UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM
NOTHING OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT
ARCHITECTURAL RE-CONTEXTUALISATION
CONTENTS Scenario........................................ 1 SITE ANALYSIS English townscape......................... 3 Roman beginnings......................... 4 PRECEDENT ANALYSIS Traditional townscape.................... 5 Public realm................................... 6 Layering......................................... 7 Re-contextualising......................... 8 CONCEPTS Access concept............................. 9 Insertion concept......................... 10 Functional concept...................... 11 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT Development model..................... 12 Orientation of insertions............... 13 Network of insertions................... 14
SCENARIO: NOTHING OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
"A town without a prosperous, powerful resident middle class is a town in trouble, and so it is a town in which the middle class think that the country is better." . Mark Girouad
"There is no easy answer, no grand sweeping solution. But to love one's own town, and to learn everything one can about its history and what gives it its individuality, is at least a step in the right direction.". Mark Girouad
"The problem of how to keep traditional towns alive, without destroying what makes life worth living in them." . Mark Girouad
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SCENARIO: NOTHING OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
The traditional town was planned for a society which no longer exists. Through combining a sense of nostalgia and desire for what was once Newport's unique identity it may be possible to reintroduce the variety of human activity to Newport with a new network of insertions that mediate with the existing urban fabric. English townscape was the common catalyst for progression and popularity in medieval English towns and since te language of townscape has been neglected the towns have been deserted for the lure of the countryside. The Isle of Wight has been a test bed for various ventures due to its isolation from the mainland. This makes it suitable for testing a new hybrid style of town where the original identity and composition of the town can be re-purposed to accommodate a thriving more equal community which in turn will create a healthier and more prosperous way of living in the modern era. Unique to the island is a thriving calendar of public events and leisure activities which attract people from all over the country. Attracting these visitors back to Newport by creating a more engaging environment can be achieved by showcasing the high quality of English townscape at Newport alongside an altogether different urban model that promotes a more functional way of living in the town.
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SITE ANALYSIS: ENGLISH TOWNSCAPE
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
Focal Points
Enclosure
Mystery
Variety
Being a largely intact medieval town Newport has maintained a strong sense of its English character. Richard de Redvers, who planned the town before 1135, used elements of English townscape to impress the town upon its dwellers through journey and this architectural device is still central to how Newport converses with new visitors today. The English picturesque was stylised by the intensity of the journeys it created. Heading to a focal point visible above the rest of the skyline along a path which obscured its journey creates a sense of mystery and intrigue. Unlike other styles of urban town planning it welcomes an architecture of richness and variety so the mind of the dweller is always stimulated.
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SITE ANALYSIS: ROMAN BEGINNINGS Newport owes its composition to the Roman town planning model. There are two squares reserved for trade and worship respectively. These are easily accessed by four roads which crossover at St. James' Square. Being situated close to the navigable River Medina the town could be accessed by sea for trade, had fertile land for agricultural use and a sewage outlet. The river gives Newport its significance at the centre of the island because it was more convenient for people to travel there from all corners of the Isle of Wight.
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UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
PRECEDENT ANALYSIS: TRADITIONAL TOWNSCAPE
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
Locality of material
Original architecture
Pedestrian zone
Elevated journey
Chichester City Centre is one of the most successful examples of a current day medieval town because unlike Newport it uses its heritage and identity to create a sense of nostalgia which people and businesses alike want to buy into. It speaks of locality with its use of flint in construction which is individual to the Hampshire downs area. The four high streets are pedestrianised on a scale incomparable with neighbouring cities which allows freedom of movement and thus freedom to experience. The Architecture is not all original but the more contemporary additions are on the whole carefully composed by what surrounds them. They do not distract from the character of the journey through the space. The original journeys through the town whether open high streets or narrow alleys are as important as they are now as they were then. There has been no effort to bypass these journeys with developments in modern infrastructure. Chichester owes its popularity to its originality and this can be used to influence Newport. Unlike Chichester it has lost a large number of original buildings that have been replaced with buildings that detract from that English townscape aesthetic so retaining the original buildings and amending sites with contemporary developments is a strategy that could be pursued at Newport. 5
PRECEDENT ANALYSIS: PUBLIC REALM
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
New Road was a street which was under-performing despite its heritage and diverse range of cultural institutions. It had become a hub of anti-social behaviour and was failing to attract neither small businesses or visitors. Approaching the project from the aspect of creating an outdoor space to gather and talk comfortably was intriguing. A road should be a way of access but the idea of creating a stop off point to engage the public with the cultural institutions promotes community interaction and growth. Jan Gehl Architects are fervently anti-motor vehicle. In a modern world where efficiency is paramount this breaks the cycle. This is not a bad idea however because it promotes the urban environment as a place to gather and enjoy rather than a noisy polluted place where road networks govern pedestrians. Without pavements and seating restricted to the perimeter the street becomes freer and more functional for activity and change. The most important part of this scheme is the focus on the public realm. Public circulation space is redefined as a gathering space for pedestrians independent of traffic which would also benefit Newport. The dual carriageway at Newport encloses and thus strangles the town while the few public spaces in the town centre are damaged by the sight and sound of traffic on the narrow streets. 6
PRECEDENT ANALYSIS: LAYERING
Catalhoyuk Catalhoyuk was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city in Turkey. It is one of the early architectural examples of layering where the dead were buried within the settlement under the floor. This captures the idea of layering and how the presence of an absent past can be used to create continuity with the current and future.
