ORIENTATION AND MEMORY,

ENCLOSURE, TERRITORY, DEFENSIBLE

SPACES, PUBLIC / PRIVATE SPACES
Chapter 2
DESIGN THEORY IV
 ORIENTATION
• Position or alignment relative to points of the
compass or other specific directions.
• The direction followed in the course of a trend
(change or develop in a general direction),
movement or development
• The ability to locate oneself in one’s
environment with reference to time, place and
people

• In architecture, the position of a building in

relation to an east- west axis (in latin, oriens/
orientum meaning rising sun)
• Orientation (housing), the position of a building
with respect to the sun, a concept in building
design.
ORIENTATION

• Orientation (geometry), placement of an

object in a rotational coordinate system with
respect to a fixed point and a reference
position
• Orientation of the building generally used to
refer to solar orientation which is the siting
of building with respect to solar access
• The fact the sun is lower in the sky in Winter
than in Summer allows us to plan and
construct buildings that capture that free
heat in Winter and reject the heat in
Summer. The orientation of the whole
buildings plays an important part in ensuring
such a ’passive’ process works.
The altitude, angle, and color of day lighting varies with compass orientation and
time of day. In the northern hemisphere:

• Daylight from NORTH-facing windows tends to be shadowless, diffuse, and

neutral or slightly grayish most of the day and year.
• Daylight from the EAST is strongest in the morning. It tends to be of low
altitude, with soft, long shadows, and gray-yellow in color.
• Daylight from the SOUTH is dominant from late morning to mid-afternoon. It
tends to render colors accurately and cast strong, crisp shadows.
• Daylight from the WEST is strongest in the late afternoon and early evening and
has a rich gold-orange cast. It can penetrate deeply into buildings and
occasionally be overbearing.
Orientation: A technique/ method of orienting (for architects) to control
within the context of the ‘expressive aspects’- the placement and the
distribution of the mass to control environment affect to create
comfortable and habitable.

Memories: In psychology memory is the processes by which information

is encoded, stored and retrieved. Encoding (convert information or an
instruction into a particular form) allows information that is from the outside
world to reach our senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In
the first stage we must change the information so that we may put the
memory into the encoding process. Storage is the second memory stage or
process. This entails that we maintain information over periods of time.
Finally the third process is retrieval. This is the retrieval of information that
we have stored. We must locate it and return it to our consciousness. Some
retrieval attempts may be effortless due to the type of information.
Biology and psychology
From information processing perspective there are three main stages in
the formation and retrieval of memory:
Encoding or registration (receiving, processing and combining of received
information)
Storage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information)
Retrieval, recall or recollection (calling back the stored information in
response to some cue (a hint ) for use in a process or activity).
Memories
The mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events,
impressions etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.

From individual memory to collective memory, architecture can impact

what and how we remember.
An architect’s design might make the most of “suggestible” memories by
creating built form that helps to “preserve” a memory- like a memorial,
for instance. On the other hand, architecture can bring new meaning into
our present as well.

Memories: The ability to look at any object, and remember what it

looked like with just a second of observation, or memorization, is an
example of sensory memory.
Memories
There are many types of sensory memories:

• Iconic memory is a type of sensory memory that briefly stores an image

which has been perceived for a small duration.
• Echoic memory is another type of sensory memory that briefly stores
sounds which has been perceive for a small duration.
• Short term memory allows recall for a period of several seconds to a
minute without rehearsal, its capacity is also very limited.
• Long term memory can store much larger quantities of information for
potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span).
Memories are important in architecture

• Memories are important in architecture

• To orient one in a space or place
• Memories effect the way we think architecturally and vice versa
• Memories are important to relive (an experience or feeling) architecture
 “A building or any structure is a
kind of memory (…) that
provides a lasting framework (a
skeletal or structural frame) for
one’s own actions and for those
of others.”
-A. Lang. 1985

Examples:
• Bhimsen Stamba (Dharahara),
Sudhara, Kathmandu
• Sahid Gate, Kathmadu
• Swayambhunath, Kathmandu
• Boudhanath, Kathmandu
• Taj Mahal, Agra, India
Memory in Architecture
Wars, attacks and disasters that claim the lives of
multiple victims are often commemorated in the
form of monuments.

 Creating something beautiful in memory of a

terrible event is a design challenge unlike any
other.
 Not only because it brings together beauty and
horror but also because it contains a political
message.

