CONTEXT
Architectural context became a concern of social
movements centuries ago when excessive population density was forced to occupy undersized
rooms without light, air, ventilation, sanitation, and safety. These excessive
internal conditions were reflected by the external physical intensity of the
tenements inhabited. The difference between internal space per occupant and external
space per building became confused by the term “density” however, since
external “intensity” could not be defined by the pattern language available and
still in use today.
Zoning regulation has made partial attempts at intensity
definition by specifying partial, uncorrelated pattern language details such
as, but not limited to, yard setbacks, building height limitations, and parking
regulations. They often conflict and require time-consuming variance approvals
forced to become inconsistent given the circumstances encountered. The results
have often been sprawling consumption of land and/or excessive intensity because
a pattern language cannot comprehensively define leadership intent, build
knowledge, or anticipate conditions related to the thousands of project
decisions involved around the planet.
Fortunately, the components of external project context
can be comprehensively identified, measured, and mathematically correlated to
predict their implications. These implications can also be predicted when
contemplated specification values are entered in the design specification
module of a building design category forecast model. I’ve discussed this
measurement and prediction potential to build knowledge and lead future shelter
capacity planning in many previous essays.
The shelter capacity, intensity, and context implications
predicted in a shelter capacity forecast model can be adjusted by changing the
design specification values entered in the specification module before pencil
hits paper. The knowledge that can be accumulated by this measurement and
prediction format has improved leadership potential for both public and private
sectors.
Leadership is needed to protect our quality and source of
life from excessive consumption of land for shelter capacity. It should be a
self-evident argument. Land is needed to shelter the activities of growing
populations and is needed as a source of life. Shelter will consume this source
without leadership that is able to define the shelter capacity of land and
limit its consumption.
Density in terms of dwelling units per acre has never
been an adequate measure of intensity. It has simply not addressed the many
design specification values that must be correlated to produce a desired result.
This has prevented us from reconciling population growth and shelter capacity
on limited land areas that are consciously prescribed and monitored to produce
a sustainable, compatible presence and desirable quality of life.
The equations of shelter capacity evaluation have been my
response to this perceived gap, and I have discussed them in numerous essays
over the years. They are the descendants of a social reform movement that first
recognized the relationship between shelter intensity, social density, and its
effect on public health, safety, and welfare (quality of life). The response
has influenced our lives and behavior in many ways, but we have struggled to
lead the shelter required for this activity without sprawl and excessive
intensity. This is not an issue associated with a single building. It is about
the assembly of shelter projects that form the places we inhabit with
collections of building mass, parking, pavement, and unpaved open space. The
topic is typically referred to as urban design, but the scope of concern is not
limited to an urban design area. It extends to the collection of urban design
areas that must eventually be correlated to form sustainable city design, and
it requires an equally comprehensive leadership language.
Shelter design leadership is needed because the refuge planned
or constructed on a single lot removes land as a source of life. It’s a
trade-off between land for shelter and land for survival that adds meaning and
urgency to words like “balance”, “sustainable”, and “symbiotic”.
URBAN DESIGN
A single shelter cell metastasizes in response to population
growth stimuli and depends on a life-sustaining anatomy of movement, open
space, and life support. This anatomy responds to population growth and expands
to form a Built Domain that consumes land. This growth is not recognized as a disease
mistreated with “annexation” because we are only now recognizing the
implications of unlimited growth and consumption. We have simply not understood
the building classification and design specification decisions needed to consistently
lead shelter growth toward a goal based on understanding and respect for the
planet’s ability to sustain life. In other words, we have not been able to
accurately predict the shelter capacity of land. We have fought wars over
control, surveyed parcels, and traded ownership; but have never attempted to
reconcile our admiration for growth and consumption on a planet with limited
land area facing competing demands. We think we own and control, but the
Natural Domain will never compromise with ignorance.
There are measurable implications related to the shelter
growth we pursue within the natural limits we ignore. I’ve called these
implications shelter capacity, intensity, intrusion, and context. I’ve
mentioned in previous essays that they are produced by a choice among six
classified building design categories, and design specification decisions entered
in a forecast template related to the building category chosen. Each template
predicts gross building area potential based on the specification values entered
and the floor quantity option chosen. The gross building area predicted becomes
the basis for calculating its shelter capacity, intensity, intrusion, and
context implications with additional embedded equations. The physical, social,
psychological, environmental, and economic effects of these context
implications remain unmeasured and unknown, but I believe that most of us have
always felt that the places we create range from claustrophobic to serene, and
that they influence the quality of life we experience. It may be possible to
convert what we feel to what we know with future measurement and research. It
may even be called knowledge.
ARCHITECTURE
Urban design exceeds the client boundaries of a typical
architectural commission. It cannot be resolved with land use planning or
current zoning regulations any more than a building can be completely defined
with a single floor plan and a partial specification. This makes urban design a
new frontier of significant public interest and potential contribution since a
three-dimensional problem cannot be answered with two dimensional solutions. If
you have read my previous essays, you know that shelter capacity evaluation,
data science, computer graphic information, mathematics, and design are
involved. Alexander’s pattern language will remain to illustrate solutions, but
they will be built on the knowledge gained from urban design evaluation. Architecture
will become the tactical branch of urban design strategy and city design
leadership. There is no option for those who agree that growth is subject to
the planet’s Law of Limits.
POSTSCRIPT
When land area is given, the quantity of gross building
area that can be constructed becomes the question.
When a gross building area objective is given, the
quantity of buildable land required becomes the question.
Answers to these questions are a function of the building
design category chosen, the information given, and the values entered for each remaining
topic in the design category’s specification template. The answers vary with every
floor quantity option and specification revision entered.
Shelter capacity, intensity, intrusion, and context
implications are calculated from the gross building area options measured or
predicted from the specification values entered. The measurements are like blood
pressure readings with no prior diagnostic history.
In architecture these answers have client investment implications.
In urban design they have public revenue implications. In both cases desirable
context within sustainable limits is not assured. It is a function of design
decisions that now require more informed leadership direction.
In other words, the shelter capacity of land is a
variable based on design decisions that have physical, social, psychological,
environmental, and economic implications. These decisions can be abused to
maximize shelter capacity, intensity, and intrusion at the expense of context. It’s
time to learn much more about the strategic design decisions involved before we
can hope to shelter the activities of growing populations within geographic
limits designed to protect both their quality and source of life. Recognizing
and correlating the shelter capacity of land may help us to use it wisely since
capacity and context can be occupied by any permitted activity.
We are being tested by our use of limited land, sea, and
air for growth. Shelter is simply one of the many topics that we must struggle
to correlate with growth and limited resources. The appearance of architecture and urban
design will only symbolize an answer. It will not provide the measurement,
evaluation, prediction, knowledge, and leadership decisions required.
Walter M. Hosack: November 2024
