NOW Urbanism

In the spirit of the variety of urbanism - some upcoming events from University of Washington in Seattle as part of the Now Urbanism: City Making in the 21st Century and Beyond - a year long interdisciplinary series of speakers around the concept of the modern city.  Thanks to Thaisa Way from UW for the heads up... I hope to make it to the Nov. 18 event, which should be a great dialogue from a couple of different, but inspiring, thinkers Randy Hester and Chris Reed.

November 17: Environmental Urbanism: Design With Ecological Democracy @ Architecture 147 [Public Lecture]
Randolph T. Hester, Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley

November 18: Environmental Urbanism: Ecological Design For Healthy Cities 

(What does it mean to envision a healthy city - one that nurtures both people and the environment? Environmental Urbanism acknowledges and embraces the relationships between people and their material surroundings. This session will explicitly consider how the human processes of city making involve an ongoing negotiation with various non-human elements-- soils, water, atmosphere, and animals. By considering the intended and unintended effects of urbanization, our goal is to better understand how and to what extent we can intentionally shape future urban landscapes.  Speakers include:

• Chris Reed, STOSS, Boston
• Randolph T. Hester, Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley
• Howard Frumkin, Dean, UW School of Public Health
• Panel Moderated by Peter Steinbrueck, Steinbrueck Urban Strategies

Additional dates of events can be found on their website and include a number of upcoming events of interest in the next year.

• Informal Urbanism: Slum Cities and Global Health (January 13, 2011)
• Transcultural Urbanism: Immigrant Cities (February 11, 2011)
• Generosity of Cities: Arts, Humanities, and the City (March 10, 2011)
• Next Eco-Cities (April 7, 2011) 
• Towards Just Cities (May 5, 2011) 
• The University and the City (May 26, 2011)

Botanical Neurobiology

A TED Talk on Plant Intelligence by Italian botanist Stefano Mancuso will leave you on the edge of your seat and asking all sorts of questions of both your house-plants and about the wide-ranging implications for landscapes.  Mancuso operates the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology in Italy.  




A brief synopsis of the talk:  "Does the Boston fern you're dutifully misting each morning appreciate your care? Or can the spreading oak in your local park take umbrage at the kids climbing its knotted branches? Not likely, says Italian researcher Stefano Mancuso, but that doesn't mean that these same living organisms aren't capable of incredibly sophisticated and dynamic forms of awareness and communication.

From his laboratory near Florence, Mancuso and his team explore how plants communicate, or "signal," with each other, using a complex internal analysis system to find nutrients, spread their species and even defend themselves against predators. Their research continues to transform our view of plants from simple organisms to complex ecological structures and communities that can gather, process and -- most incredibly -- share important information."


Some more on Plant Intelligence:  Smarty Plants

The Wilderness Downtown

I have in the past alluded to the 'Soundtrack of Spaces' linking music to our physical environment.  I know most people have amused themselves with this video experiment, but I finally found myself engaging with the Arcade Fire's interactive video 'The Wilderness Downtown' - perhaps a literal interpretation of the space/music connection.  The narrative film, which juxtaposes an address (in particular, the home where you grew up) with the song 'We Used to Wait' off the recent release - 'The Suburbs'.

The interactive film, by Chris Milk, provides an interactive journey using footage along with Google aerial and street views to provide a 'story' based on a familiar location from one's childhood.  In this case, it's a quasi-suburb in Minot, North Dakota, where I spent a good portion of my childhood in my post- air force brat youth.  While, it is virtually impossible to capture the narrative in stills, but here goes - which takes the viewer through the stages of running, locating in the neighborhood, discovery, and inevitably transformation. Whatever address you choose - just try it (although you must have the latest versions of Safari or Chrome for performance).

 

 

You find youself transfixed to the images, both to find out what is coming next, but also to catch a glimpse of the house, the yard, the street you grew up on.  It's a fascinating interpretation of the song, which After a brief pause, there's an interlude of interactivity, where you are prompted to write a postcard to yourself as a young person - as you contemplate the meaning of the lyrics (which much as cities, spaces, and childhood memories, are innately personal).   From the first verse:

But by the time we met

The times had already changed

So I never wrote a letter

I never took my true heart

I never wrote it down

So when the lights cut out

I was left standing in the wilderness downtown

And then the transformation of the place to the 'wilderness' begins, with an eruption of vegetation emerging from the streets, bursting forth in vegetal violence.  It's not imbued with a great amount of depth, other than the regret of youth and the inevitability of change - simplified in verse.

