Contributors
Master of Urban Development & Design
Publisher Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales
Program Outline The intensive one calendar year program involves two academic semesters plus a summer term, which
Built Environment Urban Development & Design 2018
in a major international city. The program seeks the synthesis of three bodies of knowledge about the city - spatial political economy, theories of good city form and urban design as public policy. Coursework is progressive, stressing theoretical knowledge of economic, social, environment and physical design determinants implementation techniques toward the end of the year.
The summer term is devoted to the international urban design studio, case study investigations of major
URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH
work through preparation of the annual exhibition and publication of the MUDD Folio. Program of Study for full-time Candidates: Semester 1 UDES0001 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0004 Hist and Theory of Urban Dev (6 UOC) Electives 6 UOC Semester 2 UDES0002 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0008 Planning and Urban Dev (6 UOC) UDES0009 Urban Landscape and Heritage (6 UOC)
A four-semester, research focussed option is also available with the MUDD (Extension) Program, which commences with BENV 7020 Research Seminar in Semester 1 and concludes with UDES0011 Urban Design Research Project (12 UOC) in Semester 2, plus two Built Environment electives.
UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design
AEROTROPOLIS VERY FAST TRAIN
This core course extends students’ capabilities for graphic, written and verbal communication through the production of the annual MUDD Folio, Exhibition and associated public lecture - the Paul Reid Lecture upon and re-present the year’s work of the MUDD Program in a creative, compelling format which contributes to the design culture of Sydney.
Copyright of University of New South Wales ISSN: 2206-1843 Material in this publication is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part requires permission from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor or the publisher unless otherwise expressly stated.
Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia Web: www.be.unsw.edu.au Phone: +61 2 9385 4799 Email: fbe@unsw.edu.au CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G
MUDD23 | 2017 - 2018
Summer Term UDES0003 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0006 Case Studies in Urb Dev and Design (6 UOC) UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design (6 UOC)
CINEMATIC SPACE
Production and Coordination: Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Curatorial and Editorial: Duan Jinyi (Iris) Kim Hyojung (Ally) Li Hongxu (Paco) Li Yilun (Amanda) Mayuri Sodani Archiving: Ma Yunfei Exhibition Design: Du Qin (Cynthia) Feng Shengting (Eadoo) Huang Yawen (Yama) Jin Tian (Tanya) Xie Xinling (Shirly) Yang Huei-Han (Yang) Ye Yang (Laura) Sponsorship: Yue Yushan (Iris)
Time, Space & the City
lecture/seminar courses, three project based studios, and a case study course. Students are encouraged to select an elective from a list of recommended course offered by the Faculty of Built Environment. Students may be permitted, with the approval of the Program Director, to select electives from course offered by other faculties of the University.
Master of Urban Development & Design
The program comprises eight core course and one
Executive advisors Professor James Weirick Professor Karl Fischer Jodi Lawton (Lawton Design) Andrew Sweeney
Video, Photography, Web and Social Media: Abdul Ghani Hourani Li Ruoyu (Ryan) Sivasubramanian Muthusamy Wang Xiaowei (Vivi) Wang Xiuzhu (August) Zhang Xiaodong (Anderson)
Graphic Design and Image Editing: Ban Lan (Belle) Cao Jing (Hellen) Chen Yujing (Monica) Charles Boumoussa Georges Samir Jreije Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Kusum Lata Li Mengdi (Nicole) Li Yezi (Eveyln) Liu Xianzheng (Razzil) Lu Li (Lisa) Ma Yuan (Phyllis) Ma Yunfei Pan Junkun (Kyle) Sun Mengzhen (Vicky) Wang Hongyi (Hans) Wang Ruoxi (Aria) Wang Weixi (Frank) Wen Di (Wendy) Wu Jihai (Sean) Wu Yuwei (Vivien) Xie Xiaoli (Adela) Yu Mengxue (Mandy) Yue Yushan (Iris) Zhang Jinxin (Sam) Zhang Qingran (Chanina) Zhang Quan Zhou Jingwen (Janice) Zhu Yawei (Patrick) Event Design: Sabari Girish Epari Lu Li (Lisa)
MUDD 23 Supporting Mentors
Sydney Lisbon Boston
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert Emeritus Professor Jon Lang Professor Karl Fischer Dr Scott Hawken Mike Brown Amy Bendall Ashley Bakelmun Peter John Cantrill Jeremy Dawkins Michael Gheorghiu Kevin Hoffman Ju Xizhe (Oliver) Jodi Lawton Maryam Litkouhi Kathleen McDowell Dr Samir Mahmoud Jesse McNicoll Trent Middleton Sarbeswar Praharaj Brendan Randles Arlene Segal Andrew Sweeney Vanessa Trowell Dean Utian Dr Anne Warr Contact Professor James Weirick Director, Urban Development & Design Program Tel: +61 2 9385 7533 Email: j.weirick@unsw.edu.au Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052, Australia www.be.unsw.edu.au
Contributors
Master of Urban Development & Design
Publisher Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales
Program Outline The intensive one calendar year program involves two academic semesters plus a summer term, which includes a compulsory field project and design studio in a major international city.
Built Environment Urban Development & Design 2018
The program seeks the synthesis of three bodies of knowledge about the city - spatial political economy, theories of good city form and urban design as public policy. Coursework is progressive, stressing theoretical knowledge of economic, social, environment and physical design determinants in the first semester, moving to applied skills and implementation techniques toward the end of the year.
Program of Study for full-time Candidates: Semester 1 UDES0001 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0004 Hist and Theory of Urban Dev (6 UOC) Electives 6 UOC Semester 2 UDES0002 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0008 Planning and Urban Dev (6 UOC) UDES0009 Urban Landscape and Heritage (6 UOC)
A four-semester, research focussed option is also available with the MUDD (Extension) Program, which commences with BENV 7020 Research Seminar in Semester 1 and concludes with UDES0011 Urban Design Research Project (12 UOC) in Semester 2, plus two Built Environment electives.
UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design
AEROTROPOLIS VERY FAST TRAIN
This core course extends students’ capabilities for graphic, written and verbal communication through the production of the annual MUDD Folio, Exhibition and associated public lecture - the Paul Reid Lecture in Urban Design. The aim is to critically reflect upon and re-present the year’s work of the MUDD Program in a creative, compelling format which contributes to the design culture of Sydney.
Copyright of University of New South Wales ISSN: 2206-1843 Material in this publication is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part requires permission from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor or the publisher unless otherwise expressly stated.
Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia Web: www.be.unsw.edu.au Phone: +61 2 9385 4799 Email: fbe@unsw.edu.au CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G
MUDD23 | 2017 - 2018
Summer Term UDES0003 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0006 Case Studies in Urb Dev and Design (6 UOC) UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design (6 UOC)
CINEMATIC SPACE
Production and Coordination: Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Curatorial and Editorial: Duan Jinyi (Iris) Kim Hyojung (Ally) Li Hongxu (Paco) Li Yilun (Amanda) Mayuri Sodani Archiving: Ma Yunfei Exhibition Design: Du Qin (Cynthia) Feng Shengting (Eadoo) Huang Yawen (Yama) Jin Tian (Tanya) Xie Xinling (Shirly) Yang Huei-Han (Yang) Ye Yang (Laura) Sponsorship: Yue Yushan (Iris)
Time, Space & the City
The summer term is devoted to the international urban design studio, case study investigations of major urban projects, and critical reflection on the year’s work through preparation of the annual exhibition and publication of the MUDD Folio.
URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH
Master of Urban Development & Design
The program comprises eight core course and one elective course. The compulsory core includes five lecture/seminar courses, three project based studios, and a case study course. Students are encouraged to select an elective from a list of recommended course offered by the Faculty of Built Environment. Students may be permitted, with the approval of the Program Director, to select electives from course offered by other faculties of the University.
Executive advisors Professor James Weirick Professor Karl Fischer Jodi Lawton (Lawton Design) Andrew Sweeney
Video, Photography, Web and Social Media: Abdul Ghani Hourani Li Ruoyu (Ryan) Sivasubramanian Muthusamy Wang Xiaowei (Vivi) Wang Xiuzhu (August) Zhang Xiaodong (Anderson)
Graphic Design and Image Editing: Ban Lan (Belle) Cao Jing (Hellen) Chen Yujing (Monica) Charles Boumoussa Georges Samir Jreije Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Kusum Lata Li Mengdi (Nicole) Li Yezi (Eveyln) Liu Xianzheng (Razzil) Lu Li (Lisa) Ma Yuan (Phyllis) Ma Yunfei Pan Junkun (Kyle) Sun Mengzhen (Vicky) Wang Hongyi (Hans) Wang Ruoxi (Aria) Wang Weixi (Frank) Wen Di (Wendy) Wu Jihai (Sean) Wu Yuwei (Vivien) Xie Xiaoli (Adela) Yu Mengxue (Mandy) Yue Yushan (Iris) Zhang Jinxin (Sam) Zhang Qingran (Chanina) Zhang Quan Zhou Jingwen (Janice) Zhu Yawei (Patrick) Event Design: Sabari Girish Epari Lu Li (Lisa)
MUDD 23 Supporting Mentors
Sydney Lisbon Boston
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert Emeritus Professor Jon Lang Professor Karl Fischer Dr Scott Hawken Mike Brown Amy Bendall Ashley Bakelmun Peter John Cantrill Jeremy Dawkins Michael Gheorghiu Kevin Hoffman Ju Xizhe (Oliver) Jodi Lawton Maryam Litkouhi Kathleen McDowell Dr Samir Mahmoud Jesse McNicoll Trent Middleton Sarbeswar Praharaj Brendan Randles Arlene Segal Andrew Sweeney Vanessa Trowell Dean Utian Dr Anne Warr Contact Professor James Weirick Director, Urban Development & Design Program Tel: +61 2 9385 7533 Email: j.weirick@unsw.edu.au Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052, Australia www.be.unsw.edu.au
A city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time. - Patrick Geddes
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Contents
Introduction
Design Studios
02
Message from the Dean: Time, Space & the City - Sydney I Lisbon I Boston
4
Message from the Program Director: Time, Space & the City
6
China’s changing urban communities: concepts, contexts and well-being - by Peter Rowe
8
Contemporary capitalism and the need for spatial fixes - by John Zerby
12
Capital, the spectacle and symbolic meaning - by Professor Alexander Cuthbert
16
Space, Time & the City: slowing down and rediscovering the street - by Professor Jon Lang
18
Building space for time - by Jeremy Dawkins
20
South Creek Aerotroplis Studio
26
Western Sydney: A parkland City with no Plan for its Parks - by Dr Scott Hawken & Jessica Dharmasiri
30
South Creek Aerotroplis Studio
32
Very Fast Train (VFT) Research Studio
46
Structure of the VFT Study
48
VFT Policy
50
VFT - GPOP
54
VFT - Sydney
68
International Studios
74
Lisbon International Studio
76
Space Time and the City - by Brendan Randles
78
The Lisbon waterfront - by Dr Pedro Ressano Garcia
84
The Lisbon workshops as a complex experience in an international context - by Professor Karl Fisher
86
Boston International Studio
102
Boston’s Seaport District: Evolution and Formation - by Martin Zogran
104
Contents
MUDD23
Conclusion Design Studios
Cinematic Space - Studies in Urban Form
122
The City and Cinematic Space - by Dean Utian
124
Urban Design Research Studio
174
MUDD23 Class
194
Student Experience, Lisbon & Boston
196
MUDD23 Student Profiles
198
Alumni Profiles
202
MUDD23 Lisbon Workshop - Joint ULHT-UNSW Student Groups
207
International Studios Updates
208
Alumni Updates
210
MUDD Alumni List 2017-2018
212
Acknowledgements
214
Exhibition Layout
216
Sponsors
218
03
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Message from the Dean: Time, Space & the City - Sydney I Lisbon I Boston Rapid urbanization and the resultant consequences occupy our students in the UNSW Master of Urban Development & Design (MUDD) Program. For more than 20 years, the program has
attracted an international student cohort and delivered a rigorous academic program that addresses our most pressing global
urban challenges. Importantly, the 1-year intensive program of
post-graduate study equips our graduates to lead the planning,
design and development of these complex and fast paced urban environments, wherever they may be. Professor Helen Lochhead
A key component of the MUDD Program is the immersive studio
design projects that challenge students to address both local and
international urban agendas. This creates well-rounded graduates who are able to think strategically as urban designers and
appropriately adjust their design solutions to the different political, economic and social contexts of cities in which they may operate around the world.
This year’s studio theme, Time, Space & the City, is a provocation for transformative place making. Focussed in three port cities,
Sydney, Boston and Lisbon the students have explored the potential of major transport hubs to shape the urban form of the city. Such major infrastructure, whether road, rail or air terminals, has a
tremendous influence on the shaping of our cities spatially, socially
and economically. Great terminals such as New York’s Grand Central Station or London’s King Cross St Pancras, are much more than transport interchanges, they are vibrant and memorable places
intrinsic to the cities they serve. Their presence transforms the urban condition and indeed the city life that surrounds them.
Often however, such projects are more introverted and singular in
purpose, rather than harnessing the opportunity to deliver multiple benefits to the communities they serve. Transport projects, once publicly funded, have now become complex mixes of public and
private investments, representing a significant range of stakeholders. These infrastructure investments, are driven by time and cost
04
imperatives often at the expense of the broader city-
infill around old fortifications, and on the south side,
Today, with alternative methods of procurement
container terminal pose challenges to the character
making opportunities such investment can release. we need to rethink and challenge the key drivers informing the planning, designing and delivering of infrastructure. What if, moving forward, every
transport project was a city-making opportunity? Instead of dividing communities and leaving scarred urban landscapes, a transport corridor, can be
reimagined as a seam that joins, and an opportunity to create more livable places. This challenge requires innovative design-led approaches,
focussed on integrated strategies for place-making. Urban designers are well positioned to lead this challenge. Urban Design spanning professional
boundaries, provides a unique opportunity to work across scales and to break down silos of thinking. The leadership of urban designers in reimagining
transport infrastructure presents an opportunity for interdisciplinary innovation and more considered urban development.
This year, students used Sydney as a laboratory for study, testing proposals for Very Fast Train
connections across the metro region from the new
infrastructure changes up to the scale of a new and identity of an historic fishing village.
Exploring projects of this magnitude across three global cities not only inspires students but also
develops professionals that are adept at handling complex urban challenges. It is evident from
the projects profiled, that the MUDD Program
engenders robust strategic thinking and critical
discourse, guiding students to propose urban design frameworks that balance competing urban agendas with vigorous analysis and objectivity.
Transport infrastructure investment can serve as a catalyst for city making, which this year’s student
projects clearly demonstrate. If done well, it has the
potential to transform communities, and the portfolio of projects in the MUDD 2018 Yearbook captures
a series of propositions demonstrating this, so we look forward to seeing how these graduates use
their interdisciplinary skills, to transform our urban environments and also the lives of city dwellers in the years to come.
western Sydney airport to Parramatta and the Bays Precinct. In Boston, they examined the implications of urban change around the Seaport district on the
South Boston waterfront, including a massive South Station air rights development over expanded rail
tracks and unresolved elements of the Central Artery project. In Lisbon they explored the more historical context of settlements at the mouth of the Tagus
Estuary where a string of new rail stations on the
north side provides a conduit for urban retrofit and
05
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Message from the Program Director: Time, Space & the City The great saying of Patrick Geddes more than a century ago that introduces the MUDD23 Yearbook, ‘a city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time’ transcends its historical context to challenge all abstract, disconnected notions of the urban condition (Geddes 1904, p.107). Our theme this year, ‘Time, Space & the City’ aims to present a charged, intense engagement with the flux of urban life and the drama of spatial transformation in our 2017-2018 subject cities, Sydney, Lisbon, Boston, and beyond.
Professor James Weirick
The theme was suggested at a practical level by the subject matter of our principal studios this year: a critical analysis of urban patterns across the Cumberland Plain that would be generated by the timespace compressions of Very Fast Train connections from Sydney to Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane; the cross-cutting of time and space in cinema production as a means of engaging with the human experience and ephemeral qualities of urban form; and the re-making of urban space over time in cities with long and complex histories, our two port cities of the Atlantic: Lisbon and Boston. The theme, however, has been given great depth by the essays it has inspired from the many friends of the MUDD Program who have contributed to the MUDD23 Yearbook. Emeritus Professor Jon Lang takes us back to the first critical analysis of space-time factors in our field, Sigfried Giedion’s Space, Time and Architecture published in 1941 based on his Norton Lectures at Harvard in 1938-1939. Professor Lang cautions us to slow down from the speed, simultaneity and space-time conceptions of twentieth century modernism championed by Giedion to reconsider and revalue the timeless qualities of the street. Brendan Randles, convenor of the Lisbon Studio, inter-weaves an analysis of the classic 1986 essay, ‘Time, space & the city’ by Manuel de Solà-Morales with a ‘measure of time against space’ in the growth and change of urban form in Lisbon. The host of our Lisbon Studio, Professor Pedro Ressano Garcia from the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT) takes us to the particular trajectory of growth and change on the Lisbon waterfront and the problems it has faced by resisting technological changes. Martin Zogran, Principal at Sasaki Associates, co-host of our Boston Studio with fellow Urban Design Principal Dennis Pieprz, similarly reviews the space-time changes on the South Boston waterfront, with a focus on the vicissitudes of the Seaport District urban renewal project in recent decades. Jeremy Dawkins provides a theoretical framework for factoring the inevitability of change into the implementation of urban projects in his essay, ‘Building space with time’. Dean Utian reflects on the ‘City and Cinematic Space’
06
studio as a means of engaging students with complex space-time constructs through the medium of film. Dr Scott Hawken critiques the urban development of Western Sydney against the space-time dimensions of landscape ecology. The complementary essays by Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert and John Zerby provide a critical framework for all of the above by unpacking the inter-relationship of space and time in contemporary capitalism. As always, our Visiting Professorial Fellow, Dr Karl Fischer from Germany, provides an astute analysis of the pedagogical basis of our program with a review of the Lisbon Studio in relation to our ‘Time, Space & the City’ theme.
Perhaps the greatest changes to urban space in our time have taken place in the cities of China since the 1980s. To critically review these changes, together with recent urban design directives from the Chinese Central Government, we are privileged to have Professor Peter G. Rowe from Harvard Graduate School of Design as our 2018 Reid Lecturer giving a presentation on ‘China’s Urban Communities: Concepts, Contexts and Well-being’ based on his recent book with this title, co-authored with Professor Ann Forsyth from Harvard GSD and Dr Har Ye Kan. MUDD students in the four-semester, research-based program have undertaken related investigations of urban design in today’s China with graduate projects on ‘Sponge City’ policies of water sensitive urban design, heritage conservation, urban consolidation and design of the public realm in Shanghai, Chengdu, Harbin, Jiaxing and Jingdenzhen. Related projects have been undertaken in the United States, Singapore and Sydney. In addition, ‘Research by Design’ projects have been undertaken on parametricism and urban design in the era of hyper-modernity using Yokohama as a case study; underground space in Hong Kong; and heritage conservation in Nanjing. We congratulate the MUDD23 students for the
creative achievement of ‘Time, Space & the City: Sydney | Lisbon | Boston’. We extend appreciation to Jodi Lawton of Lawton Design, Andrew Sweeney of Palfreeman Sweeney Architects, the academic staff of
the MUDD Program, and our International Studio hosts at ULHT, Lisbon and Sasaki Associates, Boston for the special efforts that have made presentation of this work possible. Generous initial support for the 2018 Paul Reid Lecture in Urban Design was provided by Scott Carver, the Zhejiang Jiangong Real Estate Development Group and the UNSW Faculty of Built Environment, which made it possible to invite Professor Peter Rowe from New York to be our Reid Lecturer this year. We welcome him to Sydney and thank him for his presentation on the contemporary Chinese city. Further support for the Reid Lecture, together with the MUDD23 Folio and Exhibition has been provided by our generous companion sponsors: Bates Smart, Blacktown City Council, Dickson Rothschild, FJMT, GMU Urban Design & Architecture, Johnson Pilton Walker, McGregor Coxall, SJB, Stewart Architecture, Vision Land, Allen Jack + Cottier, LFA, Ethos Urban, HASSELL, MHN Design Union, Architectus, Pascal Bobillier, Habitat Planning, SDA Electrical, Urban Concepts and Wolski Coppin. For the enthusiastic and highly committed support we have received from our sponsors this year we express our sincere thanks.
References: de Solà-Morales, M. 1986, ‘Time, space and the city,’ Lotus International, no.51, pp.25-30. Geddes, P. 1904, ‘Civics: as applied sociology,’ in: Hobhouse, L.T. (ed.) Sociological Papers, Macmillan, London, pp.104-119. Giedion, S. 1941, Space, Time and Architecture: the growth of a new tradition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Rowe, P.G., Forsyth, A. & Kan, H.Y. 2016, China’s Urban Communities: concepts, contexts and well-being, Birkhäuser, Basel.
07
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
China’s changing urban communities: concepts, contexts and well being The 11th Annual Paul Reid Lecture in Urban Design Peter G Rowe
Professor Peter G. Rowe, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Speaker Profile Distinguished Australian academic Professor
Peter G. Rowe is the Raymond Garbe Professor of Architecture & Urban Design and University
Distinguished Service Professor at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, where he served as Dean from 1992 to 2004, Chairman of the Urban Planning & Design Department
(1988 to1992) and Director of the Urban Design Programs (1985 to 1990). Prior to Harvard,
Professor Rowe was Director of the School of
Architecture at Rice University from 1981 to 1985. A graduate of The University of Melbourne and
Rice University, Professor Rowe’s research and
consulting are extensive, diverse and international
in scope, including subjects dealing with matters of cultural interpretation and design, the relationship
of urban form to issues of economic development, historic conservation, housing provision and resource sustainability.
An eminent scholar, critic and lecturer, he is
the author, co-author, or editor of twenty books, including Design Thinking (1987), Making a
Middle Landscape (1991), Civic Realism (1997), Architectural Encounters with Essence and Form in Modern China (2002), Emergent Architectural Territories in East Asian Cities (2011) and most recently China’s Urban Communities: Concepts, Contexts and Well-Being (2016).
08
Communities in China have a long and venerable history. Multiple terms have been devised to refer to communities of various forms and at different times. This has included the shizu (clan) of the ancient Shang and Zhou dynasties; the cun (village) and wu (stronghold) of the Three Kingdoms; the baojia system and huiguan (native place hall) of Imperial and Republican China; to the danwei (work unit); xiaoqiu (neighborhood) governed by a jumin weiyuanhui (resident committee) and shequ (community) of modern and contemporary China. Mostly though, communities in China have been territorially-based groups defined politically for the purposes of administration and
the mutual extension of rudimentary basic social support. On a darker side they were also units responsible for enforcing mutual supervision and collective compliance. Over time the strict spatiality of communities has waxed and waned and nowadays, they are somewhat in a state of flux erring on the side of the shequ as a socio-political construct, although the place-based concept of community is still prevalent. Two housing types comprise most Chinese communities. The first is parallel alignments of slab blocks with consistent north-south orientations comprised of
standardized dwelling units, at least up until the late 1950s. The second is high-rise buildings that began development as recently as the early 1970s, with the exception of the relatively numerous high-rise apartments constructed in Shanghai during the 1920s and 30s. Other typologies, like Shanghai’s ubiquitous lilong dwellings also persist, although becoming less present in contemporary urban landscapes. With regard to urban block development of residential communities a debate between parallel slab arrangements and perimeter-block schemes, favored by Soviet advisors in the 1950s, was decided in favor of the parallel slab configurations. Contemporary communities in China continue to manifest characteristics of strong spatially-defined organizations, although with an increase in the diversity and scale of dwelling unit types and arrangements. Our recent book and articles on the subject are based on extensive field study and household interviews across 25 communities
in the four cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Suzhou, conducted primarily in 2015 although in some instances also much earlier and over lengthier periods of time. Most if not all of our case studies reflected contemporary trends in residential communities in China. These trends included the sheer increases in housing stock over the last decade, along with improved livable space standards. Indeed, about 43 percent of China’s housing stock was less than ten years old in 2010. Broad-based provision had moved from housing as a welfare item through a three-phase strategy of commodification, broadening of market forces and then dealing with externalities regarding affordability, speculation and environmental performance. More recently sales prices of market-rate housing have risen appreciably in some areas, along with curtailing of investments in Economic and Suitable Housing, aggravating the affordability gap across large segments of society. Also a significant aging of the population has replaced a period of an earlier demographic economic dividend and relative consistency in programmatic demands for housing. Some of the findings of our research were more noteworthy than others like, for instance, uniform acceptance of living space standards,
poor views of maintenance especially by outside vendors, access to fresh food and preferences for functional rather than ornamental green space. Others, such as accessibility to schools, medical facilities, parks, places of work, and so on, reflected attitudes and preferences elsewhere in the world, along with desires for expansive amenity packages within communities. Nevertheless, one of the constant and persistent features of China’s community development is the prevalence of megaplots, or superblocks, typically on the order of 500 meters by 300 meters, or so, in extent and bounded by wide arterial roads. Within each of the 12 to 20 hectare tracts are clusters of housing supported by small-scale retail services and community services, alongside of occasional other sites of employment. The ‘templates’ for these megaplots resemble ‘urban masterplans’, with ‘controlled detail plans’ in a seemingly
systematic yet rote manner. Moreover, the combination of bounded megaplot neighborhoods and coarse-grained street networks has characterized much of Chinese planning since 1949 and particularly after the 1978 economic reforms. Among other negative outcomes are often acute traffic congestion, monotony of the physical aspect of urbanization, a lack of capacities and opportunities for de-specialization of functions within and around the megaplots, and a range of deleterious environmental issues depending upon location and specific manners of development. With the rise of the regime of Xi Jinping in 2014, China entered into a phase of development often referred to as the ‘new normal’ mostly reflecting a shift from quantity to quality of urban and other forms of production. Urban development since 1978 has seen the construction of hundreds of new sub-centers, districts and towns; about 129 million new homes; urbanization of some 2000 square kilometers of rural land; relocation and displacement of around 64 million households; construction of 60,000 kilometers of roadways, 100 airports, several thousand museums, not to mention an extensive ultra-modern high-speed rail network. In
the ‘new normal’, however, this dramatic urbanization is regarded as something of a ‘first draft’. In place of a freefor-all, restrictions have begun to appear regarding what levels and through what departments urbanization can be engaged with and undertaken. Growth boundaries have become more meaningful to restrict needless urban expansion. An increase in the prevalence of mixed-use communities and neighborhoods, along with historic preservation, has been encouraged to give affected urban areas more identity and local urban characteristics. Expansions of public transportation, increased public open space and improved architectural and construction quality have also received encouragement, together with a proliferation of so-called ‘sponge cities’ that are less resource intensive, have more energy-efficient facilities and better processes of waste water and solid waste recycling and re-use.
09
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
More specifically, at least three broad initiatives have emerged. The first involves finer-grained, less enclosed, mixed-use development of residential neighborhoods more refined versions of the ‘template’ referred to earlier. This came about largely by way of the Chinese State Council’s suggestions, entitled Several Suggestions (Guidelines) by the State Council on Prom ting and Reinforcing Planning and Construction Management issued in February 2016. Among some 27 areas of interest at least six warrant enumeration. They are: creation of a denser street network; enforcement of urban growth boundaries as noted earlier; encouragement of
Rowe, P.G., Forsyth, A. & Kan, H.Y. 2016, China’s Urban Communities: concepts, contexts and well-being, Birkhäuser, Basel.
local city character, also as noted earlier; and construction of building complexes that are more resource efficient and environmentally friendly. Proposals involving either ‘light’ or ‘heavier’ manners of intervention can be readily envisaged, some of which have already been taken up or put into place. The second broad type of initiative is aimed less at large-scale urban developments, although there it also has applicability, it is more an effort to improve the living conditions and qualities of smaller urban areas on the periphery of larger cities, among tier 3,4 and 5 towns, or
even within broader metropolitan areas. To date, there are at least three such kinds of efforts. First, there is the ‘townization’ policies and initiatives emanating largely from the Intergovernmental Development and Reform Commissions at various levels including the Central Government. Here the aim is to broadly expand the community services and life-style opportunities of smaller urban areas, ostensibly to make smaller communities more amenable, economically viable and attractive places to live. Second, there are the rising ‘specialty towns’ (tese xiaozhen) aimed at creating or generating special foci within peripheral and other urban areas, that add a heightened sense of urban character, as well as providing diversification of employment sites for potential occupants. In most cases, intrinsic qualities of local development are drawn upon in creating these foci, such as Mengxiang, or ‘Dream Town’ in Hangzhou. Some have spilled over into kitschy less-sustainable thematic areas like ‘chocolate
10
town’ and ‘nuclear town’ giving the movement another kind of notoriety. At present much of this activity has been focused in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces, two of the most prosperous areas of contemporary China. Third, there are the older ‘creative districts’ of larger metropolitan areas like Shanghai, where some 70 or so special development zones have been established allowing entrepreneurs to install new facilities with strong market orientations alongside of historic conservation and re-use of existing structures. The third broad type of initiative revolves around
concepts like ‘sponge city’ with its strong environmental agenda. Launched in 2015, this initiative was aimed at capturing, controlling and re-using rainwater along with mitigating flooding. Presently almost half of China’s designated cities are ‘water scarce’ and almost 230 are regularly flooded. In this initiative permeable surfaces and green infrastructure are encouraged, with an initial focus on 16 urban districts primarily in Wuhan, Chongqing and Xiamen, although later expanded to 30 cities, including Shanghai. Central Government funding covers 15 to 20 percent of costs with the remainder coming from local government and private sources.
The ultimate goal is to have 80 percent of China’s urban areas absorbing and re-using 70 percent of its rainfall incidence by 2020. As is not untypical of China’s approach to policy-making and governance, local experiments and a diversity of them are often encouraged simultaneously, before broader applications are contemplated and undertaken widely. Redesign of megaplots has been underway for a while now, particularly involving non-devastating shifts in roadway networks, entries to communities and internal subdivisions. The shaping and specializing of local foci within the larger urban territory of cities in China is also ostensibly aimed at the improvement of qualities of life for those not so readily caught up in larger and more prosperous scales of urban development, and to stem the inflow of migrants from smaller to larger cities and towns. As a broad objective this seems to offer a combination of settlements of
varying size constituting a metropolitan region, such as the Changjiang Delta Region, and as an alternative to the less favorable accelerated development of mega cities and backward development of smaller more rural towns. The ‘sponge city’ concept also has merit, if prosecuted more in the manner of ‘low-impact
development’, mimicking natural processes, as in the US and the West, than simply making everything more absorbent. All in all, at this middle stage of China’s modern urban development, these trends and initiatives are encouraging. Returning to this multi-pronged, incremental devolution of a broader urban strategy, it remains to be seen what will work and what will not. But it is also well worth watching for all our benefit.
References: Guan, C. & Rowe, P.G. 2017, ‘In pursuit of a wellbalanced network of cities and towns: a case study of the Changjiang Delta Region in China,’ Environment & Planning B: Urban Analytics & City Science, pp.1-19, published online 17 March 2017. Kan, H.Y., Forsyth, A. & Rowe, P.G. 2017, ‘Redesigning China’s superblock neighbourhoods: policies, opportunities and challenges,’ Journal of Urban Design, vol.22 no.6, pp.757-777. Rowe, P.G. & Guan, C. 2016, ‘Striking balances between China’s urban communities, blocks and their layouts,’ Time + Architecture, vol.6, pp. 29-34. Rowe, P.G., Forsyth, A. & Kan, H.Y. 2016, China’s Urban Communities: concepts, contexts and well-being, Birkhäuser, Basel.
11
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Contemporary capitalism and the need for spatial fixes John Zerby
John Zerby
A research paper by Thisse & Walliser (1998) outlined five functions of space that are relevant to urban political economy: (1) a medium of trade, (2) a location for activity, (3) a characteristic of economic goods, (4) a source of market power with space-based strategies for competitiveness, and (5) locations for scarce resources. To this we add another possibility: space and time as a means for mitigating the tendency for the capitalist system to experience a falling rate of profit (Streeck 2016), or in a somewhat weaker existential form, to provide a spatial fix to satisfy capitalism’s addiction to ‘geographical expansion and geographical restructuring’
(Harvey 2001, p. 24). This possibility is derivable from Marxist thought, and it is convenient for use in this yearbook folio as it facilitates two additional objectives. First, a comparison of the cities of Boston and Lisbon, which were the locations of the MUDD international projects this year, is simplified with Marx’s notion of the mode of production. Second, the comparison can be extended to include Marx’s theory of social alienation to examine the extent to which the reconfiguration of space to suit capitalists’ objectives increases social alienation and what if anything urban designers can do about it. The basic idea for a falling rate of profit stems from the belief that technological progress has a long-term bias toward reducing the amount of labour input per unit of output, and this is generally associated with the acquisition of more and more machinery, which increases the organic composition of capital, or capital deepening as it is now called. This will normally result in continuous increases in the rate of change of the capital stock per unit of labour input and will lead to diminishing returns to that factor of production unless offsetting changes are available. A number of these changes have been mentioned by Marxists and others, including increased exploitation of workers, and that possibility gives rise to the concept of social alienation. Other offsetting changes centre on international trade and globalisation, and it is here that space-time factors become particularly relevant.
12
In A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Marx defined the mode of production in terms of the productive forces (human labour and the means of production) but also in relation to the social and technical relations of production that are jointly expressed through a progression of organisational levels to sustain both the human labour and the mode of production (Marx 1859). For this, the cities of Boston and Lisbon are dissimilar so that a different kind of spatial fix is needed for each. The nature of the desired configurations and the extent to which they are enforced through the political system will have an impact on the social acceptance of the configurations. Marx emphasized alienation resulting from the subjection of workers to increasingly more powerful instruments of their own making. This could happen only when there is a lack of control of the productive process as a whole and with fragmented activity associated with the ‘institutionalised framework for the capitalist mode of production’ (Mészáros 1970).
In Boston’s metropolitan area the mode of production has been shifting away from manufacturing toward professional services such as finance, insurance, healthcare and education. As occurred elsewhere, this transition involves a change from production that is arranged horizontally in factories to vertically configured office blocks, often positioned in city centres. The greater concentration of people, compared to that which is experienced in most manufacturing activities, arises from the need for face-to-face contact within and among specialisations of professional people, as well as economies of scale in office fit-outs, maintenance and the supply of office materials. This enables a more complete compression of time and space in order to achieve a faster turnover of the capitalists’ outlays from the beginning of the production of the service until payment is received from the client or purchaser. Job satisfaction is typically regarded as being substantially greater in professional services than in highly repetitive assembly-line activities, but spillovers from the concentration of high-tower buildings should not be neglected. Most of these relate to the
contest for location with the more elite professions seeking the better views and crowding out the more traditional services, such as transport, warehousing, arts, entertainment and recreation. Territorial disputes in Boston are of course not new, but they are becoming more varied and more intense. The need for urban authorities to maintain a balance among these competing interests is increasingly more critical in avoiding perceptions that no one is in control, or that traditional standards and practices are being discarded. Lisbon’s mode of production is shifting away from labour-intensive manufacturing (clothing, textiles and
footwear) to more skill-intensive manufacturing (motor cars, petroleum products and industrial machinery). Like Boston, Lisbon is a seaport metropolis, but the facilities are less concentrated than Boston’s. As a result, the ‘fix’ required for Lisbon to compress time and space for the new manufacturing activities is one of increased size and greater spatial concentration in order to gain economies of scale for the production of exportable goods. This includes transport and communication facilities as well as improvements in education and training, and in local government administration. The last of these is particularly important since Portugal’s long history of highly concentrated governance provided no training ground for local area administrators and this contributed to relatively low levels of national well-being now being experienced. Sociologists have added two components to the notion of alienation, in addition to Marx’s emphasis on control – normlessness and isolation. The former refers to the absence (or sudden loss) of ‘values that might give purpose or direction to life’ (Dean 1961, p. 754). Powerlessness (implying lack of control), normlessness and isolation represent states of the mind or feelings that cannot be purposely filtered out with a design configuration. It is possible, however, and often appropriate, for urban designers to be aware of the possibility that a particular configuration may add to these undesirable outcomes unless the design is in
13
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
some way altered or ‘softened’ appropriately. Examples of this include increased parkland in the waterfront areas of Boston and in designing industrial parks in Lisbon to facilitate international transfers of technology. As Alexander Cuthbert states in his MUDD23 essay, ‘Capital, the spectacle and symbolic meaning’, space and time are inseparable within capitalism (Cuthbert 2018). I agree and would add: they are difficult to separate within any economic system, including feudalism. Space has no identity or meaning without a time dimension, and time has no identity or meaning without a space dimension. In the two remaining paragraphs below, I seek to carry that further by asserting that in the context of urban planning and design it is difficult to combine time and space in a way that produces a fair and consistent urban identity. The typical result is multiple identities, most of which are neither fair nor consistent. This comes about because a spatial fix is almost always politically determined, and there are no rules, or even guidelines, to place us on the desired path.
That does not mean urban planners and designers have no role is this process. Quite the contrary: it is they who should heed the impact that a plan or design has on those who are either directly or indirectly connected to its
outcome. The reason I place much of the responsibility on them is, firstly, they control the frame for the design conceptualisation and strategy. Most non-designers (such as me) cannot visualise the final product from a twodimensional plan or blueprint. Designers can therefore make the plan more edifying or less edifying, depending upon the way it is presented, and designers can use this control to ensure that some of the downside effects of the project are more discernible. Secondly, there may be means for minimising the undesirable effects that can be easily worked into the project design in a more costeffective way at the start than at some time in the future. Thirdly, designers and planners should never assume that others will take up these issues under their own volition; but rather, they often require external motivation that may be prompted by visual displays.
14
The remaining question, then, is how urban designers should proceed in seeking to combine space and time in a generally beneficial way. Perhaps it is one of discovery, of trial-and-error; but if the trials are selected randomly the process is likely to create a median space that merely defines the half-way point between measured extremes. Something out-of-theordinary may appear with such a process, but we must be able to recognise it, or at least know that the trials are proceeding toward a desirable out-of-the-ordinary. That creates an even greater conundrum: we must know where we are going before we get there, but if we
knew where we are going then it should be a simple matter to go there. The answer must be that we require two visions: an initial vision of the desired benefits of the space-time combination and the other vision containing the ingredients that inform the initial vision. This process was first described in 1781 by Immanuel Kant (1929) in the context of the ‘Transcendental Aesthetic,’ that space and time, taken together, are pure intuition and we can understand space and time only through experience. Thus, if human knowledge begins with intuitions, which is consistent with Kant’s views, then proceeds to concepts and ends with ideas,
it follows that ideas forming the second vision arise from knowledge. Knowledge combined with experience is wisdom. This fuses the two visions, and they are fused by space and time – at least metaphorically.
References Cuthbert, A. 2018, ‘Capital, the spectacle and symbolic meaning,’ MUDD23 Folio, Time, Space & the City -Sydney | Lisbon | Boston, pp.16-17. Dean, D.G. 1961, ‘Alienation: its meaning and measurement,’ American Sociological Review, vol.26 no.5, pp.753-758. Harvey, D. 2001, ‘Globalization and the “spatial fix,”’ Geographische Revue, vol.3 no.2, pp.23-30. Kant, I. 1929, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (1781), trans. by N. Kemp Smith, Macmillan, London.
Marx, K. 1971, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859), trans. by S. W. Ryazanskaya, ed. by M. Dobb, Lawrence & Wishart, London. Mészáros, I. 1970, Marx’s Theory of Alienation, Merlin Press, London. Streeck, W. 2016, How will Capitalism End?: essays on a failing system, Verso Books, London. Thisse, J-F. & Walliser, B. 1998, ‘Is space a neglected topic in mainstream economics?’ Recherches Économiques de Louvain, vol.64 no.1, pp.11-22.
