Assignment 2 Individual Portfolio_Ateeb H Shaik

Urban Design Project 1 Re-appropriating (ideas of) public space

\Flexibility as an Urban Catalyst\

Ateeb Hussain Shaik 150127057 M. A. Urban Design

South Africa

\Project background • Juta street is located in Braamfontein, the central suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa • Famous for being a space for corporate head offices is now the hub for best public art in the city • Consisiting of coffee shops, Restaurants, night clubs and bars braamfontein is often packed with students and other people

South Africa Map

Gauteng Region Map

Johannesburg Map

Extent of Juta Street (highlighted in yellow)

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flexible Users

• Governance

• Safety

• Participation

• Walkable space

• Different racial groups

• Activities

• Age groups

• Function of Space

• Walkable space

• Vehicular access

• Activities

• Age groups

Defining Flexibility

\Explaining the strategy • Why did i choose flexibility?

I wanted to create a space that could be easily adapted in different situations depending on the factors of users, time & space.

I believed that Juta street had the potential to transform in to a flexible urban space.

• Accessible space

flexible Time

• Explaining Flexibility Adaptable spaces Multi-use Accessible by different people

flexible Space • 24 Hours availability • Function of space • Safety • Activities • Vehicle access

02

Ideas on Film Manifesto

Identify Group Meetings

Analysis

Problems Main Principle

Potential Review Flexibility

\Project Methodology • The first brief had us make a film to understand the background of Johannesburg.

• Then for the second and third brief we were a new group devising a base principle that we could work on to develop our individual strategies after several group meetings.

• We used similar techniques (Site Plan, Photo Montages etc.,) to produce a final presentation

Flexible Mobility

Dynamic Function

Design Precedents Spatial Design

Culture & Activities

Analysis

Individual Strategies 3D Model

PhotoMontages Master Plan

Interactive Plans

Group Meetings

Final Presentation

03

The whole street lacks high quality public spaces, and the few that are available are deprived and disconnected.

Only few public spaces are popular but also lacks of amentity, which makes it hard for people to enjoy on the street

\Context • Juta street lacks proper spaces for people to interact with each other, especially people from different social groups and sometimes even user groups • The entire street is divided evenly with most of the spaces occupied for commercial use and very less public spaces • Lack of pedestrian life quality is also one of the issues • We look at how we can devise a principle that will help us change Juta street for a better tomorrow

Commercial spaces | Formal

Mix of Residential and Retail spaces | Informal, Active

Commercial | Formal

04

/Analysis • We did a preliminary analysis on Juta Street from the initial data we received from the stake holders • To study the streets more closely we used google maps to look around • It also helped us mark some important landmarks around the area • Studying some maps and data concerning the statistics of social groups living in Johannesburg gave us a glimpse of the situation

Social Segregation map of Johannesburg

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Evening

/Data Analysis

Afternoon

a

d

a

c

a

• High income users hang out around here for the retail and restaurant businesses.

a

d

YOUR PROPOSALS/ANALYSIS/NARRATIVE E.T.C HERE

LARGE SCALE PROPOSAL/ANALYSIS

Pausing / Gathering Analysis Map

YOUR URBAN PRINCIPLES HERE

a

YOUR URBAN PRINCIPLES HERE

b

c b c

b c

d d

c

b

a

b

b

c

b

1

c a

d

b

a

d a a

d

c

YOUR URBAN PRINCIPLES HERE YOUR PROPOSALS/ANALYSIS/NARRATIVE E.T.C HERE

+ LARGE SCALE PROPOSAL/ANALYSIS

Energy Nodes Analysis Map

• Busiest node on the entire street possibly due to location to Bertha

• When compared to others this node has a balance of car and pedestrian traffic.

High number of restaurants in location.

Mapping activities on Juta Street

c d

c

b

d

c a

a

b

d d

c

a

Night YOUR URBAN PRINCIPLES HERE

• Petrol station in this intersection makes this a very acive node

4

a

b

a

• Corners of intersections are busy meeting and gathering space, a place for street art/performance.

3

d

a

a

c

2

b

c

c

b

b

b

a d

a a

c

c

b d

d

a

c

b

a

• Quieter areas become quieter because of the the absence of acivity energy

d c

c

a

a

• High school and primary school students use this space before and after school

• Actively used by people from different user groups. Mainly because it connects the Juta Street

d

a

d

c

a d

b

b

• Students hang out around here also as the road has a vibrant nightlife.

