Two-dimensional Plans and Three-Dimensional Shelter Compositions
Separation of activity on land involves the concept
of compatibility. Separation of shelter for occupant activity on land involves
levels of physical intensity that produce spatial context, but intensity and
context have not had adequate planning and design definition.
It was possible to successfully argue that a policy
permitting home locations adjacent to factory locations threatened the public
health, safety, and welfare. This introduced the concept of compatible relationships.
Master plans, zoning district plans, and lists of compatible activities per
zone followed to resolve the many potential conflicts involved.
Density and the floor area ratio were used for definitions
of physical intensity and context. Both measure results but give inadequate design
direction. The results have often been sprawl or excessive intensity because
density and floor area ratio values do not replace the many design
specification topics, values, and building design category decisions that must
be correlated to define shelter intensity and context options for any given
land area and activity group. These specification decisions cannot be led as
separate topics because they do not act independently. The values involved must
be comprehensively correlated to produce accurate shelter capacity, intensity
and context options for consistent leadership direction.
Shelter capacity, intensity, and intrusion topics and values
have not been defined, measured, correlated, or evaluated to build design knowledge
over generations, but this is the knowledge that can consistently lead to the
quality of life implied by the phrase, “to protect the public health, safety,
and welfare”. This phrase should include, “…within geographic limits defined to
protect both our quality and source of life” in my opinion.
I have discussed the building design categories,
specification topics, topic values, and architectural algorithms that produce shelter
capacity, intensity, and context options for occupant activity on any given
buildable land area in many previous essays. I have referred to it as shelter
capacity evaluation, and earlier as development capacity calculation, but won’t
repeat myself here. I would simply like to argue that the intensity and context
of urban spaces/places formed by quantity combinations of building mass,
parking, pavement, unpaved open space, and movement affects our physical,
social, psychological, environmental, and economic quality of life.
The context of places can be measured, evaluated, and predicted
with the quantitative language of shelter capacity evaluation. These places are
occupied by activity options that have public and private financial
implications. The correlation of context and activity within the zones of a
city has public economic implications that determine a city’s financial
stability, but context has been an accidental result of private investment
intent. Public revenue has not been a private investment priority.
The context topic has been called urban design. It deserves measurement
and evaluation to build the knowledge needed to predict, defend, and lead the second
generation of decisions that will define the external places and spaces we
inhabit and can afford to maintain. The context quantities that result will be symbolized
by the final appearance introduced and debated by the language of fine art.
Walter M. Hosack: November 2024
Photo credit: Jakriborg, juni 2005
No comments:
Post a Comment