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Urban planning and essay
Urban planning and essay
Essay about urban planning in a city
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“The Garden City Idea and Modern Planning.” Lewis Mumford
1. What essential question is the author addressing?
Solving an issue of urban planning, such as an overcrowded urban life with the method of decentralization by introducing the idea of the garden city.
2. What is the thesis being examined or proposed, in what context?
Through socialist types of ideals for a balanced community, environmental concerns as a healthy relationship with nature and a self-sustainable life, the author explains that issues on big cities could be resolved by designing smaller well-connected nodes to form a metropolitan region. Urban issues include the increase in population causing health related problems, and overcrowded urban areas creating very distinct
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What essential question is the author addressing?
The main focus of this reading is the need for a new system/approach to design urban life and the organization and plans for towns.
2. What is the thesis being examined or proposed, in what context?
Architecture has mostly been driven by projects that propel individual gains, such as land being developed only for the matter of the owner’s personal monetary earnings. a According to the author, there is no “art” in civic life or in buildings themselves. He mentions the quote of a prof. that argues that art is the well-doing of essentially what the city/town/people need and desire, basically if the designs are envisioned and developed correctly, art in itself will flourish.
3. What are the stakes (why is this important for architecture)?
This reading is connected with the responses for day 1, it brings up the question of are buildings and cities designed to be beautiful, or under artistic premises? Or just as solutions for different urban problems? This is relevant for architecture since it shapes the type and approach of design of each individual designer, and brings up a bigger argument in the architecture world that has not yet been
She also introducing new urban building standards. This this article she talks about, the idea some people have of tearing it down and rebuilding. She also talks about ideas people have about some parts of towns. In Boston, she talks about the area of North End, and the change that it was over gone. During her second visit to this area, she discovered that it had changed. She talked to other about it, although the statistic were higher than the city, the people still saw it as a slum. They felt that they needed to tear it down in order to build something better. This leads to the conclusion that the urban planners to do understand that the people of the city need. They have ideas that were developed years ago that they are still using. These ideas do not take account what the people want. The author also introducing new ideas of a perfect city to live in and what it would look like. The idea of a garden city was introduced. This city would be built around a park. Although the new ideas sounded great they could not be put into place today. The idea of a Garden City is something that sounds nice, but it is not possible in society today. Today a city should reflect economic status, and in order to achieve this the city should be big, and convey an image of power. A city that has aspects of nature in it would not convey that image. That upkeep of a city of that kind would also be difficult. The do understand the author's point of view. The planners often times do not take into account the desires of the people. The town that I grow up in want to become more urbanized. In order to do this, they are building a large shopping center. This shopping center is located in the canyon rim. This canyon rim has been important the people for many years. We come to the area to walk, what bass jumpers, and enjoy the scenic views. This new shopping center took away this area. Many of the people
When an architect is influenced they create. They make what they see in their mind. But people could always improve what they’ve already created. Homes at one point were only one story houses. But suddenly to someone’s mind they thought homes should be two stories or even three. Back in High School, most of my classmates wanted to become architects and they’d be asked how they were influenced to draw a blueprint like the one they had. Some would respond with “I saw this house that had this this and this and I really liked it so I put it into my home.” Meaning they would be inspired by a home that was already
Q: Use St Peter’s basilica and Donato Bramante’s Tempietto in Rome, in opposition to John Balthasar Neumann’s Pilgrimage Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Bamburg, Germany, to argue that a rational engagement with architecture is a more effective means to comprehend and understand architectural form.
From the early Greek temples of yesteryear, to the high-tech autonomous buildings of tomorrow, the question of whether the function of a building or its aesthetics qualities are more important has plagued the minds of architects around the world. Webster's II New College Dictionary (Please do not use the encyclopedia or the dictionary to open your essay--way too high school.) defines aesthetics as "The branch of philosophy that provides a theory of the beautiful and of the fine arts" (18). The definition of Functionalism is defined by Webster's as "The doctrine that the function of an object should determine its design and materials" (453). Now, if the function of an object decides the type of design and materials used how does one integrate aesthetics into design, and moreover, how important are aesthetics to an architect? Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest and most renowned architects of the 19th and 20th centuries, and while his buildings where lauded for displaying great artistic design, the issue of function was compromised by the blatant fact that his roofs leaked. This is because he let the aesthetics of his buildings become the focus of the structure, and neglected to adequately address the function of the building allowing for this problem to take root in his designs (Palermo, 4 Mar. 1999). As is apparent from Frank Lloyd Wright, there is a certain balance that has to be attained between aesthetics and functionalism in order for a structure to be appreciated as a successful building.
In order to create innovative public architecture, considered to be the most civic, costly, time intensive and physical of the arts, the project holds a degree of risk, strife, and negotiation . Overcoming these tasks and creating worthy public architecture is a challenge designers try to accomplish, but are rarely successful. The people involved in a potential public building, can be larger than the building itself. Public architecture tries to please all, even the doubters and critics, but because of the all these factors, a building is closer to failing than succeeding.