15
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Capital, the spectacle and symbolic meaning Alexander Cuthbert
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert
Henri Lefebvre urged us not to fetishize space, not to view buildings, monuments, public spaces, whole neighbourhoods and urban infrastructure as mere ‘objects in space’. Instead we have to make the conceptual leap, conceive them radically, get to the root of these things just like Marx said, and concentrate on the actual ‘production of space’ and the social relationships inherent to it. (Merrifield 2002, p.28)
16
Of all the titles chosen for the MUDD folio over the last few years ‘Time, Space and the City’ is by far the most challenging. It opens up conceptual regions outside the traditional urban design field. It also begs the question, ‘do I really want to know what this means?’ We cannot use words without engaging with the concepts they contain. Nor can we absorb the concepts without adjusting our entire belief system to accommodate them. We can make this simple. Imagine if the concepts ‘time’, ‘father’, or ‘capitalism’ did not exist, what kind of world would we inhabit? Language and meaning are co-dependent. This is why Jürgen Habermas challenges Marx as the pre-eminent social theorist of the last two centuries, stressing language over the economy as deterministic of social structure (Habermas 1979). So the definitive question is ‘how can we understand space-time from an urban design perspective? The answer is we can’t. Mainstream urban design does not possess any meaningful conceptual system that is up to the task. Hope is at hand. As John Zerby indicates in his MUDD23 essay, political economy can accommodate Henri Lefebvre’s need to locate the production of space-time using concepts such as mode of production, alienation, the falling rate of profit and the organic composition of capital (Zerby 2018). I will reinforce his work below. While space and time appear as abstract categories that can be adapted to suit differing needs, here we view space as a material product within capitalism. Hence in Henri Lefebvre’s words, ‘all space is political’ (Lefebvre 1973). Over historical time humanity has stumbled forward chaotically based on relations defined by and encapsulated within varied and progressive modes of production, with self interest to the fore. But since the early 16th century these relations have been developed within capitalist modes – industrial, commercial, financial, and informational. Each cycle embodied the necessary system of class relations without which it could not survive, namely the abyss between those who owned the means of production and those who were employed to generate their wealth. Despite this somewhat totalising approach, we must also be beware of reducing aesthetic, cultural and other properties (what Castells refers to as the urban symbolic) to the purely economic (Castells 1977). But this does not alter the fact that the system is exploitive to its core, to the point that today, 42 individuals hold as much wealth as the 3.7 billion people that make up the poorest half of the world’s population. In 2017, 82% of the global wealth generated went to the wealthiest 1%. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, saw his wealth increase by US$ 6 billion in the first ten days of 2017 (Rushe & Helmore 2018). So what does space-time mean in this context? Not only are space and time inseparable within capitalism, they are the medium through which exploitation occurs. Modes of production are defined by spatial flows such as energy, raw materials, commodities, transport functions etc. The speed of these flows is directly related to the concept of space-time compression and the accelerated accumulation of capital, hence Marx famous phrase, ‘the annihilation of space by time’ in his Grundrisse of 1857. The faster commodities can be created and sold, the greater the accumulation of wealth into fewer and fewer hands. Necessarily, all space and time have been commodified in the interests of productive forces. They have been measured, valued, hierarchized, fractured, packaged and priced like any other commodity. Hence
‘powerful class interests colonise and commodify space, use and abuse the built environment and public spaces, ideologically brandish monuments, conquer whole neighbourhoods and urban infrastructure’ Merrifield (2002, p.8). But we must not forget that the commodity is not, in essence, an object but a social relation – between those who own the means of production and those who provide the opportunity for exploitation. Within this system, capital accumulation occurs in three main ways – rent on land, profit on investment, and surplus value on labour. Surplus value is rooted to the labour process where each individual will produce more than they consume. Exploitation occurs since the surplus is collectively created but privately appropriated (Luxemburg 1951). Since surplus value is dependent on the time spent by living labour, the appropriation of the surplus is at its core a monopoly over time - ‘the class which organises the social labour and appropriates surplus value, simultaneously appropriates the temporal surplus value of its organisation of social time: it possesses for itself the irreversible time of the living’ (Debord 1994, n.128). Both Debord and Georges Bataille ask an obvious but seminal question as to where this surplus goes. In The Accursed Share (Bataille 1988) refers back to early cultures (Kwakiutl, Aztec, Lamaism etc) to the idea of disposing/squandering the excess social surplus through gifts, potlatch ceremonies, Aztec human sacrifice etc. He applies the idea to modern society where excess production does not return to those who created it and is diverted into spectacular consumption. This happens e.g. in war, where public taxes fund the conflict and the private sector takes advantage of a huge new market. Elsewhere the excess is disbursed in ‘vulgarised pseudo festivals, parodies of the dialogue and the gift...in the spectacle’ (Debord 1994, n.154). In this context the built environment and the processes that lead to urban design interventions can be seen as a part of the overall system of space- time compression. This leads in many cases to ‘vulgarised pseudo festivals’ and the processes whereby the city consumes itself by increasingly rapid surplus value extraction and follows James O’Connor’s principle that capital always destroys the source of its own success (O’Connor 1991). Here the built environment constitutes both fixed capital and a quantum of dead labour time. New capital flows unevenly through various circuits, first into industrial investment where overproduction and overaccumulation take place, prompting capital displacement into the secondary circuit – the built environment and the construction of commodified spaces that represent determinate social relations and spatial hierarchies (Harvey 1982). This is what John Zerby refers to as a spatial fix - the chameleon like quality that allows capital to change its camouflage without changing its structure - crisis evasion at its best (Zerby 2018). Given the dominant interests of capital and surplus value extraction, what therefore is the key to the urban design
process when such interests prevail? For urban designers the key intellectual engagement must be over symbolism, representation and image to avoid our environments being overwhelmed by the spectacle of commodity production. This may seem simple but it is clearly a battle between community and the neo-corporate state as to whose culture is represented, between the symbolic expression of social relations in appropriate urban forms, or the reification of the commodity and spectacular consumption. How this might take place deserves serious thought and resolution if urban design projects are not to descend into a rupture with historical time and what Debord (1994, n.196) refers to as ‘the official amnesia of historical practice’.
References Bataille, G. 1988, The Accursed Share: an essay on general economy (1949), 2 vols, trans. by R. Hurley, Zone Books, New York. Castells, M. 1977, The Urban Question: a Marxist approach, Edward Arnold, London. Debord, G. 1994, Society of the Spectacle (1967), trans. by D. Nicholson-Smith, Zone Books, New York. Habermas, J. 1979, Communication and the Evolution of Society (1976), trans. by T. McCarthy, Polity, Oxford. Harvey, D. 1982, The Limits to Capital, Blackwell, Oxford. Lefebvre, H. 1973, ‘Space and the state,’ in: Brenner, N., Jessop, B., Jones, M. & MacLeod, G. (eds) 2003, State/ Space – A Reader, Blackwell, Oxford, pp.84-100. Luxemburg, R. 1951, The Accumulation of Capital (1913), trans. by A. Schwarzchild, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. Marx, K. 1857, Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie (Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy), extracts in: McLellan, D. (ed.) 1980, Marx’s Grundrisse, 2nd ed., Macmillan, London, pp.47-163. Merrifield, A. 2002, Metromarxism: a Marxist tale of the city, Routledge, London. O’Connor, J. 1991, ‘On the two contradictions of capitalism,’ Capitalism Nature Socialism, vol.2 no.3, pp.107-109. Rushe, D. & Helmore, E. 2018, ‘Jeff Bezos adds billions to his fortune as Amazon reports profit surge,’ The Guardian, 2 February 2018. Zerby. J. 2018, ‘Contemporary capitalism and the need for spatial fixes,’ MUDD23 Folio, Time, Space & the City -Sydney | Lisbon | Boston, pp.12-15.
17
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Slowing down and rediscovering the street Jon Lang
Emeritus Professor Jon Lang
During the 1950s and 1960s, Sigfried Giedion’s Space Time and Architecture (1941) was the best-selling book on architecture. It dealt primarily with the design of buildings but also ventured into dealing with urban design concerns. José Luis Sert and C.I.A.M’s Can our Cities Survive? An ABC of Urban Problems, their Analysis, their Solutions (1942), was more focused on urban design concerns. It was almost as popular. The two books presented strong advocacies for the Rationalist branch of the modernist movement’s view of what the design of future cities should be like and what the ways of life and aesthetic values of its inhabitants should be. They argued for more space, faster movement of vehicles, an architecture to reflect the internationalism and the technology of contemporary times, and, more broadly, for a dissolution of the city as we know it. The image of what the values and behaviour of the inhabitants of the future was very much influenced by Le Corbusier’s view of the world which was, in turn, shaped by his upbringing as a strict, puritanical, luxury-avoiding Calvinist (Brooks 1997). The Rationalists’ view of the city, despite the empirical failure of many of their ideas (as recognized by many of its own practitioners), continues to capture the imagination of many urban designers in the twenty-first century. The simplicity and internal consistency of its argument, its claim to universality of application and the boldness of the architecture of its various building types set as objects in open space still lure many urban designers. Policy makers and architects in East Asia are particularly attracted by the Rationalist paradigm of many Modernists. Much design there is perceived to have incurred substantial opportunity costs. Urban designs could have served a greater range of functions than they do; they are not functional enough (Miao 2003; Kan, Forsyth & Rowe 2017). More generally, architects’ preference for a boldness of forms over understanding the potential functionality of the places they design was recognized by observers such as Jane Jacobs almost six decades ago (Jacobs 1961). Their comments have largely gone unheeded. It is easy to be dismissive of many of the Rationalists’ ideas but they were well thought out responses to the malfunctions of the industrial city as they saw them and the potentialities of new technologies to create a modern world. The problems in their positions were five-fold. The model of the people that they used as a basis for their generic designs was flawed. Their model of functionalism was highly simplistic; consequently, so was their belief in the impact of the built environment on social behavior and their concept of ‘efficiency’. They failed to recognize what people enjoy in cities and the richness of life traditional cities afford; they were so concerned with eliminating urban problems that they threw out the types of places that people, young and old, wealthy or not, love. If we consider just one, although major, concern in urban designing – the nature of streets – the strengths and limitations of Rationalist design ideals become clear. Much needs to be rethought in considering space, time and the city. For the Rationalists one of the objectives of urban design was to speed up traffic flows by enhancing the efficiency of motor vehicle movements; they were also worried about the safety of pedestrians. They thought that land uses (that is, activity areas) should be designed to reduce conflicts. These are laudable concerns. The mechanism, the design pattern, they advocated for
18
achieving them was through the complete separation of vehicular and pedestrian movement channels and that of precincts accommodating different activities. In applying these patterns vehicular speeds could be substantially enhanced. High speed vehicular movement is essential for intercity movement but the generic ideas of the Modernists were applied without much thought to a wide array of specific design situations (Lang & Weirick in progress). It was applied to local traffic as well as inter-city traffic. In existing cities expressways were driven through neighbourhoods, particularly low-income areas of cities, to enable their CBDs to be reached efficiently from suburban areas. Concentrating on speeding up traffic flows on non-arterial roads reduces the efficiency of streets to act as potential locations for the development of a sense of community and even communal life (Appleyard & Lintell 1972). Streets may need to be narrowed to slow down vehicular traffic movement so that they can act as seams for life by making them more pedestrian friendly (Steuteville 2018). Turning streets into one-way movement channels with coordinated traffic lights reduces their ability to function as seams for communal life; they become edges separating one side of a street from the other. When high-speed roads are driven through neighbourhoods they can destroy well-functioning patterns of local lives particularly in those precincts housing low-income inhabitants. The culprit is not the automobile and the driver but the way policy makers and urban designers think about cities. The segregation of human activities in terms of land use may be partly to blame for the boringness of many new urban designs in comparison to the nested and overlapping collage of places that form cities whose patterns have developed over time. Noxious activities need to be separated from others. Segregating land-uses into separate precincts as advocated by almost all the sub-branches of the modern movement and now ingrained in zoning policies reduces the liveliness of areas. This quality is, indeed, often desirable but it has been achieved when it is not desired. People differ in their tolerance for diversity but educative environments are ones where children and adults alike can vicariously participate in the lives of others and learn from them. Similarly, more open space in cities is not necessarily a good thing. Open spaces are desirable but are not by default automatically a good thing; the function of spaces such as squares and parks in the morphology of cities needs to be clearly understood. As a result of these shortcomings much thought has been given to rethinking the urban design paradigms that we urban designers rely on. Looking at a city as ecological psychologists do, as a behaviour setting in which a myriad of other settings composing places and links exist, gives urban analysts and designers a way of understanding how
cities actually function for specific individuals, children and adults, the strong and the infirm, the wealthy and the poor (Lang & Moleski 2010). It also helps us understand the culture – the ways of life and values – of the people with whom and for whom we are designing. Designers need to design to preserve desirable behaviour settings before trying to eliminate those that are problems as different groups of people might see them. In doing so the nature of spaces, the nature of our times, and the nature of the city will be better understood. Designing for the future still requires two major questions to be addressed: in what way will the nature of the city change as the result of market forces and in what way should it change? These two questions, embedded in each other, are the basis for giving some coherence to the argumentative process that is urban designing.
References Appleyard, D. & Lintell, M. 1972, ‘The environmental quality of city streets: the residents’ viewpoint,’ Journal of the American Institute of Planners, vol.38 no.2 pp.84-101. Brooks, H.A. 1997, Le Corbusier’s Formative Years: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret at La Chaux-de-Fonds, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Giedion, S. 1941, Space, Time and Architecture: the growth of a new tradition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Jacobs, J. 1961, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House, New York. Kan, H.Y, Forsyth, A. & Rowe, P. 2017, ‘Redesigning China’s superblock neighbourhoods: policies, opportunities and challenges,’ Journal of Urban Design, vol.22 no.6, pp.757-777. Lang J. & Moleski, W. 2010, Functionalism Revisited: architectural theory and practice and the behavioral sciences, Ashgate, Farnham. Lang, J. & Weirick, J. (in preparation) Urban Design: twenty and twenty-first centuries – a history of shifting manifestoes and paradigms, generic solutions and specific designs. Miao, P. 2003, ‘Deserted streets in a jammed town: the gated community in Chinese cities and its solution,’ Journal of Urban Design, vol.8 no.1, pp.45-66. Sert, J.L. & C.I.A.M. 1942, Can our Cities Survive? An ABC of urban problems, their analysis, their solutions, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Steuteville, R. 2018, ‘Road diet bridges a barrier, boosts safety,’ Public Square, 10 January 2018, https://www. cnu.org/publicsquare/2018/01/10/road-diet-bridges-barrierboosts-safety - accessed 15 January 2018.
19
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Building space for time Jeremy Dawkins
Cities emerged, and now explode, as they intensify exchange. So those of us who are lucky enough to be directly involved in the creation of urban space are helping to shape the places where intensified exchange takes place. Interactions then shape and change the conditions for the next exchanges. The concrete spaces may be relatively unchanging, but how they are used, and the impacts of those uses, can rapidly take new forms and follow new directions – expected and unexpected,
Jeremy Dawkins
positive and negative. In the MUDD course in Planning and Urban Development we investigate these changes,
and their continuing management, using the urbaneconomic concept of externalities: how all activities in the city impact on the neighbours, and drive change at a distance, in a sea of intense interactions. Thus, good development, and good planning and urban design, is not only about three dimensional spaces and the human and natural life that occupies those spaces. It is also about the fourth dimension: time. The best designers and developers understand the continuously evolving uses that their spaces might accommodate. They understand that they design and build space for time.
Stopping the clock In some urban spaces, change is prevented. For instance, apartment buildings have mini governments that enforce strict rules to prevent owners making any changes. The primary mechanism for preventing change is to limit individual ownership to the internal volumes. The site and the structure, and everything that can be seen, is owned by the owners’ corporation. If the advantages of living in the city – individual access to resources and opportunities – were to apply within the building, all manner of changes would arise that could have negative effects on other owners and most likely reduce the collective value of all the apartments. Thus,
20
these kinds of buildings are at the far end of the fluidfrozen spectrum. Shopping centres are an equally interesting case. Having replaced the main street, with its rows of businesses all subject to the fluctuations of the market and constituting an organic mixture of competing and complementary activities – all enjoying the benefits of intensifying exchanges within in one street – the shopping centre recreates this mix in a highly controlled environment. The mini government here is the owner of the complex. If shops are sold, they are subject to stringent conditions regarding transfers to new owners
and permissible new uses. If shops are tenanted, every visible element of the shop, and many of its operations, are subject to approval by the owner. The owner is able to shape the mix and location of businesses to intensify the urban interactions that take place within the building, and thus its value. When large urban sites are developed, the designer and developer are expected to deliver a mix of uses and activities that emulate a successful urban complex, generating the right mix of competing and synergistic activities, minimising the negative impacts of one on another, and maximising the benefits of agglomeration. These developments, too, may allow a local mini government, such as an owners association, to retain detailed control over how any changes take place. On the spectrum, they may still be towards the frozen end.
In a sense, these diverse projects attempt to deny the dynamic urban qualities that they are benefitting from – they try to eliminate time from space. Why is it so important to these owners to stop the clock – to erect strong controls over change? There is a simple and universal answer to this question. In the archetypal urban environment of intensified exchange, buildings and uses exist in highly complex and fluid arrays, change is constant, and the impacts of each on others – while generally positive– can sometimes be strongly negative and destructive of property values. If
owners are able to control what happens over time, they have a powerful incentive to do so, and to design places in ways that allow them to govern the interactions at the place. They may not have this power of government for long. The typical business model for urban development requires the constant recycling of capital. The original developers – possibly a partnership of diverse interests, and almost always an entity that shares power with banks and other providers of capital – probably must recover the capital by selling the entire project, or dividing it into small parcels that can be progressively sold. Their powers to govern the post-occupancy interactions at the place shrink or disappear. Even when all or most of the site is controlled by an investor or an owners corporation, their power to shape change stops at their boundaries.
Space in motion In the urban environment, change can come from so many directions, and at so many speeds. Even for a large and complex site, events outside the site can have the most obvious impacts. External events which the owner might not have anticipated, and over which the owner has no control, can make the difference between the success and failure of even the largest project: big new roads or railways, road and rail closures, major new infrastructure nearby such as an airport, a major shopping centre arising or declining – in short, a significant change in land use in the vicinity. For small sites, of course, critical impacts may arise from changes that are more immediate. Other drivers of change may be slower and more diffuse. Developments which are designed to meet specific markets may prove to be brilliantly timed, or they may prove to be either too far ahead of their time or already out of date. However thoroughly market trends are analysed and predicted – and the analysis can hardly ever be too thorough – changing preferences
21
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
and fashions in the marketplace often bring surprises. Sensitivity analysis is intended to anticipate the effects of potential changes, but by its nature the market can still deliver the unexpected, propelling a project to greater profitability or sinking it into deficit. Some of the most challenging impacts on a project come from other designers and developers. The owner of a major development site nearby may choose to acknowledge what is already there, and seek to reinforce the emerging uses of the area and to maximise the benefits of agglomeration. Or they may try to supplant what is there, by rendering it redundant
or out of date, or by offering more attractive alternative uses. First movers have advantages, but they are also vulnerable to those who may intercept, outflank or overshadow their first move. Their best hope is to design the project so well that it sets the directions and standards for the area, and is capable of adapting as other developers and designers respond. Most potent are the changes inside the site, beginning with the completion and occupation of the very first stages. Too many plans for projects seem to assume that the project will be built as designed, and that it will stay that way. This is a convenient and seductive idea for an urban designer, who might say, ‘I’ll design this project, I’ll decide on its form, it will be built, and everything will be as intended.’ Is this valid, even when one owner controls the entire site? Not if it is a university campus, which could be said to have a single owner. This year the students of the Planning & Urban Development course had a field day to understand the history,
planning and recent development of the UNSW main campus, led by David Chesterman, the urban designer principally responsible for the impressive transformation of the campus over the past 25 years (Chesterman 2005; Randwick 2007; UNSW 2011). It became very clear that, despite a single ‘owner’, a university campus has many ‘owners’ controlling individual sites, many competing interests, and many changes of direction as events unfold, no matter how firmly the campus plan is set in place. This is precisely the challenge that Christopher Alexander and his colleagues faced on a comparable campus, at the University of Oregon
22
(Alexander & others 1975). The notion that ‘everything will be as intended’ is not even true in the case of a strictly controlled site such as Disney World in Florida: internally, the Disney Corporation maintains a fairly traditional statutory planning and development approval process for Disney World, because they know that plans must be made, and varied, as incremental development takes place over time (Dawkins 1997). Perhaps the notion that ‘everything will be as intended’ applies when a single developer builds a large complex site as one continuous project – a model now familiar in China. Even then, the assumption is not valid: forces of change begin the moment the project commences. The forces driving change within a project are the same forces driving change across the urban region. Ownership might change, and with it the business, the activity, the number of residents/workers/customers, the hours of operation, the style – all of which can generate quite different impacts on the neighbours, and can trigger changes in those neighbours. Without ownership changing, the decision-makers may change, through board or staff changes, leading to new priorities and new directions. The customers, users or suppliers may change, requiring adaptation. Technology has always driven changes in urban life and form, now more rapidly than ever. Instant universal connectivity, working online, virtual shops, autonomous vehicles, autonomous aircraft, robots, artificial intelligence, reconfigured infrastructure, new products – all these and as-yet-unknown technologies can transform the physical form of the city and the life within it. In the meantime, changing markets, changing consumer choices, fads and fashions can be powerful drivers of new urban structure and changes in land use. All of these possibilities – all of the ways in which spaces change shape and new uses emerge – must be part of the designer’s and developer’s brief to themselves. The brief cannot stop at three dimensional space. These urban spaces are in motion, and time must be part of the design. Let’s call this designing in four dimensions.
Designing in four dimensions When designers and developers design in four dimensions, they are not only thinking of the future. They must also think about the region. Their site is an island of interacting spaces and activities, in an ocean of intense urban interactions. They must ask themselves, what can happen to this site over time? What are the big impacts from outside the site? They must understand the urban patterns and transformations taking place in that quarter of the city. Interactions are not random. Understood as externalities impacting at a distance – the impacts
being more or less positive and negative depending on what is happening at the site – they have structure and a trajectory over time. Seeing these larger spatial structures in the urban milieu requires motivation and practice. As Alexander said when working on a large and complex site in the centre of San Francisco, ‘We found that the most consistent error…was always the blindness to large structure.’ (Alexander & others 1987, p.50). The designers’ aims must be to understand the urban structures within and beyond the site, to anticipate how impacts to and from all sites can reinforce and diminish the value of spaces for specific activities, to initiate a virtuous cycle of complementary activities, and to avoid a vicious cycle of conflicting activities.
The technique of designing in four dimensions may not be easy – it requires skill, imagination and creativity – but it can be simply explained. Having settled on the main elements of the site: 1.
describe as concretely as possible the experiences
2.
explain how the form and character of the site will lead to these experiences;
3.
describe the criteria (values, choices, preferences) that governed (directly or implicitly) the design of the site’s form and character; and
4.
turn these criteria into rules, so that anyone involved with the design and development of the site will be guided towards the intended form and
you want people to have there (actions, behaviour, feelings);
character, and users of the site will continue to experience it as intended. That is the essence. Designing in four dimensions is a discipline that tests and drives the refinement of the planning and design of the project. It then provides a powerful tool for the continuing management of the site, as it adapts and changes over time. Designing in four dimensions will take many forms, depending on the site, the project and the jurisdiction. An example of some of the more detailed steps taken is given in the appendix. An example of a site where all of these patterns and interactions are clearly apparent is the farmland being planned as Sydney Science Park, investigated by a team of students taking the 2017 Planning & Urban Development course (Chen & others 2017). The project responds to the new airport at Badgerys Creek, a generator of very strong and extensive (positive) externalities. The airport will precipitate large-scale change in the entire Sydney region. Close to the
airport there will be accelerating changes in land use, workforce and resident population, in turn driving faster changes and newly emerging ‘large structures’ as well as a hierarchy of smaller structures, often fractal. The privately-owned site extends over nearly 300 hectares (see Figure 1). The owners have decided that the greatest development opportunities will be driven by a cluster of interacting activities related to scientific research, scientific development and science education in the fields of food, energy and health, leading eventually to 12,000 knowledge-based jobs, 10,000 students and 10,000 residents. The planning and design task can be understood as the assembly of complementary uses and structures that maximise the sum of positive externalities within the site, that capture the positive externalities from around the site and the airport, and that effectively control the larger urban structures around the site. Single ownership facilitates these grand plans, but over time new decision makers, and cascading interactions and changes, will bring about changes of the kind described at the outset – expected and unexpected, positive and negative.
23
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Figure 1. Planning Sydney Science Park Precinct, Penrith, NSW: the capacity to respond to cascading changes while retaining the power to create and control externalities. In designing large sites, owners focus on how the intra-site interactions can maximise positive externalities over time. (Sources: Penrith City Council 2014, p.E16-6; Chen & others 2017)
References Alexander, C., Neis, H., Anninou, A. & King, I. 1987, A New Theory of Urban Design, Oxford University Press, New York. Alexander, C., Silverstein, M., Angel, S., Ishikawa, S. & Abrams, D. 1975, The Oregon Experiment, Oxford University Press, New York. Chen Hao, Li Xize & Hourani, A.G. 2017, Development Feasibility Study, Report submitted for Assignment 3, UDES0008 Planning & Urban Development, Graduate Program in Urban development & Design, Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney (unpublished). Chesterman, D. 2005, ‘Restructuring of the University of New South Wales,’ Urban Design International, vol.10 nos 3-4, pp.199-213. Dawkins, J. 1997, Public and Private Regulation of Large projects in the U.S., Sydney Vision: UTS Papers in Planning No.7, Planning Program, Faculty of Design Architecture & Building, University of Technology, Sydney.
24
Penrith City Council 2014, ‘Penrith Development Control Plan 2014: E16 Sydney Science Park Precinct’. Randwick City Council 2007, ‘UNSW Kensington Campus Development Control Plan’. University of New South Wales (UNSW) 2011, Kensington Campus Planning and Design Guide: objectives and principles for the future development of the Kensington campus, Facilities Management – Planning & Development, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Appendix One way to ‘design in four dimensions’ (in more detail).
1.
Decide on the main elements of the site and the main physical attributes. Then:
•
Describe the main users – workers, residents, customers, suppliers, visitors, etc.
•
Describe the main reasons for the users being at the site.
4.
Translate those criteria into design rules:
•
Are there rules that apply to the potential uses of the site and the patterns and distribution of those uses?
•
Are there rules that apply to the quantity (intensity, density) of different uses and the relative amounts of each?
•
Are there rules that apply to the form and character of the buildings?
•
Are there rules that apply to the form and character of the spaces between the buildings?
•
Describe the ways in which you want the users to experience the site.
•
Describe the feelings you want the users to have.
•
•
Describe the qualities of the site that you expect the users to value most.
Are there rules that apply to pedestrian and cyclist access and facilities, and to public transport?
•
Are there rules that apply to vehicular access, deliveries and parking?
5.
Now conduct an experiment to test the rules:
•
Taken on their own, what are the many uses of the site that the rules could lead to?
2.
Show how these qualities are built into the form and physical character of the site:
•
Explain the chosen arrangement of buildings and spaces.
•
Explain how the buildings and spaces will be used.
•
•
Explain how the buildings and spaces will influence the behaviour of the different users.
What are the limits of density, intensity and landuse mix that the rules lead to?
•
What degrees of diversity in form and character can the rules produce?
•
What levels of pedestrian and vehicular accessibility result from the rules?
6.
Using the results of the experiment in (5), rewrite/ refine the rules.
•
Modify the project and adjust the rules, until the project complies with the rules, and the rules apply comprehensively to the project.
•
Write the rules into a regulatory document or guidelines that will be used in managing ongoing changes at the site.
3.
Express the site’s qualities as explicit criteria:
•
What criteria determined the planning of the whole site and its parts?
•
What criteria determined the form and character of the buildings?
•
What criteria determined the form and character of the spaces between the buildings?
•
What criteria determined the movement patterns for people, cars and trucks?
25
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Jury for the Studio consisted of
•
Jonathan Knapp (SJB)
•
Dajon Feldman (Scott Carver)
•
Bob Perry (Scott Carver)
•
Vanessa Trowell (Urbano)
•
Scott Hawken (UNSW)
•
James Weirick (UNSW)
•
Jodi Lawton (UNSW)
•
Michael Gheorghiu (Planning Consultant)
Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
26
South Creek Aerotropolis Sydney Studio, 2017
Like most Australian cities, Sydney is facing an influx of people – 1.6 million new residents are expected over the next 15 years. Population growth in the west and decreasing transport efficiencies in the east support the construction of a new airport in Western Sydney. Efficient airports are essential infrastructures for global cities. However, they are amongst the most expensive and challenging urban infrastructure to integrate into cities sensitively and effectively. They require large investments and even larger supporting infrastructure to ensure that they are sufficiently connected and positioned to benefit the cities in which they are situated.
option to take on the project. However, the implicit risk suggested in this sequence of events hasn’t been addressed with investment in public transport, inclusive economic development and environmental infrastructure remaining uncertain.
Sydney is no exception. The scale of the project has made it extremely controversial due to its environmental impacts which involve noise and the complete transformation of a sensitive ecological landscape within and beyond the airport’s proposed site boundary. Since the mid 20th century Badgerys Creek has been considered for the location of a second airport for Sydney. For political reasons it hasn’t been developed in the past.
This studio project sought to challenge this with a data driven framework that informed 6 strategic projects throughout Western Sydney. This McHargian process integrated GIS technology in simple but powerful mapping exercises that established the rules for studio projects. Apart from the foundational brief set by the digital data and policy reports, a series of profound presentations by professors and professionals informed the directions of the studio. High level expert contributions from Professor Robert Freestone (Aerotropolis), Prof Susan Holiday (Very Fast Train), Mark Tyrell (Landscape as Infrastructure), Jonathan Knapp (Development Visions and Process) and Maryam Litkouhi (Development Feasibility) established critical directions. Most importantly they highlighted the question ‘ will the airport deliver what it promises?’ : a new economy and more equity for Western Sydney?
In 2002 Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport was privatised and sold to Macquarie Bank. “Sydney Airport Holdings” as operator of Sydney’s existing airport had first right of refusal to build the second airport in Western Sydney. The company said it would be too great a financial risk for their investors. The twin airport model is a risky proposition with Melbourne a clear example of this. In response the Federal Government has confirmed it will build Sydney’s second airport at Badgerys Creek in July 2017 after Sydney Airport declined their contractual
The enthusiasm surrounding the airport has resulted in a frenzy of speculation and development activity by existing developers and land holders along with a surge of newcomers onto the market. Current futures are shaped by these powerful interests in a developer driven process which Sydney is renowned for.
27
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
South Creek Aerotropolis Sydney Studio, 2017 Convenors: Dr Scott Hawken and Michael Gheorghiu A very concise programmatic and spatial brief was given to students who were then responsible for generating detailed briefs and projects for precinct plans along with feasibility studies for their implementation. The demanding pace and scope of the studio was set by studio director Dr Scott Hawken with assistance from Michael Gheorghiu. Hawken and Gheorghiu brought their experience of working in the west in the fields of infrastructure and metropolitan planning together with an on the ground knowledge of urban development and planning. They are grateful to the students for committing to a steep learning curve and attempting this ‘real life’ project which has serious implications for Greater Sydney. The six following projects demonstrate the students’ commitment to this challenge and addressing three separate bodies of knowledge over the course of one semester: strategic data driven planning, urban design frameworks and development feasibility. This powerful multidisciplinary integration of complementary knowledge domains is all too rare in higher education and largely unique to the MUDD Program. This knowledge mix was developed through diverse teaching strategies and learning techniques ranging from independent learning, to small group learning to seminar and studio formats. All approaches used adopt design thinking approach applied to problembased learning. Students developed important skills to help them work collaboratively and also to use design to manage development in complex and unpredictable situations requiring new solutions. Such skills are essential in today’s rapidly changing world.
28
Will the airport deliver what it promises? A new economy and more equity for Western Sydney?
29
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Western Sydney: A Parkland City with no Plan for its Parks Dr Scott Hawken Jessica Dharmasiri
Dr Scott Hawken
Jessica Dharmasiri
Sydney’s population is currently experiencing an unprecedented level of growth, with the city’s population projected to increase by one million inhabitants in the next ten years (Wade 2017). To accommodate this rapid development, Sydney is expanding westwards and forming a new urban centre based on the Aerotropolis concept which aspires to be a global urban centre and rival Central Sydney and Parramatta (NSW Department of Planning & Environment 2017; Freestone 2017). According to the Greater Sydney Commission’s draft regional plan the Aerotropolis concept is to be fused with a green vision to create a ‘Western Parkland City’ (Greater Sydney Commission 2017). The only problem is that although there are definite plans and money for roads there is no equivalent plan or finance set aside for the parks or green networks to support the urban centre. Urban development at this scale in Australia comes with a crucial caveat - current approaches primarily focus on grey rather than green infrastructure. Currently, green infrastructure is included as an afterthought; integrated through spatially blind planning codes which do not guarantee spatial quality or ecological, climatic or recreational performance. This is significant because Western Sydney contains endangered ecological communities and is the most vulnerable place in Sydney in terms of heat and climate impacts. Without a comprehensive green infrastructure policy, the proposed urban expansions stand to suffer from both a liveability and climate resilience standpoint. This forecast is certain. Heat impacts and dangers are already part of western Sydney’s everyday experience. In October 2017, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Sydney and Melbourne could expect days with temperatures of up to 50 degrees, as a result of high-pressure anthropogenic activities (Hannam 2017). In response to rapidly rising temperatures across the region, the observation of the UHI effect in Sydney has been central to many historical and recent studies. Buildings and dark surfaces have been identified key contributors to the UHI effect, as they absorb and radiate heat; while green spaces can be used to mitigate these pressures. In particular, heat is felt more strongly in Western Sydney than in the inner city areas; with the area expected to experience ‘between 5 and 10 additional hot days by 2030 due to rapid rates of construction’ (Cormack 2016b). With increasing development and tree cover that is not always replanted, the region has inevitably become the ‘perfect setting for the Urban Heat Island effect’ (Cormack 2016a). A study by Santamouris et al. (2017) found that the UHI is positive over 40% of the time in three out of five Sydney sites; Olympic Village, Bankstown and Canterbury (54%, 52% and 40% of the time respectively); reinforcing that UHI intensity is most characteristic among a variety of locations across western Sydney. Despite this recognition and studies identifying the particularly strong UHI effect in Western Sydney, planning for the region continues to address social and economic growth (driven by rising urban populations) and not necessarily any negative climate impacts. Current work in the UNSW Faculty of Built
30
Environment by the authors has focused on modelling such heat impacts. A range of tools are necessary from the application of urban microclimate modelling tools such as ENVI-met® to the generation of heat vulnerability index to assess which parts of metropolitan Sydney need additional adaptive capacity (Bodilis, Hawken & Yenneti 2018). Biodiversity loss is also an imminent danger. Biobanking offsets are priced to discourage clearing of vegetation but with rising land prices, these safeguards will not necessarily protect green infrastructure where it is needed the most - next to high population densities. The high value ecological community of Cumberland Plain Woodland has been dismissed by the design community as drab and unappealing. This view, common amongst current urban designers and landscape architects, contrasts with that of the first settlers and explorers in Western Sydney who described it as majestic and reminiscent of the sublime parks from their homeland. Western Sydney’s unique and undervalued ecology is an important asset in managing population growth and maintaining fundamental ecological function from regulation, such as control of climate and disease; supporting, such as the processing of nutrient cycles and pollination; provisioning, such as the supply of water and food and cultural, such as spiritual indigenous values and psychological and recreational benefits. Seen in a strictly economic sense, ecosystems in Western Sydney contribute to industries that are today among the most valuable globally. Unfortunately, the integration of these values into mainstream thinking and urban policy is severely lacking. The Aerotropolis concept as promoted by its main global advocate, John D. Kasarda, does not support any such ecological or sustainable views (Kasarda & Lindsay 2011). Despite the proven benefits of green infrastructure to improve urban connectivity, human health and more; there has been no such policy for Sydney since the Cumberland County Plan more than 50 years ago. The green grid proposal led by the Office of the NSW Government Architect (Schaffer 2015) is a good start but needs further development and legislative clout and integration between councils and urban agencies; if not its own agency to deliver the ecological and environmental performance needed in Western Sydney. A structure plan that integrates thinking of urban ecological leaders such as Yu Kongjian needs to guide development in the west according to a ‘negative planning approach’ (Yu 2011). Yu’s approach is relevant at the district scale, but this is not the only relevant scale when considering planning decisions. Urban design structure plans also need to integrate biophilic models in the very heart of new urban centres such as those in the west. Other cities such as London and
Hammarby Sjöstad have been progressive in designing systems which can contribute to liveability and climate mitigation and sustainability (Firley & Grön 2013) and Sydney needs to follow suit. In adopting the most promising facets of these global ecological approaches, Sydney’s urban expansion strategy may stand a chance in the face of environmental and climate pressures that continue to intensify. References Bodilis, C, Hawken, S & Yenneti, K 2018, ‘A Heat Vulnerability Index for Metropolitan Sydney’, Spatial Dataset, City Datastore, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Built Environment. Cormack, L 2016a, ‘Beat the heat: western Sydney tackles the urban heat island effect’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 July, <http://www.smh.com.au/environment/urban-heat-island-effectencompassing-western-sydney-20160119-gm97ps.html>. Cormack, L 2016b, ‘Sydney area an “urban heat island” vulnerable to extreme temperatures’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 January, <http://www.smh.com.au/environment/sydneyarea-an-urban-heat-island-vulnerable-to-extreme-temperatures20160113-gm4v14.html>. Department of Planning and Environment 2017, A Plan for Growing Sydney, <http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-foryour-area/Sydney/A-Plan-for-Growing-Sydney> Firley, E & Grön, K 2013, The Urban Masterplanning Handbook, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex. Freestone, R 2017, ‘Flying into uncertainty: Western Sydney’s “aerotropolis” poses more questions than answers’, The Conversation, 22 March, <https://theconversation.com/flyinginto-uncertainty-western-sydneys-aerotropolis-poses-morequestions-than-answers-73682>. Kasarda, J. D., & Lindsay, G. (2011). Aerotropolis: the way we’ll live next. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Hannam, P 2017, ‘“Really awful”: 50-degree days possible for Sydney, Melbourne, as warming worsens’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 October. Santamouris, M, Haddad, S, Fiorito, F, Osmond, P, Ding, L, Prasad, D, Zhai, X & Wang, R 2017, ‘Urban heat island and overheating characteristics in Sydney, Australia. An analysis of multiyear measurements’, Sustainability (Switzerland), vol. 9, no. 5, pp.712-732. Wade, M 2017, ‘Sydney’s population tops five million, ABS data shows’, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March, <http://www.smh. com.au/nsw/sydneys-population-tops-five-million-abs-datashows-20170330-gv9pnq.html>. Yu, K. 2011, ‘Ecological infrastructure leads the way: the negative approach and landscape urbanism for smart preservation and smart growth,’ in: Richter, M. & Weiland, U. 2011, Applied Urban Ecology: a global framework, Wiley, Chichester, pp.152-169.
31
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
South Creek Aerotropolis The UDES0002 studio engaged with a series of challenges and controversies within a design challenge structured around creating a Western Sydney Aerotropolis. The Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) designates a strategic framework for the Sydney metropolitan area on a three-city model: Eastern Sydney as Harbour City, Parramatta as River City and Western Sydney as Parkland City, each with their own unique characteristics. An overarching principle behind this strategy is to plan around an upgraded transport system connecting Parramatta to central Sydney in the east and the new Western Sydney Airport in the west. The
(VFT) proposal to link the greater Sydney region with Melbourne and Brisbane. Infrastructure upgrades including the new M9 and M12 Motorways, a potential new metro system and light rail were planned for and new roads, cycleways and boulevards were included in the proposals. These formed strategic elements that helped generate the resultant urban forms. The possible locations for the VFT terminals were considered, which further expanded the ideas around city-making and city-connecting infrastructure
studio also included the introduction of a Very Fast Train
Penrith
St Marys
M7
Blacktown
oad
Eastern Creek
Parramatta
WESTERN SYDNEY EMPLOYMENT AREA
The N orther Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek
M2
M4
nR
Glenmore Park
Mt Druitt
M9 Fairfield
Luddenham
M12
VFT Western Sydney Airport
Elizabeth
M7 Liverpool
WESTERN SYDNEY PRIORITY GROWTH AREA
Western Sydney Greenway
Sydney Science Park
Bringelly
Bringelly
Bankstown M5
Road
Leppington
ey
Oran Park
de
Pipe Line
W ay
SOUTH WEST PRIORITY GROWTH AREA
Proposed VFT Line
nV all
Cornucopia
Drive
ort
South Creek City
he N
Great Northern Road ďź&#x2C6;Parkwayďź&#x2030;
M31
Ca
m
Proposed Light Rail Line
Minto
Proposed Metro Station
Na rel la Narellan n Ro
Proposed Light Rail Station Local Roads Package ($200 million Australian Government funded)
ad
Major WSIP road projects
Camden
South Creek Aerotropolis design areas
32
Campbelltown
Overall indicative layout plan
33
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Great Northern Road (Parkway) Lai Ka Yee, Li Hongxu, Yue Yushan, Zhang Qingran The Northern Road is part of route A9 and it is one of the traffic arteries linking western and south-west Sydney. A section of The Northern Road from the Western Motorway (M4) to Bringelly Road is selected with length of 22km that intersects with proposed M12 Motorway. The assessment of the proposed upgrade found that there is in a lack of green infrastructure along the road that disconnects from Western Sydney’s existing green network. The existing site is being upgraded to satisfy the demand of Sydney’s second airport and further development of Western Sydney. This scheme seeks to provide a parkway system with light-rail infrastructure to create efficient public and private transportation and diverse neighbourhoods, and to support sustainable urban design for Western Sydney. The scheme also seeks to deliver diverse land uses of
residential, commercial and mixed-use development on the former agricultural land. Design strategies include upgrading The Northern Road with 3 lanes in each direction and providing a bus lane on each side. A parkway design planted with native Eucalyptus trees along the upgraded Northern Road links with the surrounding preserved green lands, creating a linear urban link of light rail systems to connect Western Sydney and South-West Sydney catering for the demand from Western Sydney Airport. The indicative layout plan has been developed based on the most efficient way of redefining the parkway system of The Northern Road, and considering the impact of the proposed Sydney second airport; connecting the isolated and low developed districts and exploring options for the proposed light rail.
A’ A
Indicative layout plan
34
Urban design framework
Road network diagram
Green infrastructure diagram
Building use diagram
M12 intersection diagram
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Northern park plaza
Residential - Luddenham park
The Great Northern Parkway
35
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
South Creek City Li Yezi, Sun Mengzhen, Wang Ruoxi, Wang Xiaowei In 1948 the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme proposed for the Sydney metropolitan area, a major north-south green belt stretching across Western
Design strategies include promoting ecologically sustainable development, creating a green buffer zone along South Creek, using green fragments as urban
Sydney. While some elements of the planning scheme were implemented, the green belt was not. The County Council was abolished in 1963, and most of the land originally envisaged for the green belt was gradually encroached upon by urban sprawl over the next decades. A notable exception to this was a 5280 hectare area west of Prospect Reservoir that eventually became the Western Sydney Parklands.
parks and linking them with greenways. Medium to high density and mixed-use developments are concentrated along the South Creek axis and a light rail scheme is included to promote the establishment of a compact and sustainable city.
The project site is located east to South Creek between Elizabeth Drive and Bringelly Road, where South Creek forms part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment. The vision is to bring nature back to the city, creating a northsouth metropolitan park that links fragmented green spaces along South Creek and connects to the Western Sydney Parklands, in part establishing the green belt first proposed in 1948.
These strategies are presented as a direct critique of current government proposals for low density development on the project site with little commercial activity. This type of development it is argued is less efficient, less sustainable and encourages more urban sprawl. The indicative layout plan has been developed based on the most efficient way of connecting the green corridor; by examining and considering urban runoff and water flow; making connections with established urban precincts and exploring options for the proposed light rail.
L
L
A
L Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Indicative layout plan
36
Urban design framework
Green way
Light rail and mix use
Commercial and tower
Education and culture
Perspective of high street
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Perspective of waterfront
Perspective of waterfront housing
Squares
Aerial perspective looking north
37
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Western Sydney Greenway Genevieve Hastwell, Mayuri Sodani, Wang Xiuzhu,Yu Mengxue, Zhou Jingwen Western Sydney is a dynamic, multicultural region and is currently home to almost half of Sydney’s population. However, only around 30 per cent of its jobs are located in the region. The proposed Western Sydney Airport will shape the development of Western Sydney’s future. It will connect Western Sydney to the world, meet growth in demand for aviation services and provide tens of thousands of jobs closer to where people live. The site is a major east west connection linking the M7 to the east and The Northern Road and M9 to the west. The vision is for a precinct that harmoniously incorporates the land uses greatly needed in the area with the existing environmental fabric. The main entrance road to the airport runs through our site, and as such this site needs to provide the services needed by the airport but also serve as a striking ‘first glance’ for overseas arrivals.
