This document discusses a journal article titled "Walls, enclaves and the (counter) politics of design". The article focuses on how urban design is used politically to transform landscapes and produce spaces that signify control over individuals and communities. It analyzes two case studies - gated luxury communities in Tel Aviv that privatize public space, and unrecognized Bedouin villages in Israel's Negev region. Through design anthropology methodology involving fieldwork, the article argues that urban design is a political tool used both formally by the state and informally by marginalized communities to assert or resist control over spaces.
This document discusses the concepts of ekphrasis and proposes a new related term, exphrasis. Ekphrasis refers to verbal descriptions of visual works of art, while exphrasis would refer to the process industrial designers use to translate written briefs into designed objects that do not yet exist. The key differences are that ekphrasis describes existing works, while exphrasis deals with envisioning future, unexisting objects. Applying the term exphrasis could enhance creativity by making designers more consciously reflective of translating needs into new designs. The document analyzes these concepts through various theoretical lenses and perspectives from design scholars.
Uncanny mechanics industrial design and the threatened bodyJonathan Ventura
This document summarizes an article that discusses industrial design and the uncanny through the lens of Sigmund Freud's theory of "The Uncanny." It begins by introducing Freud's concept of something being both familiar and unfamiliar, which causes unease. It then provides examples of advanced prosthetics and how they challenge notions of ability and disability. The document discusses the role of industrial designers in bridging the gap between technology and the user's body. It argues that design should take an anthropological approach to better understand users' needs and perspectives. In closing, it analyzes how advanced prosthetics can both empower and stigmatize users by resembling real body parts in an uncanny way.
This document summarizes an article from the International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation about applying Roland Barthes' concept of "semioclastics" to industrial design.
The key points are:
1) Semioclastics refers to deconstructing established symbol systems or relationships between signs and their meanings.
2) Applying semioclastics to design would mean reshaping relationships between designers, users, manufacturers, and objects, rather than just replacing one design language with another.
3) The authors argue that understanding theoretical concepts like semioclastics can broaden designers' thinking beyond just the design process or studio work.
Logics of enquiry exercise (directed to TU Delft Urbanism Master track)Roberto Rocco
This is an exercise for the students of Urbanism of the TU Delft, where they have to describe where they situate themselves in the triangle representing the different logics of enquiry in Urbanism.
Urban environments are complex systems composed of interconnected human and physical elements. Traditional urban planning methods based on rationalism and reductionism have proved inadequate in addressing this complexity. Complexity theory provides an alternative framework using concepts like complex adaptive systems, emergence, and self-organization. This paper will introduce complexity theory metaphors and discuss their application to analyzing urban areas and revising urban planning approaches to better address the evolving complexity of cities.
This document discusses the relationship between theory and practice in architectural design education. It argues that there has been a growing divide between the two, with more value placed on the image and practice of design over theoretical foundations. This prioritization of image over theory has led to "sterilized" architecture lacking context or identifiable traits. The document advocates for a more balanced approach where architectural design teachers integrate research into their teaching to help guide students' practical work and provide theoretical justification. It suggests using a Socratic teaching method where teacher and student engage in reflective dialogue to critically examine design proposals from multiple perspectives rather than a master-apprentice relationship where students passively accept the teacher's teachings.
This document discusses Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's concept of the diagram and how it was influential for architectural thinkers and practitioners in the late 1990s. It explores how the diagram was seen not just as a representational tool but as a generative process that could create new possibilities for architecture. It examines how several architectural publications from this time period, including Diagram Work and Diagram Diaries, engaged with Deleuze and Guattari's notion of the diagrammatic and saw potential for it to activate buildings and thinking beyond typical design approaches. It also discusses how the diagram relates to ideas of creative resistance and avoiding falling into habits or cliches.
This document discusses authorship and control in generative design. It provides context on generative design as a method that uses algorithms or rules to create outputs. Control can come from variables within the system that users can manipulate. Interaction design has combined with generative design, involving users in the authorship process. The document examines how generative design can give audiences more control over the design, challenging the designer's sole authority. It references theorists like Roland Barthes who argued that meaning comes from an artwork's interpreters, not just its creator. The document also outlines the author's interest in understanding the relationship between designers and users, and how two exhibitions influenced their interest in generative and interactive design.
