Urban open Spaces

1.1

Prologue

“Only in silence and solitude can we regain our dreams . . . and build, plan a space, sow trees, pile mountains, sail in the memory of a lake, discover symbols that have hitherto been concealed . . . To know who we are, to listen to the echo of a voice which sounds strangely like our own. This is the physical memory of our landscape".1

-

Thomas Cavillo

We may be conscious of constant transformation of the landscape, or rather cityscape, around us a mutation that we have come to associate with livelihood. Without movement and change there is no life. Spaces speak to us in their own language, the visual language of the physical world and that an understanding of urban space will need to take in account its physical, social and symbolic dimensions.

People’s impressions of a building, a particular environment or space, or a whole city, are of course,

Figure1: Visual voyage through a European street

more than visual. Within the city lie many connotations,

Source: Making People Friendly

memories, experiences, smells, hopes, crowds, places, buildings, the drama of life and death, affecting each person according to his particular predilections. From his

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environment each person constructs his own mental picture of the parts of space in relation to one another.

Our environment of mountains, hills, plains, water, woods, vegetation, buildings, roads, parks, plaza, streets and artifacts provides a myriad of different visual patterns which we see, observe and unconsciously feel. Since the patterns we see are formed from the arrangements of different components, it is an obvious starting point to identify it and relate it back to the whole scene. We need to understand each attribute and see how they interact and effect different variables and the method of organization have on the patterns so produces.

1

Open Space in Urban Context

Advantage of thinking is in terms of urban space is that we can embrace a myriad of urban elements as an entity rendering these elements more distinctive and valuable then they are alone. In planning the spatial structure for a city we must be careful to plane grand and intimate spaces for the purpose the serve.

Figure 2 Urban spaces are the product of cities specially the juxtaposition of the building.

Source: Making People Friendly Towns

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Urban open spaces have distinct patterns. Usually there are seen in their block street layout. Mixture of open spaces constitutes still another pattern. An urban space is point

the geometry, regular or irregular, formed by routes, open spaces and buildings. Grain is the degree of fineness or coarseness of an urban area. Urban shape, pattern, grain, size, density and texture are primarily aspects of solid forms – the building masses of the city.

Single building or groups of buildings, which do not enclose a space, are solid volumes when viewed externally. line

Certain isolated buildings tend to dominated flat landscapes when viewing distances are large and fee of obstruction. The vertical and horizontal elements together define a volume of plane

space. Open volumes may be defined by an open spatial structure such as a lattice or they may have more definite boundaries.

The spaces of the city range from the space of street to the space of the park

volume

system and, ultimately to the vast space in which the entire city exists. It is helpful to think of these spaces as two generic types: formal or urban spaces, usually molded by building facades and the city floor and natural or open spaces, which represents the nature brought into and around

Figure 3. The vertical and horizontal elements together define a volume of space Source: Architecture Form Space And Order,

the build form.

This is one aspect of looking at the urban space as a collection of building and artifacts, and the other perceives it as a site for social relationship. The life and the form of the cities are directly or indirectly are affected by the forces that modify the society,

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categorized traditionally under four titles: demographic forces, economic forces, impact of technological changes, and the cultural variations. 2 The spatial relation demonstrate our experience of being alone in space, of being crowded or being comfortable in relation with other arises from the relation of each space to all the others. Social distances, that is, the size of space or the distance between buildings which constrain the distance between the occupants of space and the occupants of building.

There is clear dividing line between the way the functional and aesthetic aspects of a urban space, due to the presence of the

aesthetic

aspect

in

architectural

concerns, the urban space is analysed

Figure 4: the identity of place is a particular mix of social relation, h ence always becoming ˆunfixed, contested and multiple˜ Source: Making People Friendly Towns

through subjective values. The space is seen as a “dramatic event in the city”, a gathering of people who creates “a collective surplus of enjoyment” and gathering of buildings that can collectively give visual pleasure.3 Another dimension to our emotional reaction to a space is our awareness of its content, i.e. the urban fabric with its reaction to the position our body in space, colour, texture, scale, style, character,

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personality, and uniqueness. It is also at this level that the patterns of behavior in the space can be analysed in relation to the symbolic processes, meaning of the environment, and the relationship of the individual with others in public places and with their environments. The visual voyage through any contemporary cityscape operates like a continuous shift between eye and mind.

