ROOMS AND CITIES
A (Non) Place Experience
Urban Image
City Elements
Senses
Urban Psychology
VELISLAVA MINCHEVA M.Arch
The (Non) Place Experience URBAN IMAGE Analysis on the physical and emotional experience of the city image
Rooms and Cities University of Dunde 2017- 2018 Velislava Mincheva
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Contents Abstract 5 Introduction 7 Paths and Facades 15 Kevin Lynch, “The Image of the City” Vision and Motion 27 Donald Appleyard, “The View from the Road” Urban Psyche 37 Charles Landry,“Psychology and the City” Conclusion 47 End Notes 49 Bibliography 50 Figure List 51
Fig.1 Dundee Figure Ground
“In the process of way-finding, the strategic link is the environmental image, the generalized mental picture of the exterior physical world that is held by an individual. This image is the product of immediate sensation and of the memory of past experience, and used to interpret information and to guide action� Kevin Lynch, 1960
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Abstract The following text discusses the city image and urban experience of Dundee. Until now the city has been known to be located on the North of the River Tay and with its developing Waterfront. This analysis, however, provides a new reading of the existing Scottish city and critiques what could be its future development. By using the work of theorists such as Kevin Lynch, Donald Appleyard and Charles Landry a framework for research and design is established. This paper concentrates on one of Lynch’s five elements- the path, as the main component to experience city image; it focuses on the façade of the city’s edges; it looks into motion and vision, used by Appleyard, as methods to influence the individual within a city; and investigates the effect of the path, façade, motion and vision on the urban psyche, a term used by Landry, to define the urban experience of the inhabitant. Through both individual research and group design, the aim is to understand the current city image and critique the future development of cities by using Dundee as a model. Room Continuum is a group project in which the “rooms” within the urban settlement from being currently concrete become abstract. A line is drawn between the current and future city image, between order and fragment, between place and non-place; placelessness.
Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p.4
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Introduction Dundee is the fourth largest city in Scotland, located at the estuary of the River Tay. Its famous Waterfront acts both as a façade and a gateway, while the road bridge and railway bridge connect the city’s edge with Newport and the rest of the Fife area. The expansion of the urban fabric is happening along and North of the river. The proposed Dundee reading is a city of edges. While most of the urban development projects aim at expanding the city, the group proposal aims at condensing it within the three edges we have established: Kingsway, Waterfront and Newport. Until now Dundee has been the city North of the River Tay with the Waterfront being its boundary. However, in this new reading the Waterfront becomes the middle, the actual centre of the city and a mirroring axis. Kingsway and Newport become high- density boundary developments, while the middle edge is reformed and reorganised for more permeable future. After establishing the edges to work with, different readings of them combined with Canonic cities and current Arab cities, led to the concept of the Room Continuum. The group considers the current “rooms” within Dundee as individual buildings and city elements, when brought together they produce the form of the city. These “rooms” are so far being designed individually without having any concern for the surrounding area and development. Problems found within the edges such as disconnected space, residual space and unstructured space were creating a wishful thinking towards a more collective, rather than individual atmosphere; for a continuum within and for a better urban fabric. These issues are found in every city and these solutions are desired by the by a large number of people. But what happens if all the wishes become true?
Fig. 2 View from Law Hill Fig. 3 Dundee edges diagram
Fig. 3
1. Establish 3 edges
2. Expansion
3. Occupation
4. Varying density
5. Varying Porosity
6. Initial site
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The proposed design is a framework that critiques the future desired city, its image, form, function and psychology. By creating something new that hasn’t existed before, the group proposal shows the reasoning behind each city element and its necessity. The critique starts with the established edges with the potential to expand throughout the whole city. The following chapters analyse the paths and facades of Dundee’s edges, motion and vision as methods to get to know the city, and the urban experience of the current and proposed Dundee image. Starting with the observations of Kevin Lynch, a deep analysis of paths and facades is provided. The path becomes the “moving” image of the city, while the façade is the “static” image. Continuing with motion and vision, as argued in Donald Appleyard’s research of a motorway, new readings and suggestions of the three edges are introduced. The two chapters speak about Dundee’s image, while the last chapter focuses on the work of Charles Landry, to whom the urban psychology is a necessary factor to consider when planning a city. The conducted analysis is constantly critiqued in the chapters with the “Room Continuum” proposal showing the line between the “desired” city image and the existing one, and its effect on the individual within the city.