This document discusses the concepts of ekphrasis and proposes a new related term, exphrasis. Ekphrasis refers to verbal descriptions of visual works of art, while exphrasis would refer to the process industrial designers use to translate written briefs into designed objects that do not yet exist. The key differences are that ekphrasis describes existing works, while exphrasis deals with envisioning future, unexisting objects. Applying the term exphrasis could enhance creativity by making designers more consciously reflective of translating needs into new designs. The document analyzes these concepts through various theoretical lenses and perspectives from design scholars.
Uncanny mechanics industrial design and the threatened bodyJonathan Ventura
This document summarizes an article that discusses industrial design and the uncanny through the lens of Sigmund Freud's theory of "The Uncanny." It begins by introducing Freud's concept of something being both familiar and unfamiliar, which causes unease. It then provides examples of advanced prosthetics and how they challenge notions of ability and disability. The document discusses the role of industrial designers in bridging the gap between technology and the user's body. It argues that design should take an anthropological approach to better understand users' needs and perspectives. In closing, it analyzes how advanced prosthetics can both empower and stigmatize users by resembling real body parts in an uncanny way.
This document summarizes an article from the International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation about applying Roland Barthes' concept of "semioclastics" to industrial design.
The key points are:
1) Semioclastics refers to deconstructing established symbol systems or relationships between signs and their meanings.
2) Applying semioclastics to design would mean reshaping relationships between designers, users, manufacturers, and objects, rather than just replacing one design language with another.
3) The authors argue that understanding theoretical concepts like semioclastics can broaden designers' thinking beyond just the design process or studio work.
Logics of enquiry exercise (directed to TU Delft Urbanism Master track)Roberto Rocco
This is an exercise for the students of Urbanism of the TU Delft, where they have to describe where they situate themselves in the triangle representing the different logics of enquiry in Urbanism.
Urban environments are complex systems composed of interconnected human and physical elements. Traditional urban planning methods based on rationalism and reductionism have proved inadequate in addressing this complexity. Complexity theory provides an alternative framework using concepts like complex adaptive systems, emergence, and self-organization. This paper will introduce complexity theory metaphors and discuss their application to analyzing urban areas and revising urban planning approaches to better address the evolving complexity of cities.
This document discusses the relationship between theory and practice in architectural design education. It argues that there has been a growing divide between the two, with more value placed on the image and practice of design over theoretical foundations. This prioritization of image over theory has led to "sterilized" architecture lacking context or identifiable traits. The document advocates for a more balanced approach where architectural design teachers integrate research into their teaching to help guide students' practical work and provide theoretical justification. It suggests using a Socratic teaching method where teacher and student engage in reflective dialogue to critically examine design proposals from multiple perspectives rather than a master-apprentice relationship where students passively accept the teacher's teachings.
This document discusses Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's concept of the diagram and how it was influential for architectural thinkers and practitioners in the late 1990s. It explores how the diagram was seen not just as a representational tool but as a generative process that could create new possibilities for architecture. It examines how several architectural publications from this time period, including Diagram Work and Diagram Diaries, engaged with Deleuze and Guattari's notion of the diagrammatic and saw potential for it to activate buildings and thinking beyond typical design approaches. It also discusses how the diagram relates to ideas of creative resistance and avoiding falling into habits or cliches.
This document discusses authorship and control in generative design. It provides context on generative design as a method that uses algorithms or rules to create outputs. Control can come from variables within the system that users can manipulate. Interaction design has combined with generative design, involving users in the authorship process. The document examines how generative design can give audiences more control over the design, challenging the designer's sole authority. It references theorists like Roland Barthes who argued that meaning comes from an artwork's interpreters, not just its creator. The document also outlines the author's interest in understanding the relationship between designers and users, and how two exhibitions influenced their interest in generative and interactive design.
Case Law Analysis - Intellectual PropertyIn this unit, you will .docxcowinhelen
This document provides guidance for a case law analysis assignment on intellectual property. It outlines the purpose of the assignment, which is to have students read and analyze a real court decision on intellectual property law. Students are instructed to summarize the key details of the case, including the parties involved, background, specific legal disagreement, and the court's ruling. They are also asked to evaluate concepts like dissenting opinions and whether they agree with the decision. The analysis should be no more than two pages and follow APA style guidelines.