Design strategies include: conserving critical endangered ecological communities, retaining the nursery and heritage farm and making an integrated green system in this site to mitigate the threat of encroaching urbanisation. In addition, more commercial areas and logistic hubs are built to provide jobs and economic opportunities. Public infrastructure such as schools and recreational spaces is located next to the residential village to meet future needs. The indicative layout plan has been developed based on dividing this large land area across three creek systems as four distinctive precincts: logistics centre, veterinary research facility, light industrial, commercial and residential village. The design ensures that people are not impacted by airport noise and that valuable vegetation and environments are preserved.
Indicative layout plan
Local Business Centre Cycle way
proposed business centre
Shuttle bus
Local business development corridor
Light rail line
38
Business development range
Transport system
Local business centre
Noise
Logistics
Blue and Green infrastructure open space creek park
Blue and green infrastructure
Commercial building type
Industrial building type Urban design framework, Precinct D
Residential building type
Urban design framework, Precinct B
Office Park Street
Logistics building type
Cumberland plain woodland
39
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Sydney Science Park Abdul Ghani Hourani, Charles Boumoussa, Muthusamy Sivasubramanian, Li Ruoyu The urbanisation pattern around Western Sydney seems to be unsustainable, sprawling over the landscape and depleting its resources. Major public utilities such as Sydney Water pipeline and Endeavour Energy power line easement are present within this site and the topographical pattern of the landscape is quite peculiar with its distinctive rolling hills along the creek systems. All these features affect the nature of urban life and future urban development.
Design strategies include phasing the investments that must first be made in public qualities. The green infrastructure is the foundation of the framework. The park ring will be constructed soon afterwards. The green infrastructure is nature within walking distance, a buffer for stormwater as well as a recreational element. The second layer is the grey infrastructure, providing regional linkages and establishing a proper hierarchy to allow the urban centres to grow and flourish.
The project is located between Luddenham Road to the east and The Northern Road to the west. Warragamba pipeline is to the north and M9 motorway to the south. The vision is to create a socially sustainable parkland city covering an area of 12 square kilometres in Western Sydney. ‘Socially sustainable’ means that the city is flexible and adapting in its natural environment.
These strategies are presented as a direct critique of the proposed Sydney Science Park development scheme and to have a better understanding of the development’s programming, economic objectives, proposed infrastructure and fabric.
A
A’
Urban design framework
40
Indicative layout plan
Landscape design strategy
Constraints
View catchment on higher terrain
Primary circulation
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Perspective
Perspective of woodland forest
41
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Cornucopia Duan Jinyi, Georges Jreije, Li Yilun, Ma Yunfei The suburb, Badgeryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creek, within the Greater Western Sydney region is the land owned by the University of Sydney and The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for agricultural and farming research. However, the intervention of urban development generated by Western Sydney Airport will threaten the agricultural landscape and culture of Western Sydney. Within the University of Sydney owned land, this project has no clear boundary but focusses on addressing the issue of the entire Greater Western Sydney region. This project is located along Greendale Road, the east-west corridor where urban development will be pushing from the intersections of Bringelly Road and The Northern Road, to the USYD Camden Campus. In response to Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban sprawl, the vision is to counteract the loss of green and blue infrastructure by weaving them in the existing and future urban fabric; to integrate existing farmlands within an urban fabric rather than resorting to separating them or just simply
restoring such green infrastructure. Ultimately this project endeavours to achieve a surplus in food by producing areas of vegetation. Taking advantage of the new airport and VFT system, it can provide fresh food not only for local communities but also for the inner-city and export to other cities in Australia. Design strategies include supporting growth by creating a town centre, providing high-tech urban farming and a mixture of conventional farmlands in an urban context; to densify housing development to allow more open space for leisure and farming; incorporating farmland, public open spaces and noise buffering zones to create a continuous experience of connecting with nature and urban farming for Western Sydney. Cornucopia will be a model for future Sydney agricultural schemes which can be implemented across a wide range of different sites that seek to pursue such an urban response.
Indicative layout plan
42
Road system
Green and blue infrastructure
Building height
Agricultural production
A
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Urban design framework
Block typology - A
Block typology - B
Block typology - C
Block typology - D
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Perspective of standing in R2 typology
Perspective of urban agricultural
43
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
VFT Western Sydney Airport Li Mengdi, Ma Yuan, Wang Hongyi, Wang Weixi, Zhang Xiaodong Design studies for new urban precincts at Bringelly, south of an ecological corridor along the Badgerys Creek boundary of the Western Sydney Airport (WSA), were driven by the proposition that Sydney’s second airport needed to be connected to a future East Coast Australia Very Fast Train (VFT) system. Investigations of the space demands of the VFT system, however, found that the site purchased by the Federal Government for the WSA in the 1980s is too small to accommodate both airline infrastructure and a VFT station. At the same time, the study found that environmental impacts of the WSA may be mitigated by a lace-like pattern of urban development integrated with Sydney’s ‘Green Grid’ open space system. As a result, the VFT station was moved to Bringelly, one stop south on an associated Metro system, separated from the WSA by a green belt.
Site analysis
44
At present Bringelly is a small rural community located on The Northern Road between Penrith and Camden. As part of the WSA aerotropolis, it will be transformed into a ‘twin city’ configuration – a dynamic New Town Centre focussed on an integrated VFT station/Metro station transit hub to provide connectivity locally, nationally and internationally; and an associated Transit Oriented Development (TOD) focussed on the next Metro station, with the two separated by further elements of the green belt. Overall, the lace-like urban form, with green infrastructure threaded through it, will have the capacity to balance pockets of urban density and ‘gateway’ imageability with biodiversity conservation, production horticulture and stream system protection.
Indicative layout plan
Land use A A’
Green connection
Urban design framework
Accessibility
Section AA’
Perspective of VFT station
Perspective of streets
45
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
2 Hours
1 Hour
to 0.5million)
46
Very Fast Train Sydney Metroregion Sydney Studio, 2017 A Very Fast Train (VFT) system for East Coast Australia has been proposed at various times but to date has been seen as an unrealistic competitor for domestic air travel rather than as transformative infrastructure for the urbanised eastern seaboard. In other advanced urban regions of the world, VFT or high speed rail systems are the norm rather than the exception. Australia is the only continent without concrete plans for high speed rail – a startling fact considering the highly urbanised population of Australia and its concentration along the MelbourneSydney-Brisbane corridor. Building upon a comprehensive, but shelved, VFT study, undertaken in 2011-2013 for the Rudd/Gillard Governments (AECOM Australia & others 2013), MUDD 23 advanced studios undertook a series of investigations into the strategic centrepiece of an East Coast Australia VFT, its entry into Sydney across the Cumberland Plain. The latest plan for the Sydney metroregion, released by the Greater Sydney Commission in 2017, conceptualises the far-flung urban spread of Sydney as three cities – an Eastern Harbour City, a Central River City and a Western Parkland City (Greater Sydney Commission 2017). The time-space connections centre-to-centre of a VFT system would bring the cores of these cities within 1 to 2 hours of Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. Such a system would be transformative, shifting Sydney’s ‘Three Cities’ vision of a balanced, polynucleated metropolis beyond rhetoric to reality.
References: AECOM Australia, Grimshaw Architects, KPMG & SKM 2013, High Speed Rail Study, Prepared for the Department of Infrastructure & Transport, The Consultants, Sydney. Greater Sydney Commission 2017, A Metropolis of Three Cities - Draft Greater Sydney Region Plan, The Commission, Parramatta.
47
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Structure of the VFT Study Students were required to test and present ideas for overall route selection, the location of VFT stations and the configuration of associated urban development within the Greater Sydney metroregion.
within the Greater Parramatta Olympic Peninsula (GPOP) â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;second cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; component of the Three Cities metropolitan structure proposed by the Greater Sydney Commission - the Central River City.
The VFT Study was initiated in Semester 1, 2017 by Peter John Cantrill, Jesse McNicoll and Amy Bendall,
Two studios in Semester 2, 2017 carried on the investigation - Urban Design Studio 2 convened by Dr Scott Hawken, Maryam Litkouhi and Michael Gheorghiu which investigated VFT issues associated with a larger study of the Western Parkland City as an aerotropolis around the Western Sydney Airport; and the capstone Urban Design Research Studio convened by Professor James Weirick, Mike Brown and Trent Middleton, which provocatively took the VFT to the centre of the Eastern Harbour City with studies for a waterfront Sydney Terminal in the Bays Precinct.
convenors of Urban Design Studio 2, with a comparative study of VFT systems worldwide, and an investigation of urban development stimulated by VFT stations in major cities worldwide. Based on these comparative studies, teams were required to test and present ideas for overall route selection for a north-south VFT rail line across the Sydney metroregion, the location of VFT stations, and the configuration of associated urban development Continent Scale
200km
Europe
200km
China
200km
Japan
200km
Australia
City Scale
10km
London
10km
Milan
10km
Tokyo
48
10km
Beijing
10km
Kyoto
10km
Sydney
Station Scale
250m
London
250m
250m
Milan
250m
Tokyo
Beijing
250m
250m
Kyoto
Sydney
Tokyo VFT case study Data of Tokyo railway 112 railway lines 882 railway stations Over 40 millions trips / day
Rail line map of Tokyo
Tokyo Station data Total 16 metropolitan railway lines 6 Shinkansen lines 5 lines by passengers Over 1.1 millions passengers / day
Aerial perspective of Tokyo Station
49
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Policy options for the Sydney metroregion Deng Jingwen, Hu Qinyun, Li Siyan Compared with air travel, a Very Fast Train (VFT) could provide a better travel experience for intercity travel within a 1500 km range. In addition, VFT is a more environmentally friendly mode of transport, offering efficient, comfortable, convenient and good travel experiences. VFT provides the connecting force to make cities more productive and more connected to each other. Furthermore, VFT can effectively raise incomes and contribute to greater specialization and a more competitive region. Referring to international experiences, a successful VFT system should be equipped with the following criteria: Firstly, more commercial centres connected with desirable shorter travel times with the benefit that VFT has the ability to quickly move knowledge workers and their business from one city centre to another city centre.
Secondly, a competitive fare pricing structure that can facilitate its market competitiveness with other transport modes. Thirdly, a project that has been well considered along economic feasibility lines should strive to meet its cost forecasts to ensure its economic benefit to the community. The VFT would connect six cities on the east coast of Australia, that will gradually form a mega-region in the future. The diverse geometric parameters, topography and environmental constraints of the coast require VFT to adopt a highly technical standard to construct a safe and efficient route. Furthermore, there is a competition of market share between air and rail. VFT could realise a large share of this market by offering a highly punctual, reliable and accessible service. As a result, the VFT system of Australia should reflect and balance these factors.
VFT In Australia
VFT metroregion in Australia
Travel distance of transport
50
Image of VFT
Travel experience of airplane and VFT
Routes comparison - Melbourne to Sydney 5 Route alignment options
Route 1 Testing of construction issues across the harbour ROUTE ALIGNMENT OPTIONS IN SYDNEY The central VFT station could be in an established Sydney City Centre, the developing Parramatta City centre and the emerging Western Sydney Airport area. Sydney could have one station in any one of these three sites, or any two of these sites or even with the VFT looping via all three. This study proposed 9 route alignment options, comparing each route in terms of the travel time, ticket fare, and construction cost of travelling from Brisbane to Sydney, Melbourne to Sydney and the future employment forecasts of the areas the VFT would serve. 5 ROUTE ALIGNMENT OPTIONS The ideal VFT route alignment needs to have good performance in serving the large employment centres of Sydney with low travel time, low ticket fare and acceptable construction cost. Considering all these
factors, this study selected four preferred routes. In the next stage, selecting the final route alignment considered specific issues in each option. This study focussed on testing construction issues across the harbour, testing travel modes and travel market and future employment distribution. PREFERRED OPTION The selected option would serve both the established Sydney City Centre and the developing Parramatta civic centre; all rail track would be underground in urban areas; a junction would be located 4 kilometres west of Parramatta Station and West Link Metro would connect the Western Sydney Airport to Parramatta and Sydney City Centre. This route could most efficiently serve people commuting between Sydney and other major cities on the east coast of Australia.
51
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
PARRAMATTA STATION SITE Six VFT station sites located in Parramatta CBD, Camellia and Olympic Park respectively were proposed. As a VFT station should maximize service target and its direction should correspond with the route corridor, the station site in Parramatta CBD which is in eastwest direction is preferable. In addition, the racecourse in Camellia can be used as VFT stabling yard. Station Site Option VFT Route Corridor
Station in Parramatta city centre Parramatta CBD
Employment in Parramatta Employment in Camilla Employment in Olympic Park
Camellia
41,870 90,633
4,244 13,094
Olympic Park
Employment in 2011
Employment in 2011
19,456 41,456
Employment in 2036 Employment in 2036 Station Site Option Station SiteSite Option Station Option
Proposed Stabling Yard
VFT Route Corridor
Route Corridor
VFT Route Corridor
Parramatta station site options
Proposed stabling yard
CITY STATION SITE (WHITE BAY VS CENTRAL STATION) How & Where Can Central Sydney Grow?
How Much Vacant Space Can They Provide?
South West
White Bay: 68.5ha Central Station: 20ha
Central Sydney development trend
Development potential of White Bay and Central Station
Where Would It Be Easier To Build A VFT Station?
What City Shaping Opportunities Can They Provide?
What Is The Accessibility of Them To Central Sydney?
Government proposed light rail and metro route What Quality of Environment Can They Provide?
3.8km Waterfront Good View
Station accommodating capacity of White Bay and Central Station
52
City shaping potential of White Bay and Central Station
Iconic precinct potential of White Bay and Central Station
WHITE BAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
ECONOMIC STRATEGY
TRANSPORT STRATEGY
•
Integrating metro and VFT tunnels into Westconnex tunnels to increase the value of them and improve the liveability of Sydney.
Using the drive of VFT corridor to create a new Sydney Global Economic Corridor which is from the east to the west.
•
Demolishing Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor to release more valuable land and unlock the development potential of areas along these infrastructures.
Integrating existing innovation industry and land released by transport strategy to create an innovation industry corridor which can support the industry development of White Bay.
•
As pure innovation industry is difficult to support the big infrastructure in White Bay, this economic strategy suggests using the advantage of being close to the Financial Centre and good public
•
•
•
Proposing a new tunnel to connect Iron Cove, CityWest link and Central Sydney.
This not only can solve the connectivity problem produced by the demolition of Anzac Bridge and Western Distributor, but also lower the heavy traffic of Vitoria Road.
Government proposed global economic corridor
Existing CBD and innovation industry
transport system in White Bay to develop relevant industry.
Proposed global economic corridor
Proposed extend CBD and innovation corridor
53
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Very Fast Train Sydney Metroregion Sydney Studio, 2017
Findings of the VFT Study VFT options were analysed in relation to wider economic impacts on employment density, urban vitality and reduction in travel times. Evaluation of alignment options and station locations considered ecological and heritage interactions together with constraints and opportunities for land use and supporting modes of transportation. These were combined with other considerations, such as engineering parameters, constructability, direct costs and user benefits to determine the preferred alignment and station locations. The Urban Design Research Studio challenged the assumption in the 2011-2013 study headed by AECOM Australia that the Sydney terminal would be located at Central Station and argued for the Bays Precinct instead, based on the development potential of its 95 hectares of government-owned land, its dramatic gateway setting on Sydney Harbour, and potential connectivity to Barangaroo and Martin Place by metro, and the Darling Harbour Convention and Exhibition facilities by light rail. The GPOP study, which tested north-south and eastwest rail alignments with station locations in Central Parramatta, Camellia/Rose Hill and Olympic Park, concluded that an east-west alignment through Central Parramatta with a station located under a demolished and reconfigured Westfield Shopping Mall would best meet the Greater Sydney Commission’s aspirations for the Central River City. The Western Sydney aerotropolis study concluded that the land acquired for the Western Sydney Airport is too small to also accommodate a VFT Station, and the ecological impacts of airport-related urban development on water quality, air quality, biodiversity, food security and the urban heat island effect would be too great unless a lace-like pattern of urban development integrated with green infrastructure is adopted. As a consequence, the VFT Station was sited one metro stop south of the airport terminals at the centre of a new ‘Bringelly City’. Subsequent studies, however, found that the Western Sydney Airport would be better served by an efficient metro system, and that the VFT stations in Sydney should be limited to the Central Parramatta and Bays Precinct locations.
54
International research precedents were utilised to gain an understanding of ‘best practice’ urban development around high speed rail stations. Case studies showed how these powerfully connected interchanges in space and time promote the development of high density, mixed-use centres. The studies found that the long term economic future of Australia would benefit greatly from a high speed rail system linking Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. The immediacy of its swift, efficient centre-to-centre connections would effectively create an ecologically dispersed but functionally integrated East Coast metropolis. The need to understand VFT infrastructure as a catalyst for change at continental, metroregion and urban precinct scale required advanced thinking in terms of socio-economic structure and urban spatial structure. An interactive, iterative, non-linear approach across the studios produced creative, evidence-based results that demonstrate the benefit of engagement with urban challenges through design-led experiment and appraisal. In this way, the VFT Sydney studios produced a rigorous body of work in which the alignment of the East Coast high speed rail system across the Cumberland Plain was recognised as a transect with the power to shape 21st century Sydney through a new, dynamic pattern of timespace compressions.
Very Fast Train GPOP STOP Parramatta Sections
55
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
VFT Sydney - GPOP Stop Convenors: Amy Bendall, Peter John Cantrill and Jesse McNicoll
Parramatta – Connecting Plaza to Park Felipe Romero Vargas, Yan Wenxiao, Zhang Xinning, Zhou Yufeng With the development of the new Western Sydney light rail and metro networks, Parramatta will be the geographic and demographic centre of Sydney. The development of this new transportation infrastructure will make Parramatta even more accessible via rail, metro, bus, ferry, car and pedestrian networks. Construction of a Very Fast Train route will bring even more people from different cities to Parramatta, creating a cultural and commercial environment with multiple national opportunities.
locating of the VFT station on the current Westfield site. The station has two levels; two upper level tracks to Brisbane, two lower level tracks to Melbourne with underground connections to other forms of public transportation. The station fronts a new public square with a landscaped boulevard that connects it to one of the most significant heritage elements of the area: Parramatta Cemetery. The new station square is conceived as a “pedestrian heart” for the various modes of public transportation intersecting on the site. This new plaza also re-establishes a physical connection between the VFT and the Parramatta River.
This plan strengthens the accessibility and desirability of Parramatta through a series of dynamic inter and intra-city transit developments. Central to this is the
A’ B B’ A
Urban design framework
Section AA’
56
Aerial perspective looking west
Proposed public transport
Proposed parks and plazas
Proposed street hierarchy
Section BBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Perspective of station plaza
Square and station entry plan
57
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Parramatta - Remaking of Church Street Chen Xinyang, Christine Victoria Lazaro, Lyu Pin, Rohan Londhe GPOP envisages a Very Fast Train (VFT) station that connects to a proposed new metro line that runs from Central Station to the new Western Sydney Airport. The extent of this design site is the existing train station to the north, the M4 motorway to the south, the existing rail line to the east and Ollie Webb Reserve to the west. The vision of the project is to use the VFT as a catalyst for making Church Street a gateway to the Parramatta CBD, providing new business, retail and commercial activities as well as new residential and recreational opportunities.
The key strategy of the proposal is to include a cultural plaza to ease traffic and pedestrian pressure between the existing train station and the proposed underground VFT station. Public buildings are proposed for this area due to the ability to conveniently and quickly connect to a wider area of Sydney. Retail and commercial activities are strengthened along Church Street while on the east side of the new station, a retail and entertainment precinct is established within a new business hub. A new five-star hotel is located adjacent to the station offering panoramic views, while the western side of the site is developed as a mixed-use neighbourhood.
A
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
The proposed VFT station is located to the south of the existing heavy rail station along a revitalised Church Street.
Public transport
B
Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Building height
Urban design framework
58
Land use
Aerial perspective looking north
Perspective of the VFT station
Perspective of the station square
Section AA’
Section BB’
59
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Camellia Cross Aniket Murkute, Liu Xinlei, Wang Jingrao, Zheng Yang, Zhu Zhiyi The Camellia site is located in Western Sydney around 1.5 kms east of Paramatta CBD. The site’s physical boundary is defined by the Parramatta River to the north, Duck Creek to the south, Industrial area to the east and James Ruse Drive to the west. The area is expected to grow significantly over next 20 years. Due to this strategic location, it has been identified as a Priority Revitalisation Precinct in A Plan for Growing Sydney’s GPOP Area. The vision of the project is to connect the Parramatta River to Ducks Creek by creating an integrated transition zone between the heavy horizontal transportation infrastructure and the vertical civic axis. This creates a mixed use development encouraging livework-play environment. In order to the redevelop the site, Rosehill Racecourse has been relocated to the south of the site near Duck
Creek. The proposed VFT Train station will be located to the north of the site along the Grand Avenue, which is oriented East-West. The VFT station will intersect with the Central Civic Axis which accommodate various public buildings. The station will be located with respect to the proposed Light Rail network connecting Parramatta and Olympic Park. An underground Metro Station is proposed on the south of the VFT station, having entrances in the South Plaza and the Central Park. To encourage live-work and play environment, a network of high quality, flexible and diverse public spaces has been created along with a ferry stop along the Parramatta Riverfront. In order to connect the precinct with the surrounding area of Parramatta, Silverwater and Rydalmere, new streets have been proposed thus improving the public transport corridor and connectivity with the water.
A
A’
Urban design framework
60
Aerial perspective looking north
Proposed public transport
Proposed parks and plazas
Proposed street hierarchy
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Perspective of community centre and park
South entrance public plaza plan
61
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
Camellia Water Boulevard Bai Chenyang, Hu Qingyun, Lunawat Rohit, Tang Junbo Camellia is a post-industrial suburb of Sydney located 23 kilometres west of the central business district. The suburb is bounded by the Parramatta River to the north, Clay Cliff Creek to the west and Duck River to the east. Major roads that dissect Camellia are Grand Avenue (east-west) and James Ruse Drive (north-south).
and healthy living. It incorporates a large public plaza at the entrance of the VFT station.
The vision is to create an interactive and sustainable urban environment within a rehabilitated post-industrial precinct. The urban design framework establishes an extensive and permeable public domain with a linear water boulevard, foreshore areas and walks, a network of parks and a wider main boulevard. Building forms of various heights are oriented to optimise views, breezes and the sun. The water boulevard is a linear stretch of small wetlands, ponds, bioswales and landscaped areas to mitigate flooding and to encourage social interaction
high towers. The residential blocks have a variety of heights and layouts to incorporate maximum sunlight penetration and natural ventilation throughout the year. The street layout feeds into a series of public spaces and encourages the use of sustainable public transport infrastructure as well as providing a safe and healthy urban environment.
B
Three major land uses are proposed including commercial, residential and an entertainment precinct. The commercial buildings near the VFT station exploit the commercial value of land near the station and are
Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
A
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Proposed street hierarchy
Urban design framework
62
Proposed parks and squares
Aerial perspective looking north
Section AA’
Section BB’
Perspective of Water Boulevard
Perspective of public plaza
63
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
A New Olympic Park Core Chen Xiaodan, Sun Wenqi, Zhang Weiyu, Zhao Yiming Olympic Park is a suburb in the west of Sydney located within the City of Parramatta local government area. By the year 2047, the City’s plan is to make Olympic Park a vibrant suburban hub with a series of unified, diverse, mixed-use spaces with a transit hub. The theme of this plan is titled “A new core of Olympic Park”.
sporting history of Olympic Park, but also promotes the ecological, social, economic and cultural values of the area. A thriving mixed-use environment will be created with a high quality public realm focussed on walkability.
This proposal locates a VFT station that serves a route connecting Brisbane with Melbourne, on Sarah Durack Avenue within the existing Olympic Park precinct. The VFT station is the centre of a neighbourhood that will become a new destination for both residents and visitors that not only celebrates the recreational and
towers with roof gardens flank the station and define the town centre. High levels of public surveillance for different times of the day are achieved and a series of public plazas around the station anchor the pedestrian networks.
The new station includes retail at street level with VFT tracks located on the middle levels. New commercial
A A’
Urban design framework
Proposed building use
64
Proposed building height
Proposed open space
Aerial perspective looking north
Residential building typology
Commercial building typology Square and station entry plan
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Retail building typology
65
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
From Olympic Park to Olympic City Deng Jingwen, Li Siyan, Li Xize, Wu Wenbin, Wen Xin Sydney Olympic Park is in the heart of Western Sydney and is located in the rapidly developing corridor of Parramatta-Strathfield-Burwood. Surrounding suburbs incorporate high density housing with retail, commercial and educational uses and are intensively developing within the two major rail corridors.
integrates all public transportation (VFT, existing heavy rail, light rail, regional bus and local bus) enhancing connectivity between the site and other centres of Sydney.
The vision is to utilize the new VFT station to expand Olympic Park into an Olympic City that integrates the Carter Street precinct to establish a new community with long term plans for urban structure, form and mixed uses. The design exploits the VFT station to revitalize the existing Olympic Park area providing an exciting gateway for visitors and residents. The new station
site with low to medium density residential development around the central green space. Significant public buildings are positioned in front of the large scale plaza while schools are proposed for the north western side of the site. The design results in a multi functional solution that provides exciting and attractive urban space for visitors and residents alike.
The urban design framework locates medium density commercial buildings along the ring road through the
B B’ A’
A
C C’
Urban design framework
Building type
66
Building height
Public transport
Square and station entry plan
Aerial perspective looking north
3D view of station plaza
Section AA’
Perspective of plaza
Section BB’
Section CC’
67
68
Very Fast Train Bays Precinct Terminal, Sydney
69
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
VFT Sydney - Bays Precinct Terminal Convenors: Mike Brown, Trent Middleton and Professor James Weirick
Glebe Island - Harbourfront Gateway Darshini Rajeshwaran, Zhang Weiyu, Zhou Yufeng, Zhu Zhiyi The design research is an attempt to address the question, How to maximise the dramatic arrival at the Sydney waterfront? The first principle is to maintain the social and cultural nature of a locality with place making being the main rule. The second is to create a district that is economically productive and environmentally responsible. Finally, to create a healthy and cohesive community with an integrated design. There are eight urban design strategies that are used: 1.
Placement of the VFT terminal at the tip of the island
2.
Creating a concourse on the ground floor with different station entrances
3.
Boulevard leading towards the station
4.
Activation of the Power Station
5.
Extending connections from Balmain and view lines to Pyrmont
6.
High density developments with metro stops
Urban design framework
70
7.
Continuous foreshore walk of 25m with an active edge
8.
Extension of residential from Balmain into the precinct
The connection between the east and the west of the VFT station is a pedestrian street lined with retail buildings and restaurants. There is a hierarchy in the streets with the boulevard anchoring the street network. To activate the waterfront and to maintain views to the harbour, a harbour foreshore walk has been provided. Emphasis has been given to the footpaths and to the experience the user faces while walking on these footpaths. Towards the tip the buildings are low rise and towards the Rozelle yards, high rise buildings have been provided (with four storey podiums). Placing the VFT at the tip of the Island helps to engage the entire precinct. The arrival experience is further enhanced with the addition an opera house and a retail village making it a culturally rich precinct.
Aerial perspective looking to east
Public domain activity
Power House Precinct
View towards the Harbour from the Station Plaza
Active Village Precinct
Perspective of pedestrian street
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
71
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Sydney
White Bay - Harbourfront Gateway Aniket Murkute, Rohan Londhe, Rohit Lunawat The design research envisions White Bay precinct as Sydney’s next city centre - ‘A Hub of Transformative Energy’. It would cater for a seamless exchange of people, knowledge, ideas and boost collaboration between different industries, making it an exciting global destination. Tools for urban regeneration: Connectivity - Seamless Thoroughfare With the advent of the VFT, and proposed Metro-West connection with Western Sydney Airport, the White Bay precinct is connected with major Australian cities. The light rail finds its way through different fine-scale neighbourhoods. The proposed new ferry stop further extends the connections for tourists. The pedestrian and bike connections are highlighted with the power station plaza acting as the major public attraction, along with expanded parks, pocket plazas and waterfront promenades that extend the Sydney Foreshore Walk. The design retains White Bay Power station which is interlinked to the VFT station and an underground metro station.
Urban design framework
72
Knowledge Incubator - Global Platform The innovation-technology business incubation would comprise the money generating fin-tech hub. The proposed university campus in the precinct would serve as common grounds for all the Australian universities, to boost the knowledge cohesion between different learning centres. Public Realm - Social Cohesion Diverse activities are programmed along the promenade which seeks to integrate and engage the site and the surrounding neighbourhood with the water’s edge. The tip of the island is retained for civic purposes which helps increase the permeability of pedestrian spaces. The establishment of the White Bay poly-centric city in the Greater Sydney Region can be an organizing principle for the Greater Sydney Commission’s vision of making Sydney a 30 minute city. Habourfront Gateway White Bay, creates a place for interaction and a place for innovation and collaboration with equal balance between diverse uses and a vibrant public domain.
Proposed transport connections
Proposed zoning
Proposed open spaces and park
Aerial view to Sydney Harbour
Section BBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Vibrant public domain of Grand Avenue
Water Boulevard view from the VFT station
73
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
74
International Studio Lisbon & Boston Studio, 2017-2018
In November 2017, the MUDD 23 students participated in a two-week International Design Studio, with the option to travel to either Boston or Lisbon. In Boston, students were hosted by the office of Sasaki Associates and worked in teams to create urban designs of contemporary waterfront projects around Seaport Square and Fort Point Channel. In Lisbon, students were hosted at the Universidade Lusรณfona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT), working in teams and interacting with students from ULHT to create urban design frameworks involving waterfront design challenges at the mouth of the Tagus Estuary. Before leaving Sydney, students developed a knowledge base of urban policy and financial models for their respective cities. In two weeks of intensive overseas studio and field work, students were challenged to develop an understanding of the regional context in socio-cultural, political, economic and environmental terms through expert briefings and field investigations and consideration of these factors in the urban design process and appropriateness of the design products. For both international cities, the project as a large-scale urban intervention, provides a rich opportunity for students who are able to engage with local social structure and street level experiences in a creative and critical way and to respond to the global patterns of urbanization. The diverse nature of Lisbon encouraged students to develop and apply specialized knowledge and analytical skills to generate creative, evidence-based design proposals. Through in-depth interaction with the global challenges and political drivers of Boston, students were able to generate urban development in the context of the drama of the city and the spatial political economy.
75
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
76
Lisbon Studio International Studio, 2017 Convenors: Brendan Randles and Professor Karl Fischer As Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second-oldest capital, Lisbon is still one of the most charismatic and vibrant cities of Western Europe. The inherent treasures from beautiful waterfronts, historic architecture, traditional cultural and heritage sites and a vital community shaped an incredible studio experience in Lisbon. The MUDD23 International Studio in Lisbon, hosted by Professor Pedro Ressano Garcia from Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT), provided a unique experience and opportunity to research the waterfront urban design at the mouth of the Tagus Estuary. We investigated the early Lisbon Expo site, Baixa district, Trafaria, Oeiras, Nova community, Alfama district, and Av. da. Liberdade, in order to further research local culture and history. Two projects in Oeiras and Trafaria explored how to improve the interconnections between the Greater Lisbon metropolis. The Oeiras site, located around abandoned military heritage buildings has the potential to play an indispensable role in becoming a local economic and tourist hub in the future. By critically assessing the vast stretches of vacant land around waterfront and surrounding historic communities, students propose exciting new urban frameworks based on integrating the relationship between the isolated communities, waterfront, heritage sites, and existing transport and parkland infrastructure. Development of Lisbon has been dependent on trade and especially on overseas shipping. The Lisbon Port Authority has already planned new port facilities close to the old fishing village of Trafaria on the opposite bank of the Tagus River. The strategic location of Trafaria offers an important opportunity for this area to be a future gateway connecting Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major cities. Importantly, sea level rise and emerging flooding issues resulting from climate change are considered as main challenges for future development.
77
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon: Space Time and the City Brendan Randles
Brendan Randles
Located on the western perimeter of Europe and emerging from fascist rule only in the mid- seventies, contemporary Portugal remains for many, introverted, conservative and unable to regain the global economic and cultural status it once had. This attitude, however, contradicts its many progressive social and environmental practices; a commitment to sustainability and multiculturalism, acceptance of gay marriage, the decriminalization of drugs, for example, apart from its outstanding support for art and culture, which in many wealthier nations, like Australia, is poorly lacking. Nor does this attitude recognize the richness of its cities and the historical depth of its urban culture. For an architect and urbanist, Portugal presents an outstanding legacy of practice and intellectual rigour in both the achievements of its many renowned architects and the evident commitment to urban design throughout the country. This is not only evident in the maintenance of extensive heritage precincts in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Evora and other centres, but also in the apparent public commitment to progressive environmental policies, the teaching of architecture and urban design at the highest levels, the sheer number of exhibitions and lectures on subjects relating to the built environment and the apparent openness of urban discourse and debate in the public arena. From our neo liberal shores, this is anything but backward.
Everything depends on measuring time against space. As in the dance, in which rings and lines are described in space as in the forms in which we represent the rhythm of musical time, in town planning it is also necessary to dare to measure time in space Manual de SolĂ -Morales, 1986
78
Lisbon has been a truly global capital for most of its urban history. With one of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s few Atlantic Ocean ports, it was highly accessible from the Mediterranean, Africa and Northern Europe and became an important trading post from its earliest times. With its boat building and seafaring capacity, Lisbon was able to establish a vast colonial empire extending from Europe to Africa, India, Asia and the Americas from the fifteenth century onwards. Closely related to its accessibility and outward looking nature, Lisbon was always a deeply multi-cultural city. Through successive occupations over its first two thousand years, from Phoenician and Greek establishments (800 -600 BC) through to the Carthaginians, the Visigoths, the Moors, the Roman city
of Olissipo, (200 BC - 350 AD), the Moorish city (711 - 1147) until the Christian crusader, Alfonso III established it as his capital in 1256. With so many cultural influences, it is difficult not to relate Lisbon’s legacy of migration and discovery to the city’s diversity, openness and tolerance so evident today. To an urban designer and student of city planning, the ancient city of Lisbon is surprisingly modern and urbane. It is served by cheap and efficient public transport, which includes metro, heavy rail, tram, funicular and even free public elevators. Its central streets are designed for pedestrian use and are lively at night. Food and wine are generally seasonal, local and therefore inexpensive. There are many well established bookshops, including Europe’s oldest existing bookstore in continuous operation, and a cinemateca: Sintra hosts an annual film festival and numerous theatre venues appear to thrive. International artists perform classical, jazz and pop concerts nightly, with no apparent shortage of patrons. Celebrities come and go; the centre is selling fast. While these impressions are countered by Lisbon’s high unemployment, low economic activity and limited choices for young job seekers, these temporal fluctuations do not reduce the city’s immense value, in terms of its street and spatial structure, buildings and public open spaces, institutions, public infrastructure and cultural contribution to Europe and the world. Shaped by a complex topography, the city has over time created a vast number of compact precincts, each limited in size and responsive to the specific exigencies of their time. Distinctive and walkable, each precinct appears to meet the same amenity requirements we seek in our most contemporary cities: connectivity, outlook, walkability, access to light and air, delight, compactness, legibility, scale and character. Lisbon’s rich morphology also
reveals an intense capacity for innovation. This is evident in the many planning and engineering techniques used to align street networks with topography, allow for drainage, stabilize river edges and slopes, facilitate access, integrate infrastructure and provide character and identity to all of its parts. Examples of Lisbon’s historical urban design innovations include the medieval vertical structure of the Alfama, a brilliant model of compact urban form and sustainability, providing breeze, solar access and outlook through its elevated position; the Avenida da Liberdade, transformed over time from one of the Tagus’ great tributaries to its most metropolitan boulevard, now an essential component of the city’s contemporary green infrastructure; Rua do Alecrim, the eighteenth century ‘road as building‘, not only providing a solution to the city’s topography, but creating a truly modern infrastructure of prefabricated parts. In a similar vein, the many public elevators and funiculars throughout the city centre integrate engineering, architecture and urban design resourcefulness at the highest level. Hence, the experience of this ancient city encourages reflection on movement, not just through history but through time and space. For students of urban design, whose experience and observation of cities is essential, Lisbon presents a casebook of layouts and built solutions, not only to observe, but also to experience and record. In approaching the city’s construction however, the terrain becomes much more challenging. A purely chronological attitude to time, as a recording of interventions and outcomes, can flatten history’s urban processes and fail to include the subtle influences of time on its urban form. In hindsight, the large spaces between design and implementation for example, can appear as anomalous rather than essential periods of gestation. Similarly, technical constraints and even severe events can read as peripheral to the plan’s
79
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
construction or mere irritants to eventual outcomes. In truth, the evolution of the city’s built form is as informed by random events as planned actions, with unforeseen interventions following unexpected political support, building booms following economic collapse and in the case of Lisbon, opportunities created by catastrophe. With a more complex reading of time and space, even the contemporary city’s form - fragmentary and in constant change - can be viewed differently. When the great architect, urbanist and scholar, Manuel de Solà-Morales (1939 – 2102), wove time and space into his description of city making, he was not merely assembling a chronology of extensions, styles and products. On the contrary, he was rallying against the common design impulse, typical of functionalist and beaux-arts planning schemes, to sterilize the urbanization process against the irregularities and asymmetries of context, programme and the random impacts of time. In his seminal essay ’Space, time and the city‘, Manual de Solà-Morales’ assimilation of the many participants in the city’s implementation to
’dancers‘ (planners, engineers, financiers, events, opportunities, resistances and externalities), draws our attention to their orchestration as much as their discrete and collective contributions (de Solà-Morales 1986, pp. 25-30). In qualifying how they impact and when, he refocusses our interest in complexity, not for its own sake, but as a motion of support for truly transformative urban design practice. Thus, de Solà-Morales re-defines the town planning scheme within a compellingly simple conceptual framework. The town planning scheme is a plan to give form to a physical, architectural and engineering process, which has to combine land, construction and infrastructure. When we explain this distinction to the students, the discovery brings such a feeling of clarity that they remember it for the rest of their lives. Construction of the city is division +
80
urbanization + construction. But these three operations are not simultaneous acts nor are they connected in the same manner. On the contrary, it is out of their multiple modes of combination in time and space that the morphological richness of the city comes. The bigger it is, the more varied are the forms of this combination (de Solà-Morales1986, pp. 25- 26). In his formulation of the three operations that construct the city, it is not surprising that de Solà-Morales’ identifies the design of the ’layout‘ - comprising its figure, spatial distribution and little else - as the moment, ’in which decisions are most concentrated, at the initial and more permanent stage.’ That the layout can also – in retrospect – explain the formal expression of the original infrastructure’s original pattern, as well as the relationship ’between houses and building plots, and between plots and public roads‘, makes the simple planimetric drawing the most fundamental of all planning instruments and a ’permanent and expressive element of urban form‘: We are interested in it as an instrument of planning, capable of dealing with the future tense of the various constructions, without shifting its form, fixed once and for all. It also interests us, when we want to intervene in the existing city, as connection between what is fixed and what moves, between what pertains to the infrastructure and the volumetrical, between time and space (de Solà-Morales 1986, p. 29). Behind de Solà-Morales’ desire for complexity and variation, is not only a genuine interest in modern planning, but a determination that time remains the city’s chief protagonist. Hence, he encourages proposals that open to innovation - to typologies unanticipated at the moment of design for example - and maintaining a degree of ambivalence regarding the articulation of actual properties or specific land uses. Having authored a major study
into the evolution of Barcelona’s civic form from 1750 to 1930, (exhibited in 1983 by his Laboratorio d’Urbanisme, Barcelona), de SolàMorales is able to explain the different speeds of the city’s evolution with clarity and authority. Hence, the initially slow rhythms of the Example’s urbanization are described as the vast ’lattice of infrastructure‘ that transforms the territory and links its formerly walled town to nearby villages. With an accumulation of discretely defined ’places‘ now afforded identity and accessibility, public interest and investment ensues. This stage is followed by a ’loosely linked rhythm‘ of division, as the complex articulation of properties within blocks takes place. Based on the competing forces of individual requirements and market forces, this process is also influenced by municipal constraints and public exigencies. By this stage, the evolution of the city is not a unitary project but comprises a number of precincts developing at their own pace and extent. In this intersection of time and space, a phenomenal degree of variation is achieved, which heralds the third and infinitely evolving edification‘ stage. With over one hundred years of
development creating ’800 schemes of subdivision into blocks, all these produced over 20,000 lots‘, the formal evolution of the different parts of the city are by now, clearly autonomous and subject to the contemporary forces of urban change. While de Solà-Morales’ scholarship determines that his attention is largely focussed on Barcelona, he also identifies exemplary proposals such as Unwin’s Hampstead and Berlage’s The Hague, whose layouts are more defined in volumetric and compositional terms, with proposed blocks dependent on specific parcels and built form typologies. However, just as in Barcelona, it is the form and configuration of the public networks, ’squares, bridges, roads and monuments‘, that create the proposals’ primary conceptual frameworks. With these more defined urban projects in mind, he warns against urban design ’stereotypes‘, clichéd compositions that propose
’hierarchies and spatial relationships that are false or non-existent in the modern city.’ de Solà-Morales is equally averse to ’plans or volumetric studies‘, ’standards‘, ’regulations‘ and ’zoning‘, which too quickly reduce the ’momentum‘ of urbanization, introducing instead a form of quality control instead of urbanistic process, and preventing the city’s various participants to debate, compete and contribute over time. Forever an urban activist and polemicist, de Solà-Morales was to later develop this apparent support for autonomously regulated design proposals, positing the ’urban project‘ as the preferred design instrument to resolve issues of the urban periphery - at the scale of the territory (de Sola-Morales 1989, pp.6-37). In his support of the layout, de Solà-Morales returns us to the intellectual space of the urban designer, to the intentions and skills required to synthesize immense technical and programmatic demands into geometric spatial solutions, to the imagination required to anticipate the form of future and the audacity to ’measure time in space‘. Accordingly, the rigour required to understand the drawing must reflect the aspirations of the proposal.
