Elements of the City
The lecture this week focused on the elements of a city and how they define a place. These elements included the streets, squares, the most recurrent building typology, parks, canals, urban facilities and mobility facilities. When we look at streets and squares there are numerous types that are used across a broad range of cities depending entirely on the city layout, history and typography. Doing a thorough analysis of these elements can reveal a lot of information on how the city works, how people get from one destination to another and how they interact within various spaces. These are all important considerations to make about our city in project 2.
Describing the City Workshop
The topic of the tutorials today focused on representations of a city through various diagramming techniques such as the Figureground Plan, Nolli Map, Forma Urbis, City Pattern and the Street Section. Below is the image of Brisbane City (Howard Smith Wharves) that we were required to represent in the follow methods of diagramming:
Conceptual Representation:
The above diagram represents the Brisbane City in a conceptual sketch, this technique is useful in representing the structure of the urban environment or to highlight relationships between the main elements of the city (Guaralda, 2011). From the sketch we can see that the Brisbane River is at the centre of the urban structure, with all major streets in close proximity.
City Pattern:
The above diagram represents the Brisbane City as a pattern, the shaded areas are the locations of the city structures while the white areas represent the open spaces such as roads, rivers, parks and so forth. From this sketch it is clear that the centre of Brisbane City is rather dense in urban infrastructure, with the majority of open spaces close to the riverside. It is also clear that Brisbane City follows a grid layout, with the infrastructure and streets neatly aligned.
Figureground Map:
The above diagram represents Brisbane City in a figureground map, this sketch is drawn as a section 2 metres above ground level and shows the city structures in black and the open spaces white with minimal plain details. From this sketch you can see the relationships between the structures and the open spaces and how they connect with each other in the urban template.
Nolli Map:
The above diagram represents Brisbane City in a Nolli map which shows a much more personal relationship between the infrastructure of the city and the surrounding open spaces. Once again the structures are black while the open spaces are in white, showing more detail of how the buildings access the streets and where the public areas are located.
Urban Section:
The above diagram represents an urban section of the Howard Smith Wharves showing the typography of the land and the various levels of the Brisbane City. From this sketch the relationship between the river, Story Bridge and the land is clear. We can see that the infrastructure is higher in respect to the river, which is a common urban design template for cities that are susceptible to floods.
Street Section:
The above diagram represents a street section of Brisbane City showing the relationship between the buildings and the streets in this particular area. From this sketch we can see the general height of the buildings and how they scale next to one another, also the vehicular traffic and pedestrian movement can be seen demonstrating the use of the open spaces.
Reflections
After this weeks exercises and discussions I've learnt how a population occupies a city, how they interact with the spaces they have been provided or how they create new spaces. It is clear that popular urban facilities such as shopping centers and churches are always in close proximity to motorways and local transport. It is also interesting that depending on the type of street in certain areas, you will also see different types of traffic, people on foot my dominant one area over another, or faster vehicular routes may not always be the main roads. It is also clear that there are a variety of different squares in most cities, all performing different tasks depending on their location to public services. In summary I believe the public movement within a city creates thick places and these places are connected by important destinations within the urban fabric.
The lecture this week focused on the elements of a city and how they define a place. These elements included the streets, squares, the most recurrent building typology, parks, canals, urban facilities and mobility facilities. When we look at streets and squares there are numerous types that are used across a broad range of cities depending entirely on the city layout, history and typography. Doing a thorough analysis of these elements can reveal a lot of information on how the city works, how people get from one destination to another and how they interact within various spaces. These are all important considerations to make about our city in project 2.
Describing the City Workshop
The topic of the tutorials today focused on representations of a city through various diagramming techniques such as the Figureground Plan, Nolli Map, Forma Urbis, City Pattern and the Street Section. Below is the image of Brisbane City (Howard Smith Wharves) that we were required to represent in the follow methods of diagramming:
Conceptual Representation:
City Pattern:
Figureground Map:
Nolli Map:
Urban Section:
Street Section:
Reflections
After this weeks exercises and discussions I've learnt how a population occupies a city, how they interact with the spaces they have been provided or how they create new spaces. It is clear that popular urban facilities such as shopping centers and churches are always in close proximity to motorways and local transport. It is also interesting that depending on the type of street in certain areas, you will also see different types of traffic, people on foot my dominant one area over another, or faster vehicular routes may not always be the main roads. It is also clear that there are a variety of different squares in most cities, all performing different tasks depending on their location to public services. In summary I believe the public movement within a city creates thick places and these places are connected by important destinations within the urban fabric.