So what does this mean?  Without overdramatizing it, and not to cop out on the narrative implications (well sort of), but it means different things to different people.  It might be an impressive demo for Google, or maybe a mark of the creativity of an inventive Indie band trying to differentiate from the growing Indie masses.  I think it's more a question of representation and context - an anthem, given a flexible visual, for the conceptual framework of 'The Suburbs' in which the artists sing about.

It infuses the music, and why not the video - personalizing the alienation of suburban experience, wishing for something as dramatic as foliar anarchy - not a beanstalk to climb, but just for a short break from the boredom and monotony of the place.  The interesting aspect, brilliantly rendered in the snippets of video, is that the theme is somewhat universal - as the tone of the song and the moody visuals lead one, even if set in downtown Manahattan, to a suburban experience in need of transformation.  That's the power of music as a soundtrack for spaces, and that's kind of the point.

Landscape Performance Series

Interesting link to the Landscape Architecture Foundation's new resource - the Landscape Performance Series - which is sort of an adjust to the Sustainable Sites Initiative which is "...designed to fill a critical gap in the marketplace and make the concept of “Landscape Performance” and its contribution to sustainability as well known as “Building Performance” is today. The LPS is not a rating system, but rather a hub that brings together information and innovations from research, professional practice and student work in the form of case study briefs, benefits toolkit, factoid library, and scholarly works.

As someone who is adamant that our profession attain a much higher level of rigor in determining the efficacy of designs, this is a great new addition.  The projects are interesting, cover a wide range of landscape typologies, and offer data that is not available in typical media 'puff-pieces' or even more technical papers.  A typical case study includes a number of interesting features.  For instance, a look at the great Seattle project, the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel, provides an overview, sustainable features, challenges/solutions, cost comparisons, lessons learned, and project team.

:: image via LAF

While the data is more expansive, we still have a long way to get really good information that can not just validate projects but can also drive future design solutions.  Information on cost, performance, and technical data is still anecdotal - not saying it doesn't exist, but that it either hasn't been studied, or hasn't been released.  The issue with data and research is always not the results, but the methodology and transferability to future projects.  Every landscape architect should study the Case Study Method for an approach to post-occupancy evaluation, particularly Mark Francis' article in Landscape Journal, that should become the foundation of every project - not just those with innovative features or with funding to provide necessary data.  

:: image via LAF

From a design perspective, we need greater access to available research.  I've had an interesting (and wonderful) opportunity to have access to the research library resources of a major university, and it has been amazing to see all of the data out there that has not trickled down to the design community in a meaningful way - even when you are actively searching for this information.  Take for instance the state of research in Green Roof technology, which in common access is limited to minimal, local, or specialized data on soils, plants, and benefits.  

:: image via Greenroofs.com

A very quick survey of some recent literature yielded international data on building heat flux, growing media for stormwater retention, water quality and building insulation, energy performance, plant establishment, habitat function, cost/benefit through life-cycle assessment, economic value, innovative structural techniques and systems, and heat island mitigation.  In addition, there are technical studies that offer innovative modelling techniques that provide macro-scale, not just site specific data, about the benefits of sustainable strategies, including green roofing.

:: image via Inhabitat

Aside from anecdotal, feel good stories about ephemeral or vague benefits, these offer tangible examples of research that can lead to better design and implementation.  While all of these research studies are not immediately transferable, many are, and it highlights the need for designers, even those not doing research, to be more involved in the creation of research agendas that will actually lead to better solutions.  It's not an either/or scenario - but one where we much work together if we are to make our landscapes more viable, but also give ourselves the tools to measure and evaluate them.  I commend the LAF for their work - and encourage others in the landscape architecture community to support and expand this work.

:: image via Green Infrastructure Digest

Patch, Mosaic, Corridor

While urbanization and sprawl into every nook and cranny of the ecosystem has left large habitat patches in North American relatively difficult to attain, a post by Treehugger shows that the less dense South American continent has the potential to provide a large mosaic of territory for the native Panther - Jaguar onca - (aka Jaguar) through patches of larger areas connected through corridors.  The maps are dynamic, showing a macro-scale mapping between Central and South America.  (all images via Panthera)

The idea of a Corridor Initative, aims at providing the connectivity of these disconnected patches:  " linking core jaguar populations within the human landscape from northern Argentina to Mexico, preserving their genetic integrity so jaguars can live in the wild forever. Through multilateral partnerships, government support, and local buy-in, Panthera is the driving force behind this unique initiative, ensuring safe passage for the majestic and mysterious jaguar across its entire range."