2

what constitutes a urban open space Urban spaces are the result

of careful positioning of planes (building facades) to create open volumes; they interconnect and flow from one to another in a careful planned fashion. The degree to which

the

spatial

and

visual

continuity is maintained between a space and its surroundings depends on the scale to change.

A particular space in a city

Figure 5:Tight knit urban fabric and public realm Source: Making People Friendly Towns

may function as locale of an important activity while possessing neither physical enclosure nor appropriate floor. Times Square in New York is such an example. Such spaces are islands or oasis in the city. Urban spaces can also be linear spaces. Avenues and streets are linear urban spaces if they are enclosed on two sides or have some element of unifying character – trees or uniform buildings. Islands or oasis are shopping places, of

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course the two can be inter-connected. Open spaces in the city have wide variety of purposes. They are compliment and foil to urban form.

There are two quite distinct architectural concepts for the town and the city defining the ways in which the buildings can be arranged in a space:



In the first concept the town or city is visualized as an open landscape into which buildings have been introduced as a positive object designed as a three-dimensional mass, pieces of sculpture sitting within a parkland, ‘figure’ in composition, while the space is in

Figure 6 − The Sheriff Court, Dundee Source: www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk

which they stand.4



The second is where public space, that is, street and square appear to be carved from an original block of material, that is, the space it self becomes the ‘figure’, the positive element, the volume to be deigned and the buildings relegated to a supporting role, the ‘ground’.

5

Figure 7− Traditional Shops, Dundee Source: www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk

“Complexity is the spice of urban life. The bustling urban centers are magnets to the city.”

6

aths, such as streets, walkways, canals and railways, are movement channels and form a predominant element in people’s image of a city. Nodes are the focal points in the pattern of development, such as junction or squares and street corners..

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THE LINE :

“the

streets

o u t l i n e

Street and Avenues

have

public open spaces”

provided

urban

communities

with

7

-Jonathon Barnett The street is a place to be seen. Sociability is large part of why cities exist and streets are a major if not the only public place for the sociability to develop.

It appears that most street activity occurs when it is convenient for large number of

Figure 8: The Street− the corridor spaces Source :Surroundings Of Residential Units by Wohnumfeld

pedestrian to use the street in many ways. The form of the street can be analyzed in terms of a number of polar qualities such as straight or curved, long or short, wide or narrow enclosed or open, formal or informal. Street can be analyzed in terms of scale, proportion, contrast, rhythm nor connection to other streets or squares.

A sense of place is in street design is best achieved if the spatial volume defined by the frontage is perceived as the positive form, the figure seen against the general ground of he surrounding architecture. According to Gibberd: “the street is

not building frontage but a space about which buildings are grouped to form a series of street pictures: or alternatively

the

street

is

the

space

that

may

be

Page 7

expanded into wider spaces such as closes or squares”

8

if a street or a section of street is to posses the quality of enclosure then it must have the three main elements, an entrance, the place itself, and a termination or exit.

THE PLANE:

Square

“Square is a out door room and with room it shares the quality of enclosure”

9

A square or plaza is both an area framed by buildings and an area designed to exhibit

its

building

to

the

greatest

advantage. Activity in square is important for its vitality and, therefore, also for its visual attraction. The square is an outdoor room and with the room it shares the quality of enclosure. The key to enclosure in the square is the treatment of its corners.

Generally speaking, the more open the corners of the square the less the sense of

Figure 9− Christopher Alexender: the city is not a tree Source − Making People Friendly Towns

enclosure, the more built up or complete they are, the greater the feeling of being enclose. The most successful city squares, though they may have a dominant function for which each is known and which may classify them, are often that sustain the activity through the diversity of use in its surrounding building. Other important quality f a square and its surrounding building is the degree of enclosure, discussed in chapter2.

