MOVEMENTS LANDMARKS and
Met r opol i t anEnsembl est udi o
7X811-Met hodol ogyi nAr chi t ect ur e Tut or :Gi j sWal l i sdeVr i es
ByMar j anMohammadz adehSar ab-0756506 20December2011
Table of Content
Statement .........................................................................................................2 Research ID........................................................................................................3 Topic......................................................................................................3 Field of research....................................................................................3 Research question.................................................................................3 Method..................................................................................................3 Research Progress.............................................................................................4 Short Description of the Topic...............................................................4 Elaboration of the Research Methods...................................................4 Practical Relevance and Result.............................................................7 Scientific Novelty of Research and Design............................................8 Images...............................................................................................................9 Bibliography.....................................................................................................12
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People create structures in context of places; those structure then condition the making of people. In that recursive process, people and places change, continually. . . . (Johnson et al 1990: 8)
A successful urban or architectural space is used space, and the use of most spaces is “Movement�. Therefore, the main purpose of the thesis is to research and design a space which it is based on movement and behavior of people in order to provoke a sense of people-place awareness in the design. The understanding of physical movements and environment relationships will lead me to create a better urban and architectural place where social life and communication between people-people and people-space is encouraged.
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Introduction Topic: Landmarks & Movements in city of Cologne Field of research: Theory and Design Research Question: How architectural and functional landmarks effect orientation/movement of people (tourist or inhabitants) in the old centre of cologne? Method: This research consists of two parts: a literature review of related work on movements and field research in center of Cologne around landmarks in order to study the relation between movement behavior and built environment. The first part --literature review-- focuses on reviewing theoretical works concerning the interrelationships between physical environments and human behavior, particularly pedestrian and car movement in urban spaces. The second part –field research – focuses on analyzing the present situation for shaping a certain orientation in old center of cologne. This part is realized through studying pictures, drawings, maps, sketches, postcards and profile of streets.
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Research Progerss Description of Topic: During my first visit to Cologne what amazed me was two different aspects of the city. First, the way of movements in urban context. To observe how you arrive in central station in an pedestrain zone; calm and quiet. But suddenly you can find yourself in “Stadtautobahn”, a huge highway that you only can feel the dominance of the cars. And some other part are simply just a normal mixture of people of cars. After my visit I decided I want to research on topic of movement but my intent was also to cast new light on the relation between people and the built environment and show how important it is, in the practice of architecture, to understand the complexity of the relation between people, objects and environment. Therefore, it was decided to study movement behavior through landmarks. In my research first I start to go throw theories about movements and then study the city through landmarks. The landmarks of cologne are collected in three different points of view: the city planning, Tourists and inhabitant of Cologne. Landmarks can be defined as: In literature: a geographic feature used by explorers and others to find their way back or through an area. In modern usage: a landmark includes anything that is easily recognizable, such as a monument, building, or other structure. In American English: to designate places that might be of interest to tourists due to notable physical features or historical significance. In urban studies as well as in geography: an external point of reference that helps orienting in a familiar or unfamiliar environment In my definition: functional or architectural points that if we take them away from the city, city has nothing special to offer. Elaboration of the Research Methods: In order to formulate my research, I have categoriezed it in two aspects: 1. Theories – basic scientific background - Tokyo Plan by Kenzo Tange for Importance of movement in a city1 - Philadelphia plan by Loius Kahn for a movement of a car2 - Theory of Derive by Guy Debord for a person wandering around the city3 2. Field research – case study - Information about landmarks in cologne (paintings, postcards and functions) - Information about orientation of cars and people - Relation between movement and atmosphere of space - Relation between movement and functions
Tange – Kenzo (1961) A Plan for Tokyo, 1960: Towards a structural reorganization – Tokyo Bijustu Shuppansha 2 Kahn - Louis Isadore (1953) Towards a plan for midtown Philadelphia 3 Debord – Guy (1955) Theory of Derive 1
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Having a theoretical frameworks is essentail in order to create a scientific dialogue. Therefore, I started by reading the principles of Tokyo plan about the importance of movement in the city. Tange implies that The organic life in a city lay exactly in the flowing movement of its people, who engaged in the communication of various functions and created the total function. Mobility was the factor that gave to the city’s organization, and the transportation system was the physical foundation of the city’s operation. The importance of the communication system within the city was articulated by Tange with a metaphor: “It is the arterial system which preserves the life and human drive of the city, the nervous system which moves its brains. Mobility determined the structure of the city.” Tange’s anti zoning position and emphasis on urban communication system were shared by Louis Kahn. In his plans for Philadelphia dated 1952, Kahn not only accepted traffic as the generator of the design but also suggested this might be more than a mechanical necessity. His diagram of circulation, which defined different types of movement, gave visual form to the traffic and became the departure point of the plan. His analogy between the flow of traffic and the flow of rivers provided a novel analysis of the movement pattern of a large metropolitan area: Expressways are like rivers. These rivers frame the area to be served. Rivers have harbors. Harbors are the municipal parking towers. From the harbors branch a system of canal that serve the interior, The canals are the go-streets. From the canals branch cul-de-sac docks The docks serve entrance halls to the building. Nevertheless, Kahn felt that the city not only needed the order of movement, but also presence of institutions as monumental architecture, which would then cooperate and create an organism that would allow city to operate by itself in a sustainable fashion.
