Holyhoke Revisited:
An Urban Design Study at a Certain Moment in Time

Just over twenty years ago, Design Director T. K. Davis completed an urban design study of the planned industrial canal city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, which had captivated his imagination from the moment he first experienced it as a child. At that time, the city had the highest arson rate in North America, and its declining industries and overwhelmed social services burden were resulting in a city being “redesigned” by a process of ad hoc subtraction. This pre-digital design project reflects the spatial gestalt influence of Davis’ studio critic, the late urban design theorist Colin Rowe. It equally reflects concurrent ideas about Neo-Rationalism and ‘the urban archipelago’ being advocated for Berlin by his other graduate mentor at Cornell University, O. M. Ungers. In short, this is a comprehensive, long-term urban design proposal for a specific place, designed at a specific place, and in a certain moment in time. Fans of Graphos pen ink line drawings-- and the figure ground as a form making technique of spatial analysis and synthesis-- may find this exhibit of particular interest.

August 24 through September 7
Gallery is open 9:00a.m.-5:00a.m., Monday - Friday