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Here the formal relationship between the parts of the image leads the small white circle (which is the same size in both Figure 1.13: Circles

images) to seem larger in the structural context of the tiny black circles than amongst the large black. The picture clearly states the relation between the build form and open spaces and how the scale and proportion between them changes the visual perception and sense of the space.

The spaces in which some of the above features offer more visual pleasure, emotional

security,

and

a

heightened

potential depth and intensity of human

Figure 10The Amalien, Copenhagen Source : Urban Design ˘ Street And Square

experience.

Urban morphology

Objects are rarely isolated: they are in the company of other volumes or limits.

Space is born, from the relationships between these elements. The geometry and organization of each object bestowed a direction and amplitude upon the radiance. The direction is legible in the geometry of the volume and modulation of its façade.10The architectural interest often concentrates on the physical fabric of the city, and its aesthetics and functional dimensions. Often architects, define urban form in three

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dimensions. In its sculptural expression of different heights and shapes and its skyline.

The morphological elements of urban space are identified as streets and squares which have been geometrically typified. In architectural history urban forms of past studied through their morphological components parts such as castles and manors, walls and gates, streets and circulation spaces, market places churches and public buildings. The diversity of physical form and natural qualities has on return influenced the social qualities of urban space.

3.1

Architectonic Of Urban Open Space

Language has become an important source of ideas about architectural composition, like language, architecture has its own vocabulary and its grammer, ‘but while it has several distinct vocabularies all covering same feild of expression, it has only one grammer.’ Alexander extends this idea of an architectural pattern language to include a visual language of a town: ‘Such a language is, in principle, complex enugh to be the language of the town.’11

Buildings are volumetric combination of a large numbr of elements and urban spaces are volumetric combination of a large numbr of buildings. They are joined together in larger units which in turn, modulate the realtionship between the parts and the whole. An urban pattern is the geometry, regular or irregular, formed by routers, open spaces, and buildings. A number of concepts have been used to analyse the architectural composiion in order to gain an understainding of the qualities which determine good or beautiful form. The way in which these basic concepts cab be used and their relations have veeb studied in order to determine their utility in urban design.

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Symbolism: the place making

We can conceptualize place as timeless and bounded, with a singular, fixed and unproblematic, authentic identity. However, if the dynamism of the concept of spacetime is employed, place can be understood as open and porous. Place becomes a moment is the ever changing social relation at all scales. The identity of place is a particular mix of social relations, hence always becoming “unfixed, contested and multiple�.

There is little doubt that dynamic conception of place would be more realistically represent the multiplicity of social practices and identities. There would be, however, fixities at any point in time, as change takes place over time in relation to the existing frames of reference. The identities of places, therefore, will be defined and redefined constantly in relation to constant changes in Historical times. Human beings and places can both be seen as sites for interaction of diverse social processes.

The way we can meaningfully introduce the fourth dimension of time into space is by concentrating on the process of its evolution and change. Following the way the space has been made and transformed will allow us to add fourth dimension to our spatial understanding. The lived experience of space is one in which time is inherent. The question to ask is weather they are any fixities in dynamic conception of space.

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2

Need for Study

How do we understand spaces and relate to it? Do we relate it by our reason or our senses? Is it representing openness or fixity? How do we relate to time and space? 12

In our response to theses questions, we find ourselves divided between objective and subjective understanding, between reason and emotions,

between

theory

and

practice, between uniformity and diversity, and between order and disorder.

In this sense, space could be seen as an

Figure2: The ugly American strip or the tight−knit organic European historic town? They b oth are man made environments. Yet they lay the opposite ends of the continuum. we need to decide what sort environment we should be making and how to achie ve them

abstract substitute for the world around us, for what we generally mean as our built and natural environment. The changing function of the building over time shows the complexity of the relationship between social and physical space which is important to realize to bridge the gap between physical fabric its relation to us, the human. Awareness and appreciation of environmental perception, and, in particular, of perception and experience of a ‘place’, is an essential dimension of urban deign.