The Landscape Analysis Lab offers shared mapping data of a range of habitats for large cats, although the scale is a bit large to make any generalizations.  Much like many species, we can see a marked decline in range due to fragmentation of habitat.  There are some more detail maps that show a smaller-scale landscape and connectivity corridors between larger patches of habitat.

While large predators are less common in patches in the United States, it would be fascinating to see this sort of macro-geographical analysis for the Western Grey Wolf, or even the less expansive ranges for our local Cougar, or even the more daring and urbane Coyote, which has become more prevalent in urban areas as their habitat and natural food sources are depleted.  Maybe instead of trying to figure out how to kill them or keep them from eating pets, we could come up with a regional solution that keeps the interactions between humans and wildlife to a minimum.

Know Thy Annotations...

I'm really pleased to be able to present a snapshot of the bibliographical evidence related to the existing literature.  While not a complete and total view, this gives hints into some of the theoretical unpinnings of the theory of Landscape Urbanism, which could aid many of the discussions and dispel (or reinforce) some of the misconceptions flying about regarding what LU is, what it has accomplished, and where it is going.  Call it a public service, at the very least, it summarizes the points of view and offer a point of debate and discussion (versus uninformed knee-jerk reactions and snarky pot-shots) related to the panoply of  "Urbanisms" out there.  We're all in this discussion, and it's not about being right, it's about moving forward.  Thoughts, comments, ideas - welcome.


This list and summary was compiled by a couple of my friends and colleagues here in Portland - Allison Duncan (PhD Candidate, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, nacnudnosilla@gmail.com) and Ethan Seltzer (Professor, Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University, seltzere@pdx.edu)  Thanks to them both for letting me share this great resource that was completed in June of 2010.


:: Download a PDF of the full Annotated Bibliography - (100 Kb File)

What is Landscape Urbanism?


Observations:

• Landscape urbanism is a response to the limited understanding or portrayal of project and site context currently employed by both architects and landscape architects. It is also a notion put forth strategically by landscape architects as a means for differentiating their profession among the design professions, particularly architecture, and in response to the superficial role landscape architects increasingly find themselves in.
• Paradoxically, landscape architects have not generally latched on to this movement as strongly as architects.
• Landscape urbanism is a catch phrase for a range of concepts all reflecting a desire for more flexibility and ecological sensibility than is currently incorporated in design and planning.
• Landscape urbanism appears, at heart, to have a fondness for infrastructure and a desire to incorporate this infrastructure into design without resorting to superficially “shrub it up”.\
• The theory and language are in some cases intentionally vague such that the concept serves as a thought exercise instead of something which is actually implementable.
• There is value in arguing the theoretical niceties of landscape urbanism — this dialog digs into the role exterior spaces play in connecting urban fabric while countering the dominant role architecture has played for many years in defining and structuring urban design.
• Many authors define it as a shift from the urban “building block” of architecture to the “structuring medium” of landscape.
• Possibly one of the most fascinating aspects of landscape urbanism is its inclusion of indeterminacy into the design process. Spaces can be too programmed and attempting to leave some flexibility in a design is both interesting and potentially pragmatic in the face of uncertainty.
• Landscape urbanism fundamentally draws attention to context. More to the point, what it demands is the inclusion of landscape in all its forms – built, vernacular, natural, etc. – as the basis for understanding the forces shaping projects and to which projects must respond. In this respect, landscape urbanism promotes an understanding of places and projects based on an ecology that includes people and what they do and have done in the same frame as a comprehensive view of the natural world.

Thought leaders:
People who actively write about the theories of landscape urbanism—not those who are cited as writing the foundational pieces which contribute to the theory of landscape urbanism:

• James Corner
• Stan Allen
• Alex Wall
• Charles Waldheim

People who have contributed the most descriptive and actionable/practicable writings about landscape urbanism:

• Chris Reed
• Christopher Gray
• Peter Connolly
• Richard Weller
• Jusick Koh

Reading List: Small Spaces

A new release that arrived from Princeton Architectural Press 'Small Scale' advertises 'Creative Solutions for Better City Living' which is a lofty goal.  It immediately made me think of niche DIY magazines like Ready-Made  for people with pent up creativity just bursting with ideas if they only had some direction or money.  When I read the preliminary text, I was interested to see this ideology of projects for good in action.  Instead I just enjoyed some cool projects and some great photos.

