Cities and Urbanism & Research Methodologies and Events by Eddie Bai

Cities and Urbanism + Research Methodologies and Events By Chengrang Bai Student ID: 20060256 Email: baichengrang@qq.com

MSA Architecture and Urbanism 2021

Copyright © 2021 Manchester, United Kingdom ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Manchester School of Architecture Manchester Metropolitan University (Student ID: 20060256) University of Manchester Copyright reserved by Chengrang Bai MA Architecture and Urbanism iii

Table of Contents

Cities and Urbanism Part 1: Review of Urban Design

1 4

Part 2: Urban Design and The Image of the City

Reference and Picture credits

Research Methodologies and Events

About the Symposium

Part 1: Initial Ideas on the Symposium

Part 2: Reflections on the Symposium -The emptiness in the city

Reference and Picture credits

45 v

Cities and Urbanism

Cover of Urban Desgin 3

Part 1: Review of Urban Design

About This book Urban Design was co-authored by Ed Wall and Tim Waterman, was published by AVA Publishing SA in 2010. Ed Wall is Academic Portfolio Holder for Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Greenwich. Tim Waterman is Associate Professor of History and Theory of Landscape Architecture at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture. They are both authorities on landscape architecture and urbanism. This book contains six chapters: 1. What is urban design? 2. Context 3. Measure 4. Movement 5. Community 6. Projects and processes. Ed Wall and Tim Waterman (2010) explained four main points: • The similarities between urban design and landscape design • The important landscape architecture techniques and contexts in urban design • The urban design techniques and contexts that are useful for landscape design • How different projects around the world demonstrate the interconnectedness of urban design and landscape architecture The author aims to make the reader understand how to make decisions in urban design using ample background notes and numerous examples. The study of architecture in the city is sometimes seen as an essential starting point for urban design and architecture, but this book offers some diverse perspectives. The authors see urban design as a comprehensive art that integrates time, space, civilisation, and architecture (Wall and Waterman, 2010). This essay will briefly describe some of the qualities of urban design from two perspectives - time and space - in the context of this book. This paper is not long enough to comprehensively discuss the two aspects of urban design in this book. Therefore, two representative sub-points will be discussed - the history of the evolution of urban form and the measure of the street. 4

The evolution of urban form This sub-point comes from Chapter 1. This book roughly divides the evolution of urban form into three periods, they are early urban design, industrial age urban design, and post 19th-century urban design. This division is not very rigorous. Cities around the world, such as some Chinese cities, industrialised about 100 years later than some Western cities (Twitchett et al., 2015). Although the book is largely based on Western perspectives and Western cities, its comprehensive explanations and discussions can still help in the urban design part of the decisionmaking process. In the section on early urban design, it is stated that some early cities, some two to three thousand years ago, had a similar urban design. The design is often inextricably linked to rulers and theocrats (Wall and Waterman, 2010). For example, Hippodamus of Miletus in ancient Greece, its seemingly perfect grid embodies both human domination of the landscape and divine order. In the Middle Ages, however, some cities were influenced by the natural topography. The form of the city was also influenced by an important factor of that time - trade. The famous trading city of Florence, for example, was so rich from trade that it built many comfortable scale buildings and popular squares. In the second section, on industrial age urban design, the book briefly describes the revolutionary idealisation of urban design by designers and theorists of the time such as Charles Fourier and Robert Owen. In the wake of industrialisation, they began to think about how to change the way people lived and to explore the idea of a better model of the city. This period also had a profound impact on the modern urban design (Wall and Waterman, 2010). The final section discusses the development of urban design after the 19th century and a vision of the future. More importantly, it points out the contradiction between sustainability and the economic development of cities. However, the book does not provide an in-depth explanation and analysis of this issue, which should be almost unavoidable in the work of current urban planners and architects (López and Toman, 2012).