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At this piont of research I turned to seek an argument which led me to the theory of Derive by Guy Debord.
about only pedestrain
Guy Debord was one of the member of ` Situationists ` group. The primary method by which the Situationists investigated psychogeographical phenomena was “Theory of Dérive”, in which the participants would wander through the city on foot according to whim, and to a lesser degree, chance. In 1957 Guy Debord produced a psychogeographic map named “The Naked City”. This map illustrate potential alternative readings of city space.
The work consists of a map of Paris that has been cut up and reassembled, not in accordance with the representation of the physical terrain, but according to ‘unities of ambiance’. Red arrows connect the different quartiers according to the feelings they inspire, the continuity of ‘sense of place’ between geographically separated areas, providing a representation of the ‘fixed points and vortexes’, the ebb and flow of the atmosphere of place that Debord evokes in ‘Theory of the Dérive’. This is a method that shows the experience of the city as it is perceived at ground level. By investigating these three theories, I arrived into an important point. in all three theories beside talking about the movement , all pointed out another important character for a city: Tange claimes there is a need for a symbolic approach to architecture and urban space in order to secure humanity, human meaning and human value in architecture and urban space. Kahn talks the importance of the presence of institutions as monumental architecture And Guy Debord represents the ‘fixed points and 6
vortexes’, the ebb and flow of the atmosphere of place to show experience of the city as it is perceived at ground level. At this point I arrived to my field research. I colcluded that the these fixed point/monumental architecture/a symbolys approach to architecture is cting as a pulsing component while the movement/traffic/flow is the receiving component. Therefore, I decided to study the lanmarks as a base in order to study the movement and orientation. This led me to the second part of my Methodology to do field research. Around 90 landmarks were collected through contacting and interviewing experts and inhabitants. Then I filter the landmarks up to 33 of them in central core of the city through studying the morphology of the city, painting, postcards and impression of people. I started to study movement behavior of people and cars around these landmarks with considering three important principles: functions, atmospheres and parking. After this study I group the 33 landmarks in two groups base on how architecturally they affect the behaviors: introverted or extroverted landmark. Introverted landmarks are the ones that users most likely will choose to move inside the building and communicate more with the space rather than the object itself such as Ludwig Museum or Opera House. While in extroverted landmarks users are mostly amazed with the object and architecture but not the space. So users will move around the building outside and experience the skin of landmarks. Practical Relevance and Result: Doing this research has caught my attention in three aspects: - The experiences of the users through their movement behaviour around these landmarks - The experiences categories all the landmarks in two architecturally groups base on how they affect the behaviours: Introverted landmarks and extroverted landmarks. - Base on my studies and obsevation all 90 landmarks they have one common characteristic in common: They are all solid. With these three conclusions, I have chosen my M4 topic for design an architectural piece. The fact of the importance of the users’ experience in landmarks, made me think about a new way of experiencing an architectural landmark. An object which respond to you and it environment which maks it no longer a solid building. This responsive building, communicate with the way you move and the speed of your movement and the charatristics of the enivornment. Users have an unique experience which can be different from any other person. In this way I have decided to design an dynamic landmarks in terms of responsive environment.
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Scientific Novelty of Research and Design: The architecture is the art of creating the setting for human life. Architecture is the means and the goal to maximize involvement of human life. For a long time architecture has meant to design a certain space which encourage people to move or behave in a certain way. I believe in time the priorities in designs have got forgotten. The fact is that people and users are more important than an architectural object. No longer should a building change the behaviour of the users but users dominate buildings and change their environment duo to their needs. This way we can reach a responsive and dynamic environment which people defines it. And if people define a building, that object becomes part of their society. Responsive environments can be a combination between the scientific developments that resulted in Ambient Intelligence systems and the aesthetic motivation behind interactive art installations and the architecture as base to create an space for it. Responsive environments has been redefined as physical spaces, such as city squares, public halls, etc, that are enhanced with the use of technology and media. This context provide the awareness and user experience have an important contribution to the success of a responsive environment. An environment where the aesthetic of interaction, user engagement, access, embodiment and intimacy are also to be taken into account in the design and specifications phases.4
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http://www.jorgelino.com/fileadmin/Content/jorgelino/researcher/publications/2010_JAL_BS_MR.pdf
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Bibliography:
1. Debord – Guy (1955) Theory of Derive 2. Kahn - Louis Isadore (1953) Towards a plan for midtown Philadelphia 3. Tange – Kenzo (1961) A Plan for Tokyo, 1960: Towards a structural reorganization – Tokyo Bijustu Shuppansha 4. http://www.jorgelino.com/fileadmin/Content/jorgelino/researcher/publications/2010_J AL_BS_MR.pdf
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