ARC 331

URBAN DESIGN

URBAN FORM
Historical evolution, scale, structure, shape, human scale, enclosure …
Key reading: Spreiregen, Paul D. (1965), Urban Design: The Architecture of Towns and Cities. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Available e-copy at:
https://archive.org/details/urban-design-the-architecture-of-town-and-cities-by-spreinger-paul-d. Accessed: 24/9/2022.

URBAN FORM
Urban form refers to the physical layout and design of the city.

Urban design takes into consideration density, street layout,

transportation and employment areas and other urban design
issues.

Growth management issues such as urban sprawl, growth patterns

and phases of development also influence urban form.

*DENSITY Refers to the number of persons, families or dwellings per unit of land. The more elements within an
area, the higher the density.

Evolution of urban
forms
Historical examples:
 Hu

nters/warriors:
-Circular form
Far

ming areas/settlements: -Rectilinear

plots and land division
Khorsabad, Iraq, -Founding (3rd Century BC) to 19th
Century AD
-8th Century BC, -Successive walls – circular
-Rectilinear outer form/boundary - enlargement over time
Founded on 700 BC
Paris, France
Greek cities
Acropolis, Athens
 Greek city form:

-Finite,
-Visually
comprehensible, -
Politically workable

Gridiron Pattern:
Hippodamus, 5th
Century BC

Acropolis
Known history:
6th millennium BC

Evolution over many

eras

Current form: Google Street view:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/Acropolis/
@37.960256,23.7158662,1994m/ data=!3m1!1e3
Roman Towns
 -Gridiron Pattern

-More abstract

-Military emphasis

–Hierarchy of streets:
Major streets,
Minor streets

Current form: Google Street view:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rome,+Metropolit
an+City+of+Rome,+Italy/@41.9025644,12.4549923,52
4m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x132f6196f9928ebb:0
xb90f770693656e38!8m2!3d41.9027835!4d12.496365
5
 Rome: Imperial Forums,
Medieval times – Plazas

Renaissance – Ideal city proposals by architects and designers, geometry,

organized layout, services, …
 Various
shapes of the city
Typology of urban shapes Based

on:

Size
Shape
Pattern
Density and Grain/texture …

Formal types are

interrelated…

Big <----------------------------🡪small

Star linear central polycentric …

Rectangular, circular, ring, … High Low

Some basic urban design principles

and techniques
Urban Mass
Urban spaces (voids/grounds) are enclosed by building masses (solids/figures)

building layout >> building mass >> block mass >> urban mass
 Scale
-A relative measure

“Scale” in architecture and urban design: -a city

and its parts are interrelated

-Scale is related to the people and their abilities to comprehend their surroundings

- to feel “in place” in the environment.Human Scale

A system of measurement Human body as the basis of

measurement
Scale is a spatial quality that relates objects or
buildings to our human abilities of comprehension and
keeps component parts in the same context.
Scale and Neighborhood size
Typical mode of access within
neighborhoods
- vary in different cities and contexts

Scale and
Neighborhood (Cont.)
 Intimate
scale

Urban
scale

Monumental scale

Scale, Peoples’ ages, habits,

activities

Proportion
‘Modulor’ system:
Harmonic proportion
Human
vision
Human vision is linked to

scale and distance Detailed

field of vision > foreground

General field of vision >

background

Distance and angle of vision:

 -45 degree: façade details

-30 degree: whole view and details

-18 degree: distant vista

-14 degree – edge for background

views
Circulation/Movements and scale

-Relative speeds of movements

using machines such as:
rockets,
planes,
trains,
cars, -Most sustainable mode of movement -
carts, Greatest freedom of choice
bikes, pedestrians >> -Greatest degree of contact with people
and places
Walking
Enclosure and urban form
Visual
survey:
Urban
landscape
Urban Form
from eye level:

Grain/texture …
Urban Form
from eye
level:

Grain/texture
…
Urban Form
from eye
level:

Grain/texture
…
Urban Form from eye level:

Urban corridor …
Urban Form from eye level:
 Questions? / Discussion
City as:
 A unique historical process
City as:

Radial

expansion Linear expansion

 An ecosystem of human group
City as:

A space for the production and

distribution of material goods
City as:
A field of force/power
A system of linked decisions