Miletus, Ionia, now Turkey 6

This section provides a brief introduction and discussion of the evolution of urban design, with the main purpose of drawing out some of the problems of the present and future urban design. The next sections of the book then present some solutions and ideas from various aspects. However, the authors do not go into detail about some of the famous theories such as Le Corbusier's Ville Contemporaine, many of which are still of great relevance to current design strategies. The reader will need to read other books in greater depth and expansion to understand some of the content of this book.

Le Corbusier's Ville Contemporaine 8

The measure of the street This sub-point comes from Chapter 3.This section draws on a variety of examples to analyse an important space in urban design that is often neglected - the street. The measures of the street are width, height, and length (Wall and Waterman, 2010). The ratio of these three scales has a great influence on the sense of enclosure of the street. For example, the streets of Milan, Italy, and Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europ in Berlin. Another point is the influence of the measures of the street on circulation. Roads with different widths and turning radii can directly affect the speed of pedestrians or vehicles. A well-designed street provides a safer way for pedestrians to walk (Ewing and Dumbaugh, 2009). The last point is the impact of the street on the urban armature. The linear structure of the street is an important part of the urban transport network. Different street lengths can bring about different experiences. The book states that a typical pedestrianised commercial street should not exceed approximately 200 metres. A special example is the 4 km long Las Vegas Strip. It is also a commercial street with many hotels, shopping malls and casinos on both sides of the Strip. People experience it by car. So, in the last 10 years, transport methods and technology have evolved to provide a more efficient and convenient shopping experience for shoppers ( Jaller and Pahwa, 2020). Restrictions on the length of the street need to be more sensitive to the actual urban environment and the needs of the community. In practice, more detailed data analysis and reflection should be carried out in relation to the actual situation of the project site, avoiding the mechanical application of others' theories. This section explores the impact of the measure of the street on the experience of space. The section uses a wide range of practical examples and photographs to demonstrate these changes directly. It helps architects and urban planners to grasp the measure of these urban spaces. The text does not, of course, give specific data to guide design, so that the reader is not limited to methods and techniques. Rather, it is important to think about the relationship between the measure of the street and people, vehicles, and buildings.

Milan, Italy

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, Peter Eisenman 10

Conclusion This book describes the relationship between landscape architecture and urban design in a broadly defined way. At the same time, the numerous case studies in the book provide several valuable lessons and approaches. However, it is not possible to cover all aspects of urban design, but its main aim is to provide the reader with many perspectives and frameworks for decision making about urban design through a comprehensive perspective - time, space, civilisation and architecture. Most of the content is not discussed and analysed in-depth in this book, probably due to length limitations. Many of the cases are also presented for demonstration purposes only. Overall, the book is a great guide to the methods and modes of thinking about urban design.

Cover of The Image of the City 13

Part 2: Urban Design and The

Image of the City

About The Image of the City was first published in 1960 mainly by Kevin Lynch. He was a leading American urban planner. This book concentrates on the residents' image of the city. People observe the various symbols of the urban form and thus gradually recognise the image of the city (Lynch, 1960). The clearer the symbols and structures of the city, the more people can recognise the city and thus bring about psychological stability. At the same time, the Lynch (1960) believed that the image of the city is the result of a two-way interaction between the inhabitants and the city. Residents are involved in forming part of the image of the city in their daily lives. The study selected three typical cities in the United States - Boston, Jersey City and Los Angeles - and used a city sampling method by asking respondents to draw cognitive maps for the study. The main difference between this book and Urban Design is that it aims to give an analytical approach to the city, whereas Urban Design gives a number of methods and ideas to help design decisions, and is more of an integrated approach to design. It is important to point out, however, that the research method (the relationship between visual perception and physical form) in The Image of the City can also be used to some extent as design assistance. Further, analytical methods and design methods can complement each other. Similarly, the content of Urban Design can be used to guide planners to a more effective analysis and interpretation of the city. The second major difference between the two books is their timeliness. The Image of the City was published some 50 years before the other book. The interpretations of three American cities from that time and some of the book's conclusions may be outdated or misleading. Finally, The Image of the City was naturally a profound influence on the authors of Urban Design. A visual cognitive analysis approach can also be found in Chapter 3 - Measure of Urban Design. 14

