urban morphology an analysis of a fictional urbanism : dundee
contents
i
introduction
ii
figure ground plans:dundee
iii
group configuration aims methodology outcomes
dundee 1793 dundee 1893 dundee 2010 dundee 2030
figure ground plans:urban juxtapositions
rome rome:piazza del popollo rome:bologna manhattan las vegas champs elysees algiers:obus plan san francisco barcelona glasgow glenrothes
iv
individual profiles
v
conclusions
vi
bibliography
introduction
Urban Architecture Studio is a Masters unit of ten enthusiastic students interested in various urban issues. The studio space is divided into individual workspaces, a social area and a central discourse zone. The group holds weekly meetings to discuss and critique each individual’s progress. As a method of encouraging dialogue a Produce, Test and Critique ethos has been employed. Naturally there are overlapping ideas between members thus, the group is categorised into four cluster groups. This is illustrated in the Thesis Proposals Diagram. The clusters provide an opportunity for shared discussion on specific issues relating to the members of each group. This information is then relayed back to the unit in the form of conclusive analysis often in booklet or model form. The group uses the studio as an opportunity to unite ideas and
work as a collective. The weekly meetings and individual analysis aims to provide an understanding of Dundee as a city and identify existing problems. The unit will collate ideas and city observations which will lead to radical experiments. With the Knowledge gained over the course of this academic year, the team seeks to analyse and respond to ‘Architecture as public space’. The aim for the year is to identify current urban issues, perform an analysis and develop an idea that essentially reflects or contributes to, Architecture as Public Space. The group has chosen Dundee as a test bed for representing and testing ideas. These ideas are not always practical proposals for the city, however, Dundee acts as a platform for discourse into the relationship between the city and the various thesis ideas. The unit will collectively learn the values
of the city through hypothetical propositions placed in a real urban context. This hypothetical element to the unit’s work has sparked a discourse regarding the value of fiction towards architecture. Dundee has enabled each member to position their interests into particular zones of the city, therefore providing a more focused mindset for each individual. Through analysis the group has used a number of methods to represent ideas and hypothetical proposals in the city. As the year progresses individuals may choose to put forward a very real proposal. The unit has resisted from simply producing a plethora of Figure Ground plans and has experimented with more investigative alternatives to analyse the city. Photomontages and Models have been used extensively to represent the endless possibilities which could
introduction
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Centreless-ness
hitectu re arc Identity
dio
Artifacts Shaping Cities
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They allow the group to analyse and compare urban design principles that have been adopted in other cities around the World. The montages merge two real conditions together to form a poetic vision of how Dundee meets another urban discourse. This raises issues of how urban forms may knit together and begins to suggest how two opposing urban discourses may leak into each other. This experiment allows for a comparative analysis on issues such as, public space; urban pattern; scale; density; typology; coastline/ city relationship; infrastructure; social impacts; legibility and solid to void. These experiments aim to postpone predetermined ideas that the group may have and encourage them to consider
various possibilities during the design process. Other research methods have included colour coding, historical maps, city surveys, comparative studies, plaster casting and programme analysis. This book serves to combine the knowledge gained through the said methodologies, primarily that of urban morphological studies through photomontage.
urb a
inspire the future development of Dundee. The experiments are not factual and SHOULD NOT be read as literal proposals.
Compact City
Tall & Green
Historical Remnants
Paths + Squares Speedy Spaces
Territory Digital Urbanism
figure ground plans:dundee
dundee1793
The coastline of Dundee in 1793 is the natural line the Tay took past the city. To montage this line onto current Dundee, is in effect wiping the decisions of history away to reveal a Dundee more in tune with its past. There is no built form, urban grain or typology etc. but what can be concluded from doing this investigation is a relation of city to water or solid to void which can be argued is lost in the current plan. It can be reasoned that with the built form on the edge of the coast, Dundee could derives parallels to other waterside coast lines cities like Bayonne or Santander where the entire coast line becomes a public place, that of vision and leisure and space. To re-establish the coastline is to create a barrier edge which cannot be argued. It is a nature intended with the small signs of alterations and decisions that would lead to what we have now. The urban grain ends upon the
line, as does the infrastructure, massing and legibility with no reason to doubt the seemingly natural course of the river but accept it for what it is. As an exercise it not only creates a greater understanding on the organic growth of the city but creates questions about the city and its relationship to the Tay.