Vietnam Monument in Washington DC

It honors U.S. service members of the U.S.
armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War
Enclosure
That part of any building that physically separates the exterior
environment from the interior environment(s) is called the building
enclosure or building envelope. Environmental separator is another term
used to describe the enclosure. The term building enclosure is preferred to
the term building envelope largely because it is considered both more
general and more precise.

A building in general consists of

a collection of spaces bounded
by a set of spatial separators.
There are separators between
interior environments as well as
separators of an interior
environment and the exterior
environment; collectively, the
latter constitute the building
enclosure.
Enclosure Components

The primary function of the enclosure is to separate the interior

environment from the exterior environment to which it is exposed.
Physically, the typical building enclosure usually consists of the following
components:

• the roof system(s)

• the above-grade wall system(s) including windows and doors
• the below-grade wall system(s), and
• the base floor system(s).
Space
Space is the relative position of one
three-dimensional object to another.
Space is one of the most important
considerations an architect must think
about while designing a building, because
the sizes of rooms and hallways, the
height of ceilings and the ease of
entering and exiting each living area
must carefully match the function of the
building.
Space
Architects chose dimensions of rooms
to match the number of people who
will occupy the space and the amount
of activity that will occur in it. To
make a building more interesting,
architects will experiment with
aesthetic qualities of space by varying
the width and height of rooms
through which people will move.
Architects also speak of space as the
amount of land that will be occupied
by a building on a site. The remaining
area is called open space.
Public Space

A public space is a social space that

is generally open and accessible to
people. Roads (including
the pavement), public squares
and parks are typically considered
public space. To a limited extent,
government buildings which are
open to the public, such as public
libraries are public spaces, although
they tend to have restricted areas
and greater limits upon use.
Recently, the concept of Shared
space has been advanced to enhance
the experience of pedestrians in
public space jointly used by
automobiles and other vehicles.
A town square is an open public
space commonly found in the
heart of a traditional town used
for community gatherings. Other
names for town square are civic
center, city square, urban
square, market square, public
square, piazza, plaza, and town
green.
Public Space

Public space has also become something

of a touchstone for critical theory in
relation to philosophy,
(urban) geography, visual art, cultural
studies, social studies and urban design.

The term 'public space' is also often

misconstrued to mean other things such
as 'gathering place', which is an element
of the larger concept of social space.

One of the earliest examples of public

spaces are commons. For example, no
fees or paid tickets are required for entry.
Non-government-owned malls are
examples of 'private space' with the
appearance of being 'public space'.
Semi Public Space

A broader meaning of public space of place includes also places where

everybody can come if they pay, like a café, train or Movie Theater. A
shop is an example of what is intermediate between the two meanings:
everybody can enter and look around without obligation to buy, but
activities unrelated to the purpose of the shop are not unlimitedly
permitted.

The halls and streets (including skyways) in a shopping center may be

declared a public place and may be open when the shops are closed.
Similarly for halls, railway platforms and waiting rooms of public transport;
sometimes a travelling ticket is required. A public library is a public place. A
rest stop of bus stop is a public space.

For these “semi-public” spaces strict rules may apply than outside, e.g.
regarding dress code, trading, begging, advertising, riding roller-skates,
skateboards etc.
Defensible Space

Defensible space theory

Architect and city planner Oscar Newman encompasses idea about crime
prevention and neighbourhood safety. The theory developed in the early
1970s, and he wrote his first book on the topic, Defensible Space in 1972.

The books contains a study from New York that pointed out that higher crime
rate existed in high rise apartment buildings than in lower housing projects.
This, he concluded, was because residents felt no control or responsibility for
an area occupied by so many people.
Throughout his study, Newman focused on explaining his ideas on social
control, crime prevention and public health in relation to community
design.
There are four factors that make a defensible spaces:
a. territoriality- the idea that one’s home is sacred.
b. natural surveillance – the link between an areas physical
characteristics and the residents ability to see what is happening
c. Image- the capacity of the physical design to impart a sense of
security
d. Milieu – other features that may affect security, such as proximity to
a police substation or busy commercial area.
e. Safe Adjoining Areas - for better security, residents obtain higher
ability of surveillance of adjoining area through designing the
adjoining area
Oscar Newman’s basic five principles of
designing defensible space:

1. The assignment to different resident groups the

specific environments they are best able to
utilize and control, as determined by their ages,
life styles, socializing proclivities, backgrounds,
incomes and family structures.