What is the image of the city The first chapter of this book identifies two core aspects of the image of the city: legibility and imaginability. Legibility refers to the recognisable elements of the city and the distinctive graphic composition of several elements (Lynch, 1960). The observer, for example the inhabitant, slowly extracts an image of the city through his or her daily life. These images often consist of three parts: identification, structure and meaning. By summarising the image of the city of many observers, the imaginability of a city or region can be derived. An example of this is the ring-like structure of Chengdu and the south-facing central axis. In his book, Kevin Lynch has selected five basic elements to analyse Paths, Edges, Districts, Nodes and Landmarks. The following section will explain these five elements in the context of Urban Design and Chengdu.

Map of Chengdu and its south-facing central axis 15

Paths The road is often considered the dominant element, with other elements placed along the roadside. Kevin Lynch (1960) suggests that a road must have continuity if it is recognisable, and that it should also be directional and measurable, with features and patterns that allow people to easily distinguish direction and location. And the importance of roads is mainly because the linear structure of streets can easily form the framework system of the city, and also streets are an important kind of transportation network in the whole city (Wall and Waterman, 2010). Take Chengdu's Tianfu Avenue as an example, which is a road of approximately 40 metres wide starting from the centre of the city all the way to the south. It connects the whole south Chengdu and establishes a strong directionality and measurability through the changing landscape and architecture around the road. It also guides the planning framework for the south side of Chengdu.

Tianfu avenue, Chengdu 16

Edges Edges are another linear element that only serve to reference and organise the area. Some edges are formed by the combination of several buildings, but there are also single structures that can be considered as edges, such as the ring road in Chengdu and the ancient city wall in Avila, Spain. Edges are often not barriers of separation and people can cross them. However, unlike roads, edges are often not directional in themselves and can only distinguish between different areas.

Ancient city wall, Avila 17

Districts Districts are larger urban areas that are accessible to the public, and within them there are usually some distinctive characteristics or similar themes, such as similar styles of architecture, or areas of minority ethnicity. These characteristics may be determined by people or by the city itself. Characteristics or themes are often distilled into a name. In Urban Design there is no concept of district; it uses an alternative element to describe the district block. The city is divided into blocks by roads, the function of the buildings, the massing of the buildings and the density of the buildings. Both blocks and district may not present linear edges, but the strong characteristics of districts and blocks make it easy for people to identify where they are located. Residents of Chengdu, for example, can instantly recognise the old industrial area of the city because of the similar style of the 7-storey houses there. These houses are not often found in other districts of Chengdu.

Old industrial areas, Chengdu 18

Nodes A node is generally a convergence point for certain urban functions, with transport nodes being the most typical. Most nodes have an open public space, such as Chengdu's Tianfu Square. This square is not only a common transport node (an underground interchange), but it is also a meeting point for various museums and government institutions in Chengdu. In The Image of the City the node is known as an urban space. In that book there is not much emphasis on the properties of the observer, the urban space may not be rich in public functions or attributes, which is a more general concept. Because there are many overlapping and separate groups, and the urban spaces that are familiar to some small groups are not familiar to most others. So perhaps a graffiti-filled corner in Los Angeles could be called an urban space but not a node.

Tianfu square, Chengdu 19

Landmarks A landmark often stands out from the many elements that make up a city. It often relies on its uniqueness and distinctiveness to reinforce its importance in the city. It can often be seen and identified from a distance and people can identify their location by it. Huge monuments are a more common type of landmark, such as the statue of Mao in Chengdu.

