Asian District Placemaking Project
IQC Design Interns identified design strategies for adding street trees and a sense of protection for pedestrians along Classen Boulevard.
The IQC Design Interns created the concepts and imagery for the Asian District Placemaking Project. The project duration was about 10 weeks from February 2021 through April 2021. The Design Interns began with the site information and ideas developed by others during the November 2020 IQC Communities Retreat. They then performed their own site analysis, paying specific attention to ways to incrementally improve the pedestrian experience on both sides of Classen Boulevard. They incorporated information about the planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, street curb lines and dimensions, tree species guidelines, and streetscape best practices. They also reviewed their designs with representatives from the Oklahoma City Planning Department and the Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation Department.
The Design Interns have grown in their knowledge of how buildings, streets, sidewalks, landscaping, and other amenities can and should work together to create the character of a district. They have also gained an appreciation for how a community’s distinctive history can be leveraged to create a unique sense of place. Even more importantly, they will carry this knowledge throughout the rest of their careers in every future project they touch.
The project outcomes included site plans showing existing structures, existing and new sidewalks, existing and new curb cuts, and existing and new street trees. The students also created renderings and an animation illustrating ideas to improve vacant or underutilized sites.