In the course on ’layout and organizations‘ that we have been teaching to students of architecture at Barcelona for a number of years, clarity (without any confusion between public and private, between solid and void), permanence (which combines rigour and flexibility) and economy of expression (no more forms than necessary) are considered the principle virtues of planning. (de Solà-Morales 1986, p.29). Predating Cerda’s expansion by more than a
century, the reconstruction of Lisbon’s central Baixa district after it was devastated in1755 by an earthquake, tidal waves and subsequent fire is an unrivalled example of ’the layout‘. Designed to be constructed within an extremely short time frame, the reconstruction of this district nevertheless
81
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
conforms to de Solà-Morales’ three operations of division + urbanization + construction. Overseen by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (16991782), later to become the Marquês de Pombal, this process involved an immediate topographic survey of the ruins which became the basis of subsequent design proposals, and the introduction of strict laws prohibiting ’any definitive construction or reconstruction‘ within the city (Byrne 1986, p. 8). This was followed by the swift preparation of comparative plan options, each using contemporary European urban design strategies to adapt the cadastre into a new layout. In the selection of the preferred option by Eugénio dos Santos (1711-1760), the layout was completely rationalised and the cadastre only abstractly referred to. Remarkably, the initial survey of the ruins and all the layout drawings prepared at the time are able to be seen today at the Instituto Geográfico e Cadastral, at the Museu da Cidade in Lisbon. The solution that was finally approved, layout number 5 (Eugénio dos Santos) involved a complicated network of roads perpendicular and parallel to the river that marked out long and narrow blocks. The layout pivoted around two squares, the first (Praca do Comercio) a proper monumental gate to the city opening onto the river Tajo, and the second (Rossio) set further back, a new urban ’forum‘ to serve as a meeting place. Between the two squares an urban continuum was created in which even the individual buildings (churches) were subjected to the general rule, being inserted discretely into the blocks (Byrne 1986, p.11). Given the catastrophic impact of the city’s destruction on its economy and international trading partners, the works required immediate implementation. Within the consistent alignments of its condensed street network, the rationalized layout created a compact block size, which enhanced its economic feasibility. With minimal
82
courtyards providing air and drainage, building heights optimized internal floor space against solar access and ease of construction. With similarly scaled buildings, the mass production of building elements away from the site was possible, thereby significantly reducing construction time frames. With centuries of ship building experience, ingenious techniques were implemented to create Lisbon’s first earthquake proof buildings. Through the introduction of the ’gaiola‘ or cage, a balloon frame technique was integrated to brace and strengthen the major walls of new buildings; interestingly, this same construction technique allowed the Chiado’s historical facades
to survive the ferocious fires that would destroy that precinct centuries later. Informed by this same naval expertise and a proven understanding of timber’s durability at sea, the levels of all public spaces, including new squares and streets, were constructed on contiguous timber piles. In the rationalization of the Baixa, a new land register was prepared to redistribute new and former owners’ properties within the new layout. To guarantee continuity of street expression and allow the flexible distribution of dissimilar individual allotments, façades for the entire district were designed and constructed before the building volumes were apportioned. Constrained by the consistency of fenestration and structural walls, the relationship between individual properties and the public street is obscured, in a manner that is Loosian in its decorum and restraint. In this fashion, churches are concealed and rotated away from the most public thoroughfares. By reducing their visual and physical presence on newly proposed streets, the churches perceived and actual dominance of the precinct were contained and the public role and character of new streets assured. Independent of the creation of regular individual lots, the new Baixa’s layout, like Cerda’s Example, enabled a great variety of plot widths, property sizes and subsequent uses to eventuate
over time. However, in its construction of façades, as the edges of streets rather than the exteriors of buildings, the time/space dialogue of the precinct truly changed. At this point intervened one of the most interesting aspects of the strategy devised at that time, for it was necessary to add to an all-embracing conception rules that would permit the unbinding in time and space of the
or juxtaposition of fabrics, but expresses the connected processes in which the forms and stages of construction follow one another with their own rhythms. Distance or continuity, alignments and gaps, profiles and junctions, building plots and monuments, all describe the sequence of a temporal process made concrete in time (de Solà-Morales, p.25).
successive fragments that would be joined on until the layout was completed. This operating concept, made necessary by the massive involvement of private enterprise in the construction process, resulted in the successive quarters of the urban grid being perceived as a whole, especially on their public side, the façades (Byrne 1986, p.13). Within the context of Manuel de Solà-Morales’ essay ’Space, time, and the city‘, the Baixa represents an intriguing case of urban transformation. Not only because the destruction
References Byrne, G. 1986, ‘Rebuilding in the city: Pombal’s Lisbon,’ Lotus International, no.51, pp.7-23. de Solà-Morales, M. 1986, ‘Time, space and the city,’ Lotus International, no.51, pp.25-30. de Solà-Morales, M. 1989, ‘Another modern tradition: from the break of 1930 to the modern urban project,’ Lotus International, no.64, pp.637.
that preceded its construction provided such an opportunity to intervene, or that its construction was within the city rather than beside or expanding from it, or that its apparent built form actually preceded its ‘development’. Eugénio dos Santos’ layout – precise, compact and so delicately placed within the city’s existing networks – was radical primarily for its imagination and creative vision of what was to come. At that moment, we see the designer ‘measure time in space’ and prescribe a new rhythm in which to dance: Perhaps, after music, the most perfect metrical expression of time, no other expressive activity requires as specifically characteristic a use of time as compositional material as does the town planning scheme . . . .The construction of the city – of a part of the city – combines in the course of time various operations on the ground and the building work, the complexity of its outcome is no mere reception of patterns
83
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
The Lisbon Waterfront in the 21st Century Dr Pedro Ressano Garcia
In Portugal the port city of Lisbon has continuously been adapting to changes in port activities promoted by the maritime community. The new climatic patterns demand new strategies for adapting to climate change, extending the discussion to the whole community. At the end of the 20th century, Lisbon missed the opportunity to relocate or expand port facilities. To respond to the changes that containers brought, several urban plans were formulated but did not succeed to
Dr Pedro Ressano Garcia
be implemented. The incapacity to transform the port compromised the community, in particular those working in maritime related activities. Yet from the environmental perspective, the planned but not built industrial landfills in the Estuary, helped preserve the natural environment around the Estuary and add value to the region while keeping some of the local ecosystems balanced. Most of the traditional urban waterfronts still connect with the water, with activities related to fishing, culture and tourism expanding; other activities have emerged and the combined result demonstrates a degree of urban resilience along the waterfront. According to Yoshiki Yamagata and Hiroshi Maruyama, who write on urban resilience, change itself is not necessarily the problem; on the contrary, ‘Resilience is not a static state of a system. It is a process. A city is dynamic and is always changing . . . . Resilience is transformative, and in each transformation, tries to create a stronger, improved city’ (Yamagata 2016, p.v). That is, change is integral to the concept of resilience. As Ayda Eraydin, another analyst of urban resilience notes, ‘a resilient system is defined by its . . . ability to absorb change and disturbance while retaining its basic functions and structure; together with the ability to survive, adapt and transform itself’ (Eraydin 2013, p.28). In Lisbon, past generations were able to establish constructive cooperation between institutions, understanding the territorial identity and the competitive geographic situation of the port in relation to the harbour, and the environmental assets of the estuary. Changes were gradually introduced and the continuous transformation made the city grow stronger. The new centralities created along the waterfront, away from downtown Lisbon, such as the Expo’98 development and the Belem area, were able to attract investment
84
and bring improvements. Since the beginning of the 21st century, repeated criticism has been levelled at their lack of connectivity with the surrounding neighbourhoods. In fact, the most recent architectural and urban design projects respond to specific needs of the entities that commissioned them; they do not present a contemporary vision for the waterfront as a whole but in a fragmented manner. There is a lack of an integrated vision for the whole estuary region at the larger territorial scale. In addition, the dominant financial model for urban regeneration does not take into consideration the community – the people who actually live on the land – and it neglects to integrate urban activities with maritime activities while dealing with the necessary challenges brought by extreme climatic swings associated with climate change. Waterfronts are among the areas most vulnerable to climate change. To mitigate losses and enhance resilience, a holistic approach is required. Within the present scenario, waterfronts need to re-invent their identities. In the search for an integrated vision, designers are required to work with the community, environmental associations, stakeholders and municipal leaders. Otherwise the debate is compromised and fragmented, and the changes required to maintain resilience – as Yamagata & Maruyama (2016, p.vi) point out, ‘to create a stronger, improved city’ – are unlikely to succeed. In the present debate, resilience awareness is expected to integrate the Lisbon waterfront but the lack of constructive cooperation among institutions compromises a shared understanding of the territorial identity. The creation of a stronger city is a process that normally extends over long periods of time, and as Eraydin notes must be flexible: ‘the aim of resilience planning is not to define the most effective actions or goals within a comprehensive framework but rather to define priorities that ensure a no-regret situation and create a system that is not only adaptive to slow changes but also to major expected and unexpected disturbances’ (Eraydin 2013, p.31). To take advantage of the geographic situation of the Tagus River, future solutions have to merge natural ecosystems and the built environment in a creative way.
It is hard to predict what will happen in the estuary of Lisbon in the next years but new models will be brought in for discussion to deal with climatic threats. It is predictable that the interface between land and water will require transformations that take advantage of new opportunities for city renewal. The new paradigm of resilience for 21st century waterfronts relies on their engagement in a permanent dialogue with nature, integrating solutions that enhance a symbiosis with local natural ecosystems. The protection of vulnerable waterfront areas depends on the implementation of sustainable solutions that integrate complex systems and find new strategies to adapt to climate change, and to invent increasingly green modes of energy production. In search for a cleaner environment, the city has a unique opportunity to create a better and stronger position in the North Atlantic. The centre of the debate is how to design and implement long-term strategies for the environment of the estuary and the ocean, promoting new programs towards an inclusive diverse community and fostering the economy of the sea adapted to the 21st century. In the Tagus Mouth workshop, the local authorities north and south of the river came to share their ideas and struggles. They invited the participants to engage with the local communities and develop their own programs. In their design proposals, the joint ULHT-UNSW teams were encouraged to advance a range of investment opportunities in addition to maritime industries, with the aim of increasing the social and economic resilience of the waterfront communities. Each team was asked to present a vision for the mouth of the estuary – on the north bank (Oeiras) and the south bank (Trafaria) – the precise location where the Tagus River reaches the Atlantic Ocean.
References Eraydin, A. 2013, ‘“Resilience thinking” for planning,’ in: Eraydin, A. & Taşan-Kok, T. (eds) Resilience Thinking in Urban Planning, Springer, Dordrecht, pp.17-37. Yamagata, Y. & Maruyama, H. 2016,‘Preface,’ in: Urban Resilience: a transformative approach, Springer International, Cham, pp.v-vi.
85
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
The Lisbon workshop as a complex experience in an international context Professor Karl Fischer
Professor Karl Fischer
The 2017 Lisbon workshop must have been the most international studio in the history of the MUDD course, when measured in terms of the composition of its participants – students as well as teaching staff. With their large share of students from several Asian countries, the MUDD participants have always displayed a strong multi-cultural character; but in 2017, the 24 MUDD students coming from China, India, the Philippines and Australia were joined by 25 students from 8 countries enrolled at Lisbon’s Universidad Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (ULHT). In addition to the Portuguese students, this included Lisbon’s Erasmus program exchange students from Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain, as well as students from other Portuguese speaking countries between Brazil, Angola and Mozambique. With backgrounds from Portugal, France, Germany and Australia, the teaching staff was similarly international. For the final jury they were joined by our Polish colleague, who was just stepping down as head of ISOCARP. The consequences of this international composition have been manifold – sometimes challenging but as the workshop progressed, highly productive. The different educational and cultural backgrounds meant not only different approaches, working styles and techniques but also a wide range of creative ideas and inspirations. Thus it was Chinese and Spanish students who first discovered the mussels in the sands of the Tagus River which in the students’ home countries formed the basis for productive mussel farming industries. Research into the technical solutions existing in different countries was translated into design concepts that are likely not have materialized without the multicultural cooperation in the Lisbon workshop.
“The more eyes, different eyes, we can use to observe one thing, the more complete will our ‘concept’ of this thing, our ‘objectivity’, be” (Nietzsche 1887, p.119).
86
Other groups had to struggle with differences of opinion about the path to be pursued to such an extent that on the day before the presentation, the efforts of the preceding weeks seemed to have evaporated. But there again, it was the very different talents converging from international backgrounds with different foci on artistic and design skills culminating in a diagram reminiscent of a Miró painting that revived the group work and led to a presentation that
engendered the enthusiasm of the Lisbon jury. The breadth of educational backgrounds among the students also contributed to fundamental discussions about the relationship between urban design and development. In this context, the positions taken in the discussions in Lisbon ranged between two polar standpoints as frequently encountered. One displays a preference for dealing with urban design as focused on and indeed largely limited to the realm of physical design – in a way as an extension of architectural design into a larger scale. The other recognizes urban design as a component of urban development. As a process that transforms cities over time, urban development is a central part of urban change and an essential part of the economy (Harvey 1985; Lefebvre 1991; Madanipour 2006). This kind of approach appreciates the complex nature of the subject matter and thus the necessity of integrating a range of aspects and dimensions. It looks upon the urban scene as it were from a number of different windows (Fischer & Altrock 2018) in order to get a more ‘realistic’ grip on the urban development process and on the perspectives of design, implementation, maintenance and longterm success rather than restricting the view to the limited perspective of physical design. The combined views from a range of windows allow the integration of aspects of reality at different levels, all forming part of the same multi-dimensional object (cf. Nietzsche as quoted in the epitaph). One set of windows allows the combination of political, economic and cultural aspects. Other windows open upon the dimension of time as part of urban and spatial change and upon the perspectives of the various actors involved – including those affected by development decisions. This understanding of development and urban design is reflected in the approach pursued in the MUDD course,
which points out that ‘Urban development embraces two concepts, the overarching role of cities as engines of economic growth and change: ‘dense interactive locations’ where ‘knowledge is exchanged, innovations spurred and sophisticated skills developed’ (Henderson
2010, p.519); and the specific role of property development in the ‘circuit of capital’, the process of investment and disinvestment in the fixed capital of the built environment (Harvey 1985). The conceptual strength of the MUDD approach lies in its multi-dimensional perspective as expressed in its program definition, which emerged out of the
cooperative effort of the program founders, Alexander Cuthbert, Bruce Judd, Jon Lang, Paul Reid and James Weirick: The Graduate Program in Urban Development & Design at UNSW is based on the synthesis of three bodies of knowledge about the city: •
spatial political economy, the manifestation in urban form of global patterns of capital formation, investment and disinvestment;
•
urban design principles and paradigms, normative models of ‘good city form’ grounded in aesthetic, social and environmental concerns; and,
•
‘urban design as public policy’, the intersection of public policy, design principles, the deal-making of the property sector and defence of the public realm.’ (Weirick 2009)
Integrating ‘the deal-making of the property sector’ into the strategy of ‘urban design as public policy’ (Barnett 1974) is a task that has specific characteristics in the Australian and the US urban development context. Among some of the Lisbon students, who were only too aware of the Global Financial Crisis and the consequences of speculative investments on the Iberian coast, this broader concept of development and its more specific embracement of property development as such raised concerns. This complex subject matter has been discussed by the founders of the course, other staff members and invited colleagues in the form of essays in each of the yearbooks published since 1995. Connecting back to Gideon’s classic Space, Time and Architecture (1941)
87
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
and progressing from architecture to urban design, the current theme was formulated and further developed by Manuel de Solà-Morales between the mid-1980s and 2007 (de Solà-Morales 1986; 2008). With the importance attributed to the time dimension, the theme marks a significant point in the discussions on what constitutes ‘good city form’ and ‘good design’ and their manifestation as products of universal, eternal principles on the one hand and a degree of dependence on local discourse and Zeitgeist on the other. Over time, these discussions and the realities of development and design have been reflected in the shift from British town planning with its focus on traditional land use zoning and planning mechanisms to the ‘Re-Making of the City’ through individual projects in the spirit of the Urbanismo of Aldo Rossi’s Architecture of the City, Colin Rowe’s Collage City, Berlin’s 1980s IBA, and the transformation of Barcelona (Hebbert 2006); a shift which inspired Richard Rogers’ Urban Task Force in the UK to call for design-led planning in the context of an Urban Renaissance in their 1999 ‘yellow book’ (Rogers 1999). Narrowing the field down to the local context for our studio, another famous classic publication was the 1986 edition of the journal Lotus International (no.51). Like no other historical publication it summarized the development history of Old Lisbon and basic principles of the reconstruction after earthquake and fires, with contributions from Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland and Serbia emphasising the international character of urban design discourse and practice. In addition to field excursions to Beixa, Alfama, Chiado – with its remarkable reconstruction by Álvaro Siza – and the transformed Expo 98 site, the studio was inspired by valuable works on urban theory by our Universidad Lusófona colleagues, most notably the work of our host Dr Pedro Ressano Garcia. His authoritative monograph on the Lisbon waterfront (Ressano Garcia 2010) and the reports from previous international workshops combined local knowledge and experience with fascinating approaches to fundamental and original urban design solutions.
88
And finally, already the preparations for the workshop had a rich international background. The plans were initiated in discussions with Pedro Ressano Garcia in 2016 at a conference held by ISOCARP and Polish institutions in Gdynia, where the 2010 City Visions exhibition – originally conceived in Berlin and curated in Sydney as part of MUDD 21 – was shown. As the AESOP conference in July 2017 strengthened the ties with Lisbon and another preparatory trip two months later detailed the November workshop, the value that lies in the long-range continuity of the international MUDD workshops became obvious once more.
Giedion, S. 1941, Space, Time and Architecture: the growth of a new tradition, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Harvey, D. 1985, The Urbanization of Capital: studies in the history and theory of capitalist urbanization, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Hebbert, M. 2006, ‘Town planning versus urbanismo,’ Planning Perspectives, vol.21 no.3, July, pp.233-251. Henderson, J.V. 2010, ‘Cities and development,’ Journal of Regional Science, vol.50 no.1, pp.515-540. Lefebvre, H. 1991, The Production of Space (1974), trans, by D. Nicholson-Smith, Blackwell, Oxford. Madanipour, A. 2006, ‘Roles and challenges of urban design,’ Journal of Urban Design, vol.11 no.2, pp.173–193. Nietzsche, F. 1887, On the Genealogy of Morals, trans. by W. Kauffmann & R.J. Hollingdale (1967), Vintage, New York. Ressano Garcia, P. 2010, Tagus Platform - Back to
Void Within A Void Project - Graphic by Keurzvandra Neto (ULHT)
References Barnett, J. 1974, Urban Design as Public Policy: practical methods for improving cities, Architectural Record Books, New York. de Solà-Morales. M. 1986, ‘Space, time and the city,’ Lotus International, no.51. pp.25-30. de Solà-Morales, M., Frampton, K. & Geuze, A. 2008,
the River: Lisbon’s Waterfront and the 21st Century, Edições e Publiçãoes de Fundação Serra Henriques, Lisbon. Rogers, R. 1999, Towards an Urban Renaissance, Final Report of the Urban Task Force, HMSO, London. Rossi, A. 1982, The Architecture of the City (1966), trans. by D. Ghirardo & J. Ockman, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Rowe, C. & Koetter, F. 1978, Collage City, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. Weirick, J. 2009, ‘Introduction to the MUDD Program,’ MUDD15 Folio – Time Territory: the city as continuum, p.1.
Manuel de Solà-Morales: a matter of things, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam.
Fischer, K. F. & Altrock, U. (eds) 2018, Windows Upon Planning History, Routledge, Abingdon (in press).
89
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon
Oeiras, Triptych Kusum Lata, Mayuri Sodani, Sabari Girish Epari, Wu Jihai The design group has looked at the old railway line running from Cais Do Sodre to Cascais to study the character of the greater metropolitan area of Lisbon. Three potential areas identified for design interventions are the old factory next to Oeiras Station, the riparian corridor along the Lagos River and the brownfields site next to the historic military batteries. The strategic interventions act as plug-in developments around the two stations, Oeiras and Santo Amaro and along the river that focus on activating these centres. The main design strategies are spatial connectivity of two sides of the railway line and water, ecological balance through restoring the existing green network and introducing new open and green spaces. Also explored is the idea of centrality wherein the station acts as a new market centre for the suburb providing a quality transformation of the existing public open spaces.
The urban park next to the proposed new station is predominantly surrounded by commercial and retail areas followed by residential. The strong architectural character of the existing factory is retained and readapted as an art centre and incubation offices for the growing student and working population of the suburb. The spatial quality along the creek is enhanced and pavilions for social gatherings are proposed. These developments around the stations and an addition of a social and cultural landscape to the riverfront heritage buildings has lead to more accessibility within the areas that flank the railway line and hence integrate it well with the Tagus waterfront.
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; A
Urban design framework
Proposed art gallery
90
Adaptive reuse art district
Aerial perspective looking west
Existing stations
Proposed stations
Urban park
Lagos River
Proposed green system
Proposed land use
Proposed network
Recreational green spaces along the creek
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
91
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon
Oeiras, Confluence Chen Yujing, Liu Xianzheng, Wang Weixi, Xie Xinling As an important economic and tourist hub, an increasing number of visitors are attracted to the Oeiras waterfront and beach. The vision is to create a vital community and regional hub which provides retail, restaurants, a business centre, hotels, residential areas, concert hall and museum. The existing vacant land and abandoned military heritage site around the Oeiras waterfront are integrated providing more services for local residents and attracting more visitors. In addition, the development of the waterfront also enables the value and use of existing heritage buildings to be realized. A new train station also contributes to the enhancement of regional integration between the existing battery, museum, residential, green space and waterfront. The design focusses on how to improve connection by providing a pedestrian bridge and skyway, thereby
A
Urban design framework
92
integrating the community that is separated by the railway and highway. The design uses the basic architectural character from the existing Nova community to shape a new community. Using precedents established in the Nova development, this project references the circular street pattern and integrates regional open space, public services, public transport, cultural heritage and waterfront parkland to stimulate social interaction and economic development. The proposed landscape connects with the existing ecological landscape corridor, proposed commercial centre, recreational area, train station, and surrounding community in order to provide a human-scale walking environment and axial movement space.
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Aerial perspective looking west
Scheme generation
View corridor and residential area Green space and residential circle
Advantage Circular road system Central green space Mixed-use facilities
Disadvantage Isolated community
Advantage and disadvantage
Connection to the waterfront
Infrastructure in the residential areas
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
93
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon
Oeiras, Finis Terrae Abdul Ghani Hourani, Sivasubramanian Muthusamy The site at Oeiras might appear chaotic at first glance. However, deeper analysis of the area’s dynamics and synergies reveals various rhythms on the macro and micro scales. Oeiras is simply an urban agglomeration that thrives to be a centrality within a competitive metropolitan area along the Tagus. The principles of the design are precincts revitalization, sustainable systems, connection, catalyst and knowledge. The four different precincts work together as a sustainable system to boost the economy of Trafaria, increase the quality of the urban environment and grow the population. The project proposes industries, faculty, a research centre and high-
system to absorb contextual tensions and compliment Oeiras’ synergies. The centrality is generated by shifting the existing train station from Santo Amaro and engulfing it within the framework to activate a metropolitan strategy. A legible urban form is used to transcend fragmented landscapes into a potential city with distinct layers. The abandoned military sites are reprogrammed into a cohesive cultural landscape that honours the area’s history yet embraces its future needs. Public spaces are created around the framework to stabilize the tensions in the surrounding urban tissue. The proposed scheme pulls you towards the waterfront which is a
tech companies that would work together to maximize the benefits of the development. These new economic activities could work together to reinforce Oeiras’ importance as an indispensable centrality within the Lisbon metropolitan area. The proposed framework is a
visual yet symbolic element deep rooted in the ethos of the city.
Urban design framework
Oeiras - metropolitan scale
94
Rhythms and centrality
The Baixa model overlay
Aerial perspective looking north
Longitudinal sections
Progression
Transversal section
95
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon
Trafaria, Peixe City Cao Jing, Feng Shengting, Xie Xiaoli, Zhou Jingwen The project is located at the mouth of Tagus River on a site that is 5.73 km ² in area and has currently 5696 inhabitants. It is about a 10-minute boat ride away from Lisbon. The design goal is to create a sustainable ecological system and bring new industry as a catalyst to improve local life as well as providing an urban design framework that factors in a coastline that will change over time due to sea level change. The plan will transform the contaminated industrial area into a precinct based on new industries including fish farming and tidal energy. The economic depression, illegal settlements and rising sea level are the main issues. In addition, the political background also causes problems for the implementation of any major new intervention since residents prefer the scale, character and density of the traditional community to a more modern style.
Design principles include: to introduce “fish farms” to promote the development of local fisheries; to provide a new community to accommodate the population now living in the illegal settlement to the south; to adapt to the foreseeable sea level change; to create a canal that can generate tidal power as well as coping with flooding issues. The main concept of the project is to motivate the local economy and bring more job opportunities, which could radically improve local conditions and promote follow-up development. The new building forms respect the model of the old town and the new fabric will strengthen the connection between the two existing residential areas.
A A’
Urban design framework
Fish culture festival
96
Fish market
Aerial perspective looking south
Existing road network
Existing land use
Existing green space
Proposed road network
Proposed land use
Proposed green space
Waterfront promenade
Waterfront public space
Fish village
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
97
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon
Trafaria, Eco-city Huang Yawen, Li Yezi, Wang Xiuzhu, Yu Mengxue Trafaria is located on the south bank of metropolitan Lisbon. The site is mainly a fishing village with a large cereal plant on the foreshore. In addition, an oil container facility is located beside the existing town. The former prison and the church are important heritage assets.
The principles of the design are precincts revitalisation, sustainable systems, connection, catalyst and knowledge. The four different precincts work together as a sustainable system to boost the economy and population of Trafaria.
The vision is to create a sustainable new Trafaria, using
The project proposes industries, faculty, a research centre and high-tech companies that would work together to maximise the benefits of the development. Two strong new industrial elements combine to provide a new economic boost.
clean energy industry as a catalyst to enable the whole area to develop economically and socially. The project aims to improve the quality of the old town, create new towns that provide dwellings and jobs and to relocate the residents of the illegal settlement to new housing. Trafaria has an ageing population and is not growing because the north-south connections to central Lisbon are very weak. The current economic drivers of fishing and cereal production are not sufficient to maintain the economy of the town.
C
B
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
A
Urban design framework
Perspective of waterfront promenade
98
Perspective of prison square
Aerial perspective looking south
Tidal energy generation
Proposed land use
Proposed road system
Proposed figure ground
Development phases
The sustainable system
Structure
Section AA’
Section BB’
Section CC’
99
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Lisbon
Trafaria, Port City Sun Mengzhen, Wang Xiaowei, Wu Yuwei, Zhang Xiaodong Trafaria is a traditional village on the south bank of the Tagus River. It is connected to Lisbon by ferry, and a historic prison is located in front of the ferry terminal.
The new port city will reference the urban patterns and forms of old Trafaria, providing convenient services including schools, a shopping centre and railway line.
Our project is to create a port city on the Tagus River mouth that integrates the metropolitan area with the existing traditional community. The project will resolve
Key elements include a new container port for metropolitan Lisbon, apartments and terraces along the river bank and a new railway that services both the new city and old town and connects to other parts of Lisbon.
the crisis of low employment by creating over 4700 jobs and educational opportunities within a new urban centre. The design encourages investment to promote an improvement in living conditions and to provide for the resettlement of residents currently living in illegal settlements beside the river.
The design integrates the modern city with local culture and provides convenient infrastructure such as metro, school and museum. The industrial port creates working opportunities and also becomes a significant factor that stimulates the urban development from both economic and cultural aspects.
A
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
The key principle of the development is to strengthen the connection between Trafaria, Lisbon and the rest of Europe. The variety of infrastructure and opportunity would be improved and a clear connection is made between the old town and the new port city.
Urban design framework
Port relocation
100
Proposed figure ground
Aerial perspective looking south
Freeway Main Road Secondary Road Railway
Proposed road network
Perspective of mixed-use area
Proposed land use
Public Open Space Private Green Space Stadium Boulevard
Perspective of beach view
Proposed green space
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
101
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
102
Boston Studio International Studio, 2017 - 2018 Convenors: Professor James Weirick and Michael Gheorghiu The MUDD23 International Studio in Boston, hosted by Sasaki Associates, focussed on long-range proposals for urban development of the under-used industrial lands and complex infrastructure elements surrounding the new Seaport District on the South Boston waterfront. This vast tract of brownfields sites is as large as Downtown Boston itself, with immense potential for urban transformation. At the same time, however, as low-lying filled land over former reaches of the Massachusetts Bay tidal estuary, it is seriously at risk of inundation from storm surges and sea-level rise resulting from climate change. Professor James Weirick
The Studio investigated innovative ways to reduce the risk of large-scale inundation across the study area, principally by adopting the raised profile approach of HafenCity, Hamburg and the ‘smart dyke’ barriers pioneered in Rotterdam. The Studio also critically analysed the traffic conflicts across the study area which result from heavy vehicle movements out of the South Boston Conley Container Terminal mixing with the street traffic and pedestrian experience of the new, upmarket Seaport District. The container terminal is currently subject to major harbour works, increasing its capacity to handle the large
Michael Gheorghiu
container ships able to reach East Coast US terminals through the recently-widened Panama Canal. Assuming its continuing viability, a radical solution was proposed. A freight rail line, sunken for most of its length along the port edge of the South Boston neighbourhood and capped with a new boulevard, was extended to the Conley Terminal to transport containers by rail to inter-modal transfer depots located strategically on the peripheral freeway network of the Boston metroregion. With this solution, and associated air rights developments over South Station and unresolved elements of ‘The Big Dig’ sunken freeway project of the 1990s, a series of urban design frameworks were proposed for sites surrounding the Seaport District, extending from Fort Point Channel to South Bay, Chinatown and the Leather District; South Dorchester Avenue, Widett Circle and the Flower Exchange district; Reserve Channel; and Boston Marine Industrial Park. Each project not only provided individual responses to challenging site conditions but also proposed an integrated vision for 21st century Boston, fusing industry with high-end development in a new matrix of constructed ecologies.
Sections
103
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Boston’s Seaport District: Evolution and Formation Martin Zogran
The history of Boston’s Seaport District is one of transformation and investment. It has transformed from a site of industry and exchange to one of the most desirable live/work urban destinations in North America. It has done so through a dynamic and not always even series of public and private investments over the last fifty years. While interest in the district’s development by the city and landowners has been consistent for this span of time, coherent public planning and financial incentives have not been consistent or linear. Huge investments in infrastructure for the last one hundred or so years have simultaneously enabled and hindered the District’s growth. With the nascent build out of the District’s core, the University of New South Wales Studio comes at an excellent time. Connections to adjacent districts are now more important than ever, whether eastward to the Marine Industrial Park and the Reserve Channel or westward to new rail connections at South Station, and the neighborhoods of Chinatown and Tufts Medical. Outside the dynamics of politics, investment, and public regulations, the studio’s investigations enable a healthy questioning and propositional view of what the future could be for this larger urban. The wholesale changes in the Seaport District over
Martin Zogran Principal & Urban Designer Sasaki Associates
the past fifty or so years, lead us to believe that many of the student proposals, with time, could come to fruition. At the very least, the ideas generated will expose new potentials for the district and its relations to the surrounding context. It is the hard work of urban design to imagine continuity, coherence, and a sensibly structured public realm in the wake of piecemeal development and planning endemic to most if not all post-industrial American cities like Boston.
Origins and investment The Boston seaport was once just that, Boston’s sea port. As an area adjacent to the growing commercial heart of the city with ample land and a generous span along the water’s edge, it was ideally suited for water dependent trade and commerce since its filling in the 19th century. It provided docking and shipping access throughout that century and well in to the 20th century. Goods coming from across the world, and industries specific to the northeast, would find access to the growing population of Boston and ample connections to the emerging transcontinental networks of distribution on the eastern seaboard. Fishing and shipping activities would dominate the seaport’s early twentieth century origins, as well as entrepôt uses (warehousing), giving form to the network of four and five story warehouse buildings in the Fort Point neighborhood still present today. As important as storing goods within the district was the need to transport goods further afield. The seaport grew in importance and utility as the great Fan Pier rail yards were built in the late 19th century. This network of rails literally ’fanned out‘ at the southeast corner of the Seaport District,
104
creating the unique rounded corner occupied by the Moakley Federal Courthouse today. As the downtown continued to develop into a thriving commercial center, more office and less industry, the two rail lines physically bifurcated by the Fort Point channel grew distinct. South Station would emerge as the primary passenger line west of the Channel, and Fan Pier to the east would to be its industrial equivalent well into the twentieth century. The rail network of the Seaport District would be the public infrastructure investment that would create value for the adjacent land for industrial and warehousing uses, much like recent investments have prepared the site for its current array of land uses. Boston’s industrial base remained strong well in to the middle of the twentieth century, from the nearly 50,000 employees engaged in shipbuilding and repair at the Charlestown Navy Yard, to the scores of industrial workers in the Seaport living close by in South Boston. At the time of its construction in 1901 the Commonwealth Pier was the largest pier building in the world. Large freight and passenger vessels could dock at its sides loading and unloading to both rail and truck. Its construction would herald the next chapter in transporting goods, the advent of trucking. The dual level access floors of the Trade Center allowed for existing rail transport at the lower level, along with truck access at the upper level. This vertical layering of infrastructure remains today as a legacy of this era, much like splitlevel systems in Chicago and New York. It is most apparent at Summer Street and World Trade Center Avenue, hovering approximately twenty-four feet above the remaining street grid of the District. Throughout the twentieth century, as witness in countless cities across the globe, the dominance of combustion-engined vehicles, cars and trucks, would come to replace rail and to dominate the landscape of the Seaport. As industry was increasingly displaced from urban centers, as factories and warehouses were torn down, and as inner cities struggled to compete with suburbia, the seaport district fell vacant. For about thirty years, roughly between the 1960s and the 1990s, the seaport was a vast parking lot for downtown workers and visitors. Below and around this empty landscape, profound changes were taking shape. In what would be a harbinger for countless projects across the United States and later the world, Boston undertook the Central Artery/ Tunnel Project better known as the Big Dig. This project recalibrated the necessity of vehicular throughput and access to interstates and airports with the increasing value of the downtown real estate and an increasing dissatisfaction with the negative impact of elevated highways on the public realm. The Big Dig would leverage federal funds to sink an elevated highway running through the heart of downtown Boston. It also
created direct connections to the regional airport, Logan, from the I-90 turnpike and I-93. Epic struggles over cost, schedule, and mitigation for this project brought both scorn and praise to a small but resilient city as the project ground on for nearly twenty years. Nevertheless, it was precisely this public investment - Federal, State, and City - that enabled wholesale redevelopment and value creation for today’s Seaport. A new interchange in the middle of the Seaport District provided access not only to the interstate system, but also to Logan Airport – now just minutes away. With the advent of an increasingly globalised economy, access to international airports is a key driver of success for urban districts worldwide. Alongside the tunnelling and surface reconfigurations of the Big Dig, the new Silver Line extended Boston’s transit system. This was a needed, yet controversial bus line (many would have preferred a fixed rail extension of the T) that provides service through the South End and Roxbury to Dudley Square, as well as to Logan Airport with stops in the Seaport District, and the Marine Industrial Park. South Station serves as the nexus of the Silver Line, creating mode transfers to Boston’s bus, commuter, and regional rail networks. The potential of High Speed Rail access to South Station, a long-held dream for the United States economic engine of the BOS-WASH corridor, uniquely positions the Seaport to prosper. The potential of a rail link between South Station and North Station under downtown Boston similarly promises greater connectivity to the emerging urban precinct across Fort Point Channel. The public investment in infrastructure, in this case transit, would benefit the Seaport District for years to come.
Developers’ began to reap this benefit, building out the District block by block, project by project once the dust of the Big Dig highway project settled.
Platting and planning While the Seaport District remained largely unchanged on its surface - fields of surface parking as far as the eye could see - and construction tore up the underground, planning for the future began. Through a series of publicly sponsored planning efforts led by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (the BRA, now the Boston Planning & Development Agency, BPDA) multiple visions were drafted and debated for the District. The three notable plans from this period include the Seaport Public Realm Plan of 1999, The 100 Acres Master Plan of 2007 (focussed on parcels within the Fort Point District), and the Fort Point Watershed Activation Plan of 2002. Each of these plans was a product of their time. A ‘return to the city‘ had begun to take place across the United States alongside a reverence for traditional city patterns and contextualism.
105
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
In a city like Boston, acutely aware of its flawed history of urban renewal that demolished vast swaths of the downtown’s historic fabric, this turn toward continuous streetwalls, matching cornice heights, and cleanly defined parks and plazas resonated. At the time, designers at the BRA felt obligated to protect the brand of the city, its human scaled, brick buildings, walkable streets, coherent neighborhoods, and European inspired parks and plazas. Much of this was admirable. The attention to walkability remains a hallmark of the city as is the beauty and consistency of the great 18th and 19th century neighborhoods such as Beacon Hill, Back Bay and the South End. The Seaport Public Realm Plan sought to emulate their small-scale block pattern, welldefined street walls, and the figural definition of open space found in historic Boston. The Seaport was platted with blocks close to 80m x 80m so as to ensure porosity and presumable walkability, as well as to create a grid network for vehicles. Many of these ideas resonate today; yet modern development standards and floor plate dimensions would drastically alter the look and feel of this plan as it was built out over successive phases of Boston’s growth spurts. Two dominant modes of physical planning characterize much of twentieth century urban design, both of which were at play in the Seaport District. The first, outlined above, is the traditional ‘create a plan‘ approach of streets and blocks, plazas and parks for large swaths of the city, a mode know to all planners and urban designers. The success of such plans is never quite assured as cycles of development vary, as ownership is often controlled by a number of different public or private entities, and as regulatory statute and zoning ordinances may not be put in place or even followed over time. Large plans often lack teeth and the political will to be implemented. The second mode of planning, as a way to catalyze development and ’design‘ the city, is through distinct projects - such as individual buildings or parks. Finite in size, cost, and construction timing, building projects is more manageable than wholesale district building. In the case of the Seaport, quasi-public building projects would ‘prime the pump‘ of development on an otherwise empty site. They would garner attention and begin to draw people to the District whether by interest or necessity. The first significant building project in the Seaport was the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse, built in 1999 directly on the location of the radial rail lines of Fan Pier, now long gone. This courthouse, designed by Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, was the first project to be built in accordance to the United States Court Design Guidelines, meant to improve design quality, and herald a new age of civic architecture in American cities. Connections in Washington brought
106
an unprecedented amount of federal dollars to Boston in this era and forever changed the course of development in the Seaport. The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center was another grand project of the time. Authorized by State legislation in 1997, the Convention Center was built over 24 hectares of land spanning between the Seaport District and the neighborhood of South Boston. As the largest convention center in New England, it was meant to shift the center of gravity in Boston from the constraints of the Back Bay to the Seaport. As a taxpayer funded project, the Convention Center would need to display a certain civic quality in its design as well exhibit a thoughtful relationship to its urban context. The Rafael Viñoly building managed both, with its sleek day-lit interior, finely scaled elevations, and the bold arched canopy protruding over Summer Street, visible from downtown. The third quasi-public building project that would bring even more interest and excitement to the Seaport was the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, the first freestanding building by the then avant-garde architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Sited by the Seaport Public Realm Plan, the harbourside location would prove to be the inspiration for a museum provocatively cantilevered over the water’s edge to create a grand civic porch for the District. Surrounded by surface parking lots until just recently, the images for the museum, completed in 2006, set a new tone for contemporary architecture in Boston and the Seaport. It promised a new direction for Boston, quite unlike its brick-bound past. Together, these three projects became the District’s destinations in advance of the
urban infill that would soon follow. They remain wellcrafted architectural projects built by Federal, State, and institutional funds ahead of the market and private development.
A district emerges For all of the public sector investments in the Seaport made over forty years or more, private development was sporadic. Owing to the vicissitudes of financing and market demand, the Seaport remained largely empty until the mid-2000’s. Deals were being made in the development community, as parcels were packaged, resold, and consolidated. While there were plans in place for the overall district, it would be left to developers to propose build-out scenarios that varied greatly from the overall public realm plan of 1999. The City’s planning posture at the time was purposely piecemeal. Planning with little or no regulatory stature allowed for deal making on an ad hoc basis. While this was perhaps ’market responsive‘ it was also highly unpredictable for developers. Public review and approvals became
a blood sport, with the BRA responsible both for guiding development in the public’s interest but also in creating value for land that they own. This seemingly contradictory position is unique to Boston’s planning structure. Recent realignments within the BPDA have however begun to build back the trust of the public and the development community. Charged with building out the Seaport District on parcels that they controlled, developers put forth any number of plans in response to market forces of the time. As the demand for commercial office, residential, and retail fluctuated in response to larger national and local real estate trends, plans for individual parcels resulted in squat bases that would anchor towers, either skinny or fat, reflecting either residential or commercial office uses. Given the height cap of approximately 80m due to the Seaport’s proximity to Logan Airport, developers sought to maximize square footage on their projects. Many of the ’walkable‘ blocks of the Seaport Public Realm Plan, scaled at 80m by 80m would prove to be ideal for single buildings rather than the mixture of buildings presupposed by the planners. What resulted for parcels within the Fan Pier blocks adjacent to the Moakley Courthouse were a series of rather squat towers with minimal setbacks, lifeless facades, and large expanses of blank ground floor areas. Apart from this unfortunate outcome on a block-byblock basis, consolidation of approximately 10 hectares under single ownership along Seaport Boulevard and stretching back to Summer Street, called the Seaport Square development, promised a different outcome. This large assembled parcel changed hands through several developers and went through many planning iterations. From a mega-mall spanning across several blocks to a more refined yet imperfect plan, development teams forwarded successive options for the parcels. Labelled the ‘hole in the donut‘ as the Seaport Square blocks comprise the last remaining parcels to be built out, the 2010 project plan included nearly 500,000 square metres of mixed-use development, park spaces, and connecting streets. Following the block structure of the Seaport Public Realm Plan and a general predilection for the car, this plan featured an elevated road and elevated park surrounded by residential towers. Connectivity remained a challenge for this plan, both internally and to the District more broadly. Changing hands once more, the new owners of the site sought a different approach. They intuitively saw the value that the parcels held as Boston emerged to become one of the great ‘liveable’ cities in the US with strong economic drivers including education, medical, and tech sectors. The Seaport was suddenly hot, and its potential for private development peaked after years of public investment and varying market demand.
