Plot-based urbanism : towards time-consciousness in place-making

Some of us have recently argued that what we still miss is the serious consideration of the factor of time in urbanism, or, in other words, a deeper "time conscious" approach (Thwaites, Porta, Romice, & Greaves, 2008). Inevitably, that means focusing on change as the essential dynamic of evolution in the built environment, which in turn leads to re-addressing concepts like control, self-organization and community participation. After time and change have been finally firmly placed at the centre stage, the whole discipline of urban planning and design, its conceptual equipment as well as its operational toolbox, reveals its weaknesses under a new light and calls for the construction of a different scenario. This paper poses the problem of this scenario in disciplinary terms, it argues about its premises and outlines its essential features. The scope of this paper is not to deliver a comprehensive model for a new approach to urban planning and design, but to set the right framework and rise the right questions so that we can start thinking of issues such as urban regeneration, informal settlements and massive urbanization, community participation and representation, beauty and humanity in space, in a different way

Community design studio: a collaboration of architects and psychologists

The 'Community Design Studio' was a programme of collaboration between two courses, one in architecture and the other in environmental psychology. It aimed to generate a creative dialogue identifying responsible and professionally informed plans for the renewal of an inner city area in Glasgow (Govanhill) in which community participation was an essentialingredient. The collaboration took the form of architecture students, as designers and environmental psychology students as consultants, communicating electronically between Guildford (University of Surrey) and Glasgow (University of Strathclyde) and then meeting for on-site project work in London and Glasgow. The local community in Glasgow was the client for the architecture students, as the commissioner of ideas for neighbourhood regeneration. This interdisciplinary collaboration took place over nine months and generated educational, social and professional capital and challenges for both groups of young professionals. It involved long-distance collaboration through a virtual-studio with limited direct contacts; the responsibility of dealing with a 'real' client; and the cultural diversity of the two disciplines with different curricula, philosophy, teaching styles and learning outcomes. This experience also suggests potential ways to overcome the obstacles encountered in professional/community as well as inter-disciplinary collaboration and cooperation, and advocates the educational and social utility of such collaboration

Undergraduate dissertations in a department of architecture

Undergraduate academic writing in a Department of Architecture offers opportunities as well as challenges. To students, it can be a source of independent research and learning, enriching their development as architects and critics of the built environment; at the same time it can be an obstacle, a perceived impediment to design work. To staff, it can be a chance to share their research interest with colleagues and students, so enriching exchange and debate; it can also be time consuming and not clearly relevant to the formation of a professional. This case study argues that a change in attitude towards the objectives of the dissertation, coupled with careful consideration of its curriculum, can enhance the role that undergraduate academic writing plays in a School of Architecture, extending its benefits to the development of research and design agendas

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

The scale of sense : spatial extent and multimodal urban design

This paper is derived from the work of the UK AHRC/EPSRC 'Designing for the 21st Century' research project Multimodal Representation of Urban Space. This research group seeks to establish a new form of notation for urban design which pays attention to our entire sensory experience of place. This paper addresses one of the most important aspects of this endeavour: scale. Scale is of course a familiar abstraction to all architects and urban designers, allowing for representations tailored to different levels of detail and allowing drawings to be translated into build structures. Scale is also a factor in human experience: the spatial extent of each of our senses is different. Many forms of architectonic representation are founded upon the extension of the visual modality, and designs are accordingly tuned towards this sense. We can all speak from our own experience, however, that urban environments are a feast for all the senses. The visceral quality of walking down a wide tree-lined boulevard differs greatly from the subterranean crowds of the subway, or the meandering pause invited by the city square. Similarly, our experience of hearing and listening is more than just a passive observation by virtue of our own power of voice and the feedback created by our percussive movements across a surface or through a medium. Taste and smell are also excited by the urban environment, the social importance of food preparation and the associations between smell and public health are issues of sensory experience. The tactile experience of space, felt with the entire body as well as our more sensitive hands, allowing for direct manipulation and interactions as well as sensations of mass, heat, proximity and texture. Our project team shall present a series of tools for designers which explore the variety of sensory modalities and their associated scales. This suite of notations and analytical frameworks turn our attention to the sensory experience of places, and offers a method and pattern book for more holistic multi-sensory and multi-modal urban design

The psychology of engagement : communities in action

Design has a strong effect on people, hence it ought to be based on a clear understanding of the way in which people engage with the environment around them

Making sense of the city : representing the multi-modality of urban space

This project emerged from a previous multidisciplinary Designing for the 21st Century project - Design Imaging. The original project explored ways in which the full range of our senses would be exploited to assist with the design process. Discussions on multisensory and multimodal design led to a number of avenues being identified for further research. One in particular, that of representing urban space in multisensory manner was the subject of a successful second-round grant application from the Departments of Architecture and Design, Manufacture, and Engineering Management at the University of Strathclyde. The urban environment is experienced through each of our senses. Despite this, urban design practices and urban representation have focused their attention on the visual. This project posits the thesis that a fuller urban environment can be designed by attending multiple sensory modalities, by giving equal weight to the aural, the tactile, the olfactory, the gustatory, the haptic, the kinetic and the thermal

Exploring whether the UK Localism Act (2011) and effective community engagement can empower communities and deliver place sensitive development

This paper illustrates the case of the historic market town of Malmesbury, England as an important example for neighbourhood planning, exploring whether localism can redress the balance of power between communities and developers, as well as facilitate community-supported development which respects and enhances a place’s character, function and identity. Given current planning and development proposals and years of substandard, inappropriate development, the town was at a crucial crossroads. Through strategic engagement led by the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, local stakeholders developed a clear and shared vision and identity, forming the basis of an effective campaign in support of sustainable growth based on the best of the town’s qualities and historic growth patterns. A design-led Neighbourhood Plan is currently being taken forward and aims to resist substandard proposals whilst constructively defining the town’s future growth and identity. The buy-in is very strong, and crucial, as will be documented

And now, for something completely different : good design goes beyond itself

Most people come across John Cleese through Monty Python. I didn’t. A long time ago I was given a tape, with the recording of a talk he gave to a group of architecture students. He was reminding them that when they will move on to build something, this will become part of the city or town that everyone walks through, that everyone looks at, no matter how interested in their very piece of architecture they might be. In other words, the message was that we do things but we generate an impact that goes well beyond them. And, this impact is on many more people than those we might build our buildings for, because every building is always part of a much greater whole. Every building is a piece of city, and cities belong to all. As an observation by somebody that felt genuinely baffled and elated all in the space of a short stroll, his talk made complete sense: it was about having a sense of civic responsibility