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<br />ences to building sr}~le, fearing that coo much
<br />specificity v,~ill lead to an overly homoge-
<br />neous, "themed" look.
<br />A lil(le hi~lfn•}~
<br />While die term form-based coding has only
<br />recently emet-ged, the technique has been used
<br />for over 20 years. Andres Duany's Miami
<br />firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk ~ Company, first
<br />applied the approach in its 1982 code For
<br />Seaside, the highly publicized coastal resort
<br />town on Florida's panhandle.
<br />The firm's principals, Duan}~ and his wife,
<br />Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, initially set out to
<br />design all the town's buildings themselves.
<br />But once the true scale of the project became
<br />evident, they realized that such a high level of
<br />design control would not be possible, or even
<br />desirable. Instead, they handed off the design
<br />responsibility to the lot purchasers, or Their
<br />at-chitecrs. That decision led to a nev,~ challenge
<br />-finding a v`ray to impart a distinctive charac-
<br />ter wspecific areas ~a~ithin the development.
<br />On study trips to historic Southern com-
<br />munities, the design ream saw that terrain
<br />building types tended to dominate in cer-
<br />tain parts of a town: shopfronts on the main
<br />square, rowhouses on side streets, and man-
<br />sions flanking Main Street just beyond the
<br />ed?es of the downtown. The team also noted
<br />that, while building types were fairly consis-
<br />tent in a given area, there was always enough
<br />variety ~nridiin the design oFeach building ro
<br />avoid acookie-curter look.
<br />The f%rst Seaside code established a hierar-
<br />chy of seven (later expanded ro eight) "classes"
<br />of buildings For use in the new community.
<br />Each class v,~as based on a traditional Southern
<br />vernacular buildin~~ n'pe. The code specified
<br />the rudimentary physical characteristics of
<br />each class, controlling siting on the lot, build-
<br />ing height, location of porches and outbuild-
<br />ings, and hovs~ parking should be handled.
<br />The code progressed through a number of
<br />iterations, achieving its near-final form dur-
<br />ing an on-site design charette in 1981. Shortly
<br />after that event, several architecture profes-
<br />sors at Washington, D.C.'s Catholic Univer-
<br />siry conducted a test of the code. They asked
<br />140 students to design and build models of
<br />every building included in the 80-acre master
<br />plan according to the rules set forth in the
<br />code. The students then combined their indi-
<br />vidual. creations into a 1 C-foot-long compos-
<br />ite model of the community.
<br />Looking ar the finished product, one could
<br />easily envision the town's streets and public
<br />spaces. The model also assumed an important
<br />diagnostic role. Recognizing the tendency of
<br />architecture students to push the design of
<br />each building to its limits, the code's creators
<br />were able ro identiE}~ and fix a number of
<br />potential regulatory problems before the code
<br />was formally adopted.
<br />,Sfter the firm's experience at Seaside, Duan}'
<br />Plater-Zyberk adapted form-based codes to
<br />work within the legal framework of aplanned-
<br />unit development. The Kentlands in
<br />Gaithersburg, Ivlarvland, is one earlr~ example
<br />of that application. Since 1959, when its plan
<br />and code were created in a Highly publicized
<br />charette, DPZ has crafted similar documents
<br />to regulate the buildout of Duet 200 new and
<br />existing communities.
<br />iil'llrlf lf'll{I2~ lhl' ('IF-('lf`
<br />Other urban dcsi`~ners have since used Ea-m-
<br />based codes in a wide ~'arien of pruicCLS and
<br />locations. In 1999, Dover, Kohl cS_ Parzners
<br />of South Miami; working in collaboration
<br />with DPZ, prepared a master plan and form-
<br />based development ordinance for a new down-
<br />town for Kendall, an edge city just south of
<br />Miami. The 240-acre project site is adjacent
<br />ro two commuter rail stations and a state
<br />highwa}~.
<br />Since the adoption of the ordinance, an
<br />estimated $270 million in new construction
<br />permits have been issued. Some 3,400 new
<br />dwelling units, most in high-rise buildings
<br />(up to 25 stories), are now under construction
<br />in an area that previously had no residential
<br />population at all. ~;Thile the recent wave of
<br />construction in Kendall was foreseen well
<br />before the code was adopted, man}~ credit the
<br />regulations with helping the community to
<br />achieve a true downto~srn development pat-
<br />tern rather than the patchwork typical of
<br />booming suburban areas.
<br />On the East Coast, Dover Kohl and Ferrell
<br />MaddenAssociates of Washington, D.C., con-
<br />ducted an eight-day charette that resulted in
<br />the adoption in February 200, of a plan and
<br />furor-based code for the Columbia Pike Cor-
<br />ridor in Arlington, Virginia. That work fo-
<br />cused on the detailed design of fow- mixed-
<br />use centers along a 3.5-mile section of the
<br />historic corridor, which is minutes away from
<br />the Pentagon and dotit~ntown Washington.
<br />A year later, Arlington CounR~ planners
<br />approved Columbia Station, amixed-use de-
<br />velopment consisting of 25 housing units
<br />above 42,000 square feet of street-fronting
<br />retail. Future plans call for the integration of
<br />bus rapid transit at-light rail along the corridor.
<br />Geoffret- Ferrell ofFerrell Madden ~~-as also
<br />resncui.~ihlr r,„ rF,~ I;~~m_h~~.-~; ,,,,-I~~~~, ~,f
<br />
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