Urban Design Studies: Cities for people, lecture by Jan Gehl

    

Jan Gehl

img: http://gehlarchitects.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/4600939940_0538234749.jpg 

     Cities are about culture, its not about the buildings, it is about what happens when these buildings hit the footpaths in a human scale. In the coming years, our population will double. This will mean we have to build what has already been built, cities and all. That is out challenge we face today. Cities are responsible for 70 - 80% of the greenhouse gases.

     Certain cities are failing, such as Melbourne. Trends such as increasing in poverty and congestion has come into play. If their city isn't turned around, it could be a social catastrophe. Melbourne's population is aging, with family household decreasing in number as single-people household increases.

 

Image taken from the article "Motorist showing signs of confusion"

img: http://images.theage.com.au/2010/03/16/1229183/Interchange-420x0.jpg

 

 

     Jan Gehl witnessed 2 paradigm shifts in the 1960s consisting of 2 components. Firstly, it is where cities were built in other ways and secondly, the car invasion. Cheap petroleum starting to increase the abundance in cars, changing people's lives. He also stated that everything built before World War II, everything was alright, which he called, the good old days and where everything built after the WW II, everything was not alright.

 

     The good old days were another way of building cities, it is where cities were built in a continuous process, it was built through many generations via small instalments from experience passed down by previous generations. There were many traditional and heritage buildings back then. Back then, cities were all about people, whereby people could walk everywhere and use the functions the streets and squares were made for all in harmony.

 

     However, after the 1960s invasion of cars, cities were being planned to accommodate more traffic and cars. Over time, people were treated more arbitrarily. In addition, cities back then were built for small spaces and a slower paced life, where planning made cars moved at 5km/h and people could see and talk to each other, it was where everything was on a human scale. However, now cities are fast paced, where cars travel at 60km/h and space is so huge, there are no details. It is a complete opposite of cities back then. This had lead to a confusion of scale.

 

   Another important shift in the 1960s were when city expansion happened really fast. This made slow, continuous growth of city ideology where building were built one by one extinct. Jan mentioned that city planners had "The Brasilia Syndrome", where cities were planned from the sky, 5000 meters above. This placing of mega buildings has caused the confusion in scale. For example in Singapore, the small colonial houses which are of human scale, are place beside huge towering structures, which are not at all in human scale.

 

 

img: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Singapore_River_where_it_all_begins.jpg

 

 As seen, the smaller colonial houses in comparison with the large office towers.

 

 

   After 50 years and now, there is another paradigm shift. We now want lively , attractive, safe, sustainable and healthy cities.  In conclusion, it seems that it has been forgotten than form is not the most important of architecture. The most important thing is how form interacts with life in architecture.

 

     

Urban design studies: The Big Rethink

Urban site plan

img: http://imaginativeamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/uli_2008_siteplan.jpg
 

     The fundamental purpose of urban design is to provide a basic structure to guide the development of citizens. Majority of humanity is now urbanized, stemming from slums, they have evolved and some even expanded into megacities. Many new cities have dismal aggregations of sweatshop factories and densely populated residential buildings.

     There are many problems that have aroused. The most threatening of these problems are found in modernity. There have been many warnings of problems for the food supply and security in the future. I think it’s obvious that this is a major problem, food scarcity. However, with today’s technology, it can be resolved. Combining rural and modern settlements together to utilize the land for agriculture to provide food.

     Global population has been projected to reach 9 to 10 billion; however, this is population cap. It is even predicted to dwindle. As women become educated, the population in those areas has stabilized. Birth rates have even known to drop below replacement levels for some countries. Likelihood of population pressure seems to be short term. As humans evolve, we jump from wanting to conquer nature to wanting to seek symbiosis with nature instead. This is a crucial step to sustainability.