dundee 1893
As the docklands expanded, the Victorian coastline has a better correspondence to what we see today. The coastline of 1793 has been expanded to accommodate the increasing dock sizes and the railway from Fife. By montaging this river edge onto modern Dundee the current desolate waterfront can be understood from a point of view of necessity over public spaces. As we strive to find a solution for the current waterfront area, most concepts place emphasise on public integration and accessibility to the waterfront rather than of economic requirements which is what the waterfront grew upon. Other than an understanding of why most of the built form is where it is today, this montage may find its strength in asking questions of decision making and practicality in future urban planning. The original coastline is all but gone and the resulting city is pressed hard up against
the edge between centre and industry. To hypothetically propose a coastline regression upon modern Dundee, parallels can be drawn from Aberdeen and its docklands which could have easily suffered the same fate if not for the oil and fishing industry maintaining a strong economy, where as the jute industries collapse set forth a decline and abandonment of its maritime routes. Aberdeen has a clearly visible docklands and harbour which, though are not aesthetically pleasing, are always busy providing an atmosphere of economic strength. Dundee on the other hand, currently has no such use to fill the docklands, so nostalgic as it may initially seem to reintroduce the docklands of a Victorian age, the photos of tall ships, whaling ships and the busying of a jute filled economy is long gone. To understand the many points of urbanism upon this montage would be
an excerise only half complete and the real conclusion to be drawn from this would be; if the docklands where reintroduced what purpose would they serve? and if the idea of an original coastline was in some way proposed symbolically, as urbanists, what space could pay enough respect to the city’s historical predecessors?
dundee2010
The scale and mass employed throughout the waterfront area is principally a mix of larger scale buildings with confusing ranges in vertical scale, ranging from single storey to high rise. These scales differ greatly from the existing town centre, and therefore enhance the discontinuity of the space. The few buildings that occupy the expansive space are littered in an ad-hoc fashion, leaving the area feeling exposed and vulnerable to the elements. The existing urban pattern of the town centre disintegrates as it reaches the main road. There is no respect for the existing urban fabric within the waterfront area, with no indication of the existing grid continuing down to the river edge, the building positions only responding to the lines of the road and river edge. There is very little public space between the buildings. An area of parkland resides between the
Tay Road Bridge and the cultural buildings, and also leads on to a path along the waterfront. This area is infrequently used, due to its poor connections to the city centre and close vicinity to the existing infrastructure. The Tay Road Bridge’s central position causes problems when directing the substantial flow of traffic throughout Dundee. The infrastructure cuts off the town centre from the river, acting as a physical and visual barrier between the two territories. The railway travels underground, allowing the vehicular roads to take precedence upon the surface. The building typologies which form the current waterfront are primarily large scale commercial and cultural buildings. These buildings make no conscious attempt to relate to the existing typology of the town centre, or with each other, producing a collection of unique disjointed forms. Due to the lack of public space
and identity, there is very little social interaction, with no reason to be in the space, apart from travelling between the buildings. This conflicts the initiative of the buildings, which aim to produce a social atmosphere within them. Public accessibility consists of a confused network of level crossings, busy roads and overpasses which act as weak links to the centre. The only legible path between the two areas is in the raised overpass. A pathway flows along the river edge, behind the waterfront buildings. Although public, these intimate spaces generate an uneasy atmosphere and feeling of intrusion. The current city coastline is a large flat edge against the Tay River, failing to interact with the city itself. There are few instances where the river can be viewed from the city, the Discovery Point being the exception. This site allows the River to protrude within the hard urban edge, echoing the dockland aesthetics of the past.
dundee2030
The scale of the proposed buildings will be primarily made up of four to five storey blocks at a similar scale to the existing town centre builds. The mass of these buildings seems overpowering within the streetscape narrative. The sheer scale of the large central civic space seems grossly inappropriate, in relation to the urban grain. The density of the waterfront has significantly increased, taking the form of small city blocks that create more intimate street spaces; this strongly contrasts with the lack of density within the civic centre space, leaving the area feeling open and vulnerable to the elements. They have attempted to carry on the existing urban street pattern by following the lines of the urban grid, although, these lines are broken at several points by infrastructure. This does however, create through routes to the waterfront itself, and open up the area for public usage. The main public space takes
the form of two immense areas of parkland and water running down the centre of the waterfront. The overpowering use of scale and surrounding mass, plus the close vicinity of surrounding infrastructure, contribute towards an uncomfortable atmosphere. The V & A creates a new cultural centre between its entrance and the Discovery Point.
The central civic space aims to be the new city centre in which the public can congregate and where events can now be held, although without true identity, there is no reason to spend time within this awkward space. The entrance space to the V & A seems more successful in drawing people down a coherent route, and within the building.
The Tay Road Bridge keeps its central position; however, the traffic is now dispersed through a series of roads, which divert off from the bridge at various points for different destinations. Although this reduces the amount of traffic, it seems extremely impractical, as there is a strong pedestrian presence proposed within these areas.
The proposed public access consists of a network of level crossings at the corners of the new city blocks. There are now legible visual routes, which respect lines of the existing grid, and carry them down the streets to the River itself. These routes are broken by the surrounding infrastructure.
The building typologies are a variety of retail, commercial, residential and cultural units, all comprised within these new city blocks. These buildings attempt to relate to the existing form of the city, yet appear entirely contemporary in their design.