A Relic of Communism, an Architectural Nightmare or a Determinant of the City...Dariusz Tworzydło
This article deals with the issues of architectural elements of public space, treated as components of art and visual communication, and at the same time determinants of the emotional aspects of political conflicts, social disputes, and media discourse. The aim of the considerations is to
show, with the usage of the principles of critical analysis of media discourse, the impact of social events, political communication, and the activity of mass communicators on the perception of the monument of historical memory and the changes that take place within its public evaluation. The
authors chose the method of critical analysis of the media discourse due to its compliance with the planned purpose of the analyses, thus, providing the opportunity to perform qualitative research, enabling the creation of possibly up-to-date conclusions regarding both the studied thread, and allowing the extrapolation of certain conclusions to other examples. The media material relating to the controversial Monument to the Revolutionary Act, located in the city of Rzeszów (Poland), was selected for the analysis. On this example, an attempt was made to evaluate the mutual relations between politically engaged architecture and art, and the contemporary consequences of this involvement in the social and political dimension.
This document is a thesis submitted by Susan Spencer to fulfill requirements for a Master's degree in Geography. The thesis evaluates New Urbanism and proposes an alternative approach called Social Process Planning. It begins with an abstract that summarizes the thesis. The introduction provides background on the history of planning in the United States, from the City Beautiful movement to modernist planning approaches. It establishes that both of these focused on using physical/spatial forms to shape society and human behavior, referred to as "form-based planning". The introduction argues this approach may not be appropriate for diverse cities and sets up an examination of New Urbanism and a proposal of an alternative.
Unlocking the Potentials of Urban Architecture in Enhancing the Quality of Ur...IEREK Press
Currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (UPA) with low quality of urban life (QUL) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. In such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the QUL, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. This study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the QUL in UPA through community projects. The study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in UPA that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. The results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better QUL.
Unlocking the Potentials of Urban Architecture in Enhancing theQuality of Urb...IEREK Press
Currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (UPA) with low quality of urban life (QUL) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. In such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the QUL, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. This study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the QUL in UPA through community projects. The study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in UPA that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. The results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better QUL.
AN OVERVIEW OF RATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH OF URBAN POLICY MAKINGMartha Brown
This document provides an overview of rational comprehensive urban policy making. It discusses how rational comprehensive planning emerged in Britain in the 1950s as a top-down approach to prepare master plans and development policies with minimal public participation. While it spread to other European countries and former colonies, the developed world later abolished it due to criticism. The approach treated planning as a technical exercise led by experts to impose physical designs and land use plans. However, it lacked empirical research and consideration of social and economic diversity.
Urban design involves arranging and designing buildings, public spaces, transport systems, and amenities to give cities form, shape, and character. It blends architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning to make urban areas functional and attractive. While related to urban planning, urban design focuses more on physical improvements to the public environment. Recent decades have seen design used more strategically in business innovation and societal development, with designers combining user understanding and overall solutions. Many countries now invest in design to promote their image, raise local awareness of design, and increase industry interest in how design boosts business.
Frank Lloyd Wright describes the importance of nature in architectural forms. He believes architecture should harmonize with its natural surroundings through the use of organic designs, natural materials and colors. Jacques Derrida explores how the term "deconstruction" should be understood beyond just physical styles and structures, and should consider deeper cultural, political and philosophical meanings. Juhanu Pallasma discusses how architecture is experienced through multiple senses beyond just vision, and how architectural works can relate external stimuli to internal memories and experiences. Kenneth Frampton discusses critical regionalism as accepting universal culture while maintaining local identity, and the importance of place-making and public realm in urban design.
This document provides information for Architecture Design Studio V students on their preliminary studies project. The project involves site documentation, analysis, and precedent studies of urban infill and community libraries. Students must document and analyze a site in Kuala Lumpur and study examples of urban infill and community libraries. The goal is to understand urban design concepts and how community libraries relate to urban contexts. Students will submit site documentation, a site analysis, and precedent studies for evaluation.
B sc (hons)(arch) studio arc60306 project 1 march 2017_signedYen Min Khor
This document outlines the preliminary study project for a Bachelor of Science in Architecture course. The project involves site documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for designing a community library urban infill project on Jalan TAR in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Students must document the site, analyze the urban context, and examine case studies of urban infill and community library projects. The goal is to understand urban design concepts and how a community library could connect with the local urban community. Students will submit documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for evaluation.
B sc (hons)(arch) studio arc60306 project 2 march 2017_v2 signedChow Hong Da
This document outlines the preliminary study project for a Bachelor of Science in Architecture course. The project involves site documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for designing a community library urban infill project on Jalan TAR in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Students must document the site, analyze the urban context, and examine case studies of urban infill and community library projects. The goal is to understand urban design concepts and how a community library could connect with the local urban community. Students will submit documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for evaluation.
