If we set some of the benchmarks for good gateway/streetscape design as being of a style and scale that matches the area, then unfortunately the Piper Street work scores lower on the charts. The elements just seem to sit heavily within this short corridor, and lack an overall cohesive unity. Other gateways seem to have something to say, or add to the character of a neighborhood... but these ones seem to merely mumble a bit. The concrete walls create too much division, and seem to overly 'defend the pedestrians'. The sign (in very small text difficult to read by people in cars) announces this as being the 'UMed Gateway Neighborhood'. Is the neighborhood relegated to having its road be a gateway to somewhere else? The metals structures suffer from a lack of hierarchy, in that everything seems kind of the same (color & material sizing especially). Without a dominant element, they lack scale and unity. I think an immediate big improvement might be to enlarge the logo and better identify what these are (including larger text)... but I can't help but feeling being labeled the "UMed Gateway Neighborhood" is defining this neighborhood as a place that is on the way to another place. That wouldn't give me a warm and fuzzy neighborhood feeling... thoughts? Please comment...
Location: Piper Street north of Tudor
Designer: DOWL/HKM
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