     The challenges of sustainability will further influence urban planning and its design. It has already taken effect in the advocacy for the compact city. A dense city with mixed use neighbourhoods, thus encouraging walking, lessening the need to commute and make public transport feasible. Use of planting leads to improved microclimates. This is achieved through the channeling of cool breezes and excluding gusty downdraughts.



img: http://www.calgreeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/sustainability-pic.jpg

     Urban design goes deeper and further than frameworks or places and locations. It gives cues to which architecture responds to accordingly. However, many architects do not follow these subtle cues as they may follow their own visions. Thus, guidelines are set to be complied with.

Urban Design: The Compact City

 

Compact city urban development in UK

img: http://gehlarchitects.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/compactcity1.jpg

   Compact city is an urban concept that promotes a relatively high population density with mixed land uses. It is based on efficient transport systems. The compact city has a layout that promotes walking and cycling. This compact urbanization is said to be more sustainable as compared to that of an urban sprawl as it is less dependent on cars and therefore, requiring less infrastructure capita. The main characteristics of a compact city are;

- Central area revitalisation

- High density development

- Mixed use development

- Services and facilities such as hospitals, parks, schools, leisure and fun.

 

 

                      George Dantzig                                    Thomas L. Saaty

 img: http://rociomedina.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ba_georgedantzig.jpg

mg: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/ThomasLSaaty2008.jpg

   The term "Compact City" was coined by mathematicians, Thomas L. Saaty and George Dantzig, whose vision was to see a more efficient use of resources.

Compact city concept.

   There are strong arguments surfacing that says compact cities is the most sustainable urban form. The concept is relatively simple. By housing a higher percentage of people in multi-family and mixed use developments, the need for driving is reduced. Also by arranging and designing the streets to be more pedestrian friendly, people are encouraged to walk and cycle instead. Planning and concentrating job areas in selected zones as well as spending more on mass transport systems instead of highways are other ways to increase sustainability.

Urban Design: Uban planning

Urban planning 

Sketch of an urban plan in progress.

Img: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/smallscalebigchange/images/projects/manguinhos_complex/8/Slideshow/1.jpg

   Urban planning is a field whereby they address the health and welfare of urban areas. It is a process that concerns the use of land and design of the urban environment. This includes transportation networks, architecture and urban design. It also includes research on analysis, strategic thinking, policies, implementation and management. All these are to help guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities. A plan can come in different forms, such as, strategic plans, detailed plans, neighborhood plans, preservation plans and more.  These planners are often responsible for enforcing policies as well.

   The origin of today’s urban planning date back from the urban reform movement that occurred as a reaction against the disorder of the industrial city in the mid-19^th century. Urban planning may also include urban renewal, which is the redevelopment of areas with moderate to high density in urban land use. Like many other disciplines, urban planning was developed to provide a solution to a problem. The problem was that as small towns spread and expanded, the streets and addresses became more and more confusing as there was no thought put into the expansion of the city. Although people have been engaging in some type of organization of cities and towns, it was very simple, such as where the next settlement should be. The lack of proper organization created problems. This was especially for the placement of hospitals and schools. They created safety and healthy problems for the residents in the older settlements. Therefore, architects, engineers work together to plan ways to solve these issues. Although finding solutions and solving existing issues is more complicated than building new cities, it is an equally important aspect of the field.

   In the 20^th century, sustainable development has become an icon to represent an ideal outcome in planning goals.

 

 

Plan of sustainable urban plan in Moscow

Img: http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/09/New-Moscow-Masterplan-2.jpg

   Sustainable development is a mode of development in which the use of resources meets the human needs, all while the while keeping in mind and ensuring the sustainability of natural systems and our environment.