Fig. 4 Proposed reading of Dundee's edges Fig. 5 Kingsway form Fig.6 Waterfront form Fig. 7 Newport form Fig. 8 Expansion of form
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
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1. City& Buildings Perception of city is site where many individual buildings are located. 2. Residual Space Space surrounding buildings considered a separate entity. 3. Rooms within buildings Architectural design primarily focuses on coherence within the building. 4. Removal of the Building Envelope Whether outside or inside the building envelope, adjacencies between space become key considerations. 5. “Rooms” also occupy residual space Consider “the room” as a functional space regardless of its interiority. 6. Network of Rooms occupy the edge Space is designed as a cluster of rooms that must connect to adjacent rooms as opposed to isolated buildings.
Fig. 9 Edges plan Fig. 10 Concept diagrams. "Rooms" concept
Fig. 11 Room Continuum Plan
“ You cross Baldwin Avenue, you see all of New York in front of you, you see the terrific drop of land (the Palisades)…and here’s this open panorama of lower Jersey City in front of you and you’re going downhill, and there you know: there’s the tunnel, there’s the Hudson River and everything…I always look to the right to see if I can see the…Statue of Liberty…Then I always look up to see the Empire State Building, see how the weather is…I have a real feeling of happiness because I’m going someplace, and I love to go places.” Kevin Lynch, 1960
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Paths and Facades The physical and visual layout of the city, in other words the urban fabric, affects the city’s image and atmosphere. A gridiron pattern, such as Manhattan, gives the feeling of order, rationality and predictability to the inhabitant. Curved lanes, branching off paths and weird angles, such as Paris, hold the feeling of surprise and visual pleasure, while demanding a greater decision making in planning one’s route. 1 In order to go into the details of the paths within the Dundee’s edges, we have to consider the city’s urban fabric. The shoreline in the early 19th century has been extended due to the harbour area development. There are areas within the city with concentration of industrial buildings, that nowadays are either abandoned or redesigned. Modernisation of the city had led to poorly- planned housing neighbourhoods. Dundee’s fabric is disorganised and new planning is occurring in bits and pieces. Comparing the city’s fabric to the Canonic cities, we see that order and rationality are in absence. Disconnected spaces, residual space and unstructured space are visually bringing Dundee’s fabric image closer to the one of Rome and Paris, where there is a clear distinction between built and unbuilt environment, closer to Piranesi where there is isolation and fragmentation.
Fig. 12 Dundee Waterfront Fig. 13 Top to bottom: Dundee, Nolli, Piranesi
1. Stanley Milgram, The Individual in a Social World. Essays and Experiments, (Stanley Milgram, 1977), p. 37
Fig. 13
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Kevin Lynch conducted studies on city form and what does it mean to the inhabitants. He focuses on how the city’s image can become more vivid and memorable to the city dweller and introduces “imeagibility” and its value as a framework for building and rebuilding cities. Lynch used people’s mental maps to identify the image of the city. He established that when creating mental maps, people were consistently giving examples of what he identified as five key elements: paths, edges, landmarks, nodes, and districts. Paths being the predominant element around which all other components are arranged. 2 Having a broad understanding of the urban fabrics, we can go deeper into the characteristics and importance of the paths. Paths according to Lynch’s research can become important city image feature in several ways. One of them is to be considered as a conceptually dominant road. Such paths are often providing a key city image and are established by the urban fabric and organisation. Those are the paths the urban dweller uses as means for customary travel. They are the ones used most and the inhabitant is familiar with. 3
Fig. 15
Fig. 14 Canonic cities montage Fig. 15 Paths, edges, landmarks, nodes, districts
2. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p. 46 3. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p. 50
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
Fig. 18
In Dundee, the conceptually dominant roads are coded by the identification of the edges and by the existing city’s infrastructure. Starting from Kingsway, the established city’s bypass, the road is familiar to every inhabitant. It is characterised as a linear path, that cuts through the urban fabric, that seek to establish order and organisation of the North edge image. The Waterfront’s dominant path runs along the river edge. It’s curved lanes and branching off paths aim at intriguing not only the inhabitant of the city, but also the visitor. The road represents the middle edge image as visually intriguing place with potential that is yet to be developed. The Newport path is mirroring Kingsway road, but in a smaller scale. The linear form runs along the river edge, possessing the qualities of a visionary road overlooking at the River Tay and the Waterfront. The path is used as an arrangement tool to organise the existing and future development of residential units in the area and as a connection path between the railway and Tay road bridge. Furthermore, to the city image, the path represents, is the concentration of special use or activity. In the observer’s mind this path holds a special image, as it is connected with the association of certain city functions and elements. 4 Those associations are represented by the other four city elements- nodes, landmarks, districts and edges; in relation to the path.
