Footprints of Urban Aesthetics

Foot Prints of Urban Aesthetics Authors: Prof. Sumantra Misra, Associate Professor, Piloo Mody College of Architecture, Cuttack, Odisha.

Prof. Ratnamala Misra, Retired Professor, Piloo Mody College of Architecture, Cuttack, Odisha.

Abstract: Growth of cities has become a matter of utmost importance since the population of the world and particularly that of India is increasing at a considerable rate. If cities are to be expanded or new cities established, they must be socially relevant, sustainable and aesthetically pleasing. To understand what will make the city aesthetically pleasing we have in this paper recognized the components of the city that must be dwelt upon to make it visually pleasing to the persons living in or visiting the city. Each component is discussed and examples of best practice shown.

Key words: City Planning; elements of the city; aesthetically pleasing; natural and built form of the city; flyover; riverside development; parks; street future; city beautification elements - painting, sculpture, murals.

Introduction.

The natural features like water bodies, hills, vegetation, primarily contribute to the overall image of the city, whereas the built form is the manmade landscape that inevitably meets the eyes of a city dweller. The type of architecture, the materials used, the colors, the textures, the heights, the massing, all contribute to the aesthetics of the city form and give each city its individual characteristic. It is a combination of all these with the other parts of the city such as the fly-over, the parks, the district centers, the heritage areas, the important nodes such as the railway stations, bus terminals, airports, ornamentation in the form of gateways, monuments, paintings and sculpture, murals on buildings, signage and hoardings, temporary installations and similar elements which make up the entire canvas of the city.

Growth of Cities.

Further, this is a very pertinent topic of discussion today as the world is faced with the task of accommodating an ever increasing population all around and particularly in India since it is increasing at an unprecedented rate. The population of India will increase to about 1.5 times the present population of 1.2 billion and then stabilize at 1.8 billion in the year 2060 AD. But the physical entity of the country is not expected to change. The boundaries of the country will remain the same.

Now, it is for the policy makers and planners of this country to see how this additional half of the population of 0.9 billion is to be accommodated in the country in future.

From the geographical setting of India – some special characteristic features become evident.

They are as follows: It must be noted that the Himalayan range is difficult and unwise to build upon. It will not support the establishment of large settlements which can disturb the fragile eco-system.

Again the deserts of Rajasthan and the surrounding are not the best place for building new cities.

Building new cities or expanding old ones will eat into the agricultural land and the forest lands or involve reclamation of the seas, rivers or wetlands which will again affect the eco-system and the environment.

In view of this, re-densification of the existing cities is the only opportunity left for us. This will be a type of retro-fitting to be done to the cities.

Population range is the starting point of the city design .The phase wise population of an urban settlement has to be first decided upon prior to the process of starting a design for a city.

If the city size in terms of the population is expected to change, this aspect should be factored in by using planning options such as the, Sector/Unit/ Zones method.

Distribution of the given population over the proposed plan is then envisaged and assigned over the different zones of the city in a progressive manner.

The housing areas, the industrial areas, the central business district, the institutional areas, the park areas, educational zones are all set out on the layout.

Accommodating the increased population in the future housing projects can be done in the following ways: A) Low Rise – Low Density.

B) Low Rise - High Density.

C) Medium Rise- Low Density.

D) Medium Rise- High density.

E) High Rise- Low Density.

F) High Rise- High Density.

Designing the form of the city.

Since the important issue in today’s context, in India, is densification, the options available for organizing the form of the city is the avenue of high density housing in either low-rise, mediumrise or high-rise format.

The Urban Designer has to organize the form of the city particularly the third dimension ( meaning the height ) so that they are aesthetically pleasing and responding appropriately to the setting ( land form etc.)

The design form for a new city would be easier for the Urban Designer; however the establishment of new cities is not expected to be taken up in great numbers now, under the present circumstances.

It will be mostly modifying existing cities and towns and will be of adaptive/ corrective nature.

In view of the above predicament we are faced with the task of accommodating an increased population and designing cities which are functional, socially sustainable and aesthetically pleasing.

To begin with we may look at the city form itself. Every city has a general overall shape.

There can be several types: (Spreiregen, 1965) Star Form Linear Form Ring Form Polycentric Net Satellite Form Sheet Form Core Form Radial Form

Whether or not to adopt a particular form depends on the site, the prevailing climatic condition and the population to be planned for.

Mexico City - Fine example of Radial Form

Sun City Arizona - Modified Radial form.

Relationship between Site and City.

Beauty in architecture rests largely on the harmony between building and nature. The same is true of the city. Throughout history this relationship has been one of architecture’s and by extension urban design’s major goals.

Every city is built on a piece of land. The form of this land and its features are the foremost determinants of a cities form. Here it is the topography that is of concern to us (Kostof, 1991).

A flat site may call for vertical or assertive horizontal cityscape.

A steep hill side or cliff may lend itself to terracing.

The prominent features of the land setting must be noted such as cliffs, mountain peaks, ranges of hills or the horizon, plateaus, rivers, or lakes. These are accenting landscape features which can be employed actively as sites or passively as vistas, strengthening architectural form.

Certain areas of landscape should not be touched, but persevered in their natural state. A survey of natural landscape may disclose areas which are better left as wilderness.