The final plan for Seaport Square, prepared by Sasaki Associates in association with James Corner Field Operations and NADAAA, was approved this year by the Boston Planning & Development Agency and breaks new ground for the Seaport. It promises to re-link many disparate pieces into a more coherent urban ensemble. In lieu of an elevated park and road, the plan centers on a powerful pedestrian spine, the Harbor Walk, linking Summer Street directly to the waterfront, location of the ICA and the harbor beyond. Splayed buildings on either side of this central path provide light and air. A central green plaza punctuates this walk to provide respite and gathering for the emerging community. Closer to the water’s edge open spaces are surrounded by office and retail uses designed by the leading architects of the world, upping the ante for development in the Seaport and Boston more broadly. A fine network of urban connections centered on improving the pedestrian experience to provide a high quality public realm finally fulfills the unmet promise of earlier plans. Ultimately it has been the job of developers and their teams of architects, landscape architects, and urban designers to give form to the District. After so many years and figurations, the Seaport is on the verge of completion.
The final frontier The UNSW studio looked well beyond the Seaport District itself to better understand the catalytic opportunities its development offered. As well, the studio took on the challenges of resiliency and sea level rise, connectivity to a potential high-speed rail terminal at South Station, and the filling out of the adjacent still underutilized parcels surrounding the Seaport District. With all the successes that Boston has witnessed in the last 40 years, we are now growing as a city for the first time in decades. Yet challenges remain. The city is increasingly expensive and housing affordability has reached critical levels. Sea level rise is imminent, and our transportation infrastructure is suffering from lack of investment and increasing demand. Although greatly improved our waterfront remains accessible to only a small segment of the population. These challenges, however, are not insurmountable. The provocative designs put forth in this studio begin to create a way forward. They contain seeds of great ideas that will transform the way future generations inhabit the city and care for our world.
107
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
108
109
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Boston
Reserve Channel Li Ruoyu, Ma Yuan, Wang Hongyi, Wen Di, Yang Huei-Han Reserve Channel is located on the South Boston waterfront. The project boundary is W First Street, E First Street, Summer Street, and Castle Island. The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and Conley Container Terminal are important structures in our site.
The principles are: integrating the logistics resources and building a freight line underground; raising part of the land for both the freight terminal and defending against sea level rise, and adjusting the bus routes to improve the public transport system.
The project integrates the scattered logistics resources and develops a freight line underground from Conley Terminal. The waterfront is designed for continuing the ‘‘Green City’’ strategy and defending the site from sea
The proposed freight terminal is designed to go through E First St and W First St and the area above the freight terminal is designed as a boulevard. To enhance the accessibility of the waterfront a waterfront park is proposed which also acts as barrier to defeat rising sea levels. The plan of the Pink Power Station is adjusted to improve the public experience. Also, better connections are made between the BCEC and the waterfront and Fort Point Channel.
level rise. The whole project is to improve the experience of the public realm and to enhance the quality of public spaces. Currently there are heavy truck routes through neighbourhood streets creating issues of public safety and dissecting the site. The major part of our site faces the threat of sea level rise while the residential area of South Boston is old and crowded.
A A’
Urban design framework
Proposed road network
110
Proposed land use
Aerial perspective looking north
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - Boulevard - capped freight line
Flooding control design
Life on the street
View of the boulevard
111
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Boston
Fort Point Channel Lai Ka Yee, Li Mengdi, Pan Junkun, Zhang Qingran, Zhang Quan Fort Point Channel is an active waterfront that was once an important shipping port and manufacturing centre in Boston. The site is situated between South Boston and the Landmark District. The northern boundary from west to east, begins at Northern Avenue Bridge to West 2nd Street at Seaport Square. The southern boundary, from west to east starts from South Station and ends at the Boston Convention Center. The scheme re-imagines the existing proposals for the site and improves them by offering new visions: bringing people to the water, improving accessibility, revitalising the artists’ precinct, enhancing public transportation, bringing new economic activity to the water and activating ground floor uses.
The principal of the development is to create a central spine that connects the Fort Point area between Chinatown and the convention centre. The proposed design assigns new commercial uses on South Station and creates a new view corridor from the convention center to Fort Point Park and to South Station. Open space on the southern end is increased and provides a mechanism of connecting Harborwalk to Dorchester Avenue.
A’
The proposal is driven by the relocation to Fort Point Channel of the G.E World Headquarters. It acts as an
economic catalyst and becomes a great opportunity for development. The relocation of USPS, South Station Development - South Station Expansion (SSX), Air Rights Development, North– South Link (NSL) and High Speed Rail (HSR) and Northern Avenue Bridge are also crucial factors for stimulating economic growth.
A
Street activity in artists’ precinct
Urban design framework
112
Proposed high-rise of Northern Avenue Bridge
Aerial perspective looking west to South Station and downtown Boston
Major Pedestrian Routes
Buildings(In the Boundary)
Water
Harbor Walk
Buildings(Out of Boundary)
Boundary
Major Pedestrian Routes Harbor Walk
Proposed Central Spine
Buildings(In the Boundary)
Water
Buildings(Out of Boundary)
Boundary
Proposed movement
Existing movement
Industrial
Mixed Use
Mass Assembly
Movement Activities
Water
Residential
Commercial
Institutional
Open Space
Boundary
South Station overlooking to waterfront
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Fort Point Channel waterfront looking to South Station
South Station Air Rights towers on city streets
113
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Boston
South Bay, Chinatown, Leather District Kim Hyojung, Li Hongxu, Lu Li, Yue Yushan, Zhang Jinxin, Zhong Yillin The project is located next to South Station on the western side near the complex transportation system that connects to the Downtown Crossing, Government Center and residential areas.
District), a larger air rights-development as a mixeduse office and commercial district above the South Bay Interchange and establishing good connections to the surrounding neighbourhoods.
The vision of the project has considered tourism, public safety, accessibility, and sustainability for an attractive
The main concept in developing Chinatown and Leather District consists of two spines; one is an east-west pedestrian link that eventually ends at South Station and another is a north-south vehicle spine that connects the Chinatown neighbourhood with surrounding neighbourhoods. Additionally, the pedestrianized streets promote accessibility and the new green infrastructure creates an enlarged public space to improve the liveability of the neighbourhood.
living environment in the local communities. One of the key issues for the site is the technical and financial challenge of the air-rights development on the South Bay Interchange. This massive interchange acts as a major feature of the ‘Big Dig’ project in the late 1990s and is now a barrier for new development. There are also highly degraded pedestrian uses and a lack of balance between green and grey infrastructure. In response, the design principles incorporate adaptive reuse of the historical site (China Town and Leather
2
1
3
A’ A
Urban design framework
Existing green infrastructure
114
Chinatown cultural identity
Leather District to Chinatown gateway
Perspective looking north to Chinatown infill over South Bay interchange project 1
Perspective section of interchange air rights development
Active Chinatown gateway 2
Pedestrian spaces in the Leather District
Block typology Pedestrian bridge S Station Connector (crossing)
Parcel 26
Lincoln St
Parcel 25
New Development sports field
South Station
parking lots I-93 (one way) I-90 to Atlantic Ave (one way)
I-93 (one way) I-93 to Atlantic Ave (one way)
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; - South Bay interchange project
115
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Boston
Dorchester Avenue & Widett Circle Duan Jinyi, Du Qin, Jin Tian, Ma Yunfei, Ye Yang The Dorchester Avenue and Widett Circle precinct is located one kilometre from South Station between the traditional neighbourhoods of South End and South Boston. Once an important industrial and wholesaling centre, most activities have relocated or closed down and today the site is one of the few remaining exploitable precincts near the centre of Boston.
Implementation of this framework could revitalize this underutilized site, weaving South End and South Boston neighbourhoods together in an organic way, allowing for the expansion of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commercial centre and helping to provide housing solutions for a variety of incomes.
A
Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
In developing the urban design framework, several important principles to guide the design became apparent. Physical linkages between the South End neighbourhood and South Boston neighbourhood need to be made and opportunities need to be created to alleviate an acute housing shortage in the city, particularly for medium income residents. The challenges presented by complex transport systems and sea level change and the need to preserve and respect the industrial features are also addressed.
The proposal consists of two major east-west pedestrian and vehicular connections linking Flower Market (East), Widett Circle, and Dorchester Avenue (West). Two new boulevards connect the convention centre to the existing neighbourhoods and relocation of the existing wholesale market out of the precinct enables development of a mixed use, transit-oriented development in its place. A minimum target of 30% affordable housing for new development is proposed.
1
2
Urban design framework
116
Aerial perspective looking north over Widett Circle with South End / South Boston links 1
Proposed Purple Line station in Widett Circle
Existing circulation
Proposed circulation
Existing land use
Proposed land use
2
Adaptive reuse area
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; showing the flood control strategy
117
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
Boston
Marine Industrial Park Ban Lan, Charles Boumoussa, Georges Jreije, Li Yilun, Wang Ruoxi, Zhu Yawei Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park is located at the southeast corner of South Boston. It was traditionally a working port with a mix of light and innovative industries. This proposed scheme seeks to maintain the marine industrial uses and characteristics of the locality. It uses waterfront activation for creative urban life, creating high-quality living and working spaces to weave urban development into South Boston. Additionally, the project addresses the conflicts common to many older industrial cities or precincts that are under threat of extensive new urban development. This proposal creates diverse layers along the waterfront; facilities for research, education and innovative industries in order to become the ‘buffer zone’ between urban development and inner-city industrial uses.
change is considered. For the future flooding issue, the overarching principle is to work with the flooding conditions rather than against them. This is done by creating different water edge settings that respond to the relative land-use of that area. In developing the urban design framework, design strategies include demolishing existing dilapidated, inefficient industrial structures and to raise the whole site to allow reconstruction at a new level; working with sea level change by sacrificing ground levels of some existing buildings; to value the land around the site to offset the costs of upgraded infrastructure and marine uses; to redirect heavy traffic to avoid trucks going through the centre of Seaport District from Haul Road.
Because of its waterfront location, this site is one of the most vulnerable in Boston when sea level
B
B’
A’ A
Urban design framework High End Residential
Research Precinct
Tide St
7
3.5
3.5
3
3.5
3.5
Canal Harbour St
7
Section AA’
118
Commercial Precinct
Waterfront Museum
4
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
4
Seafood Restaurant
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Congress St
Massport Haul Rd
3.5
3.5
3
3.5
3.5
6.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
6.5
7
3.5
3.5
3
3.5
3.5
21
Aerial perspective looking south
Proposed transportation
Proposed road network
Activated waterfront precinct from Northern Avenue
Section BBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Proposed building use
Research precinct
Urban life on the promenade
119
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I International Studio
120
121
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
122
Studies in Urban Form Cinematic Space, 2017 Convenors: Professor James Weirick, Michael Gheorghiu, Brendan Randles and Dean Utian with Jodi Lawton and Ju Xizhe
The aim of this studio is to establish a knowledge base for commencing students upon which urban design skills can be developed. The studio begins with generic design studies investigating the paradigms and typologies of urban design to develop a vocabulary of urban space, to establish the theoretical foundation for life-long learning about the development and design of cities. The studio explores the relationship between the city and cinematic spaces based on film and drawing on interests in history, spatial studies, cultural studies and related fields, which seek to develop the capacity to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;readâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the city as an expression of human values, understanding the evolution of distinctive types of urban design elements. The cinematic studio, undertaken by sixteen groups in two semesters studies in depth to develop an urban design framework for an innovative precinct of 10,000 people and 5000 job opportunities supported by generic studies of urban form and urban design theories. Lisbon Story, The Third Man, Get Carter, All the Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Men, The Fountainhead, Le Samourai, Wings of Desire and Chungking Express were the movies selected to refer to the selected cities: Lisbon, Vienna, Newcastle upon Tyne, Washington D.C., New York, Paris, Berlin and Hong Kong. By examining the history, theory and morphology evident in each movie, a greater understanding of the city and its culture and the structure of its urban spaces becomes apparent.
Screenshots from The Third Men Produced by Georges Jreije
123
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
The City and Cinematic Space
Dean Utian
Dean Utian
Films are very much tied to our understanding and experience of cities. The city is often an integral character in film-making, its cinematic setting amplifying the culture, emotions and lived experiences of the inhabitants of the on-screen world. Across genres, cinema captures scenes of urban life, from film noir and crime stories of gangsters and the underworld to comedies with utopian and idealistic views of the city. Films even influence our perception and design of urban landscape as Bruno (2002, p. 28) points out, ‘the streetscape is as much a filmic construction as an architectural one.’ The study of film offers urban designers insight into space, place and time, drawing on intellect and imagination, and transforming ways of seeing. In 2017, the introductory Urban Design Studios of the MUDD Program were structured around a ‘City and Cinematic Space’ challenge where films were used as a medium to study urban form. Films were selected to stimulate discussion and artistic interpretation of eight cities around the world with distinctive urban patterns: Lisbon in Lisbon Story (1994), Vienna in The Third Man (1949), Newcastle upon Tyne in Get Carter (1971), Washington D.C. in All the President’s Men (1976), New York in The Fountainhead (1949), Paris in Le Samouraï (1967), Berlin in Wings of Desire (1994) and Hong Kong in Chungking Express (1994). The films were reviewed in terms of their themes, dramatic sequences, visual representation and the director’s philosophy of the city. As described in the assignment brief, the Cinematic Space component of the project had five key aims:
“‘Films are studied for the purpose of discovering a more subtle and responsive architecture.” (Pallasmaa 2007, p.13)
“The fundamental question . . . remains whether design students can learn about urban spatial experience and designing cities from the way film directors portray urban space.’’ (Pizzaro 2011, p.211)
124
1.
Engage with movement through space and time;
2.
Counter the tendency of urban design to be conceived and presented in detached, abstract and static ways; to consider instead the city as everchanging and a ‘protagonist’ in the lives of its citizens;
3.
Analyse the directors’ choice of locations and context;
4.
Methodically describe this analysis in terms of urban form and space;
5.
Develop appropriate graphic techniques to present the student’s findings.
In addressing the project aims, the student teams analysed the films in terms of the city’s broader historical context, social conditions and urban patterns. Themes uncovered in Chungking Express included identity, belonging, place and non-place. Scenes displaying reflections of various characters in mirrors and glass point to struggles of dual identity and describe the cultural
conflict and political context of Hong Kong transitioning from a British colony back to Chinese rule. The generic scenes in the opening of the film give a sense of non-place, a world devoid of culture, history and memory. While films present an often exaggerated and artificial world, they provide an artistic interpretation that gives greater insight into our real environments. Pallasmaa (2007) argues that film directors become architects of new worlds but their independence from the discipline is what makes study of the cinema enlightening. Schwarzer (2004, p. 40) suggests, ‘Film can reveal to us architectures that exist only in the mind, architectures composed of sensation but also memory and imagination; and as such film architecture yields insight into the perception of real architecture.’ For the student teams studying Chungking Express, the insights of loss of identity and struggle of loneliness in the largely populated city of Hong Kong, provided design inspiration for new environments that embrace history and culture, avoiding a generic urban proposal of non-place. While films can be transformative in the representation of the city, they can also serve as an urban memory of the changing landscape. A student team evaluating The Third Man identified the film as a ‘visual document of the damaged urban fabric of the late 1940’s Vienna’ (UDES0001, S1 2017). The students analysed the cinematography and noir approach, where high contrast lighting with strong shadows and Dutch angles were employed to communicate psychological unease. All the President’s Men was evaluated as a document of a significant historical event of the US government and capital city, exploring the executive, legislative, judicial powers, and the influence of the press in forming the city’s identity. The students presented this analysis together with a review of the City Beautiful Movement and the L’Enfant Plan on the city’s design. Through Lisbon Story, students uncovered a perspective of mapping the city’s landscape through sound, where the main character documents the city’s soundscape for a film within the film. Transportation systems were integral to student investigations of all cities. Le Samouraï provided a view of the city of Paris through transportation mapping as Bruno (2002. p.29) suggests, ‘By way of tours and detours, it shows how a transportation chart can function to map and remap a city.’ The lesson coming from this film reinforced the consideration of the streetscape and transportation systems that can connect or isolate communities.
Fountainhead, a story of an individualistic architect who battles his vision of a superior modern city while enduring resistance from a traditionally minded establishment in 1940s New York. The influence on students investigating this film was an inclusive design approach where traditional building forms and patterns are preserved and blended with modernism. In the case of Newcastle upon Tyne, Get Carter provided a strongly contrasting world for students analysing the ‘sweetness and light’ of the Garden City model. Students explored the lives of gangsters and a seedy underworld that erodes away at society and our urban environments. They identified the brutalist architecture of the 1960s as a continuation of the harsh industrial character of the city with its mills and row housing. The student teams investigating Berlin in Wings of Desire also drew out lessons of a broken world, a city divided with disconnected blocks and overcrowded modernist spaces, conveyed through the perspective of angels and humans. Its lessons corresponded to postmodern transformation and approach to revitalise the traditional culture that reinforces the city’s historic identity. For all the students in the Urban Design Studio, the engagement with onscreen stories and cinematic worlds facilitated greater awareness of the cities’ identity, history and lived experiences, thereby allowing for design work to be more responsive to place and time. Each of the films provided a new way of understanding the city through the director’s cinematic lens. As an accessible cultural form of art, the films enabled a transformed way of seeing, leading to thoughtful and provocative design.
References Bruno, G. 2002, Atlas of Emotion: journeys in art, architecture, and film, Verso, New York. Pallasmaa, J. 2007, The Architecture of Image: existential space in cinema, 2nd ed., Rakennustieto, Helsinki. Pizarro, R.E. 2011, ‘Urban design and the cinematic arts,’ in: Banerjee, T. & Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (eds) 2011, Companion to Urban Design, Routledge, London, pp.208-217. Schwarzer, M. 2004, Zoomscape: architecture in motion and media, Princeton Architectural Press, New York.
Films can provide another perspective to urban understanding when characters within the story project their views of the world. This was the case in The
125
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Lisbon Lisbon’s pattern of urban development grew in conjunction with the rise of Portugal as a great empire in the 1500s. In 1755, an earthquake caused significant damage to the city’s central core - Baixa. After the tragedy, the city produced many firsts in the reconstruction process. The Pombaline Baixa is one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant construction. The most significant part of the “1755 plan” is the gridded street pattern in the Pombaline Baixa, which brings more variety to the city’s street layout and defines the city core. The interventions were however piecemeal, aimed at overcoming traffic restrictions or improving connections within the city.
After 1755, the design of new buildings arose from inspection of the buildings that withstood the earthquake. The construction methods were based on normalisation and rationalisation principles, producing buildings of great uniformity in architectural and constructional terms, which allowed for large-scale reconstruction. The development of Avenidas Novas was the outcome of the northern urban expansion of Lisbon city. It was a rational design with strict respect for the natural environment and for those buildings already in existence. Ressano Garcia defined the structural axes for a new city, covering an area equivalent to the existing one, along an east-west direction.
126
Baixa before the earthquake Source: http://imgur.com/A8IPG
Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake Source: https://www.triposo.com/loc/Lisbon/history/background
Grid city plan in Lisbon
General Plan of improvements
Source: http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/188/2162/1024/Lisboa%20-%20antes
Source: :http://lh4.ggpht.com/_FkKgTDI7ngU/TBAHnhGhmRI/AAAAAAAADZo/ CP2oMSBmocc/al54_thumb%5B7%5D.jpg?imgmax=800
Eugénio dos Santos Plan of Baixa Pombalina
Parque Eduardo VII
Network expansion 2004
Source: https://goo.gl/images/osRaVr
Source: :https://www.viator.com/Lisbon-attractions/Edward-VII-Park-ParqueEduardo-VII/d538-a17226
Source:www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.
Cinematic Space
Lisbon Story (1994) Directed by Wim Wenders Synopsis: Lisbon Story follows Philip, a sound engineer, as he captures audio of the city for a film shot by his director friend. Through this process of audio mapping he creates a contrasting portrait of the city, superimposing soundscape over landscape, where sounds encode the visual identity of the city. Mise en Scene: Philip’s journey from one place to another highlights urban design as a ‘progression through space’. Paintings on public street walls provide artistic and scenic beauty to the city. It is an architectural attraction and develops a sense of place. The blue colours communicate a calm and a cool environment. The brown to dark red colours represent high quality and classical emotion.
strength of the character from macro to micro detail. Low angle is used at times to make characters, such as the singer, the sound engineer, director and even buildings, look strong and powerful. The high angle shots make the subject vulnerable and powerless. Urban Patterns: The film presents a personification of the city’s heritage and urban texture. Urban patterns include cobblestone pavements, Portuguese tiles, narrow tram lines, high terrain and wall art. Lessons: The film communicates Lisbon’s unique urban form and its urban contextualism. New urban development in Lisbon can use this concept to enhance the connection and activation of spaces.
Cinematography: The choice of shot types from the Extreme Long Shot to Extreme Close-Up raises the
Film concept
Re-thinking for Lisbon Story
Narrow street upwards
Translocation-Northern Europe
Translocation-Paris
Translocation-Lisbon
127
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Lisbon - Marvila Waterfront Sun Mengzhen, Wang Hongyi, Yue Yushan Lisbon Story presents main characters of the city, and inspires the design of the stepped topography and narrow-scaled streets to show its fascinating natural environment. The project, Marvila Waterfront, is located in Braço de Prata, which was previously a military industry district on Lisbon’s eastern waterfront, near the Lisbon EXPO district. The redevelopment of the Jardins de Braço de Prata (Silver Arm Garden) is also significant to the regeneration of the eastern riverfront area. Population decline in Lisbon is dramatic, which has created large areas of vacant land and an underdeveloped neighbourhood. It has also caused a vicious circle with social problems and economic decline resulting. The large vacant areas are fenced from the public, with neglected buildings, and disconnected paths forming an unwelcome urban fabric and intensifying the decline of the suburb. Moreover, the large waterfront
Urban design framework
128
land in Braço de Prata site is abundant and been separated from the neighbourhood by the main road. This project aims to take the ideas of the ‘1755 Lisbon grid plan’ and ‘98 EXPO plan’ to return the original industrial and underdeveloped waterfront to the public, and to celebrate the cultural and economic value of the district. This project maintains and reuses the significant urban fabric of the neighbourhood and extends it to the waterfront. Two main roads are proposed to connect the Marvila district to the EXPO site and to cross the railway on the western side. In addition, to apply the concept of the gridded street pattern, squared built forms are proposed and the main road connects two historic plazas from the 1755 plan. This scheme creates three central spines: the ‘innovation’, ‘community’ and ‘cultural’ spines as three precincts to provide different experiences and to represent the dynamic qualities of the site.
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Comparison of green space and accessibility
Main connection and spine strategy
Perspective from the train station
Perspective from street
129
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Lisbon - Belacantra Waterfront Kusum Lata, Pan Junkun, Sabari Girish Epari, Ye Yang Lisbon Story provides a unique explanation to the urban context by focussing on the soundscape engineering to discuss the coexistence between the urban development and cultural continuity. The site consists of two districts namely Belem district and Alcantara district. Alcantara district was once a thriving port on the Tagus River. Belem is the southwestern most civil parish of the municipality of Lisbon. Key site issues addressed: some public small courtyards lead into the creation of dark and poorly conceived spaces, crowding for residents and isolation of heritage buildings. There is not enough pedestrian space for the public and traffic congestion is common in this site. The unemployment rate, especially for young people, is higher than for other parts of Lisbon.
The principle vision behind the Belacantra Waterfront project is the revival and rejuvenation of the waterfront site that connects two separate districts. The strategies in this plan provide wider courtyards for building blocks and creating an axis leading to a plaza. The scheme proposes open boundaries for green space with careful orientation of buildings. In order to improve the waterfront circulation, pedestrian and cycle bridges are integrated into the design. The proposed underground parking solves the problem of excess surface parking. A new road network and overpass near Alcantara Station resolves the problems of traffic congestion.
Urban design framework
130
Existing accessibility
Proposed accessibility
Existing green space
Proposed green space
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Proposed zoning map
The section through the axis connection
Design of the natural waterfront
Perspective from Jardim da Praça do ImpÊrio
131
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Vienna Vienna originated in ancient Roman times, similar to many other cities in Europe. The Romans created a military camp during the first century on the site of the city centre of present-day Vienna. In the mid-19 century, the city walls were demolished, and a boulevard ring road named Ringstrasse was built around the historic city centre. Many well-known architects were commissioned to design monumental buildings along the Ringstrasse. In the late-19 century, the conflicting design ideas of Camillo Sitte and Otto Wagner pushed the development of urban design thinking. Camillo Sitte studied the spatial structures of public urban space from ancient Greek, Roman and medieval cities. His book ‘City Planning According to Artistic Principles’ was seen as the first publication to discuss the concept of Urban Planning. Otto Wagner was an Austrian architect and urban planner. Compared to Sitte’s conservatism, Wagner was a pioneer of
Vienna in Roman Times Source: https://sanderusmaps.com/en/our-catalogue/detail/166461/antique-map-bird’s-eye-view-of-vienna-(wien)-by-braun-and-hogenberg/
Ringstrasse Source: https://c-mccla.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/viennas-ringstrasse-v2.html https://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/ringstrasse
modernism who advocated the new modern city. In his Die Groszstadst Plan, each district has its workplaces, its uniform apartment blocks abutting a square of green and a highly formal ‘air centre’ for public and cultural buildings. After the First World War, the Social Democrats ruled Vienna, and invested a great amount of money in the development of affordable housing. Karl-Marx-Hof is an example that has a group of linear residential buildings forming amenities and green spaces at the centre of the community.
Camillo Sitte (1843-1903)
Otto Wagner (1841-1918)
City Planning according to Artistic principles Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/10836855329987204/?lp=true
Die Groszstadst Plan Source: http://www.grids-blog.com/wordpress/otto-wagner-designing-the-city/
Plan of Karl-Marx-Hof Source: http://www.travel-attractions-country.info/famous/karl-marx-hof/09/default.html
132
The generation of Wagner`s planning thinking
Elevation of Karl-Marx-Hof
Source: https://degustibus-ebmeier.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/der-karl-marx-hof-im-roten-wien.html
Source: http://doyoucity.com/proyectos/entrada/2153
Cinematic Space
The Third Man (1949) Directed by Carol Reed Synopsis: Set in post-war Vienna, Austria, The Third Man features Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a writer who upon his arrival in Vienna to meet his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) finds him dead. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a ‘third man’ present at the time of Harry’s death. The film develops thematic concerns regarding the influence of crime on culture. It highlights the impacts of war on our lives and cities. It can be seen as a visual document of the damaged urban fabric of the late 1940’s Vienna, with a strong contrast to Vienna’s symbol of high art and classicism. Mise en Scene: The setting is often an important character in the film. It has a personality that influences the plot or represents an idea, and contributes to the mood, style or themes. Sewerage tunnels are usually seen as dark, damp and mysterious places. Due to small amounts of light, the underground networks of the city often depict the notion of crime and black marketeering. Many shots of The Third Man were filmed in the actual
large complex sewer system under Vienna. The story portrays the way people use this space and how it is influential to society. Cinematography: This cinematic technique of Dutch angle is often used to portray psychological uneasiness. It is used continuously to create tension on the subject being filmed. It emphasises the character’s alienation in a foreign environment. A right tilted shot is usually followed by a left tilted shot. This engages the audience with the city as the viewers will sometimes tilt their heads to ‘correct’ the angle. This allows the film to transform Vienna into a cinematic distortion of itself. Urban Patterns: Cobblestone, transition of space, posters, underground network, contrast. Lessons: Establishing a similar mood to a medieval city during night time by using similar strong lighting, enclosed spaces, and stone texture in our designs are the key elements that we have drawn from the movie.
Imaginary perspective lines
Montage of urban character
Movie scene with light and shadow
Dutch angle
Angle of light casting a long shadow on the ground and the wall
133
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Vienna - Sankt Marx Duan Jinyi, Georges Jreije, Ma Yunfei The design aims to revive the Vienna medieval urban spaces characterised in The Third Man and use the Camillo Sitte artistic principles to highlight the design.
urban fabric and the industrial area in St. Marx. It endeavours to bridge the gap between the two and heighten current educational and research programs.
Sankt Marx is located approximately 2 kilometres southeast from the historical centre of Vienna. The precinct is well connected to the city as it offers several methods of transport.
This development enhances connection to stations and the surrounding area as well as encourages the use of public transport. The scheme inserts an innovation hub towards the lower west side of the site. Furthermore, with the implementation of facilities such as Camillo Sitte Lehranstalt, Bio center, S-bahn Station, and the T-Mobile, it offers great potential to promote these features and utilise the public transport network to stimulate the economy. Within St Marx Halle, the heritage building explores sustainable, creative and continuous uses in the future. A mixture of spaces will be implemented inside the building including restaurants, office space and creative and leisure spaces.
The main issues investigated are the large areas of vacant land with recognised development potential. This is further typified by a mixture of work and living. Currently the site contains low pedestrian accessibility, large parking space, waste lands, and low walking amenity. The scheme seeks to develop as a future technology and commercial hub that is located between Viennaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Urban design framework
134
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing vs. Proposed development
Proposed building type
Section - Working environment of the innovation hub
Section - movement of people through Marx Halle
Path leading the plaza
135
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Vienna - Siemens Experimental City Wu Yuwei, Yang Huei-Han, Zhu Yawei Inspired by The Third Man, the design respects the organic urban form, while locating landmarks in key nodes to address the maze-like issues of liveability. Florisdorf is one of two Viennese districts situated beyond the Danube. Since 1910, the district has increasingly developed into an industrial and transport centre, and its social stratification has become working class. This precinct connects to the centre of Vienna with S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines. The main issues investigated include the constraints of existing site conditions in a rural area with a low density urban pattern. With a declining economy and a higher than average unemployment rate, there is also a developing problem with an increase in vacant ground floors. This project seeks to demonstrate how to provide
achieved in the city centre of Vienna. The project also explores how this site can be a peripheral sub-centre beyond the Danube by integrating the industrial area and surrounding village-like residential communities and activating the ground floor spaces for commercial and community activities. The scheme integrates the industrial Siemens City, S-Bahn Station, and surrounding residential area, with potential to become a transport oriented development. Combining Camilo Sitte’s idea of “inner city patterns” and Kevin Lynch’s “image of city”, this precinct is formulated to represent a Viennese identity. Viennese block patterns are implemented with contemporary elevations to enhance the unique characteristics of the site. Furthermore, adapting the abandoned elevated railway into a High Line park connects green infrastructure and enhances the connection to the station.
a similar urban quality of life in a suburb, as can be
X
X’
Urban region
Urban district
Urban design framework
136
Urban block
Context map
Site analysis
Existing development
Proposed development
XXâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Section
Sketch of experience in the block
Sketch of commercial centre
137
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Newcastle upon Tyne Prior to World War II, the Garden City movement and later the New Town movement were deeply embedded in Newcastle upon Tyneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landscape and building typology. It had a ring of low density suburbs that demonstrated many of the ideas of these movements. After World War II the city experienced rapid industrial growth and saw new development that was not in the style of garden cities nor the new town movement. Instead, it was a low-density unplanned suburban sprawl. The streets are not defined by built forms, rather by individual gardens that provide a green fabric. The development of inner city sites was largely determined by industry and institutions. The precedents set by Letchworth and Welwyn in the UK showed principles of appropriate urban planning for low scale cities. By analysing the street sections in these towns, the relationship between the built form, open space and accessibility become apparent.
Baconâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Map of Newcastle New Bridges 1890 Source: http://www.picturesofgateshead.co.uk/local_maps/newcastlegateshead1890w.jpg
The new town of Peterlee was developed to provide improved housing and environmental conditions for the miners who were living in poor industrial housing in the surrounding mining villages. Later in the second New Town Movement, the township of Washington was developed to achieve sustainable socioeconomic growth. The new town is divided into small self-sufficient villages. Both new towns had a significant impact on modernism and brutalism. The examination of the natural and socioeconomical settings of towns that influence the growth of urban form also eventually influence its restrictions. Assimilating the key paradigm shifts that have inarguably influenced the evolution of Newcastle, two urban design frameworks are presented that reference the Garden City concept to generate designs that recall the character of British villages.
138
The Garden City
Ebenezer Howard Garden City
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_city_movement#/media/File:How-
Source: http://lib5.thenmedia.co.uk/med/planning-M125463.jpg
ard-three-magnets.png
Letchworth Plan 1904
Welwyn Plan 1921
Source: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/47358233559949331/
Source: http://www.mediaarchitecture.at/architecturtheorie/garden_cities/2011_ garden_cities_links_en.shtml
Typical Letchworth housing typology
Peterlee history plan 1945
Modernist housing in Newcastle
Source: http://www.north-herts.gov.uk/sites/northherts-cms/files/files/letchworth_urban_design_assessment_complete_061107.pdf
Source: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk.maps/?layer=europe&xMin=3295009.2
Source: http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/wwfeatures/wm/live/1280_720/images/live/
8382&yMin=3149242.07153&xMax=3297809.28382&yMax=3152042.07153
p0/25/19/p02519vm,jpg
Cinematic Space
Get Carter (1971) Directed by Mike Hodges Synopsis: Get Carter centres around an amoral, pitiless London mob enforcer, Jack Carter, who returns to his hometown to investigate the death of his brother. The film portrays a bleak sense of society and space. Mise en Scene: Brutalist architecture and row housing represents the harsh industrial character of Newcastle
Lessons: The film provides a stark contrast to the Garden City concept. The principle of using the Garden City model is to reinforce the self-efficient and “green” urban design for the further development of Newcastle upon Tyne.
upon Tyne. It presents the typical spatial quality of the British residential block. The movie explores how people and their experiences are vital to understand a city’s urban culture and identity. Cinematography: Strong perspective lines reinforce each phase of the story and amplify the experiences of characters. The movie was shot with a telephoto lens of varying focal length from 250mm to 400mm, which adds depth to the conversation scenes and evokes a third man’s presence. Urban patterns: Street structure, brutalist architecture, cluster and steps. These patterns represent the urban character of Newcastle upon Tyne to indicate that passive elements need to be developed for further design.
Movie character analysis
Movie building character
Montage of urban character
River edge
Movie building character
Neighbourhood deck/plaza
The symbol of economy
139
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Newcastle upon Tyne - Woolsington Village Green Li Hongxu, Ma Yuan, Sivasubramanian Muthusamy Get Carter addresses the contrast of Garden City concepts to inspire designs that transform the current bleak environment into a vibrant and green British village for Woolsington. Newcastle upon Tyne is a city made of a rich green belt dealing with its sensitive environmental issues such as the River Ouseburn floods. The heritage site of Woolsington Hall is planned as a boutique hotel for the airport as a retreat. This site occupies the major land piece of the woods and an undeveloped green field that suffers from seasonal floods. The vision of this scheme is to infiltrate a network of villages along the green belt comprised of high density housing and a business district near the airport without losing the quality of the English settlements. It uses the
Urban design framework
140
‘garden city’ concept to activate traditional English village life and urban patterns. The principle of this scheme is to use the proposed pattern of development to enclose the woodlands and act as a rejection of urban sprawl. The main design objective is to embrace the natural setting of flooding by creating an extension of woodlands and retention ponds with pedestrian access through the meadows. A walkable precinct is created to the station. A ‘green’ science park is proposed on the north side of the site to complement the airport facilities. Existing old buildings in the city are the key reference to create the town square, contributing to the village ambiance while still achieving high-density housing.
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing land use
Proposed land use
Existing vehicle circulation
Proposed vehicle circulation
Proposed Woolsington village
Proposed block
Section of proposed community precinct
141
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Newcastle upon Tyne - New Town in Town Ban Lan, Chen Yujing, Jin Tian Get Carter inspires the design to concentrate on improving quality of life, maintaining the heritage buildings along the riverfront and reinforcing the traditional British urban pattern characteristics. Newcastle upon Tyne is a developed industrial city and a member of the ECCG (English Core Cities Group). With the revival and development of the city, unsuccessful urban designs and poorly planned traffic systems can be addressed. The chosen site is divided by the two lines of the metro and railroad and contains basic infrastructure such as: hospitals, education and cultural facilities. However, the lack of connection between the north and south of this site is the significant issue that can be addressed in a new design.
Urban design framework
142
This design aims to create better connections of urban roads and infrastructure resulting in environmental improvement. The main design strategies include: demolishing the ring road network and providing a deck over the expressway to integrate and increase the north and south connection and provide a direct connection to the university. Narrowing the existing road to create a good quality pedestrianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s linkage with landscape furniture supplied is also proposed. A cultural precinct is proposed by decreasing the height of some existing tall buildings to reinforce the existing church and waterfront characteristics. A pedestrian friendly riverfront is proposed to create better connection between the river and city by implementing seasonal vegetation and landscape furniture.
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing land use
Proposed land use
Plummer gate
Christ church
Aerial perspective Integration Of New Development With The Riverwalk
143
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Washington D.C. The United States is a federal republic consisting of the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial, through which the power of the United States is decentralised by The President, Congress and The Supreme Court. As a result, this political system is also represented by the initial plan for Washington D.C. The planning of Washington, D.C. was seen as an act of faith, a political manoeuvre, a symbolic gesture and a remarkable achievement in city making. Engaging with the ‘City Beautiful Movement’ originating from the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, it aims to utilise the monumental forms of the Beaux-Arts style as a means of beautification, social control and civic amelioration in order to celebrate the capital city. The L’Enfant Plan of 1791 and the McMillan Commission Plan of 1901 are considered the most essential plans that reflect the current composition of Washington D.C.
Overview of Washington D.C. Source: http://www.marshallplan.at/2017/2018/1/10/call-for-applications-sais-johns-hopkins-university
L’Enfant focussed particularly on visual qualities for the new capital, using topography to create grand vistas and delineate de facto locations of supremacy. His plan consists of an orderly overlap of two superimposed grids: a simple orthogonal lattice of streets over a juxtaposed, complex and larger network of diagonal avenues. The McMillan Plan was also based on the theories of the City Beautiful Movement and reinforced the vistas of the National Mall from the L’Enfant Plan and the park system of Washington D.C. It eliminated the Victorian landscaping of the Mall and replaced it with a simple expanse of grass, narrowing The Mall, and constructing several low, neoclassical museums and cultural centres along the Mall’s east-west axis.
144
The US Capitol located on the previous Jenkin’s Hill
Source: http://intattoo.tk/washington-dc-designs/dc-map.html
Thomas Jefferson’s Plan
Washington D.C. 1791
Source: https://b-womeninamericanhistory19.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/ today-in-history-washington-dc.html
Source: https://www.tripsavvy.com/history-of-the-national-mall-1038410
The National Mall Extension and McMillan-Plan in 1901
Washington D.C.1901
City Beautiful Movement
Source: https://tclf.org/landscapes/mcmillan-plan
Source: L’Enfant-McMillan Plan of Washington, D.C. 1901
Source: http://chicagoplanninghistory.weebly.com/urban-design.html
Cinematic Space
All the President’s Men (1976) Directed by Alan J. Pakula Synopsis: All the President’s Men tells the story of two Washington Post reporters investigating what would become the Watergate scandal that resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon. In doing so, it explores the branches of government, the power of the press and how these define the place and identity of Washington D.C. Mise en Scene: Film scenes include the Watergate Complex, Washington Post Office and surrounding monumental buildings within the Great Cross Axes of the National Mall. The film presents Washington DC as a metaphor for American national history and culture, within a situation of tripartite confrontation alongside the unofficial fourth power of government: the people.
meetings with ‘Deep Throat’ that provide Woodward with a variety of cryptic clues are located in shadowy parking garages. Urban Patterns: Low, Beaux-Arts style of buildings reinforces grand vistas of streets with stairs as transition spaces from street to the entrance. Monuments and open spaces are located at the end of these vistas or at intersections where the vistas can be seen from a distance. Lessons: The film gradually shows built forms, streets and monuments of Washington D.C. that reflect the ‘City Beautiful Movement’ and the L’Enfant Plan.
Cinematography: Contrasts in light and dark are frequently used for the two journalists’ activities and to contrast political powers with those of the press pursuing the truth. At the beginning, a dark, depressed setting in a basement is an important hint of the scandal to follow. Dark, desolate closed spaces such as basements and underground car parks characterise the dark side of society, crime and drug dealing. The lightest place is in the office room. It stands in contrast and represents justice for the public. The majority of the secret
Cinema character
Radial city
Urban pattern analysis
Colour analysis
City Beautiful Movement
Office as Non-Place with order
Watergate complex Source: http://www.justluxe.com/travel/ washington-dc-news__1957812.php
145
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Washington D.C. - Noma Cultural Centre Li Yilun, Wang Weixi, Wang Xiuzhu The design aims to enhance the atmosphere as presented in All the President’s Men, using elements of grand Beaux-Arts style buildings with regular arrays of trees defining streets and creating vistas. NoMa Cultural Centre is located approximately 3 kilometres from the city centre of Washington D.C. It is adjacent to the Florida Avenue Market which is one of the city’s primary locations for industrial wholesale distribution and near historic Gallaudet University, a world-renowned academic and cultural centre for the deaf community. The contemporary city retains the radial urban pattern from the early L’Enfant Plan and its cultural landscape reflects the nation’s history. Big intersections of the city’s northern gateway of New York Avenue and Florida Avenue break with L’Enfant’s grid and further divisions have been created by the insertion of the railway lines. The neighbourhood’s large population of African
Urban design framework
146
Americans is extremely poor. The diversity between different races aggravates the spatial segregation. This project attempts to be a landmark of Washington’s Ward 5 district, taking the concept of the City Beautiful Movement, revitalising this underdeveloped, spatially segregated neighbourhood as an innovation industry precinct and high-rise development. A large-scaled, mixed-use, terraced building complex is created at the intersection of L’Enfant Crossing to be the main public domain for social interaction for African Americans, bringing new energy, more activities and liveability. It provides convenience and safety for pedestrians to cross this large intersection above the railway. The innovation industry precinct is plugged into the Florida Avenue Market, mainly along Florida Avenue in order to activate the ground floor but also to maintain the function of the inner-city wholesale and distribution complex.
