Ornamental grasses melding with the surrounding woods and landscape in the Fall with seasonal color changes throughout the year.  Minimal maintenance and zero watering.

The wheat colored ornamental grasses contrast with the groundcovers, pine trees, and background woods, providing a textural winter landscape.

The landscape provides year-round interest.

This independent project involved creative and comprehensive problem solving on many levels.  Comparisons between this concept & master plan and the City's is encouraged.

Specialization is absolutely vital to the design industry with its increasing complexities.  However, “Big Picture” or wholistic thinking seems to have become a lost art and/or is minimized or ignored.  You sometimes hear much talk about it, but in reality it is extremely rare to see legitimate examples of it.  This comprehensive concept and master plan offers solutions to century old problems that have never been successfully solved.

The shown pedestrian bridge links all four quadrants of Cleveland Public Square, while existing pedestrian street crossings are maintained.  The bridge “deck” emerges from the earth and becomes part of the parkspace itself, available for various human activities.  The greenway bridge becomes a magnet for outdoor human life.

Aesthetic pedestrian bridges have often been built as people attractors – not to be confused with skywalks which are specifically designed to keep people inside the buildings.

Every form aspect of the bridge directly evolved from solving pedestrian connectivity issues, while maximizing usable park space, and meeting federal and state codes.

I.e., the entire physical form of the bridge is a direct result of resolving the physical limitations of the site for human needs, while maintaining vehicular access through the square.

This wholistic concept gives the downtown core a powerful unifying one-of-a-kind identity which it sorely lacks, focuses specifically on pedestrian connectivity (greenways), and unifies Cleveland Public Square with The Mall and the Downtown Waterfront while complementing the surrounding historic architecture on Public Square and The Mall.

The City of Cleveland has been trying unsuccessfully to join all 4 quadrants of Public Square for over 150 years, including a number of major national design efforts, “The Heart of Cleveland, Public Square in the 20th Century”, by Gregory G. Deegan and James A. Toman, and unify Public Square with The Mall for over 100 years.  This concept does both while maintaining unimpeded vehicular traffic on both Superior Avenue and Ontario Street, which is conducive to the needs of the main transit hub of the City.

David Toguchi received a U.S. Patent on the bridge structure.

The bridge creates a powerful visual gateway and a signature identity to Public Square and the City Center which is currently lacking on both counts.  A memorable experience is created for both the pedestrian as well as those arriving by vehicle into the historic core.

A complete understanding and “feel” for Public Square (as it exists now) cannot be achieved without visiting and walking the Square and through the quadrants at night, including later hours.  The safety factor as well as the perception of safety changes dramatically at night.

Over the years there have been several design proposals (among numerous others) which have proposed creating one large vast greenspace on Public Square by either closing off Ontario St. and/or Superior Avenue or having the street(s) “tunnel” below.  Creating a much larger greenspace than what exists creates additional security issues which must be addressed during the day and more so at night.  The “eyes on the street”, (Jane Jacobs), become diluted or are eliminated.  The activity (vehicular, pedestrian, bus waiting) near street level which currently exists to some degree even late at night, adds some feeling of security.  The further one is removed from this street activity, the less visible and less secure one feels.  Possibly, some day, downtown Cleveland will establish a more pervasive ingrained nightlife culture similar to some other cities, and Public Square will be buzzing with people at night.  However, this bridge concept resourcefully makes use of the available “eyes on the street”, in addition to being a people magnate to help nurture a more lively downtown culture.

As shown and in other photos, wide open panoramic views are created throughout the Square, thereby contributing to safety as well as the perception of safety, both of which feed off of one-another – not to mention adding to the grandness of the space.  All areas anywhere have high visibility.

An important aspect of evaluating a designed space is to see, feel, or visualize things at “eye level”.  This is how one usually will experience a space.  “Bird’s eye” or plan views are very important in showing the overall layout or organization of a space, but are much less useful in conveying how you will experience and “feel” in a space.  This is not a new concept, and is partly common sense, and is often neglected, forgotten, or misunderstood.  A number of excellent books address this very issue, e.g., books by Gordon Cullen (serial vision), Kevin Lynch, Jan Gehl and others.     

Each quadrant possesses a different microclimate and orientation, is unique in function and is flexible in use to accommodate many different people and uses through the continually changing weather, time of day, and season.

The special night lighting possibilities of the arches and bridge decks (above and below the decks) are limitless.

The entire physical form of the bridge directly evolved from the desire to link all four quadrants of Public Square for pedestrian access and use, while maintaining vehicular traffic below on both Superior Avenue and Ontario Street.

Furthermore, the bridge is designed to meet federal accessibility standards (purpose of the curved deck), ODOT minimum vertical clearances for bridges, and to not be just a bridge but to maximize, meld into, and become part of the useable parkspace itself.

Diagram shows a number of disruptions to pedestrian circulation and visual continuity between Cleveland Public Square, The Mall, and the Waterfront.  There is a lack of visual and physical unity between the 3 most important public spaces in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, all of which sit right up against one-another.

The 3 bridges and arches create a powerful visual and physical unity between the 3 public spaces, as well as a magnetic pedestrian flow throughout.

This photo shows the existing conditions of Public Square in 2012 prior to the closing of Ontario Street in 2015.

Superior and Ontario are both important arteries in the City Center.  Public Square is strategically centered among all the major destination points and activities in the City Core.  Thus, BOTH streets significantly contribute to the disruption of pedestrian flow / connectivity (greenways) through the central core of the City, as well as chop up this vital public space, severely limiting its usefulness.

However, closing off either street creates significant problems for GCRTA's main transit hub at Public Square among other problems.  Another significant problem in closing either street, is losing the "Eyes on the Street", especially at night, discussed elsewhere in this project.

Closing off streets for pedestrian/people use is becoming a national trend and can be very beneficial to enhancing city life and health.  However, each situation must be evaluated independently, and the cost-benefits and available options weighed carefully.

Photo shows the existing conditions of Mall A.  A portion of Public Square is visible in the lower left hand corner.  The goal of the City has always been to unify Public Square with the Mall since the Group Plan of 1903.  The photo shows how the two buildings at the lower left hand corner seal off any possible (strong) visual connection between the two spaces, allowing for only an odd catty-corner weak visual connection at best, and possible streetscaping enhancements, between the two most important green spaces in downtown Cleveland.

Arch superimposed over the existing conditions of Mall A.  Arch frames the Terminal Tower and Public Square in the background.

Seen arching above the Federal Building from either space, each sister arch maintains a magnetic unifying presence in the opposing green space - See earlier photos of Public Square.

Parking garage below Mall A would require redevelopment.

Arch superimposed over the existing conditions of Mall A, as viewed from Mall B.

Park and town square design with a new gazebo, tower clock, and landscaping.

Transit facility on a mixed-use site.