CONTENTS
Studio Brief Introduction to the design studio & methodology
Elements of Urban Design
“ Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because and only when they are created by everybody �
01
03
2a. Building Types -Representation & Study of 7 building types 2b. Urban Blocks - Representation & Study of Urban blocks in Local & International context 2c. Streets & Open space - Representation & Study of Public space & street
UD Master Plan :
25
Reimagining Sector 21 of Gandhinagar to create a more livable & enjoyable place to live, work & play and communicate the proposal through effective representation skills
Learnings Key learnings & takeaways from the semester
39
The studio is structured as introduction to urban design representation and how it is used as a means of design thinking. The premise is that urban design is best understood and expressed through study and representation of the built urban environment. Hence the studio focused on the study and representation of the key urban elements in cities and structured in multiple modules running through the semester, each culminating with an exhibition of the outcome. These modules significantly focused on effectively capturing and communicating the spatial qualities of the urban built environment. Module 1 involved perceiving and representation of the key elements of urban design. The premise is that building types, urban blocks, streets and public open spaces form the key elements that come together to make any functional urban space. The exercises in this module enabled me with methods to study each element and how they contribute to the scale, form, character and their relationship with the larger urban context. Module 2 was the final exercise which involved the application of the abilities and skills developed in the first module through preparation of a framework plan
1 Studio Brief
of a given urban area. This module focused on preparing and representing site analysis, design strategies of open space, street network, urban blocks, building use and type strategy. The culmination of this module was to prepare a set of effective communication representation drawings for the design and the analysis. The learning outcome of the studio are: to prepare design drawings to graphically communicate the key spatial characteristics of an existing urban built environment with focus on its elements and prepare a design for a given urban area in the form of a framework plan, design analysis and 3-dimentional illustration to represent the design.
This
module
the
methods
introduced of
us
perceiving
to and
representing the key elements of urban design. The premise is that building types, urban blocks, streets and public open spaces form the key elements that meaningfully characterize an urban precinct. The exercises involved in this module enabled an understanding on how each of the element contributes to the scale, form, character and their relationship with function and the spatial organization.
1 Elements of Urban Design
This module introduced us to
involved in this module enabled
the methods of perceiving and
an understanding on how each
representing the key elements
of the element contributes to
of urban design. The premise
the scale, form, character and
is that building types, urban
their relationship with function
blocks, streets and public open
and the spatial organization.
1. Office Building
spaces form the key elements that meaningfully characterize an urban precinct. The exercises
Building Name : Sakar Building II, Ahmedabad
16 0
1 Elements of Urban Design
mts 60
Ground Coverage : 2,000 sqmt Total Built-up area : 20,000 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
Building Name : RBS, Gurgaon
50 0
mts 100
Ground Coverage : 3,500 sqmt Total Built-up area : 16,000 sqmt
Building Name : CBS Building, New York
40 0
mts 80
Ground Coverage : 2,100 sqmt Total Built-up area : 81,000 sqmt
2. Independent Bungalow
Building Name : Shodan Villa, Amedabad
16 0
mts 32
Ground Coverage : 325 sqmt Total Built-up area : 720 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
3. Civic Building
Building Name : Ahmednagar Bungalow, Amedabad
16
mts 32
Ground Coverage : 110 sqmt Total Built-up area : 270 sqmt
Building Name : Gropius House,USA
40
mts 80
Ground Coverage : 175 sqmt Total Built-up area : 350 sqmt
Building Name : Sanskar Kendra, Amedabad
30
mts 60
Ground Coverage : 2,500 sqmt Total Built-up area : 2,500 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
Building Name : Library, Mumbai
20 0
mts 40
Ground Coverage : 1,830 sqmt Total Built-up area : 3,650 sqmt
Asiatic Building Name : Heyder Ayilev Centre, Azerbaijan
600
mts 1200
Ground Coverage : 57,500 sqmt Total Built-up area : 1,01,800 sqmt
4. Hotel
5. Apartments
Building Name : The Fern, Ahmedabad
20 0
mts 40
Ground Coverage : 937 sqmt Total Built-up area : 8,437.5 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
Building Name : The Leela, Bangalore
100 0
mts 200
Ground Coverage : 5,350 sqmt Total Built-up area : 32,500 sqmt
Building Name : Trump Hotel ,USA
100 0
mts 200
Ground Coverage : 5,575 sqmt Total Built-up area : 1,55,000 sqmt
Building Name : GHB, Ahmedabad
30 0
mts 32
Ground Coverage : 340 sqmt Total Built-up area : 1,320 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
Building Name : Saxena Aptts, Delhi
12 0
mts 24
Ground Coverage : 165 sqmt Total Built-up area : 825 sqmt
Building Name : Aira Towers, New Mexico
16
mts 32
Ground Coverage : 320 sqmt Total Built-up area : 3,200 sqmt
6. Row House
Building Name : Pol Houses, Ahmedabad
9 0
mts 16
Ground Coverage : 39.5 sqmt Total Built-up area : 128.5 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
7. Temples
Building Name : Society, Vadodara
9 0
mts 16
Ground Coverage : 58 sqmt Total Built-up area : 116 sqmt
Kasturi Building Name : Southlake Square Townhouse, USA
9 0
mts 18
Ground Coverage : 96 sqmt Total Built-up area : 288 sqmt
Building Name : Amedabad
40 0
Iskcon, Building Name : Birla Mandir, Kolkata
mts 80
Ground Coverage : 1,750 sqmt Total Built-up area : 1,750 sqmt
Comparative Scale Matrix for Ground Coverage; 1 square = 100 sq . m.