The proposed coastline keeps the large flat edge against the Tay River, but opens up the central civic space to a large pool feature. The V & A proposal is the only area which breaks the monotony of the flat edge, allowing true interaction with the waterfront.
figure ground plans:urban juxtapositions
rome
An increase in density is at the forefront of thought when considering Rome on Dundee’s waterfront. In its current state, Dundee is not a particularly dense city and the question arises whether development of the waterfront should go ahead when there are ample opportunities to redevelop within and close to the city centre. However with the development of the waterfront to go ahead an increase in density allows for an increase in encounter opportunities, creating a series of smaller streets in an organic configuration. A denser fabric increases interaction. This much denser massing gives a different scale to the streets of Dundee, becoming more intimate circulation space. There is no predominant pattern to the Centre of Dundee or its waterfront however there are clear north to south orientated
roads and trade lanes that run from the main high street to the waterfront. As important circulation to the river, introducing an Irregular Rome pattern allows for these lanes to continue and meet the river Tay but in a more organic fashion. This may be more beneficial when considering against the council proposal with its larger boulevard style streets and open public space which are fully open to the harsh prevailing wind. A more intimate street running away from the wind may offer a more pleasant and picturesque experience. Public space is key and the pleasing density of Rome’s figure ground begins to alleviate towards the rear of the traditional centre (Caird Square), creating a gateway to the waterfront and a more focused centre of town. Shifting the centre from the entrance of the Overgate allows for a large statement to be made
with a central public space that is reconnected with the waterfront. People space is dominant within this configuration allowing the waterfront which was once a slave to the vehicle and traffic flow measures to be a more enjoyable space. The building typology remains largely consistent with the city centre, with predominantly retail at ground floor with habitation on the above floors. Through an increased density and more intimate street space public interaction and encounter (with the other) is encouraged. Although rather organic and uncontrolled in plan, the reality of Rome on Dundee is a legible experience of space through association with markers and urban artefacts, through a network of compressing and expanding spaces.
rome:piaza del popollo
The Piazza del Popollo in Rome gives an understanding of what a radial urban pattern would have on Dundee. Placed at where the Tay Bridge connects with the coastline, the Piazza acts as a true “gateway to the city�, creating a prominent nodal point and becoming a powerful first view of Dundee to the observer. The three main arteries into the city which radiate from this point are framed by the twin churches facing the obelisk. The observer sees how he enters the node and has a clear sense of how he may progress either towards the centre of Dundee or towards Perth. The new plan imposes a fairly dense urban grain on Dundee, however small courtyards in the heart of most of the buildings create private space away from the public street. Rome has a very organic urban pattern where, as society grew in population and complexity,
a planned space organization of squares, piazzas, and such like, evolved. An important consideration to note is that Rome was founded on humanistic principles: the pedestrian dominates over any vehicular networks, with a labyrinth of intimate footpaths framing smaller landmarks throughout the city. As a result, the main vehicular networks are predominately restricted to the roads radiating from the obelisk. Along these three major routes, there are specific termini and landmarks which give a clear sense of direction and clarity to the city centre. These paths and landmarks help to the give a sense of orientation to the observer, creating a journey of a distinct series of events, a reaching and passing of one subgoal after another. Similarly, the radiating form allows the three main routes to pass through, and make a feature of, elements
within the city which are currently undervalued, such as the Howff, while also connecting directly with different districts of the city such as Lochee. Buildings create a hard edge along Riverside Drive towards Perth. As they approach the waterfront however, small public spaces appear and allow for social engagement whilst also taking advantage of riverside views. Social engagement occurs around the landmarks where ample of space is provided away from the vehicular routes.
rome:bologna
“Return to the Rediscovering the William H Whyte
Agora: centre�
Massing and Scale Bologna has a collection of buildings with varying masses in scales. However, there is a very legible diagram which allows these to work in harmony. Similarly, Dundee has numerous scales and massing strategies however, there is no apparent relationship between the buildings. In Rome the change in scale and massing demarcates each zone; however they are united by the continuous rhythm which the plan follows. The proposal suggests that the city may incorporate various scales and massing as a method of restoring clarity in the urban grain. Density The Bologna area of Rome is predominantly eight storey high apartments. The high density
blocks radiate out from a central public space. This space encourages social interaction whilst acting as a nodal point. Current developments in Dundee appear to be clusters of buildings with and attempt to provide a shared public space. However, due to lack of activity on the waterfront a nodal point which accommodates high density accommodation and other functions is vital. Urban Pattern The urban pattern of Bologna appears very ordered and pleasing to the eye. It is organized around a central nucleus which provides relief from the apartment towers. The various zones surrounding Bologna follow a similar geometric pattern. This plan provides clarity and a sense of direction towards the centre of the community. Dundee, however, has a number of conflicting axis and geometric
orders. This proposal suggests that the waterfront design could be dictated by a particular node. The V&A will influence the future development of the waterfront however; the council’s proposal does not appear to create any particular relationship between the V&A and the city. This proposal suggests that the waterfront could radiate out from the central artifact which provides a hierarchy of spaces and intricate routes throughout the city. This urban discourse will sit in contrast to a city park which provides relief from the cities mass.