Urban district figure ground
Context map
Existing and proposed green space
Proposed Mixed Use Building of Commercial and Office 40 X 160 FSR: 5.4-8
Existing and proposed road network
Proposed Mixed Use Building of Residential and Office 22 X 65 FSR: 4-6
Proposed Mixed Use Building of Retail, Office and Residential 36 X 45 FSR: 4.5-8
Proposed Residential Building 40 X 20 FSR: 5
Building forms
Street and community perspective
147
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Washington D.C. - New Jersey Avenue Abhijeet Sharma, Feng Shengting, Xie Xinling The condition of the design area is contrary to the scene of the city presented in All the President’s Men. The design learns from the Watergate Complex in the movie in that its built form responds to the existing natural environment and complicated road pattern in a clever way. New Jersey Avenue is an approximately 2 kilometre long stretch of road in the centre of Washington D.C. linking the Capitol to the Anacostia Riverfront, and was conceived in the original designs of L’Enfant. The avenue has been divided in two parts because of the construction of the south west freeway and which has led to the deterioration of the original character of the area. This infrastructure project has become a stark barrier to the original views and vistas. There have been attempts to revitalise the Anacostia riverfront and turn
it into a vibrant hub for the city but so far, they have not been successful. The vision is to restore New Jersey Avenue to its original condition by restoring the connections originally intended between the city and waterfront through the City Beautiful Movement and L’Enfant’s vision, so that it can provide a much more accessible and inviting open space within the city. The avenue is divided into four precincts, each with its own particular character. The freeway is removed and replaced with an underground route that allows the dense and complex pattern of development to be reinstated above. Connections between the city and the riverfront are re-established and strengthened.
Mixed use
General residential
Urban design framework
148
Public recreation
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing and proposed green space
Existing and proposed road network
Section of Boulevard
Section of New Jersey Ave
View of metro station plaza
149
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
New York New York city is a city developed with many different plans and projects. It is an architectural marvel with many historic monuments, magnificent buildings and countless skyscrapers. Besides the architectural delights, New York is an urban jungle that is home to famous museums, parks, trendy neighbourhoods and shopping streets. The initial plan for New York City was the ‘Commissioners’ Plan of New York’, established in 1811 by John Randel, Jr. who was appointed as the secretary and surveyor for Manhattan. This plan divided Manhattan into a gridded street system which was the city’s first great civic enterprise and a vision of brazen ambition. The gridded street system created a unique urban pattern for New York City. The ‘1916 Zoning Resolution’ and ‘1961 Zoning Plan’ also have significant influence on the architecture and urban design of New York City. The ‘1916 Zoning Resolution’ enacted the nation’s first comprehensive zoning resolution to promote and protect the public health, safety and general welfare; to establish height and setback controls; and to separate residential areas from some non-residential uses (industrial and manufacturing). Despite these plans, a rapidly developing city emerged that was remarkably different from the original zoning plan of 1916, with demands growing over the complexity of planning rules and lack of swiftness in zoning regulation. The goal of the ‘1961 Zoning Plan’ was to completely overhaul what was considered an outdated Zoning Resolution.
The street grid of midtown Manhattan in 1930s Source: https://ak9.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/12325787/thumb/1.jpg
1916 Zoning map
Zoning before and after the 1961
Source: https://planyourcity.net/2015/08/29/ nyc/
Source: http://nycusp100.weebly.com/20th-century.html
Setback principal
Rockefeller Center plan
Source: http://thegreatestgrid.mcny.org
Source: Balfour 1978
In addition to the various planning controls, the city has many exemplary modernist urban projects such as Tudor City, Stuyvesant Town, Peter Copper Village and Rockefeller Center. These projects all demonstrate the importance of the public realm in urban development.
Commissioners’ plan of New York,1811
Source: http://beyondcentralpark.com/images/Park/Bridges%201811.jpg
150
Cinematic Space
The Fountainhead (1949) Directed by King Vidor Synopsis: The Fountainhead follows the story of an individualistic and idealistic architect Howard Roark, as he fights to retain his artistic integrity at all costs. Roark’s character is strongly driven by modernism which he sees as superior and is at least in part inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.
buildings on the street. Others include green space and waterfront. Lessons: The film shows the traditional urban pattern of New York City built with rational shapes and scale, which is relevant to the design of urban design projects in the city today.
Mise en Scene: Film scenes are located in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, as well as Hell’s Kitchen to show the gridded street system. The subtext of the gridded urban form is that the world is well ordered by a particular class or group of society that rejects others from entering. Cinematography: Objective use of the camera from the spectator’s point of view is used to demonstrate the whole scene in a neutral way. The subjective use of camera through a specific character’s point of view engenders empathy. The shots where the camera acts as the main character’s eye show the city view outside as seen through a cross on the window, symbolising the fight against traditional architecture. Urban patterns: The two main urban patterns demonstrated in the film are the street grid pattern and the pattern of skyscrapers on the avenue with small
Spaces in the film
Time, Space & the City
Grid street system
Time ine of movie
Skyscraper on the avenue
151
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
New York - Javits City, Midtown Li Yeizi, Wang Xiaowei, Zhang Qingran The project aims to retain the character of New York City in the 1930’s shown in The Fountainhead and to create a new neighbourhood in Midtown West Manhattan. Javits Center, officially known as the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, is located in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood, and is the busiest convention centre in the United States. The existing issues include the low quality of waterfront that can be seen in the poor condition of active space, flooding constraints and lack of landscape implementation. Nevertheless, in terms of surrounding blocks, the current big scale buildings demonstrate the disconnection to the surrounding neighbourhood. The vision of the project aims to enhance engagement of a meaningful community and the connection of people’s value to the society. The project scope creates
Urban design framework
152
a stronger and more resilient Javits City to capitalise the essence of Manhattan characteristics and social value. The strategy of the proposal is to rearrange the functions of the harbour to achieve a connection with the city and waterfront. In terms of improving the accessibility, the scheme continues the street grid and provides a new pedestrian crossing to connect the city and waterfront. To improve the vitality of the street, the ground floor of buildings along the new avenue will be used for retail. Additionally, the redevelopment of No. 76, No.81 and No. 83 piers is proposed to redefine them for multifunctional usage including restaurant, cafe, bar, swimming pool, new pier and innovation precinct. Finally, the extension of the High Line will act as a sky park that can attract more tourists and residents to achieve a greater connection with the harbour and waterfront.
Urban district figure ground
Context map
Existing road network
Proposed road network
Existing land use
Proposed land use
Westside skyline view
Amphitheatre on High Line
3D Massing
Innovation design
153
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
New York - West Midtown Du Qin, Huang Yawen, Lu Li The Fountainhead focusses on the conflict between traditional styles and modernism. Inspired by the movie, the design maintains typical building forms, urban patterns of Manhattan and creates various cultural nodes to preserve the fading Manhattan character. West Midtown is an area of Manhattan that is currently dominated by transport and utility uses. The streetscapes and skylines consist of manufacturing buildings, transport, infrastructure, and the proposed Hudson Boulevard. The New York City grid pattern is destroyed by the ramp of PABT (Port Authority Bus Terminal), Lincoln Tunnel and Interstate 495 (Long Island Expressway). The vision of this project is to inherit and enhance the unique characteristics of the neighbourhood and to create vibrant street life and community. The scope of
Urban design framework
154
redevelopment is achieved by the transfer of air rights from available lots with and redesigning of the block with typical building forms. The scheme creates buildings of a scale and character typical of 1920-30â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New York City. The proposed landmark skyscrapers are between 40-42nd St and 33-34th St. Transferring the air rights to increase the building heights between 10th and 9th Ave can provide a skyline transition from east to west. The proposal is to create green space over the underground tunnel at 40th St, Dyer Ave and 35th St, and 9th Ave. Pedestrian friendly streets and blocks containing a variety of uses are generated by this design.
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing land use
Proposed land use
3D Massing
Westside skyline
Air rights transfer
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
155
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Paris Paris’ s urban landscape experienced its first significant transformation in 1853 when Georges Eugène Haussmann was commissioned by Napoleon III to renovate the city. Haussmann introduced boulevards, expanded the urban area and worked for a more hygienic Paris. Paris has experienced both rationalism and contextualism in architecture and urban design. In the 20th century, Le Corbusier proposed various masterplans influencing the modernist movement that led to the Athens Charter, which was adopted by the fourth International Congree of Modern Architecture in 1933. It separated and defined four urban functions: living, recreation, working and circulation. Le Corbusier’s 1925 Plan Voisin for Paris seems to
Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin model
Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20150429-le-corbusier-fascism-row-taints-legacy-france-foremost-architect
be a direct transposition of the 1922 Contemporary City for Three Million People. He proposed a regular orthogonal grid structured with two new traffic arteries piercing through the city. Their role is not limited to the organisation of Paris, as were the advances of Haussmann. The ambition was to link the capital to the four corners of the country and to the rest of Europe. The intersection of the two avenues is the centre of the plan and the centre of the city in central France.
Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin Source: www.densityatlas.org
2017 Clichy-sous-Bios Source: www.densityatlas.org
Collage City is a critical re-evaluation of the modernism movement that characterised Le Corbusier’s work. It rejects the utopian visions of ‘total planning’ and ‘total design’ and instead proposes a city of fragments - a collage city. Our site, Clichy-sous-bois, is part of the post-war housing schemes that were developed in Paris (Les Grands Ensembles). It’s an uncompleted project, inspired by Le Corbusier and the idea to build a city
Railway of the Invalides ,Orsay quay, Paris, 1890
Source: http://www.gettyimages.com.au/license/56210589
based on three elements space: light and nature. The area has became highly isolated from nearby main hubs, stricken with unemployment and urban decay.
Passages des Princes in Paris, 2011 Social housing, Clichy-sous-Bios Source: https://dailyphotostream.blogspot.com.au/2011/04
156
Source: http://www.clichy-sous-bois.fr/Habitat-et-cadrede-vie/Habitat/Le-logement-social
Cinematic Space
Le Samouraï (1967) Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville Synopsis: Jef, a hitman, attempts to escape both the police as well as others who are after him. His escape is played out on the subway map of the city of Paris, tracked remotely by the police on a transportation map. The winner of the chase will be the one who best knows the map. Mise en Scene: The film shows Paris as a city of isolation, lacking community life. The film uses a lot of the scenes that show the sense of alienation - cages in the city, the character walking alone, the constant transformation of space. Stairs and levels are the main elements to get across during Jef’s escape. Jef goes up and down fifteen different sets of stairs. The stairs and levels make Jef’s escape route more three-dimensional from the map. Vertical circulation on stairs tend to be generic, lacking any sort of special identity. Such explorations represent Jef’s life of uncertainty.
escape. Using techniques of film noir, basic tones in the film are black and white. The dark tones show Jef’s isolated heart and cold, proud personality, while the grey tone emphasises the paleness and coldness of the environment. The “rule of thirds” technique further emphasises the caged existence of this lonely hitman in Paris. Urban Patterns: connections, city scale, streetscape, time and architecture. Lessons: The life on streets is essential for urban design. The scale of streets should support various activities and ensure security of urban life. The city should also contain a mixed variety of use, a vital character and a viable community. In addition, efficient and accessible transportation systems are significant to urban life and development.
Cinematography: The film frequently uses the contrast of light and shadow to highlight Jef’s wish to hide and
Connections
City space
Montage of urban character
Street space
Across the architecture
Screenshots from Le Samouraï
Transitional spaces between street
157
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Paris - Clichy-sous-Bois Abdul Ghani Hourani, Li Ruoyu, Samer Amin, Zhang Xiaodong Le Samouraï displays a protagonist walking alone through the city, going up or down fifteen different sets of stairs, through the tunnel, and across a footbridge, all revealing the urban pattern of the city.
The scheme aims to integrate Clichy-sous-Bois while continuing to be a multicultural city, self-sufficient and able to accommodate more residents from various backgrounds.
Clichy-sous-Bois is located 10 kilometres east of the Paris urban centre and has over 30,000 people
This development extends the density and defines the boundaries of streets through redeveloping buildings, improving the quality of open spaces. It creates and acknowledges the links between buildings and open spaces, which address security issues. A new university will be placed in the north part of Clichy-sous-Bois which offers innovation and opportunities. Alongside the tram line proposed by the government, a new high street would drive the rise of the local economy. A civic centre will be built that invites local people to gather, communicate and socialise.
spread across an area of 413 hectares. In 1960, architect Benrnard designed this area based on the modern movement ‘Space, Light and Nature’, and was an attempt to provide a 10,000 dwellings city. However, because of private real estate problems, the development scheme has not been realised. Clichy-sous-Bois has no existing major motorway or tram line. The urban fabric in Clichy-souis-Bois is fragmented, due to the failure of Benrnard’s plan. The isolated fabric and the lack of fast access to urban centres has resulted in security issues, a high unemployment rate and serious urban decay.
Urban design framework
158
Urban district figure ground
Context map
Existing building type
Aerial view of precincts Proposed office
Existing transport system
Proposed transport system Proposed commercial
Existing land use
Proposed land use Proposed residential
Cross section BBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
159
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Paris - Clichy-sous-Bois - Monterfeil Liu Xianzheng, Federica Ulliana, Wen Di Le SamouraĂŻ shows the sense of alienation, cages in the city, people walking alone in the streets, contrast of space, reflected in social conditions. Clichy-sous-Bois is located 15 kilometres from the urban centre of Paris and is 394 kilometre square in area with a very large forested space. The issues include urban fabric, religion, insecurity, unemployment, poverty and an inconvenient transport system. In particular, residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; safety is a concern when they walk along the streets as well as accessibility as they enter this area. The scheme aims to alleviate the existing social problems in the region, improve the living environment for residents and increase the vitality of the site by creating a regional business and leisure centre.
Urban design framework
160
This design proposal is to create a mixed-use area for residents and businesses in the lower levels of the buildings. The road system is modified to improve the accessibility of each precinct. Meanwhile, the two main roads are reinforced and identified as the main axes of the design to connect the university from west to east. To enhance social integration, a park area with Islamic gardening style is proposed as is an exhibition centre to bridge cultures and social barrers. The design creates a safer area for the public by encouraging a more diverse socio-economic mixture of residents. Leisure and sports activities are provided for the local residents through the addition of a sports park. To enhance the two axes, the market square, the mosque and the art festival space are grouped together.
Urban district figure ground
Context map
Incubation centre
Aerial view of precincts University
Existing street system
Proposed street system Market square
Existing land use
Proposed landuse Train station
Vertical axis section
161
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Berlin Founded in 1237, Berlin became the capital of Germany in 1871. In 1862, James Hobrecht, a young civil engineer was entrusted with developing a new Berlin city extension plan, later named ‘the Hobrecht Plan’. The plan made provisions for a ring of new districts with efficient infrastructure for a rapidly growing population, although aesthetic considerations were not prioritised. It was essentially a street and building plan, based around the city’s sanitation system, and the city developed largely according to this plan. Existing urban structures were retained, to avoid conflict resulting in an incomplete ring around the city. At the end of World War II in 1945, large parts of Berlin had been destroyed and the city was divided into West and East followed by the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1963. After the War, reconstruction of the city was initially very slow.
Hobrecht plan Source: http://preservedstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mietskaserne-1.pdf
In order to provide a signal for the direction reconstruction in West Berlin should take in the future, an International Building Exhibition (IBA) showcasing modernist urban design was opened in 1957. In a bomb-damaged neighbourhood in Berlin’s Tiergarten, all buildings, streets and infrastructure were cleared away to make way for the model of ‘The New City”. Iconic architects such as Walter Gropius, Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen and Egon Eiermann were invited to design the buildings in the ‘Hansaviertel’ with new standards and in the style of modern architecture.
Housing block
From the 1960s on, urban development occurred at a rapid rate on the problematic path of post-war modernist planning, with highways cut through historic districts, housing demolished and residents shifted to monofunctional peripheral high rise estates. A typical housing estate built between 1964 and 1974 was the Markisches Viertel, a 17,000-dwelling development on the outskirts of West Berlin built for housing residents from the inner-city areas. As the problematic path of this approach was recognized, another International Bauausstellung (IBA) was formed in 1984/1987, aimed at correcting the mistakes of modern urban planning.It followed two distinct
Figure ground
strategies both designed to reverse the destructive elements inherent in modernist planning: Instead of demolishing the existing housing stock and ‘decantering’ the residents to the modernist housing estates on the periphery, ‘careful urban renewal’ was aimed Street section at the ‘careful’ modernization of the historic city. In areas devastated by the war, the method of ‘critical reconstruction’ aimed at the reconstruction of the urban patterns of the historic city while employing up-to-date architecture, again involving international architects.
162
Cinematic Space
Wings of Desire (1994) Directed by Wim Wenders Synopsis: Shot in and around West Berlin, the film presents the story of angels, invisible to humans, observing and comforting the individual, lost in their own, often depressed, thoughts and activities. The city of Berlin becomes a meeting place between the spiritual and material worlds. Presenting the divided post-WWII city, Wenders combines a series of individual, sometimes chaotic scenes into the one story. The Berlin Wall, a key element, symbolises the transition from past to present, angelic to material, with one angel choosing to ‘fall’ and become human. Mise en Scene: The film presents spaces symbols of the city.
Cinematography: The opening shot employs a high angle when the angel is looking down towards the city. It gives an aerial view of the ruined city and depressed people. The camera angle then shifts to the people in the city and it goes upwards as the children look up trying to identify the angels. There are long shots as the camera shifts very slowly showing first the angel looking downwards, then the city view and moving to children looking up back to the angels, creating a relationship between two completely contrasting spaces. The camera has no specific close-ups of the object but always places the subject, the city, in the background. Urban patterns: The movie pattern provides a whole
collected memories of mankind, a space of respite and reflection for both angels and humans.
city perspective, helping to understand the development of the city under the Hobrecht Plan. It also represents issues such as disconnected blocks, lacking in aesthetic, with distributor roads dissecting the urban spaces and run down, overcrowded modernist spaces, based on functional zoning.
•
History of Berlin State Library: Closely paralleling German history, it has lived through creation, neglect, expansion, war damage, division, unification and re-creation.
Lessons: The movie portrays a period of modern transformation, brutalist architecture, freeway dominance and the presence of the motor vehicle industry, reflecting a city undergoing rapid change,
•
The Circus: A positive reminder of life, it represents human relations and belonging to a place, yet a transient space like the angels as a guest within the city.
•
The Berlin Wall: Symbol of transition from past to present, of a barrier and a landmark.
•
The Library: Permanent and enduring, a history of
Rethinking of the city
Location in the movie
shifting with the times. The postmodern film reflects the postmodern era with architecturally designed buildings reflected as social places.
Urban pattern analysis
Colour analysis
Screenshots of movie character analysis
163
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Berlin - Adlershof Science Park Li Mengdi, Mayuri Sodani, Yu Mengxue Wings of Desire has inspired a design that develops a sense of community, represented in the movie by the landmarks like the State Library and the Circus.
transport and offers multiple business opportunities and value adding by encouraging high quality mixed use development.
Adlershof is located in an outlying district in the southeast of Berlin. It is the former site of the East German Academy of Sciences and of the German Broadcasting Station and the site of Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first airfield as well.
Strategies for this scheme include transit-oriented development around the S-Bahn station, extending the light rail system and creating a meaningful and well developed green network to the surrounding neighbourhoods. A proposed cultural precinct will provide infrastructure with art galleries, theatres and open areas as a space to encourage various innovative fields like education, business, science and technology. The transformation and upgrading of Rudower Chaussee into a commercial centre provides a high-quality mix of retail and residential apartments. Finally, this plan makes interventions on the building facades facing the arterial roads to maximise the street frontage.
The key design issues of this project include it being spatially disconnected from the surrounding neighbourhood; mostly monofunctional buildings; poor accessibility amongst the existing built form; lack of shared cultural spaces and no pre-existing housing stock in the area. The vision of this project is to create a strong economic centre that is extremely well supported by public
Urban design framework
164
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing road network
Proposed road network
Space rules
Section I
View of street
165
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Berlin - Johannisthal Innovation Precinct Cao Jing, Sharleen Salazar, Wu Jihai The design aims to maintain the traditional culture and reinforce Berlin block typology as shown in Wings of Desire to represent its city identity. The Adlershof-Johannisthal site is located southeast of Berlinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s city centre. The site started out as the Schoneweide shunting yard and the municipal approval for the redevelopment of the site was passed in 2013. The key issues are including transport-oriented design and connecting to Adlershof Science Park. The tension between needing more space for economic growth and the integration of the development into the traditional urban fabric has to be taken into consideration. The design vision of this project is to create a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Transit Oriented Developmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and innovation precinct whilst connecting this to the surrounding precincts with a development made more robust by its outward connections and varying characteristics.
Urban design framework
166
The Johannisthal - Niederschoneweide connection is a bridge integrating the train station. It connects high density residential mixed-use areas of the site and strengthens the connection between the tech park and the creative district. Additionally, by examining and modifying the existing Berlin block to create low-rise, high density residential mixed-use developments, this compensates for the lack of residential units in Adlershof Science Park. The ground floors are designated as commercial space, with the courtyards visibly accessible to provide a more activated street environment. The uses and activities along the two main streets of the development are also zoned so that activities vary along the street. Finally, considering environmental adaptability, the Airfield Museum is made into a museum with outdoor exhibits and also serving as a park.
Urban district figure ground
Context map
Existing public transport
View of pedestrian street
Proposed public transport
Existing green space
Proposed green space
View of creative precinct
Section I
167
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
Paradigms and Precedents
Hong Kong Hong Kong is often described as convenient, dynamic and energetic city of efficiency that has practically no natural resources but only human resource and very limited land resource. (Kostof, 1991) Hong Kong was ceded to the British in January 1841, when there were about 5,650 inhabitants on the Island existing by farming and fishing. The population expanded to 1.8 million as refugees and immigrants arrived following the Chinese Revolution of 1949. People were forced to settle in squatter settlements, as limited residential buildings were available.
Shep Kip Mei squatters fire on 24 Dec 1953
Wah Fu Estate -the largest public housing in Hong Kong
Photograph by Ko Tim-keung. Source: http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/public_housing/all_items/images/201307/t20130702_61658.html
Photograph by Ko Tim-keung, Source: http://www.hkmemory.hk/collections/public_housing/ all_items/images/201307/t20130702_61453.html
In 1953, fires in Shep Kip Mei squatter settlements destroyed the homes of 53000 people in one night and therefore it was imperative for the government to provide new accommodation. This was the start of a new urban form for the city. Public housing was built in order to accommodate the people who lost their homes during the fire
Reclamation land map from 1842 - 2010 Photograph by Ngo Vivian, Source: http://www.oldhkphoto.com/coast/Map.html
as well as to cater for the city’s ever-expanding population. Construction sites were developed all across the available land and this public housing became an important urban characteristic of Hong Kong. The first new developments in Hong Kong from the 1950’s are found in the new government plans for Sha Tin and New Territories area, which are deeply influenced by the ideas central to ‘Garden Cities’ theories. The vision of these new settlements was to alleviate high density developments in the existing urban areas and to provide modern housing and community facilities
Sha Tin New-Town development Photograph by Unknown, Source: https://gwulo.com/atom/10938
set within a structured parkland setting.
People on Kai Tak Airport’s rooftop car-park to capture the moment of plane take off Refugee arriving in Hong Kong by boats Photograph by Wu Siu Yan, Source: http://wjesus.org/refugee.htm
168
Photograph by Frederic J. Brown, Source: https://www.hongkongfp.com/2016/12/27/hkfp-history-spectacular-shots-from-the-final-days-of-hong-kongs-old-kai-tak-airport/
Cinematic Space
Chunking Express (1994) Directed by Wong Kar-wai Synopsis: The movie depicts the story of two lovesick policemen and deals with themes of belonging, loneliness, place and non-place in the urban city of Hong Kong. The movie captures the essence of place and shows that despite the crowded conditions in the city and numerous interactions with people on the street, individuals can still feel lonely with few opportunities for truly authentic, meaningful encounters. Mise en Scene: The film title reflects scenes of the film - the Chunking Mansions located in the busy district in Tsim Sha Tsui and in a food stall called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Midnight Expressâ&#x20AC;?. The Chungking Mansions sits in the heart of the city but is well known as a place of poverty, contrasting with the food stall in the Central District dominated by the elite and rich. Kar-wai picked both locations to present the wide range of social levels in Hong Kong that happen to be separated by Victoria Harbour. The first city scene of the film shows a smoking rooftop with antennae that is not recognisable as Hong Kong. It creates a sense of non-place as the audience questions where the place is and feels a loss of identity. Cinematography: The presence of the crowds in the city offers a constant reminder of the feelings of being
cut-off from true human interaction. Kar-wai captures this feeling perfectly in an expressionistic fashion by visually exaggerating the crowded conditions and the feeling of close quarters. In addition, he visually explores human nature through various stop-action sequences, including superimposed multiple-speed action sequences. The hand-held camera technique is used to emphasise the crowded street life in Hong Kong. It unsteadily tracks the character running through the crowds, together with shots of blurred points of view as well as dizzying shots that add to the overall visual confusion. Urban Patterns: Alternate meeting places, long midlevel escalators, underground spaces, traditional wet market. Lessons: The movie reveals the compactness of urban life in a highly dense city. It inspires a design focus on high density vertical and underground developments. Learning from the movie, the mid-level escalators provide easy access for locals due to the hilly topography. As such, any design proposal should embrace this vertical setting and also consider human scale.
Scene of the character running up on the Mid-Level-Escalator
Re-imagination of Chungking Express
Inside of Chung King Mansions
Scene of the MTR station
Central Mid-Level-Escalator
Screenshot of characters in Screenshot indicates traditional convenience store as old retail form traditional wet market
169
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Hong Kong - Wai Chai Waterfront Lai Ka Yee, Wang Ruoxi, Zhou Jingwen Inspired by Chunking Express, the design aims to maintain the urban character of Hong Kong, as well as solve the indicative circulation issues and activate the waterfront environment.
Centre Station to the north waterfront. To increase the variety of land use and avoid singularity and generic design of the waterfront, a new cultural identity is to be assigned.
The selected site, Wan Chai is located in Hong Kong Island with dynamic features of the water views and the traditional harbour life of old Hong Kong. The main issues investigated are losing the local identity based on the proposed generic modern architectural designs to
The scheme provides an eighty-eight floor tower with commercial uses and adapting the design of the International Finance Centre (IFC) to replace the thirtyfive floors twin tower of Great Eagle Centre in order to respond to the demands of job opportunity and housing shortages. Additionally, the proposal of two-story buildings around the edge of the site would provide affordable offices. Excavating the reclaimed land and retaining the old ferry pier enables further development of commercial-office-retail buildings on top of the pier and enables sporting facilities to be upgraded.
the Water Park Precinct and Water Recreation Precinct. Here is also a lack of interaction between the new Convention Centre Station and ferry pier and a housing shortage. The scheme seeks to ensure the continuity of the waterfront promenade with residential, commercial and other mixed-use buildings connecting the Convention
Urban design framework
170
Context map
Urban district figure ground
Existing green space
Proposed green space
Section AA’
Section BB’
Site in 3D-view
171
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City I Studies in Urban Form
The City and Cinematic Space
Hong Kong - Anderson Road Quarry Xie Xiaoli, Zhang Jinxin, Zhang Quan Inspired by Chunking Express, the design aims to solve the traffic issues, especially in a terrain changed site and revive the traditional Hong Kong urban character. The site is located on the southwestern slopes of Tai Sheung Tok at the far north-eastern edge of east Kowloon, close to the major community centres of Kwun Tong, Lam Tin and Sau Mau Ping. The issues affecting this area include roads that are currently at capacity, requiring road improvements for any large-scale developments at the site. Additionally, the public transport system is discontinuous. Unique landform characteristics present challenges for further development.
The scheme seeks to embrace the opportunity, including taking advantage of the natural resource and designing an ideal urban precinct to enhance the connectivity of the site with adjoining Kwun Tong and Sai Kung districts. A new metro station is proposed on the Tseung Kwan O Rd to provide better accessibility and connection with existing urban fabric and site. Due to the complex topography characteristic, an escalator system could be constructed from the station to the stadium to achieve a good pedestrian connection. The proposed stadium will be a new landmark and the core area of the proposed urban design framework. Additionally, a promenade is proposed besides the Tai Sheung Tok Hill.
Urban design framework
Proposed road system
172
Proposed building height
Proposed land use
Context map
Topography of the site
Section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Vertical transport
View from the main street
View from the hill
173
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
174
Design by Research Thesis Sydney Studio, 2017 MUDD23 Research Supervisors & Advisors Professor James Weirick Mike Brown Michael Gheorghiu Jodi Lawton
Trent Middleton Arlene Segal Andrew Sweeney Dr Anne Warr
This year saw the launch of Research by Design within the UNSW MUDD Program. This innovative and industry focussed course requires students to undertake a detailed investigation of an area of urban design that reflects their particular passion or interest. In this respect, the MUDD Research by Design follows an established protocol for carrying out supervised research on a specialised topic. Students are engaged in a thorough and rigorous process of scrutinizing published works, analysing case studies, comparing precedents, testing hypotheses and framing a question that has yet to be answered. Where the MUDD Research by Design breaks with conventional post-graduate research is that students are compelled to present their research findings in part as a fully resolved urban design framework for a chosen site that has relevance to their particular area of examination. Three students elected to participate in 2017 and their research sites and topics reflected their individual engrossments in urban design and to a lesser extent, their experiences, cultural influences and academic backgrounds. Established European models of urban reconstruction are critically analysed by Chen Xinyang for their application to urban design conflicts in Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s booming yet historically rich cities. The potential for underground space to be identified, expanded and developed within crowded and site constrained Hong Kong is explored by Junbo Tang. Filipe Romero Vargas asks us to consider the impact that data driven design can have upon urban design. Using the hyper-modernity of Yokohama as a basis for experimentation, he shows us one possible direction for twenty first century urban design as new technologies and contemporary directions in critical thinking emerge.
The structure of the MUDD Research by Design course allows students to participate in an academically defined research process and also asks that they go further by applying the findings of their research to current urban design practice. It is this combining of self-directed critical investigation with the production of a peer reviewed urban design framework that makes this course inventive and relevant. It builds upon the substantial strengths of the core units of the MUDD Program and expands on the central methodology and pedagogy. The results are bodies of work produced by students who demonstrate a capability to be critical of not only accepted urban design theory but who can also apply this same degree of critical appraisal and inquiry to their own work as urban design professionals.
Research analysis Produced by Felipe Romero Vargas
175
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Nanjing
A critical approach to urban redevelopment in historical Nanjing Chen Xinyang China is rich in history and culture and much of its urban heritage has remained intact, however the recent pace of economic growth and development has presented problems in managing this growth while respecting and protecting the history and culture of its urban settlements. The inner city of Nanjing contains many areas that have been identified as important to conserve. It is also an area that has seen rapid development of many new building types. This thesis critically analysed the conservation principles of ‘critical reconstruction’ and ‘careful urban renewal’ advanced in the 1980s by the directors of the Berlin Internationale Bau Ausstellung (IBA), Josef Paul Kleihues (1933-2004) and Hardt-Waltherr Hämer (1922-2012) as possible ways of conserving the urban fabric and urban spaces of inner-city Nanjing. The study found that while ‘critical reconstruction’ and ‘careful urban renewal’ offer some potential for adoption in Nanjing, they are more appropriate as general propositions than specific prescriptions that can be transposed regardless of setting. In Berlin, a regular
gridded street pattern and consistency in building height makes infill development more straightforward than in Nanjing with its complex urban fabric varying greatly in height, scale and density. Above all, opening the large superblocks in Nanjing presents major problems. Private space, ownership rights, security concerns, and deep cultural affinities for walled compounds complicate the transformation of these spaces.
Adopting the general propositions of the Berlin IBA of the 1980s could, however, guide strategic conservation initiatives for inner-city Nanjing, based on respecting the historical street patterns and scale of the conservation areas in any new infill development; planning more mixeduse and residential areas; reusing neighbourhood streets to reduce the problems of the super-block pattern; and stepping building heights to provide a transition between the established urban fabric and new development, together with enhancing the local community by providing small scale green spaces and community facilities for use by the residents.
Aerial perspective
Building age analysis
176
Zoning analysis
Transportation system
Conservation areas
a
1
b
2 a’
3 C
b’
4
Traditional courtyard typology research
Urban design framework
1
2
3
4
Traditional courtyard typology
Existing vs proposed building height analysis
Existing vs proposed space analysis
Existing vs proposed zoning analysis
Existing vs proposed road system analysis
Section AA’
177
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Hong Kong
Remaking underground space in Kowloon Tang Junbo Underground pedestrian systems have been developed worldwide since the 19th century as a means of linking subway systems, underground shopping streets and malls. With the rapid growth of the world’s major cities, however, these systems are becoming more significant in integrating transport infrastructure, retailing, commerce and public facilities through new forms of urban porosity. This design research explores the question: ’What type of spaces are suitable for creating new underground pedestrian links and remaking existing links in the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) district of Kowloon, Hong Kong to meet the pedestrian demand that will increase with completion of the West Kowloon station, terminus of the Very Fast Train link to Shanghai and Beijing, scheduled to open in 2018, and the West Kowloon waterfront?’ The research methodology included examining international examples of underground pedestrian systems, discovering the various ways in which vertical and volumetric space are incorporated into these systems (Rice 2016; Shelton & others 2010), examining the existing and projected demand for underground links in the TST district of Kowloon, and determining the most appropriate routes to meet the projected demand. Suitable redevelopment sites were identified along the routes that have the potential to increase identity, legibility and economic activity through the introduction of dramatic forms of vertical and volumetric space anticipated in multi-level developments such as the 31-storey iSquare Shopping Mall, Kowloon designed by Benoy and the Rocco Group, and Hysan Place on Hong Kong island by Kohn Pedersen Fox. The design objectives of the study included maximising transport efficiency; integrating urban functions; building safe, vibrant and convenient underground networks; and connecting major buildings, above ground squares,
skywalks, bus stations, train stations, car parks, shopping malls etc. Existing and proposed pedestrian, Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and associated transport infrastructure connections were analysed for the study. The urban design framework identifies the areas of greatest demand and proposes the most appropriate routes for expanding and enhancing Kowloon’s underground pedestrian spaces. Strategies to improve pedestrian connectivity in the TST district included providing a hierarchy of design elements that improves accessibility and provides visual cues for pedestrians to find the major transportation nodes; increasing the use of under-utilized areas and nodes; re-establishing the connections with the Harbor City complex that have been severed due to road changes and recent development; and augmenting the underground pedestrian system to better integrate with the existing urban fabric of Kowloon. By creating strong east-west underground links between an expanded TST station and the commercial and cultural developments on the waterfront, the capacity of the above ground pedestrian spaces is increased. The underground pedestrian network forms part of an integrated approach that increases the efficiency of the existing transit network and reduces reliance on crowded streets and blocks.
References Rice, C. 2016, Interior Urbanism: architecture, John Portman and downtown America, Bloomsbury, London. Shelton, B., Karakiewicz, J. & Kvan, T. 2010, The Making of Hong Kong: from vertical to volumetric, Routledge, London.
Green space and proposal linkage
Urban design framework
178
Main linkage between buildings
Proposed connections
Pedestrian flow with road linkage
Proposal Renewable building Proposal Vehicle Linkage Proposal Bus Linkage
MTR routes with proposed UPS
Proposed renewable building, vehicle and bus linkage
Vehicle flow with motorway linkage
Main Linkage in Building Green Space Proposal Linkage Main UPS Linkage
Buildings model
Underground section AAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
Proposed green space and UPS linkage
Underground level 2 perspective
Underground section CCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
179
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Yokohama
Parametric approaches to urban design Felipe Romero Vargas Historically urban design has been framed within time based paradigms based on conventional approaches to the city making process. These include major movements such as the rationalists and the empiricists, where the tension between abstraction and experienced learning processes was part of the discourse. Now, however, cities are facing multiple challenges based on mega-growth and rapid urbanisation - the ecological and spatial demands of hyper-modernity. One significant Japanese movement (Metabolism in the 1960s), started the exploration of how cities can be understood from a different perspective to traditional planning and design. Part of this new perspective was based on the idea that a city can be conceived as an evolutionary system based on ’metabolic cycles‘, i.e. able to grow and change through organic processes. Today through the evolution of computation and programming, ’parametric
Urban design framework
180
design thinking‘ has emerged as a powerful method to understand and drive urban growth and change in the 21st century. This research aims to explore the influence of parametric design, first as a new way of conceiving and shaping cities, and second as a new way of addressing the rapid urbanisation processes that major urban centres are facing in the era of hypermodernity. This design thesis posed the research question: can parametric thinking transcend the conventions of mainstream urban design represented by ’transformative urban morphology‘ (Fraker 2007) to meet the challenge of hyper-modernity in cities of the 21st century?
Yokohama Associative Systems
Railway system - walking catchment analysis
Water system - urban analysis
Green system - urban parks analysis
181
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
As part of the parametric approach, the design investigation was driven by two major inputs. The first was generated by the identification of important nodes
(attractors), created by the conditions of the area and their possible relationship with the surrounding urban fabric. In this case, the first level of interaction was defined by the underground metro system, then by the definition of active frontages at street level followed by the synergy of the pedestrian framework. The three basic levels of interaction generated the second input, a vertical relationship that can be expanded and continued as required. The generation of these elements allows major density to be controlled in the multiple nodes, managing the demand and supply of each different element in order to avoid the hyper-modern collisions currently seen in the densest parts of Tokyo. Taking the Yokohama waterfront as a case study, this project explored urban design from a parametric perspective. Parametric thinking was deployed in two different modes: form exploration and the use of parametric tools. This process has led to an understanding of the city as a multilevel system, able to
grow, responsive to complex direct and indirect forces. To control the over-production of elements in the city (hyper-modernity), parametric thinking can be applied
by using live data tools to generate multiple design outcomes. This manipulation can be done through an evolutionary model that can purposefully address over-demand, at the same time can integrating and extending the dense points in the city. From an urban design perspective, it is important to recognise how this methodology can shape the urban fabric and the way that society consumes References Fraker, H. 2007, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Where is the urban design discourse?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Places, vol.19 no.3, pp.61-63. Schumacher, P. 2011, The Autopoiesis of Architecture, Wiley, Chichester. Spyropoulos, T. 2013, Adaptive Ecologies: correlated systems of living, Architectural Association, London. Verebes, T. 2014, Master Planning the Adaptive City: computational urbanism in the 21st century, Routledge, New York.
Parametric Evolution to Hyper Modernity
Computational Design Thinking
Aerial perspective
182
Parametricism Understanding
Adaptive City Model
Form generator diagrams
Urban systems
Program distribution
Nodes and possible relations
Proposed metro line
Ground floor uses
Interpolation of nodes
Public transport & cycling network
Above ground floor uses
Design framework
Landscape
Street hierarchy
Pedestrian framework
Building heights
Pedestrian structure uses
Evolutionary urbanism - research explorations
183
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Research Thesis Sydney Studio, 2017 Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. Zora Neale Hurston (1) In 2017 the MUDD Research by Thesis students formalised their own curiosity on a variety of subjects and in locations that are familiar and foreign. While the subject matter and research methodology differs between the students’ work, each research topic shares in the common goal of examining something that has the potential to add to our collective understanding of urban design. Is the design of a new town successful if it is developed with little or no engagement with the vitality and cohesion of the local culture? Does heritage preservation maintain the physical importance of streets and buildings but result in the loss of neighbourhood traditions and liveliness of character that are equally valuable to the city? How much of the decision-making process involved in heritage conservation is also a desire for speculative redevelopment and social change? These are all different provocations proffered in three of the theses presented this year. Water was another major influence on the choice of topics examined. The expected impacts of global sea level rise and climate change were demonstrated in New York City by Hurricane Sandy, resulting in Li Dan’s hypothesis that urban designers must not only design spaces that work well in ordinary circumstances but are also able to withstand future major flooding events. Stormwater management and Sponge City policy in rapidly urbanising China is assessed and critiqued by both Wang Shuya and Liu Liujia in their theses. The vastness of the interdisciplinary nature of urban design is further highlighted in the other research studies undertaken: designing pedestrian streets for cold climate cities; the impact of the ceramic industry on the development of Jingdezhen; and defining strategies for using land efficiently and sustainably in Shanghai utilising the Compact City Theory. Such is the breadth of this research that it demonstrates the richness of skills and knowledge being brought to current discourse on urban design. If Zora Neale Hurston was indeed correct in her observation that “(Research) is poking and prying with a purpose”, then within the MUDD Program it is clearly evident that it is poking and prying with the purpose of making better cities.
(1) Hurston ,Z . 1942, Dust Tracks on a Road , Harper Collins, New York.
184
The success and failure of pedestrian streets in cold climate cities Studnet Photo
Li Xize The pedestrian street is one of the most significant types of urban public space but many pedestrian streets are not successful. This thesis considers climate as a key factor in the success or failure of pedestrian streets. A number of cities in cold climate regions are paying attention to cold climate characteristics in the design and management of pedestrian streets, including energy consumption, snow and ice treatment, building density, winter landscape etc. As pedestrian streets play an important role in a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public open space system, the question of how to create successful pedestrian streets in cold climate cities has become an important topic of winter city planning. This thesis integrates pedestrian behaviour patterns and the physical characteristics of pedestrian streets with consideration of cold climate influences through the
study and analysis of three typical pedestrian streets with different cultural backgrounds in China, Norway and the United States. The research method included historical analysis; image studies; and case studies of three cold climate cities, Denver, Harbin and Oslo. The study found that while designing a pedestrian street in a cold climate city, the negative effects caused by the harsh weather need to be considered, there is also an opportunity to use the unique weather characteristics of winter cities such as snow and ice as resources to enhance each cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character. Urban design strategies can be employed to reduce the negative influences on pedestrian activities and environmental comfort. Such strategies ensure the security of users while prolonging peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time on the streets and enhancing overall street vitality.
