The focus of this studio is “site design in the urban context.” As such, it will enable students to explore the particular challenges of designing in complex urban environments. By their nature, urban environments have multiple layers and meanings and are influenced by an array of forces. Urban landscapes are an amalgam of myriad social, cultural, political, economic and ecological processes on physical space. Designing in the urban context therefore requires sensitivity to these many layers and influences. Creative response to the challenges of urban environments requires careful attention to the landscape narratives students choose to tell, and how users of a space learn and discover new things from a site.
Part 1: Understanding and Analyzing Urban Landscape Systems
The purpose here is to briefly overview basic concepts of urbanism (transportation, infrastructure, zoning laws, real estate markets, economic development, social issues and so on) with strong emphasis on understanding urban open spaces and networks through readings. Students will analyze case studies of similar contexts and analyze urban landscape systems pertaining to the study area.
Part 2: Study Area
An application of urban design theories to various scales of urban design, with special focus on civic scale design elements and spatial and functional requirements. The end goal is to design a landscape system or site with an urban context.