manhattan
Manhattan is based on the gridiron plan which has, essentially, a very simple idea: a net of roads divides the urban terrain into identical blocks, which can easily be extended in any direction. The imposed plan is made up of a series of blocks, uniform in size and spacing in between. These towers of high density urban form juxtapose against the relatively low rise urban sprawl of Dundee. The urban pattern gives a clear direction to movement in a north east/south west direction with the blocks creating a hard urban edge along the road, however this may encourage people to pass through the city rather than stop as there is no clear indication to traffic or pedestrians travelling along this route where exactly the city centre is. The immense horizontal urban form of Manhattan demands an increase in speed in getting
form one place to another, and so the varying networks of movement, each with its own rate of sped attached, are at the heart of the principles of this gridiron system. The impression of the city is derived from the impressions produced by all of these networks (foot, road and rail) interacting with one anotherthe pedestrian is forever aware that there will be an intersection of roads which must be crossed as he reaches the end of the city block. Where the two plans of Dundee and Manhattan converge, there may be awkward intersections which this bold grid is not used to dealing with. This type of plan also refrains from creating unique open public spaces for fear of breaking up the uniformity of its grid lines. As a result the organic nature of the coastline lacks the more natural qualities with a variety of open public space it is suited to, but rather it is dominated by cold, heavy architecture.
The Manhattan Grid creates a dialogue between the centre of Dundee and its coastline with vision lines connecting the two between every building block, providing easy access down to the waterfront. The blocks, however, allow for little social engagement and activity to take place here as they are built right up to the water, thus handing over the waterfront to become a busy road to the vehicles using the bridge to gain access to or leave the city. Similar to the perceptual lack of nearness to the city centre, the monotony of the grid and the solidity of the building blocks gives no sense of direction and orientation. The blocks, by their very nature, lack a sense of scale- all are identical in length and breadth, perceptually giving no sense of progression towards or away from the waterfront.
las vegas
las vegas at scale
las vegas scaled
las vegas densified
Las Vegas in the Nevada desert is a city that had spawned as a result of the highway, with the Las Vegas Strip at its core. Along this strip key buildings pop up that are surrounded by parking lots, and the prime real estate at the side of the road is populated by signage. As a strategy for dealing with infrastructure, this was placed onto the Dundee waterfront. However, because of the scale of las Vegas in comparison with Dundee, the plan has been scaled down to a size that is more appropriate to Dundee Perhaps the first noticeable aspect with this urban form onto the Dundee waterfront is the contrasting scale, density and urban pattern that this introduces. It is treated as a car space, and retains some of the qualities of the current waterfront area but perhaps in a more organised manner, a single route.
Infrastructure: As a plan that is centred around infrastructure, like the Champ Elysees plan, uses a single device (in this case a highway rather than a boulevard) to deal with infrastructure, and does so at the detriment to Public Space. Within Dundee there is a distribution of public space that in some case act as a buffering between building and road, rather than the parking as illustrated with the Las Vegas Strip plan. City and coastline: With all of the buildings facing the single highway, and the backs of the buildings are facing both the city and the river, questions are raised on how the pan could be incorporated into Dundee. Should density be added? In the diagram, density is added to the plan using a similar urban grain to incorporate the scheme. The principal remains the same, with key buildings built along the road
and it becomes a more habitable place. With the continuation of urban grain and pattern, paths and legibility are introduced that lead to the waterfront, cutting across the main infrastructure route. With this montage exercise, questions on how to knit urban morphologies were raised. With some extension of density and urban grain it became clear how a plan like this is accepting of other urban patterns, an experiment on the technique of using the montage as a design tool and to experiment with urban morphology and how to blend different urban conditions into a plan.
champs elysees
differences in urban grain
scale of public space
defining an entrance to dundee
The Champ Elysees in Paris is one of the largest and perhaps the most famous boulevards in the world, it carries large numbers of cars and mediates between public pedestrian space and road space successfully. The current problem on the waterfront is primarily the infrastructure. Can this model be brought to Dundee? The scale and massing of this part of Paris is focused around the boulevard and the Place Charles De Gaulle, and many of which facing the street are 5 – 7 stories. This is a scale that could sit in conjunction to Dundee within the city centre area, however the scale of the buildings further west on the Nethergate and Perth road diminish in scale and gradually become more domestic in size. Density and urban pattern : The density of this part of Paris would not sit in conjunction with
the density of Dundee because of its uniformity. The density as well as the urban pattern/grain of Dundee changes from east to west; a quality that is not present in this part of Paris. However, it is important to note, changes in urban grain and density also occur in Paris but over a larger area due to scale of the city. Public Space: The scale of public spaces within this montage are in contrast to those within Dundee. This montage creates a vast public space in the area of the Arc de Triumph, If this is compared to a space within Dundee, (for example Caird Square), it calls into question how a space like this would be used and what type of program would need to be situated around it to support it. However, in its original context, Place Charles de Gaulle also accommodates infrastructure. As a strategy for dealing with
the problem of infrastructure, a single route through the waterfront works as a unifier and would tie the length of the waterfront together, however in this case, the scale, density and urban patterns of Paris do not sit in conjunction. As an intersection device, this plan shows how the bridge may disembark traffic into the Place Charles de Gaulle and create an entrance to Dundee, something that Dundee lacks, where the interchange and off ramps from the bridge have no sense of place. City and Coast Line: with a urban plan such as this, the built form of Dundee would re-connect with the water edge simply by virtue by having density up to its water edge. However, due to the scale of the infrastructure, particularly at the interchange point, the disconnection is to great and the city centre remains disassociated with its waterfront.
