Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
SlideShare a Scribd company logo

Urban Design basic rules

•
•
Tonmoy Barua
Tonmoy Barua

It is an assignment on urban design basic factors, whereas a designer should keep in mind in urban designing. Here I tried to describe factors by pointing as anyone could find a basic concept on urban design. Hope it'll be helpful.

1 of 5
WHAT ARE THE FACTORS A DESIGNER SHOULD KEEP IN MIND IN DESIGNING A PART OF CITY? “ Urban design is the process of giving form, shape, and character to groups of buildings, to whole neighborhoods, and the city. It is a framework that orders the elements into a network of streets, squares, and blocks.” MD. ASIF SOHEL TALUKDER 161085002
Urban design principles applied to a town or city can enhance appearance, transportation, the public space along streets between the private property lines, and location decisions about specific civic and private land uses. Property values should increase as well. Urban design is a combination of ideas from architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning, with some general urban theory in evidence as well. 1. Centers And Nodes Set Up The Pattern For The City. A village, town, or city needs one or more focal points, depending on size. Traditionally these were the downtowns. Now most regions are multi-centric (sometimes called polycentric). It's actually fine to have more than one center in a large city, but sound urban design principles would describe a hierarchy of centers. And downtown should the king of the hill. Node is simply a term more likely to be used by professionals for the idea of an activity center or an area where traffic, money, information, or other flows come together. Designer might have employment centers, shopping centers, entertainment centers, or multi-function activity centers.. 2. Creating A Strong Sense Of Place Is Key To A Successful Neighborhood. If designer hang around the architecture or planning communities, one will hear this term bandied about as if it were something he learned in kindergarten. Certainly distinguishing this place from other places on the basis of history, culture, well-preserved natural systems, and distinctive human inventiveness and ornamentation somehow stimulates the brain in a pleasant way. Along these lines, a district needs to feel like a district, that is, a relatively cohesive place with boundaries. In the influential 1961 book The Image of the City, Kevin Lynch called these boundaries "edges," and they should be discernible. 01
3. "Theme And Variation" Is Among The Key Urban Design Principles. Buildings on a street may be generally two-story brick, but we might want to see different colors of brick, slightly varying building heights, slightly varying window and door patterns, inventive use of accent color, and even the occasional three-story brick or stucco building that is in sympathy with other building members on the face of the block. Maybe the cornice type and height varies along the block face.. 4. Decide Where To Make A Design Statement, Make It, But Don't Make It Everywhere. Where urban design principles need to be subtle and functional, versus conscious and even decorative have to be decided. Architects would remind us that this means that there should be some thoughtful "articulation" (doors, windows, details, and "relief" in the form of different vertical planes on the front wall) on walls facing the public realm, rather than simply blank walls. Landmarks are important in making people feel comfortable in a place, but each building can't be a landmark. That would defeat the purpose. 5. Urban Design Should Promote And Facilitate Social Interaction. Just walk across the plaza and meet me. Don't call me on your cell phone from the driveway. Seriously, social interaction is important because the wealthy develop empathy for the poor, and vice versa, only when there are places for accidental association among classes and people with diverse outlooks. 6. The Social System Should Be More Important Than Vehicular Systems. People are more important than machines. When there is only one path, and that path accommodates only machines, which could describe how the interstate highways function in some parts of cities, everyone will be in trouble. 02