This document discusses architecture, heritage, and the metaverse. It reviews the author's work applying a design methodology called "Architecture by Elements" to create new virtual architectures through a critical interpretation of heritage architecture in the virtual world of Second Life. The research aims to establish the role of architecture and heritage in digital environments. Case studies illustrate how applying this methodology can generate new architectures and develop a sense of memory in the virtual world.
This document discusses architecture, heritage, and the metaverse. It reviews the author's work applying a design methodology called "Architecture by Elements" to create new virtual architectures through a critical interpretation of heritage architecture in the virtual world of Second Life. The research aims to establish the role of architecture and heritage in digital environments. Case studies illustrate how applying this methodology can generate new architectures and develop a sense of memory in the virtual world.
Talal bin Jahlan
CS Theories Cont Arch 1
Oct14, 2013
Figuration
Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing,
composition or abstraction and other aesthetics may serve to manifest the expressive
and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Also is a beautiful thing to express
natural, however in architecture it can exploit in order to acquire projects or can give
ideas a simplicity for the audience to understand an image for the project. Sometime
architectural drawings are hard to demonstrate in public, nevertheless the painting
could expose a secret behind the project and affect the audience judgment.
I can see that in the Hokusai Wave design by Alejandro Zaero-polo(Forign office
Architects). Alejandro won in the Yokohama competition project in February 1995.
Thanks to British painter Richard Sweeney. The story started in Yokohama City Hall.
During that day Alejandro felt the audience didn't get the message while he was
explaining his proposal. He proceeded to explain the circulation diagrams, the
geometric, transforming and the construction technologies that he involved in the
project, hoping that the audience would be aware about a principle thought from his
proposal. Suddenly his rescue came, which is Hokusai Wave, a drawing by local
painter that he had been toying with while he indulged in geometry manipulations
and construction hypotheses during the design phase of the competition
entry. Alejandro explained to the audience the image of Hokusai Wave was his
inspiration after that the proposal became clearly understood for the audience.
Iconography is a convenient tool to make the architecture concept obvious to the
public also connect the architecture with nature, so we can see that clearly in The
Beijing Stadium designed by Herzog and De Meuron refer to the image of a birds
nest. The solid material for stadium takes a new impression, it considers a bunch of
wood but in the reality is a bunch of steel and concrete, but the public knows the
inspiration of artificial birds nest as a way to describe the stadium.
Conversion thing to a perceptible value that what happen with iconography in
architecture. Usually, when start any design with manipulates a geometry and see the
unexpected shape come is going to be hard to define it in public without the process
design which lead to a final result even with the disciplinary for the geometry. For
instance, when see Zaha Hadid works and want to describe it to someone is hard to
tell what is looks like or don't know the start point she did to get a nice geometry.
However, with iconography a normal person will feel he has a nice information about
any design comes from any idea he realized which gives him a valuable information
will make it easier to describe it for anyone. For example, ING House in Amsterdam
of the Dutch architects Meyer & Van Schooten is not explici ...
The document contains 4 summaries of architecture books written by students for a class. Each summary is 3 sentences or less:
1) The first summary discusses a book about how human activities and public spaces attract people more than building design alone.
2) The second summary discusses a book about semiotics and how meaning and perception are defined by society. The student disagrees that communication is only verbal.
3) The third summary discusses a book about how touch and visual senses interact with architecture differently. It argues for balancing exterior appearance and interior functionality.
4) The fourth summary discusses a book promoting "critical regionalism" to balance local culture and universal techniques. The student realizes they had neglected their own country
Urban design is a problem-solving activity that shapes the physical form of cities at all scales. It considers how to create an appropriate physical framework for human activities in cities. The scope of urban design has expanded in response to changes in culture, politics, society and the environment. It draws from theories in urban planning, architecture, and human perception and behavior. Key figures like Jacobs, Lynch, and Rossi influenced urban design to consider aspects like density, land use, collective memory, and the user experience within the built environment. Urban design aims to thoughtfully structure urban form.