algiers:obus plan
Le Corbusier’s proposal for the city of Algiers like many of his masterplans was a strong and bold move. In disregarding the history of the city, he proposed demolishing a large portion of the town to make way for new high density accommodation as well as new infrastructure. This proposal would include a new business centre near the docks and a residential district in the hills near the city, with the new infrastructure connecting it all. Le Corbusier saw the car as the future so incorporating infrastructure into his plan was vital, the new motorway would be an occupied space with living accommodation beneath for over 180000 people. The approach of having such high density living and low density building means that a large amount of space that was once old Algiers would now become new open public space.
greater open public space around buildings, however the public space allocated on this scale is too large and is not appropriate to the scale of Dundee. The introduction of this methodology on a smaller scale may be more appropriate towards Dundee.
Scale and density and public space Plan Obus introduces High density living and Low density building. This methodology doesn’t sit in conjunction with Dundee as its existing density is quite low. High density living allows there to be
The waterfront of Dundee is a mix of roads and railways, and this detaches the city from the river. Plan Obus uses infrastructure as a generator, and joins building and road together. Instead of the empty dead space that surrounds
Disregarding the existing layout of the city this plan places down its own order and pattern and takes nothing from the existing city. Streets have been removed from the outside context and internalised within the proposed buildings, the outside becoming an area of open public spaces and green park land, with the paths through the open space replacing the urban pattern of streets and buildings. This approach would disregard the rich history and context of Dundee and may not be an appropriate solution.
infrastructure, Le Corbusier proposed to inhabit the space. One of the key issues for any city today is how to deal with the infrastructure; the concept of inhabiting the space underneath them could be a strategy that could work within Dundee. Plan Obus removes the existing and sets down new order, the city’s existing communities and areas divided into separate districts and the population to live in high density housing. The social impact this plan would have on Dundee could be a negative one. With the existing communities and neighbourhoods breaking down and new tower communities and tower neighbourhoods replacing them. The main infrastructure of the plan runs along the coastline; with the housing underneath the people that inhabit this space have a strong connection to the water. This plan could sit in conjunction the city as it introduces new relationships to the water and public open space along the river edge. However this road could act as a barrier to the rest of the population and further disconnect them from the waterfront.
san francisco
Scale and Massing The scale and massing of San Francisco has been carefully considered. There is a sense of clarity produced by the solid block and the negative street space with minimal courtyards and voids. A variance in the scale of blocks creates permeability, whilst maintaining harmony with the larger blocks. Dundee does not create a balance between alternating scales and massing. There are areas of clarity however, as contemporary developments progress this clarity seems to break down. Urban Pattern Dundee has various urban patterns particularly suited to each zone of Dundee. These zones are divided by roads and make no effort to accentuate the various urban discourses. There is no evidence of attempts made to knit these grains together. San Francisco, clearly demarcates the shifted grid
using the diagonal Market Street as a device for grafting. The montages show how Dundee may introduce a shifted grid which relates to the water with a clear division from the city. The bold shift allows this to work as it provides clarity and identification of a zone.
barcelona
In comparison to Dundee, Barcelona has set out strict proportions which result in a very uniform massing strategy. The buildings have an average height of six stories and tend to built to the edge of the grid boundary. Massing has been considered at intersections as certain corners have been chamfered, in order to reduce the scale and to create a more fluid route for pedestrians. It also allows the space to be read as a square and encourages activity within these spaces. Barcelona’s grid is merged with the irregular gothic quarter of the city. This contrast of scale and massing is what inspired this montage of large ordered blocks against Dundee irregular grain. Barcelona is an exemplar of how two opposing urban discourses can be knitted together. In particular areas of the city, roads have been used to simply demarcate these two grains. The
city also uses a knitting method which allows the grid to leak in to the irregularity of the suburbs. This montage illustrates how an ordered grid could knit into the irregular waterfront and university quarter. Currently Dundee lacks a central public space which encapsulates the activity of city. Plaza de Catalunya, in Barcelona, creates a space which the grid feeds into. This proposed square for the waterfront would provide a space which relates to the V&A and provides a sense of place to the waterfront. Barcelona has a very rational design for traffic and pedestrians in comparison to the existing Dundee system. Traffic lights and intersections form an organized system for commuting as does the councils proposal. However, Barcelona is more advanced with its underground rail network.
