FUNDAMENTALS

OF URBAN
DESIGN AND
COMMUNITY
ARCHITECTURE

Character | Continuity | Enclosure

 MEMBERS

Ellana Abaygar Jazsmin Joy Coronel Kayla Christine Ombion Lorgilu Jacolbe

Rochelle Ann Hidalgo Genelle Radan Nikki Ivy Bombio

 WHAT IS URBAN DESIGN?

Urban design is the design of towns and cities, streets

and spaces. It is the collaborative and multi-disciplinary
process of shaping the physical setting for life – the art
of making places. Urban design involves the design of
buildings, groups of buildings, spaces and landscapes,
and establishing frameworks and procedures that will
deliver successful development by different people over
time.
 Urban design defines the nature of
buildings and the spaces between them,
and how the design itself should be
worked out: design processes and
outcomes. Urban design inspires,
illustrates and defines how a place could
be improved or protected to bring
benefits to investors, developers and
wider society.

Urban design is about a great variety

of places: whether town and city
centres, residential neighbourhoods
and suburbs, grassy fields on the edge
of villages, down-at-heel industrial
estates, or unloved and overlooked
areas around train stations, rivers and
canals.
ELEMENTS OF
URBAN DESIGN
BUILDING

PUBLIC SPACES
STREETS

TRANSPORT
LANDSCAPES
CHARACTER
CHARACTER
CHARACTER
CHARACTER

A place with its own identity: to

promote character in townscape
and landscape by responding to
and reinforcing locally distinctive
patterns of development,
landscape and culture.
CHARACTER

01
Defines the area IDENTITY
and CHARACTER

02
Protect and enhance the
buildings, street, materials,
landmark, and view that are
unique and give identity to
the city.
CHARACTER
03
Urban design focuses on the
physical form, economic
functions and social impacts. It
gives the place a pleasant
outlook that would encourage
people to walk around town and
appreciate the beauty of the
city.

04
Urban design is concerned with
the arrangement, appearance
and function. It gives a sense of
connection between street and
buildings as a whole rather than
an individual design.
 CHARACTER

SPATIAL
ORIENTATION
Organization of space in urban
design is fundamental to the
creation of composition. It
brings together different forms
and shapes and provides a
cohesive structure to the design.
 CHARACTER

HUMAN
SCALE
Creating environment that is
conscious of human scale means
making sure that the objects we
interact with every day have a
reasonable size and shape for
the average person to use.
CONTINUITY
 CONTINUITY

Contributes to the building shapes that

give urban areas vitality and character
that calls off to identifying the qualities
of the place to develop suitable new
elements.
In order to produce consistent urban
areas, politicians, authorities, and city
planners are encouraged to identify
urban gaps at an early stage of the
planning process.

The two key elements of architectural

style and rhythm are continuity of
building façades, which demonstrates its
value and structure by connecting the
inner and exterior space, and have a
significant impact on how a city is
perceived.
 CONTINUITY
AND
ENCLOSURE
A place where public and
private spaces are clearly
distinguished: to promote
the continuity of street
frontages and the
enclosure of space by
development which clearly
defines private and public
areas.
 CONTINUITY
AND
ENCLOSURE
01
Create streets and public
spaces that are well connected
and enclose by attractive
building frontage.

02
The streets forms the interface
between the public and private
realms.

03
Develops and protect the Urban
fabric or structure with strong
spatial continuity and good
sense of enclosure.
 CONTINUITY
AND
ENCLOSURE
04
Every building is just one part of
the fabric of the campus/City
which is held together by the
network of streets and spaces.

05
Well enclosed and connected
spaces allow using and enjoying
the campus conveniently and in
comfort.
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE

“when buildings physically define

public spaces particularly through
proportions between height and
width in an area to create places
that are comfortable to
pedestrians.”
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
In an urban setting, such as a
traditional commercial district or
mixed use neighborhood, enclosure is
formed by an unbroken line of building
fronts. Traditionally, this framed the
thoroughfare in a ratio where the
building height and the distance from
building to building were equal.
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
In locations where the ratio is not what
is desired, for example, the distance
between buildings is more than twice
the height, pedestrians can feel
exposed and uncomfortable. To
correct a problem like this other
vertical elements are used to frame the
space. If the road surface is too wide, a
median with trees can frame the space.
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
Street trees can also be used to frame
a much more enclosed space
between buildings and the edge of
the sidewalk. If trees are not a viable
option, street furniture such as banners
and building awnings can create the
physical enclosure of a room.
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
ENCLOSURE
The reason behind creating enclosure for
pedestrian areas is the twin needs in humans
for prospect and refuge. Prospect is based
on the pleasure received from views out onto
a space and refuge is based on perception
of safety and observation of a defined
space. There are other urban design
concepts that contribute to these two factors
such as complexity of design, but enclosure is
the main design element behind prospect
and refuge.