First Quarter 2012-13

August 6, 2012

Plate 100 Outline

Visual survey of____________________
AR 173 AR 1

Anatomy of a district
Spreiregen

-cities parts of city with distinguishable characteristics. The pattern of districts is

closely related to patterns of routes. Districts are known for their strong
characteristics: Wall street , Georgetown, the Loop. Other districts are known for
their historical origin.

Cities reflect their growth and origin like downtown the original center and
uptown the enlargement of the original center and midtown offshoot from the
two. China town, harlem the other side of the tracks describing the poor
residential areas in the shadow of the factories.

Components

1. what are the principal component districts of the city?

2. Where do they begin and end? What are their characteristics as defined
physically and as the activity?
3. What is the size of the district? Its shape, density, texture, landmarks,
space?

Appearance:
1. what are the characteristic of the building form? Building density? Signs?
Materials, greenery, topography, route pattern landmarks,
2. what is the nature of the mixture of different building types?

Activity:

1. what are the principal clues of the activity of the area? The kinds of people,
when and how the move about?
 2. What are the key visual elements? The things principally seen-which
establish the character of the place
3. Threats; what are the threats of the districts?
4. What are the external elements, such as a through road, threaten the
health and survival of the district?
5. How is the district changing? Is it changing its position?
6. Is an edge decaying? Is and edge advancing? Perhaps into peripheral
district?
7. Emergence: are there latent districts struggling to emerge such as new-in
town residential section?

Relation

1. how do all these parts relate to each other and specially to the route
patterns of the entire city?
2. What are the areas in a city that cannot be classified easily?
3. What are the parts that lack cohesion in form and character? Are some of
these targets for urban design work?

Surveying the visual aspect of a city

Form

1. what is the physical form of the place-form and structure in three

dimensions and broad outline?
2. Density and character of the building?
3. Spacing of the building? How does it vary?
4. Greenery of the place
5. Describe the paving, the sign, night lighting, how uniform how varied, can
the district be further dissected into meaningful places within it?
6. Physical patterns, and linear and focal points of urban spaces

Activity:

1. what do the people do there?

 2. How does architecture and district serve the people?
3. What are the natural groupings and different activities within the district?
4. How does the activity pattern change according to time of the day., week or
season.
5. How lively are the central city areas?
6. What are the detrimental aspects of the place?

Features

1. What are the features of the districts? Major hub, node, landmarks, vistas?
2. what are the major magnets, generators and feeders, in a busy center,
3. what are the oasis/ the places for repose, in a quiet residential section,
what are the hubs, the place of community focus?

Paths (hierarchy of streets)

1. what are the principal paths of movements in a district?

2. How are they differentiated?
3. How well do the serve the people?
4. How well do they connect to the larger network of paths?
5. Are the actual physical dimensions of the paths adequate or excessive?
How do they determine the physical limits of the districts?

Center:

1. what are the feature of the district that serve as symbolic civic role?
2. What are these places?
3. Are they lively or lifeless?
4. How can they be made lively?
5. Are they integral parts of the areas around them?
6. Are they part of the life of the community or are they inanimate symbols?

Intrusions:

1. What are the intrusions and detrimental features of a district?

2. What are the blighting features?
 3. How much traffic can be tolerated on the street before it is impaired? How
little before it is dead?

Change:

1. how is the district changing both in the internal and periphery to change?
2. Is there a direction of growth?
3. In which direction is the center of gravity?
4. Is the edge decaying? How can a decay in edge be invigorated?
5. How can a district be stabilized?

Improvement:

1. How can a formation of a new district be aided?

2. What are the new elements of the city that are struggling to emerge?
Which marginal districts can be protected and improved as part of the
complimentary complexity of the whole city?
3. What weakness do you see?
4. What differences do you find between districts?