School of Architecture, Building & Design Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Architecture THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE & URBANISM [ARC2224] [ARC61303]
Name
: Lim Pui Yee
Student ID : 0313605 Tutor
: Mr. Nicholas
1.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….....1-2 1.1 Introduction to Site 1.2 Introduction to Cognitive Mapping
2.0 Cognitive Mapping Studies…………….………………………………………...……3-5 3.0 Relation to Kevin Lynch’s Imageability of a City…………………………….……6-7 4.0 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...…8 5.0 References………………………………………………………………………………...9
The aim of this project is to understand one’s perception and spatial behaviour in cities today by creating a cognitive mapping of selected significant urban spaces in the city of KL. We are required to conduct a critical analysis of emerging contemporary urbanism in KL city spaces by using cognitive map (in relations to Kevin Lynch notions of imageability and how it influences people’s perception of the city).
Figure 1 Location of Zone B in Brickfields
Brickfields, a small to medium-sized town and residential neighbourhood evolving to a very commercial extension of downtown Kuala Lumpur. The laidback residential neighbourhood of Brickfields retains a strong South Indian presence along Jalan Tun Sambanthan with countless Indian eateries and retail outlets. In Brickfields, KL Sentral development has rapidly increased to be a new business and financial hub for Kuala Lumpur. KL Sentral is located in a very strategic site as it is central to all the routes and their respective zones. There are different zones which includes the residential and hotel zone, transportation zone, entertainment zone and office zone.
pg. 1
Cognitive map by Tolman was introduced in his article “The cognitive map in rats and men” (1948) discusses to the encoding of large-scale environments into memory and the use of such memories to aid navigation. Cognitive mapping consist of two components; features that are remembered (tangible) and evaluative information about those features (intangible). A cognitive map can show what is important and by omission, reveal what is less important. Kevin Lynch wrote a book “The Image of the City” in 1960, whereby the idea of cognitive mapping is best utilised to explain the imaginability of a city. He argued that people familiarise themselves by using mental maps.
The map below shows both two and three dimensional mages of the east side and surrounding area of Central Park.
Figure 2 Example of Cognitive mapping drawn by Madeline
pg. 2
Figure 3 Cognitive mapping of Zone B in Brickfields
A cognitive map helps to identify what is important, and by omission, reveal what is less important. This method is helpful for city planners or landscape architects in their planning of spaces. Kevin Lynch used sketch maps to show human understanding of large-scale complex environments. In this research, a cognitive mapping of Zone B in Brickfields has been done to find out what its prominent features. A place can be seen or viewed differently due to personal perception and experience around the site.
Based on my analysis, Zone B in Brickfields is a residential district. District can be recognized internally, and occasionally can be used as external reference as a person goes by or toward them. They can also be a boundary in organizing a city which somehow creates edges of the place. The Figure 4 Elevated LRT bridge
elevated LRT bridge acts as a boundary between pg. 3
Bangsar and Brickfields. Bangsar which is located just right beside Brickfields but the elevated LRT bridge became a barrier from reaching both places by walking. Another edge of the site is the Klang River which clearly dividing Brickfields from Kuala Lumpur. Klang River is a strong edge as it is not only visually prominent, but also continuous in form and impenetrable to cross movement. Landmarks recognised in this area are St. Marys Orthodox Syrian Church, Pejabat DBKL and Bank Rakyat. Kevin Lynch stated that landmarks are easily identifiable, if they contrast with their background and if there is some prominence of spatial location.
Landmark of Zone B in Brickfields depends on the familiarities of an observer with their surroundings. For example, the Bank Rakyat Tower as a landmark for locals or even tourist because it has a significant Islamic architectural pattern. As it is a tower, giving a direction to the people heading to KL Sentral from Bangsar. People tend to
Figure 5 Bank Rakyat Tower
remember something dissimilar than the similar. The St. Marys Orthodox Syrian Church also became a landmark of the place because of its architecture style and its cultural purposes. Landmark is part of the district which act as a guidance or direction for the passer-by.
Figure 6 St. Marys Orthodox Syrian Church
According to Lynch, ‘Paths are channels along
which
the
observers
customarily,
occasionally, or potentially moves’ (Lynch, p. 47). Paths affects the finder to its destination. Based on my observation, the Jalan Tun Sambanthan is the primary path of the site as it is the main road heading to KL Sentral and to other district. Users of the road often experiences traffic congestion
Figure 7 Dead end
even though it is not during peak hour. Other than that, there is a few numbers of secondary paths at the pg. 4
site. As it is a residential area, the roads are narrower and I came to realized that there are a lot of dead ends. The dead ends gives a feeling that the site is unplanned. The buildings of the site also has the old and new architecture combination that makes an awkward feeling to the site. This shows that the site is not planned well.
