Sunday, 10 November 2013

Cities for people: A lecture by Jan Gehl ; Summary Review


A summed up view on Urban Design and true architecture by a world-renowned architect; his views and struggles as he discovered the true meaning of Urban Design. The effectiveness and schemes of City Planning in the recent days [After World War II] has deteriorated vastly since the rise of human settlements. Everything has lost emotion and scale, where aerial views of cities have dominated; serving as evidence and layouts for a beautifully planned and networking city. A successful city is not measured by the amount of exciting or elaborate architecture, it is about the interaction that civilians have with the space and how they build memories and customs from. There has been a great loss for empathy towards others, spaces and the earth around us. As architects bombard empty plots of land with exaggerated and exuberated structures, which glorify their names and status. Although beautiful when viewed from the skyline, many present a cold and heartless vibe when experienced from street level.
It is often too misguided that a workable plan is a beautiful plan of form and structure when seen top down; a workable plan should be the creation and exploitation of the human need for interaction, to create a lively and emotional engagement of the spaces. Much of these misjudgements arose from the use of mobile cars. The revolution of cars, led to a cold hard one in the world of architecture and urban planning. Many planners began thinking more for the usability and accessibility for cars; which to them translated as true design if the problems of traffic had been achieved. The use of cars and motor vehicles has lessened the need for walking and the streets needed for it. The increasing popularity of bicycles is to rid individuals of such cold ways of transportation.

Urban design is on the up rise to celebrate and regain life of the interaction and engagement of the civilians, to rid cities of the cold and harsh feelings it has sprouted.

No comments:

Post a Comment