INFRASTRUCTURAL OPTIMISM LINDA C. SAMUELS First published 2022 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Taylor & Francis The right of Linda C. Samuels to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Samuels, Linda C., author. Title: Infrastructural Optimism / Linda C. Samuels. Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021019129 (print) | LCCN 2021019130 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138481558 (hbk) | ISBN 9781138481589 (pbk) | ISBN 9781351060271 (ebk) Subjects: LCSH: Infrastructure (Economics)--History. | Urbanization--History. | Architecture--History. Classification: LCC HC79.C3 S349 2022 (print) | LCC HC79.C3 (ebook) | DDC 363--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021019129 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021019130 ISBN: 9781138481558 (hbk) ISBN: 9781138481589 (pbk) ISBN: 9781351060271 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781351060271 Book design by Linda C. Samuels and Sarah Pulvirenti Original I-11 Supercorridor book designed by Bernardo Terán Primary typeface: Bebas Neue Secondary typefaces: Avenir Next, Trade Gothic Typeset by Sarah Pulvirenti Publisher’s Note This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the author. II INFRASTRUCTURAL OPTIMISM INFRASTRUCTURAL OPTIMISM Infrastructural Optimism investigates a new kind of twenty-first-century infrastructure, one that encourages a broader understanding of the interdependence of resources and agencies, recognizes a rightfully accelerated need for equitable access and distribution, and prioritizes rising environmental diligence across the design disciplines. Bringing together urban history, case studies, and speculative design propositions, the book explores and defines infrastructure as the basis for a new form of urbanism, emerging from the intersection of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. In defining this new infrastructure, the book introduces new dynamic and holistic performance metrics focused on “measuring what matters” over growth for the sake of growth and twelve criteria that define next generation infrastructure. By shifting the focus of infrastructure – our largest public realm – to environmental symbiosis and quality of life for all, design becomes a catalytic component in creating a more beautiful, productive, and optimistic future with Infrastructural Urbanism as its driver. Infrastructural Optimism will be invaluable to design, non-profit and agency professionals, and faculty and students in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, working in partnership with engineers, hydrologists, ecologists, urban planners, community members, and others who shape the built environment through the expanded field of infrastructure. Linda C. Samuels is an Associate Professor of Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis. She is an architect, urban designer, and planner whose work focuses on next generation infrastructure design as a tool for environmental and social justice. LINDA C. Samuels III Sixth Street Viaduct under construction, Los Angeles, 2021. Image: Gary Leonard IV INFRASTRUCTURAL OPTIMISM LLIINNDDAA CC.. SSaammuueellss VV Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS X FOREWORD / Imagining the Architecture of Possible Futures XIV Dana Cuff INTRODUCTION / The Importance of Optimism 002 The Case for Optimism And then, 2020… Our Optimistic Imperative Infrastructural Opportunism → Infrastructural Urbanism → Infrastructural Optimism 01. INFRASTRUCTURAL URBANISM in the Expanded Field 014 Two Decades of Urbanisms: New, Everyday, Landscape / Ecological → Infrastructural 022 Infrastructural Urbanism: Two Lineages 030 Infrastructure as Architecture Architecture as Infrastructure Landscape as Infrastructure Infrastructure in the Expanded Field 046 02. REINVENTING INFRASTRUCTURE / Why Now? 054 Three Colliding Crises 054 Infrastructure Crisis: Collapse + Inequity + Underfunding Environmental Crisis Economic Collapse Three Evolutions 061 New Forms of Activism Demonstration Projects Changes in the Urbanism Discourse Capitalizing on the Perfect Storm: WPA 2.0 and Next Generation Infrastructure 068 Next Generation Infrastructure Criteria Perfect Storm Practice Case Studies: PITCH_AFRICA, Kalundborg Symbiosis, Sixth Street Viaduct 074 WPA 2.0 Finalists 086 VI INFRASTRUCTURAL OPTIMISM 03. INFRASTRUCTURAL OPPORTUNISM / Three Strategies 106 All Growth is Not Good Growth Broadening the Process, Transforming the Prototype, and Measuring What Really Matters to Evolve the Paradigm 04. INFRASTRUCTURAL OPPORTUNISM / Two Cases 120 I-11 Supercorridor 121 I-11 Supercorridor Studio Mapping and Methods Green Arrow Solutions / Findings I-11 Supercorridor: Studio Projects After the Projects: I-11 Supercorridor Impacts Mobility For All By All: Northside-Southside MetroLink Expansion 184 MFABA Studio: Megaregion to Rail City, County, and Regional Mapping Northside-Southside Metrolink: Studio Projects After the Projects: MFABA Impacts A New Greenway The Slow Pace of Implementation 224 05. CONCLUSION: Next Generation +10 / Options for a Contentious Era 228 WPA 2.0 + 10 Make No Little Plans / Infrastructure As Public Works 06. Notes from Sheltering in Place 248 Post-COVID Urbanism and Three Scales of Opportunity 249 National and Megaregional: Zero-Emissions Logistics, Geographic Symbiosis, Equitable Access and Distribution City & Metro: Rethink Multi-modality, Value the Commons, Make All Infrastructure Next Gen Infrastructure Neighborhood, Block, and Lot: Protect Density, Celebrate Cohesion, Support Local Micro-economies and Closed-Loop Living Twelve Criteria for Next Generation Infrastructure CREDITS 276 INDEX 282 LINDA C. Samuels VII Aerial view of Interstate 10 (future Interstate 11), southern Arizona, March 2014 Image: Deyanira Nevarez Martínez VIII INFRASTRUCTURAL OPTIMISM LINDA C. Samuels IX