2. The territorial definition of space in residential

developments to reflect the zone of influence of
specific inhabitants. Residential environments
should be subdivided into zones toward which
adjacent residents can easily adopt proprietary
attitudes.

3. The juxtaposition of dwelling interiors with

exterior spaces and the placement of windows to
allow residents to naturally survey the exterior
and interior public areas of their living
environments and the areas assigned for their
use.
4. The juxtaposition (the fact of two things
being seen or placed close together with
contrasting effect) of dwellings- their
entries and amenities- with city streets
so as to incorporate the street within the
sphere of influence of the residential
environment.

5. The adoption of building forms and

idioms (expression in art) that avoids the
stigma (a mark of loss of reputation) of
peculiarity (strange) that allows others to
perceive the vulnerability (being attacked
or harmed, either physically or
emotionally) and isolation of a particular
group of inhabitants.
Creating a Defensible Space

To create a defensible space community, residential area should be

subdivided into smaller entities of similar families because control is
enhanced. Responsibility for the area is more easily assumed in a smaller
group of families as opposed to a larger community.

Smaller groups more frequently use as area geared toward them. The
number of activities in the space is increased; thus, a feeling of ownership
and a need to protect the property follows. On the other hand, when
larger groups use a community space, no one has control over the area
and an agreement over its acceptable uses is often in dispute.
Art in Public Space

This sense of flux and change, informs

how contemporary public art has
evolved. Temporal (relating to time) art
in public space has been a long
established practice. But the presence
of public art has become increasingly
prevalent and important within our
contemporary cities. Temporal public
art is so important because of its ability
to respond to, reflect, and explore the
context which it inhabits. Patricia
Philips describes the “social desire for
and art that is contemporary and timely,
that responds to and reflects its
temporal and circumstantial context.”
Art in Public Space

Public art is an area for investigation,

exploration and articulation of the
dense and diverse public landscape.
Public art ask its audience to re-
imagine, re experience, re-view and re-
live. In the design field, a heavy focus
has been turned onto the city as
needing to discover new and inspired
ways to re-use, re-establish and re-
invent the city, in step with an
invigorated interest in re-juvinating our
cities for a sustainable future.
Contemporary design has become
obsessed with the need to save the
modern city form an industrialized,
commercialized, urban pit of a death
bed.
Approaching Urban Design

Contemporary perception of public space has now branched and grown

into a multitude of non- traditional sites with a variety of programs in
mind. It is for this reason that the way in which design deals with public
space as a discipline, has become such a diverse and indefinable field.
Iris Aravot puts forward an interesting approach to the urban design
process with an idea of the ‘narrative myth’. Aravot argues that
“conventional analysis and problem solving methods results in
fragmentation… of the authentic experience of a city…(and) something of
the liveliness of the city as a singular entity is lost.” The process of
developing a narrative myth in urban design involves analyzing into
understanding the unique aspects of the local culture based on Cassirer’s
five distinctive “symbolic forms”. They are myth and religion, art,
language history and science; aspects often disregarded by professional
practice.
City Beautiful Movement

The City Beautiful movement was a nationwide trend in landscaping at the

turn of the 20th century led by architects and landscape architects to make
cities in America as appealing as cities in Europe. The movement had its
origins in the comprehensive planning ideas of Frank Law Olmstead.

The City Beautiful movement began as an attempt to bring American cities to

a cultural parity with European counterparts using the Beaux-Arts style.

Nouvel Opéra de Paris Palais de Justice, Brussels

A very rich, lavish and heavily ornamented classical style taught at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in the 19th century. Influenced the
last phase of Neoclassicism in the United States. Beaux-Arts Architecture.
City Beautiful Movement

The City Beautiful movement

also looked to examples in
Europe of “broad public squares
and avenues surrounded by
buildings” such as Trafalgar
Square in London, England; Place
Dom Pedro in Lisbon, Portugal
and Unter den Linden in Berlin,
Germany.
City Beautiful Movement

The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American

architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with
the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities.

The success of the “City Beautiful” philosophy in Washington, D.C. is created

with influencing subsequent plans for beautification of many other cities,
including Chicago, Madison (with the axis from the capitol building through State
Street and to the University of Wisconsin Campus.
In New Haven, John Russel Pope developed a plan for Yale University that
eliminated substandard housing and relocated the urban poor to the
peripheries.

Coral Gables, Florida would be an excellent example of a planned example of a

city consistent with the City Beautiful philosophy.