Dundee has a mixture of different typologies predominantly juxtaposed alongside each other. However, Barcelona uses a very uniform typology of stone buildings with ground floor retail space and upper level accommodation. Contemporary proposal aim to knit into there surrounding context. Dundee has a number of small lanes and intricate spaces as does the gothic quarter of Barcelona. However, the council has proposed a The buildings of Barcelona are predominately organized around a consistent central courtyard whereas Dundee tends to organize its accommodation around irregular voids.
glasgow
Buildings in Glasgow have an average height of six stories when compare to Dundee’s average of five stories. Glasgow comprise with a smaller unit of massing when comparing to Dundee, it creates a route for pedestrians. Glasgow generates more sense of enclosure of the streets and spaces to Dundee. The montages contrasted the irregular Dundee gain with Glasgow’s regular grain. In comparison to Dundee, Glasgow has a higher density living. This montage illustrates how an ordered grid could knit into the irregular waterfront and university quarter. Currently Dundee lacks of a central public space which encapsulates the activity of city. Taking out a building from the Glasgow plan proposed a public square for the waterfront, which
would provide a space relating to the V&A. Dundee has a mixture of different typologies predominantly juxtaposed alongside each other. However, Glasgow uses a very uniform typology of stone buildings with ground floor consisting retail space and upper level accommodation. Dundee has a number of small lanes and intricate spaces and Glasgow has long and direct route. The buildings of Glasgow are predominately organized around a consistent central courtyard whereas Dundee tends to organize its accommodation around irregular voids.
glenrothes
The result of superimposing the centre of Glenrothes new town on Dundee’s waterfront is not too dissimilar in density to its current situation. The mall that dominates the town is of a huge scale and does add a density however its surrounding landscape of car parks and traffic flow measures speak of the same language that already exists, a vehicle dominant space. The scale of the space is then changed through the placing of a large mall twice the size of the current Overgate mall. With such an object dominating the layout of the waterfront, It begins to undermine the centre of town, as creating an out of town style superstore at its heart will only lead to decline in use on one of the areas, or a dilution of retail throughout the city centre. Pattern is irrelevant when what has been done is the placing of a large alien object within
a parking landscape however what has resulted is the termination of all the main north to south running lanes and roads with a car park, much like the centre of Glenrothes and other Scottish new towns.
Dispersed meeting points are created around the wall/mall. There is no centre or focus to the waterfront and it becomes a wall between the town and the river. This is not dissimilar to the current social situation.
The inner mall offers covered public street space however this plan predominantly serves the vehicle, making the car park the public space.
A very clear and legible plan is created through the placing of Glenrothes town centre onto the waterfront, which essentially becomes an object in a car park landscape. However the reality is a spaghetti of infrastructure which creates confusing and uncomfortable human space.
The vehicle is the inhabitant of this space. With the mall functioning as a new out of town superstore, in town, loading bays, car parks and traffic flow measures become the generators of this space. What results is predominantly awkward and uncomfortable space for people to inhabit. “ There is no there, there�. The building typology is changed drastically. The waterfront becomes a retail unit.
The waterfront now consists of a huge car park landscape as void and a sprawling object mall as solid. There is an uncomfortable spatial relationship between this and the city centre.
individual profiles sophie agolini paul calder donal hardy tom herd ross mcdonald david mcnabb andrew stenhouse derek rae may yan sammy yip
individual profilessophie agolini
The paths, the network of movement through the urban complex, are the most potent means by which pedestrians move through the city. People observe the city while moving through it, and along these paths the other environmental elements are arranged and related. However, in this twenty first century the emancipation of the pedestrian plane has resulted from the necessities of traffic technology and as auto traffic increases and separates the sides of the street, the resulting sacrifice of pedestrian mobility becomes so unbearable that the traditional street can no longer contain the problem; it must be solved by new architectonic methods. Systems and networks which are constructed to follow their own laws and which may be linked up at will suggesting that, in this modern metropolis, its setting can still be scaled to
the individual pedestrian. My thesis will look at designs which contribute towards a more humane environment for the urban pedestrian, defining the pedestrian level as an independent plane, such as bridges, gallerias, under- or overpasses, new networks which could be summed up by Louis Kahn’s statement “A street wants to be a building”. The investigation will also heavily involve looking at slow spaces- older urban forms which were initially designed with the basic needs of the pedestrian in mind. Often organized as a sequence of spaces, they are planned paths with fixed halting points, a family of spatial points linked by continuous movement, giving a clear direction to the observer. This clear orientation, the ability to keep track of spatial relationships as they change relative to the movement of the pedestrian is an essential
companion to mobility. “Mobility is an event-space, a sequence of appointments and rendezvous” -Anthony Hoete, 2003
individual profilespaul calder
Community Territoriality Dundee is a city made up of many different communities and cultures which pull together to create the collective cityscape. The various zones of Dundee are not only divided by physical barriers, but by the people that represent these communities themselves. The most common use of territoriality is shaped by the numerous street gangs, created out of the housing schemes located all over Dundee. This use of territory is employed throughout various areas of the city, at certain points unified, and at other points blurred or fractured. This creates a layered urban landscape of depth and tension, which should be respected in order to navigate the city. There are certain spaces within the city which have been forgotten or rejected by the general public due to a
lack of aesthetic, spatial and social qualities, but embraced by underground factions and street gangs. The gangs of Dundee claim these dilapidated spaces as their own, within their respective urban territories. Conflict is inherent to the urban condition and the conflictive nature of these spaces seems to invite conflict itself. Is there an architectural language which can contribute towards an area of the city that individuals can claim as their own, through creative expression? Can this reclamation of the city and the culture of our young generation influence the public consciousness with kinetic architecture, in order to generate a more integrated community which closes the gap between generations? Through the analysis of the various housing schemes of Dundee and the territories they
have forged, I intend to show how the underlying history of these areas can be incorporated into a masterplan which encourages these groups to venture out of their internal communities, to areas which can culturally and educationally better themselves.