7. De-Emphasize Utilitarian, But Gray Portions Of The Public Realm. Land use patterns and the amount of private land that each residence is allowed to absorb are major determinants of how much of a metropolitan or micropolitan area must be devoted to roads and other gray infrastructure. So your urban design principles should emphasize compact development patterns and the most narrow and unobtrusive infrastructure that will accomplish the goal of a well-functioning flow of people and goods. 8. Functional Methods Of Transporting People Of All Abilities, Goods, And Utilities Are Essential. In most contemporary American cities, the pedestrian, the cyclist, the scooter user, the baby carriage, and the skateboarder are all but forgotten. Making it safe and easy for these people to move over the land is an essential part of a functional transportation system. The flows of people, electricity, water, freight, and so forth literally comprise the urban structure. So the distribution of people, goods, and energy should be redundant, intelligible, and efficient.. 9. Land Use Is Usually Secondary To Building Scale, Mass, And Setbacks. Elsewhere we describe how segregating land uses through zoning was the norm in urban planning until a paradigm shift that began in the 1980s. And we're pretty consistent proponents of mixed-us development. But that doesn't mean a complete hodge-podge. Imagine trying to walk down a sidewalk by a street, and in this order you pass: • A dry cleaner with a small amount of suburban type parking in front of it • A typical big box discount store • An apartment complex with three or four driveways onto the public street and two rows or parking in front of the first buildings • A large old single-family house • A four-story brick office building of vaguely Colonial architecture 03
10. Civic And Public Gathering Space Should Be Generous. Probably civic space is simply another twist on the idea of a sense of place, but let's emphasize that there should be a physical place where people can have chance encounters and also purposeful gatherings. Every culture needs to demonstrate its pride in some heritage or accomplishment, and every democratic country needs places where those who are unhappy can assemble. But what makes a good civic space is appropriate scale, visibility from one end to the other, a sense of spaciousness adequate for the likely number of participants, the look and feel of being "on purpose" without being overly formal, and the capability for random patterns of movement. And pay attention to the new urbanist idea of giving civic buildings and spaces a prominent place within the community. Don't put them down by the railroad track where no one else wants to be; make them the end point of a great long view. 11. Urban Design Is Valuable But Complexity Should Be Proportionate To The Population. The larger the city, the more complexity it can bear in design elements, and indeed some cityscapes thrive on nearly complete chaos. Yet that can only be a pleasant experience when the human flow and other flows within the city is large, random, and slightly chaotic itself. So complexity or simplicity needs to be compatible with the number of inhabitants, whether permanent or on a seasonal or daytime basis. In a small town, you can still manage layers of complexity, and the best small towns do. 04

