underdome

The current freeway underpass at Madison Street in Oakland is stunning in scale: capped with a massive overhead plane that defines an area of more that 10,000 sq. ft., the vast enormity of this hovering ceiling creates an enclosed urban room that is dimensionally impressive. At the same time, this expanse of freeway has created a passageway that at present appears oppressive, relatively dark, and spatially compressed. Our idea is to perceptually recalibrate this space, from a tunnel-like urban divider into an optically transformed connector, layered with surprising scalar dynamism and infused with outside light.