October 6th:

Past Events

Joe Berridge, partner at Urban Strategies Inc.

Thinking Big – Medium – Small
Sharing his experience working on and visiting waterfronts around the world, Joe encouraged us to think “Big, Medium, and Small,” when thinking about the potential for the waterfront. Since waterfront properties are both special and scarce, they represent a tremendous opportunity.

Ideas of All Sizes
Many post-industrial waterfronts have been transformed by a BIG idea, like the architectural design by Frank Gehry and the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain. This was a city that was not on the international radar as a leading city until the building’s completion. But big, one-off ideas alone are not enough to sustain a waterfront; regular day-to-day activity is also necessary to breathe life into a place.

Medium ideas are needed to fill in around the big ones. What will the quality of the urban experience be like? What other things will attract people to this place? Will it be a vibrant scene of shops and restaurants, places to get closer to the water and, within the area, office workers, students and others going about their business, creating a buzz?

But even on a large site like Inspiration Lakeview, we can’t forget the small things. We experience a place in small moments as we walk through it. From the flow of a sidewalk or boardwalk, to a delightful fountain in a square, to a thoughtfully placed bench where one can take it all in, these things will also influence how we experience the big and medium elements. And finally, we can’t forget that we are talking about a waterfront, which is, and should be, a place where whimsy and fun have a home in the City, where we can let our hair down, and get wet if the mood strikes.