This paper presents the comparative analysis of ten villages absorbed by Manama and Muharraq cities in Bahrain. The two cities experienced rapid urban expansion. Villages in the vicinity were gradually engulfed by the cities’ fabrics... more
This paper presents the comparative analysis of ten villages absorbed by Manama and Muharraq cities in Bahrain. The two cities experienced rapid urban expansion. Villages in the vicinity were gradually engulfed by the cities’ fabrics (ALESCO, 1975; Al‐Najar 1998). But the process of absorption does not seem to have been uniform. At one extreme, the villages seemed to become part of the structure of the city, and at the other extreme, they seemed to stand apart from the city and remain more or less separate entities. These apparent spatial differences seem also to be reflected in social differences, in that most villages seemed to retain their traditional communities and values while others became more like their urban surroundings (Al‐Najar, 1998). Therefore, how far can spatial processes relating to the spatial pattern of the way villages embed in their surrounding urban areas throw light on the different pathways of the social development of these absorbed villages? The comparative analysis and space study developed in the first three parts of this paper show that there are differences in the way villages are embedded in urban context, and the way village configuration have shaped people’s movement. In this study we found: first, there is different gender and ethnic movement in village spaces. A sort of cultural movement pattern is observed in the villages, where women avoid meeting men in some villages or local people use different spaces to non‐local. These suggest that village spaces and their cultural movement could be a key factor in revealing the village social condition. The conservative range of the village society varies from village to another. Furthermore, well embedded villages in an urban context generally have a mixture of local and non local movement, while most of the weakly embedded villages are dominated by local people. This could be related to the fact that if the village configuration is not well connected with surrounding areas then the encounter of movement will happen only between local people who are already living in the village and not with those in surrounding areas. But villages which well embedded in the urban context are bringing different types of people together in commercial and main residential streets. This confirmed Hillier’s theory that movement patterns are considered an expression of social well being; it is a key element of an influential mechanism by which urban space develops, which reflect how urban space could become a wealthy active urban space or keep apart.
Space, very generally speaking, has been a less salient category in social theory than time. Perhaps this is related to the crystallisation of social science in a historical period obsessed with progress and development, when theories... more
Space, very generally speaking, has been a less salient category in social theory than time. Perhaps this is related to the crystallisation of social science in a historical period obsessed with progress and development, when theories about the evolution of species, the rise and future demise of capitalism and the advance of humankind from savagery to (Western) civilisation captured scholarly and lay- people imagination. But ever since as well, we have seen recurring predictions of a growing irrelevance of space and distance, all the way from Karl Marx in Grundrisse – ‘Capital by its nature drives beyond every spatial barrier. Thus the creation of the physical conditions of exchange – of the means of communication and transport – the annihilation of space by time – becomes an extraordinary necessity for it’ (1973: 524) – to David Harvey’s diagnosis of a ‘time-space compression’ in contemporary society (1989). And who could deny that previously insurmountable distances have shrunk in the face of jet-speed transportation and lightning-speed information flows. Yet for all the proliferation of mass media, Web 2.0, mobile phones, cheap airfares and container shipping, the insight dawns on us that for most people, their immediate surroundings in non- virtual reality continue to be experientially important. And often enough, we find space coveted and contested, rather than stripped of its political or economic relevance.
This thesis focuses on creating and testing a design-build strategy for community-based projects.It poses questions on how to create work that is locally relevant, place sensitive and site specific in the contexts of working ‘for’ and... more
This thesis focuses on creating and testing a design-build strategy for community-based projects.It poses questions on how to create work that is locally relevant, place sensitive and site specific in the contexts of working ‘for’ and ‘with’ a community. As designers, we frequently make assumptions based on what we think community design should be. In developing a design-build strategy which responds to community needs, this thesis makes a claim for design-build. The strategy developed attempts to create a hybrid form in responds to a local material culture, the benefits of a local material palette, and community engagement in the design-build process. The production of two design-build projects located in Dawson City, Yukon Territory, provides an opportunity to examine the proposed strategic framework, its ability to integrate a sense of place, the design-build process, and the project outcomes.
