TECTONIC DESIGN: Very Temporary Spaces

Friday, December 12, 2008

Very Temporary Spaces

Water tank and structure with fence.

In the UAE it is quite possible to leave the coastal cities so well known for their newness and brashness as much as their heat and traffic and depart for the desert. The desert of Lawrence: "I like the desert because it is clean" and in Asterix: "This Desert is crazy!" (Obelix).

The tenuousness of human habitation is made even more clear when the desert looms. We design things to perform a function and then we move on, or it moves on, or our interests change, or the sands shift and so we have to create anew. In the desert this relationship is paramount and quick.

A camel ranch

We had a picnic, but of the Livingston and Stanley sort in which absolutely everything was brought along, for extreme comfort. We created a place within a vast space, but only for a short while.

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Place: An Abstract from a co-authored Essay*

Place, as a genuine and authentic space used by and having meaning for a community, is what should be a primary concern in all works of Urban Designers and Planners. There are those places which “work” as public space and those which do not (Whyte); there are “patterns” which support life and there are those which do not (Alexander). Urban Designers, Landscape Architects, Architects and Engineers even must always keep the mere functioning of a street or plaza of entrance as a goal while continuing to move forward in search of better and even more accurately pinpointed designs which serve people. We cannot mandate life, but we can offer the space, with appropriate dimensions, strong edges and centres, for sentiments to be developed over time by many individuals. In the process an accretion of memories and values breaths life and meaning into spaces creating “Place”.
``Those of us who are concerned with buildings tend to forget too easily that all the life and soul of a place, all of our experiences there, depend not simply on the physical environment, but on the pattern of events which we experience there.’’ [Alexander, 1979] Steve Harrison
There are many design solutions to bring people together in a very simple and organic manner. However, designers, in North America especially, have been tasked with designing cities which have driven citizens into their own houses to live in complete isolation from the world (Hallman). In this situation the individual can accept only what is presented to them as “fact” about their neighbours from the evening news. It is a very depressing and lonely walk in between rows and cul-de-sacs of space where no one seems to care about what lays beyond their property line. The entire exterior space of buildings has been designed for the private automobile and the only casual encounter with a neighbour is often called an hazard or accident.

By designing to enhance environments and by placing natural and walkable destinations with communities we can dignify spaces with greater human priority. By blending the social and cultural needs into a natural setting designers are able to at least offer the chance for community to develop.
“In this way people record their particular cultural history and meaning in the built environment and breathe into their urban settlement a ‘sense of place” (Seamon)

“A key test of sense of place rests with the degree to which a place in its physical
form and the activities it facilitates reflects the culture of those who use it. The process
of ‘creative participation’ needs to be more deliberately dealt with in urban design
processes to assure the creation of meaningful places, whereby to help man to dwell. (Seamon)

When people are able to use the story of the community “to mark consciousness.” (Allen and Schlereth) people then begin to exhibit awareness of their place within history, with a region and within a collective set of fellow individuals. Self expression becomes clearer as self-knowledge becomes more profound. As Landscape Architects it is our role to in every way possible, on the small and large scale, attempt to engender this ability, to reveal the possibilities for the individual to come to know her self as a part of the world and to encourage dialogue about the world in Place.

“The existential purpose of building is therefore to make a site become a place, that is, to uncover the meanings potentially present in the given environment.” (Norberg-Schulz)

Allen, Barbara; Schlereth, Thomas J. Sense of Place: American Regional Cultures. Publisher Lexington: University Press of Kentucky Publication year 1990

Carter, Erica. Donald, James. Squires, Judith. Space and Place : theories of identity and location.
London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993.

Norberg-Schulz, Christian. “The Phenomenon of Place” Edited by Kate Nesbitt. New York: Princeton
Architectural Press, 1996

Hallman, Howard W. Neighborhoods: Their Place in Urban Life.

Seamond, David; Murgerauer, Robert. Dwelling, Place and Environment.

Seamon, David. Buttimer, Anne. The Human Experience of Space and Place.
London : Croom Helm, c1980.

Whyte, William H. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980)

*Authored By Maria Galdon with suggestions from myself

Letter to an Alderman with Several Replies

THE ORIGINAL LETTER:

While it is entirely needful that there be some action taken to slow bicyclists on the river trails, as an Urban Designer, I feel that it is the design of the trails which facilitates conflicts rather than resolves them.