Fig. 16 Kingsway road Fig. 17 Waterfront road Fig. 18 Newport road
4. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p. 50
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Having established the dominant paths on the edges and their main characteristic, we look into the arrangement of the elements around them. Conditions to each edge and its image are assigned based on the associations of each road. Kingsway road is a linear boundary and a path with high concentration of nodes (roundabouts). The road is the dividing line between the suburban and urban area, while the roundabouts are the connections between them. The conditions within this edge are infrastructure and private housing. Kingsway’s image is represented as a continuous linear path, characterized by urban, dense, private, residential units to the south of the road. Waterfront’s elements arrangement in relation to the wavy path is dispersed. The positioning of landmarks is giving direction to the dweller, while districts are representing the old and the new development. The conditions within this edge are infrastructure, public and private functions and water as a boundary. The image of the Waterfront is associated as being the centre of the city and is characterised as a porous institutional urban boundary that acts as a transition between the old existing city and the River Tay edge. Newport has a few landmarks, mostly churches, and nodes connecting the linear road with the private housing to the south of it. Conditions of this edge are water, private areas and fields. Newport’s image is a high density rural private development, that also represents the transition between the city and the field.
Fig. 19 Top to bottom: residential housing, infrastructure- road, institutional buildings, railway, water
Fig. 19
Fig. 20 Path analysis
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Concentration
Path Edge Node District Landmark
Fig.21 Main paths, nodes, edges and facades
North
No Facade
Middle
South
Fig. 22
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Establishing Dundee’s edges, means establishing city façades. The façade is the static continuous image, a combination of all elements, that marks the arrival to the city. The sight of the city represents the differentiation of forms and the presence of the imeagibility on the landscape. Experienced and observed from a distance, the façade indicates a place, the landmarks within it are used as orientation guides, and the paths are the desired medium that attracts the individual to go and experience the city. 5 The three edges present the three city façades, respectively. The North edge is latent and so it is the façade. The image of the urban and suburban areas is united into one and there is no clear distinction of a façade welcoming the inhabitant to the city. The middle edge, represented by the Waterfront, is the arrival façade to the city. Landmarks such as the V&A Museum and the Caird Hall are clearly distinguished, while Law Hill- the highest focal point of the city, sits in the background. High- rise social housing interrupts the scenery and fragments the image’s flow. The image we gather is one of a continuous but also a dispersed boundary that holds Dundee’s main features- the river, the Law, and the landmarks. Newport’s façade sits on a slope. The area’s low- rise housing is mirrored in the river, while the fields sit on the background. The image of this façade is not one of arrival but one of leaving the city behind.
Fig. 22 Dundee facades Fig. 23 Top to bottom: Kingsway, Waterfront, Newport facade presence in section
5. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p. 92- 93
Fig. 23
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The proposed Room Continuum critique is a development of an alternative approach to understanding the urban environment. It concerns the situations and settings as well as the dweller’s experiences, perceptions and knowing’s. Having analysed the path and façade within Dundee’s edges, we identify various fragmented city images. What happens when we try to improve these city images by changing the fragmentation of the city, the individuality of the elements into a collective continuum of spaces? The current Dundee fabric, rather than representing individual plots and distinguishing built from unbuilt environment, is turned into a system of collective rooms, resembling city patterns similar to Marrakesh and other Middle East cities. Until now the city image elements were building blocks with the aim of creating firm, distinguished structures at the urban scale. However, the model of the city erases the idea of nodes and districts, consequently leaving only hints of landmarks and edges. The dominant path disappears and the concentration of spaces is lost into the continuation of rooms. Paths are not a network anymore, but just potential lines that the user can create on their own in order to move from one room to another. They no longer possess qualities that differentiate them from the surrounding. They lose the characteristics of direction, orientation, guidance and division. The city’s façades although still existing from the identified edges, loose the uniqueness. From being a visually intriguing city image representation, they turn to visually boring sameness, that seems to be infinite. Through paths and façades, the individual communicates with the city, understands it, sees it and feels it. Changing their individuality into collectivism, disturbs the overall image and feeling of the city. With this new form the fragmented and dispersed city image becomes a continuous unified imageness. Dundee as a place loses its qualities and becomes a non-place- placelessness. Fig. 24 Area of Room Continuum plan Fig. 25 Room Continuum fabric Fig. 26 Marrakesh fabric
Fig. 25
Fig. 26
“Our studies have led us to think that the essential experience of the road consists in the perception of roadside detail, the sense of motion and space, the feeling of basic orientation, and the apparent meaning of the landscape.� Donald Appleyard, 1964 6