Statue of Mao, Chengdu 20

From physical space to human society The greatest impact of The Image of the City in the 1960s was to make planners and architects aware of the relationship between cities and subjective human perception. Kevin Lynch demonstrated a new way of evaluating cities decades ago. This theory of perceiving the physical form of the city through people's vision was a major contribution to the field of large-scale urban design. At this time, some designers were still only concerned with the city itself, the architecture itself, and economic efficiency (Osborn and Whittick, 1977). But it is not enough for the book to focus on the relationship between human visual perception and the city. Firstly, although Kevin Lynch gives a tool for analysing the city that can be used to guide some of the designs of that time, it is quite limited. In the book Urban Design, it is argued that cities are not only about beautifying places (visual perception), but also about better communication between people and their environment (Wall and Waterman, 2010). The city is a concrete expression of human society or civilisation. To start with the visual only would be to ignore many factors such as economics, politics and community and culture. Therefore, a broad understanding and study of the city's cultural context is required when analysing cities. Secondly, the authors see people's understanding of the urban environment as only a visual perception of material forms, much like zoologists in their analysis of how animals find their way and adapt to their environment. Further, visual perception is only from the human instinct to survive. Except for some iconic buildings and spaces, the public's recollection of a building or space is usually first in what they did there. It is only in the end that people recall the exterior of the building and the details of the space. The public seems to remember the image of the city more through the events than the details of the exterior of the building and the space. So visual analysis may have some limitations. Finally, the five elements of urban analysis are widely used in urban design as they are more effective in developing local area concepts and designs. In practice it is the designer who uses the five elements to delineate the urban fabric, for example windows, doors and hedges may be considered as edge and therefore this delineation can often be strongly subjective. A subjective over-emphasis on the order of urban elements may lead planners to ignore the ambiguity, mystery and wonder of urban 21

form in their analysis or design. Lastly, the larger the urban area analysed the less precise the analysis of the five elements may be, and the actual design may have more detailed elements to interpret more realistic situations and issues.

Conclusion By researching the relationship between visual cognition and physical space, Kevin Lynch offers an approach to urban design that also introduces a new dimension to urban design. However, the book still focuses too much on the echoes of visual perception in the city itself, ignoring the importance of people and society. Urban Design complements many of the missing elements of The Image of the City with ample background and case studies, while the social perspective of the book provides a more comprehensive discussion of the relationship between people and cities. In general both books help to build a more complete approach to urban design and thinking.

Reference Ewing, R. and Dumbaugh, E., 2009. The Built Environment and Traffic Safety. Journal of Planning Literature, 23(4), pp.347-367. Jaller, M. and Pahwa, A., 2020. Evaluating the environmental impacts of online shopping: A behavioral and transportation approach. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 80, p.102223. López, R. and Toman, M., 2012. Economic development and environmental sustainability. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lynch, K., 1960. Image of the city. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Osborn, F. and Whittick, A., 1977. New towns. London: Hill. Twitchett, D., Fairbank, J., Loewe, M., Franke, H., Mote, F., Liu, K., MacFarquhar, R., Feuerwerker, A., Peterson, W., Smith, P. and Chaffee, J., 2015. The Cambridge history of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wall, E. and Waterman, T., 2010. Urban design. Lausanne: AVA Publishing SA.

Picture credits Page 6: Miletus image, courtesy of The National Trust for Historic Preservation Library Collection. Page 8: Le Corbusier's Ville Contemporaine, from https://99percentinvisible.org/article/ville-radieuse-le-corbusiersfunctionalist-plan-utopian-radiant-city/ Page 10: Both images supplied by Ed Wall and Tim Waterman. Page 15: Image supplied by Chengrang Bai. Page 16: Tianfu Avenue image, VCG.com. Page 17: Ancient city wall image, VCG.com. Page 18: Image supplied by Chengrang Bai. Page 19: Tianfu square image, VCG.com. Page 20: Statue of Mao image, VCG.com.

