ACADEMIC BOOK REVIEW – URBAN SPACE
ARCHITECTURAL D IGEST
BOOK R EVIEW
THE IDEA OF U RBAN SPACE AND THE MODERN CITY Architectural Digest 2020, Volume 50, 6 page https://www.architecturaldigest.com/ Rob Krier, Urban Space, Academy Editions, German, 1975, 174, hardback, 50. ISBN: 0 85670 576 4
REVIEWED BY: Valarezo, Efrie Author 1; Flores, Katherine Author 2. evalarezo.arq@uisek.edu.ec- kflores.arq@uisek.edu.ec
INTRODUCTION In the context in which the work is carried out, it is a post-war period in 1979, which causes various changes, both architectural and urban. After the second world war, several European cities were devastated, so architecture was forced to develop new construction systems, in this period the well-known modern architecture was developed, but from the 70s the development of the architecture. On the urban planning side, post-war cities consolidated, especially at strategic production points, such as the Rhine River area, especially in Germany due to its rapid industrialization. For these reasons, citizens were forced to adapt to these new architectural and urban changes. Perceiving the public space in a different way and noting the existing flaws in the functioning of the cities and stressing that the pedestrian is the one who should have greater importance in the urban space. First of all, the book is based on the traditional concept of urban space, its structure and how it has been lost in modern cities, followed by the failure of contemporary urban planning. Krier is based on criticism of urban planning of the time because he gave more importance to cars than pedestrians, for this reason, the loss of public space in cities occurs. In general, city reconstruction for Rob Krier consists of developing a new urban planning designing streets and squares for pedestrians that results in restoring the continuity of the spatial experience within cities. To a certain extent, Ciam's urban planning causes the loss of the concept of public space because Krier understands urban space as an open external space with no obstacles to movement. Furthermore, there must be a balance between spatial relationships and urban functional structure with public, semi-public and private areas. This book is recommended because it provides a new philosophical position on urban space. Krier contributes with the idea of reviving the art of architecture that was lost in modernism. Furthermore, it tries to influence us which is the path that cities should take after the destruction caused by the war. Rob Krier through this book provides a clear methodology of how to intervene in public space taking into account spatial, morphological aspects
and, as a priority, he is interested in the pedestrian. It hopes to return the concept of traditional urban space within cities through the development of case studies. BOOK REVIEW In the first part of the book, Rob Krier develops theoretical themes and basic concepts to understand urban space, which is important to know the function of the most important elements that make up the city and how they contribute to urban planning and the city and especially to clarify the basic concept, because otherwise there could be confusion in the perception of what urban space is, since any empty between buildings could be classified as urban space. It is necessary to analyze the geometric and aesthetic characteristics of public space and to be able to distinguish between interior and exterior space. Another important point that the author mentions is how socio-political and cultural movements can influence urban space. The way in which Rob Krier breaks down urban elements to find out their origin is interesting and appropriate. In the case of the plaza, he describes it as the first form of urban space known to man, it arises as a result of the organization of houses around an open space, which gives more control of the interior space. The agoras, cloisters, forums, adopted this urban element, therefore, we see how it begins to acquire a symbolic character in the city. As a second element, the street appears which is thought for the pedestrian, since it is grouped in a compact way around its squares, it is necessary to generate accesses to its lots. It is appropriate to highlight how the author connects these two elements, making it clear that they function as a network, interconnect and generate spatial relationships. This theoretical part also invites you to think about the individual and collective activities that take place in the public space, since the simplest thing is to generate those activities within an internal space, so it is important to have that reflection and analyze the conflicts that arise What are the user's needs for these outdoor activities. In the second part, Rob Krier explains a historical part to us through a historical compilation of various theories that help us understand the evolution of urban space and urban planning. Cities throughout history have undergone erosion processes derived from technological innovation, which currently happens a lot in contemporary cities. Krier exposes us that the French theoretical evolution questioned the knowledge about the construction of the Krier tells us about the need for protection and security in order to build, transform and expand cities, which is important to understand theoretically to be able to apply in the understanding of the city. This book presents 4 publications of the time that are important for urban planning today, for example, we have E. Howard with his book garden cities of the future, Soria and Mata with the ideal cities, Tony Garnier with his cité industrielle and C Sitte with construction of cities according to artistic principles. These theoretical examples help us with theories about the construction of cities, but the theory today helps us to determine fundamental aspects that characterize cities because all these models do not always work since each context is different and each city has its own needs and specific conditions. All these models solved a problem of an era, but they do not solve the future problems of cities. La Sitte is based on aesthetic principles that are not current because Sitte derives theses from the knowledge of history, but the concepts of urban space are valid regardless of time and architectural style, which applies our current context. factories and hospitals established functional and constructive trends that cause urban and architectural impoverishment. The expansions of the cities caused the need to densify the city and to build with more height, to reduce
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the expressions, to simplify the solutions, to stop the construction techniques according to economic criteria, that is to say, it is detached from the architecture of symbolism. Having understood the problems of urban planning, it is essential to propose solutions to them. Rob Krier explains a methodological part through the city of Stuttgart because aspects such as industrial development, population growth and having a vision of future changes for the city must be understood for planning. The current urbanism refuses to space because it responds to socio-political factors by giving priority to traffic before the pedestrian as it happens today. Krier develops a series of analyzes with a future vision of his proposals, for example in the university area, taking into account future movements as he would move outside the city and in contrast to the modern movement, he explains the mix of urban functions to be able to complement the activity of the university area. Many of the cities, most of the main problems are due to poor planning, since they do not take historical conscience due to mistaken interpretations of the space "nowadays it is more useful to copy something old than to establish something new". Currently in architecture schools they use reinterpretation and not in a copy as Krier establishes because replicating something out of fashion is not always the solution to the problem. In all of this, the theory part must be understood and conjugated with many more important variables derived from a context. Future planning is important for Krier for example urban development around high-speed transport routes, as the city has exponential growth and it is very certain that places like these will begin to populate. The author makes a significant proposal for the time of urban planning, mainly focused on the smallest communities, these should be coordinated with the broader or developed regional plan (i.e. the largest city) to achieve urban harmonization and transition adequate between them. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the author in this book criticizes the urban planning and proposals of the so-called modern city by CIAM. Rob Krier raises his own philosophical stance according to a neo-ancient ideology to solve the problems of poor urban planning of destroyed and residual spaces. The most important thing is to carry out prospective and adequate planning processes through a historical, morphological reinterpretation and create spatial sequences between each of the elements that make up cities such as squares and streets. As a first point, the basic concepts about public space are discussed, such as the street and plaza and their origin. Likewise, the influence of aspects that influence the development of urban space such as culture, society and politics is analyzed. The erosion of cities caused by functionalism is a phenomenon present in contemporary city, many of the theoretical models such as the garden city, the Sitte and the industrial city failed in their evolution over time and currently do not work for the current context. In many cities around the world the biggest problem of urban planning today is to refuse space due to socio-political factors, giving priority to vehicular traffic. Krier had a concern for the future planning of possible changes in the city and that there is urban harmony and an adequate transition between them. In summary, the work of Rob Krier (Urban Space) provides an important contribution at the time of urban planning because it shows errors that were made in cities, especially in the period of modernism and gives proposals to give greater importance to the user and generate connections between the different urban elements, these aspects being taken into account so that urban plans today have balance and adequate functionality.
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REFERENCES
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