Explanatory drawing
185
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Research Thesis
Post-Sandy urban design: storm-surge and stormwater management in Midtown West, Manhattan
Li Dan In October 2012, ‘super storm’ Hurricane Sandy struck New York City with devastating results. It was a vivid reminder of the vulnerability of coastal and waterfront areas to storm surges. However, the ferocity of Hurricane Sandy was unprecedented on the east coast of the United States and raised many questions
and design concepts developed post-Sandy in order to propose new urban design measures that could respond to such events. The thesis applies stormwater management design concepts to the urban design frameworks generated by the MUDD22 New York International Studio to demonstrate alternatives for
about the potential future impacts of climate change on coastal cities and the increase in these types of extreme weather events. While New York City had some measures in place to deal with localised flooding, it was evident from the loss of life, the vast areas inundation, and extreme damage to properties that New York City was not able to withstand such a ‘super storm’ event. This thesis evaluated current innovation strategies for addressing storm-surge and flooding events in New York City by reviewing government reports, policies
managing major storm events in the rapidly developing ‘New West Side’ of Manhattan centred on the Hudson Yards air rights development. Combined with previous innovative measures, such as the Dryline proposal of BIG Architects (Bjarke Ingels Group), and Low Impact Development concepts, the aim was to show how it is possible to create an urban district that is dynamic and vital under ordinary conditions, while also being able to withstand the risk of future major flooding events.
New York International Studio’s urban design framework
186
Urban form and social significance in The Rocks: case study of the Sirius Apartment Building
Wu Di The redevelopment of The Rocks, from an industrial waterfront site to a tourist precinct, has placed a severe challenge on heritage conservation in this area. Although The Rocks was physically saved by the Green Ban Movement in the 1970s, the traditional working-class and resident community has gradually gone, leading to a loss of the authenticity of heritage values. This thesis is concerned with the increasing conflict between waterfront redevelopment and heritage conservation. In the case of the Sirius Apartment Building, this concern also relates to a conflict between government policies and community reactions. To understand the architectural and social significance of the Sirius
Apartment Building, this thesis examined its historical and heritage context, and assessed it against the current planning and heritage controls. Moreover, it explored both the government and the community intentions on redeveloping the Sirius Building to demonstrate that the desire for redevelopment goes beyond heritage preservation in the decision-making process. Finally, it discusses two future options for the Sirius Building and recommends the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;heads of considerationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; that should be implemented to guide future development in The Rocks Conservation Area.
The birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view of The Rocks looking to the south showing the unique townscape and built form Source: Special Character of The Rocks Precinct: Resource Material
187
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Research Thesis The social and physical significance of traditional street space in Chengdu: a case study in the principles of historic district conservation
Liu Dongyu Historic conservation areas are the mark of a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture and identity. They are the epitome of traditional urban space and social life. This thesis studies the conservation and renovation of Kuanzhai Xiangzi (Wide and Narrow Alleys), a historic conservation area in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. The extent to which
the physical and social significance of Kuanzhai Xiangzi has remained after extensive renovation in recent decades is the question explored in the study. By using historical research, comparative analysis, evaluation and description methods, this thesis evaluates and analyzes the protection and renovation projects of Kuanzhai Xiangzi. The results show that the physical significance of the historic district is well conserved, retaining the
Public Space
Traditional buildings
188
texture of the traditional city and maintaining the form of traditional building types. The renovation project, however, has increased commercial values, placing the area at risk of losing its traditional life and hence its social significance. This thesis suggests that urban development policies and statutory controls should
be introduced to protect the social values of Kuanzhai Xiangzi through the continuing process of conservation and renewal.
Grey Space
Private Space
Kinds of spaces in Kuanzhai Xiangzi (Wide and Narrow Alley)
Transformation of ceramic industry heritage and contribution to the development of urban design in Jingdenzhen, Jiangxi Province, China
Bai Chenyang The ancient town of Jingdenzhen has been the principal centre of porcelain production in China for the past 2,000 years. In recent times, however, redevelopment of the ceramic industry, from ancient prosperity to the current downturn, has placed severe challenges on Jingdezhen. The traditional ceramic industry is unable to meet the development needs of the city and hence it needs to explore new possibilities. This thesis examines the significance of the transformation of the historic ceramic industry and its contribution to urban development in Jingdezhen.
to evaluate the advantages and the disadvantages of three ceramic industries. The site visits and interviews were involved in the research methods. These were constituted by face-to-face conversation, telephone calls and e-mails.
The research methodology includes historical analysis for exploring traditional ceramic culture including ceramic manufacture processes, transportation and trade in ancient China. The case studies compare three ceramic factories including a Qing Dynasty Imperial factory, a sculpture factory, and the Taoxi Chuan Industry Park
be transformed from a single function into a variety of functions, and systematic urban design principles should be applied in the ceramic industry area. In addition, the traditional ceramic culture and industrial cultural heritage should be preserved.
Findings of the thesis suggest that the ceramic industry in the future should have a wide range of elements such as a coherent master plan, specific land use within the industrial zones and more open spaces to make the locality more social and commercial. The study reveals that the development of the ceramic industry could
Proposed aerial photomontage
189
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Research Thesis Development of the ‘Sponge City’ policy in China
Liu Liujia This thesis researches the background to the pathbreaking ‘Sponge City’ policy of water sensitive urban design that was introduced nationwide in China in 2015. Before the Sponge City policy was officially launched with release of national guidelines, there was a rapid period of policy development in China in the years 2003 to 2014. In this study, the period of policy development is divided into four main phases: concept embryo, early practice, concept development and guideline release. The study compares the official Sponge City program with other modern stormwater management systems in developed countries: Low Impact Development (LID) and Green Infrastructure (GI) in the United States; Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) in the United Kingdom; and Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) in Australia. Through comparative analysis, suggestions for improvement to the Sponge City program are proposed. The thesis looks into how Sponge City construction is integrated into the Chinese urban planning system and discusses the challenges and opportunities that have appeared in the initial pilot studies. Research objectives include the following: •
historical overview of the Sponge City concept and policy-making in China;
•
comparison of the Sponge City program with urban stormwater management systems in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia;
•
identification of challenges and opportunities in existing Sponge City development in China;
•
suggestions for improvements to the Sponge City policy based on the findings of the study and international ‘best practice’.
The research methodology included historical investigations, literature reviews, policy analysis, comparative studies and analysis of reports on the implementation to date of the Sponge City policy. The research found that the Sponge City concept emerged
along with some early implementations in the years 2003 to 2010. Between 2011 and 2014, the concept of
Sponge City was developed with other similar concepts like ‘Ecological Sponge City’, ‘Green Sponge’ and ‘Urban Sponge Body’. On 22nd October 2014, the Ministry of Housing & UrbanRural Development of the People’s Republic of China officially released the Sponge City Guidelines, a detailed technical manual, which marks the official beginning of the policy implementation in China. Thirty cities in total were selected as pilot cities for Sponge City projects. 2017 is the third year of China’s Sponge City construction initiative. Some provinces and cities have finished their specialised planning for Sponge City construction and many relevant projects are in course of implementation all over China.
Thesis structure
190
Implementation of urban stormwater management under the Sponge City policy in China and the ABC Waters City policy in Singapore: a comparative study between Jiaxing, China and New Town projects in Singapore Wang Shuyu This thesis examines the significance of the transition in modern stormwater management models in China and Singapore in the 21st century, and analyses the similarities and differences between the ‘Sponge City’ initiative in China and the ‘Active Beautiful & Clean’ (ABC) Waters City program in Singapore. Two case studies were selected, the Sponge City Demonstration Zone in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China - a demonstration zone in a pilot city of China’s Sponge City initiative - and Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, Singapore - a flagship project of the ABC Waters City program. First, a comparative case study methodology was adopted to document the Sponge City program in Jiaxing and the ABC Waters City program in Singapore and explain why modern stormwater management was
implemented in the two cities. Second, a literature review was undertaken to critically analyse the policies, guidelines and design strategies of the two programs. The results of the study reveal important similarities in the two programs - both focus on the renovation of stormwater systems in urban roads, buildings, and city plazas, and their key differences. The two programs present different priorities for managing stormwater in a developing city and a developed city. Managing urban stormwater in modern cities can alleviate significant environmental impacts such as urban flooding, water pollution, and waste water generation. The lessons of
the Sponge City and ABC Waters City programs can be applied in cities worldwide.
Concept of Sponge City
191
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Research Thesis
Compact city urban design strategies of the neighbourhood unit in Shanghai
Zhang Xinning This thesis examines the significance and contribution of compact city theory in relation to the need for urban consolidation in the principal cities of China since the introduction of the limited urban growth boundary policy by decree of the State Council of China in 2016, and seeks urban design strategies for neighbourhood units using ideas from the compact city. First, a qualitative analysis methodology was used to understand and explain what the compact city is and why the compact city could contribute to neighbourhood consolidation in China. Second, a literature review of two essential urban development policies in China was undertaken for critical comparison between the compact city and other policies of compactness. Third, a case study, TODTOWN located above a transit hub in
Aerial perspective
192
the Minhang District of Shanghai, was selected as an example using compact city thinking to redevelop the site and explore the urban design strategies that could be used for densification at neighbourhood unit scale. This research seeks effective strategies for neighbourhood unit design in China to ease the urban sprawl problem. Based on compact city principles, the study concludes that neighbourhood design strategies should be focussed on public transportation, public open space, and buildings which include mixed land use, density, and community typologies. To illustrate how such strategies can be applied, several small blocks in the TODTOWN neighbourhood unit were chosen as a case study to test the strategies proposed in this thesis and improve the project.
Comparative analysis of design principles and urban vitality of Anting and Qingpu New Towns, Shanghai
Ding Shitao New Town developments have been introduced in the metropolitan area of Shanghai over many years in recognition of the problems of urban growth and change in this megacity of China, resulting in a number of experimental projects. Two representative projects from the ‘One City, Nine Towns’ policy of the 1990s, Anting New Town and Qingpu New City have been selected for study. These projects demonstrate different approaches to urban design: the adoption of western models in the case of Anting and engagement with the inheritance of local culture in the case of Qingpu. It is argued these approaches have a fundamental effect on the urban
vitality of the New Towns. Through a comparative case study analysis of Anting New Town and Qingpu New City, the thesis critically analyses the effects of urban design on urban vitality in relation to urban culture to suggest suitable approaches to urban development and design in the New Towns of today’s China.
Bird’s eye view of Anting New Town
193
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
MUDD23 Class
Ban Lan (Belle) China
Du Qin (Cynthia) China
Cao Jing (Helen) China
Duan Jinyi (Iris) China
Feng Shengting (Eadoo) China
Jin Tian (Tanya) China
Abdul Ghani Hourani Australia
Kusum Lata India
194
Huang Yawen (Yama) China
Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Australia
Li Hongxu (Paco) China
Li Yezi (Evelyn) China
Liu Xianzheng (Razzil) China
Ma Yunfei China
Sabari Girish Epari India
Georges Jreije Australia
Li Ruoyu (Ryan) China
Chen Yujing (Monica) China
Li Mengdi (Nicole) China
Li Yilun (Amanda) China
Lu Li (Lisa) China
Sivasubramanian Muthusamy India
Ma Yuan (Phyllis) China
Pan Junkun (Kyle) China
 Sun Mengzhen (Vicky) China
Mayuri Sodani India
Wang Ruoxi (Aria) China
Wang Weixi (Frank) China
Wang Xiuzhu (August) China
Wu Yuwei (Vivien) China
Wen Di China
Yang Huei-Han (Yang) Taiwan
Wu Jihai (Sean) China
Xie Xinling (Shirly) China
Ye Yang (Laura) China
Zhang Jinxin (Sam) China
Zhang Quan China
Zhu Yawei (Patrick) China
Wang Xiaowei (Vivi) China
Xie Xiaoli (Adela) China
Yue Yushan (Iris) China
Wang Hongyi (Hans) China
Yu Mengxue (Mandy) China
Zhang Qingran (Chanina) Australia
Zhang Xiaodong (Anderson) China
Kim Hyojung (Ally) South Korea
Zhou Jingwen (Janice) China
Charles Boumoussa Australia
195
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Student experience Lisbon Lisbon studio was an impressive experience. Working closely together on a series of projects made us realise that each city has an individual cultural history and urban policy system. An urban design intervention should be based on an in depth understanding of a city. Also, working with local students was challenging but made us all realise the importance of team cooperation in the field of urban design. With the Universidade LusĂłfona de Humanidades e Tecnologias( ULHT) staffsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; guidance, we visited many significant sites and buildings in Lisbon as well
as our design precincts in a two-day city walk. This made us fully familiar with the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history, culture, wisdom and arts. We were surprised with the impacts on urban planning and building forms that followed the 1755 earthquake. The presentations by Pedro Garcia, Brendan Randle and Karl Fischer helped us gain a better understanding of the city and its urban design. Having stayed in Lisbon for three weeks, we were divided into four groups with local students and were then involved in two complex waterfront projects. The studio provided a platform for each group to analyse the site differently and identify issues from various perspectives. To create possible design solutions, students collaborated on waterfront projects that acknowledge the global crisis of climate change and rising sea levels. Through understanding that waterfronts are vital in developing the relationship between residents and the city, the teams found various and innovative ways to reconnect the city with the river and to other fragmented parts of its urban structure. The opportunity to collaborate with local and other European students not only helped us understand Lisbon better, but also provided us with an exciting design process that integrated international urban thinking.
196
Student experience Boston The Boston Studio presented a world class performance to the entire class. The studio painted an international city of diversity reflected in history, culture, art, and education with students developing an in depth understanding of city form and nature processes. The city walks took students through a series of cityscapes which presented many contrasts of modern and classic; streets and blocks; individuals and communities to investigate the process of urban design in places like Massachusetts State House, Downtown Crossing, South Station, the Financial District, China Town, the Leather District, South Boston, Seaport Square, and many others. The distinctive experience surprised students with unique corners, exquisite street faรงades, and the unique sense of living in Boston.
To be able to work at Sasaki Associate was one of the most precious experiences in Boston. This provided an opportunity for students to engage with a real life intensive office work mode and absorb various methods of working professionally. Students also visited other practices such as Gensler, the Office of Boston Planning and Development Agency in City Hall, and the office of VHB. These diverse working environments helped us to gain an insight into the operation of the modern design profession. Overall, Boston Studio was involved in a complex growth and change challenge around the waterfront, factoring in the global challenge of sea level rise to establish sustainability and maintain the functioning of a good city. Having stayed in Boston for two weeks and received the support and critiques from Professor James Weirick and Michael Gheorghiu, we were provided with great motivation to face the challenge of creating better places and communities.
197
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Student Profile: Duan Jinyi My family has encouraged me to observe the impact of urban design since I was young. In 2011, the 47th ISOCARP Congress was held in China, and this made me even more interested in the idea of creating good cities. Interestingly, my bachelor background is landscape architecture which shares a common interest with urban design in creating positive impacts to urban life. We had even touched on urban design several times during my landscape architecture studies.
MUDD 23 Duan Jinyi Wuhan, China (Full-Time)
This experience motivated me to explore the secret behind a city because I believe that to be able to understand and learn a place in a broader context will help me not just reorganize my knowledge from landscape architecture but also discover a different perspective and to find the details in the city that have been neglected. I feel absolutely fortunate to be a part of this incredible journey. The MUDD Program has always been very challenging and creative. Team work is the key feature throughout the whole process. The atmosphere required a hundred percent dedication and collaboration and to be fully engaged with students from varying backgrounds and to learn from each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thinking. This is not just simply an exercise in individual design skills, but has also helped us develop the capacity of communication, and a sense of responsibility, which are crucial to our careers. In addition, I am amazed by the richness of urban design knowledge during the studies, including the information in each class and the feedback from the design juries. They revealed the drama behind development, decision making and the conflict between an ideal proposal and reality. The creativeness is another highlight of the experience, reflected in design, and study methods. Cinematic Space was an impressive way of understanding the city, and the idea of combining each groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work together into an integrated map provided a powerful image of city design. As an international student, I appreciate the global learning experience provided by the course. One of the most exciting parts of the program was the International Studio in Boston. The studio engaged with real life and intensive office experience in Sasaki Associates and It was a big moment for me to present our work in front of the director and other employees. The capacity to effectively, verbally communicate ideas in a limited amount of time is another valued benefit of this course. On graduating, all that I absorbed from the MUDD Program made me a different person with better personal capacity, richer experience, precious friendships, and a better understanding of myself. I feel grateful and prepared because this experience will help me in my career to accomplish the best possible results in the profession of urban design in the future.
198
Student Profile: Abdul Ghani Hourani I joined the MUDD Program in 2017 after completing a Bachelor of Architecture overseas. While I’m fascinated by the built environment and the way cities manifest human patterns, I was glad to have joined a program that is just as passionate in its essence. The Master of Urban Development and Design at UNSW has the capacity to think about the city in many ways at once and understand its various synergies.
MUDD 23 Abdul Ghani Hourani Sydney, Australia (Full-Time)
One of the most striking strengths of MUDD is its acknowledgement of the various forces at play in city making. Not only is the program focussed on essential design principles, it takes you through the whole process of urban development. The design studios are very multidisciplinary and intricately structured to help you acquire new skills. While the program is quite realistic, it is just as imaginative. MUDD exposes you to exercises like Cinematic Space and current design challenges like Western Sydney Aerotropolis at Badgerys Creek. The diverse student body is also another integral part of the program. Everyone in class comes from different parts of the world, and more importantly from various urban environments with varying scales and challenges. This leads to interesting approaches and inputs during group collaborations. The program motivates you to stay current and adaptable with its countless lectures and tutorials by professionals in the industry. More
importantly, it encourages you to ask even if you’re wrong giving you yet another opportunity to learn. The international studio is indeed one of the many highlights of this course. I was fortunate to go to Lisbon which is a remarkable classroom of urban design in its essence. Not only was it a great experience to learn from the city and our gracious hosts, it was an opportunity to bond with new like-minded students while strengthening existing bonds. I believe that MUDD goes beyond the profession, presenting a sense of urgency for sustainable future growth of cities especially with the world’s urbanisation rate skyrocketing - one of the many challenges that loom ahead. I think that the program was able to seamlessly familiarise me with the industry’s appealing and complex challenges while making sure I have acquired the necessary skills to further progress in my career.
199
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Student Profile: Sivasubramanian Muthusamy My interest in urban design comes from the inadequacy in architecture to understand the city making process. Being an architect from India it was hard for me to recognise the forces that actually underpin the running of an Indian city. It was normal for a contemporary architecture student to be stuck within an abyss, not to mention all the tug of war between western influences and the affinity to the native scale and sphere.
MUDD 23 Sivasubramanian Muthusamy India (Full-Time)
Now I think of a city as the collective human amalgam. A complex spatial reproduction of human value systems, behaviour patterns and the stage where global economic and political models play out. I think of a city as a glorious Mandevillian paradox- an accumulation of personal vices that have a collective benefit. Architecture and planning become the most tactile medium to keep this paradox alive. Urban development and design is a window that aligns with the window of an economist, a politician and a designer. The MUDD Program curates as an effective course in exploring this perspective with its strong base and school of thought. Urban design has been defined, redefined and even undefined all through towards end of the millennium. We have this entire grey area between architecture and planning demanding itself to be called as urban design, stating a physical three-dimensional approach as its wreath. The MUDD Program clearly states its definition by adding the layer of urban development over design, which makes the difference. The essential school of thought of the MUDD Program, comes from Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s understanding of a city as Spatial political economy in Understanding Cities: method and design (2001) as a framework for Emeritus Professor Jon Langâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reading of city building as an iterative decision-making process through case studies. MUDD more than being theoretically a well-informed program, is adapting itself to the new challenges hosted in the industry by using software to analyse the feasibility report of a development, using GIS data to extract evidence-based design principles. I really enjoyed working in groups for the design studios. Working on Badgeryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creek Aerotropolis was a satisfying experience, the studio operated in a similar way that an urban design office would work. Students of the MUDD Program come from different backgrounds, which allows us to look at the process of city making with dynamic angles. The MUDD Program breaks its limitations of geography, by going through an exciting and a very intense international studio, which to me is the carnival for urban design, acting as a lab in collaboration with practising offices and universities of each city where intellectuals, critical thinkers and serious urbanists engage in dialogue.
200
Student Profile: Yang Huei-Han “What is urban design?” and “What urban designers should know?”: these two questions could present the central ideas of the MUDD Program. Urban design is the scheme for the future. The MUDD Program provided a sequence of courses to understand the context and theory of cities such as why and how cities are made. Based on these understandings, we proposed our urban design frameworks. This process provided guidance for us to see and imagine “good” cities.
MUDD 23 Yang Huei-Han Taiwan (Full-Time)
The essential part of the MUDD Program is the experience of the studio which is comprised of experts such as architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and engineers. This interdisciplinary cooperation provided an opportunity for professional practice. In fact, to communicate with different thinking and different approaches is a challenge. There are many factors involved in shaping cities including politics, finance and design. The more we understood, the more we became concerned. This experience was very meaningful for our academic and future careers. Travelling to Boston during International Studio was a great opportunity to see and understand another city. We developed an understanding of Boston in terms of heritage and landscape before we departed. Once we arrived, we commenced a three-day city walking tour through the city to examine the results of urban design projects. We explored landfills, which changed the building typology of the waterfront dramatically. We recognised the context of Boston further by analysing our sites and their existing urban design frameworks. This was followed by an intensive workshop for 14 days.
Sasaki, a world-famous design firm, hosted us in the International Studio and demonstrated to us the process of urban design. This was a precious experience, working in this firm on a large scale project. Sasaki is particularly focused on interdisciplinary cooperation just like our studio. I was glad to imagine our roles as professionals . From an architect to an urban designer – I started the journey with the MUDD Program in 2017, and I will dedicate myself to this field in the future. I believe urban design can be a mutual ground for multidisciplinary cooperation in order to deal with urban issues such as flooding, affordable housing, liveability and the most important issue of developing better cities and their urban identities.
201
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Alumni Profile: Marc Lane I came to the built environment as a mature student, having first done a degree in law, and worked as a solicitor. I then studied architecture at UTS, while working in Graham Jahn’s studio (before he became the Director of City Planning at the City of Sydney). Realising I had a passion for urbanism, I took the opportunity to work on a large-scale master plan in Dubai, and so found myself in the field of urban design. At the end of that project in 2009, having finished my Master of Architecture degree, I took the opportunity to undertake formal study in urban design through the UNSW MUDD Program.
MUDD 2009 Marc Lane Australia
I was recommended to the UNSW Program by an alumnus for the calibre of professors Jon Lang and James Weirick and the course syllabus, including the international studio. I had a keen interest in understanding the financial models underpinning major projects, and took an elective within the Built Environment Faculty on development. The International Studio in Madrid was a great way of understanding comparative approaches to urban design – across Madrid mixed use (retailresidential) mid-rise built form was the norm, but a lack of retail viability and exurban development rendered many of the ground floors empty, raising questions about their one-size-fits-all approach. It was also interesting to see how innovative architecture came to mark out (and thus stigmatise) social housing, as it contrasted with the surrounding market housing built to standard templates. I went on to work with Urbis, and was able to put my MUDD experience to direct use on projects in Sydney such as the Airds-Bradbury housing redevelopment. I then moved to London, and from 2013 worked with Transport for London in their urban design and policy teams. My major projects included Old Street Roundabout and Marble Arch (gyratory removal projects) and Oxford Street (pedestrianisation). The latter is due to be implemented by December 2018 to coincide with the opening of the central section of Crossrail. This project demonstrated to me that complex urban design is as much a matter of case-making, negotiation, consultation and implementation as it is physical design. In the policy team I helped implement the Roads Task Force and Mayor’s Transport Strategy (MTS), and developed proposals on walking, cycling and the public realm for the next draft MTS. The experience of the city being as important as its design, and working at Transport for London demonstrated to me the value of a strong executive arm of government to apply consistent policy; the development of good long-term policies to promote good urbanism and healthy living; and the need for buffers from political interference (such as a rolling budget) to make sure our cities run well. Our profession can have more influence on citizens’ lives than any particular project or schema by sticking to proven methods of creating healthy cities, and not waiting for something new to solve all our problems (autonomous vehicle advocates – take note). In this regard, I think my contribution to what is now ‘Healthy Streets for London’ may bear fruit long after my departure.
In 2017 I returned to Australia to work for Arup in Sydney. I look forward to putting my learning and experience to good use in the future on Sydney’s complex planning and transport challenges.
202
Alumni Profile: Dr Dyah Titisari Widyastuti
MUDD 2000 Dr Dyah Titisari Widyastuti Indonesia
After completing my Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1995, I worked as a junior architect in a private consultancy before joining the Department of Architecture at the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakata, Indonesia in 1997 as a lecturer, where I remain to the present. My profession, and my working environment in higher education, require me to continuously upgrade and update my knowledge. In my early years as a lecturer, I decided to broaden my knowledge in the field of urban design, the art of shaping urban space within the context of a wide range of purposes and challenges. My decision to undertake graduate study in urban design proved invaluable to my career development, providing new insights and knowledge about cities, people and place. I enrolled as a student in the UNSW MUDD Program in the middle of 2000 with the support of an Australian Development Scholarship from the Australian Government. Coming from one of the developing countries of Asia, there were many different things I had to learn and adjust in my way of thinking. During my period of study, the MUDD Program introduced and enhanced my understanding of the built environment and its living activities, taught me how to identify the problems and potentials of urban precincts, and guided me on how to create solutions for better living places through design and development strategies. Moreover, the MUDD Program developed my ability to think independently, while collaborating in a team environment with students from many different backgrounds and cultures. The urban design studio projects in each semester taught me valuable lessons. My first studio, a development study for the Sydney suburb of Rockdale, introduced me to work on a realistic urban design project in both a collaborative mode and individual mode. This was an exciting and challenging experience since it required the work of the studio to be available for the use of the local government agency. My second studio – the Summer Term 20002001 International Studio in Semarang, Indonesia – taught me the vital role of urban context and the voice of stakeholders in finding the best design solution and planning its implementation. Finally, my third studio – investigating two further Sydney settings, Double Bay and Olympic Park – prepared me to work in a professional manner as an urban designer through a rigorous, step by step design process. After graduating from the MUDD Program, I went back to work as a lecturer and researcher in my university focussing on the field of urban design. I also work part time as an urban designer in the UGM Center for Urban Design & Disabilities (CUDD) on urban design projects, and the Rail-Transit Oriented Development Studio (ROD Studio) on projects related to rail station districts and urban mobility. Last year I gained my doctoral degree in the field of urban design through my research dissertation on transit-oriented development for rail station districts in Indonesia. The precious knowledge and experience I brought from my MUDD years to my country, specifically to my working environment, have proven to be exactly what I need to build my current and future self-development. I am deeply grateful to the UNSW MUDD Program and the Australian Development Scholarship for giving me time and place to learn and experience great things in my life.
203
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Alumni Profile: Wang Bo (Bob) After I gained my Bachelor of Architecture degree from Tianjin University in 2000, and a year of work experience in China, I realised that a strong urban sense is essential for an architect. With the aim of developing my integrative competence, I decided to join the UNSW MUDD Program in 2002 for its interdisciplinary teaching and international academic reputation. The great gifts from the MUDD Program have been the capacity for logical
MUDD 2002 Wang Bo (Bob) China
thinking, confidence in self-expression and the encouragement from my Professors, which together have built a solid foundation for my urban design career as it has developed over the past 15 years. My earliest MUDD memories include the embarrassment of weekly compulsory presentations and the hard arguments involved in teamwork but I look back upon all of this now with a hearty laugh, recognising the value of strong communication skills and the capacity for creative collaboration that was instilled in all of us. The international workshop I joined was the Summer Term 2002-2003 Xidan South Regeneration study in Beijing directed by Nigel Dickson, which enabled me to re-look at my hometown with the advanced knowledge and methodology that I had learned in the MUDD Program. Besides design itself, social, economic and environmental elements such as climate, local context, cultural identity, and human behaviour were all equally important in consideration of how to obtain a more comprehensive, integrated and sustainable solution. This way of thinking has been significant to my career ever since. In 2004, with the knowledge and experience I had gained from the MUDD Program, I joined the Shanghai office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill as an urban designer. SOM taught me its rigorous commercial design philosophy and provided me with the opportunity to participate in mixed use and highdensity urban masterplan projects with top developers in Asia. My first urban design project in China â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the 2 million sq m Wuhan Tiandi for Shui On Land â&#x20AC;&#x201C; has just been completed last year and fully follows the urban design framework I was involved in setting up. The project experiences I gained with international colleagues at SOM in China, Southeast Asia and the United States enhanced my skills in design, project control and client relationships. I returned to Australia in 2007 for family reasons and joined Woods Bagot, where I now serve as an Associate Principal and Regional Urban Design Leader in China based in Beijing. My 10+ years with Woods Bagot progressed from the Sydney studio to Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. I have worked on, and led, a large number of urban design projects in Australia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, India and China. It has been an exciting career journey to experience different cultural, economic, social and environmental contexts; different types of development from urban centres, new towns, tourism facilities and resorts, to transit-oriented development (TOD) and urban regeneration projects; different scales of projects from 5 hectares to 50 square kilometers; and different stages of work from concept master plans, to development control plans and urban design guidelines. The interdisciplinary consciousness, logical analysis, critical thinking, self-learning aspiration and confident communication skills I learned in the MUDD Program continue to be essential factors in helping me overcome all difficulties and challenges.
204
We have been building the Woods Bagot urban design brand in China through our deep understanding of urban conditions and the interests of different stakeholders, providing comprehensive solutions ranging from local planning codes to complex, multiple planning proposals involving relocation challenges, mixed uses, urban ecology, traffic demands etc. Currently there are several projects in construction under frameworks we have established in Beijing, Shanghai and Hainan. We have been focussing on TOD, Feature Towns and Urban Regeneration projects following the economic and social transitions of recent years. We are also intensely studying Future City spatial forms reshaped by new energy and digital technology. Meanwhile we are looking for opportunities with Chinese developers in the new markets created under the Belt and Road Strategy. The Chinese government is beginning to realise the importance of urban design and is raising its role in the official development process. We are looking forward to working with the new planning legislation and guidelines in China, which herald a new epoch of urban design in our country. I feel so grateful to the UNSW MUDD Program for letting me find my real interest and forte in my professional career. MUDD enriched me with its unique vision and gave me the fundamental abilities of Open Thinking, Comprehensive Logic, Multidisciplinary Consciousness and Active Expression. As a MUDD alumnus, I am looking forward to seeing more participation of MUDD students in the Asia-Pacific region.
205
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Alumni Profile: Zhe Yuan (Gigi) I started the MUDD Program in 2002 after completing my Bachelor of Urban Planning degree at Tongji University, Shanghai. The MUDD Program gave me a comprehensive understanding of human scale in the built environment, exposing me to planning and design from the macro level of city planning to the micro level urban fabric and streetscape. I have been fortunate to work as an urban designer since graduating from the
MUDD 2002 Zhe Yuan (Gigi) China
MUDD Program. Four years’ working experience in Sydney with local design firms, including Dickson Rothschild and HBO+EMTB, equipped me with a solid urban design knowledge and a solid foundation in practice where, as part of the urban design team, I was involved in urban policy research and site analysis, urban design concept generation, 3D modeling for building envelope studies, development of urban design guidelines, etc. In 2008, I decided to move to Hong Kong, where I could gain more international exposure and more extensive urban design experience within multi-disciplinary international design firms. During my eight years in Hong Kong, I worked for several top architectural practices such as RMJM, Benoy and HOK, and delivered several award-winning masterplan projects. Over the course of my career I have developed a capability to handle complex urban mixed-use masterplanning projects and a sound knowledge of building codes and regulations. I have worked closely with major clients, government authorities and stakeholders on developing project concepts, project implementation, authority submissions and overall project coordination.
This experience on the ‘consultant side’ of urban projects has helped me develop an in-depth knowledge of masterplanning strategy and delivery. Moving forward, I decided I would like to explore the entire real estate development process involved in urban mixed-use projects. This led me to join the ‘client side’, the Wanda Group in 2016. Currently based in Beijing, I am working as Chief Planner in the overseas project planning department of the Wanda Group. I have been involved in large-scale planning project management, including land bids, masterplanning, design management and design consultant liaison. In retrospect, ‘theories’ I learnt whilst in the MUDD Program have been fully tested in the many real-life projects I have worked upon, both on the ‘consultant side’ and the ‘client side’. At the Wanda Group, I work closely with the project team to coordinate our many consultants including designers, economists, environmental experts, traffic experts, joint venture partners, together with the leasing and marketing team, to prepare design packages for various development phases, culminating in the realisation of complex urban projects. I truly appreciate the knowledge I gained from the MUDD course, which has been fundamental to my career progression. More importantly, it left an indelible mark in my life.
206
MUDD23 Lisbon Workshop - Joint ULHT-UNSW Student Groups We thank the students from ULHT and their Erasmus students from Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain for the outstanding cross-cultural, cross institutional experience of the Lisbon Workshop.