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
The Spatial City Yona Friedman pursued the idea of layering in architecture where new insertions are placed on a plane above ground level. The concept was created with the idea that a city growing vertically would provide a limitless and freer way of urban design and urban living.
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PRECEDENT ANALYSIS: RE-CONTEXTUALISING
Cannaregio Peter Eisenman's un built housing project focused on the idea of four cultural absences. The loss of centre, subject, hero and history. By applying these four losses Eisenman uses his understanding of each loss in this context to re-contextualise what the site at Venice means in the contemporary, historical and wider sense but also at the level of his own involvement as the 'hero'. Depth of contextual understanding in Newport is key to mediating the insertion of new with the old because it creates a sense of continuity. 8
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
Parc de la Villette Bernard Tschumi transferred the ideas of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida to Architecture. Derrida was interested in the re-contextualising of language. Tschumi recontextualises the site of an old abattoir with a discourse independent of architecture. Similar to the ideas of English townscape the scheme imposes itself upon the dweller at the level of perspective views or scenes associated with the ideas of film. The focus on perspective views is important to how the new insertions in my scheme will mediate with the existing urban fabric of Newport.
ACCESS CONCEPT: RE-CONTEXTUALISED TOWN WALL
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
Although the origins of Newport were inspired by Roman town planning there was never a town wall. With the rise of the motor vehicle however Newport has gained an unwanted town wall. The dual carriageway and road network completely interrupts the River Medina. The existing cycle routes and public footpaths dump people on the outskirts of town. There are three avenues of green space that meet at the border of the town. By extending these to meet around the river it will create a green 'wall' allowing existing public footpaths and cycle routes to extend into the town. Elevating the dual carriageway above ground will create an uninterrupted green space around the Medina at street level. Bypassing traffic to junctions immediately north and south of the town will also allow for the original area of the town to be partially pedestrianised.
Existing Pedestrian/Cycle Routes New Routes linking to town centre Market Square. Civil Square. Community Pavilion
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INSERTION CONCEPT: A NEW LAYER INFLUENCED BY THE ORIGINAL The new insertions around Newport were placed according to cultural and historical losses where the sites have been redeveloped with buildings independent of context. The modern developments which currently subtract from Newport's architectural identity have been removed from the equation. The new insertions are raised above ground to create a new layer of living on a separate plane so both the old town centre and the new insertions can feature simultaneously without reducing the architectural quality of the original buildings at street level. The routes between each insertion are governed by their functional purpose.
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UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
FUNCTIONAL CONCEPT: COMMUNITY BUILT-IN Taking Jan Gehl's idea of community driven design to an extreme by integrating real life processes that support a progressive community into the urban fabric of the town. The three loops are focused on encouraging enterprise, civic support and community interaction and resilience. Through these loops the environment can begin to create built spaces which accommodate function forming a town where all processes of a community are contained. The function and placement of each loop is defined by a cultural or historical loss. The defining cultural loss of the enterprise loop (purple) is the old grammar school which in my scheme will be reinterpreted as a business school. The market square will again become a place of trade and commerce rather than run through for traffic. St Thomas’ church is reinvigorated as a figure of civil support (green) that links in with the council services at the civil offices so there is a community support network. Towards the south the communal network (orange) makes reference to agricultural land that sat on the site with allotments while the insertion on this site would provide the facilities for an aquaponic system to increase the potential of the town as a self sustaining community.
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
Town Access
Town Access
Social Housing Civic Offices
Rehabilitation Centre
Enterprise Incubators Civic Square
Market Square Retail Block
Business School Entertainment Square Allotments/ Aquaponics Centre Town Access
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DEVELOPMENT MODEL: MODEL SHOWING ROUTES AT GROUND LEVEL
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UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT: ORIENTATION OF INSERTIONS
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
The streets of Newport are composed to lead you to the two public squares at the centre of the town. In this sense these two squares can be defined as what Peter Eisenman describes as the origin or common denominator that gives a subject its defining characteristics. In order to give a sense of continuity with the two public squares and provide a reminder that they have always been the focus of Newport all of the insertions are oriented towards St Thomas’ and St James’ square. Further layers built on top of the original town could all be orientated towards these two squares so in plan it will look like a vortex where the two public squares are at the eye of the storm in a moment of calmness. 13
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT: NETWORK OF INSERTIONS
UNIT 301 - ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM UP778131
The insertions placed around Newport have a primary purpose to provide communal space for interaction and cohesion as well as their accommodated additional function. Before the rise of the motor vehicle the streets of urban Britain were primarily social spaces where children could play and people would stop and communicate. The impact of the motor vehicle as a mass tool of transport made streets increasingly uncomfortable for pedestrian activity. Similarly to Jan Gehl I am proposing to re-imagine what an urban communal space could be in the modern age. The insertions provide communal space for neighbourhoods and the network of truss pathways form links between all the different neighbourhoods so the idea of a neighbourhood community can be revisited. Eisenman argues about the loss of centre and I have responded to his proposition by re-contextualising the ‘centre’ in the aesthetic quality of the insertions. The last ‘centre’ that governed the progress of human life was technology according to Eisenman In this sense ‘centre’ means an idea that the masses adhere to like religion or monarchism . After the industrial boom Eisenman claims there is now no ‘centre’ governing human life. I believe that technology is still the ‘centre’ that human life adheres to but it has shifted from a technology of machinery and engines to a technology of digital platforms and the virtual world. The insertions therefore have perforated facades based on digital algorithms and the truss network adheres to parameters that reference the positioning of existing buildings at ground level.
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