FUNCTIONAL DIMENSION

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 Functional

Dimension -

Functional dimension involves how places work, and how they can be made into better places

Functional Considerations:
The use of public spaces Mix use and density Environmental design Aspects of the capital web

The Use of Public Spaces

them. how people use

COMFORT RELAXATION

EFFICIENT PUBLIC SPACES

PASSIVE ENGAGEMENT

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT

DISCOVERY

A sense of comfort is reflected by:

F U N C T I O N A L D I M E N S I O N

Environmental factors ( relief from sun, wind, etc ) Physical comfort (comfortable and sufficient seating) Social and psychological comfort (Security)

F U N C T I O N A L D I M E N S I O N

Relaxation: Trees, greenery, water features, and separation from vehicular traffic make it easier to be relaxed

F U N C T I O N A L D I M E N S I O N

Active engagement: It involves more direct experience with a place and the people within. Triangulation: The process by which some external stimulus provides a linkage between people and promote strangers to talk to other strangers as if they knew each other.

F U N C T I O N A L D I M E N S I O N

Passive engagement: The need for an encounter with the setting, without becoming actively involved. People watching: watch people while avoiding eye contact.

F U N C T I O N A L D I M E N S I O N

Discovery: People desire new spectacles and pleasurable experiences. It depends on variety and change. These may come with the cycle of seasons, and they may also result from the management and animation of public space. Ex. Lunch-time concerts, art exhibitions, street theater, festivals, markets, society events, etc.

Whyte noted that to make the space more appropriate to generate sociable use designers must consider the following parameters.
Good location- on
a busy route which is both physically and visually accessible

Level- same or
almost same as the pavement

.
Availability of
places to sit (steps, low walls, seats, etc)

.
Spaces not to be isolated

The Shape, Center, and Edge of public spaces

There are many design features that needs to be taken into consideration to create successful public space according to Hillier.

Exposed spaces often perform better than enclosed spaces. (visual access) Urban designers must understand movement, and design movement systems and therefore places- that are connected. The center and the edge should be considered in public spaces design.

A public space without a Center is quite likely to stay empty. The center provides

sense of identity

leads to triangulation

Privacy

The edge of the public space provides the interface between public and private realms and need to both enable interaction and protect privacy.
In Urban Design terms, privacy is defined in terms of selective control of access and of interaction. It can range from solitude, anonymity, intimacy being reserve, secluded, not neighbouring and isolated. In functional terms, Privacy can be discussed in terms of Visual and Aural privacy.

MIXED USES

The mixing of uses has become a widely accepted urban design objective. Areas may have mixed uses in either or both of two ways:
1.by having a mix of single-use buildings, or 2.by having buildings which each contain a mix of uses.

The concept of "mixed-use" as a discrete zone is predicated on the relatively recent practice of singleuse zoning whereby different uses in different places are set by legislative mandate.

H O W D O

M I X E D

Designing for mixed uses. (i) I f a l l the potential 'mixed-use elements' are located at the edge of the development, it undermines the role of the centre; (ii) although geographically proximate, the uses are still zoned with roads forming the boundaries between uses; and (iii) more vibrant and sustainable neighborhoods and areas result from the complex interweaving of uses and by blurring the distinctions between uses (source: adapted from Llewelyn-Davies, 2000, p. 39)

U S E S
D E V E L O P ?

F U N C T I O N A L D I M E N S I O N

If all the potential mixed-use elements are located at the edge of the development, it undermines the role of the center.

Although geographically proximate, the uses are still zoned with roads forming the boundaries between uses.

More vibrant and sustainable neighborhoods and areas result from the complex interweaving of uses and by blurring the distinctions between uses.

Jane Jacobs argued that the vitality of city neighbourhoods depends on the overlapping of activities. She outlined four conditions to generate diversity in the citys streets and districts:

The district must serve more than one primary function. Most blocks must be short; that is, streets and turn- corners must be frequent.

The district must mix buildings that vary in age and condition.
There must be a sufficiently dense concentration of people.

Llewelyn-Davies identifies the following benefits of mixed-use development: Minimizing travel-to-work congestion. Greater opportunities for social interaction. Socially diverse communities. A greater feeling of safety through more eyes on the street. Greater energy efficiency and more efficient use of space and buildings. More consumer choice of lifestyle, location and building type. Greater urban vitality and street life.

The New Urbanize project at Florida was a development guided by typology rather than functionality and the USP of the project became uniformity of functions within a zone. With an overall conception of the desired 3-D form, the master plan allocates each development site a particular development type.

DENSITY AND URBAN FORM

HIGH-RISE DEVELOPMENT STANDING IN OPEN SPACE: No private gardens, poor amenities directly

available to the inhabitants. No direct relationship between the buildings and the surrounding streets. Large area of open space required management and maintenance.
STREET LAYOUT WITH 2-3 STOREY HOUSES:

Front and back gardens. Continuous street frontages define the public space. High site coverage minimizes potential for communal spaces.
URBAN PERIMETER BLOCK:

Surrounding buildings can be of different heights and configuration. Buildings are arranged around a landscape open space. open space can contain a community-based facility. Commercial and public facilities can be distributed along the ground floor, maintaining an active street frontage. space is available for uses as, rear gardens, communal areas or a park.

Lower density was initially a response to conditions within the industrial cities of the nineteenth century

minimizing resource and energy consumption

HIGHER DENSITY HOUSING IN HONGKONG, LOWER DENSITY HOUSING IN USA

Dallass Cedars neighbourhood

Tokyo City Aerial view

Llewelyn-Davies suggests a range of benefits from higher densities of development: Social: encouraging positive interaction and diversity, improving access to community services. Economic: enhancing the economic viability of development. Transport: supporting public transport and reducing car travel. Environmental: increasing energy efficiency, decreasing resource consumption, creating less pollution, reducing overall demand for development land.

Environmental Design:

THE MICROCLIMATE:

Climate in open spaces of the built environment and / or around a specific building, affected by orientation, landscape, vegetation, adjacent buildings, etc.

Map of Microclimate on the school grounds

Different use of same space at different microclimatic conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

Thank you!