The authors, partners at Moscow Linn Architects discuss the intent early on, alluding to the range of projects " places to contemplate, to find reprieve from urban intrusions, and to facilitate social interaction', building on many urban precedents of site design and artistic intervention.  The include their own project, which I remember seeing from a few years back - the Zipcar Dispenser for dense urban mobility in the text. (Wait a second, they slipped three of their projects into the fold - wait... four!)  Perhaps this first one is one of the more interesting additions to the book - one with a story of reuse and necessity in an urban context - sort of right along the lines of the intent of the book.

Seen above, the project which looked at transforming a ship-repair container into a new sports venue - reminiscent of the work of LTL and indicative of a more strategic positioning of space melded with community need.  This seems to set the stage for a sort of investigative approach that one would think continues throughout the volume, one maybe better suited for speculative-only projects, which seem more suited to ideology without being watered down in reality.


Thus, with these precedents in hand, it's a bit of a strange ride through sections like 'Service', 'Insight' or 'Delight' which sort of organize the snapshots of the projects into a systemic view.  It reads somewhat like a blog, with short descriptions and an array of photos, giving one a taste, and if the interest is piqued, the ability to find out more.  I ended up enjoying it more by picking and choosing, often at random intervals* and came across some gems, such as 'In Pursuit of Freedom' from Local Projects -  a multi-media installation focused on elements of historic urbanism.

Many are ones that have been seen before, like the 'Parti Wall' from Boston, which I so artfully referred to in the past as 'hanging bath mats' (but in reality is pretty cool) as a temporary installation of vertical urban void space.  

And others like StossLU's outdoor romper room 'Safe Zone' a temporary installation utilizing recycled rubber play surfacing material - definitely fit the essence of small-scale.

The solutions also range from the artistic such as the sculptural 'Maximilian's Schell' (below-top) by Ball-Nogues Studio or the whimiscal 'White Noise White Light (below-bottom) by Howeler + Yoon that consisted of a simple activated array of led lights in a plaza space - which some wonderful results.

Literally 1 to 3 pages per project, these are just vignettes, partially in response to getting a wide cross section of content, but perhaps more evidently as there probably isn't a lot of substance (or anything that would be palatable to read) with these projects.  That is not to say they are simplistic in design elegance, just that they are simple to explain.  One of my favorites (and I think the ideal for a book like this) is the simple Temporary Event Complex for TBA Festival, done by Portland firm BOORA - using scaffold and construction fencing to create an ephemeral pavilion of sorts.  Anyone who saw this knows the photos don't do it justice.

Oddly enough there were a few really strange additions (both in scope and scale) - such as the High Line (also due to it's photogenic quality, is on the cover shot) and other larger projects like the Ecoboulevard in Vallencia, , and a few others that don't seem to fit the mold - and are tough to document in a few pages.  Both great projects, I just don't see how they fit the intent of the book, but don't dwell on this too much.  It wasn't terribly hard to endure 200-300 words of any one project - and it works sort of a book length Pecha Kucha.

I so appreciate an opportunity to show off some of the cool graphics for The High Line - so of course I will.  But much like the rest of the book, the addition of this project shows a schizophrenia on what the focus really is about.  Is it small interventions or creative insertions into urban fabric?  Simple, affordable, expensive, artistic, functional?  All of these typologies were included, so, even as I was enjoying the book, I couldn't actually tell what the agenda was, and what exactly was trying to be accomplished.  Not that books really need that agenda, but just don't put it in the title.


A great collection of interesting projects with great imagery and simple descriptions is a good book on its own.  I think the overarching hyperbole of 'Creative Solutions for Better City Living' maybe sounded good as a marketing strategy, but falls flat in execution - especially for a set of project profiles that costs $34.95.  The act of 'improving the lives of city dwellers' and 'addressing problems specific to urban life', as noted in the introduction, is noble.  But it is not the contribution of this collection of projects.  If this were the sum total of those efforts at making better cities, then god help us all.


More commentary from Urban Lab Global Cities and the always irreverent faslanyc

The Landscape Urbanism Wars

A number of recent posts/discussions outline what is now shaping up as a 'war' between the proponents of Landscape Urbanism and those of the New Urbanism. I find it constantly amusing, in this time of blatant political attack ads on television every night (the rift could be DNC v. RNC), to see the polarization that occurs between schools of thought - primarily due to misinformation. This debate is no different.



