'LLOYD CREATIVE DISTRICT'
Built in the shadow of a dying mega-mall, the Lloyd Creative District is an intergenerational creative arts neighborhood that emphasizes inclusivity for a larger segment of Portland artisans, while preserving the original community spirit Lloyd intended for the neighborhood and the mall fostered.
Once one of the largest malls on the West Coast, the Lloyd Center has been slowly dying for years and risks bringing the surrounding neighborhood of corporate office buildings along with it. It’s largely empty, lacking connections to its neighbors, and with more parking stalls than residents. Yet with some of the best transit and potential bike infrastructure in the city, plus a wealth of easily developable sites, the neighborhood is also primed for re-development.
This project aims to take one of Portland’s prime assets - the creativity of its residents - and nurture it in a new neighborhood. Here, various scales of opportunity allow for residents to live, work, and play throughout their lives, in contrast to similar industrial ‘creative’ spaces throughout the city. Pop-up shops and live/work studios create entry points and testing grounds for young artisans and entreprenuers. Small condos and family-sized apartment buildings, connected by pedestrian-friendly streets and green spaces provide opportunities for creative singles, families, and retirees to live alongside each other in a more vibrant community.
At the core of the proposal are the new ‘Green Loop’ - a city-wide bicycle and park network - and the re-imagined mall site. By thickening the Green Loop, each of its streets through the district can develop different characters. One side becomes a lively shared street (woonerf), while the other becomes a transit and bicycle commuter highway, surrounded by lush plantings.
The mall, meanwhile, is broken out into a number of community programs, including a new arts school, athletic facilities, maker spaces, and a community center. Across the street, Holladay Park has been re-programmed to become a center of neighborhood life.
Location: Portland, OR
Year: 2022
Type: Studio Project
Collaboration with Samuel Wylie.
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