Module 2

It is difficult to say which approach to urban design is best between the three theories put forth in the lecture.  However I have a moral opposition to the Garden City movement and what it spawned in the form of suburbs.  The idea of having a semi-urban space in conjunction with semi-countryside green space is greedy.  Modern suburbs are rooted in garden cities, wanting to have your own plot of land and a family home.  Unfortunately suburbs have run rampant and destroyed thousands of acres of land which would take decades to return to land that can be farmed if we ever did try to reclaim it.  The desire for the American dream has destroyed land and promoted the car over the pedestrian.  

Modern environment design, however; has moved passed the garden city and focuses on actually helping cities grow more sustainably.  Recently cities have been bringing more green space into the city and trying to reestablish themselves as places where one can easily live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.  London, for example, has taken huge steps in making it a sustainable city; bringing in bike sharing programs, increasing the amount of green space, aiming to be the first ultra-low emissions city, etc. 

What really intrigued me from the beginning of this module was the lecture focusing on Urban Design Theories and Philosophy.  Architects are responsible for essentially designing the world we live in.  It is incredibly important that they understand the weight of that and have an understanding of how they can create better lives through the built environment.  I have always thought that all architects and even civil engineers should be required to take philosophy courses about place and the affect of the urban.

Bringing semiotics into urban design has always made complete sense to me.  While generally applied to language semiotics can have a huge impact on architecture.  Roland Barthes, who is well known for his study of semiotics, wrote extensively on how semiotics could be applied to other field including architecture.  In Semiology and the Urban Barthes explores how the city works as a language and how we speak the language of our city by living in it.  

“The city is a discourse and this discourse is truly a language: the city speaks to its inhabitants, we speak our city, the city where we are, simply by living in it, by wandering through it, by looking at it.” (Barthes, Semiology and the Urban).

When people truly embrace their city they are becoming readers of the city.  They learn how the grammar of the city works by learning all the smallest details.  To me good urban design encourages this sort of intense study of a city.  

Urban designers have to be aware of the language they are using when they design, how it fits into the context of what is existing and how their language will impact the way the city is read.  Every part of architecture; program, material, scale, has connotations ingrained in them and need to be chosen as carefully as every word of a novel.  

Just as with semiotics I don't think there can be an absolute when it comes to the rules of design.  No two cities work in the same way or have the same environment to react to.  You can't treat Rome the same way as Los Angeles.  All cities are unique and have a different life to them that cannot be predicted or forced into cooperation.  When you try to solve all problems with the same answer you end up with a much bigger problem.  Each city, every urban design has to be evaluated and approached in a unique way.  

Module 1

     My interest in urban design and theory comes from experiencing poor urban planning.  Urban planning lacks the finesse and structure of urban design.  Urban design is created in the intimate spaces every person experiences and the fabric that connects the city as a whole not from singular moments of design.  The importance of urban design has been on the rise in recent years as the focus of cities has shifted from the automobile onto pedestrians.  

     

     With the rise of sustainability and eco-friendly lifestyles more and more households are driving less and looking to alternative methods of transportation such as cycling, and mass transit.  This shift in values drastically changes the way cities are designed.  Instead of designing at the car scale things are shifting down to the human scale.  This allows for many of the traditional urban theory values of Jane Jacobs, David Lynch and Jeff Speck to be highlighted. 

     One city that highlights the changing urban landscape is London.  Under the leadership of mayor Boris Johnson London has gone through an environmental evolution.  Johnson's plan for London has included; taking small oddly shaped lots and turning them into pocket parks, encouraging more walking and cycling through the addition of more street trees, bike lanes and bike share systems.

      I have studied London for both Urban Theory and my Thesis Seminar and I view London as a prime example of urban design.  There are several major plazas that act as centers for urban life.  It has a medieval street grid at it's center running along the Thames allowing for easy wayfinding and walkability.  It is amazing to see such a historic city still on the forefront of design.  Their push to become more sustainable also provides a precedent for all other cities in the world.  

My study of London has been used to serve my own thesis project.  My thesis project is based in Pittsburgh, PA and involved the master planning of a lot which has been vacant since the demolition of a civic arena in 2012.

My strategy for the master plan was using the existing street grids surrounding my site and allowing them to overlap and collide on my site.  The site is located on the triangular peninsula of Pittsburgh just East of central Downtown and west of residential neighborhoods.  The plan breaks down the massive site into a grid that is similar to the residential grid.  I placed five nodes throughout the site one of which become a central park.  The competing grids converge around this central node/park.  The remaining four nodes are planned to be either areas in which circulation is slowed to allow for more pedestrian friendly areas, or where there will be a landmark public space.  

It has been extremely informative working at this massive scale before moving to the typical building scale.  It is easy to define architecture at the building scale and assuming that urban planning is a separate field due to its scale alone.  However urban design and architecture should always be thought of together.  Architecture without consideration for its urban fabric is irresponsible. Urban design has to be just that, design.  In my thesis I am hoping to allow the master plan to evolve as my building finds it's form and to allow the master plan to impact my own design.