+

a

a

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• University students hang out around Juta/ Henri St for the commercial businesses.

a

a

Morning

1 Roads

2

Pavement

3

Green Spaces

4

Open Spaces

the homeless resident

a

informal street worker

a

university student

a

higher income resident

b

the office worker

b

high school learner

b

lower income resident

c

outdoor formal worker

c

primary school learner

c

visitor

d

lower income retailer

d

User Group and Usage analysis

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\Spatial Design Strategy • After the main principle had been deicided as a group we decided to work on our own individual strategies • Each individual strategy deals with different characteristics of the street

Existing Movement

Car priority district

Uncontinuous Pedestrian

Reduce vehicular traffic dominance

Function

East/west connection is characteristic by changing quality

Clear pedestrian Create good quality network street and identity

Highly accessible district

Space

Some qualitified commercial funtion but insufficient public function

Improve original funtion

Core role of temporary use

Culture & Activities

Few greening space

Deprived public space

Lack of pausing and Walking SPACE

Different needs are not reflected in the public space

Several areas are only used for single activiy

As green as park

Diversity public space for all

Walk around and stop over

Creative varied activities meet all needs

Varied activities during the day and all the year

Meet different users' needs, perception and expection

Inviting built environment

24 hours/4 seasons vibrant activities

Proposed

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Cross Section on Juta Street

SEMI-PUBLIC

FLEXIBLE ROAD

SEMI-PUBLIC

PUBLIC

SEMI-PUBLIC

SEMI-PUBLIC

FLEXIBLE ROAD

PUBLIC

\Movement • The primary idea was to develop a flexible street to balnce the vehicular movement and pedestrian funtion on Juta street • The transformation of road at different time of day and week will give both the users (vehicle & walk) equal chance of using the street

2.5m

2.5m

3.0m

3.0m

Section 1

11.0m

2.5m

2.5m

3.0m

3.0m

Pedestrian only (car prohibited)

Section 2

Car slowly driving with pedestrian

11.0m

5.Corridor

2.1 Path with elevated 4.Entrance

1.Plaza paving

feature

1.Plaza paving

tree beds

4.Entrance 1.Plaza paving

2.2 Pedestrian zone

feature

tree beds

1/2 4

2.2 Pedestrian zone

2.1 Path with elevated

1/2

3

5

1/2

1/2

1/2

3 5

5

5.Corridor

1/2

3

5

3.Activity

3.Activity

3.Activity

zones

zones

zones

3.Activity 1.Plaza paving

zones

1/2 3/4

3

Public entrance

Semi-public space

Flexible road

Roof parking

Green/public space

Slow driving areas

Proposed pedestrian activity on Juta street

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SMALL BUSINESS

VISITING INNOVATIVE EXHIBITION

ADVERTISING SPORT BUSINESS

Open spaces to be used to reactivate and strengthen the social relationship between people.

Especially between different social groups or between school kids

EVENT

\Function • Function as a strategy is helpful to create multiple use areas on the street • Preliminarily we develop the existing condition on un-used building • Secondly, we can create spaces that can be used for different function depending on requirement

RELAX PUBLIC ART

Use vacant buildings and repurpose them to increase the value. This can be useful for college students who can organise events in the space

TRADING INVESTIGATE

Dynamic use of open spaces in the street that can bring a lot of business to street vendors and small street business users

Function map of Juta Street

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Visitors

Workers

Students

\Space Temporary bisiness users

• Third strategy deals with space • To make the street more eco-friendly we wanted to look at the possibility of integrating the buildings with landscape • Proposition of green areas to act as breathing spaces between buildings

Leisure people

SCHOOL RETAIL COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRY

COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL

RESIDENTIAL

COMMERCIAL

SCHOOL

RETAIL

COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL

RESTAURANT

COMMERCIAL

RESTAURANT

RESTAURANT

COMMERCIAL

RESTAURANT SCHOOL

RESTAURANT

RESTAURANT

COMMERCIAL RESTAURANT

SINKING PARK

Public entrance

Semi-public space

Flexible road

Roof parking

Green/public space

Slow driving areas

Flexible spaces map on Juta street

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The vision for the future of Vilakazi Street was to make it a prolific destination based on its anti-apartheid struggle history, township heritage, vibrant spirit and distinctive ‘sense of place’.

Motivations for this project: Ethical, Political, Economical, Professional

\Precedent studies • My precedent study was concentrated on a cultural regeneration project of a street in Johannesburg • The main aim of the project was to develop it as to showcase the history and culture of the city •The planning of the street, the renovation of old houses of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu, preservation of public art is what made it a great example that helped me develop ideas for my individual design strategy • Hence for my individual design strategy i decided to work on the subject of Culture & Activities

Vilakazi Street Precinct Orlando West, Soweto, Johannesburg, Feb 2008 - June 2010

Influenced by my precedent studty, for my individual design strategy i decided to work on the subject of Culture & Activities

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\Individual Design Startegy \Cultural Character and Activities

Map showing the culture arc

• Juta street falls in the conceptual cultural arc proposed during the Braamfontein Regeneration Project that link the cultural establishments • Some of the adjacent streets (Smit Street, Jorrisen Street) have already been seeing a lot of changes over the years • Heavy vehicular movement on Juta Street and limited pedestrian access discourages usage of pavement.