:: Qianhai Water City - James Corner Field Operations - image via Architect Magazine

I'm current at work on an expanded publication of this so will reserve thoughts, but thought it worth sharing some of the key links, for fodder and discussion.

:: The Next Urbanism is not New Urbanism'
 The video that launched a thousand New Urbanists into the fray.

:: Land Matters: Man Bites Dinosaur
 LAND Matters take on Duany's video.

:: 'The Landscape Urbanism: Sprawl in a Pretty Green Dress?'
 Michael Mehaffy's take on LU vs. NU. Check out the comment stream as well.

:: Interview with Michael Van Valkenburgh (The Dirt)
 MVV riffs on landscape- and ecological urbanism

And today I caught a new article from Architect magazine 'Systems, Not Icons' - adding to the discussion with views from both camps and another interesting metaphorical argument from Duany (and lawyers to boot!), this time using the Vietnam war as a way to differentiate between the different camps - so who is country and who is city?

“It’s exactly like the Vietnam War: Those who control the cities cannot control the countryside, and those who control the countryside have a difficult time controlling the cities—unless they kill everybody.” But he is willing to learn from the other side. “I have an attorney going through all their material to extract all their vocabulary.”

Ph.D.

In addition to (or shall I say augmenting) the launch this year of my new firm, I've also begun what shapes up to be a long process of obtaining my Doctorate - specifically a Ph.D in Urban Studies from Portland State University - and their Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. I hope to blend the concepts of theory and practice into the conceptual framework of landscape architecture and urbanism - topics near and dear to my heart. Well into week two of classes, and it's been a great addition to my ruminations on L+U - as well as stretching me into some territory that was previously unknown. Good stuff.


:: The original Ph.D.

My additional goal is to continue with a vibrant practice along with furthering my education - embedding each within the other. I don't expect any major structural changes to the blog, but it will represent a different level of brain activity - particularly diverging from my somewhat organic ramblings to a more focused type of intellectual rigor. Or maybe this will be my escape from the countless papers and readings... who knows. As with everything, change is the only thing we can count on.

Mapping Racial Diversity

Serendipitously continuing on the topic of mapping, some interesting ones (spotted on Seattle's Publicola) offers many color-coded maps of racial diversity from major US cities. The work is from a familiar name, Eric Fischer (an earlier post showing some of his work is here), and he has developed another comprehensive set of urban maps highlighting diversity (or in these Pacific Northwest versions, an inherent lack thereof). As a simple key racial groups are generalized as such: "White is pink; Black is blue; Hispanic is orange, and Asian is green."

The map of Portland (top) with associated demographics (7 percent black, 6 percent Asian, 7 percent Latino)... outlines the 'white'-ness of the area - even compared with still very white Seattle (bottom) - (8 percent black, 6 percent Latino, 14 percent Asian).


:: Portland - image via Publicola (link direct to Flickr)


:: Seattle - image via Publicola (link direct to Flickr)

While pretty, it's much more interesting when you see a more diverse urban area, in this case New York City which comes alive with a diversity equal to their role as melting-pot of the United States.


:: NYC - image via Publicola (link direct to Flickr)

From Fischer's Flickr pool, some explanation: "I was astounded by Bill Rankin's map of Chicago's racial and ethnic divides and wanted to see what other cities looked like mapped the same way. To match his map, Red is White, Blue is Black, Green is Asian, Orange is Hispanic, Gray is Other, and each dot is 25 people. Data from Census 2000. Base map © OpenStreetMap, CC-BY-SA" Rankin's map has a slightly different color scheme, as noted, but I think is doubly powerful due to the overlay of actual neighborhood boundaries - which could be added easily to any of Fischer's maps above on a case-by-case basis.


:: Chicago - image via radical cartography

As explained by Rankin on the site: "My alternative is to use dot mapping to show three kinds of urban transitions. First, there are indeed areas where changes take place at very precise boundaries — such as between Lawndale and the Little Village, or Austin and Oak Park — and Chicago has more of these stark borders than most cities in the world. But transitions also take place through gradients and gaps as well, especially in the northwest and southeast. Using graphic conventions which allow these other possibilities to appear takes much more data, and requires more nuance in the way we talk about urban geography, but a cartography without boundaries can also make simplistic policy or urban design more difficult — in a good way. "

Just as mentioned in the previous book review, displays of information are just one way of looking at data - but by using these maps as geographical and comparative case studies, it's a macro-level view of 1) racial diversity in general and 2) how this is referenced in specific locales in the urban area, and how this changes/evolves over time. It would be interesting to see more detailed demographic categories, updated with 2010 census information once it is collated... which I'm guessing someone is already thinking about...