New Haven Coral Gables

City Beautiful as Reform

The City Beautiful movement also began as a response to problems from

the urban growth in America brought on by the industrial revolution. Due
to the many technological advances of the 19th century, the population in
urban areas began to overtake the population in rural areas. With this
increased population came an increase in crime and unhealthy living
conditions largely in tenements.

With the advent of improved transportation and roadways, the middle

and upper-middle class retreated from the cities into the suburbs, leaving
the less well-to-do and the downright poverty-stricken to the quickly
decaying urban center.
The White City as Model

The 1893 World’s Fair Columbian Exhibition in Chicago served as a full

scale model of a new urban Utopia using the Beaux-Arts principles of
symmetry, balance, and splendor. The fair celebrated the 400th anniversary
of Christopher Columbus's 1492 arrival in the New World.

Not only was the White City dignified and monumental, it was also well-
run: there was no poverty and no crime (so the visitors were led to
believe), there were state-of-the-art sanitation and transportation
systems, and the Columbian Guard kept everyone happily in their place

Court of Honor at Columbian Exhibition Administration Building

Burnham’s Wide Influence

As Director of Construction of the

Columbian Exposition and member of
the team that completed the 1901 Plan
for Washington, D.C., Daniel Burnham
became the architect of choice for
several cities interested in creating a
new city plan for a new century.
The McMillan Plan (Daniel Burnham's
1901 plan for Washington, D.C.)
The architecture of the World’s Fair Columbian Exhibition set American
style preference in architecture for the next 20 to 25 years. Louis Sullivan,
another top architect from Chicago, designed the Transportation Building at
the exhibition.

Transportation Building by Louis Sullivan

Role in the City Beautiful Movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy North
American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the
1890s, and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and
monumental grandeur in cities. The moment, which was originally
associated mainly with Chicago Detroit, and Washington, D.C.
promoted beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral
and civic virtue among urban populations. Advocates of the philosophy
believed that such beautification could thus promote a harmonious
social order that would increase the quality of life.
Memorial Park

Examples:
a. Washington DC- U.S. Capitol includes (Healy Hall at Georgetown University;
Washington Monument; Frederick Douglas National Historic Site; African
American Civil War Memorial etc.)

b. Chandigarh
The city of Chandigarh was the first planned city in India and is known
internationally for its architecture and urban design. The city has projects
designed by architects such as Le-Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew and
Maxwell Fry. The city was reported in 2010 to be the “cleanest” in India, based
on a national government study, and the territory also headed the list of Indian
stated and territories according to research conducted using 2005.

The name Chandigarh translates as “The Fort of Chandi”. It is also referred to as

The City Beautiful, in India due to its beautiful surroundings, central grid of
gardens, each dedicated to different species of flora.
Top 12 City Parks in the World
Hyde Park, London
Stanley Park Vancouver
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Ueno Park, Tokyo
Monsanto Forest Park, Lisbon
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lumphini Park, Bankok
Park Gell, Barcelona
Ibirapuera Park, San Pablo
Flagstaff Garden, Melbourne
Beihai Par, Beijing
Central Park, New York City
Social Factors Affecting Behavior in the Built Environment

Introduction
 One of the major task of the building > social milieu
 Social factors affect the behavior in the built environment.
 Any architectural establishment has to serve the social demands, be it
the residence or a public building or even a park...

Social
 The term Social refers to a characteristic of living organisms - humans in
particular
 It also refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and
to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware
of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or
involuntary (INTERACTIONS)
 Attitudes, orientations, or behaviors which take the interests,
intentions, or needs of other people into account has played some role
in defining the idea or the principle (MEMBERS OF SOCIETY)
Key Concepts

Factor
 Anything that contributes causally to a result; "a number of factors
determined the outcome“

Built Environment
 The term built environment refers to the human-made surroundings that
provide the settling for human activity ranging in scale from personal
shelter and buildings to neighborhoods and cities that can often include
their supporting infrastructure such as water supply or energy networks.
 Social Factor then essentially means the number of social causes that
results/determines the behavior in human-made surroundings

There are two debates-

 does social factor influence behavior in built environments (social
determinism)
 does architectural factor (architecture) influence behavior in built
environments (architectural determinism)
 Any architectural establishment has to serve the social demands, be it a
residence or a public building or even a park...
Examples 1:
 The width of the passage, height of the steps etc. are product of social
demands.
 a common practice of designing a building always relies on the attribute
of contemporary society.
 Why traditional Newari system of Chyali, Chwota, Matan and Baiga:
has not been continued in our days?
 Why chowks (squares) are not so prominent in modern design?

