Quote:
Originally Posted by sentinel
UCM planning and main UC campus planning are managed by two individual capital and facilities teams, because they are separate entities. While the main campus has a great track record in terms of hiring great design teams that have completed important, thoughtful, utilitarian buildings of interest, I personally do not feel that UCM has the same success. I understand fully that it's an apples-to-oranges comparison, especially because UCM is a far more specialized entity than the University as a whole. But UCM-specific campus planning is far less concerned about pedestrian, and general user engagement than their University counterpart.
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I agree with this. That's why I appreciate the new cancer hospital's pedestrian-friendly design elements, particularly the pocket park and the mid-block connector on the north side. Those are small things, I guess, but I think they reflect a different mindset than the mega-buildings with skybridges philosophy of other recent UCM projects. The University's plan to extend the 58th Street pedestrian walk to Drexel and turn the old hospital emergency room entrance parking lot into a landscaped plaza is a hopeful sign, too.