The Urban Valve

Houston’s downtown pedestrian tunnel system is meant to connect different nodes (buildings) in downtown Houston, and to provide an easier way for professionals to access different functions during the day without the need to be exposed to Houston’s harsh weather. However, the monotonous and irregular pattern of the system has led to the disappearance of the nodes and loss of their presence. This, in turn, has resulted in ambiguous connectivity thereby defeating its original purpose. The Urban Valve is an interactive design element which adapts its form, shape, and size to different conditions of the disjunction such as mediation, intersection and end. This element serves as a valve to open and close down the nodes or transitional spaces to control the accessibility of the tunnel re-defining the visual, physical and psychological aspects of the disjunction. The flexibility of the structure to expand and contract and the rigidity of spatial control enables it to adjust to its surroundings.