A Green Heart

The Dell Medical Campus is the urban most part of The University of Texas at Austin, marking it as a key point of connection between the university and the city of Austin. In 2017, Sasaki Associates completed an ambitious redesign of the section of Waller Creek which runs directly through the heart of the medical campus, removing debris and restoring native riparian habitat. While the design successfully restored the creek’s beauty, the area remains uninviting to people; enforcing a look but do not touch narrative.

This proposal seeks to reverse that narrative, opening up the creek corridor to encourage people to experience the ecology of the creek, both passively and actively, while also providing a safe corridor of connection between downtown Austin and The University of Texas at Austin’s core campus. Designed moments of pause immerse users in the creek’s ecology and highlight the site’s ecological features. Reminiscent of large fallen trees, the platform supports provide extra occupiable space and direct views of and through the vegetated creek banks. By removing pedestrians and cyclists from the car centric Texas roadways, users will not only be safer but healthier, as their exposure to air pollutants will be lessened during their daily commute. Together with the newly enhanced ecologies of Waller Creek, this designed curvilinear pathway creates spaces for reflection and wonder that allow visitors to interact directly with their urban natural world.

Instructor: Phoebe Lickwar