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Vision and Motion Donald Appleyard has conducted studies in regard to the American highway. His theories reject the idea of having to deal with the ugliness of roads by completely demolishing them and creating pedestrianised paths. Instead Appleyard illustrates through diagrams and photographic documentation that if designed carefully, the road can become a masterpiece if designed carefully. The view from the road can be represented as a form of a large scale interplay between motion and vision. 7 Appleyard identifies vision as a combination of the elements of attention. Such elements are the same ones Kevin Lynch describes in his book “The Image of the City.� They occupy the potential visual field and direct the gaze forward by drawing it to near and apparent moving objects. More attention is paid to the elements that represent a point of decision (nodes within the path) and to the distant landmarks, especially if they are sharply silhouetted. Even when directing the vision towards the different elements, the main attention always returns to the road itself. The vision of the elements and road create a sense of direction and continuity. 8 Even though Appleyard focuses only on the analysis and development of highways, his research can be applied to the paths within the city and the vision the inhabitant gathers for the overall image of the city itself. Continuity of vision becomes a quality, that suggests the presenting of a single identity, and a device for absorbing, understanding, and expressing the city image 9.
6. Donald Appleyard, The View from the Road, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964), p. 21 7. Donald Appleyard, The View from the Road, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964), p. 7 8. Donald Appleyard, The View from the Road, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964), p. 6 9. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p. 106
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Beyond the elements of attention positioned around the road and the static character of it, is the visual sense of motion and space they create. The sense of motion of self is expressed by the inhabitant moving from point A to point B through a certain space. While direction is communicated visually by moving towards an element, motion is felt by the constant rotation of objects around. Passing by an object creates the feeling of a space being moved through and leaves parts of the city image behind while adding new ones to it. These factors are all connected, since the visual judgement of motion is based on the apparent motion of exterior objects and is read as a motion in relation to the enclosing special form. 10 Motion awareness is a device to clarify the city image, the dweller’s experience in perspective within the urban settlement and to provide a sense of form in motion itself. 11 The image of Dundee is articulated with the edges and the established and investigated paths within them in combination with the play of vision and motion. The street is a device in city design to show how the individual perceives the city organisation, what it stands for and how people use it and relate to it.
Fig. 27 Dundee reading of motion and image
10. Donald Appleyard, The View from the Road, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964), p. 9 11. Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology,1960), p. 107
Landmark
Path
Attention Edge
Vision Water
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The following analysis heightens the imegeability of the urban environment through motion and vision within the paths and façades along the city’s edges. By identifying a route that connects Kingsway, Waterfront and Newport, the overall image of the city and the façade can be experienced through the senses of motion and vision. There is a comparison between vertical and horizontal linearity within the city’s form. The vertical linearity is based on a route crossing all three edges from where the facades can be observed. The horizontal linearity is the paths within the edges and how they incorporate vision and motion. The sense of direction is regulated through focal points and landmarks. Starting from the horizontal expression of space surrounding the path, Kingsway road is characterised with a linear direction. The roundabout is the repeating element of attention that draws the vision further down the path. The lack of focal points creates the feeling of an endless motion. The linear space and form arrangement are contributing to the monotonous field of private “rooms”. Waterfront’s path, in contrast to the North one, is lacking linearity and continuity. The path is constantly curving, which leads to the limitation of vision ahead. However, the presence of landmarks, is drawing the inhabitant’s attention constantly, presenting him with the composition of different forms and images the city poses. Motion along the river edge is determined by the two bridges in relation to the position of the dweller. Based on how far or close one of them is, we can determine our location within the Waterfront area. Newport’s path has linearity as it cuts in between the sloping site and river bluff. The points of attention and direction along the edge are represented by small landmarks. Motion is determined by the bridges and Waterfront in relation to the position of the inhabitant. Fig. 28 Reading of Dundee's edges through motion and vision Fig. 29 Three edges crossed by a selected route diagram
Fig. 29
North
Middle
South
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Fig. 30 Horizontal motion and vision on the three edges Fig. 31 Concentration of attention within the edges's paths