Urban design: Metabolism movement

Metabolism movement

 

Examples of structures from the Metabolism movement(Kitutake city).

http://outsiderjapan.pbworks.com/f/1288706783/kikutakecity.jpg

   The birth of metabolism started during the 1950s after world war II, Japan was in need of residential and urban housing structures that could maximize efficiency. Due to Kenzo Tange's influence, The Metabolist, which consisted of a young group of architects and city planners, mainly colleagues and students of Kenzo, was formed. Kenzo Tange had a very strong influence of the birth  of metabolism. His masterplans for Hiroshima was a starting point. The metabolists concerned themselves with creating houses that can hold high densities of people. The architectural style of the buildings share many similarities to the International style in materials and lack of ornamentation. The Metabolists dismissed local architectural beliefs and developed a new concept of form and function.

    The metabolism movement had it's eyes on developing and building on newly conquered land such as China, Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam. The designs were envisioned to rise from tabula rasa, a blank slate. Metabolism progressed from unrealised plans to futuristic cities, and some structures took the form of experimental architecture. Ironically, the destruction of Japan would provide these metabolist architects with their blank slate to design on. The name "Metabolism" refers to the dynamic, flexible and organic type of architectural style. Kenzo Tange's plan for Tokyo in 1960 set out his associates and his ideas for a city to span out onto Tokyo Bay.

 Kenzo Tange and his plan for Tokyo in 1960

img: http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.sg/2011/10/metabolist-movement.html

  Nakagin capsule tower, an example of the different architectural style of the Metabolists

img: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Nakagin_Capsule_Tower_2007-02-26.jpg

  The Nakagin capsule tower has become a symbol of Metabolism. It demonstrates housing in the form of a detachable unit. The units can be installed into a concrete core, with 4 high tension bolts.

 The unit system with the bolts.

http://sellingtokyo.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/nagakin-capsule-bolt.gif

    Metabolism also became involved with arts and design through the environment, apart from architecture and urban planning. One of the results from the involvement was the "From space to environment" exhibition, which introduced expo '70. From that time, Kenzo and other metabolism architects began to work at a global level. Sine then, they have produced many projects that put the idea of metabolism in use.

Urban design movements: Archigram the Walking City

  

The walking city

 img: http://archipressone.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/archigramw.gif

 Archigram members

img: http://s3.transloadit.com.s3.amazonaws.com/4b30ae61b7c84e42b6be045272ec3211/98/74e687f9d77cf6c5c43e4c46fa42d0/archigroup.jpg

   London based designers Warren Chalk, Dennis Crompton, Peter Crook, Ron Herron, Michael Webb and David Greene formed the group, Archigram. Archigram was founded in 1961 and have inspired many contemporary Architects and still continue to inspire futuristic designs till date.

   Initially proposed by British Architect Ron Herron, The proposition of Walking City were massive, mobile structures that could roam freely, moving to places where they were needed. The concept would also allow various walking cities to interconnect, forming a free moving metropolis. It was supposed to behave like a robot, having an artificial intelligence to also move to places where they can find required resources.

 

Ron Herron

img: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03GD6ZoOxBHmCZZB-2lVSo0H05tVcKzDWklkLH7DQELXaEI_kNqY_a7QfJh4RJJhQyZTCDxYVPPzf_lCjiUtQn_X8h1NVGvt6H1-8X_xpNQocNB2rB_rq3e7jzSVuRe0PNtDFnabXmga9/s1600/Michael+Webb1.jpeg

  img: http://walkingthecityupolis.blogspot.sg/2011/03/guest-post-archigrams-walking-city.html

   This project imagines people having no boundaries and borders like the conventional buildings, thus allowing people to lead a nomadic lifestyle, travelling around the world in the walking city. It was inspired by NASA's launch pads, science fiction comics and hovercrafts. It was planned to be an amphibious structure, being able to both travel on land as well as sea.

Today's moving cities

   Although different from what Ron Herron had originally designed, today's "moving cities" are no less spectacular. Modern creations such as aircraft carriers are a loose concept of Ron's walking city. Certain aircraft carriers may hold up to 6000 people and can measure up to 400 meters. Another modern creation would be large cruise liners. These can hold many people with amenities such as shopping malls. However, these are not made for long term living, unlike the aircraft carriers and Ron Herron's concept. A serious attempt to create a permanent living out at sea was made, the concept is called seasteading.

