URBS 4/531—Urban Design Criteria


Defining Space (Hedman, 1984):

  1. size
  2. shape
  3. continuity
  4. floor configuration
  5. height of frame
  6. architecture
  7. sculpture

 

Criteria for Design (Hedman, 1984):

1.  Context

  1. Contrast
  2. Setbacks
  3. Spacing
  4. Proportion
  5. Scale (Massing)
  6. Entryways
  7. Silhouette
  8. Style
  9. Landscaping
  10. Shadows

 

Designing Streets (Barnett, 2003):

A.  Urban Streets

  1. Leave enough room for Pedestrians (8 ft. + 5 ft. for street furniture)
  2. Turn arterial streets into boulevards
  3. Organize signs & street furniture
  4. Make street lighting friendly to motorists and pedestrians
  5. Traffic signals don’t have to be yellow
  6. Keep street trees alive
  7. Choose paving material that can be maintained

B.  Suburban Streets

  1. Make streets connect
  2. Keep street widths appropriate
  3. Provide for pedestrian circulation
  4. Create a sense of destination

C.  Designing Parks & Public Spaces

  1. Make public spaces legible
  2. Plan for a pleasant microclimate
  3. Make seating available
  4. Create opportunities for people-watching
  5. Provide food
  6. Provide good lighting
  7. Encourage surrounding opportunities
  8. Design for walkable distances
  9. Create the right environment for pedestrians

 

 

Problems with presentation methods (Hedman, 1984):

  1. Elevation
    1. Width of lines misleads the eye
    2. Inability to present modeling through shadows
  2. Perspective
    1. Unreliable
    2. Commonly fails to show surrounding buildings
  3. Axonometric
    1. Unrealistic perspective
  4. Modeling
    1. “Cuteness”—small scale presents “smoother” finish
    2. Mt. Olympus fallacy
  5. Photomontage
    1. Single perspective
    2. Must model the new construction
  6. Virtual reality
    1. Still very expensive and difficult to manage the software
    2. Still must model any new construction

 

cf. Roger Hedman (1984) & Jonathan Barnett (2003)


MSU

© 2004 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 24 January 2005