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Designing in a Place-Friendly Mode
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A HUMANISTIC ADDENDUM TO URBAN DESIGN

Profile image of LINEU CASTELLOLINEU CASTELLO

2022, Academia Letters

https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1101
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7 pages

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Abstract

Theorizing about contemporary cities as I am focusing on my research projects, is highly appealing, and greatly challenging. Appealing, because it helps to keep my imagination widely open; challenging, because information technologies do not cease to feed my imagination with breaking ground innovations. Otherwise, while theorizing about contemporary cities, scholars agree that planet Earth already has more than seventy percent of its inhabitants embodied by urbanites -humans who live in urban environments. Some even claim this figure suggests planet Earth has reached a millennial malaise expressed by what they consider as an anthropocene period -meaning Humanity is entering a new epoch in the planet's geological history in which humans have, for the first time, become the primary agents of change on a planetary scale. Understandably, this poses a heavily disturbance in our area of research in Architecture-Urbanism, setting signals that a thorough re-examination of the idea of city -so far, the favourite acknowledged habitat for humans on the planet -needs urgent revising. Indeed, there is all likelihood that new morphological configurations would be welcome for modelling different patterns in urban design. Equally obvious, it seems that a previous inventory to assess the structural components that ascribe contemporaneity to a city should be processed beforehand. In general terms, a modern city is composed of different types of areas: gentrified city centres, housing estates in open countryside, shantytowns, central business districts, gated communities, shopping areas, industrial zones, residential suburbs, new towns, and more. Surprisingly, though quite distinct among themselves, these areas tend to increasingly resemble one

Figures (2)
cras/Kings Cross area, Camden, N1) (Figures 1 and 2). The two typologies encompass good suggestions for the issuing of urbanistic policies: to accommodate global strategies to local realities. Their use opens possibilities to deal with two contemporary nemeses faced by cities today, addressing to proceed with sprawl controls, and to attribute a more efficient use for loose spaces. today, addressing to proceed with sprawl controls, and to attribute a more efficient use for Therein seems to lie an ideal situation to bring back into scene the progresses attained
cras/Kings Cross area, Camden, N1) (Figures 1 and 2). The two typologies encompass good suggestions for the issuing of urbanistic policies: to accommodate global strategies to local realities. Their use opens possibilities to deal with two contemporary nemeses faced by cities today, addressing to proceed with sprawl controls, and to attribute a more efficient use for loose spaces. today, addressing to proceed with sprawl controls, and to attribute a more efficient use for Therein seems to lie an ideal situation to bring back into scene the progresses attained
PlaceLeaks There is a reasonably acceptable explanation for using the epithet placeLeaks. It implies that energies accumulated at interfaces have an aptitude to produce unusual experiences, due to the unsmooth collision of social forces associated to changes — and to the inevitable adapta- tions innate to change. There is an evident friction, but this friction generates energy. As a consequence, one can use the energy to enhance the production of lively urban environments. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find an overspill of the energies (human, social, economic, cultural, experiential, and so forth) normally concentrated in places, ‘percolating’ to the im- mediate edges of that place. I call this placeLeaking. And assume that this sort of ‘leakage’ of energies concentrated in a place can bring beneficial effects to urban development planning and to urban design schemes. Some of these ‘loose spaces’ as Frank and Stevens call them, are believed to release important possibilities and diversities in terms of improving the quality of urban life. In this way, to benefit from ‘placeLeaks’ would mean to capitalize on the human environmental presence and to the interaction thus established with the architectural structure of a place, this way valuing enormously the humane content of places. soe Pa 7 ae = ¢ . a am There is a reasonably acceptable explanation for using the epithet placeLeaks. It implies that
PlaceLeaks There is a reasonably acceptable explanation for using the epithet placeLeaks. It implies that energies accumulated at interfaces have an aptitude to produce unusual experiences, due to the unsmooth collision of social forces associated to changes — and to the inevitable adapta- tions innate to change. There is an evident friction, but this friction generates energy. As a consequence, one can use the energy to enhance the production of lively urban environments. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find an overspill of the energies (human, social, economic, cultural, experiential, and so forth) normally concentrated in places, ‘percolating’ to the im- mediate edges of that place. I call this placeLeaking. And assume that this sort of ‘leakage’ of energies concentrated in a place can bring beneficial effects to urban development planning and to urban design schemes. Some of these ‘loose spaces’ as Frank and Stevens call them, are believed to release important possibilities and diversities in terms of improving the quality of urban life. In this way, to benefit from ‘placeLeaks’ would mean to capitalize on the human environmental presence and to the interaction thus established with the architectural structure of a place, this way valuing enormously the humane content of places. soe Pa 7 ae = ¢ . a am There is a reasonably acceptable explanation for using the epithet placeLeaks. It implies that

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References (17)

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