Reading List: The Exposed City - Mapping the Urban Invisibles

If you love maps, not as just as visual artifacts but as part of design and planning methodology, Nadia Amoroso's recently published 'The Exposed City: Mapping the Urban Invisibles' (Routledge, 2010) will validate, comfort, and quite possibly amaze you. That's the effect it had on me - after quickly devouring this visually rich resource - I was full of ideas on representation and new uses for maps as valuable tools for urban studies, planning, and design.



While ostensibly advertised as a book on planning and geography, 'The Exposed City' offers a much broader natural extension of traditional static mapping as a tool for urbanism. Taking a number of historical precedents and new technologies, Amoroso looks at the vast amount of complex information that is collected and exists for urban areas and asks a simple question: "If a city was able to be defined by these characteristics, what for would it take? How could it be mapped?"

Mapping today is a common and accessible exercise (with hoards of of historical precedent to boot). Many designers work in GIS, have available digital tools and online maps, and get access to information that is often employed for diagrammatic purposes, utilized for a neo-McHargian overlay mapping. Most designers are familiar with a range of mapping techniques - but this book will challenge your concept of what you consider a map and how these may inform your work. The concepts in the book look at 'maps' of the urban invisibles - that information perceived yet hidden away in data sets - as a new opportunity for designers. The books thesis is regarding maps per se, but specifically "...the role of maps as both presentational results as aesthetic objects and informative tools, which could be used to influence architectural, landscape architectural and urban design moves." (p.xi)


:: Nolli map - image via @rchitecture

In short, the book moves through the work of Hugh Ferriss, who developed amazing graphic interpretations of buildings using the 1916 New York zoning ordinance, touches of the more well known work of Kevin Lynch (Image of the City), Richard Saul Wurman (Understanding USA), and visual communication guru Edward Tufte (Envisioning Information), satirically provocative MVRDV/Winy Maas (Datascapes), and finally trend-setting landscape architect James Corner (map-drawings). Together these actors outline a methodology of data-mapping that offers many potential expanded opportunities for architects, landscape architects, and urbanists to generate, represent, and develop data-driven visions for a range of issues.

Instead of going into massive detail (which Amoroso does nicely and which from reviewing my notes would take multiple posts) I thought I'd give a few snapshots that resonated with me, and leave it for you to discover all of the rich content and leads outlined within. Trust me - get the book - it will give you plenty of ideas and fodder for discussion and thought, whatever problem, scale, solution, or design you make be working through.

I was immediately struck in Chapter 1 by the work of Hugh Ferriss (which was 100% new material to me) and his amazing three-dimensional renderings of urban potentials based on complexities of codes - specifically crunching the zoning codes of 1916 to create 'potential scenarios' that gave developers ideas of how they could maximize buildings within the existing parameters. In the following image, the graphic evolves from a massing study, gaining articulation, fenestration, and finally a realistic potential urban massing. The result is not a building, but a "...sculptural impression of a completed design for a skyscraper in which the careful arrangement of the masses in accordance with the legal and economic measures of zoning ensures the building's practicability." (p.14) Or, simply, a map.


:: Evolution of the Set-back Building - image via the/hectic/interlude!!!

Our historic perceptions of the stylistic architecture of the 1920's may lead us to see a common building form in these drawings, but at the type of architecture at the time was quite revolutionary (a collection of his work is titled 'The Metropolis of Tomorrow'). These drawings provided a blueprint for many architects and developers of the time - meaning the 'maps' influenced the future urban form: "Indeed, as the new breed of towers began to rise, Ferriss's moody drawings of their mountain-like masses, terraced setbacks and soaring pinnacles proved as crucial as any built work to setting the tone for New York's super-charged urbanism of the 1920's" (p.31)


:: image via Artect

In addition to outlining the early role of the 'renderer' in early architectural work (which has evolved, but to tell you the truth graphics say a lot, even with modern architecture). Ferriss shows the power of the pencil (or charcoal) in translating complex data into visions of urban form.

