Visual Theory PPT Urban Design Urban Design Methologies

PPT Visual Theory

1. Urban Design –Visual theories
4
th
year B .arch –Urban Studies
PVP College of Architecture -PunePVP College of Architecture -Pune
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer

2. What is Urban Design ?
Urban designis the process of designing and shaping the physical features
ofcities,towns, andvillagesandplanningfor the provision of municipal services to
residents and visitors. Although it deals with issues of a larger scale thanarchitecture, it
cannot be understood as a wholly separated field of research and design, since the
quality of one depends on the quality of the other. In fact, it is this veryinterdependency,
which has been termedrelational design
.
Massip-Bosch, E. (2020).Architecture & The City: A Relational Design Primer
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Massip-Bosch, E. (2020).Architecture & The City: A Relational Design Primer

3. City as a ‘ Visual Cognition’
Which is this City ?
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Jaipur,+Rajasthan/@26.9200045,75.8217775,1398m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x3
96c4adf4c57e281:0xce1c63a0cf22e09!8m2!3d26.9124336!4d75.7872709

4. City as a ‘ Visual Cognition’
Which is this City ?
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
https://www.jaipurstuff.com/tag/tripolia-bazar/
Jaipur
Cityis easily recognized based on the ‘Visual Character’ of its built form

5. The building of cities is one of man’s greatest achievements.
The form of his city always has been and always will be a pitiless
indicator of the state of his civilization.
This form is determined by the multiplicity of decisions made by
the people who live in it. In certain circumstances these decisions
THE CITY AS AN ACT OF WILL
the people who live in it. In certain circumstances these decisions
have interacted to produce a force of such clarity and form that a
noble city has been born.
Edmund N. Bacon –Design of Cities (1967)

6. Aesthetics –A graphic guide (2014)
Order is an inherent tool defining aesthetics
Greek Philosopher –Socrates
(469–399 B.C.E.)

7. Visual theories -Various cognitive approaches for perception of a city visually
Aesthetic sensibilities and visual order based:
3) Kevin Lynch –Image of the City
1) Gordon Cullen –Townscapes
2) Edmund Bacon –Design of cities
5) Rob Krier–The Urban Space
4) Spiro Kostof–City shaped , City assembled
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Humane and Activity based:
1) Jane Jacobs –Life and death of great American cities
2) Christopher Alexander –Pattern language
3) JahnGehl–Life between buildings
4) Indian narrative –Physical and metaphysical –
Charles Correa, YatinPandya, KulbhusanJain etc
5) Rob Krier–The Urban Space
6) Visual Narrative in historic and pre colonial Indian towns

8. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
http://www.writingcities.com/2015/11/10/gordon-cullens-townscape/
Gordon Cullen –Townscape (1961)
Serial Vision –
Series of certain cognitive mages
revelled to the walker
observed in many medieval
cities

9. Serial Vision –
Series of certain cognitive images
revealed to the walker / mover
Buildings of different scales are put
together to form a composition. Passing
by each of these,a new building is
perceived or maybe a different
perspective is formed. Multiple frames
for the very same complexthus creates
a stronger feeling of curiosity.
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/rtf-fresh-perspectives/a614-5-examples-of-serial-vision-how-architecture-
guides-your-eyes/
Designed byHerbert Baker and Edward Lutyens, the new capital was envisioned on the principles of Garden City.
The Rajpaththat leads to the RashtrapatiBhavanhas a series of visual screening as well as enhancing elements,
thus, creating a progression of frames. A sense of progression is created and keeps the observer moving forward. The
avenues and the water bodies confine you to the focal point and as you move forward your frame gets bigger with
multiple buildings and different views.

10. Visual Order–
Elements of different built forms
respond to each other to create
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Edmund Bacon–
Design of Cities (1967)
Elements of different built forms
respond to each other to create
a visual order in cities

11. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Edmund Bacon–
Design of Cities (1967)
Visual and sensory perceptions creating character of the built environment

12. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Edmund Bacon–
Design of Cities (1967)
Study of historic cities as movement lines with relationships
between important structures

13. Edmund N. Bacon –Design of Cities (1967)
The principle of the ‘Second man’ as a ‘Responsive order’
Piazza dellaSantissimaAnnunziata
Florence –Renaissance

14. Edmund N. Bacon –Design of Cities (1967)
The principle of the ‘Responsive order’
Square –Palazzo del Popolomedieval city of Todiin Europe
https://www.umbriatourism.it/-/piazza-del-popolo-todi
Edmund Bacon–
Design of Cities (1967)

15. The Piazza del
Campidoglio
(Capitol Square)-
Rome
Michelangelo
–16 th century
Edmund Bacon–
Design of Cities (1967)

16. Edmund N. Bacon –Design of Cities (1967)
The principle of the ‘Imposed Order’
Piazza del Popolo-Rome
Edmund Bacon–
Design of Cities (1967)

17. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Kevin Lynch
Theories proposed in various books by Kevin Lynch focused on the various
cognitive principles of reading the city, legibility of city and the form of the
city that lead to its character.

