PLN2- Fundamentals of Urban Design and Community Architecture PDF

PLN2- Fundamentals of Urban Design and Community Architecture Introduction to Urban and Community private domains of cities, and embraces the social as well as Planning: Contextualization of Urban Design physical dimensions of the urban...

PLN2- Fundamentals of Urban Design and Community Architecture Introduction to Urban and Community private domains of cities, and embraces the social as well as Planning: Contextualization of Urban Design physical dimensions of the urban environment. According to this interpretation, urban design must be considered at a and Community Architecture number of different scales, from the details of street furniture to Urban areas can be simple or complex. They can have a rural the infrastructure that shapes entire cities and regions. flavor or that of an industrial workshop. They can be peaceful or filled with all types of conflict. They can be small and easy Urban design remains an art as much as a science, involving to maintain, or gargantuan and filled with strife and economic concepts that are sometimes elusive, such as character. It problems. involves both public urban space and parts of the private domain, and concerns the urban environment at a range of An urban area can be defined as a composite of cells, scales. Urban design is also context-specific. neighborhoods, or communities where people work together for the common good. The types of urban areas can vary as greatly Urban design entails both 'hard' economic realities and a as the variety of activities performed there: the means of number of 'soft' human-oriented elements coming together to production and the kinds of goods, trade, transportation, the create a whole that is more than the sum of the parts. delivery of goods and services, or a combination of all these activities. An early and significant advocate of urban design, Jonathan Barnett, wrote that,” Design is a methodology that... can help Cities have many obvious faults in terms of their services to solve some of the problems of misallocated resources, misused people. However, even with all those faults, cities are here to land and the unnecessary destruction of historic buildings." stay. The challenge to urban planners and designers is to find More positively, urban design provides a means by which to ways to make these essential elements in our social system bring together a wide range of factors affecting quality of life work better, more efficiently, and thus to make our cities more and - going beyond utilitarian value - gives us scope to desirable places in which to live. introduce coherence and beauty into our towns and cities. Urban Design Stakeholders The city is a work of art, it fosters art and is art. The city is an architectural, and therefore an artistic creation. Urban design involves many people including practitioners (architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects and many Architecture claims superiority over other forms of visual art. more), local and central government agencies, property Architecture has spatial quality unlike painting and sculpture. It developers and investors, community groups and the public. also incorporates elements of these art forms and therefore is They have varying interests, perspectives and criteria by which the most comprehensive of visual arts. they assess the merits of urban design activity. Architecture is superior because we are surrounded by Because the field of urban design is so broad, no single architecture, unable to avoid buildings and the subtle but profession has a monopoly on expertise. Instead, architects, penetrating effects of their character. Architecture becomes the engineers, landscape architects, planners, economists, surveyors “unavoidable art”. and many others must combine their knowledge with that of property developers, public agencies and community groups. The city then is the “largest work of art possible”. Good urban design is thus collaborative in nature, integrating various perspectives and concerns. This is one reason why the Definition of Urban Design subject is best approached with a long-term, 'big-picture' perspective.  Deals with the plan of the city, the various component parts Architects and designers tend to be more concerned with design of urban space, and their functional and aesthetic aspects. concepts and theories, ambience, character, image, symbolic  The art of city building significance and aesthetics generally ('cultural aspects'). These  Concerned with the methods used to organize and structure are matters addressed through critical discourse and the urban realm. professional judgement, and exemplified in case studies. Users and owners, however, are more interested in fitness for Urban design is defined as that branch of planning which is purpose, which they assess more pragmatically. primarily concerned with the functional and visual relationships between people and their physical environment, and the ways The Value of Urban Design in which those relationships can be improved. Many kinds of 'value' can be considered - economic, environmental, social or cultural; tangible or intangible. The The Urban Design Protocol describes urban design as: "the benefits (and costs) of good urban design often accrue to the design of the buildings, places, spaces and networks that make wider community; therefore, many stakeholders have an up our towns and cities, and the ways people use them". This is an inclusive definition that addresses both the public and UST College of Architecture Page 1  PLN2- Fundamentals of Urban Design and Community Architecture interest in what takes place at both the micro scale (street and significance of collaboration and participation in the urban building design) and the macro scale (eg, patterns of land use). design process, or even the meanings people attach to places. But it does stress that most of the impacts of urban design flow The benefits urban design might offer: essentially from tangible, physical characteristics.  Good urban design can offer significant benefits to the What is good urban design? community; conversely, poor design can have significant adverse effects on the urban environment,  demonstrates design excellence in urban development society and economy. and architecture  While good urban design sometimes costs more  distributes benefits widely in the population upfront, this is not necessarily the case; moreover,  produces environmental benefits long-term costs can be avoided.  responds to local features and needs  Communities value the better quality of life that good urban design can deliver.  is relevant to the contemporary world  Urban design can affect people's ability and  leaves open the possibility for continuing adaptation willingness to undertake physical exercise: good and change design can offer health benefits.  forges connections with the past.  Urban design can help make towns and cities safer and more secure.  Urban design elements are interconnected: urban design is most effective when a number of elements come together (eg, mixed use, density and connectivity). The inclusiveness of urban design is both a strength and a potential weakness. By its very nature, design is integrative. It creates relationships among things that might otherwise be considered separate. The holistic nature of urban design reflects the multi-faceted nature of urban areas themselves, where so many problems and potentials are interconnected. However, there is a risk that urban design may become so all- encompassing that it lacks focus, substance or bite. Inclusiveness poses particular difficulties if the purpose is to identify specific causes and effects. Studies that are able to disentangle distinct effects, while holding other factors constant, are thus particularly valuable. Two points to be emphasized in the definition of urban design in the Urban Design Protocol. First, while urban design's principal concern is the 'public realm' (ie, the streets, squares, parks, buildings and other spaces to which the average person has full or partial access), it must be emphasized that urban design does not exclude private property. Private buildings and spaces have a significant impact on the quality of adjacent public areas. Also, privately owned spaces such as shops and entry lobbies are often freely accessible to passers-by. As a result, public and private spaces are better thought of as a continuum than entirely distinct. A second feature of urban design is a concern for physical elements and spatial relationships. This focus keeps urban design firmly grounded in a tangible, three-dimensional world: a place that is experienced through sight and sound, and sometimes through the tactile qualities of materials and details. This emphasis does not discount people, their behaviour, the UST College of Architecture Page 2