Architecture Commons^™

Re-Envisioning Paradise, Ryan M. Huddlestun, Christian Bernard

Goals

This poster gives a timeline of the students' work over the course of the two-quarters. It began with a research phase in early January, barely six weeks after the fire had been extinguished, and continued with a town planning phase through mid-March. This was followed by a building design phase to the end of the studio in early June.

Throughout this time period, the students made four visits to Paradise, and held numerous public presentations there and in Chico, Sacramento, and San Luis Obispo.

Rethink Housing, Killian Angell, Benjamin Campbell

Goals

As a community of mostly single-family homes, Paradise lacked diverse housing opportunities. The goal of rethinking housing was a proposal for an assortment of higher-density housing and mixed-uses, strategically located, to accommodate a wider range of residents in terms of age, marital status, family situation, and economic position. Such diversity could provide a more stable future for Paradise, allowing younger workers and lower-income families the ability to both live and work there, while still keeping the town’s overall low-density character.

The projects on this poster show a range of housing types and target populations: workforce, co-housing, and senior housing. In …

Rethink Infrastructure, Khoa Le, Arielle Eleazar

Goals

In the Camp Fire, Paradise lost thousands of houses as well as stores, gas stations, and many other private commercial enterprises. But the town also lost many significant civic institutions. The projects on this poster show some of the individual projects intended to replace those institutions. These are ones that could provide renewed focus towards the community’s wellness, sustainability, governance, and education.

Rethink Mobility, Kaleena Klimeck, Foster Westover

Goals

Before the Camp Fire, Paradise was defined by a disorganized street network and a sprawling low-density development pattern, making residents highly reliant on cars. These factors also hampered the residents’ ability to evacuate the town quickly during the Camp Fire.

The goal of rethinking mobility issues in Paradise included a range of initiatives: from increasing street connectivity to improving roadways to encouraging alternative means of transportation, such as biking and walking. All of these had two main purposes: reducing residents’ reliance on cars for everyday travel within the town, and increasing safety, on a day-to-day basis, but primarily in the …

Redefine Economy, Elisabeth Frizzell, Ryan M. Huddlestun

Goals

The students’ individual building proposals in both studios ran the gamut: from housing to cultural amenities, and from civic infrastructure to commercial enterprises. Together, these projects were intended to diversify Paradise’s economy and create a more stable base for current and future residents. They did so by taking advantage of the town’s location: its proximity to Chico and a major state university, and its position as a potential gateway to the Sierra.

A resort lodge, a conference center, a performing arts center, and a “Food Habitat” were all intended as tourist draws. A co-working center and a new biomedical-research facility …

Reconnect Nature, Ryan M. Huddlestun, Victor Hoyos, Natalie Giombi, Sophia Smith, Kaleena Klimeck, Nolan Delgado

Goals

The several initiatives described in “Reconnect Nature” seek to preserve and enhance Paradise’s relationship to its setting in a beautiful, yet all too fragile, pine and oak forest. Limiting sprawl, preserving wildlife and natural vegetation, creating parks, and creating buildings that merge with their surroundings – these were all ways to keep the town’s sylvan character.

At the same time, Paradise needed to make sure that calamities like the Camp Fire do not recur. To that end, the natural environment in and around the town needs to be tended: by clearing vegetation around buildings, by creating fire routes through the …

Reunite Community, Gabrielle Icardo, Victor Hoyos, Nolan Delgado

Goals

While the bulk of Paradise would remain as it was – a single-family community nestled in the pine forest – the students wanted to counter the lack of a sense of place in Paradise. To that end, they proposed creating several areas throughout the town that would have a more village-like or Main Street atmosphere.

The largest of these would be two pedestrian-oriented districts at either end of the main part of Pearson Road, connected by an expanded Paradise Community Park. In these new districts, named East Village and West Village, many of the town’s principal civic, cultural, and commercial …

Re-Envisioning Paradise Map, Ali Chen, Emma Puryear

Goals

This poster is a large-scale version of the map showing the main features of the students' plans for Paradise: the new downtowns (East and West Villages); the neighborhood centers dispersed throughout the town, new road connections out of the town, and locations of the building proposals.