 

An Aircraft carrier

img: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/USS_Nimitz_in_Victoria_Canada_036.jpg

Cruise liner

img: http://www.seasite.com/Libraries/Knowledge_Center/sunprincess-1b.sflb.ashx

Seastead concept. A new kind of living on the sea.

img: http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17tc1thc2qifujpg/original.jpg

Urban Design: Le Corbusier's radiant city.

  

Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier, or Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, was an architect, painter, designer, urban planner and writer. He was the born in Switzerland and is one of the pioneers of today's modern architecture. 

 Le Corbusier's Radiant city

   The radiant city is an unrealised masterplan of Le Corbusier's. It was first presented in 1924 and published in a book in 1933. It was designed with an abundance of green space and sunlight, with effective means of transportation. This city of the future would provide for a better lifestyle as well as better society. Although radical, strict and nearly totalitarian in its order, symmetry and standardisation, these principles have influenced greatly on modern urban planning, leading to high density housing typologies.

   Similar to modernist ideals of progression, which encouraged the annihilation of traditions, the Radiant city was thus to emerge from tabula rasa, meaning a blank slate. The intended city would contain identical, prefabricated skyscrapers, spread out across a vast area in a Cartesian grid. This would allow the city to function as a living machine. 

Layout plan of The Radiant City

   Le Corbusier's plan was segregated into commercial, business, entertainment and residential areas. The center of the plan contained the business district, and contained massive skyscrapers, each attaining the height of 200 meters. They could accommodate 500 000 to 800 000 people. The main transport system in the center of the civic district transport citizens via vast underground systems of trains.

   Corbusier planned the housing districts to have accommodations called "Unités". A single Unité towers tp 50m and could house up to 2700 people. Facilities were easily accessible in the Unité, whereby there were catering and laundry services on the ground floor and pools on the roofs, making it convenient for residents. Public parks were placed between each Unité, allowing residents to have a wide range of recreational activities. 

Urban Design movements - Ebenezer Howard Garden City Movement

 Ebenezer Howard garden city movement.

 

   Garden city movement that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard is a method of urban planning. The garden city movement was intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by green belts, containing a balance in areas of residences,agriculture and industry. Green belts are land that are kept in reserve for open spaces, most often around the larger cities. Their purpose is to protect the land around these larger urban centers from urban sprawl.

 

Green belt around Ottawa

   

   After Ebenezer Howard's success in To-morrow: a peaceful path to real reform led him to publish a second edition, Garden Cities of To-morrow, to sustain his movement. The success he had provided him with enough support needed to possibly bring his vision into reality. Howard's garden city vision combined the town and the country together, providing the working class an alternative to working on farms or congested cities. Howard founded the Garden Cities Association which later adopted the name, Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). They created the First City Garden in 1899, Letchworth.With this pioneering project, he hoped it would be the start of a mass movement. His other project, Welwyn Garden City, would be launched after World War I.

Ebenezer Howard's concept. 

Combine the best elements of the city and the country.
Avoid the worst elements of the city and country.
Form the basis of the earliest suburbs
Seperation from the city.

 

Letchworth, England Plan

 

 Welwyn Garden City Plan

The three magnet theory.

- Town magnet (High wages, opportunities and amusement)

- Country magnet (Natural beauty, low rents and fresh air)

- Town country (Combination of both)

 

Garden city, which is to be built in the middle of the 6000 acre plot of land. It covers 1000 acres.

 Six boulevards, each 120ft wide, connecting the city from the centre to the circumference. The centre is a garden, and surrounding it are the larger public buildings.

Dealing with population growth.

Solution to population growth.

When the garden city's population is built up and exceeds 32 000, it grows by establishing. A new city would be established just outside the garden city. This would be reached in a few minutes via rapid transit transportation.