Figure 8 Three different architecture style in the area
Major railroad station are almost always important city nodes. For example, the most prominent node is the KL Sentral station where interchanges happening there. There is also junction at the main road. The junctions and the bridge linking to the opposite of our site, most user trespassed because of the public transport and also the cultural landmark of the place, Zone B in Brickfields. Therefore, it makes a recognizable nodes. A strong physical form is not absolutely essential to the recognition of a node. But where the space has some form, the impact is much stronger. For example, the Arcade Walkway in Little India gives a different experience for the user. It has the essence of the Indian cultural providing to the site. The Arcade Walkway also considered as a landmark because of its sculpture. It is easily identifiable and more likely to be chosen as significance because it has interesting sculpture and of its bright colours.
Figure 8 Arcade Walkway
We tend to remember the landmarks and the path we came from. The cognitive map records the things that I have seen through the journey of the site from residential area to the commercial area.
pg. 5
Lynch wrote that an image is “a picture especially in the mind�, an integration between the tangible city image and the intangible human perception.
When studying Zone B in Brickfields, it is interesting to note how it is made up on the whole. Generally, the area is made up of residential where there is in contrast of the new and old architecture style. As seen in Brickfields, there is still old shophouse retaining the typology along the street, there are also restaurants making the road very lively creating a distinctive identity.
Figure 9 Shophouses along Jalan Tun Sambanthan Figure 8 Arcade Walkway
However, the intensity of an image of a city un is Sambanthan not uniform everywhere but also punctuated with landmarks. Most of the landmarks in Zone B of Brickfields have distinctive forms. For example, the Bank Rakyat Tower easily remembered as the landmark with its form with the Islam architecture
Figure 10 Bank Rakyat Tower
pattern. On the contrary, the DBKL office has a
Figure 8 Arcade Walkway
mixture of Colonial and Islam architecture style
un Sambanthan
which makes it a significance to the area.
Figure 11 Pejabat DBKL Figure 8 Arcade Walkway
un Sambanthan pg. 6
Cognitive mapping is of practical use in many fields including community design, architecture and recreational planning. Lynch’s main argument on the physical imageability of a city are mostly based on 5 elements includes:
Path: routes which people move throughout the city
Edges: boundaries and breaks in continuity
Districts: areas characterised by common characteristics
Nodes: focus points for orientation such as squares and junctions
Landmarks: external points of orientation, usually easily identifiable physical object in urban landscape
Kevin Lynch’s 5 elements theory has become a guidance in this analysis of Brickfields. One can see that the paths are clearly divided into the primary, secondary and tertiary paths based on the density of users of the road. Jalan Tun Sambanthan is the main path of the site. The elevated LRT bridge is visibly the edges in Brickfields. Using Lynch’s definition of districts and by analysing the maps, there are no clear district of the area as it is mostly residential area. On the other hand, the row of shophouses along the streets share the similar typology and profiles, and has many similar businesses. Jalan Tun Sambanthan has high human traffic volume as that is the main road linking to Kuala Lumpur. It is also has the main gathering spots as well as dispersion points. The most recognisable landmark of the area is still the DBKL office, due to the prominence of its architecture style and its location along Jalan Tun Sambanthan.
pg. 7
To sum up, Lynch’s five elements; “paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks” merged together as a powerful image. Based on the theories of the five elements implemented by Kevin Lynch, Zone B is most recognizable by its district which is the residential area, nodes generate at the shophouses along Jalan Tun Sambanthan and also its landmark with different architectural style. The strong culture in terms of intangible qualities such as sound, texture and smell as well as strong tangible qualities such as the shophouse typology in the streets linking to Jalan Tun Sambanthan (Jalan Thamby Abdullah, Jalan Thamby Abdullah 1). As the elevated LRT bridge made it the division between Brickfields and Bangsar.
Lynch believes the city should not only be “organized”, but “it should speak of the individuals and their complex society”. For instance, the Arcade Walkway along Jalan Tun Sambanthan giving a “poetic and symbolic” meaning and be able to retain as much of its historical past. Different people may have different feeling or perception among one another.
Cognitive mapping delivers enhancement in our knowledge about the physical characteristics of places which aids in urban planning. Factors that influence knowledge and recognisability of places include:
Proximity: Nearby places tend to be more familiar to us than places that are distant.
Size: Large places tend to be better known than small places (NYC vs. Oshkosh).
Location: Places on the border are better known than places in the interior (New Orleans vs. St. Louis).
Shape: Places with a distinctive shape are more easily recognized (e.g., the Eiffel Tower).
Social-cultural factors: Places with an important history or cultural distinction are better known (Versailles, Valley Forge)
pg. 8
Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City (pp. 4, 96-105). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press
ARCHITECTURE URBANISM. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2016, from http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.my/2010/09kevin-lynch-image-of-city-1960.html
Mapping: Cognitive maps. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2016, from http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/sommerb/sommerdemo/mapping/cogmap.htm
Tolman E.C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Psychological Review, 55, 189-208
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