Street Life on Juta street Busy street life and road filled with vehicular activity

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Trees create shade so more people will prefer to use public space on sunny days

Kids playground to make spaces more active and interaction between different groups

Graffiti on the walls of buildings showing cultural character of the city

\Vision for Juta street • Absence of flexible public spaces and green areas on the street discourages more activities on streets • More greenery in open areas will bring people onto the street for better interaction • Photo montage seen on the right side is an example of how a part of Juta Street can be change to give better access to people living in the surrounding residential areas.

Flexible road used by cars during business hours and by cyclists during leisure time

Kids use the green spaces to hang around or play without the fear of vehicles

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An idea of how street and green spaces can be mixed together to create a better flexible street

Green Activities

Section of Juta Street during business hours

Section of Juta Street during leisure hours

University students

Office workers

Office workers

University students School

School

Activity Zones

Activity Zones Activity Zones Activity Zones

Activity Zones University students School

Office workers

Office workers

University students Activity Zones

Public entrance

Semi-public space

Flexible road

Roof parking

Slow driving areas

Street Life on Juta street

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Open Air Show Biking Leisure activities Street events Coffee outside Students competitions

Spring

Open Air Show Leisure Activitires Shopping

Bonfires Interior ice Rink Coffee outside

Winter

Autumn

Open Air Show Leisure Activitires Shopping

Summer

How different activities are incorporated in different seasons around year letting the area be flexible throught the year and for use by different kinds of people according to their timings

\Future on Juta Street • Juta street falls in the conceptual cultural arc proposed during the Braamfontein Regeneration Project that link the cultural establishments • Some of the adjacent streets (Smit Street, Jorrisen Street) have already been seeing a lot of changes over the years • Absence of flexible public spaces and green areas on the street discourages more activities on streets

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It takes time and efforts to build on ideas and analyze them simultaneously and hence I am going to critically analyze my work.

Every project has its unique design and methodology. Firstly, I will talk about the methodology and the group strategies. After that I will explain my individual strategies that were developed.

\Critical Reflection

What was my group’s methodology?

Throughout the length of this module I have worked with two different groups. However I only spent very little time with my first group because the task was to make “Ideas on Film” after which the groups were changed. The new group which span for the next five weeks was pretty tiring. We had numerous group meetings every time before a final submission.

The process of methodology was pretty simple starting from analysis of data following with some new developed ideas for the problems observed and finally presenting it.

Working on my individual strategy the method of action remained very similar. Except that all of us were working on our own methodologies and we had to convince each other about our plans for the street.

What and how did we decide on our group strategy?

After doing a thorough analysis of the prelim data we as a group decided to work on flexibility as a principle. We believed that Juta Street should be able to cater to the needs of people coming from different social and user groups. Adding to that, we had to deal with the usage of the street changing with time of the day/week.

Thinking about my precedent studies I had a few ideas that I wanted to try on during the design of Individual Space Strategy. Culture is sometime tangible and also a non-tangible element in design, which complicates the process of design and is harder to describe. Even though the results were not one hundred percent satisfying, it taught me a lot about how to handle individual part in a group work.

What does our spatial design strategy mean?

Initially devised as one top strategy i.e. Flexibility and then four individual strategies: Movement, Function, Space, and Culture & Activities. We had to work on different new ideas to incorporate flexibility in our design.

Flexible roads, Flexible streets were the basic ideas but we developed them further when each of us started to work on it in their individual design strategy.

We developed them in a way that we could cover all the important parts on the street, even the non-tangible parts of the design.

How did my precedent studies influence my individual design strategy?

My precedent studies dealt with some culture & activities design in the city of Johannesburg. So it was easy for me to decide on an early stage my goals for Juta Street. Always working closely by the ideas of my precedent study I understood some key points to mix culture with architecture on the street.

I could say that it was a major influence that led me to choose my topic as ‘Culture & Activities’.

What does my individual strategy mean?

Culture & Activities are one of the most important additions to the street’s vitality. More importantly on one side they are tangible design and on another they are in-tangible.

Culture of the area is important to preserve the history of that area throughout the generation to tell a story. Having a strong connection with our roots gives us a good advantage when we reach the design stage.

To promote energy on the street we tried to introduce new activity joints along the extent of the street. These spaces were meant to be flexible so that different user groups, social groups and age groups could use them to their own advantage.

