LiveBlog: Natalie Shivers on the Princeton Campus

Fall 2009 Lecture Series
Natalie Shivers, Associate University Architect for Planning, Princeton University
The Princeton Campus Plan: Challenges, Successes, and Lessons of Implementation

An historic campus with a contemporary plan
In 2005 the university considered adding to the campus, but was concerned what that would do to the historic campus
As a teaching and research institution they wanted to be very careful about how they did this

Principles emphasis desire to maintain an intimate and walkable culture while staying on the north side of Lake Carnegie
The design team included Beyer Blinder Belle and MVV

History:
The old campus started around Nassau Hall which was the largest building in the colonies at the time
Woodrow Wilson initiated a new era that led to the Beatrix Farrand spaces and spread of the core
Post WWII led to peripheral buildings which were inconsistent and did not contribute to campus character

Throughout the 2.5 year process there were multiple public presentations and open houses

Even as the plan is being made, there was an ongoing building program with new buildings being plopped down (see the pictures of Gehry's Lewis Library) - The map of planned projects is called the Scary Map.

The campus master plan works to juggle these

Case Study 1: Parking and Athletics areas
Remember, Princeton has had athletics since (at least) the first ever intercollegiate football game
The current version of the stadium is a Vinoly design
(Dave's tip: Park in the TEN Architectos Award-winning deck and go to a Princeton hockey game for $10)

Case Study 2: Arts and Transit
By the Wawa and McCarter Theater
Is it both an opportunity and a threat?
Say goodbye to the Wawa and a traffic circle? Make the area into a neighborhood

Student parking is easy to handle - there isn't much

Lessons learned include:
* Maintain flexibility - budgets change, priorities shift
* Develop an internal capacity to implement the plan
* Engage the stakeholder searly and often - we thought we had done this
* Involve decision-makers in development of the plan

The Town and Gown relationship, as expressed in the municipal master plan, includes concerns about edges and taxes and where the students live

A new change in attitude is that the interstitial spaces are as important as the projects





Sloppy liveblog today, sorry