This idea of drawing and graphic representation is the crux of Chapter 2 - a mixed bag incorporating the work of Lynch, Wurman, and Tufte that investigates "...the use of diagramming and mapping as a means of simplifying the complexity of urban flux (changes in urban form, i.e. the development of parks, streetscape, new buildings, etc.) in essence to review the complexities of the city." (p.41) Most of these works are well-known and taught at many universities, so a quick overview will suffice.

As mentioned in the text, Lynch used mapping to draw out the 'imagability of the city', which "...is the quality embodied in a physical object that gives it a high likliehood of generating a strong image within a given observer." (p.42) While the resultant produced drawn line drawings are compelling on their own, they are even more powerful when compared to each other to showing perceptual differences between individual memory maps, field sketches and what this means for urban form and potential markers to influence the evolution of our mental maps.


:: Imageability Mapping (Lynch) - image via CSISS

While Lynch gave us a much-used urban vocabulary of paths, edges, nodes, districts, and landmarks which has persisted in use in mapping for planning and design, the work of information architects such as Wurman investigate the ability to graphically represent massive or complex sets of data - whether urban or merely statistical. In Wurman's view, the map is essential: "You cannot perceive anything without a map. A map provides people with the means to share in the perceptions of others. It is a pattern made understandable; it is a rigorous, accountable form that follows implicit principles, rules and measures. Maps provide comfort of knowing in that they orient us to the reality of place." (p.57)


:: Understanding Demographics (Wurman) - image via Architectradure

Wurman's work encompasses a range of disciplines - some not specifically urban, but all relevant. His more recent work takes it back to global urbanism with the 19.20.21 project, a study of 19 cites, with 20 million people in the 21st century, which will "...focus on globalization patterns and explanations that will become key tools for mapping and understanding our future city." (p.59) Switching scales dramatically, Edward Tufte has been imminently influential in a new focus on visual communication, stating that "...the packaging of information is something that ultimately determines how much is accepted and used by other individuals." (p.60)

This focus on graphic legibility isn't necessarily 'mapping' but is more focused on the means and methods of delivering information. In this case, Tufte is best known for amazingly complex but clear drawings using rules (i.e. integrity of scale, appropriate color schemes, correct proportion, and elimination of 'chartjunk') used rigorously to display information. Somewhat in conflict with the more abstract creative aspects (shown in upcoming topics) these data rules are essential to understand and achieve "clarity, correctness, and coherence"... something we should all strive for in any graphic communication.


:: Napoleon's March (Tufte) - image via Edward Tufte

Chapter 3 includes exploration of the work of Dutch firm MVRDV, particularly their groundbreaking planning studies "...using data to generate alternative urban and architectural forms and as a means to help guide planners to urban design decisions." (p.68). Implied as plausible fictions, these graphics crunch available numbers into a 'statistical description' making 'datascapes', or abstractions of physical, social, cultural, and environmental features in graphic representations.



:: China Hills Datascape - image via arqa.com

Not solutions per se, these graphics merely outline "...the maximum limits within which the architect can produce his designs.", providing a touchstone to potential decisionmaking. . The absurdity of creatively generating data, then using "...architectural autonomy to impose 'expert' authority, that is, the architect plays a part as the director of political powers in design." (p.70) While there is some debate about the overall relevance, as a tool for urban exploration of ideas these datascapes are a work of pure genius, in particular in works such as Pig City - which take scenarios and create actual spatial configurations that satirize concepts of growth, localism, and realities of scale - provoking dialogue and debate.


:: Pig City - image via Archilogy

This concept, and the bulk of the chapter, references the amazing 'Metacity/Datatown' which ought to be required text for any budding urbanist, at least in terms of new methods of analysis and representation. In a nutshell, the premise involves quadrupling of the current population of the Netherlands, portrayed in a range of visual 'scenarios' encompassing living, agriculture, CO2, energy, waste, and water consumption. These concepts could yield dull and dry map objects, but instead focus on 'extremizing scenarios' that "...takes a leap in regards to mapping conventions by visually documenting the urban consequences spatially and by providing a potential new urban form." (p.72)


:: Datatown - image via Serial Consign

One example above uses an abstraction (red boxes for areas of habitation) juxtaposed with graphic representation of other materials, in this case waste "...such as household products, dredging sludge, vehicle wrecks, hazardous waste, office products and waste from construction and demolition. These amounts emerge as hills an mountainous forms, which create a new landscape." (p.80). The chapter ends with an interview with Maas, summed up in the following quote:

