Providence Art, Culture & Tourism commissioned me to create models for the North Main Street Corridor Revitalization Study. The study is exploring ways to improve the development and transport of North Main Street. The short version of the goal is less strip malls, cars, and traffic, and more dense multi-use development and pedestrian options. This is an ongoing project, but I released a ‘sneak preview’ at PVDFest in June, 2022. The sneak preview depicted a re-imagined Whole Foods plaza at the corner of Doyle and North Main. The present development is suburban strip mall style with concrete walls and parking lots presenting to the street. The intersection is auto-centric and extremely inhospitable to bike and pedestrian transport. Guided by the study, I am re-imagining the Whole Foods plaza as a four story, multiuse (ground level retail, residential above) development that engages at the street level. The transport is pedestrian-centered rather than parking-centered. Importantly (and noted in the study), the aesthetic of the development draws inspiration from the traditional and venerable Providence streetscape.
Stay tuned to this project; I will share more info and pics as it develops, but you can eventually expect a whole LEGO model neighborhood of a ‘re-imagined’ North Main Street Corridor!
