This document outlines the course for an urban contextual design studio. The aim is for students to understand urban issues through a regeneration project involving housing, schools, or community buildings. Students will design for an existing urban fabric and consider the complex relationships between buildings. They will choose a site in Kyrenia, Cyprus to design a cultural center that will revitalize the area physically and socially through public spaces. Students will analyze the site through environmental, historical, social, and economic lenses before developing their design concept and master plan. The studio emphasizes self-directed learning and developing skills in research, analysis, and receiving feedback to create a successful final project.

1. Fall 2013
Hassina Nafa
ARCH 361-ARC 301

2. Course Outline
 The aim of this course is based on an Urban contextual
design that will introduce students to better understanding
of urban issues. This studio represents the most extended
and developed exercises in macro planning issues. Priority
is given to the urgent needs of our environment in terms of
regeneration project such as housing, schools, or
community buildings for urban centers.
 Projects will reinforce the entire curriculum, emphasizing
on the complex relationships of buildings in an urban
context taking all factors into consideration by way of
interrelated aspects of an existing urban fabric.

3. Learning Objectives
 To understand multi-dimensional problems of the urban situation and
respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a
program and the design of a specific project.
 Prepare a comprehensive Program for an architectural project, including
assessment of user needs, an inventory of space requirements, an analysis
of site conditions, a review of the relevant urban laws and standards and
assessment of their implication for the project.
 Demonstrate process, developmental and presentation skills using a variety
of media, including drawing and digital media and model making.
 Utilise graphic and model making skills to explore, develop, define and
communicate.
 Recognize the various criteria of urban sustainability, and integrate them
strategically in the design approaches.
 Attain an understanding of the requirements for designing both site and
building to accommodate individuals with varying physical abilities.

4. Topic:
 Since cities are dynamic bodies, urban and
architectural spaces might symbolize different
functions and meanings according to socio-
cultural, economic and technological
transformations in history.
 In other words, the physical characteristics of
urban and architectural spaces might be more
persistent than their functions.

5.  In order to upgrade the quality of life in a city, it is
necessary to realize that a city is a living
organism, and that the formation of qualified
environments requires an evaluation of socio-
cultural as well as physical qualities.

6.  Students will be involved with real urban
problems
 Therefore
 motivate students by emphasizing the fact that
their designs will play a catalyzing role in finding
solutions for these problems.

7. Site selection:
 Kyrenia is chosen as the town where these aims
could be realized because it is a town which had
numerous potentials and threats, and also the
municipality will be enthousiastic to be involved
in the studio process.

8. Requirements:
 Give a very short history of the town by defining:
1. Potentials
2. Threats
Examples: geographical
location, coastline, protected
areas, monuments, population, vehicular traffic
and many more..........

9. Some questions :
How do people live in towns?
 Are they aware of the opportunities present in the
town?
 Can public spaces become a means of creating
urban identity?
 To what extent architecture might intervene with the
everyday life?
 What is the social role of an architect?
 Might environmental sustainability be a reference for
the development of urban life?

10. Reflections:
After the ‘Annan plan’:
 Population increased???
 New developments
(housing, hotels, universities.....)
 New infrastructures
 Attraction of more tourists, students and
migrants from various parts

11. Analysis
However, public spaces and residential areas in the
town, in general, are not adequate in terms of
quality and quantity.
A- Analyse:
 The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
of the town
 Creating a SWOT analysis
B- Find out:
 The social and physical needs of the town

12. Create personas
 What are some of the important elements to a
personas?
 Personas are more then just demographic
information, a persona needs to capture
behaviour, belief and philosophy of a person.
More importantly their motivation or intentions of
how to use public spaces.

13. Storyboard:
explaining a simple interaction
‘I almost always begin design by talking with users.
Initially, my goal is simply to collect people’s
stories. I believe that the stories people tell about
what they do and how they do it contain information
vital to designing good interfaces. Stories reveal
what people like about their work, what they hate
about it, what works well, what sorts of things are
real problems’.
Design as Storytelling; Thomas Erickson; Apple
Computer, Inc.

14. Your tasks:
The main topic of the 3rd year architectural studio
is:
 To create a cultural center which will add to the
revitalization of the area both physically and
socially, and the development of closed and open
public spaces; comprising various functions, such
as wedding hall, library, media center, education
spaces, restaurants and cafes……. including the
existing potentialities of the town.

15. Site Selection
Students will choose a site for their project within
an area that has rich characteristics taking into
consideration the historical importance of the
town, and the role that every potential landmark
plays in giving identity to your new neighborhood.
Their will be 3 alternatives sites for selection after
the 1st site visit.
Students will debate and decide for the most
appropriate alternative site for their project.

16.  Your project will be a new gathering
point in the city, providing the setting for
community and informal meetings.
 The main functions in the cultural center
program as well as outdoor activities will
be defined in a detailled program by
each student.

17. You need to start with:
 Environmental Analysis (Physical Environment Data):
Determination of topography, wind, sun, climate; Character
/ Identity.
 Environmental perception analysis, readability in the
area, detailed analysis of the character of streets, squares
etc., based on the teachings of Lynch; Environmental
Quality…..
 Determination of the location and type of positive
qualities (such as historical buildings, panorama
points, buildings which are good examples of their
period, green areas, monumental trees) or negative
qualities (unkempt buildings, buildings which are
unqualified or unsuitable for their environment, visual grime

18. Continued......
 Historical Analysis: The research and comparative
analysis of the information related with the historical
development and transformation of urban space, its
social and economic structure.
 Social Analysis: Determining the social
characteristics (state of education, labor force
distribution, age groups, etc.) of people living in the
project site district.
 Economic Analysis: Determination of the role and
influence of the project site in urban and regional

19. Continued......
 – Analysis of Building Heights: Making
generalizations by classifying buildings according to
the number of floors (1 storey, 2 storey, 3 storey, 4
storey, 5 storey and above)
 – Analysis of Structural System: Classifying the
buildings in the area according to their structural
systems (reinforced
concrete, massive, wooden, steel, unplanned, etc.)
 – Analysis of Physical Structure: Generalizing and
grouping the buildings in the area as
‘good’, ‘moderate’, ‘bad’, ‘ dilapidated’ and ‘under
construction’, according to their structural systems
and materials.

20. Project development:
Students should establish:
 Image and Conceptual approach
 Zoning and master plan
 Conceptual development sketching
 Function and purpose of design
 Generation of ideas for spatial organization and the
selection and use of main buildings
 Linking of functional spaces in diagrammatic form
(indoors / outdoors)
 Form and Style of design

21.  The studio is based on a process learning method. To
succeed, the architectural student needs to be self-
starting and self-motivated, able to research
constantly and seek out the necessary feedback
when needed.
 There is a balance between the benefits of feedback
and being self-critical to independently develop good
work.
 The final projects submitted at the end of the
semester will demonstrate that the students were
generally successful in analyzing the characteristics
of the project area, and in understanding the