Recent developments in Roman archaeology have seen a shift toward more focus on spatial organization and the relationship between space and social dynamics, to which the architectural remains from Roman cities lend themselves very well.... more
Recent developments in Roman archaeology have seen a shift toward more focus on spatial organization and the relationship between space and social dynamics, to which the architectural remains from Roman cities lend themselves very well. Together with Portus, Ostia constituted the main harbor system for the city of Rome from the early second century B.C. through the second half of the third century A.D. Ostia’s insula IV.iv, located near the forum, has never been thoroughly and completely researched. This paper will focus on preliminary analysis of the sociospatial dynamics in insula IV.iv. It will show how relationships between the buildings and the relationships of the buildings to the surrounding outside spaces are influenced by and in their own way influence the social interactions that occur. Reconstructing the social interactions associated with these spaces provides a starting point for neighbourhood reconstruction. Data for this analysis is gathered in June and July of 2013, and the paper will focus on the latest results of the research.
This paper will focus on how some contemporary TV-Series reflect and re-examine several topics related to the modern city. We will take six complementary dramas and the corresponding urban environments they depict: The Sopranos (New Jersey), Dexter (Miami), The Shield (Los Angeles), CSI (Las Vegas), The Wire (Baltimore) and Rescue Me (New York). With that corpus of cities and shows, we will attempt to study the sociopolitical effects of revealing the landscapes of the centripetal industrial metropolis, the implications of filming in actual localities, the dramatic or ludic presence of what Augé termed “non-places”, and the image of the streets either as an urban jungle where danger lurks at every corner or as a kind idealized vision of America.
Obiettivo del servizio è ricomporre alcuni frammenti della ricca eredità lasciataci da Giancarlo De Carlo a quindici anni dalla sua scomparsa. I contributi raccolti guardano, da diverse prospettive, ai percorsi di ricerca che l’architetto... more
Obiettivo del servizio è ricomporre alcuni frammenti della ricca eredità lasciataci da Giancarlo De Carlo a quindici anni dalla sua scomparsa. I contributi raccolti guardano, da diverse prospettive, ai percorsi di ricerca che l’architetto milanese, nella sua poliedrica attività, ha tracciato esplorando declinazioni diverse di un progetto teso tra architettura e urbanistica, per restituirne la complessità. Al tempo stesso, le riflessioni proposte offrono utili suggestioni al momento che stiamo vivendo, in cui risulta ancor più necessario ritornare su alcune delle questioni che sono state centrali nella ricerca decarliana, per un progetto di città aperto alla sperimentazione, libero e capace di riportare di nuovo al centro le relazioni tra spazio e società.
Este artículo tiene como objetivo contribuir al debate y la reflexión sobre los vínculos entre espacio y religiosidad a partir del análisis de una de sus múltiples expresiones: la de la relación entre religiosidad y residencia. Para ello,... more
Este artículo tiene como objetivo contribuir al debate y la reflexión sobre los vínculos entre espacio y religiosidad a partir del análisis de una de sus múltiples expresiones: la de la relación entre religiosidad y residencia. Para ello, se analizarán las trayectorias espirituales, laborales y educativas de dos parejas de migrantes por estilo de vida que trasladaron su residencia a una localidad de la periferia de Buenos Aires cuya población y equipamientos urbanos crecieron significativamente a partir de la década de 1990, y en la que se desarrolló un importante circuito de prácticas espirituales Nueva Era. Se mostrará la movilización de concepciones espiritualizadas del espacio y del hábitat, así como la centralidad que los equipamientos y las sociabilidades situadas en el espacio tienen en el contacto con y el reconocimiento de una orientación por la espiritualidad. Los datos presentados fueron construidos y analizados por medio de métodos biográficos.
