Urban Design Elements

Page 1


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


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