Graham, Stephen, and Patsy Healey. "Relational concepts of space and place: i...Stephen Graham
This paper seeks to conceptualise and explore the changing relationships between planning action and practice and the dynamics of place. It argues that planning practice is grappling with new treatments of place, based on dynamic, relational constructs, rather than the Euclidean, deterministic, and one-dimensional treatments inherited from the 'scientific' approaches of the 1960s and early 1970s. But such emerging planning practices remain poorly served by planning theory which has so far failed to produce sufficiently robust and sophisticated conceptual treatments of place in today's 'globalising' world. In this paper we attempt to draw on a wide range of recent advances in social theory to begin constructing such a treatment. The paper has four parts. First, we criticise the legacy of object-oriented, Euclidean concepts of planning theory and practice, and their reliance on 'containered' views of space and time. Second, we construct a relational understanding of time, space and cities by drawing together four strands of recent social theory. These are : relational theories of urban time-space, dynamic conceptualisations of 'multiplex' places and cities, the 'new' urban and regional socio-economics, and emerging theories of social agency and institutional ordering. In the third section, we apply such perspectives to three worlds of planning practice : land use regulation, policy frameworks and development plans, and the development of 'customised spaces' in urban 'regeneration'. Finally, by way of conclusion, we suggest some pointers for practising planning in a relational way.
To Govern Artfully. Linking contemporary public art to political participationLaura Iannelli
This document summarizes research on participatory public art and urban governance. The research involved interviewing 10 artists and analyzing 85 art projects in Italy. Key findings include:
1) Most projects occurred in the last 4 years and focused on environmental and "subpolitical" issues. Artists worked in collectives to foster social and political change through individual participation.
2) Projects primarily used consultation, deliberation, and mobilization models of citizen engagement. Case studies in Rome and Sassari effectively transformed cities and engaged performative audiences.
3) Most projects received public funding, with differing views among artists on the benefits and risks of this. The research aims to further explore relationships between participatory art and urban governance through
This paper discusses a book that examines the relationship between communication theory, semiotics, ideology, and architecture. The authors introduce the concept of ideology as referring to reality but only providing an illusion, and propose architectural theory as existing outside of ideology to explain the relationship between society and the built environment. They view semiotics as an important tool for architectural theory that can clarify the distinction between communication and signification. The authors see semiotics as a way to better understand how significance is produced in architecture and recommend it be used as part of a larger project rather than an outside concept imported alone. Semiotics may be useful as a way to counter ideology by allowing alternative perspectives on economic and political norms in architecture.
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This document provides guidance for a case law analysis assignment on intellectual property. It outlines the purpose of the assignment, which is to have students read and analyze a real court decision on intellectual property law. Students are instructed to summarize the key details of the case, including the parties involved, background, specific legal disagreement, and the court's ruling. They are also asked to evaluate concepts like dissenting opinions and whether they agree with the decision. The analysis should be no more than two pages and follow APA style guidelines.
A Relic of Communism, an Architectural Nightmare or a Determinant of the City...Dariusz Tworzydło
This article deals with the issues of architectural elements of public space, treated as components of art and visual communication, and at the same time determinants of the emotional aspects of political conflicts, social disputes, and media discourse. The aim of the considerations is to
show, with the usage of the principles of critical analysis of media discourse, the impact of social events, political communication, and the activity of mass communicators on the perception of the monument of historical memory and the changes that take place within its public evaluation. The
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Unlocking the Potentials of Urban Architecture in Enhancing the Quality of Ur...IEREK Press
Currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (UPA) with low quality of urban life (QUL) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. In such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the QUL, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. This study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the QUL in UPA through community projects. The study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in UPA that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. The results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better QUL.
Unlocking the Potentials of Urban Architecture in Enhancing theQuality of Urb...IEREK Press
Currently more than half of world population are living in cities, while world is witnessing a rapid urbanization process particularly in cities of the developing and emerging countries, where urban poverty areas (UPA) with low quality of urban life (QUL) and lack of the usual urban spaces are the most significant urban phenomena that characterized those cities. In such an urban context there is a need for an efficient tool that contributes positively to the enhancement of the QUL, meanwhile to provide the best use of the rare vacant lands. This study argues that urban architecture as a design field offers a distinctive approach to a special type of buildings made for an urban setting, thus it can enhance the QUL in UPA through community projects. The study is based on an analytical study of selected cases of community projects in UPA that represents examples of how urban architecture through its potentials has a positive impact on its urban context, notably through community projects that strongly linked to real community needs. The results showed that urban architecture as a design approach for community projects have multiple roles that boost the socio-economic daily life, as well it supports various environmental issues towards better QUL.