Every new generation abandon some parts of its socio-spatial inheritance and maintain some other parts. By this they ensure a permanent but dynamic coexistence to the social and spatial forms, the cultural habits and the physical fabric of the cities. This

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coexistence would not imply that the present is a prisoner of the past, as each new generation transforms and interprets, and therefore recreates, its inheritance in its own image.

Cities today fulfill many different functions. Some of these functions are in conflicts with each other and create great hardships and strife: for example, expressway destroys housing, and beautiful parks can become danger spots. Some functions have continued through history, and others are constantly changing.

The urban forms of the past have studied to

prove

its

inability

to

cope

with

the

requirements of the modern civilization. Within the urban grid, and the monotonous and predictable urban condition, the generation of prosthetic geometries and new morphologies acts as a catalyst for innovation. Maybe this is the right time, in the evolution of twenty-first century architecture, to study and adopt new forms and technologies. The aura of optimism and the apparent financial success of the new building

Figure12− Street Scape Scource : Google Image Search

boom seem to require fresh and daring idea for the urban spaces and redefining them.

Different places mean different things to different people. We probably perceive our urban environment in slightly different ways. What matters is to put together buildings and bits of town in ways that they are easy to understand.

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What is the physical form of the place-form and structure in the three dimensions and in broad outlines? What id the density and character of the buildings? What is the spacing of the buildings? How does it vary? What is the greenery of the place? How would you describe paving, the signs, the night lighting? What are the physical patterns of the space? 13

The joy of seeing is an acquired pleasure. Like most good things in life it needs some work. Perception requires some education in seeing; like most other values it can be taught and learned. Too many of us don’t know the joy of seeing because we assumesince we are born with eyes- that we can see. But there is much to learn about seeing before we really perceive and understand our environment.

As a practical subject matter, when compared with related academic fields, urban design has not been sufficiently supported by research. As emerging enterprise, however it requires a research agenda to be established. The task is being undertaken to bridge the gap he exist between the approaches to urban design.

The use of urban space is linked to the information field generated by surrounding surfaces, and on how easily the information can be received by pedestrians,

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3

Objectives  DEFINITION, Essence, Existence and Identity To understand the role of open space in the urban environment and its relation to the built form. To examine the parameters defining open spaces and study the scale and proportion of built mass to open space.

 URBAN MORPHOLOGY To understand the inter-relation of urban spaces as component and patterns of lines, points and volumes. Thus, understand volumes, enclosures and mass the forms urban patterns.

 THE ABSTRACT: Soul Of Open Space To study the aesthetic and symbolic notion of urban space making and the dynamic of change.

4

Scope 

The understanding of urban open space will need to take in account its physical, social, and symbolic dimension simultaneously.



Initial concerns will be based on the symbolism and the meaning in the built environment to the humans, focusing on the experimental ‘sense of place’ and ‘lived-in’ experience experiences. The phenomenon of ‘invented’ place is to be explored.



The two environmental stimuli-‘sensation’ and ‘perception’ are to be studied in detail.



The focus shall be kept on the appreciation of an urban open space and the aesthetic qualities of urban spaces like the streets and the squares. The positive and negative space in connection to the built form and their scale are essential to be recognized.

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

The study is not limited to one or two case studies, but a number of relevant examples are selected such as civic-commercial spaces, transport nodes, historical and political places and parks and recreational areas, exhibition spaces and cultural space, which best illustrate the aspect being discussed.

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Limitations 

The study is limited to the civic-commercial area, transport nodes where human activities and need are most intense.



The changing need of commerce and transport will be mentioned only to the extent that they affect the quality of urban space.



Due to the complexity of the topic the study will be limited to specific delineation of the examples.



The study will be entirely focused ton the outdoor open spaces, tough the urban realm in contemporary times extend into the interior space of built from, it is not a part of this study.



