Long Branch Futures

Abstract

"In the Spring of 2024, the National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG) PALS program invited architecture students at the University of Maryland to explore future scenarios for the Long Branch neighborhood in Montgomery County, Maryland. The result was the ARCH 407 Graduate Architecture Design Studio IV course, taught by Jana VanderGoot and advised by MHP, the Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC) and other community stakeholders. The studio provided a forum for discussing the quality and rich character of the existing neighborhood community and raised important questions about the impacts of different development approaches. The Americana Shopping Center was chosen by the studio team as a place to engage in design research activities and gain an understanding of existing strip shopping mall sites along the Purple Line Corridor in general. There are several strip mall shopping sites along the corridor with characteristics in common. The key design research question for the studio was about how these places of commerce might adapt with new development along the corridor. The hope is that design ideas developed for Americana and the adjacent Purple Line stop might inform planning and design choices at other similar sites along the Purple Line. The studio was drawn to the Long Branch neighborhood because it was the focus of previous class projects at the School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning, including an architecture studio taught by Professor Ronit Eisenbach and UMD M.Arch alumni Edgar Alvarado. The desire of the studio team was to create continuity and build on the momentum and hard work put in place by previous efforts. Edgar Alvarado is a longtime resident of Long Branch and was involved in a street facade study along Flower Avenue. The team valued moment of interaction with Edgar and lessons learned during his guest lecture, in-class discussions with him, and at the design consensus reviews where other community stakeholders were also present."