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The vertical expression is illustrated with the introduced route that crosses all three edges. The route follows the Railway bridge and continues curving up the landscape, passing by the highest point within the city fabric. In terms of motion, Law Hill is used as a visual element to determine one’s position on the path. Going through this route allows the dweller to experience the city image based on the edge’s façades. Reaching Law Hill as a middle stop along the road presents the panoramic view of Kingsway, Waterfront and Newport. Comparing the current city image with the Room Continuum, the sense of motion and vision becomes blurry and enters a world of confusion. The ground level is turned into infinite elements of attention- the rooms; while the upper floor has only one- Law Hill. Courtyards are introduced in large, medium and small scale, scattered around the city and providing an escape to the upper floor through stairs and lifts. Although being used as a directional element of attention, the continuity of vision towards them at ground level is limited by the cluster of rooms. The lack of clearly distinguished paths on both levels creates the paradox of everything can be a path. The position of the inhabitant within the city can only be established from the upper level, where in relation to Law Hill and the edges we can roughly understand one’s location. The previously introduced route crossing the edges disappears and edge façades become latent. The overall city image loses its characteristics and turns into a maze of spaces, where the inhabitant cannot rely on motion and vision as devices to experience the urban city form.
Fig. 32 Room Continuum upper level: Courtyards and Law Hill are visible Fig. 33 Vertical motion and vision: Attention on facades and Law Hill
Fig. 33
“The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo� Desmond Morris, 2009 12
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Urban Psyche Charles Landry conducts research in cities located all around the world, with the aim in helping them reach their full potential. Known as a speaker, author and implementer of complex urban change projects, his book “Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension” investigates how psychology can contribute new ideas on how to make and manage cities. The city is a work of art and being in it is a two- way street. The city’s form is not created in a vacuum. It is influenced by the urban dweller and has an impact to the city. The image of any urban development affects upon the individual in mental and emotional psychological ways that mirror back on the city through the inhabitant’s actions and impressions. To create the urban realm, its functions, form and city life as a system lacking the consideration of human psychology is uncaring. However, this is the undeniable truth and it can be added to the many explanations of why nowadays cities are not successful and desired anymore. 13 How successful a city and its image are, is partially decided by the movement and vision analysed in the previous chapter. Landry adds to the theory by saying the psychology of a place and its impact on the inhabitants is determined by those senses as well. The city image is formulated through cognitive psychology, which is responsible for the individual’s perception and learning patterns. The foundations of cognitive devices show that the inhabitant’s mind is constantly active and searches meaning in the forms and experiences it encounters, but also that it can be misled. Cognitive psychology is the invisible link between the dweller and the city and it influences the image by using “laws” such as proximity and continuation. 14
12. Desmond Morris, The Human Zoo, (Random House, 2009), p.7 13. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 6 14. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 21
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If looking at Dundee in terms of urban psychology and experience, the city cannot be considered as a truly successful environment. When analysing the edges through the paths and façades in terms of motion and vision, proximity and continuation are in presence. However, there is the feeling of a clear link missing between the inhabitant and the city. It is like the city has been created individually and the inhabitant is placed within it later on. This planning of the city provides the image of residual and disconnected spaces, that calls for a collective environment, where both urban form and urban dweller’s needs are considered. The city is not just a machine, but a living organism that co-exists with a rich manifestations of emotions. Those emotions are activated by the image’s looks and feels within a sensual landscape 15. The collective impressions of the individual “psyches” of the urban dwellers on the city, when combined they determine the full spirit of the urban settlement, its atmosphere and its sense of soul. 16 Landry explains the “urban psyche” as the multifaceted character that is developed from the direct interaction between the inhabitant and the place. Urban psychology is the developing theory of understanding more about this “psyche” combined with the individual’s own psychological reaction to the city. Knowing what this science stands for, can be used for shaping the urban realm. 17
Fig. 34 Dundee aerial view
15. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 9 16. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 16 17. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 57
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“Soul” is often used in regard to cities. When we talk of a place being “soul-full” or “soulless” (meaning “it breathes”) we usually refer to the heart, the life of a city, which spirit is expressed through the image. The dweller unconsciously knows that the city is more than a lifeless being. When describing places, the individual often uses ethereal words, which proves people see the urban environment as something more than a physical surface. The feelings created within cities are significantly and equally relevant as city image device. 18 What contributes to the “breath” of a city that the inhabitant can feel, and the city image expresses? It is the culture, character and personality the dwellers share. The soul of a place is created by the direct link between city’s form and elements and the communal identity shaped by the inhabitants. 19 A fragmented city speaks of a fragmented community, where everyone stands on his own. This individuality and disconnection is read in Dundee. It could be said that Dundee’s soul is not a collective of souls, but a variety of them. There is a different “breathing” image to each piece.