The application modern theories of urban design in foreign land will only be studied through Internet and books as personal visit to the place is unattainable.



Due to limitation of time the case studies are done to the extent to explain the related topic in the research.

5.1

Epilogue Page 16

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“We

shape

our

environment

and

our

environment

shapes us�14

The need to care about urban environment has never been greater. Towns and cities over centuries must surely rank as the greatest achievement of technological, artistic, cultural, and social endeavor. The public realm, in my view, the most important part to the spaces. It is where the greatest amount of human contact and interactions takes place; it is all the parts of our urban fabric to which the public have physical and visual access. Thus, it extends from the streets, parks and squares into the building which encloses and line them.

Strictly speaking, outdoor space doesn't need buildings at all; only surrounding surfaces, nodes for sitting and standing, and paths. As a large portion of urban space is open to the sky, those small parts that one is able to connect with are crucial. Urban space depends on the fine structure of its boundaries, requiring much greater care than the architectural treatment of interior space

Open spaces of a city have a variety of purposes. They are a compliment and foil to the urban form. The built environment is too far from being the only one to influence our sense of identity. The erection of a monument has the aim of communication or recalling without ambiguity an event or memory to those who have not known them. Too many large square and broad avenues may not be appropriate and can sever a district as easily as then can unify it. Urban spaces are the product of cities specially the juxtaposition of the building.

Ancient roman architect Vitruvius formulated the three fundamental principles essential o architecture, firmness, commodity and delight. Of ideal architecture have been prompted in accordance with changing interpretation of architecture over time.

Therefore the designers already know how to plan a space efficiently for a given set of activities.

Check point to design a urban open space :

 Visual Survey A visual survey in urban design is an examination of form, appearance and composition of a space – an evaluation of its assets and liabilities. It also helps us to see where the city needs reshaping. Though the elements are themselves abstractions rather than concrete forms, a designer aware of their importance for legibility is helped to focus on the kinds of physical forms worth taking as models for legible new layouts.

 Combining new and existing elements Develop the project to make more legible the area of which it forms a p art, by relating the new design to the existing elements on the site and in its surroundings. Because these cannot be moved, they must be taken as fixes for

Figure 13 sketch Source : responsive environment

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developing the design. The implication, the interaction between the visual environment and quantity of life in the city ultimately expresses the city’s failure or success. Urban space should have certain qualities if it is to be responsive to human feelings and sensibilities.



The idea of place The means of building an architectural place are always physical, but they are

sufficient by themselves. We build urban fabrics, subject to ask ourselves about their purpose. Architectural form must therefore refer to ‘the idea of place’ and not only to the aesthetic principles, utility, or geometric and constructional rules. More exactly, we must try to unite them in order to sustain the idea place. Parks and flowering gardens are open spaces of respite and recreation. The act as a setting for architecture: they provide the needed contrast and change..

 Circulation

and

Spatial orientation Space is the medium of the urban experience, providing the sequence between public, semipublic, and private domains. For these

sequences

to

work,

circulation barriers and gaps in continuity must be minimized or eliminated.

Spatial

orientation

is

defined

by

the

Figure 14. sketch Source : responsive environment

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configuration of urban blocks that collectively form districts and neighborhoods. It is the articulation and differentiation of solids and voids that make up the fabric of the city and establish the physical sequences and visual orientation between places.

Its difficult to visualize what a building should look like in an urban setting. Today architecture is an evolved profession called the forth to deal with crowded plight of mankind. It is the logical extension of ancient concern of architects with the commodity, firmness and delight of building. Now it need to embrace the whole environment of man in an evem more demanding complexity. The result is chaotic and confusing. Today building donot follow ant stylistic uniformity.

Urban space is far more sophisticated mathematically than we are used to thinking.

At the other extreme from a collection of static, non-interacting simple forms and voids, in reality we have a complex system tied together by both static and dynamic interactions. Architecture is a gesture made with buildings and open spaces towards humans to respond. Thus it can be said that architecture is of its nature assertive- it proposes a certain way of doing things, of bringing together or separating activities- and this will either create an order that affronts or one that enhances the quality of life.