individual profilesdonal hardy
Speedy Spaces Within many of our cities there are major pieces of infrastructure. The infrastructure is an invaluable part to any city and in most cases a major piece of infrastructure will bring prosperity to a city in an economic manor and connects the city to a wider context but it also divides the city. The Highway creates undesirable spaces that the urban fabric often turns its back on. Entire districts of cities can be divided and the road becomes a chasm, huge amounts of cityspace is handed over to the highway, particularly around interchanges and sliproads, and become dead spaces without program or function. Is this acceptable? Can speedy space be public space? There are spaces within cites that have been created by highways. Spaces that have
been leftover and are without program,how do you occupy this urban vacuum that has been created by the highway? How do you make public space aroundinfrastructure? Is there a new type of urbanism that is generated by and reacts to infrastructure to create habitable public spaces? The intention of this thesis is to explore the various aspects that are within this topic of ‘speedyspace’ and investigate them through design. The site and test bed for this investigation will be located on the waterfront of Dundee where the domination of infrastructure has created an area that lacks public space and any definition of place.
individual profilestom herd
The garden city, adopted as the planning model for the design of post war British new towns, led to the creation of objects in green landscape design. The centre of town becomes a mall, often a sprawling one story super object in a landscape of car parks. Surrounded by trees, of course. This has created vehicle dominant, people unfriendly space at the centre of town. Like a wall, these malls begin to split communities and create multiple, dispersed centres. It is the intention of this thesis by using a Scottish new town, Glenrothes as a case study to highlight the problems associated with this and to provide a solution for restoring a centre to the town. Through a study of successful precedent and examining less than adequate proposals, it is also hoped that a new model for new town ‘centre of town’ design can be achieved to reap the benefits associated with a collective space.
‘I was rather out of [place] in this picture’
Glenrothes Civic Square 2011
individual profilesross mcdonald
‘The model of urban development by expansion voids the city itself. The city within its borders is not just a matter of recycling the urban context over another urban context. The idea is to achieve a new cohesion from disparate pieces of cities that have become disconnected in their isolation.’ Atelier Castro
use. The contrast between the fullness and the emptiness, the built and the void, characterises the fragmented urban landscape. A conglomeration of these idiosyncratic spaces can fabricate a heterogeneous quality binding historical layers; visibly recounting its historical importance.
Denissof Casi - City upon a City
We think of cities as dense places, characterised by there depth in built form and functions. A city should be a place of life; urbanity; an artificial world contrasted by the openness of the surrounding nature. However this fullness of cities is contrasted by an empty or negative zone. Old industries have disappeared leaving vacant vacuum like spaces within the city’s totality awaiting new
‘Architecture should be sensitive to those emotional qualities that define the city, melancholy, expectancy, pathos, hope. If one accepts that architecture is about altering and extending what is already there, one can engage the powerful presence of the real so that the aura of urbanity is amplified and extended in the place that one is working. The complexity and interconnectedness of the city is sustained by such instances of
profound invention.’ Adam CarusoEssay:The Emotional City
The thesis will analyse the model of a compact city through creatively re-invigorating and densifying parafunctional space defined by nikos papastergiadis as ‘liminal spaces’. The term is superimposed on these spaces in an attempt to break from the negative typology within which these spaces are presented in current urban discourse.
individual profilesdavid mcnabb
This thesis will examine the physical and spatial complexities of the built environment. Urban Morphology and the relationship between urban pattern and conflicting urban discourses will form the basis of this thesis. In order to investigate these issues effectively, syntactical experiments will be carried out, as a means of extracting underlying patterns and structure. Space Syntax Research, was founded at the University College of London, in the 1970’s and has successfully incorporated the results of their research into design proposals. The Research Laboratory views the built environment as, “systems of space”, and analyses them ‘configurationally’, as a method of uncovering underlying patterns and structure.” They produce Syntactical diagrams, which outline issues such as, pedestrian movement and street pattern. These processes will be used as a method of organising
the irregularities and extracting order from the chaos of Dundee’s urban grain. The results of these experiments will be rigorously analysed, therefore outlining the effects a design proposition will have on the built environment. Experiments will be carried on a weekly basis with particular focus on the area whereby two contradictory discourses meet. The concepts of Grafting and Knitting will be researched and represented through a range of hypothetical photomontage solutions. All Syntax results will be converted into statistical information, therefore providing a clear analysis into key issues which shape cities. This information will inform the proposition of piece architecture as a public space for the city of Dundee.
