This document discusses the visual dimension of urban design. It addresses three key issues: aesthetic preferences, patterns and aesthetic order, and principles of organization and coherence. Aesthetic preferences relate to how the public visually appreciates environments based on attributes like naturalness and order. Patterns and aesthetic order involve experiencing whole environments as visually coherent ensembles. Principles of organization include similarity, proximity, common ground, orientation, and closure to group elements visually. Urban spaces are analyzed based on their types (streets or squares), relationships, and positive and negative volumetric qualities. Streets involve movement while squares are more static. Formal spaces have strong enclosure while informal are more relaxed.

1. Visual dimension of urban design
 Elias asaye
 Kaleb derebe
 Nahom antenhe

2. • The visual dimension is purely focused on the aesthetic of the space.
Ultimately a city is perceives by the ‘faculty of sight’
• The visual experience of a city is known as the kinaesthetic experience
as a result of human movement

3. Three key issues
• Aesthetic preferences
• PATTERNS AND AESTHETIC ORDER
• Principles of organization and coherence

4. Aesthetic preferences
 Visual appreciation of urban environment –
 General public’s liking for particular environments – much broader –
 attributes of generalized
preferences:
• Naturalness
• Openness and defined
• Historical significance/content
• Order

5. PATTERNS AND AESTHETIC ORDER
• Patterns and Aesthetic Order
 Experience of whole, rather than any single part
 Appreciation of environments as ensembles
 Visually coherent and harmonious

6. Principles of organization and coherence
1. The principle of similarity, which
enables recognition of similar or
identical elements amid others –
repetition of forms of common
characteristics (e.g. window shapes).

7. The principle of proximity
The principle of proximity, which
enables elements that are spatially
closer together to be read as a
group and to be distinguished
from those that are further apart

8. The principle of common ground
3. The principle of common ground and common enclosure, whereby an
enclosure or a ground defines a field or group. Those elements within the
field or ground are distinguished from what lies outside.

9. The principle of orientation
• The principle of orientation, whereby elements are grouped through
their common orientation, either through parallelism or convergence
towards a void or solid.

10. The principle of closure
5. The principle of closure, which enables recognition of incomplete or
partial elements as wholes.

11. The principle of continuity
6.The principle of continuity, which enables recognition of patterns that
may not have been intended that way

12. Urban Space
 Urban spaces can be analyzed in
terms of their types( streets or squares),
relationships( townscape) and volumetric
qualities.
 Talking the latter first, external ( outdoor)
space can be considered in terms of ‘negative’
and ‘positive’ spaces.

13. – Positive and Negative space
• Positive space has a districts and definite shape.
• Defined by building, trees, walls, level, changes etc…
• the boundary need not be continuous.
• Negative space
• is shapeless.
• Its is ‘inconvisable’ , it lack perceivable edges
• Its difficult to imagine the space begin filled with a liquid because, quite
simply its is difficult to conceive of the space.

15. Streets and squares
• Two types of positive urban spaces
1. Streets(road, path, avenues, lane,
alleys etc).
Streets are dynamic spaces with a sense of
movement.
2. Square( plazas, circuses, courts etc..)
Squares are static space with less sense of
movement.

16. Formal and Informal spaces
 Formal spaces have a strong sense of enclosure
 Orderly floorspace and arrangement of furniture
 Surrounding building that enhance formality
 Often symmetrical in layout
 Informal space
 Relaxed character
 Wide variety of surrounding architecture
 Often asymmetrical in layout

18. Factors within visual design
• Bulk

19. Appearance

20. Scale

21. • Thank you