The norfolk project

Urban Design Seminar - Group Project

Carlos Toledo, Jack Carswell

Fall 2020

ArcGIS, Rhino, Illustrator, Photoshop, Enscape

The Norfolk Project aims to better the image and identity of Norfolk, NE through three primary design interventions: Creation of a Placemaking Element, Beautification of the Corridor, and Redevelopment of Deteriorated Districts. Through these interventions, we can fully realize the potential of the corridor and help better represent the city of Norfolk. The first significant intervention would be the creation of a pedestrian bridge on 7th St. over Omaha Ave. The bridge would offer a new form of safe and desirable crossing over the highway to the developing attractions on both sides of the corridor, promoting added interest and access to an emerging south Norfolk. Along with the crossing over Omaha Ave., the bridge also offers many other additional benefits such as an opportunity to create a multimodal trail that could continue the sculpture walk from downtown, creates a placemaking gateway directly within the corridor, and could be an attraction itself that brings people to the city or stops people passing through. The bridge links the two sides of Omaha Ave and creates an extended trailhead through the developing Thematic District. As the bridge ends, the trail continues to deliver opportunities to extend the culture of downtown into this southern part of the city with an extension of the sculpture walk down from 7th street into the developing Thematic District. This area can represent the railroad's importance to Norfolk and act as a mid-point between downtown amenities and the trails and parks to the south of the city.

My responsibilities for this project included focusing on the design intervention of creating a placemaking element, the bridge, and the redevelopment of the thematic district. I generated the drawings and renderings presented to support the narrative and developed solutions for members of the city's council.