Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This paper is about the facades and the streets impact on the
experience of the city and how architects can create cities for
the human kind with simple tools that makes a hugh difference for
the experience of urban space.
As the cities are growing in a faster rate and as more people move
to the cities, they will also affect more people. The different
structures that can be found in the cities therefore gets more
important and giving design to city structures also gets more
complex because of our higher demands on urban functions and
content. It’s difficult to evaluate the ultimate city structure
since all people experience their city in different ways, but
architects still should be able to create urban spaces that
is suited for the human kind, just as we can create different
biotopes for flora and fauna. Therefore there must be general
ideas of what the human being experience as good or bad and these
should be guidelines when designing urban space.
Since urban space is something that most people experience every
day it doesn´t always have a clear impact on them. Although there
are places that are designed in a certain way that makes people
to want to stay in that space. It is the architects ability to
turn space into place that makes the difference between the urban
structures and that ability also decides whether it is suited for
the human being or not.
The city has changed from being a place for meeting and socializing
to mainly function as a space for trade and consumption. The
cities role as a place where people meet is still very important
for the wellbeing of the inhabitants. The facade and the street
are the most fundamental elements in the urban context and they
influence the peoples experience of their surroundings. It is
these two variables that can be used to turn urban space into
actual place and to keep up the cities role as a place for
peoples interaction with eachother.
A walk through the city reflects the way that most people see
and experience urban space. This study shows that the most
fundamental in urban design is the relation between the facade
and the street and their positioning to eachother. It is vital
with a change in surroundings during a city walk for making the
urban space interesting and pleasant for the stroller. The urban
space ought to be divided into shorter sequences for maintaining
the strollers attention and interest.
The components of the facade tells us about the buildings
character as a private or public construction, but it is difficult
to substantialize an effect in experience according to design of
facades.
It is of high importance that city planners and designers are aware
of these small details. The placing of entrances, differences in
levels, shaping of corners etcetera, makes a big difference for
the experience and movement through the city.
Keywords:
Architecture, urban planning, urban design, urban space, public
space, facade, street, experience