Research Methodologies and Events

About the Symposium

"This symposium responds to some of the most urgent societal challenges we continue to face in post-pandemic urban contexts. The talks focus on re-thinking the urban and envisioning the future of city centres that might no longer predominantly need to be designed for the worker and the commuter. How to deal with places that are heritage in the making or can we return to the status quo? Instead of pushing a vision of what the world will or should be, the symposium will deal with what the future could be. Invited speakers from interdisciplinary backgrounds will be re-evaluating the prominent position that work and education have in our cities and exploring possibilities for more inclusive and liveable urban centres. The symposium will offer an open, inspirational and yet critical platform for collaborative re-working of the future city."

Left: Poster made by Chengrang Bai Right: Introduction of this symposium from the documentation "SYMPOSIUM RATIONALE " 30

Part 1: Initial Ideas on the Symposium

In 2020, coronaviruses swept the world, affecting all walks of life. Home offices, park closures, restaurant closures, public transport shutdowns, party bans, temperature checks on high-speed trains and planes, to name but a few. But throughout the history of urban architecture around the world, in a positive sense, each major disease epidemic has led to new explorations and innovations in urban design. For example, the Black Death of the 17th century led to the design and construction of largescale urban sewerage systems (Windsor, 1984). This epidemic also had some positive effects. Firstly, the crisis led to the popularity of working from home, which was found to be an efficient way of working, saving time and increasing work flexibility (Mark Zuckerberg on taking his massive workforce remote, 2021). This will also lead to a more networked and virtualised way of working in the future. Secondly, during the epidemic, people became increasingly aware of the importance of outdoor public spaces in their daily lives (Health et al., 2020). At the height of the epidemic, public parks and gardens around the world closed their gates for reasons of safe social distance. Residents were forced to exercise in the streets and alleys. This is of course only part of the positive impact, and this epidemic certainly won't be the last epidemic crisis either. I have more ideas and thoughts about the future of the city. 31

Resilient cities and Safe buildings During the epidemic, some countries and regions were rapidly converting their conference centres or sports stadiums into mobile cabin hospitals. (CGTN, 2020). However, at the moment these hospitals are being converted into cubicles simply by using the original space, and not much prior design preparation has been done for these buildings, especially for relatively old public buildings. In the future, cities may add more white space to their plans - buildings and areas that can be quickly converted to other uses in the event of a pandemic or other type of disaster. For example, more parks, sports stadiums or conference centres could be added to city plans. Not only do these buildings or areas meet a variety of needs of their own, but they are also designed in advance to transform their function in response to a public crisis. These white spaces in the city can add significantly to the resilience of the city.

Secondly, safer building design can help reduce the number of people vulnerable to the spread of viruses. For example, the design of airport security areas could be changed so that travellers would not be forced to wait together in a crowded area. New and upgraded airports will increase the number of security check lanes and reduce the number of checkpoints when passengers are boarding. This, together with automated security check lanes, reduces waiting times for passengers, prevents crowded queues and increases the risk of person-to-person transmission. As a result, contactless security checks at transport hub buildings such as airports and high-speed rail stations will become increasingly popular. At the same time, fresh, safe air is being channelled into buildings through more sophisticated equipment to improve

A mobile cabin hospital in Wuhan converted from a sports stadium 32

ventilation in dense areas. The constant flow of fresh air will make people less likely to be infected indoors (Ventilation in Buildings, 2019). Future technology will be able to help us do even more, for example, with sensors that can detect surface viruses in real time. In the near future, some buildings themselves, such as hospitals, will even be able to recognise and deal with viruses.