AN OVERVIEW OF RATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH OF URBAN POLICY MAKINGMartha Brown
This document provides an overview of rational comprehensive urban policy making. It discusses how rational comprehensive planning emerged in Britain in the 1950s as a top-down approach to prepare master plans and development policies with minimal public participation. While it spread to other European countries and former colonies, the developed world later abolished it due to criticism. The approach treated planning as a technical exercise led by experts to impose physical designs and land use plans. However, it lacked empirical research and consideration of social and economic diversity.
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This document provides information for Architecture Design Studio V students on their preliminary studies project. The project involves site documentation, analysis, and precedent studies of urban infill and community libraries. Students must document and analyze a site in Kuala Lumpur and study examples of urban infill and community libraries. The goal is to understand urban design concepts and how community libraries relate to urban contexts. Students will submit site documentation, a site analysis, and precedent studies for evaluation.
B sc (hons)(arch) studio arc60306 project 1 march 2017_signedYen Min Khor
This document outlines the preliminary study project for a Bachelor of Science in Architecture course. The project involves site documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for designing a community library urban infill project on Jalan TAR in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Students must document the site, analyze the urban context, and examine case studies of urban infill and community library projects. The goal is to understand urban design concepts and how a community library could connect with the local urban community. Students will submit documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for evaluation.
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This document outlines the preliminary study project for a Bachelor of Science in Architecture course. The project involves site documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for designing a community library urban infill project on Jalan TAR in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Students must document the site, analyze the urban context, and examine case studies of urban infill and community library projects. The goal is to understand urban design concepts and how a community library could connect with the local urban community. Students will submit documentation, analysis, and precedent studies for evaluation.
This document discusses architecture, heritage, and the metaverse. It reviews the author's work applying a design methodology called "Architecture by Elements" to create new virtual architectures through a critical interpretation of heritage architecture in the virtual world of Second Life. The research aims to establish the role of architecture and heritage in digital environments. Case studies illustrate how applying this methodology can generate new architectures and develop a sense of memory in the virtual world.
This document discusses architecture, heritage, and the metaverse. It reviews the author's work applying a design methodology called "Architecture by Elements" to create new virtual architectures through a critical interpretation of heritage architecture in the virtual world of Second Life. The research aims to establish the role of architecture and heritage in digital environments. Case studies illustrate how applying this methodology can generate new architectures and develop a sense of memory in the virtual world.
Talal bin Jahlan
CS Theories Cont Arch 1
Oct14, 2013
Figuration
Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing,
composition or abstraction and other aesthetics may serve to manifest the expressive
and conceptual intention of the practitioner. Also is a beautiful thing to express
natural, however in architecture it can exploit in order to acquire projects or can give
ideas a simplicity for the audience to understand an image for the project. Sometime
architectural drawings are hard to demonstrate in public, nevertheless the painting
could expose a secret behind the project and affect the audience judgment.
I can see that in the Hokusai Wave design by Alejandro Zaero-polo(Forign office
Architects). Alejandro won in the Yokohama competition project in February 1995.
Thanks to British painter Richard Sweeney. The story started in Yokohama City Hall.
During that day Alejandro felt the audience didn't get the message while he was
explaining his proposal. He proceeded to explain the circulation diagrams, the
geometric, transforming and the construction technologies that he involved in the
project, hoping that the audience would be aware about a principle thought from his
proposal. Suddenly his rescue came, which is Hokusai Wave, a drawing by local
painter that he had been toying with while he indulged in geometry manipulations
and construction hypotheses during the design phase of the competition
entry. Alejandro explained to the audience the image of Hokusai Wave was his
inspiration after that the proposal became clearly understood for the audience.
Iconography is a convenient tool to make the architecture concept obvious to the
public also connect the architecture with nature, so we can see that clearly in The
Beijing Stadium designed by Herzog and De Meuron refer to the image of a birds
nest. The solid material for stadium takes a new impression, it considers a bunch of
wood but in the reality is a bunch of steel and concrete, but the public knows the
inspiration of artificial birds nest as a way to describe the stadium.
Conversion thing to a perceptible value that what happen with iconography in
architecture. Usually, when start any design with manipulates a geometry and see the
unexpected shape come is going to be hard to define it in public without the process
design which lead to a final result even with the disciplinary for the geometry. For
instance, when see Zaha Hadid works and want to describe it to someone is hard to
tell what is looks like or don't know the start point she did to get a nice geometry.