Again, this section will give a working definition of the “urban question’. To fully compare the political economy and ecological perspectives a description of the “urban question” allows the reader to better understand the divergent schools of thought. For Social Science scholars, from a variety of disciplines, the “urban question” asks how space and the urban or city are related (The City Reader, 2009). The perspective that guides the ecological and the social spatial-dialect schools of thought asks the “urban question” in separate distinct terminology. Respected scholars from the ecological mode of thinking, like Burgess, Wirth and others view society and space from the rationale that geographical scope determines society (The City Reader, 2009). The “urban question” that results from the ecological paradigm sees the relationship between the city (space) as influencing the behaviors of individuals or society in the city. On the other hand...
Jane Jacobs tries to redefine the orthodox planning theory that the idea neighborhood size is 7,000 residents. She believes that having such a small neighborhood make self- governance, which is crucial for a neighborhood, is next to near impossible. Self- governance is important so that the residents of a neighborhood can maintain a society and imagine that is shared by the majority. When there are only 7,000 residents in a neighborhood Jane Jacobs believes that self- governance is impossible because there will be too many strongly grounded, different ideal and opinions that will make coming to a common idea will never happen. Jane Jacobs focuses on looking at the larger aspect of the neighborhoods as how a neighborhood actually affects a city, and actually that smaller neighborhoods do not play much of role in the city as a whole.
Simon Unwin, the author of the book ‘Analysing Architecture’ says that the ‘the purpose of architecture is to design buildings’ is an unsatisfactory definition because the definition limits architecture to just the design of buildings. He feels that architecture involves more than just designing buildings. He also believes that the definition fails to explain the real purpose of architecture and transfers the problem of comprehending the word ‘architecture’ to the word ‘building’. This definition doesn’t go in-depth to analyze and understand the essence of architecture in our everyday lives. It fails to relate human life and needs to the buildings built.
To understand if and how architecture has had an influence on the way people think and act in the past is an important aspect of questioning architecture’s influence today. Bentham’s Panopticon, and his ideas of surveillance, power, and discipline, have been examined and discussed by a wide variety of people including Foucault. Foucault’s main focus was on the exercise of power in its different forms and the control exercised through its architecture. An interesting view raised by Foucault in his study of the Panopticon is that liberation or oppression is not manifested in architecture by itself. This does not mean that they cannot be made part of it. ‘Positive effects’ could occur when the ‘liberating intentio...
Curtis, W J. "12. The Ideal Community: Alternatives to the Industrial City." In Modern architecture since 1900, 159-173. London: Phaidon, 1996.
However, architecture is not just the future, after all, buildings are intended to be viewed, traversed and lived by us, people. Despite this, many architects today rarely think deeply about human nature, disregarding their main subject matter in favour for efficiency and an architecture of spectacle. In this there seems to be a misconception that underlies much of architecture, that is, human’s relationship with the city, the building and nature. In much of today’s architecture, people are treated with as much concern much as we treat cars, purely mechanically. The post-modern search for the ‘new’ and ‘novel’ has come to disregard the profound affect design has on our lives, impacting our senses, shaping our psyche and disposition.
The role of the architect is a question that evokes a spectrum of answers from Norman Foster’s definition; ‘Architect is an expression of values… the way we build is a reflection of the way we live.’ [Foster, cited in Tholl, 2014: Online] This debate of who and what an architect should be and do is not a recent one to emerge but has lead many architects and designers as far back as Vitruvius [15BC] to produce documentation on what they believed to be the make-up of an architect. In Vitruvius’ ‘The Ten Books On Architecture’ he quickly establishes two fragments that make an architect, the manual skill and the theory and scholarship.
Every person with a job, no matter what occupation, makes an impact on society in some way, shape, or form. Some people leave their legacy by defending people in court, some saving lives in a hospital, and others planning and building works of construction. These planners have a large-scale effect on everybody in society and have an eye for detail, as well as enjoy using mathematics to ensure proper construction. That is why I have chosen architecture to be my career. An architect is a person who designs buildings and supervises their construction. A broader view of an architect is a person who is responsible for inventing or realizing a particular idea or project. Architecture varies from the pillars of the Greek Parthenon, to peoples’ homes. I often find myself marveling over the design of large-scale building projects such as the skyscrapers of New York City. Most of these buildings belong to a myriad of well-known companies such as Chase and Toshiba. That is why I have particularly chosen to become a commercial architect.
In Laugier’s book, “An Essay on Architecture,” he addresses early architects’ ignorance. Laugier explains how architects did not study nature and the set rules nature has already created for us. In his Essay, he reveals the flaws that many early buildings throughout Europe posses. Some of the more general flaws he exposes are disproportioning in architectural design, unnecessary placement, and ignoring the primitive and original purpose of a building all together. Therefore, Laugier believes appropriate and appealing architecture can only be designed and crafted when the architect behind the building has followed the rules of nature.
Recent years have been challenging for the whole country and particularly for the construction sector and the architectural profession. Challenging times do however, afford the opportunity for reflection and debate about what is provided and delivered by the architectural profession.