Megalopolis and Counterurbanisation The growth of megacities has been unstoppable (Caves, n.d.). Places like New York, London and Paris have become increasingly wealthy and busy, and since 2000 they have survived the bursting of the internet bubble, the financial crisis and terrorist attacks. But this epidemic crisis is different. It poses a high risk to health and life. For example, in New York, which accounts for 3% of the US population, about 50,000 people have died from coronavirus (Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count, 2021). This figure is much higher than in most rural and remote areas. In such epidemics, initiatives to increase social distances to reduce the risk of transmission make it difficult for people to gather in offices, schools and bars. But unlike the Spanish flu epidemic of a century ago, many employees today have more options. People are adapting to working and studying from home, and some of them are already enjoying it. facebook has announced that it will let many employees continue to work remotely even after the epidemic (Mark Zuckerberg on taking his massive workforce remote, 2021). As a result, the commercial and residential real estate market may shrink as many jobs may move out of the city. Shops and cafes on commercial streets may close due to a reduction in office workers, tourists and students. Of course, cities are more resilient to risk than might be thought (Mitchell, 2004). Cities remain irreplaceable to suburbs and villages in terms of collaborative innovation and increased productivity, providing a platform for people to build social networks and collaborate. During the epidemic, white-collar workers could hold video conferences in large houses in the suburbs and countryside to accomplish task scheduling and teamwork because they had previously built relationships in the corporate office and understood and identified with the company's culture. Although they are not in the city, they still take the same approach to collaboration as they do in the city. It is easy to see that the CBD is still essential in big cities. So how the city will develop in the future after the epidemic is bound to be a complex subject.

Part 2: Reflections on the Symposium

The emptiness in the city The epidemic and the skyscraper The epidemic of 2020 has brought the world to an unanticipated time when people start to work and study at home. The huge cities have lost their hustle and bustle and the skyscrapers that sit in the middle of them are beginning to look bleak (Nikkei, 2020). Since the Industrial Revolution, cities have risen in unprecedented numbers around the world. Most of them reflect the wishes of utopian architects or city planners. They are based on seemingly omnipotent so-called "plans", which are based on statistics of urban development, on the right density, on smooth traffic and on sufficient sunlight. In these cities, the streets are divided into different classes and the land is marked in red, blue or whatever colour to indicate the function of the respective blocks. The areas are divided into city centres, sub-centres and suburbs. In these new cities, life has also become hierarchical, so that conflicts and divisions have penetrated into everyday life. Now cities and communities are stagnating. Our cities may not be omnipotent. Architecture and urban design based on a suspicion of reason may need a new conceptual framework, and this means that we may disconnect from the past when monumental architecture prevailed, the result of overconfidence in our own reason and blind obedience. Some have tried to find the answers to new urban design in cultural deposits, hoping that they will be transformed and reborn as new ideas for a new era. But the city's cultural heritage feeds and serves a large population with very different needs. The urban environment is made up of people with different cultural interests and needs, which are expressed and met through different types of public space (LOPEZ-PINEIRO, 2020). The urban fabric is characterised by both capital and cultural agglomeration. Many cities are faced with the contradiction between capital and culture, and this seems to be particularly evident in the urban void. Because of the importance of both for the construction and definition of the public sphere, the urban void is expected to embody distinctive features and attractions that are closely linked to the economic stability and dynamism of the city. However, due to the diversity of user groups, these spaces must be temporary and overlapping, and therefore often conflict in terms of properties and land use. 36

Destroyed whiteness At the same time in many cases the blank-leaving in the urban emptiness is not accepted or appreciated by the general public (LOPEZ-PINEIRO, 2020). These spaces are often impatiently given new uses, but the way most designers envisage the development of the urban emptiness inevitably destroys its whiteness. Therefore, any design related to the urban emptiness should prioritise the preservation of the emptiness to ensure that its qualities as an open space that can hold true publicness are preserved in a continuous urban fabric dominated by capital. In today's cities, free space is usually residual space. In a strict sense, that is not free space either, but just space between things. It arises from the fact that there are tensions that have not yet been resolved, so that these spaces have to be left empty. In this way, the meaning of modern free space is transformed into a emptiness in the city, the meaning of which is to be sought in the tensions that create it (Bru, 1997).