More Related Content

Urban Design basic rules

  • 1. WHAT ARE THE FACTORS A DESIGNER SHOULD KEEP IN MIND IN DESIGNING A PART OF CITY? “ Urban design is the process of giving form, shape, and character to groups of buildings, to whole neighborhoods, and the city. It is a framework that orders the elements into a network of streets, squares, and blocks.” MD. ASIF SOHEL TALUKDER 161085002
  • 2. Urban design principles applied to a town or city can enhance appearance, transportation, the public space along streets between the private property lines, and location decisions about specific civic and private land uses. Property values should increase as well. Urban design is a combination of ideas from architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning, with some general urban theory in evidence as well. 1. Centers And Nodes Set Up The Pattern For The City. A village, town, or city needs one or more focal points, depending on size. Traditionally these were the downtowns. Now most regions are multi-centric (sometimes called polycentric). It's actually fine to have more than one center in a large city, but sound urban design principles would describe a hierarchy of centers. And downtown should the king of the hill. Node is simply a term more likely to be used by professionals for the idea of an activity center or an area where traffic, money, information, or other flows come together. Designer might have employment centers, shopping centers, entertainment centers, or multi-function activity centers.. 2. Creating A Strong Sense Of Place Is Key To A Successful Neighborhood. If designer hang around the architecture or planning communities, one will hear this term bandied about as if it were something he learned in kindergarten. Certainly distinguishing this place from other places on the basis of history, culture, well-preserved natural systems, and distinctive human inventiveness and ornamentation somehow stimulates the brain in a pleasant way. Along these lines, a district needs to feel like a district, that is, a relatively cohesive place with boundaries. In the influential 1961 book The Image of the City, Kevin Lynch called these boundaries "edges," and they should be discernible. 01
  • 3. 3. "Theme And Variation" Is Among The Key Urban Design Principles. Buildings on a street may be generally two-story brick, but we might want to see different colors of brick, slightly varying building heights, slightly varying window and door patterns, inventive use of accent color, and even the occasional three-story brick or stucco building that is in sympathy with other building members on the face of the block. Maybe the cornice type and height varies along the block face.. 4. Decide Where To Make A Design Statement, Make It, But Don't Make It Everywhere. Where urban design principles need to be subtle and functional, versus conscious and even decorative have to be decided. Architects would remind us that this means that there should be some thoughtful "articulation" (doors, windows, details, and "relief" in the form of different vertical planes on the front wall) on walls facing the public realm, rather than simply blank walls. Landmarks are important in making people feel comfortable in a place, but each building can't be a landmark. That would defeat the purpose. 5. Urban Design Should Promote And Facilitate Social Interaction. Just walk across the plaza and meet me. Don't call me on your cell phone from the driveway. Seriously, social interaction is important because the wealthy develop empathy for the poor, and vice versa, only when there are places for accidental association among classes and people with diverse outlooks. 6. The Social System Should Be More Important Than Vehicular Systems. People are more important than machines. When there is only one path, and that path accommodates only machines, which could describe how the interstate highways function in some parts of cities, everyone will be in trouble. 02
  • 4. 7. De-Emphasize Utilitarian, But Gray Portions Of The Public Realm. Land use patterns and the amount of private land that each residence is allowed to absorb are major determinants of how much of a metropolitan or micropolitan area must be devoted to roads and other gray infrastructure. So your urban design principles should emphasize compact development patterns and the most narrow and unobtrusive infrastructure that will accomplish the goal of a well-functioning flow of people and goods. 8. Functional Methods Of Transporting People Of All Abilities, Goods, And Utilities Are Essential. In most contemporary American cities, the pedestrian, the cyclist, the scooter user, the baby carriage, and the skateboarder are all but forgotten. Making it safe and easy for these people to move over the land is an essential part of a functional transportation system. The flows of people, electricity, water, freight, and so forth literally comprise the urban structure. So the distribution of people, goods, and energy should be redundant, intelligible, and efficient.. 9. Land Use Is Usually Secondary To Building Scale, Mass, And Setbacks. Elsewhere we describe how segregating land uses through zoning was the norm in urban planning until a paradigm shift that began in the 1980s. And we're pretty consistent proponents of mixed-us development. But that doesn't mean a complete hodge-podge. Imagine trying to walk down a sidewalk by a street, and in this order you pass: • A dry cleaner with a small amount of suburban type parking in front of it • A typical big box discount store • An apartment complex with three or four driveways onto the public street and two rows or parking in front of the first buildings • A large old single-family house • A four-story brick office building of vaguely Colonial architecture 03
  • 5. 10. Civic And Public Gathering Space Should Be Generous. Probably civic space is simply another twist on the idea of a sense of place, but let's emphasize that there should be a physical place where people can have chance encounters and also purposeful gatherings. Every culture needs to demonstrate its pride in some heritage or accomplishment, and every democratic country needs places where those who are unhappy can assemble. But what makes a good civic space is appropriate scale, visibility from one end to the other, a sense of spaciousness adequate for the likely number of participants, the look and feel of being "on purpose" without being overly formal, and the capability for random patterns of movement. And pay attention to the new urbanist idea of giving civic buildings and spaces a prominent place within the community. Don't put them down by the railroad track where no one else wants to be; make them the end point of a great long view. 11. Urban Design Is Valuable But Complexity Should Be Proportionate To The Population. The larger the city, the more complexity it can bear in design elements, and indeed some cityscapes thrive on nearly complete chaos. Yet that can only be a pleasant experience when the human flow and other flows within the city is large, random, and slightly chaotic itself. So complexity or simplicity needs to be compatible with the number of inhabitants, whether permanent or on a seasonal or daytime basis. In a small town, you can still manage layers of complexity, and the best small towns do. 04