Buildings and small towns can often be seen in their entirety in the framework of nature. As such there are accents or counter-points to their natural settings. A larger town, however, can be seen only in parts, from various viewing places. In such a situation the city becomes the setting for nature.

Thus, we might regard a small town as an object in the embrace of nature, a larger town as being hand-in-hand with nature, and the large city assuming the role of nature and becoming the embracer.

Deriving the FAR after deciding the form of the city.

Finally after having done the exercise discussed above, we have to set out the FAR for the different parts of the city so that the city as it develops building by building, part by part takes the shape of the decided urban form.

Mykonos – Island in Greece

Paro – Bhutan.

The nature and the development can combine harmoniously and give a sense of peace.

Components of the city and their Aesthetics.

Urban Aesthetics can be achieved through the several approaches we have already examined.

Now, the formation of the city itself and its several parts need to be looked at. These aspects may be development of district centers, sub district civic centers, community centers, areas earmarked for Government, administrative buildings, residential complexes and public buildings.

Re-development of the area within the jurisdiction of Municipality, Central Vista, Heritage areas are some of the other concerns.

Architectural expressions and visual appearance of new buildings to be constructed in the central areas, parks and gardens including selections of statues and fountains therein; conservation, preservation and beautification of monumental buildings, heritage public parks and public gardens including, street furniture and hoardings have all to be examined for their aesthetic compliance.

Location and plans of infrastructural proposals like power houses, water towers. television and other communication towers and other allied structures; transport corridors and major roads, metro rail including metro stations, Railway Stations, Airports, Flyovers, bridges and others.

Any other project or lay-out to beautify the city or to add to its cultural vitality or to enhance the quality of the surroundings is all to be aesthetically acceptable.

Discussion.

Aesthetics creates a sense of joy, delight, and wonder at the life of a city. It stimulates play, creativity, and imagination by drawing on legend, metaphor, mythology, or history and/or a form that can be manipulated.

The overall form of the city will depend on the site selected for its location and on the location of water bodies, hills, green areas and other physical definitions.

The transportation network will have to be worked out keeping the regional access in mind. The Fly-over, traffic interchanges, the pedestrian routes, parks has to be located appropriately, with aesthetics in mind.

The urban components of the city should cast people as actors rather than as spectators. Plazas, town squares, river fronts and such other components of the city should be envisaged with people’s participation as a major design criterion.

The important spaces of the city should be accented with appropriate landscaping including fountains, sculpture, street furniture, and signage.

Mesh Banners to hide the scaffoldings and maintain visual harmony. During construction the urban scene gets totally destroyed by the unseemly appearance. The surrounding areas also need to be protected from the noise and the dust pollution.

Replica statue of Marcus Aurelius, Campidoglio, Rome, Italy

Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro

Impressive statues create an iconic landmark and give the citizens a sense of identity and pride.

(Lynch, 1960)

Street art in Kolkata

Art on the city wall - Delhi.

Temporal art is needed for the immediate uplifting of the moral of the people who are otherwise depressed by the daily stress. These works of art are put up during times of festivity.

These sculptures from Budapest and Bratislava are nice examples of public art. Intimate metal sculptures at human scale accent the town spaces. It gives opportunity to important sculptors to exhibit their works for public viewing and appreciation.

Traffic interchange in Chennai.

Visually pleasing interchange in Beijing.

Sweeping curves in intersections help in clear vision and easy maneuverability to the motorists, while lending beauty to the townscape.

Riverside promenade in Sabarmati, Ahmedabad.

Town Centre, Dubai, UAE.

The components of the town consist of many features such as the riverside development, lakeside development, hill side development or the town centre. The central park in New York or the Maidan in Kolkata are also very important components of aesthetics in these towns.

Heritage street, Thimpu, Bhutan.

Half timber Street, Quedlinburg, Germany.

Heritage areas need to be preserved to provide the citizens a sense of connection to the past.

The preservation of heritage properties is an important undertaking. ... This function is important because this helps foster a strong sense of national identity. Another reason these sites are preserved are to encourage tourism.

Conclusions.

The problem today is that the complex modern city has lacked a precise vocabulary for generating a form and appearance. The above discussion has provided us an idea to develop an urban form along with its ancillary components for any city.

Having come to this point and to take the matter forward a team of Architects/ Urban Designers/ Landscape Architects/ Planners/Sociologists /Artists/ Administrators should be set up and they should work on these aspects after which High rise and Low rise buildings, accommodating high densities of people and services can be arranged/ organized/ planned. The important buildings such as the railway stations, airports, city centers, universities and the like portraying the best quality of architecture will provide us with an environment which will be aesthetically pleasing, socially relevant and technologically correct (Pramar, 1973) to be built for the future.

References.

Kostof, S. (1991). The City Shaped : Urban Patterns and Meanings through History. London: Thames and Hudson. Retrieved from http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/2968712 Lynch, K. (1960). The Image of the City. MIT Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books/about/The_Image_of_the_City.html? id=_phRPWsSpAgC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepa ge&q&f=false Pramar, V. S. (1973). Design Fundamentals in Architecture. Somaiya Publications. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Design_Fundamentals_in_Architecture.html? id=LekNPAAACAAJ Spreiregen, P. D. (1965). Urban Design : The Architecture of Towns and Cities. McGraw-Hill.