Richard Serra, a representative of Minimalism, saw space as matter. His numerous steel sculptures are a materialisation of empty space. His works, which become a special kind of space, allow us to experience a sense of gravity and weight (Solomon, 2019). His use and construction of space gives a special meaning to an unremarkable landscape. Creating a heavy tension in the space where gravity once existed, creating a completely different relationship and system.

From left to right, “Torqued Ellipse II,” 1996; “Double Torqued Ellipse” 1997; “Torqued Ellipse I,” 1996, Richard Serra 38

Rachel Whiteread emphasises the materiality of space in a more substantial way. She materialises even the immaterial, which we cannot see, by removing the outer shell of the building and even moulding space within it. She asserts that space is not the piece that remains, but is deliberately premeditated and already there (BLYTHE, 2020).

“House”, 1993, Rachel Whiteread 39

The courtyard at Ryōanji (The Temple of the Dragon at Peace) in Japan is also a material manifestation of emptiness, perhaps in the same way as Whiteread's definition of space. But although this space is empty, there is no matter to enter, and nothing within it can change position. This courtyard seems to be filled with transparent ice, a very clear expression of the materiality of space. These spaces allow us to touch the beauty of the emptiness that sleeps in unparalleled tranquillity.

“Ryōan-ji” 40

But this emptiness can be rigid, pre-determined and, in a sense, dead, because it is not relevant to our daily lives. The lack of planning is precisely what gives the void its characteristic potential. In order to make use of this potential, it is necessary to protect the urban void here and now before formal plans are proposed. Once it has been filled with plans, their whiteness disappears - for these plans will necessarily be concretely implemented through design solutions, thus excluding any other opportunities or possibilities. Thus, before conceiving of the use of the urban void, the uncertainty and ambiguity that the void possesses must first be protected - but paradoxically, this idea must ensure that the void does not possess any properties. In contrast, the old Chinese courtyard is vivid and alive. Despite their undefined shape and function, they create tension and allow us a special experience of innovation.

”Temporary dining room”, 2017 42

"Streets" In some Islamic cities such as Doha, mentioned by Daniel Elsea in Symposium, the network of roads is intertwined like a labyrinth, with squared-off houses that fit together and look like beehives. There is no hierarchy between the roads, such as the main roads or the metro. There are no Western-style centres or sub-centres, of course. There are no squares, no parks, and no distinction between commercial or residential areas. Each part of the city looks similar and equal. However, if you enter an alleyway, you will be struck by the variety of shapes and forms within. Irregular alleys, some of them dark and dismal, serve not only as passageways but also as places where the public activities that make up our daily lives take place. It is these urban voids that bring our communities to life. In particular, if we walk into any small home, we can see a sun-drenched courtyard. These voids are the essence and pulse of the city itself. We don't need to know every part of the city in order to understand it. In other words, the parts of the city are more important than the whole. Undoubtedly, there is no requirement there for that allpowerful plan. The most important thing here, is the creation of the void. That is its very existence. I don't mean that only the deliberately empty spaces in the courtyards and buildings are called 'voids'. I think that the spaces between the buildings that are not occupied are more important. Naturally, the space between the main buildings and the city itself, or between areas, is also important. During the local festival we experienced, and saw, roads that had been filled with cars being transformed into places for people to enjoy themselves. This example shows us that urban space is fluid. But the 'urban void' - which covers a much wider range - is much broader than that. Even in a small room, 'urban voids' - places of emptiness with an urban character - can be found, even on walls and in building materials. Although the urban void creates many social opportunities, it is not without its risks. As a by-product, the urban void was not originally designed and therefore not permanently defined. As a result, urban voids can be given different connotations depending on their function, and it is this 'fluid quality' that allows people of different identities to use them in their own way. It is clear that for the urban void to remain open, it must not be permanently defined - that is, it should be a space that cannot be 43

