all paths and surrounding streets being pedestrianized in order to increase foot traffic to the area. Circulation and transportation are thoroughly planned, with brick paths indicating the main pedestrian axes of travel and an additional entrance the nearby Roxbury Crossing metro stop is designed. The axes align with major forms of travel in Mission Hill, such such as the surrounding streets. New green space is introduced, and programs such as markets, play structures, and commercial businesses are established to keep the space populated.