The West End
by Greg Bryant
This six-part proposal was written and presented in 1995, responding to the City of Eugene's Request For Proposals for a mixed-use housing and parking structure on a block of city land downtown. (Cartoons by Paul Ollswang)
Every building project should help solve a city's problems.
Its design should help create a better city in as many ways as possible.
The Eugene Community Trust proposal for the West End of Eugene's downtown tackles the following issues:
Conclusion
This project has many facets, more than we can present here. This is because a genuine human neighborhood is a complex thing. Its components reinforce each other, making the community robust, exciting and diverse.
This is why we cannot separate the parking from the housing in any way. They are different aspects of a single project. Every decision made for one aspect has to then be considered in light of the other. To get a good result, both must be part of the same design process, with no obstacles. A community is a difficult enough thing to bring into the world.
The project's parts don't interact only with each other. They effect everything around it. This proposal for the West End will revitalize street life downtown. This in turn will help downtown businesses. Such a high-profile project would boost the entire local economy, and raise Eugene's standing internationally.
It would be another thing about Eugene that would make everyone proud.