Second and first week

Isolation

Most “Modern” cities (in the “industrialized”, “Western” countries) were conceived through the rigidity and the standardization following the paradigm of the “city as a machine”. As Graham and Simon Marvin mention in “Splintering Urbanism”, the city, under economic and geopolitical forces, began to expand rapidly with infrastructure and highways spreading across the landscape and enclaves forming within the city and in its outskirts.
Although, modernism was “noble” in its ideal of equal distribution and unification, this was not necessarily the case in practice. These high- density arteries were very exclusive in their selection of nodes (normally defined by capitalist and political reasons). As a result, they connected specific enclaves while “bypassing” others (to use the term in “Splintering Urbanism”); thus exacerbating the segmentation within the city. It is through the creation of fragments and “voids” that interaction in a city has been brutally limited.
In reaction to the latter, designers and planners have tried to completely separate the automobile (and perhaps the rest of infrastructure). Frampton states that, in desperation to bring back “city life” and to reactivate streets and downtowns, we have run into the problem of making the city look like a “theme park”. Nevertheless, this makes me wonder if, in today’s society, which is becoming more and more isolationist (specially with the immersion of technology that provides us with everything we need; even a simple action as stopping and asking for directions is no longer needed, as GPS systems are extremely available), any attempt made will be seen as a caricature.


“Urban design now”, Harvard magazine
Narcissism in design.

During the interview, Moussavi mentions that “ we can learn from found situations, and we can engineer designs or even design guidelines that produce conditions closer to those spontaneous ones that fascinate everybody else rather than fix a set of principles […]”. This comment highlights the importance of the vernacular as well as the importance of culture and context in the process of design. Through communication and observation of people’s behaviors we understand the true necessities, desires and values of the users and consequently of the community. Unfortunately, few projects reflect this notion in its entirety. Even if well intentioned, designers, tend to gravitate towards the idea of “authorship” and thus place themselves in the center of the project, pushing the end users aside. This Narcissist approach does not involve the community but simply assumes people’s reactions. As a result, the majority results in beautiful but unsuccessful projects. Nevertheless one might oneself, what exactly is success?


“Terra Fluxus”, James Corner
Time in design

As stated by Corner, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design are becoming more a hybrid. Though remaining distinct disciplines because of their focus, their use of materials, etc., they all compliment each other and to a certain point depend on each other. This is especially valid in today’s society having realized the importance of “spatio-temporal” interventions, of flexibility and adaptability to the future needs and desires. Between the three disciplines mentioned above, Landscape if the one that has truly embraced the passage of time. It is through the change of the seasons that one truly appreciates the design in its entirety. On the other hand, Architecture and Urban Design have in some ways neglected this aspect of the future. Whether by following a very strict set of rules (with no real relationship to the context), or by viewing the intervention as permanent and preferring the new, untouched and crystallized version of their interventions, they have exacerbated the emerging “voids” that are now so pronounced in many cities.


“The emergence of Landscape Urbanism”, Graham Shane
“Fetishist” voids

I, as most designers, have always been attracted to the “site out of mind”; the edges and gaps resulting from a collision of scales and uses; the leftover spaces under, over and above elevated highways, infrastructural elements, railway lines; the voids and ruined places resulting from abandonment or neglect. Nevertheless, I have often wondered why that is. Is it because these spaces reflect a reality not seen in many if not all new developments (suburban design, “bubble” cities such as Disney’s Celebration, etc.)? Is it because we see potential, and an opportunity to make a change, and make a stance? Or perhaps it is a combination of both? The reason that may be, these spaces and voids created in the city and outskirts should be addressed in a serious and considerate manner, and not simply as a stage for experimentation and “design entertainment”. As Shane states, “a true urban ecology provides such feedback mechanisms to safeguard its future and allows or the response of those who want to climb out of poverty”. The primary goal in the approach should be the people, the potential to help them out, to provide them with more opportunities (places that can be productive, and to give them a little more dignity in their lives).