THE IMAGE OF THE CITY

THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT LEGEBILITY BUILDING THE IMAGE STRUCTURE AND IDENTITY IMAGEABALITY THREE CITIES

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS ELEMENT INTERREALATIONS IMAGE QUALITY FORM QUALITIES A NEW SCALE

RSUM

THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Like the piece of architecture, the city is a construction in space, but one of vast scale, a thing perceived only in the course of long spans of time.

THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

sequences experience in relation with surroundings perceptioners & builders stable structure & changing detail

LEGIBILITY

visual qualities of cities structuring & identifying over all pattern orientation

chessboard manhattan

LEGIBILITY

visual qualities of cities structuring & identifying over all pattern orientation collective memories open ended order development

BUILDING THE IMAGE

2 way process between observer & environment different images of reality group images

STRUCTURE AND IDENTITY

environmental image _ identity, structure & meaning (practical or emotional)

IMAGEABILITY

city as a pattern of high continuity with many distinctive parts clearly interconnected

venice

IMAGEABILITY

city as a pattern of high continuity with many distinctive parts clearly interconnected meaning or expressivness, sensous delight, rhythm, stimulus, choice open space, vegetation, sense of motion on the path, visual contrasts are of particular importance to the cityscape

THREE CITIES

boston_1842

IMAGEABILITY

difficultuies in the city image: confusions, floating points, ambiguities, branchings, lacks of character or differentiation

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

5 types of elements of physical form: paths, edges, districts, nodes, landmarks

cambridge street _ boston _ 55

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

path structuring, continuity, directional quality, the relative width of the streets, the block lengths, the building frontages, the naming system, the relative lenght and number of the two kinds of streets (longitudinal + cross streets), their functional importance

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

edges boundaries between two phases, linear breaks in continuity, hold generalized areas together

charles river_boston

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

districts observer can mentally go inside of, can be recognized internally, be used as external reference as a person goes by or toward them components: texture, space, detail symbol, building type, use, activity, inhabitants, degree of maintenance, topographie, even facade material, modeling, ornament, color, skyline social connotations

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

nodes strategic spots / concentrations people heighten their attention where the space has some form, the impact is much stronger

san marco_venice

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

landmarks external building, sign, store, mountain distant or primarily local seen from many angles and distances vary in scale unique or memorable figure background contrast

hauptbibliothek_weimar

THE CITY IMAGE AND ITS ELEMENTS

landmarks external building, sign, store, mountain distant or primarily local seen from many angles and distances vary in scale unique or memorable figure background contrast used clues of identity and structure

boston image as derived from verbal interviews _ imaginary trip

boston image as derived from sketch maps

the distinctive elements of boston

the visual form of boston as seen in the field

ELEMENT INTERRELATIONS

enhancing or destroying sets of images series of levels

IMAGE QUALITY

images could be distingiushed according to their structural quality 4 stages a elements are free, have no structure b parts are related in terms, still remaining disconnected

c flexible connection d connections multiply, parts are interconnected, interaction

FORM QUALITIES

categories of direct interest in design 1 singularity or figure background clarity 2 form simplicity 3 continuity 4 dominance 5 clarity of joint 6 directional differentiation 7 visual scope 8 motion awareness 9 time series 10 names and meanings repetition, redundancy and reinforcement

A NEW SCALE

well organized, poetic, symbolic ... clarity of structure, vividness of identity

RSUM

pro universal method for urban planning mental image as own research topic city residents/ perseptions are included in survey/ design process theory of urban planning, figure & form of the city

RSUM

contra traditional image of the city city is radical shorten no contrast structure with consise forms missing relations between form & meaning, image & space city as a diagramm without aspects of material, use and form of space