40 0
mts 80
Ground Coverage : 2,500 sqmt Total Built-up area : 2,500 sqmt
Building Name : Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
40 0
mts 80
Ground Coverage : 5,400 sqmt Total Built-up area : 5,400 sqmt
This exercise is designed to develop strategic understanding of various attributes regarding Urban Blocks and its components – Building Types, Streets and Spaces between buildings. The exercise required the students to identify and represent the prevailing urban blocks in our cities and develop their skills to draw these blocks and its three-dimensional form that abstracts the character of the blocks. Students are required to identify and represent 2 urban blocks, one from the city of Ahmedabad, and one as Global example. The students have drawn these two blocks and have explored various techniques to represent their spatial character.
Elements of Urban Design
Urban Blocks
2b
The Block that was analysed locally, was a mix of residential built form on the narrow roads and retail cum recreation on the main road. The builtform on the main road is visually & physically porous whereas it becomes more solid as we move towards interior. All plot sizes and block sizes vary with respect to the kind of road frontage & landuse. The front edge is activated due to higher footfall generated from retail & commercial activities, whereas rear edge is a stark contrast with blank compund walls lining the street. Iskcon cross roads is one of the busiest junctions in the city and hence the most important node in th block
Wide Angle & Devarc Mall are major activity generators in the block and are located on the front side of the block abutting the SG highway
Local park is one of the main activity hot spots in the evening and is the only green cover shared by public
The Block studied internationally was a Barcelona “Superblock� which consists of 3 x 3 traditional Barcelona blocks which measure equally. The smaller blocks are of perimeter style and built to edge with 4-5 storey mix use residential buildings built on it and court in between. The mobility network is such that high speed moving traffic moves on the peripheral major roads and slow moving traffic and pedestrian traffic moves on internal roads.
Prominent highrise on the intersection overlooking a public plaza
Cafes & restaurants line on major boulevards with broad side walks
Quite, shaded walkways on interior streets with purely residential buildings
STREETS This
exercise
is
designed
to
develop
strategic
understanding of various attributes regarding Streets and functional role of mobility as well as social role of being public space. The exercise requires the students to identify and represent ONE street with distinct characteristics
and
develop their skills to draw its three-dimensional form that abstracts the character of the street life. Students could select such a street from the Indian or Global context. The students have drawn the street and have explored various techniques to represent its character. Additionally, they have analysed the parameters that make the physical envelope of the street such as porosity, building ground floor use and access. PUBLIC OPEN SPACES This
exercise
is
designed
to
develop
strategic
understanding of various attributes regarding Public Open spaces such as scale, location, access, spatial configuration and use.
Elements of Urban Design
2c
Urban Streets & Public open spaces
The exercise requires the students to identify and represent ONE important public space with distinct characteristics and develop their skills to draw its threedimensional form that abstracts the character of the life in that public space. Students could select such a public open space from the Indian or Global context. The students have drawn the public space and have explored various techniques to represent its character. Additionally, they have analysed the parameters that make the physical envelope of the public space such as porosity, building ground floor use and access.
La Rambla Barcelona La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona. A tree-lined pedestrian street, it stretches for 1.2 kilometres and is further divided into 5 parts, the one represented here is Rambla Del Caputxin which has the Opera centre on it.
Djema El FnaMarrakeesh It is the main square & public place of the city and is edged along one side by the Marrakesh souk, a traditional North African market On other sides are hotels and gardens and cafe terraces.