"Datascapes give a more mathematical answer towards the complexity. The second component, which was surrounding meta (data types and kinds), deals with larger urban processes that became more relevant in the practice again. Architects, like me, were only dealing with objects. There was a need to redefine architectural object through some meaning in an urban and larger format, and urbanism deals with issues of numbers and statistics and of course larger sclaes, more than the individual." (p.88)

Chapter 4 get's into Corner's map-landscapes (best captured in the book 'Taking Measures Across the American Landscape" w/Alex Maclean)... are a hybrid of maps and drawings: "...a combination of map and drawing styles such as collage crafted by Corner as a means to interpret the aerial photos, and thus, creating a map-drawing of the site." (p.94) Less specifically data driven, these maps are aligned closely with operational practices in landscape architecture, a blending of the creative and the technical. Getting out of the typical uses in design and planning - the concept is that mapping loses power with mere tracing or analysis, but instead "Maps present... an eidetic fiction constructed from factual observation. As both analogue and abstraction, then the surface of the map functions like an operating table, a staging ground or a theatre of operations upon which a mapper collects, combines, marks, masks, relates and generally explores" (p.100) That 'fiction' is where creative ideas come from.


:: image via Pruned

Amoroso also links these mappings with the field of landscape urbanism, connecting the ideas of change, temporality, and movement - embedding this in a typically static medium. Regarding LU: "...it is the potential mapping capability and visual representation of this new discipline that is most appealing. Landscape urbanism can be summed up as an arresting medley of landscape techniques. These include mapping, cataloging, triangulating, surface modeling, managing, phasing, layering and others - which can also be combined with urban design techniques such as planning, diagramming, assembling, allotting, zoning, etc. - to broaden the visual palette of the mapping field." (p.107)


:: image via Pruned

The book outlines much of this early work, along with an interview with Corner that touches on many of the methods - including formative inspiration from McHarg, the connections between landscape and maps, and new avenues for research - all with Corner's trademark verbosity... An excerpt: "...I believe another body of research should look at how maps are inevitably cultural contstructs, not simply inert rational data banks, but active diagrams that extend a certain agency over how the world get's shaped. Artists and conceptualists are good at seeing maps in this way, not so much as informational devices, but as performance stages that can critically script certain spatial geographies in fresh ways." (p.112) These mapping techniques show up in some of Corner's later work in competition entries and diagrammatic mappings for such projects as the High Line and Fresh Kills - showing the progression of this method in practice.

A summary of the intent is mentioned in the foreword by Richard Saul Wurman Amoroso makes the connections from Hugh Ferris, to Edward Tufte, James Corner, Kevin Lynch and MVRDV's datascapes - creating maps as: "...statistics through time, the visualization of changing complex data that allow one to see the things they've always seen but never seen...", and utilizing "...map-landscapes...as the preeminent way of organizaing and understanding complex data relative to demographics, marketing, the environment, traffic patterns, as well as the less romantic descriptions of crime and unrest." (p.viii)

The final section discusses some new tools (such as Google Earth) and the work of the SENSEable City Lab at MIT, which is worth checking out for their uses of sensors to develop new maps of invisibles. From their site: "The real-time city is now real! The increasing deployment of sensors and hand-held electronics in recent years is allowing a new approach to the study of the built environment. The way we describe and understand cities is being radically transformed - alongside the tools we use to design them and impact on their physical structure. "


:: image via SENSEable City Lab

The bulk of this final section investigates a number of new 'map-landscapes' by others and created by Amoroso - inspired by the sum of precedents contained in the first four chapters. While the whole point is there aren't rules, she does outline a number of useful strategies for generation of map-landscapes gleaned from the precedents and studies - worth including:

• Treat data as spatial representations
• The visual representation of data is related to the numerical representation
• Use the data as the palette to guide the form
• Use effective artistic licenses
• Dramatize the data
• Choose an appropriate method or representation
• Apply more lighting to emphasize larger quantities or points of interest in the data
• Select the most telling viewpoint to profile the map-landscape
• Visually represent the overall communicative message

The precedents and examples in 'The Exposed City' showcase an old/new method of using mapping techniques to display information in ways that can inform new processes such as landscape urbanism and complex urban planning and design. The ability to capture and reuse the myriad data in the world not just for analytical means, but with the interweaving of art and urban theory, gives designers new tools for representation and understanding of the complexities of the urban condition.