18. Lynch proposes that these mental maps of
Cities consist of five elements:
(1)paths: routes along which people move
throughout the city;
(2)edges: boundaries and breaks in continuity;
(3)districts: areas characterized by common
characteristics;
(4)nodes: strategic focus points for orientation
like squares and junctions; and
(5)landmarks: external points of orientation,
usually a easily identifiable physical object in
the urban landscape.
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Kevin Lynch
According to Lynch , a clear mental map of the urban environment and good
legibility of form were utmost important for a city. His book on theory of
Good city form focused on normative theories based on human values
http://themobilecity.nl/2009/05/08/re
view-kevin-lynch-the-image-of-the-
city/

19. Good City form–
Good city form as proposed by Kevin
Lynch is a Normativeurban design theory
based on the connection between human
values and the physical city, and
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Kevin Lynch –
Good city form (1984)
values and the physical city, and
therefore his theory connects statements
about how a city works with statements
about its goodness.

20. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Spiro Kostof
Spiro Kostofwas leadingarchitectural historian, and professor at theUniversity of
California, Berkeley. His idea of history was form based and according to him
urbanism and architecture is embedded in the physical and social contexts of the
cities
The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings
Through History, (1991 & 1999)
. The City Assembled: Elements of Urban
Form through History, (1992 & 2005)

21. The City Shaped: Urban Patterns
and Meanings Through History,
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Spiro Kostof
City shaped studied the pattern and the urban form of cities since history in terms
of their shape of the town plan, land use pattern and building fabric and the variou
reasons for emergence of same
and Meanings Through History,
(1991 & 1999).

22. The City Assembled:
Elements of Urban Form
through History, (1992 &
The Urban Fringe -Map of Siena,Italy: late17 th
century AD.Theurban fringe outside the original city
core is obviously seen.
The City Gates-in Greek cities
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Spiro Kostof
In the book –The City Assembled, the author looked at the city in terms of various
elements and their forms through the history like –The City edge , Urban divisions,
The Public space, the Street and the Urban processes
through History, (1992 &
2005)
core is obviously seen.
The city periphary
Shanty town which grew
on edges of Industrial
towns –Paris in 1856-65

23. Rob Krier: The Urban Space
(1979)
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Rob Krier
In the book –Urban space –Architect and UrbanistRob Krierlooked at the
conception of Urban space –its morphology and the elements which define the
urban space in cities. The studies analysedvarious cities in ancient Rome & Europe
(1979)
The shape of Urban squares in history
How section of building
affects Urban space
modulation

24. Visual Order–Indian narratives
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
Visual Order–Indian narratives

25. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
KulbhushanJain & MeenakshiJain
In the book –Architecture of Indian Desert (Jan 2000) , the form of settlements and
cities in the desert of Indian subcontinent was discussed along with the narratives
and reasons behind same

26. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
The City if Jodhpur
The urban form and urban spaces spaces of walled city of Jodhpur responded to the
hot and arid climate, topography and the culture of Rajasthan

27. HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer
The Squares in Jodhpur
Squares as important climatic and socio cultural spaces which are informal spaces
for interaction for urban dwellers. Their hierarchy are City square, ‘chaurahas’ and
neighborhood squares . Their size and shape depends upon their location and
functions to be performed within them

28. Elements bringing Visual order
SardarMarket square –Jodhpur India
https://depositphotos.com/218778834/stock-photo-sardar-market-ghanta-ghar-clock.html

29. SardarMarket square –Jodhpur

30. Ahmedabad–Jethabainipol
Elements bringing Visual order

31. The principle of the ‘Imposed Order’
Jaipur-India

32. The principle of the ‘Imposed Order’
HornimanCircle –Mumbai India

33. The principle of the ‘Imposed Order’
LutyensDelhi-Connaught place India

34. THANK YOU !
HrishikeshAshtekar
Architect Urban designer