Whatever the architects design has a tangible or an intangible relation with humans being and in turn the society.

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References 1

http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/- Language of Spaces, The Hindu folio by Arati Chari

2

Design Of Urban Space by Ali Madanipour

3

ibdi. preface

4

Cliff Moughti, Urban Design – Street and Square, Architectural Press, Oxford, Third Edition,2005, chap- 2

5

ibdi, chap- 2

6

ibdi, preface

7

ibdi, chap- 5, page 135

8

Gibberd, F , Town Design, Architectural Press, London, 2nd edition, 1955

9

Cliff Moughti, opcit, chap- 4, page 99

10

ibdi, chap- 2

11

Sitte, Cliff Moughti, opcit, chap- 2

12

Rob Krier, Urban Spaces, Academy Editions,London, Fourth Impression, 1988, Pg10

13

Fran P. Hosken, Language Of Cities, The Macmillan Company, New York, First Edition, 1968, pg 37

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List of Illustration Figure 1 – sketch , Francis Tibbalds Source - Making People Friendly Towns, Francis Tibbalds Figure 2 –sketch, Francis Tibbalds Source - Making People Friendly Towns, Francis Tibbalds Figure 3 –sketch Source - Architecture Form Space And Order, Francis D.K. Figure 4 – sketch, Francis Tibbalds Source - Making People Friendly Towns, Francis Tibbalds Figure 5 – sketch, Francis Tibbalds Source - Making People Friendly Towns, Francis Tibbalds Figure 6 – The Sheriff CourtSource -www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/Dundee Figure 7– Traditional Shops, Dundee Source-www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/Dundee Figure 8 – Squares Open Spaces Source - Surroundings Of Residential Units by Wohnumfeld Figure 19 – sketch, Francis Tibbalds Source - Making People Friendly Towns, Francis Tibbalds Figure 10- The Amalien, Copenhagen Source : Urban Design – Street And Square, Cliff Moughtin,

Figure 11– sketch , Francis Tibbalds Source - Making People Friendly Towns, Francis Tibbalds Figure 12– Streetscape Source - http://www.urbanlife2005.com/images/intro.gif

Figure 13- Sketch Source: Responsive Environment, Bently Alcock Murrain Mc Glynn Smith Figure 14-Sketch Source: Responsive Environment, Bently Alcock Murrain Mc Glynn Smith

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Table of Contents List of illustration

…i

1

…1

Prologue 1

Open space in Urban Context

…2

2

Components of Urban Open Space

…5

2

Need for Study

…12

3

Objectives

…15

4

Scope

…15

5

Limitation

…16

6

Epilogue

…17

References

Bibliography

…21

1

http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/- Language of Spaces, The Hindu folio by Arati Chari 2 Design Of Urban Space by Ali Madanipour 3 Design Of Urban Space by Ali Madanipour 4

Urban Design – Street and Square, Third Edition, Cliff Moughtin, chapter 2 Urban Design – Street and Square, Third Edition, Cliff Moughtin, chapter 2 6 Urban Design – Street and Square, Third Edition, Cliff Moughtin, chapter 2 7 Urban Design – Street and Square, Third Edition, Cliff Moughtin, chapter 2 5

8

Gibberd, F , Town Design, Architectural Press, London, 2nd edition, 1955

9

10 Chapman & Hall, Elements of Architecture, E & FN Spon, London, First English Language Edition, 1997, first interlude, page 86 11 Cliff Moughtin, Urban Design – Street And Square, Architectural Press, Oxford, Third Edition, 2003, Chapter 2, Page 31 12

Rob Krier, Urban Spaces, Academy Editions,London, Fourth Impression, 1988, Pg10

13

Language Of Cities, Fran P. Hosken, The Macmillan Company, New York, First Edition, 1968, pg 37

14

Churchill quoted in Contantinos Doxiadis