Social Architectural Urbanism by Ben Bruce

Social Architectural Urbanism:

For Frenchie

Density of Social Exchange in the Urban Environment

A Prospectus for an Architectural Thesis Ben Bruce 12_10_2014

Statement

It has become cliche to say, “It has become cliche to say that the 21st century is the era of rapid urbanization.” Cities are swelling, and each year, more people live in cities than the last. They are the economic, cultural, and virtual force behind every country on the planet. It’s obvious as to why people are urbanizing before our eyes. With this shift towards urban settlement comes a subsequent shrinkage of space, and a multiplicative inverse of space, which manifests itself as density. Density is the natural result of urban aggregation, and it takes many forms: population, visual, information, built, programmatic, infrastructural, etc. Unfortunately, density has been widely considered as a negative character trait of our cities. It is often associated with health hazard, fire hazard, inhumane living conditions, overstimulation, and a certain heaviness, or darkness. However, dense city centers have long been championed as the poster-children of walkability and ‘sustainability.’ As true as many of these hypotheses have turned out to be, sustainability is a word that has many meanings, only some of which address the most crucial element

in building cities with a ‘sustainable’ future: the social problems. It has been the paramount task of the postmodern architect to remain optimistic about the ability that architecture has to influence social behavior. Ginzburg and Koolhaas refer to this optimistic architecture as a ‘social condenser.’I will examine the role of architecture in urban density, with a specific goal to create what Koolhaas calls an ‘antialienation apparatus’ This thesis attempts to discover a new type of density by which we can use as a critical tool in shaping the urban environments of tomorrow. Along with renewable energies, efficient transit, high population densities, and substantially flexible infrastructure, I hope to outline an architectural urban strategy that promotes an incredible density of social exchange.

Mind Map

Method of Investigation

Potential Situ

Program

Drawing

Surely:

Time

Writing

The City

Space

Mapping

[not so] Surely:

Collage

Developed vs. Developing

Living Organisms [mostly humans] [probably some rats]

Modeling

City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA Criteria: Areas of discernable social malaise Areas devoid of activity Areas of unrecognizable urban form Areas of low urban density

Documentation as Method

This prospectus is to outline the inspiration, precedents, precedent analysis, research, methods, and process which will drive this thesis investigation. On the following pages is the document by which I have come to understand my realm of investigation. This document aims to give you the insight into the aspirations, desires, struggles, contradictions, and emotion that this topic of inquiry comes from. It is a chronological journal of how much I love the city, and what I think is both wrong with how we treat it, as well as where I humbly posit we must go to remedy its soul.

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Social Architectural Urbanism Bibliography

Benjamin, Walter, and Michael William Jennings. “The Flaneur.” In The Writer of Modern Life: Essays on Charles Baudelaire. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006.

Koolhaas, Rem, and Sanford Kwinter. Rem Koolhaas: Conversations with Students. 2nd ed. Houston, Tex.: Rice University, School of Architecture ;, 1996.

Chakrabarti, Vishaan. A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for Urban America. New York, NY: Metropolis Books. Provides a social, cultural, and economic framework of understanding about the city. Chakrabarti expounds a belief that cities are the cure for most, if not all maladies of the 21st century, and outlines in great detail some necessary steps to take in the movement of urbanization.

Lynch, Kevin. The Image of the City. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1960. Lynch provides a philosophy to seeing the city for the image that it really has, and offers analytical tools by which to understand, and properly navigate the urban terrain.

Chakrabarti, Vishaan. “A Country of Cities: Building Hyperdensity and Civic Delight.” Places Journal. Accessed December 10, 2014. https://placesjournal. org/article/building-hyperdensity-and-civic-delight/#ref_1. Heuser, Stephen. “Vulnerability in an Open City - The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://www.bostonglobe.com/ ideas/2013/04/20/vulnerability-open-city/CTlDe6nVl7sWzpXtqeNPqJ/story.html. “Housing Wiki.” Social Condenser -. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://housingplus.wikidot.com/social-condenser. Huang, Tsung. “Chunking Express: Walking With a Map of Desire in the Mirage of the Global City.” In Walking between Slums and Skyscrapers Illusions of Open Space in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004. Urbanized. Plexifilm, 2012. Film. Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage, 1992. Jane Jacobs is a champion of the streets and violently defends the qualities of a city that promote civic life, as well as warns about potential threats to urban society. Koolhaas, Rem. S M L XL: OMA. S.l.: S.n., 1993. The Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s work at all scales is relevant to any investigation into the city. Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. New ed. New York: Monacelli Press, 1994.

Maas, Winy. FARMAX: Excursions on Density. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 1998. FAR Max has served as the framework for much of my desire to redefine density as something qualifiable as well as quantifiable. This book is a critical tool to understand density in every sense of the word. Mayne, Thom, and Stan Allen. Combinatory Urbanism: The Complex Behavior of Collective Form. Culver City, CA: Stray Dog Café, 2011. Examines and outlines strategies that treat urbanism as architecture, and architecture as urbanism. Mayne and Morphosis understand forces of city and extend the invitation to imagine the city as a store of data, as well as a potential catalyst for a truly new urban architecture. Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: Wiley-Academy ;, 2005. Juhani Pallasmaa argues against the ‘hegemony of vision’ in architectural design, and warns against any design that isn’t conceived with the whole body. Rendell, Jane. “The Setting and the Social Condenser: Transitional Objects in Architecture and Psychoanalysis.” http://www.janerendell.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Setting-and-the-Social-Condenser..pdf. Tsukui, Noriko. OMA@work.a U. Tokyo: Ando Y, 2000. “Text Archives Situationist International Texts.” Situationist International Online. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/theory.html.

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Notes