Today I was given a bicycle bell by the bylaw officers, and while this is very nice, the overt threat they offered if I don't use it will only make me NOT use the trail system. Instead I will use only the life risking city streets to navigate from Kensington to Mission as I just simply do not want to be fined for commuting by bicycle. (I find bells to be rude, and this may be a character fault)

While enforcing the rules is 'good', if the design was better, there would be no need for the threatening of earnest bicyclists with fines.

If the design shows that one could go fast, one will.

Two problems I see as fundamental: Calgary conceives of bicycling as a recreational sport, not a legitimate means of transportation.

Which leads to: An unwillingness to provide safe and decent bicycle lanes through the city which take workers to work and can provide services to the city without carbon emissions.

Please do all you can to support the implementation of bicycle lanes and the improved design of the recreational trails in Calgary.

REPLY:

Dear Cole,
Thank you for your letter. With the new priority for pedestrians and
cyclists, Council has supported the provision of bike lanes on many of
Calgary's roadways. I think that you will see improvements shortly.
Druh

BUT THEN THE LETTER WENT FURTHER:

Cole,

The City currently has bike lanes on 52nd Street N.W. and a contra-flow
bike lane on 9A Street N.W. We are currently in the planning stage for
a number of routes for which bike lanes are proposed, such as 19th
Street N.W., 5th Street N.W., and 29th Street N.W. There are also a
number of streets that have bike stencils and Share The Road signage.

The City also performs Downtown Commuter Cyclist Surveys in order to
gauge the needs of commuting cyclists and determine what facilities we
can provide in order to encourage more people to commute by bicycle.

AND THEN FROM SOMEONE ELSE:

Good day Cole.

Further to your query, could you provide a bit more detail on your
concerns relative to the present pathway design?

Cheers,

MY REPLY:

To my eyes, the construction of large parts of the pathway has several problems.

1) many parts have long straight stretches of wide, even and flat asphalt or concrete will go fast. So, a bicyclist with a heart full of energy will only want to go fast. Especially if they are frequent users.

2) there is no separation between the zones for each user, but a few hundred meters along Memorial, which clearly signify to each where they should be. This could be a simple grade difference as along the Stanley Park Seawall or a completely separated space with two way traffic as is done at Coal Harbour or in Yaletown (both in Vancouver).

3) Suggestions: rumble strips, chicanes, concrete or planted medians..the list could go on however, please read on to the next part B of my commentary.

B) The fundamental problem is that Calgary regards cycling as a recreational sport and not as a legitimate means of transportation.
As such, the roads are dangerous to ride on, with no provision for either at-grade bicycle lanes, amenities, or timed signal lights. If there were a logical (going from point to point) set series of streets and avenues which were safe and maintained with a proper dedicated lane then there would be no need for bicyclist who are commuting to work to ever threaten a pedestrian on the River-side pathway.

1) While there are many examples, I can think especially of the bicycle lanes in either Holland, Denmark or in Portland, Oregon as examples to look towards. There, the social code dictates that Pedestrians have one zone and Bicyclist have another. If the bicyclist want to go very very fast then they take to road. These are purpose built designed environmental social mechanisms to create a safe commuting experience outside of the automobile.

2) This would then free the pedestrian realm of the pathway so that people can safely enjoy a small fragment of a car-free life.

This really is part of the perceptual issue here. Finally, a family, say, thinks they can enjoy a little bit of life without the usual speeding car dangers, but it is replaced with a perception of an equally proportional danger from bicycles. (Frankly though, the danger isn't as great as they would seem as bicycles can turn and brake much quicker than a car and a bicyclist is more likely to suffer an equal injury to any afflicted.) Said family only wants to enjoy a car-free world, and that is the only place in Calgary where they may.

We could do more to pedestrianize the city of Calgary too, but that, I am afraid, would have to be another email.

I further predict these solutions will not need 10 Bylaw officers to regulate the mere traveling from one destination to another without carbon.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Very Temporary Spaces

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Place: An Abstract from a co-authored Essay*

Letter to an Alderman with Several Replies

TECTONIC DESIGN