individual profilesandrew stenhouse
The evolution and adaption of the city has never changed throughout history as fast as the city changes now. We increasingly design buildings to last fewer and fewer years and replace them with architecture designed for a similar fate. The result of this could be hypothesised this will lead to the grain of the city lacking a historical remnant from these eras. We seem to understand and retain what is already classified as historically important but what is seemingly failing to be understood is the pre-emptively historic. Originally, the question was posed; how can historical remnants create a base for social and architectural growth within the city? And in investing this, the study has looked at the physical, hypothetical, subjective and most recently the psychological or ethereal quality felt when experiencing the built form in its abandoned state. This has narrowed ideas about the nature of this quality
and how historical architecture draws many parallels to abandoned architecture. This is due in part to analysis between the abandoned town of Pyramiden and that of Dundee. As the thesis continues the aim is to analyse deeper into the abandoned city as a historical remnant and most recently the notion of people upon these artefacts and the supposition of how people used to and how people now can experience these places.
individual profilesderek rae
“Our world is one of connection, not disconnection”
people and communities within cities?
Kazys Varnelis Simultaneous environments – social connection and new media
With information and communication being so easily accessible how will this affect our libraries, museums and galleries? People will quite happily swap visiting these for the comfort of their own private space, just as people will quite happily debate and argue over a website but are less inclined to speak their mind within a physical context. With all this information that is available to us and so easy for everyone to access, does that necessarily mean it is the right information? Just as a person in the UK can find out the news in China can they simultaneously find out what is happening in their own community? With all this information, people are sometimes still ignorant of what’s going on around them, preferring to swap their actual physical community for online ones full of
Architecture and Digital Media Today we live in the information age, communication is instant and available anywhere. Mobile devices such as phones and laptops allow us access to information anywhere anytime. In this new age we are rapidly changing the way we live, people would rather watch online and on-demand than actual television channels, the radio is now second to the IPod and Spotify. Social networking allows us to keep in touch with old friends and make countless new ones, people we might never physically meet. With all these changes happening so fast what impact does that have on the urban environment, how do these changes impact on
likeminded individuals. Through examining these points and the influence of this new digital culture this thesis will try to examine the effect of the digital on the physical realm and to see if new spaces and new hybrid programs can emerge. In the aim to creating a new piece of architecture as public space within the city, to enhance discourse and debate over local matters and concerns, and to increase awareness of local identity and heritage.
individual profilesmay yan
“Cultural landscapes, therefore, are ‘signifiers of the culture of those who have made them‘.” (Cosgrove 1993) In this paper, specific references on architect- Leon Krier; philosopherRicoeur; and architect-Auguste Choisy. According to Leon Krier’s claim: “the whole of Paris is a preindustrial city which still works, because it is so adaptable, which the new creations of the 20th century will never be. A city like Milton Keynes cannot survive an economic crisis, or any other kind of crisis, because it is planned as a mathematically determined social and economic project. If that model collapses, the city will collapse with it.” Aim of the paper is investigate and discuss about industrial impact on a city. Refer to Dundee’s shrinking population, with the decline of jute industry. Does mono-functional zoning death
in today’s society? Will Dundee gain prosperous through multifunctional zoning? But then it seems some of the industrial culture still making impact on today’s society. For the industrial culture, attention has been putted on the process of work rather than in objects which were the result of work. It didn’t allows alternative, only focus on how it works economically and efficiency. Although today’s society focus on creativity and innovation, industrial culture is on the basis of helping and balancing individual’s pursue.
individual profilessammy yip
The Tall and Green Community
Too many tall Buildings seem to have been designed as stand-alone pieces of urban ‘sculpture’ nowadays. Their only relationship with the urban setting is a visual one, with the tall building dominating. They appear to be designed for dramatic effect, shiny air conditioned glass office towers and a design idea that is readily to transport anywhere around the world, regardless of climate and neighbouring relationships. When taking a global long term view of urban settlements, regional culture and climate change, it is clear that humanity is going to continue to crowd into cities, especially in India and China where the population rush from the country to the city. My mission is to find alternative design approaches for tall buildings; to create high-rise
buildings that are inspired by both the urban and environmental aspects, with long-term environmental sustainability at the core of thinking, and which are sustainable socially. Thus, the thesis is entitled “Tall and Green”.
conclusion This four week exercise proved to be extremely successful. The results of these experiments have raised a number of questions regarding grafting, knitting and fiction’s role in the design process. The montages not only suggest the results of grafting two opposing urban discourses together, it highlights the potential for this research to be continued, perhaps as an individual thesis. It may endeavor to define similarities between the two realities and raise questions, for example, is there existing evidence of Rome’s urban language in Dundee? Future montages may show how the foreign urban patterns could leak into other areas of Dundee. This exercise has not only presented an investigation into Dundee, it has provided the group with an insight into Urban Research and the Methodologies for recording
and presenting Knowledge. The group meetings have provided a harness for individual and collective thinking. Although, not all of the experiments proved realistic, the group strongly promotes this method as a beneficial design tool and reiterates that experiments are for analysis purposes only.
bibliography The graphical bibliography is a representation of books that at least one member in the unit has read. The images of the book covers increase in size if several members have referenced the same book.
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