Trafaria
Oeira
Group – 1
Group – 5
Luís Anacleto
ULHT
Cristiana Alexy
Erasmus - Italy
Cao Jing (Helen)
UNSW
Chen Yujing (Monica)
UNSW
Feng Shengting (Eadoo)
UNSW
Klaudia Izabela Lewandowska
Erasmus - Poland
Diogo Nobre
ULHT
Liu Xianzheng (Razzil)
UNSW
Aria Rodomonti
Erasmus - Italy
Osvaldo Goma
ULHT
Stelvio Matis
ULHT
Yolanda Sombreiro
ULHT
Zhang Xiaodong (Anderson)
UNSW
Wang Weixi (Frank)
UNSW
Group – 2
Group – 6
Mariana Causi
Erasmus - Spain
Giullia Alberti
Erasmus - Italy
Gonçalo Carvalho
ULHT
Patricia Alberto
ULHT
Reinaldo Cirilo
ULHT
Nicola Bruno
Erasmus - Italy
Joana Luís
ULHT
Sabari Girish Epari
UNSW
João Pedro Maia
ULHT
Kusum Lata
UNSW
Xie Xiaoli (Adela)
UNSW
Pedro Oliveira
ULHT
Wang Xiuzhu (August)
UNSW
Helder Pedro
ULHT
Wu Yuwei (Vivien)
UNSW
Mayuri Sodani
UNSW
Group – 3
Group – 7
Rosa Bequenque
ULHT
Ilaria Meucci
Erasmus - Italy
Nadia Ferreira
ULHT
Dionísio Lourenço
ULHT
Edvaldo José
ULHT
Keurzvandra Neto
ULHT
André Nionje
ULHT
Yianessa
ULHT
Pedro Ramos
ULHT
Sharleen Salazar
UNSW
Sun Mengzhen (Vicky)
UNSW
Xie Xinling (Shirly)
UNSW
Wang Xiaowei (Vivi)
UNSW
Wu Jihai (Sean)
UNSW
Zhou Jingwen (Janice)
UNSW
Group – 4
Group – 8
António Francisco
ULHT
Sabrina Badelhuc
ULHT
Katiuska Hoffmann
ULHT
Gregorij Bruno
ULHT
Huang Yawen (Yama)
UNSW
Beatriz Gomes
ULHT
Li Yezi (Evelyn)
UNSW
Abdul Ghani Hourani
UNSW
Aline Melin
ULHT
Simona Mameloche
Erasmus - Romania
Rodolfo Tiago
ULHT
Sivasubramanian Muthusamy
UNSW
João Vieira
ULHT
Susana Teixeira
ULHT
Yu Mengxue (Mandy)
UNSW
207
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
International Studio Updates Since 1995
MUDD01 1995-1996 Jakarta, Indonesia MUDD02 1996-1997 Jakarta, Indonesia Hanoi, Vietnam MUDD03 1997-1998 Jatiluhur, Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia Bali, Indonesia
208
MUDD04 1998-1999 Cebu, Philippines Bandar Bahra Nusajaya, Malaysia MUDD05 1999-2000 Beirut, Lebanon Seoul, South Korea MUDD06 2000-2001 Semarang, Indonesia Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong
MUDD07 2001-2002 Mumbai, India Shanghai, China
MUDD10 2004-2005 Hanoi, Vietnam Taipei, Taiwan
MUDD08 2002-2003 Bankgkok, Thailand Beijing, China
MUDD11 2005-2006 New Delhi, India Beijing, China
MUDD09 2003-2004 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Suva, Fiji
MUDD12 2006-2007 Buenos Aires, Argentina Dubai, United Arab Emirates
MUDD13 2007-2008 Budapest, Hungary Tokyo, Japan
MUDD16 2010-2011 Portland, Oregon, USA Venice, Italy
MUDD19 2013-2014 Hamburg, Germany Venice, Italy
MUDD22 2016-2017 New York, New York, USA Berlin, Germany
MUDD14 2008-2009 Istanbul, Turkey Hangzhou, China
MUDD17 2011-2012 Berlin, Germany New York, New York, USA Hangzhou, China
MUDD20 2014-2015 Cape Town, South Africa ValparaÃso, Chile Santiago, Chile Penang, Malaysia
MUDD23 2017-2018 Boston, USA Lisbon, Portugal
MUDD15 2009-2010 Madrid, Spain Nagoya, Japan
MUDD18 2012-2013 Bilbao, Spain Madrid, Spain Barcelona, Spain Wuhan, China
MUDD21 2015-2016 Berlin, Germany Chicago, USA
209
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Alumni Updates Since 2017
1. Yu Zhizhe (MUDD 2002) Founder Managing Director, Architecture & Planning New York, Shanghai, Barcelona 2. Ashley Bakelmun (MUDD 2016) Director, Urban Strategy, Urban Equity Lab Washington,D.C., USA
210
3. Rohan Londhe (MUDD 2017) Urban Designer, VK:a architecture Pune, Maharashtra, India 4. Dr Dyah Titisari Widyastuti (MUDD 2000) Lecturer & researcher, Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta, Indonesia
5. Liu Yuxi (MUDD 2017) Urban Planner, China Academy of Urban Planning & Design Beijing, China Wang Bo (Bob) (MUDD 2002) Associate Principal, Woods Bagot Beijing, China
Wang Mengya (MUDD 2016) Urban Planner, Turenscape Beijing,China 6. Wang Shuyu (MUDD 2017) Urban Designer, Country Garden Group Shanghai, China
7. Zhang Xinning (MUDD 2017) Designer, Zhejiang Urban and Rual Planing Design Institute Hangzhou,China 8. Louise Wu (MUDD 2005) Associate Principal Planner, Atkins Shenzhen, China
9. Monique Cowan (MUDD 2017) Architectural Assistant, dwpIsuters Sydney, Australia Andew Giannasca (MUDD 2017) Senior Project Manager, Willoughby City Council Sydney, Australia
Christine Victoria Lazaro (MUDD 2017) Principal Interior Designer, TL design studio Co. Sydney, Australia Alison Phillips (MUDD 2017) Urban Designer, Bayside Council Sydney, Australia
Darshini Rajeshwaran (MUDD 2017) Designer, Matt Blatt Sydney, Australia Navdeep Shergill (MUDD 2015) Planning and Urban Design Department of Planning and Environment Sydney, Australia
Agnes Tiong (MUDD 2017) Designer, Urban Design | Strategic Planning | Urbis Sydney, Australia Felipe Romero Vargas (MUDD 2017) Designer, Architect I Urban Designer I OWN+A KannFinch Sydney, Australia
10. Kim Hyojung (Ally) (MUDD 2018) Designer Place+Logic Canberra, Australia Brett Roantree (MUDD 2009) & Imogen Williams (MUDD 2008) Founding Principals, Place+Logic Canberra, Australia
211
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
MUDD Alumni List 1995-2018 AFGHANISTAN: Mohammad Nadir Omar (2005-2006)
BOTSWANA: Nchunga Kanyenvu (2005-2006)
AUSTRALIA: Jorge Alvarez (2005-2006), Tracey Bentick (2004-2005), Genevieve Blanchett (20122013), Adrian Bonanni (2005-2006), Emma Booth (2010-2011), Charles Boumoussa (2017-2018), Jillian Bywater (2007-2008), Gilead Chen (2005- 2006), Irene Hiu Wah Chan (2004-2005), Anthony Charlesworth (2008-2009), Laurence Cheung (20082009), Jacqueline Connor (2007-2008), Jaclyn Cowan (2011-2012), Monique Cowan (2016-2017), Carlo Di Giulio (2009-2010), Glenda Marie Dunn (1999-2000), Greg Dyson (1999-2000), Mathew Egan (2010-2011), Duncan Fraser (2005-2006), Sylvia Georges (1999-2000), Michael Gheorghiu (2014-2016), Andrew Giannasca (2016-2017), Shaheer Gobran (2005-2006), Stephanie Griffiths (2015-2016), Marika Hahn (2005-2006), Amanda Higgins (2006-2007), Joseph Heng (2012-2013), Abdul Ghani Hourani (20172018), David Hunter (2011-2012), Scott Jackson (2014-2015), Nick Jonmundsson (2010-2011), Georges Jreije (2017-2018), Leonard Kelly (1996-1997), Kuo Felix CheinPeng (2000-2001), Lai Ka Yee (2017-2018), Vincent Shie Yue Lam (2000-2001), Marc Yves Lane (2009-2010), Connie Yin Yee Lau (2013-2014), Cindy Sin Yee Lee (20082009), Evelyn Kin Wah Lee (2009-2010), Lei Pei (2004-2005), Louis Louis (1998-1999), Amelia Lynch (2004-2005), Samir Mahmoud (2004-2005), Carla Mamaril (2006-2007), Bethany Mann (2014-2015), Peter Mann (1998-1999), Celeste Martin (2012-2013), Peter McManus (2009-2010), Sabina Miller (2012-2013), Clement Miu (2005-2006), Richard Mullane (2006-2007), Andrew Napier (2001-2002), Sally Ng (1996-1997), Carmel Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor (2006-2007), Salma Osman (2012-2013) ,Trevor Patton (1996-1997), Caroline Pembroke (2013-2014), Alison Phillips (2016-2017),Glen Rabbitt (19961997), Mark Raymundo (2007-2008), Brett Roantree (2008-2009), William Robertson (2011-2012), Venetin Aghostin-Sangar (2012-2013), Lorraine Sarayeldin (20032004), Brigitta Schyns (2014-2015), Eden Shepherd (1999-2000), Navdeep Shergill (2015-2016), Ryan Smith (2012-2013), Felicia Sugiaman (2013-2014), Jason Taylor (2007-2008), Ludwig Tewksbury (2001-2002), Vanessa Trowell (2006-2007), Kirrily Vincer (2007-2008),Stephen White (2001-2002), David Wolski (2012- 2013), Ada Wong (20052006), Peter Woodley (2005-2006), Howard Yu (2002-2003), Bonnie Kin Yi Yue (20112012), Jess Yue (2007-2008), Karen Wang (2007-2008), Zhang Qingran(2017-2018), Zhu Weijun (2006-2007)
BRAZIL: Ana Cristina Lage (2000-2001)
BANGLADESH: Anis Uddin (2000-2001), Mohammad Omar Sharif (2009-2010), Sazia Afrin Monika (20142015) BHUTAN: Latha Chhetri (2004-2005), Karma Dorji (20032004), Tshering Dorji (2011-2012), Chhado Drukpa (2008-2009), Sailesh Humagai (2006-2007), Tashi Penjor (2008-2009), Karma Wangchuck (2000-2001), Tashi Wangmo (2003-2004)
212
BRUNEI: Sie Thung Lau (2015-2016) CAMBODIA: Sok Toeur Sim (2012-2013) CANADA: Anthony Ferri (2009-2010), Sean Galloway (2000-2001),Wan Gilbert Pui Ban (1999-2000), Su-Jan Yeo (2004-2005) CHINA: An Jing (2008-2009), Bai Fan (2009-2010), Bai Chenyang (2016-2017), Ban Lan (20172018), Bi Lei (2007-2008), Bu Jinbo (20092010), Cai Zhenbo (2008-2009), Cao Jing (2017-2018), Chang Lulu (2011-2012), Chen Dong (2013-2014), Chen Weilun (2001-2002), Chen Li Wen (2006-2007), Chen Xiaofeng (2004-2005), Chen Haifeng (1999-2000), Chen He Ying (2007-2008), Chen Jing (20102011), Chen Ping (2010-2011), Chen Wei (2009-2010), Chen Wei (2011-2012), Chen Xi (2010-2011), Chen Xiaodan (2016-2017), Chen Xinyang (2016-2017), Chen Yanxi (2013-2014), Chen Yuhao (2013-2014), Chen Yujing (2017-2018), Cheng Pengfei (2004-2005), Chu Ting Ting (2002-2003), Cui Weitong (2015-2016), Cui Zhen (20122013), Dai Wen (2012-2013), Deng Jingwen (2016-2017), Ding Shitao (2016-2017), Du Qin (2017-2018), Du Yifeng (2014-2015), Duan Jinyi (2017-2018), Duan Yan (2010-2011), Fan Yeyun (2014-2015), Feng Shengting (2017-2018), Feng Xiao (2007-2008), Fu Yuan Yuan (2002-2003), Fu Xin (2011-2012), Gao Dengkeqin (2014-2015), Gao Fei (2007-2008), Gao Jie (2011-2012),Ge Tianyan (20162017), Ge Qiaoying (2010-2011), Gong Li (2006-2007), Gu Bing (2006-2007), Gu Jinglin (2014-2015), Gu Yan (2003-2004), Guo Beiyi (2012-2013), Guo Shijie (2012-2013), He Jun (2008-2009), Hu Min (2002-2003), Hu Qinyun (2016-2017), Hu Yunze (2014-2015), Hu Xin (2003-2004), Huang Hanlin (2015-2016), Huang Luohua (2008-2009), Huang Po-Chun (1999-2000), Huang Wen-Ying (2006-2007), Huang Yawen (2017-2018), Ji Ziyu (20122013), Jia Liyang (2008-2009), Jia Qiuyu (2014-2015), Jiao Tong (2011-2012), Jiang Fan (2013-2014), Jiang Xiao (2010-2011), Jin Tian (2017-2018), Ju Huangchengqi (2016-2017), Kuang Wenjie (2015-2016), Ju Xizhe (2015-2016), Lai Disi (2008-2009), Lei Gangrong (2005-2006), Lei Gao (2005-2006), Li Chengwei (2011-2012), Li Dan (2016-2017), Li Ding Qing (2008-2009), Li Han (2015-2016), Li Hongxu (2017-2018), Li Jian (2001-2002), Li Jing (2011-2012), Li Li (2011-2012), Li Liling (2015-2016), Li Mengdi (2017-2018), Li Ruoyu (2017-2018), Li Shengye (2014-2015), Li Siyan (2016-2017), Li Tang (2014-2015), Li Weiwang (2003-2004), Li Weiwei (2011-2012), Li Xiang (2010-2011), Li Xize (2016-2017), Li Yezi (2017-2018), Li Yi (2008-2009), Li Yilun (2017-2018),Li Yue (2006-2007), Liang Jin (2006-2007), Lin Zhijie (2006-2007), Ling Yun (2008-2009), Liu Dongyu (2016-2017), Liu Fan (2007-2008), Liu Jian (2006-2007), Liu Lingjun (2016-2017), Liu Liujia (2016-2017), Liu Liya (2011-2012), Liu Shuyi (2003-2004), Liu Ting
(2006-2007), Liu Xianzheng (2017-2018), Liu Xiaofeng (2014-2015), Liu Xiaomeng (2012-2013), Liu Xinlei (2016-2017), Liu Yuxi (2016-2017), Liu Zhouqin (2011-2012), Long Jun (2012-2013), Lu Feier (2014-2015), Lu Li (2017-2018), Lu Mengyu (2015-2016), Lu Xijun (2011-2012), Luo Hao (2014-2015), Lyu Pin (2016-2017), Ma Danni (2016-2017), Ma Jiting (2009-2010), Ma Qiao (2008-2009), Ma Xiayang (2004-2005), Ma Xinzheng (2011-2012), Ma Yuan (2017-2018), Ma Yunfei (2017-2018), Ni Yun (2003-2004), Pan Junkun (2017-2018), Qi Zhifang (2010-2011), Qiu Xiaojing (2004-2005), Ren Jingya (20102011), Ren Yanfei (2015-2016), Ren Zihan (2015-2016), Sang Xiaojing (2004-2005), Shen Licen (2010-2011), Shen Jun (20112012), Sun Bing (2009-2010), Sun Mengzhen (2017-2018), Sun Wenqi (2016-2017), Sun Xiao (2013-2014), Sun Yalin (2015-2016), Su Zhi (2003-2004), Tang Hao (2008-2009), Tang Junbo (2016-2017), Tao Yueshan (2010-2011), Wan Guyi (2012-2013), Wan Li (2015-2016), Wang Bo (2002-2003), Wang Chao (20022003), Wang Chenyu (2013-2014), Wang Geng (2008-2009), Wang Hongyi (2017-2018), Wang Jian (2011-2012), Wang Jingrao (20162017), Wang Mengqiong (2015-2016), Wang Mengya (2010-2011), Wang Mengya (20152016), Wang Qi (2015-2016), Wang Ruoxi (2017-2018), Wang Sheng (2006-2007), Wang Shu (2007-2008), Wang Shuyu (2016-2017), Wang Weixi (2017-2018), Wang Xiaobo (20122013), Wang Xiaowei (2017-2018), Wang Xinbo (2012-2013), Wang Xiuzhu (20172018), Wang Yan (2004-2005), Wang Yan (2016-2017), Wang Yifan (2015-2016), Wang Yuyang (2015-2016), Wang Yayun (20142015), Wang Yilin (2014-2015), Wang Zhichao (2014-2015), Wang Zishou (2015-2016), Wen Di (2017-2018), Wen Xin (2016-2017), Wu Di (2016-2017), Wu Han Qing (2005-2006), Wu Hao (2010-2011), Wu Jihai (2017-2018), Wu Qi (2008-2009), Wu Shiyao (2014-2015), Wu Wenbin (2016-2017), Wu Xiaoxiao (2016-2017), Wu Yifei (2003-2004), Wu Yue (2004-2005), Wu Yuwei (2017-2018), Wu Zhi Yong (2005-2006), Xiao Ruyu (2013-2014), Xie Hong (2002-2003), Xie Xiaopan (20032004), Xie Qin Yi (2006-2007), Xie Xiaoli (2017-2018), Xie Xinling (2017-2018), Xie Yan (2004-2005), Xing Xin (2014-2015), Xing Yan (2001-2002), Xu Bingyu (2016-2017), Xu Hanbing (2005-2006), Xu Jiaoni (2011-2012), Xu Jingwen (2015-2016), Xu Ke Fei (20012002), Xu Pian Pian (2006-2007), Xu Shan Shan (2009-2010), Xu Qun (2016-2017), Xu Yi (2013-2014), Xu Ying (2010-2011), Xu Zhiyuan (2007-2008), Yan Jia (2004-2005), Yan Wenxiao (2016-2017), Yang Fan (2010-2011), Yang Ke (2001-2002), Yang Lei (2002-2003), Ye Chen (2007-2008), Ye Yang (2017-2018), Yin Yin (2002-2003), Yu Haiwen (2013-2014), Yu Lechuan (2003-2004), Yu Mengxue (20172018), Yu Rong (1996-1997), Yu Xiang (20072008), Yu Yehang (2010-2011), Yu Zhizhe (2001-2002), Yuan Zeng Cheng (2012-2013), Yuan Zhe (2001-2002), Yue Yushan (20172018), Zhai Xiaoling (2008-2009), Zhang Chun (2002-2003), Zhang Detong (2003-2004), Zhang Jinxin (2017-2018), Zhang Meng (20112012), Zhang Minjie (2010-2011), Zhang Quan (2017-2018), Zhang Suxin (2015-2016), Zhang Wei (2010-2011), Zhang Weiyu (2016-2017), Zhang Xiaodong (2017-2018), Zhang Yanan (2011-2012), Zhang Yichao (2015-2016), Zhang Xian (2008-2009), Zhang Xiao Chen
(2010-2011), Zhang Xin (2009-2010), Zhang Xinning (2016-2017), Zhao Ruyun (20092010), Zhao Jiuzhou (2009-2010), Zheng Yawen (2015-2016), Zhao Yiming (20162017), Zheng Yang (2016-2017), Zheng Yufei (2011-2012), Zeng Xin (2004-2005), Zhen Bo (2004-2005), Zhou Boying (2011-2012), Zhou Jingwen (2017-2018), Zhou Lingxiao (20142015), Zhou Lyuyang (2016-2017), Zhou Ruizhe (2012-2013), Zhou Yimin (2006-2007), Zhou Yufeng (2016-2017), Zhu Chao (20102011), Zhu Jinjin (2016-2017), Zhu Chao (2010-2011), Zhu Shumin (2015-2016), Zhu Wen (2011-2012), Zhu Yawei (2017-2018), Zhu Zhiyi (2016-2017) COLOMBIA: Carlos Frias (1997-1998), Felipe Romero Vargas (2016-2017) ERITREA: Gabriel Tzeggai (1996-1997) FRANCE: Pascal Bobillier (2005-2006) GERMANY: Vera Graefin Von Schwerin (2004-2005) HONG KONG: Chiu Chi Yeung (2005-2006), Louis Hok Man Lee (2002-2003),Lee Mo Yi (2004-2005), Sum Wing Sze (1999-2000), Phyllis Wong (20032004), Yu Lap Kei (1998-1999) INDIA: Srikanth Adigopula (1999-2000), Jahnavi Ashar (2007-2008), Nidhi Bhargava (20052006), Guru Prasanna Channa Basappa (2006-2007), Amitabha Choudhury (19981999), Devaki Darshan Bubbar (1995-1996), Jyothsna Dhileepan (2015-2016), Niladri Dutt (1997-1998), Shalinee Dutt (20052006), Sabari Girish Epari (2017-2018), Jude Fernando (2000-2001), Deepak George (2003-2004), Vidhya Gopala Pillai Ramesh (2014-2015), Lesley Thomas Jacob (20012002), Rituka Kapur (2013-2014), Neha Lala (2009-2010), Kusum Lata (2017-2018), Rohan Sanjay Londhe (2016-2017), Rohit Sharad Lunawat (2016-2017), Aniket Subhash Murkute (2016-2017), Sivasubramanian Muthusamy (2017-2018), Vikram Mathew Ninan (2000-2001), Jagdeep Oberoi (20012002), Ashutosh Vadnere (2004-2005), Darshini Rajeshwaran (2016-2017), Kashyap Rangan (1999-2000), Mayuri Sodani (20172018), Munir Vahanvati (2004-2005) INDONESIA: Maria Adriani (2006-2007), Michele Apricia (2015-2016), Ari Arwin Aldrianzah (20002001), Esa Anugerah (2007-2008), Evy R Anwar (1998-1999), Ira Astriani (2000-2001), Agus Surjawan Batara (1997-1998), Filbert Benedictus (2015-2016), Diah Piyaloka Citaresmi (2002-2003), Mario Daenuwy (2004-2005), Agem Dendihardo (2004-2005), Ary Ediyanto (2005-2006), Novi Rozana Gantaman (1997-1998), Felicia Gunawan (2011-2012), Aloysius Iwan Handono (1996-1997), Yennie Hartawan (20012002), Irene Irma Hendranata (2002-2003), Buddy Indrasakti (1996-1997), Andri Irfandri (2000-2001), Busono Wibowo Isman (19971998), Firsta Ismet (1997-1998), Raynaldo Kurnioseputro (2012-2013), Puri Advanty
Indah Lestari (2005-2006), Handi Limandibrata (2002-2003), Yolanda Louhenapessy (19971998), Febriane Makalew (2004-2005), Lulu Muhammad (1996-1997), Akbar Nusantara (2005- 2006), Windiani Octavia (2000-2001), Tiyok Prasetyoadi (1997-1998), Yudhie Prastowo (2001-2002), Doni Priambodo (1999-2000), Laras Primasari (2014-2015), Fachri Dwi Rama (2006-2007), Ratih Renaningtyas (2013-2014), Dian Erliana Sari (2000-2001), Monik Setyaningsih (2001-2002), Sibarani Sofian (1998-1999), Realrich Sjarief (2009-2010), Purnama Hadi Sunarya (19961997), Achmad D Tardiyana (1998-1999), Gunarti Tanudjaja (1996-1997), Wiranti Teddy (2006-2007), Nadia Shevila Thohari (20122013), Francisca Ira Tjahja (2000-2001), Susanti Widiastuti (2002-2003), Dyah Titisari Widyastuti (2000-2001), Ichsanna-Samba R Widyastuti (1996-1997), Virendy Wijaya (20072008), Annisa Yumaladini (2010-2011) IRAN: Lili Halimian Avval (2010-2011), Mahmoodreza Vahidi (2014-2015), Parisa Nikkhoo (20142015), Sahar Rahmanynejad (2010-2011) IRELAND: Sarah Rock (2001-2002) JAPAN: Tsuyoshi Otawa (1996-1997), Takeshi Suzuki (1999-2000) KENYA: Christian Vitulli (2015-2016) MALAYSIA: Abdul Fahim Bin Razali (2015-2016), Agnes Jie Foong Tiong (2016-2017), Lee Ling (19971998), Leong Siew Leng (1999-2000), Ooi Li Jou (2009-2010), Krisada Sungkram (20092010), Tan Boon Loke Johnson (2001-2002), Yong Chenhow (2004-2005) MALDIVES: Ibrahim Rafeeq (1997-1998) MEXICO: German Castillo (2009-2010), Rodrigo Ochoa Jurado (2006- 2007), Gerardo Ortiz (19981999) NEW ZEALAND: Paula Costello (2008-2009), Kuhu Gupta (2009-2010), Michael Kemeys (2010-2011), Feng Hui (2006-2007), Liu Yu-Ning (20012002), Szeto Chi Wah (1998-1999), Imogen Williams (2007-2008), Timothy Williams (20082009), Charles Wang (2010-2011) NIGERIA: Samuel Chekwube Osakwe (2015-2016) PAKISTAN: Amna Majeed (1995-1996), Waqas Jamil Afridi (2006-2007) PHILLIPINES: Herman Calangi (1999-2000), Roberto Evangelio (1998-1999), Kimleye Ng (20152016), Anthony Yan (2011-2012), Christine Victoria Lazaro (2016-2017) SINGAPORE: Ahmad Kamal Abdul Ghani (2002-2003), Choo Hin Yin (1995-1996), Foo Kai Kiat (20052006), Lee Fook Ngan (1999-2000), Loh Chin
Hui (2001-2002), Seah Ye Peng (2014-2015), Malvin Soh Keng Chuan (2002-2003), Wong Yen Nee (2009-2010) SOUTH KOREA: Jue Hee Nam (1997-1998), Jang In-Taek (1998-1999), Jung Jinmo (2004-2005), Kim Hyojung (2017-2018), Kim You Jung (20052006), Kwak Kye-Bong (1998-1999), Lee Yuntai (2002-2003), Park Eunju (2013-2014), Shin Woo-Hwa (1998-1999) SRI LANKA: Janaka Dharmasena (2002-2003), Shyamika Silva (1996-1997), Nadira Yapa Mendis (20022003) TAIWAN: Chiu Kuo-Wei (2001-2002), Grace Hu (20052006), Hao-Ting Chung (2011-2012), Kao Min Chun (2009-2010), Ko Chuan Hsin (19981999), Lin Yu-hsuan (2014-2015), Ni Ming-Te (2001-2002), Tsai Chicheng (2000-2001), Tsai Hui-Chu (2009-2010), Stephanie Wang (2000-2001), Wu Ju Fang (2004-2005), Yang Huei-Han (2017-2018) THAILAND: Suphot Chaisilprungrueng (1999-2000), Nattakarn Chompootep (1999-2000), Piyachat Kangsdal (2003-2004), Pochara Kittisakdi (2000-2001), Rath Muengpaisan (20132014), Thanong Poonteerakul (2003-2004), Sompatsorn Bamrungsak (1996-1997), Sirat Wattanavijarn (2000-2001) TURKEY: Urun Demir (2003-2004), Duygu Ince (20052006) UKRAINE: Oleksandra Babych (2001-2002) UNITED KINGDOM: Clare Billingham (2002-2003), David Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien (1995-1996) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Erik Adams (2010-2011), Ryan Andersen (2005-2006), Ashley Bakelmun (2015-2016), Gabe Bayram (2002-2003), Nathaniel Bettini (2009-2010), Kevin Brake (2002-2003), Nick Chapin (2001-2002), Pasqual Contreras (2009-2010), Alec Gelgota (2012-2013), Peter Hinteregger (1995-1996), Maggie Hoi (19981999), Russell Kosko (1998-1999), Shihomi Kuriyagawa (2011-2012), Kathleen McDowell (2007-2008), Susan McLaughlin (2007-2008), Geoffrey Morrison-Logan (1997-1998), James Shelton (2004-2005), Max Stember-Young (2011-2012), Erica Tinio (2009-2010), Reginald Wheeler III (2002-2003) VENEZUELA: Giancarlo Cerutti Di Ludovico (2003-2004) VIETNAM: Dao Chi Trong (1997-1998), Huynh Hung Kiet (2011-2012), Huynh Thi Mai Phuong (2013-2014), Khuc Thi Thuy Ngoc (2010-2011), Nguyen Hong Duong (2012-2013), Nguyen Khanh Tung (2013-2014), Nguyen Truc Anh (2000-2001), Nguyen Thai Tran (2001-2002), Pham Thi Thu Huyen (2006-2007), Phu Duc Tu (2000-2001), Tran Tuan Anh (1999-2000), Vo Anh (2007-2008)
213
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Acknowledgements The MUDD23 staff and students would like to thank our many friends and supporters for the time and effort they have provided in continuing to make our program an outstanding success. The
list below includes key intellectuals, administrators, designers and developers who have contributed to the program throughout the course of the past year in Sydney, Lisbon and Boston.
For contributions to the UDES0001 City & Cinematic Space Studios (Semesters 1 & 2, 2017), Professor James Weirick thanks Dean
Utian from the FBE Teaching & Learning Team for his enthusiasm and special knowledge of film and the built environment; Michael Gheorghiu (Consultant Planner & Urban Designer) for his
commitment and expert guidance; Brendan Randles (Senior Architect & Urban Designer, Architectus) for his advice and creative ideation during desk crits and his participation in the Design Jury; Oliver Ju
(MUDD 2015 - Landscape Architect, Johnson Pilton Walker) for the introductory workshop on mapping techniques; and Design Jury
members: Arlene Segal (Adjunct Senior Lecturer, BE UNSW); and Tim Schwager (Architect & Principal, Schwager Australia).
For the UDES0002 VFT Sydney Studio (Semester 1, 2017), we thank Peter John Cantrill (Consultant Architect & Urban Designer, City of
Sydney), Jesse McNicoll (Urban Design Coordinator, City of Sydney) and Amy Bendall (Landscape Architect & Urban Designer, City of
Sydney) for the idea and realisation of the VFT Studio, which inspired so much of the design work and critical studies of the MUDD23 year. For contributions to the UDES0002 Aerotropolis Studio (Semester 2, 2017), Dr Scott Hawken thanks Michael Gheorghiu (MUDD
2016, Consultant Planner & Urban Designer) for his commitment as design tutor; Maryam Litkouhi (Development Manager, Commercial Property, Stockland) for her guidance on urban feasibility studies;
guest lecturer Jonathan Knapp (Director, Urban Design, SJB Sydney) for his presentation on the development process; Joe Catania,
Managing Director, Direct Freight Express, Warwick Farm for the
special tour of his logistics facility during the ‘aerotropolis’ field trip
to Western Sydney; Dajon Veldman (Principal, Urban Design, Scott
Carver) and Vanessa Trowell (MUDD 2009) for their insightful Design Jury comments.
For contributions to the UDES0011 Design Research Studio
(Semester 2, 2017), Professor Weirick thanks tutors Mike Brown
(Consultant Planner) and Trent Middleton (Consultant Architect) for
their rigorous direction of research, ideation and design development throughout the semester; Jodi Lawton (Principal, Lawton Design)
and Andrew Sweeney (Principal, Sweeney Palfreeman Architects) for their guidance on final production, and Design Jury members
Dr Sunil Dubey (Senior Advisor, Metropolis), Chris Johnson (Chief Executive Officer, Urban Taskforce) and Arlene Segal (Adjunct
Senior Lecturer, BE UNSW) for their critical assessment of the Bays Precinct projects.
For the highly informative, stimulating lectures on the political
and economic contexts necessary for our understanding before undertaking the UDES0003 International Studios in Lisbon and Boston, we thank good friend of the MUDD Program, urban economist John Zerby. For our Boston Experience, Professor Weirick and Michael
Gheorghiu express deep appreciation to our hosts at Sasaki
Associates. In particular, we thank Christian Vitulli (MUDD 2016) for initiating and facilitating the magnificent support we received from
Sasaki, the opportunity to work out of their head office in Watertown,
214
Massachusetts and the special insights we received by engaging
with their master-planned Seaport Square project. For the formal
invitation to Boston, we thank Sasaki Urban Design Principals Martin
Zogran and Dennis Pieprz, with a special thanks to Martin Zogran for his introductory briefing, chairing of the Interim and Final Reviews, and masterful contribution to the MUDD23 Yearbook. For our return brief, interim and final presentations at Sasaki, we thank for their commitment and incisive comments Martin Zogran, Isabel Zempel, Christian Vitulli, Lachlan Hunter Hicks, Ethan Lay-
Sleeper, Zhu Siqi, Rosa Herrero de Andrés and Alykhan Mohamed.
For the final presentation, we were privileged to be joined by Dennis De Witt (Consultant Architect & Architectural Historian), and two
MUDD Alumni - Geoffrey Morrison-Logan (MUDD 1998 – Principal, Planning, Design & Landscape Architecture, Vanasse Hankin
Brustlin, Watertown, MA) and Max Stember-Young (MUDD 2012 –
Planner, VHB NYC office, who came from New York for the event). Also in Boston, Geoffrey Morrison-Logan (MUDD 1998) organised
a comprehensive briefing on the South Boston Container Terminal
and Seaport District traffic issues by his VHB colleagues, Transport Planners Laura Castelli and Albert Ng. Ashley Bakelmun (MUDD
2017) organised a briefing from Todd Dundon AIA, Principal, Gensler on the design principles of the new global headquarters for General Electric on Fort Point Channel (we also thank Gensler Public
Relations & Communications Manager Perrin McCormick for setting up this briefing, and subsequent tour of the Gensler Boston office).
At the Boston Planning & Development Agency, we were privileged to receive a detailed briefing on South Boston/Seaport planning
and development issues from Planner Cecilia Nardi. At Harvard Graduate School of Design we were hosted with great generosity by Professor Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design & Planning,
whose enthusiastic presentation and introduction to the spatial drama of Gund Hall were truly memorable. For their comments at the final Design Jury back in Sydney, we thank Professor Helen Lochhead; Dr Scott Hawken; Brendan
Randles; Andrew Sweeney, John Zerby; Dajon Veldman (Principal, Urban Design, Scott Carver) and our special guest from Lithuania,
Professor Skirmantė Mozūriūnaitė, (Vice Dean for Studies, Faculty of Architecture, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University).
Professor James Weirick extends sincere appreciation to Brendan Randles (Senior Architect & Urban Designer, Architectus) for
taking on the challenge of convening and leading the UDES0003 International Studio in Lisbon.
The Lisbon Studio would not have been possible without the
outstanding generosity and support of our hosts at the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (UHLT), with whom we collaborated on the Tagus Mouth Workshop. Brendan Randles and Professor Karl Fischer would like to thank all of the staff at the Departamento de Arquitectura e Urbanismo (DAU - ULHT)
who assisted us throughout the studio, providing endless advice and making us feel so welcome. We especially thank Professor
Pedro Ressano Garcia (Head of Architectural Design, UHLT) and convener of the workshop, Maria Rita Pais, (Associate Professor of Architectural Design, UHLT), Luís Santiago Baptista (architect
and critic and design tutor UHLT), Professor Rui Simões (Associate Professor of Teconologies, UHLT) and António Velez (Teacher´s
Assistant). Special thanks to Marcelo Rafael (Teacher’s Assistant) who was tireless in his support and advice to both students and
teachers at all hours. For their insight and advice during studio
Ip and Katrina Burley (Urban Design team, Architectus); Jan
Dr. Cláudia Oliveira, Dr.Vasco Pinheiro and Dr. Hugo Nazareth
Professor Skirmantė Mozūriūnaitė, (Vice Dean for Studies, Faculty
and crit sessions, we would like to thank Associate Professors, Fernandes.
For his valuable lecture on the military installations around the Tagus and his insightful critique throughout the workshop, we
thank Associate Professor, Bernardo Vaz Pinto. We would also
McCredie, (Director of Urban Design, Parramatta City Council); and of Architecture, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius,
Lithuania). Professor Weirick also expresses sincere appreciation to
Emeritus Professor Jon Lang for his work in reviewing and assessing the Case Study presentations.
like to thank Dr. Flávio Lopes, ( Architectural Heritage,ULHT) for
For their contributions to UDES0008 Planning & Urban Development
and Trafaria and his invaluable advice to student groups in the
Kathleen McDowell (MUDD 2008) and Vanessa Trowell (MUDD
his informative and critical lectures about the histories of Oerias
studio. For his facilitation of the site visit at Oerias, where he gave a
fascinating lecture ‘in situ’ and for his insightful advice during the final crits, we thank Colonel Alpedrinha Pires. For their generous on site lecture and sharing of local insights, as well as their participation in
the final crits, we thank Architect Paulo Pardelha and Architect Luís
Bernardo of the Almada Municipality. A special thank you to Dr. Piotr Lorens (Head of the Department of the Urban Design & Regional
(Semester 2, 2016), we thank Jeremy Dawkins as convenor; tutors
2009); and Guest Lecturer Kevin Alker (Corporate Advisor Hill, PDA & Lecturer UNSW) for his engaging and knowledgeable lecture on the planning and development context in Sydney.
For contributions to UDES0009 Urban Landscape & Heritage
(Semester 2, 2016), Dr Scott Hawken would like to gratefully thank
Co-convenor Dr Anne Warr (Director, Anne Warr Heritage Consulting)
Planning, University of Technology Gdansk) who was able to attend
for her lectures on urban heritage and tutorials, and tutors Professor
like to thank Raul Hestnes Ferreira, Phd Architect and Architectural
For critical assistance during UDES0010 Communications in Urban
an afternoon crit towards the end of the workshop. Finally, we would Design teacher, who sadly passed away in early February 2018.
Professor James Weirick and Brendan Randles especially thank Professor Karl Fischer (Visiting Professional Fellow, UNSW) for
making the workshop possible. His frequent visits to Lisbon, the many logistical matters he solved behind the scenes and the great support he provided throughout the studio are greatly appreciated.
Additionally, we thank Kevin Hoffman (retired Commissioner of the NSW Land & Environment Court), who provided great insight and advice, as well as practical reminders on a daily basis. Special thanks to Jodi Lawton, whose marvellous communication and
graphic design skills allowed the students to express their ideas clearly and powerfully. For his invaluable design support and
organizational assistance, we thank Andrew Sweeney, who was a marvellous help in the final months.
For participating in the final crits in Sydney, we would like to thank
Professor Helen Lochhead (Dean, Faculty of Built Environment), Dr
Scott Hawken, Kevin Hoffman, Jodi Lawton, Professor Karl Fischer,
Andrew Sweeney, John Zerby, Professor Dr Skirmante Mozuriunaite, Michael Gheorghiu and Dean Utian for their insightful comments on the quality and depth of the urban design proposals. For UDES0004 History & Theory of Urban Development & Design (Semester 1. 2016) Professor James Weirick thanks Professor
Karl Fischer for his lecture on the evolution of the European city;
and Ian Perlman (Consultant Architect) for his presentation on the Asian city. For his in-depth and brilliantly challenging lectures on
spatial political economy and urban design, a profound thank you to
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert. For valuable assistance and knowledgeable guidance throughout the weekly tutorials, we thank
Weirick and Sarbeswar Praharaj (FBE Ph.D student). Design, guest workshops and during the final deliverables of each of the studios and for being a delight to work with at all times, a sincere thank you to Jodi Lawton, Principal of Lawton Design for the countless hours of her professional and personal time that is
dedicated to the MUDD Program; and to Andrew Sweeney (Principal, Sweeney Palfreeman Architects) for his editing, English-language
support for our international students and overall enthusiasm for the MUDD23 venture. For convening the BE module of BENV7020 Research Seminar and
assisting the MUDD (Extended) students, we thank Dr Laurence Troy (FBE City Future Futures Research Centre) and Associate Professor Catherine Bridge (FBE Associate Dean, Research). In addition,
we thank Emeritus Professor Jon Lang, Michael Gheorghiu, Arlene Segal, Andrew Sweeney and Dr Anne Warr for their contributions
to the MUDD module of BENV7020 and UDES0011 Urban Design Research Project. An important thank you for their continuing support and goodwill
towards the MUDD program to Professor Helen Lochhead (Dean, Faculty of Built Environment); Personal Assistants to the Dean,
Margaret McInnes and Racheal Slade; Professor Alan Peters (FBE Deputy Dean & Head of School); Bruce Watson (FBE Acting Head
of School); Monica McNamara, Julia Wibowo, Li San Chew and their colleagues in the FBE Student Centre; Graham Hannah, Raelene
Solomons and the BECU team; Dean Utian of the Built Environment TELT team; Marie Caccamo, Business Partner External Relations;
Danielle Peek, Events Coordinator External Relations; and Christina Goranitis, Team Leader in the FBE Discipline Directors Unit and her fellow Administrative Assistants.
Ashley Bakelmun (MUDD 2016), Dr Samir Mahmoud (MUDD 2005) and Vanessa Trowell (MUDD 2009).
Professor Weirick thanks the following professionals and FBE
colleagues for their Urban Development & Design Case Study
Presentations in our UDES0006 Summer Term course: Emeritus
Professor Jon Lang; Jesse McNicoll & Tim Wise (City of Sydney); Arlene Segal; Emeritus Professor Alec Tzannes AM (Director,
Tzannes Associates); David Wolski (Director, Wolski Coppin); Jonathan Knapp (Director, Urban Design, SJB Sydney); Ivan
215
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Exhibition Layout Leighton Hall and Tyree Room,
John Niland Scientia Building, UNSW
Lisbon International StudS Lisbon International The three-week studio in Lisbon hosted by Universidade Lusรณfona proposed three schemesschemes for the Oeiras site and three schemes for the Oeiras site and three schemes for the Trafaria to discover the potential to for thesite Trafaria site to discover the potential to identify the waterfront of Lisbon.
Very FastTrain Train - Sydney Very Fast Two studios proposed a more environmental friendly mode of transport offering efficient, comfortable, convenient and good travel experiences for travellers alone the line of very fast train.
216
Studio onal Studio
es e schemes o otential to
Boston International Studio The three-week studio in Boston hosted s and by the office of Sasaki Associated worked in teams to create urban design of contemporary waterfront projects around Seaport Square and Fort Point Channel.
217
MUDD 23 - Time, Space & the City
Sponsors Students and staff of the UNSW Master of Urban Development & Design Program 2017-2018 thank our sponsors for their generosity and support, which have made the 2018 Reid Lecture, MUDD23 Exhibition and MUDD23 Yearbook possible.
Diamond
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Bronze
218
Contributors
Master of Urban Development & Design
Publisher Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales
Program Outline The intensive one calendar year program involves two academic semesters plus a summer term, which includes a compulsory field project and design studio in a major international city.
Built Environment Urban Development & Design 2018
The program seeks the synthesis of three bodies of knowledge about the city - spatial political economy, theories of good city form and urban design as public policy. Coursework is progressive, stressing theoretical knowledge of economic, social, environment and physical design determinants in the first semester, moving to applied skills and implementation techniques toward the end of the year.
Program of Study for full-time Candidates: Semester 1 UDES0001 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0004 Hist and Theory of Urban Dev (6 UOC) Electives 6 UOC Semester 2 UDES0002 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0008 Planning and Urban Dev (6 UOC) UDES0009 Urban Landscape and Heritage (6 UOC)
A four-semester, research focussed option is also available with the MUDD (Extension) Program, which commences with BENV 7020 Research Seminar in Semester 1 and concludes with UDES0011 Urban Design Research Project (12 UOC) in Semester 2, plus two Built Environment electives.
UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design
AEROTROPOLIS VERY FAST TRAIN
This core course extends students’ capabilities for graphic, written and verbal communication through the production of the annual MUDD Folio, Exhibition and associated public lecture - the Paul Reid Lecture in Urban Design. The aim is to critically reflect upon and re-present the year’s work of the MUDD Program in a creative, compelling format which contributes to the design culture of Sydney.
Copyright of University of New South Wales ISSN: 2206-1843 Material in this publication is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part requires permission from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor or the publisher unless otherwise expressly stated.
Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia Web: www.be.unsw.edu.au Phone: +61 2 9385 4799 Email: fbe@unsw.edu.au CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G
MUDD23 | 2017 - 2018
Summer Term UDES0003 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0006 Case Studies in Urb Dev and Design (6 UOC) UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design (6 UOC)
CINEMATIC SPACE
Production and Coordination: Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Curatorial and Editorial: Duan Jinyi (Iris) Kim Hyojung (Ally) Li Hongxu (Paco) Li Yilun (Amanda) Mayuri Sodani Archiving: Ma Yunfei Exhibition Design: Du Qin (Cynthia) Feng Shengting (Eadoo) Huang Yawen (Yama) Jin Tian (Tanya) Xie Xinling (Shirly) Yang Huei-Han (Yang) Ye Yang (Laura) Sponsorship: Yue Yushan (Iris)
Time, Space & the City
The summer term is devoted to the international urban design studio, case study investigations of major urban projects, and critical reflection on the year’s work through preparation of the annual exhibition and publication of the MUDD Folio.
URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH
Master of Urban Development & Design
The program comprises eight core course and one elective course. The compulsory core includes five lecture/seminar courses, three project based studios, and a case study course. Students are encouraged to select an elective from a list of recommended course offered by the Faculty of Built Environment. Students may be permitted, with the approval of the Program Director, to select electives from course offered by other faculties of the University.
Executive advisors Professor James Weirick Professor Karl Fischer Jodi Lawton (Lawton Design) Andrew Sweeney
Video, Photography, Web and Social Media: Abdul Ghani Hourani Li Ruoyu (Ryan) Sivasubramanian Muthusamy Wang Xiaowei (Vivi) Wang Xiuzhu (August) Zhang Xiaodong (Anderson)
Graphic Design and Image Editing: Ban Lan (Belle) Cao Jing (Hellen) Chen Yujing (Monica) Charles Boumoussa Georges Samir Jreije Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Kusum Lata Li Mengdi (Nicole) Li Yezi (Eveyln) Liu Xianzheng (Razzil) Lu Li (Lisa) Ma Yuan (Phyllis) Ma Yunfei Pan Junkun (Kyle) Sun Mengzhen (Vicky) Wang Hongyi (Hans) Wang Ruoxi (Aria) Wang Weixi (Frank) Wen Di (Wendy) Wu Jihai (Sean) Wu Yuwei (Vivien) Xie Xiaoli (Adela) Yu Mengxue (Mandy) Yue Yushan (Iris) Zhang Jinxin (Sam) Zhang Qingran (Chanina) Zhang Quan Zhou Jingwen (Janice) Zhu Yawei (Patrick) Event Design: Sabari Girish Epari Lu Li (Lisa)
MUDD 23 Supporting Mentors
Sydney Lisbon Boston
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert Emeritus Professor Jon Lang Professor Karl Fischer Dr Scott Hawken Mike Brown Amy Bendall Ashley Bakelmun Peter John Cantrill Jeremy Dawkins Michael Gheorghiu Kevin Hoffman Ju Xizhe (Oliver) Jodi Lawton Maryam Litkouhi Kathleen McDowell Dr Samir Mahmoud Jesse McNicoll Trent Middleton Sarbeswar Praharaj Brendan Randles Arlene Segal Andrew Sweeney Vanessa Trowell Dean Utian Dr Anne Warr Contact Professor James Weirick Director, Urban Development & Design Program Tel: +61 2 9385 7533 Email: j.weirick@unsw.edu.au Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052, Australia www.be.unsw.edu.au
Contributors
Master of Urban Development & Design
Publisher Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales
Program Outline The intensive one calendar year program involves two academic semesters plus a summer term, which
Built Environment Urban Development & Design 2018
in a major international city. The program seeks the synthesis of three bodies of knowledge about the city - spatial political economy, theories of good city form and urban design as public policy. Coursework is progressive, stressing theoretical knowledge of economic, social, environment and physical design determinants implementation techniques toward the end of the year.
The summer term is devoted to the international urban design studio, case study investigations of major
URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH
work through preparation of the annual exhibition and publication of the MUDD Folio. Program of Study for full-time Candidates: Semester 1 UDES0001 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0004 Hist and Theory of Urban Dev (6 UOC) Electives 6 UOC Semester 2 UDES0002 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0008 Planning and Urban Dev (6 UOC) UDES0009 Urban Landscape and Heritage (6 UOC)
A four-semester, research focussed option is also available with the MUDD (Extension) Program, which commences with BENV 7020 Research Seminar in Semester 1 and concludes with UDES0011 Urban Design Research Project (12 UOC) in Semester 2, plus two Built Environment electives.
UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design
AEROTROPOLIS VERY FAST TRAIN
This core course extends studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capabilities for graphic, written and verbal communication through the production of the annual MUDD Folio, Exhibition and associated public lecture - the Paul Reid Lecture upon and re-present the yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work of the MUDD Program in a creative, compelling format which contributes to the design culture of Sydney.
Copyright of University of New South Wales ISSN: 2206-1843 Material in this publication is copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part requires permission from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor or the publisher unless otherwise expressly stated.
Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia Web: www.be.unsw.edu.au Phone: +61 2 9385 4799 Email: fbe@unsw.edu.au CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G
MUDD23 | 2017 - 2018
Summer Term UDES0003 Urban Design Studio (12 UOC) UDES0006 Case Studies in Urb Dev and Design (6 UOC) UDES0010 Communication in Urban Design (6 UOC)
CINEMATIC SPACE
Production and Coordination: Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Curatorial and Editorial: Duan Jinyi (Iris) Kim Hyojung (Ally) Li Hongxu (Paco) Li Yilun (Amanda) Mayuri Sodani Archiving: Ma Yunfei Exhibition Design: Du Qin (Cynthia) Feng Shengting (Eadoo) Huang Yawen (Yama) Jin Tian (Tanya) Xie Xinling (Shirly) Yang Huei-Han (Yang) Ye Yang (Laura) Sponsorship: Yue Yushan (Iris)
Time, Space & the City
lecture/seminar courses, three project based studios, and a case study course. Students are encouraged to select an elective from a list of recommended course offered by the Faculty of Built Environment. Students may be permitted, with the approval of the Program Director, to select electives from course offered by other faculties of the University.
Master of Urban Development & Design
The program comprises eight core course and one
Executive advisors Professor James Weirick Professor Karl Fischer Jodi Lawton (Lawton Design) Andrew Sweeney
Video, Photography, Web and Social Media: Abdul Ghani Hourani Li Ruoyu (Ryan) Sivasubramanian Muthusamy Wang Xiaowei (Vivi) Wang Xiuzhu (August) Zhang Xiaodong (Anderson)
Graphic Design and Image Editing: Ban Lan (Belle) Cao Jing (Hellen) Chen Yujing (Monica) Charles Boumoussa Georges Samir Jreije Lai Ka Yee (Christy) Kusum Lata Li Mengdi (Nicole) Li Yezi (Eveyln) Liu Xianzheng (Razzil) Lu Li (Lisa) Ma Yuan (Phyllis) Ma Yunfei Pan Junkun (Kyle) Sun Mengzhen (Vicky) Wang Hongyi (Hans) Wang Ruoxi (Aria) Wang Weixi (Frank) Wen Di (Wendy) Wu Jihai (Sean) Wu Yuwei (Vivien) Xie Xiaoli (Adela) Yu Mengxue (Mandy) Yue Yushan (Iris) Zhang Jinxin (Sam) Zhang Qingran (Chanina) Zhang Quan Zhou Jingwen (Janice) Zhu Yawei (Patrick) Event Design: Sabari Girish Epari Lu Li (Lisa)
MUDD 23 Supporting Mentors
Sydney Lisbon Boston
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cuthbert Emeritus Professor Jon Lang Professor Karl Fischer Dr Scott Hawken Mike Brown Amy Bendall Ashley Bakelmun Peter John Cantrill Jeremy Dawkins Michael Gheorghiu Kevin Hoffman Ju Xizhe (Oliver) Jodi Lawton Maryam Litkouhi Kathleen McDowell Dr Samir Mahmoud Jesse McNicoll Trent Middleton Sarbeswar Praharaj Brendan Randles Arlene Segal Andrew Sweeney Vanessa Trowell Dean Utian Dr Anne Warr Contact Professor James Weirick Director, Urban Development & Design Program Tel: +61 2 9385 7533 Email: j.weirick@unsw.edu.au Faculty of Built Environment The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052, Australia www.be.unsw.edu.au