Issuu

INFORMALITY VISUALIZED: INCREMENTAL CITIES

THE PROMPT

SEEING AND INTERPRETING INFORMALITY

Create lots of signs, people walking together, local garments and food, tents, cheap materials, high density, old, sprawling, bad roads, family centered, recycled materials, near water source, rough, textured, lived in, local, families walking together, packed restaurants, street merchants, homeless people, single story buildings, outside haircuts

IMAGE 1: BASED ON INITIAL UNDERSTANDING

WILLIAM PITTS

INFORMALITY VISUALIZED: INCREMENTAL CITIES SEEING AND INTERPRETING INFORMALITY

My initial understanding of informal urbanism was shaped by the perception that these areas are poor, rural and lack infrastructure.

the AI asssumed a langauage as seen on the sign. The language is not clear but I can tell it is interpreting it as some mix of an asian langauge. This is interesting because location is not specified.

A bamboo or stick built house is seen in the background of the scene. The closest the promt was to mentioning building materiality are “cheap materials” and “recycled materials” bamboo was never

Motorcycles are widely used in informal settlements for their affordability and ease of use, although never mentioned in the prompt they appear in the scene.

People of all ages can be seen in the scene. Women can be seen wearing headresses which is interesting because it wasnt specified in the prompt but gives us an indicator of what location it might be pulling from

IMAGE 1: BASED ON INITIAL UNDERSTANDING

WILLIAM PITTS

INFORMALITY VISUALIZED: INCREMENTAL CITIES

THE PROMT

SEEING AND INTERPRETING INFORMALITY

Create dense urban street view, stacked multifamily housing, lots of people, street vendors, clothes drying on clotheslines, freshly paved roads, urban landscape in background, some men working on electrical poles, people building infrastructure, kids playing in the street, restaurants filled with people, water source, lived in, textured, street view, buildings should be built with recycled materials, sprawling, tents, construction projects located in the background, people reading in a café, street lights, cars and bikes.

IMAGE 2: BASED ON REVISED UNDERSTANDING

WILLIAM PITTS

INFORMALITY VISUALIZED: INCREMENTAL CITIES SEEING AND INTERPRETING INFORMALITY

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Hesam Kamalipour and Kim Dovey explain that extending settlements either vertically or horizontally is one of the most common forms of incremental urban design. Adding another floor for rent can be another source of income for families.

Adding a balcony creates an interstitial space between public and private which is often high social and productive since domestic activities spill from crowded interior of these spaces. Attachments can have the tendency to encroach into public spaces and limit air rights Infrastructure is often programmed and built at a local level. Even electric poles can be installed and connect residents to power.

Streets are established based upon the level of movement through them. If it’s pedestrian heavy circulation then the streets are small and sized for human scale, if the streets demand larger vehicles and more service than street sizes increase based on what best serves the community informal street vendors take advantage of their flexibility and are able to sell their product often without being taxed and ability to move where needed to be

IMAGE 2: BASED ON REVISED UNDERSTANDING

WILLIAM PITTS