This is the second module of the studio. Having dealt with various aspects of the key elements of the urban realm in module 1, this module attempts to develop the analytical, conceptual and representational abilities in preparing a Framework Plan for a given urban area. This module includes preparation of various design strategies such as open spaces strategy, street network and urban block strategies, building use and type strategy culminating into preparation of a Structure Plan for the given urban area.
2 Urban design Master Plan
SITE ANALYSIS
DESIGN STRATEGY
UNDERSTANDING THE SITE
CONCEPTUAL STRATEGIES TO ENHANCE LIVABILITY IN SECTOR 21
Sector 21 located in Northern part of Gandhinagar, with residential areas surrounding it. The sector is rectangular in shape and measures 1000m X 750m. It has new residential development on its western edge & Mall and Multiplex and a market place on its eastern edge for which it is mainly known for. Sector also has a stadium & gymkhana along with other institutions on its southern edge. The central road passing through it is the most active thoroughfare in the site. Sector is predominantly residential with existing core in dilapidated condition and houses government staff quarters.
Gandhinagar Plan: Sector 21
Sector redesigned to develop a feeling of belongnigness and inculcate feeling of association amongst residents in order to create a cohesive neigbourhood. Housing strategy is to have low rise high density residential zone in the core areas and high rise mix use built form on the periphery with long narrow plots to abuting the main roads to activate them. Streets are well demarketed, human in scale and expand to include public activities. The main street is the central spine that culminates in the public plaza linking proposed market & existing recreational facilities. An attempt has been made to create a cohesive & interactive neighbourhood with mixed landuse in order to make it self sustaining.
SITE ANALYSIS
PUBLIC REALM
OPEN SPACE HIERARCHY
ROAD NETWORK
CENTRAL SPINE
ACTIVITY GENERATORS
LANDUSE
PLOTTING
Public Buildings & Public spaces are proposed along the edges of blocks and as one moves towards the core public spaces become semi-public places and gradually transition in private realm
The proposal introduces greens & open spaces at various scales and levelsand hence enables them to cater to variety of people and ake open spaces more accessible
Major thoroughfares of the existing sector are retained so as to retain identity & character of the sector and urther extend the road network based on existing hierarchy
The central road connecting retail street to market & multiplex, acting as a central open space surrounded by buildings and thus creating a sense of enclosure
The central spine, market plaza, institutes on north and south edhe and commercial & office buildings on east edge act as activity nodes
Landuse & Builtform restrictions are proposed in a manner that allows community living to foster in core areas and commerce to flourish on the edges
Plots range from 4000 sq m to plots large enough to have cricket stadium in it, the strategy adopted was such that it activates plots on edges & subdues plots opening on narrow streets
PROPOSED MASTER PLAN ISOMETRIC VIEW
INDIVIDUAL BLOCK DETAIL ISOMETRIC VIEW
INDIVIDUAL BLOCK DETAIL ISOMETRIC VIEW
INDIVIDUAL BLOCK DETAIL ISOMETRIC VIEW
Module 1A: Representing & understanding various building types & their forms. Understanding their relation with its plot, street, block & context. Developing understanding of plot sizes and ground coverage required for prevailent building types.
Module 1B:
4 Learnings
Representing Urban Blocks & understanding its componentsBuildings & Streets and their relation. Spatial character of Urban area and its relation with street. Interaction amongst buildings and the spaces between them. Role of visual and physical porousity in bult form on the street
Module 1C:
Module 2:
Streets Representing & understanding street and its componentscarraigeway, footpath, abuting built form & its facade and adjoining open space if any. Role of streets in relation with mobility and as public spaces. Learning various aspects about streets from its tangible elements (width, buildings, form, usage etc) & intangible elements (hawkers, performers, pedestrians, traffic etc) Public Space Representing & understanding public space & its componentssurrounding physical envelope, its surface, greens etc. Porousity and accessibility to the space. Understanding of key attributes of open space like scale & proportion, texture, shading, built form, levels, sense of enclosure.
Grasping sense of scale that Urban design operates on. Understanding concepts of sectoral planning and first hand exposure to a designed town Translation of key understandings from module 1 to help in better understanding of Urban Spatial character and its impact on Urban life. Importance of public in Urban design and enabling them to pursue a fulfilling urban life. Graphically communicate key elements of an Urban design proposal. Communicate Spatial character and Urban life in the proposal through illustrations
Spatial Elements of Urban Life is a portfolio showcasing my works with a focus on the constituents of urban design: Street, Building, Block & open space. the portfolio is a part of semester 2 , master of urban design at cept university