remembered. In other words, the urban void is a space that suffers from 'aphasia' (LOPEZ-PINEIRO, 2020). Memory is an important way of forming and defining identity. Therefore, the inability to retain memories can effectively defeat the public's desire to maintain and protect their individual or collective identity in public space. Given this, the urban void may be an inappropriate or completely unacceptable type of public space for particular situations or communities. However, these shortcomings are not significant when confronted with the great discourse that the urban void has in terms of its ability to provide services to different groups simultaneously. The void is an elusive quality of space, full of the possibility of constant escape from reality - if this characteristic is protected, the urban void will have an unparalleled quality of openness. Perhaps it is important to create new tensions within these new voids and to use these tensions to create a new sense of materiality. Architecture realises the system of our existence and the foundations of our lives. But many of the urban voids that have been realised are still unknown, which can be both unfortunate and fortunate. One still has access to an infinite range of imaginings about that unrealised space.

Reference Part 1: Initial Ideas on the Symposium Caves, R. (n.d.) Encyclopedia of the city. London: Routledge, p.456. Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count. (2021) Nytimes. com. [Online] [Accessed on 16 May 2021] https://www.nytimes.com/ interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html. CGTN (2020) Wuhan Vlog: A look into a mobile cabin hospital. [video] [Accessed on 16 May 2021] https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=GR0RxurA57s. Health, B., Clínic, C. and Mar, C. (2020) Public Spaces and Health in PostPandemic Cities - Blog. ISGlobal. [Online] [Accessed on 16 May 2021] https://www.isglobal.org/en/healthisglobal/-/custom-blog-portlet/losespacios-publicos-y-la-salud-en-la-ciudad-pospandemia/8000927/12302. Mark Zuckerberg on taking his massive workforce remote. (2021) The Verge. [Online] [Accessed on 16 May 2021] https://www.theverge. com/2020/5/21/21265780/facebook-remote-work-mark-zuckerberginterview-wfh. Mitchell, C. (2004) 'Making sense of counterurbanization'. Journal of Rural Studies, 20(1) pp.15-34. Ventilation in Buildings. (2019) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Online] [Accessed on 16 May 2021] https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/ventilation.html. Windsor, A. (1984) 'Review: John Soane: The Making of an Architect by Pierre de La Ruffinière Du Prey'. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 43(1) pp.84-85.

0 Part 2: Reflections on the Symposium - The emptiness in the city BLYTHE, F. (2020) Rachel Whiteread: casting memories and animating voids. HERO magazine. [Online] [Accessed on 19 June 2021] https:// hero-magazine.com/article/172782/rachel-whiteread/. Bru, E. (1997) Three on the Site. Barcelona: ACTAR. LOPEZ-PINEIRO, S. (2020) 'THE LIMIT TOWARD EMPTINESS: URBAN VOIDS AS PUBLIC SPACE'. [online] Landscape Architecture Frontiers, 8(5) p.120. [Accessed on 19 June 2021] https://doi. org/10.15302/J-LAF-1-030020. Nikkei, s. (2020) Post-pandemic happiness isn't living in a skyscraper: architect Kengo Kuma. Nikkei Asia. [Online] [Accessed on 19 June 2021] https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Post-pandemic-happiness-isn-tliving-in-a-skyscraper-architect-Kengo-Kuma. Solomon, D. (2019) Richard Serra Is Carrying the Weight of the World. Nytimes.com. [Online] [Accessed on 19 June 2021] https://www. nytimes.com/2019/08/28/arts/design/richard-serra-gagosian-sculpture. html.

Picture credits Page 32: A mobile cabin hospital in Wuhan converted from a sports stadium, screenshot from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=GR0RxurA57s Page 38: From left to right, “Torqued Ellipse II,” 1996; “Double Torqued Ellipse” 1997; “Torqued Ellipse I,” 1996, Richard Serra. via Dia Art Foundation; Bill Jacobson Studio Page 39: “House”, 1993, Rachel Whiteread. via Rachel Whiteread Page 40: “Ryōan-ji”. via Wikipedia Page 42: ”Temporary dining room”, 2017, Gang Yang.