2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 59

At the Heartline in Portland, Oregon, Mithun
designed a block-long development with a tall
residential tower and a low-rise timber-frame
office building punctuated by a mid-block
open space that functions as a third place for
residents, office workers, and others in the
neighborhood, Ishizaki says. The open space
has programmed activities and art installations.
" The
ground floor of the residential tower
has a lounge and shared kitchen that [open]
to the courtyard and has multiple seating
areas, " Ishizaki says. " The design allows for
interesting views from the interior of the
offices and residential units, plus it keeps eyes
on the courtyard at ... different times for a
feeling of safety. "
At the Liberty Bank building in Seattle,
located on the site of the first bank west
of the Mississippi River to serve the African
American community, Mithun designed
a mixed-income residential building with a
public courtyard flanked by a community
room and bike workshop. The courtyard
includes retail spaces where local entrepreneurs
and Black-owned businesses could
thrive, as well as multiple seating areas and
space for community events, Ishizaki says.
Social benefits of third places
Popowskyand OLIN Labs are part of an ongoing
multidisciplinary research project with the
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's LandCare
program, the Urban Health Lab @ Penn, the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the
U.S. Forest Service Philadelphia Field Station
to turn vacant lots into public amenity spaces
and evaluate their impact on crime, as well
as on the physical and mental well-being of
nearby residents.
" The pilot study looks at whether just
cleaning up the lot provides a similar benefit
to providing a place to sit and stay that is
meant to create ongoing community engagement, "
Popowsky says.
Third places can sometimes provide equity
benefits to communities, such as the Times
Square project by PPS that links people who
are facing unstable housing or experiencing
homelessness to service providers.
" The Times Square Recharge Station
is a small cart in a very busy place where
anyone can stop by to charge their phone
or get coffee, " Madison says. " We purposely
designed it so all kinds of people stop by, but
it's especially relevant to people who barely
have a first place, much less a third place. "
Urban planning and third places
William H. Whyte, the late mentor for PPS,
advocated for bottom-up planning rather than
the top-down model, in recognition of people's
preference to spend time in spaces that
are comfortable and easy to use.
" Designing a third place starts with the
location and evaluation of who's around it,
who might use it, and how, " Madison says.
" Sometimes, that comes from a business
improvement district or an association, sometimes
from a developer, and sometimes from
local government. "
Discovery Green, a 12-acre (0.12 ha) site of
underused green space and parking lots in
downtown Houston, was converted in 2008-
with the help of PPS-into a park and event
space.
" A lot of the stakeholders were skeptical,
at first, because Houston is a car-centric city, "
Madison says. " Now it's become a catalyst for
$1.25 billion in development nearby, with more
than 1.5 million visitors and 600 free events
every year. "
Third spaces often occur organically and
have been around for centuries-probably
since the invention of the pub-but today,
planners, architects, and developers take a
more intentional approach to incorporate
them into projects.
" Third spaces are not just leftover space.
They're designed into buildings and outdoor
areas deliberately, to encourage social
interaction, " Faris says. " Now that we've
lost the boundary between work and home,
and learned the value of social connection,
third places are more important than ever to
include. " UL
MICHELE LERNER is a freelance writer, editor, and author covering real
estate, personal finance, and business topics for such publications as the Washington
Post, USA Today, and others.
SUMMER 202 4
URBAN LAND
59
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2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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