Examples 2:
 Now a day the urban society in Nepal prefers wide and big hall as a
living space instead of long corridors and passages.
 Example of social transformation>>
 from privacy to transparency
 change in life style with changing mode of production and consumption
 It is the result of change in time as society is dynamic and it changes its
demands with reference to the time
Examples 3:
 Architecture develop/grow in time and space to respond to social
demand and character.
 If Puja Room is not provisioned (as a part of architectural design) in
residential house of a Hindu Society, the users may start using a small
corner for this function
 Social demand of toilet and bathrooms inside the Newari Houses so
space underneath single flight staircase.
 Chowks and Sanjhya:>> why they emerged?
Architectural and Social Determinism

Architectural determinism means the decisions taken by architects during

design phase all by themselves and deciding the overall planning and the
circulation of areas and road networks and determine where the roads
will go or will not go, the directions that the houses should be taken for
the design of the buildings.

In the former case, architecture determines the form while the social
factors do so in the later.

In one occasion, one cafeteria was constructed to facilitate the interaction

among the staffs and students of the university but it could not function
well because status, function and responsibility did not permit to have
desired level of interaction.
Territory
A territory (from the word 'terra', meaning 'land') is a defined area
(including land, air and waters), considered to be a possession of a person,
organization, institution, animal, subdivision, state or country.

 An area of land; a region

 A socially constructed division of space
 In ecology, the living space of an animal which it will defined from
the forays (a sudden attack) of other territorial animals
 Territory (animal) a geographical area defended by animal against
others of the same species (and occasionally of other species)
 The land, air and waters under the jurisdiction of a government.
 A geographic region, such as a colonial possession, that is dependent
on an external government: the territories of the Roman Empire,
British Empire, Spanish Colony, Portuguese Colony, etc.

• The word territory is more or less related to land (belonging).

• It is the understanding of space belonging to one.
• Territory is defined as a district dominated by or belonging to a particular
group of society.
It is the area from which an animal will try to exclude all members of
species except its mate and offspring.

Architecture rather defines it in two types as physical and psychological

territory.

A man is always in seek of his own territory as the land of its existence and
influences.

(Ex. Egyptian Architecture was developed from southern Turkey to Nile

delta and the main development was within the Nile valley, thus these
are said to be the territory of Egyptian architecture; likewise, Indus Valley
Civilization etc.). Similarly the ionic temples were born in Asia Minor and
on the Greek mainland. That's why those areas are called as the
territoriality in context of theatres. The same is with the tiered temples
and Nepalese attitude towards them.
It is the feeling of territory why a guest enjoys the living room rather
than the bedroom or the kitchen. Similarly, the outsides in normal case
feel uneasy to enter the compound that belongs to other but that's not
the same for the owner. Even all family members enjoy dinning at the
dining or family room but hesitate to enter other bedrooms.

In Nepalese traditional architecture, the settlements were defined

according to territories of their existence.
Psychological territory is a vast and vague term; it deals mostly with the
feeling and the interpretation. It might be further divided into social and
cultural territory.
Territorial Concept of Architecture

 Architecture that is able to reflect the history, culture and

environment that people live in.
 A contemporary style that is evolved to give cultural continuity,
social adaptability and environmental suitability.
 Experimentation and improvisation of locals materials with new
techniques and styles.
 Emergence and intervention of architectural styles, intentions and
purpose are remodeled in specific existing context of the territorial
architecture within a specific area.
Architectural Territory

Architectural territory can both be -

 Tangible (physical boundaries)
 Non-tangible (cultural, social, psychological etc)
 Territory is formed in continuum; it is an extension of humans’ relationship
with its surroundings.
 In larger sense, such relationship as territorialism is expressed/manifested in
architecture, economy, culture, society, politics, ecology and many other
dimension of living.
 In architecture, we study territorialism within the framework of essential
relationship between people and its surrounding.
 Territory emphasizes the simultaneous production of architectural objects and
the environment surrounding them
Exploring Design Possibilities using Territorial Concept

Physical Concept of Territory

Physical division of space - physically marked boundaries
Social Concept of Territory
(socially constructed division of space and territorialism - social
boundaries)
Cultural Concept of Territory
(culturally constructed division of space and territorialism - cultural
boundaries)
Environmental/Ecological Concept of Territory
(environment concern of living - often ritually mediated in traditional
society)