Fig. 35 Room Continuum
18. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 57 19. Charles Landry, Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension, (Charles Landry& Chris Murray, 2017), p. 59
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Kingsway’s psyche is characterised as a busy, boring and tense edge, which is a reflection of the inhabitants’ and commuters’ everyday life. The area is looked at as a convenient but unpleasant place to be, due to the noise and traffic of the road and the sameness of buildings. Opposite to the North, Waterfront area is an energetic transparent axis. Its intriguing form stimulates creativity and creates an image where happy emotions are triggered. The edge’s combination of old and new fabric, the mixed use and scale of buildings speaks of the different inhabitant’s psyches within it. An image of a place where one wants to be is established. Newport is the dweller’s get away place. The soul of its image is calm, relaxing and peaceful. Even though the urban form is simple and ordinary, the sensory landscape contributes to the feelings of the inhabitants and the image the edge represents. Dundee’s image and experience stands as a fragmented individuality. Nothing is the same and there is no order. What will happen if we change the individuality of the different urban areas and represent it as an extreme collective place and city image? Will this improve the urban experience and feelings it triggers?
Fig. 36 View from Newport
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The creation of this new environment is based on saying: “No!”. No difference between built and unbuilt form! No inside or outside! No public or private zones! No residual space! No distinct programme! No hierarchy! At first it seems, we are creating the perfect environment that each individual thinks he desires. However, saying no to the different places within the city, also results in saying no to people’s different psyches. As there is reflection between city and individual, creating the urban realm as a collective of rooms means transforming the dweller’s individual souls into a unified collection of souls. The person as an individual is lost. There is a paradox; we think we are developing this unique collective place which will have a single unified image, yet what we end up with is placelessness which lacks the intriguing city image of variation and opportunities.
Fig. 37 Story Board: Experiencing Room Continuum
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Conclusion The city is a combination of different elements, senses and emotions. However, it is only in the case when they are identified and combined, that we are able to understand and experience the city image better. Paths and façades are the forms within the urban realm, through which part of this city image can be established. The continuation of the path allows the urban dweller to easily and quickly develop a section of the overall image, while the fragmentation of the façade shows the diversity of forms contained within the city. Motion and vision are used as devices to experience the city image in a physical way and to add more details to it. These senses are the link between the urban dweller and the city elements. By applying motion and vision on the path and in relation to façade, continuation and fragmentation are not observed as a separate aspects of the image anymore. They exist together, within the forms of paths and façades, creating a successful picture in the inhabitant’s mind. The urban psyche is the one that allows us to experience the city image in an emotional way. The psychological link between the inhabitants and the city influences the urban which we create in our minds. The city as a living organism that is the collection of all urban forms, elements and dwellers’ psyches. The emotions, triggered by the urban elements through the senses of motion and vison, complete the city image. An ambition for an urban development, where there is no fragmentation of forms, elements and functions is naïve. The flow of spaces we think we want to create is actually a confusing environment, where one can easily loose his location and individuality of mind. Such urban realm will turn the city image from a place with positive and negative characteristics into an unidentified “grey” placelessness. In fact, the city image will become an infinite simple order of sameness. Fig. 38 Story Board: Experiencing Room Continuum
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End Notes Appleyard, D. (1964). The View from the Road. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Landry, C. (2017). Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension. Charles Landry& Chris Murray. Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Milgram, S. (1977). The Individual in a Social World. Essays and Experiments. Stanley Milgram. Morris, D. (2009). The Human Zoo. Random House.
