URBAN DESIGN

THE MORPHOLOGICAL DIMENSION

Current Problems In Urban Design

 ill planned existing

conditions
 Buildings as isolated
objects
 Growth patterns decisions
based on two dimensional
land use plans
 Human behavior ignored
 Affects

 Urban space not considered as an exterior volume

 Shape ignored
 Scale neglected
 Connections to each other not established
 Unshaped anti-space
Anti-space or Lost Space

 Predominant spatial typology

 Vacant unused land
 Changing economic, industrial and employment patterns
 Highways, railroad lines, water fronts have major gaps
 Broken pedestrian links between places

FRAMEWORK OF
BUILDINGS AND GENERATE
IDENTIFY PLAN
INTERCONNECTED INVESTMENT
OPEN SPACES
Anti-space or Lost Space

 Unstructured landscape at the base of high rise towers

 Surfaced parking lots that sever connection among areas
 No-man’s land along the edges of roads
 Residual areas between districts
 Loosely composed commercial strips
 Deteriorated parks
 Low income public housing projects that don't serve their purpose
Lost Space Defined

Lost spaces are the undesirable urban areas that are in need of redesign-
antispaces, making no positive contribution to the surroundings and users. They
are ill defined, without measureable boundaries and fail to connect elements in
a coherent way.

 Opportunities offered by lost space

• Redevelopment
• Creative infill
• Rediscovering identity
• Exploring hidden resources
• Generating investment
Causes

 Increased dependence on automobile

 Attitude of designers of modern movement towards open space
 Zoning policies
 Privatization of spaces
 Changing land use
Automobile
 Most difficult
 Deeply ingrained in society
 Highways, thoroughfares and parking lots are dominant spaces
 Huge percentage in urban land used for storage and movement.
 Streets have shifted from pedestrian use to fastest automobile link.
 Great social costs
Modern Movement In Design
 Design of free standing buildings
 Street space, urban squares and gardens ignored
 Opposite to historic urban models
 High rise tower segregated from street life
 Closed malls, block arcades
 Moving shopping and entertainment off the streets
 Obsessed with efficiency and functionality
 Social requirements, styles, metaphor, ornament ignored
 Plans Rome,
Piazza Navona
district

Typical Urban Modern Cities

Privatization of Public Space

 Each building represents individual corporate flagship

 Fitting in collective city is not an option
 Building represents company image
 Transformation from city of collective spaces into city of private icons
 Ill placed building
 Violated height ordinances
 Varied materials and façade styles
 Competition for attention
Changing Land Use

 Relocation
 Obsolete transportation facilities
 Abandoned or vacated buildings
 They can be used temporarily as parks, gardens etc.
 And developers an work on the sites for long term planning and use
Theories
 Figure-ground Theory:
relationship between building
mass and open space; analyze
textures and patterns of urban
fabric; and spatial order.
 Linkage Theory: Dynamics of
circulation as generators of
urban form; connection and
movement.
 Place Theory: Importance of
historic, cultural, and social
values in urban open space.
Redesigning Lost Space

 Exterior spaces should be the force that gives definition to the architecture at
its borders, establishing the wall of the outdoor room.
 Attention o residual spaces between districts
 History and environment are 2 faces of architecture, no building can stand
alone.
 Diverse style and forms
 Scale and character
 Visible connections
THANK YOU