Marcus Martinez

A "big idea" for one of the largest cities in the US is the transformation of a to-be-abandoned elevated expressway that runs through downtown into an urban park in the sky. 

However, the concept is more than just green space; it's also a potential financial engine, visitor attraction and a connector of several key districts ringing downtown Houston. Pierce Skypark was first introduced in 2014 and has recently received additional media attention for the plans to conduct an economic feasibility study. 

A recent article in the Houston Chronicle noted that a source of inspiration, the High Line in New York City, a former railroad transformed into a green space is projected to generate more than $1 billion in taxes over 20 years.

The genesis of the idea originated when the Texas Department of Transportation announced plans to close down the frequently gridlocked section of freeway and reroute traffic to the other side of downtown. Public concerns immediately sprang up, ranging from the effects of demolition on Buffalo Bayou Park, an urban park that runs underneath the freeway to the cost of demolition to the potential blight on the currently unused land underneath the freeway.

An extensive article in Houston Press described the process for bringing Pierce Skypark closer to a formal proposal. The Page team emphasizes it is only a concept today and that any actual design is a long way off. As designer Marcus Martinez explained, ""We're thinking about the fabric first; the objects can follow later.”

Using the client’s (confidential) institutional mandate of brick, this lab proposal deploys brick in concave panels and corresponding screens above to obscure roof top lab equipment. This technique of brick added a new tactile quality and elevated the established material.

This is a series of concepts for a mixed use tower. The study spanned an exhaustive set of concept sketches which yielded a position over how the character of the base would anchor an internal street.

Outside of San Jose, Costa Rica is the location for this residential development- Masterplan, Condos and Single Family Housing and Amenities.