Bibliography Appleyard, D. (1964). The View from the Road. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Canter, D. (1977). The Psychology of Place. The Architectural Press. London. Hilberseimer, L. (1988). In the Shadow of Mies. The Art Institute of Chicago. Holm, L. (2016). The City is a Thinking Machine. The University of Dundee. Landry, C. (2017). Psychology& The City: The Hidden Dimension. Charles Landry& Chris Murray. Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Milgram, S. (1977). The Individual in a Social World. Essays and Experiments. Stanley Milgram. Moore, G. (1997). Advances in Environment, Behaviour, and Design. Vol.4. Plenum Press. New York. Morris, D. (2009). The Human Zoo. Random House. Pope, A. (1966). Ladders. Rice University School of Architecture. Relph, E. (1976). Place and Placelessness. Pion Limited. Rossi, A. (1982). The Architecture of the City. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Figure List Fig. 1 Velislava Mincheva, Dundee figure ground plan Fig. 2 Anastasia Konstantinidi, View from Law Hill Fig. 3 Velislava Mincheva, Dundee edges diagram Fig. 4 Jade Lau, Proposed reading of Dundee's edges Fig. 5 Velislava Mincheva, Kingsway form Fig.6 Velislava Mincheva, Waterfront form Fig. 7 Velislava Mincheva, Newport form Fig. 8 Velislava Mincheva, Expansion of form Fig. 9 Anastasia Konstantinidi, Jade Lau, Edges plan Fig. 10 Jade Lau, Concept diagrams. "Rooms" concept Fig. 11 Anastasia Konstantinidi, Jade Lau, Velislava Mincheva, Biying Wang, Room Continuum Plan Fig. 12 Karen Gardiner, Dundee Waterfront, < https://www.pinterest. co.uk/pin/427701295854835938/> Fig. 13 Velislava Mincheva, Jade Lau, Top to bottom: Dundee, Nolli, Piranesi Fig. 14 Velislava Mincheva, Canonic cities montage Fig. 15 Kevin Lynch, Paths, edges, landmarks, nodes and districts
Fig. 16 Velislava Mincheva, Kingsway road Fig. 17 Velislava Mincheva, Waterfront road Fig. 18 Velislava Mincheva, Newport road Fig. 19 Velislava Mincheva, Top to bottom: residential housing, infrastructure- road, institutional buildings, railway, water Fig. 20 Velislava Mincheva, Paths analysis Fig. 21 Velislava Mincheva, Main paths, nodes, edges and facades Fig. 22 Velislava Mincheva, Dundee facades Fig. 23 Velislava Mincheva, Top to bottom: Kingsway, Waterfront, Newport facade presence in section Fig. 24 Anastasia Konstantinidi, Jade Lau, Area of Room Continuum plan Fig. 25 Velislava Mincheva, Room Continuum fabric Fig. 26 Web Source, Marrakesh fabric Fig. 27 Biying Wang, Dundee reading of motion and image Fig. 28 Velislava Mincheva, Reading of Dundee's edges through motion and vision Fig. 29 Velislava Mincheva, Three edges crossed by a selected route diagram Fig. 30 Velislava Mincheva, Horizontal motion and vision on the three edges
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Fig. 31 Velislava Mincheva, Concentration of attention within the edges's paths Fig. 32 Velislava Mincheva, Room Continuum upper level: Courtyards and Law Hill are visible Fig. 33 Velislava Mincheva, Vertical motion and vision: Attention on facades and Law Hill Fig. 34 Hale Yalincak, Dundee aerial view < https://haleyalincak. wordpress.com/2015/10/10/dundee-in-photos/> Fig. 35 Jade Lau, Room Continuum Fig. 36 Anastasia Konstantinidi, View from Newport Fig. 37 Biying Wang, Story Board: Experiencing Room Continuum Fig. 38 Biying Wang, Story Board: Experiencing Room Continuum
The following text discusses the city image and urban experience of Dundee. Until now the city has been known to be located on the North of the River Tay and with its developing Waterfront. This analysis, however, provides a new reading of the existing Scottish city and critiques what could be its future development. By using the work of theorists such as Kevin Lynch, Donald Appleyard and Charles Landry a framework for research and design is established. This paper concentrates on one of Lynch’s five elements- the path, as the main component to experience city image; it focuses on the façade of the city’s edges; it looks into motion and vision, used by Appleyard, as methods to influence the individual within a city; and investigates the effect of the path, façade, motion and vision on the urban psyche, a term used by Landry, to define the urban experience of the inhabitant. Through both individual research and group design, the aim is to understand the current city image and critique the future development of cities by using Dundee as a model. Room Continuum is a group project in which the “rooms” within the urban settlement from being currently concrete become abstract. A line is drawn between the current and future city image, between order and fragment, between place and non-place; placelessness.