In the first version of strategy design I didn’t really have any idea of what I actually wanted to design. But after the second version of design and through some very interesting feedback from the faculty I could easily develop it.

Will my individual strategy work? What are the pros and cons?

It is true that most of the time culture and history of the area is deemed less important when designing a space. Hence I decided to work on that topic to see if I could give it a new turn.

Most of it went well, I had no problems explaining my concepts to my colleagues or my faculty. All of them really loved the ideas that added a nature of personal feeling to my design. Incorporating culture and history and showcasing it on the street really agreed with some people. Also promoting activities on the street for an active life and an active community is always a positive thing.

On the other side it was mainly difficult because it was the nontangible part of design. And not being physically on the site it was difficult to conclude whether or not it would work.

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What is the future of Juta Street?

Juta street has an enormous amount of potential that can be only unleashed with proper design and implementation.

Also maybe by using some participation techniques we could get interesting ideas from the people living in Johannesburg itself and also people living in the street of what they think the street should look like in the future. This would make the process easier and much more interactive.

If people themselves design the space then they might also be interested in taking the responsibility for a better future.

Culture will never be forgotten as it will be forever being remembered on the streets.

Activities will make the area much brighter and interactive between people.

What is the future of Culture on Juta Street?

Culture is an important character that gives sense of belonging to the street. It talks about the people of the country. It talk about their history and their struggles.

Preservation of this culture is of utmost importance. If not for this we will forget our stories of origin, What is the future of Activities on Juta Street?

I think with time to come we will no longer be interested for physical activities on the street which will always be the best way to meet new people and befriend them.

Conclusion In the end I would just like to make a short summary of this reflection.

My individual strategy dealing with culture & activities helped me understand the complex situation in South Africa through the years and still going on.

Having chosen a topic that deals with people on an emotional level I feel astounded and satisfied.

No matter what obtructions culture & history should always be remembered for a better tomorrow.

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\References

\Links to films

1to1 | Agency of Engagement,. 2016. “HOME PAGE” <http://1to1.org.za/> [accessed 13 December 2015] 2016. <http://www.viad.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/9-Braamfontien-regeneration-project_-Monica-Albonica. pdf> [accessed 13 December 2015] Braamfontein.org.za,. 2016. “Braamfontein” <http://www.braamfontein.org.za/> [accessed 13 December 2015] Brighton-hove.gov.uk,. 2016. “Public life public space | Brighton & Hove City Council” <http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ content/parking-and-travel/travel-transport-and-road-safety/public-life-public-space> [accessed 13 December 2015]

Ideas on film: Public Space, Social Networks, and Social Media

Joburg.org.za,. 2016. “city of Johannesburg - Arty 70 Juta opens” <http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=5881:arty-inner-city-enclave-opens&catid=88&Itemid=266> [accessed 13 December 2015] Joburg.org.za,. 2016. “city of Johannesburg - Ripple effect from Braamfontein Regeneration Project” <http://joburg.org. za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=437&Itemid=253> [accessed 13 December 2015] Joburg.org.za,. 2016. “city of Johannesburg - Ripple effect from Braamfontein Regeneration Project” <http://joburg.org. za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=437&Itemid=253> [accessed 13 April 2015] LOCAL STUDIO,. 2016. “Home” <http://www.localstudio.co.za/> [accessed 13 December 2015] Passageways.clustermappinginitiative.org,. 2016. “Cairo clustermappinginitiative.org/> [accessed 13 December 2015]

Downtown

Passageways”

Urban Design Project 1 Flexibility of public spaces on Juta Street ( 100 Words )

<http://passageways.

Play Braamfontein,. 2016. “70 Juta St” <http://playbraamfontein.co.za/70-juta-street/> [accessed 13 December 2015] Rudi.net,. 2016. “5. Flexibility | RUDI - Resource for Urban Development International” <http://www.rudi.net/books/1242> [accessed 13 December 2015] Spatialagency.net,. 2016. “Spatial Agency: About” <http://www.spatialagency.net/> [accessed 13 December 2015] Walk Braam,. 2015. “Walk Braam” <https://walkbraamfontein.wordpress.com/> [accessed 13 December 2015]

Urban Design Project 1 Group 2: Flexibility as an Urban Catalyst ( 400 Words )

Mikoleit, Anne, and Moritz Pürckhauer. 2011. Urban code (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press) Oswalt, Philipp, Klaus Overmeyer, and Philipp Misselwitz. 2013. Urban catalyst (Berlin: Dom Pub)

\Links to Walk Braam Website Design precedents_UrbanWorks ( architecture+urbanism ) Ideas on film: Public Space, Social Networks, and Social Media Urban Design Project 1 Group 2: Flexibility as an Urban Catalyst ( 400 Words )