However, with iconography a normal person will feel he has a nice information about
any design comes from any idea he realized which gives him a valuable information
will make it easier to describe it for anyone. For example, ING House in Amsterdam
of the Dutch architects Meyer & Van Schooten is not explici ...
The document contains 4 summaries of architecture books written by students for a class. Each summary is 3 sentences or less:
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3) The third summary discusses a book about how touch and visual senses interact with architecture differently. It argues for balancing exterior appearance and interior functionality.
4) The fourth summary discusses a book promoting "critical regionalism" to balance local culture and universal techniques. The student realizes they had neglected their own country
Urban design is a problem-solving activity that shapes the physical form of cities at all scales. It considers how to create an appropriate physical framework for human activities in cities. The scope of urban design has expanded in response to changes in culture, politics, society and the environment. It draws from theories in urban planning, architecture, and human perception and behavior. Key figures like Jacobs, Lynch, and Rossi influenced urban design to consider aspects like density, land use, collective memory, and the user experience within the built environment. Urban design aims to thoughtfully structure urban form.
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This paper seeks to conceptualise and explore the changing relationships between planning action and practice and the dynamics of place. It argues that planning practice is grappling with new treatments of place, based on dynamic, relational constructs, rather than the Euclidean, deterministic, and one-dimensional treatments inherited from the 'scientific' approaches of the 1960s and early 1970s. But such emerging planning practices remain poorly served by planning theory which has so far failed to produce sufficiently robust and sophisticated conceptual treatments of place in today's 'globalising' world. In this paper we attempt to draw on a wide range of recent advances in social theory to begin constructing such a treatment. The paper has four parts. First, we criticise the legacy of object-oriented, Euclidean concepts of planning theory and practice, and their reliance on 'containered' views of space and time. Second, we construct a relational understanding of time, space and cities by drawing together four strands of recent social theory. These are : relational theories of urban time-space, dynamic conceptualisations of 'multiplex' places and cities, the 'new' urban and regional socio-economics, and emerging theories of social agency and institutional ordering. In the third section, we apply such perspectives to three worlds of planning practice : land use regulation, policy frameworks and development plans, and the development of 'customised spaces' in urban 'regeneration'. Finally, by way of conclusion, we suggest some pointers for practising planning in a relational way.
To Govern Artfully. Linking contemporary public art to political participationLaura Iannelli
This document summarizes research on participatory public art and urban governance. The research involved interviewing 10 artists and analyzing 85 art projects in Italy. Key findings include:
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2) Projects primarily used consultation, deliberation, and mobilization models of citizen engagement. Case studies in Rome and Sassari effectively transformed cities and engaged performative audiences.
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This paper discusses a book that examines the relationship between communication theory, semiotics, ideology, and architecture. The authors introduce the concept of ideology as referring to reality but only providing an illusion, and propose architectural theory as existing outside of ideology to explain the relationship between society and the built environment. They view semiotics as an important tool for architectural theory that can clarify the distinction between communication and signification. The authors see semiotics as a way to better understand how significance is produced in architecture and recommend it be used as part of a larger project rather than an outside concept imported alone. Semiotics may be useful as a way to counter ideology by allowing alternative perspectives on economic and political norms in architecture.
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Walls, enclaves and the (counter) politics of design
Haim Yacobi, Jonathan Ventura & Sharon Danzig
To cite this article: Haim Yacobi, Jonathan Ventura & Sharon Danzig (2016): Walls, enclaves and
the (counter) politics of design, Journal of Urban Design, DOI: 10.1080/13574809.2016.1184566
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3. 2 H. Yacobi et al.
theoretical and applied knowledge. Such an approach is often overlooked by designers
involved in the (re)production of urban spaces by focusing on the physical aspects of their
work.With reference to this critic, this paper is based on the research experience and practice
of an architect specializing in urban politics, a design anthropologist specializing in design
history and theories and a design practitioner. This interdisciplinary approach is the basis
for claiming the necessity to use design anthropology as a methodology and theoretical
outline for understanding contemporary urban design.
Based on the above view, two different, yet complimentary, case studies will be discussed
in this paper.The first refers to the role of urban design in the production of privatized space
in the form of luxury high-rise, gated communities, compounds in Tel Aviv. The second
focuses on the‘bottom-up’informal design of the unrecognized settlements of the Bedouin
community in the Negev region. The presentation of these two different cases will follow
some recent developments in the ways in which urban design is coming to terms with the
politics of the discipline (Boano andTalocci 2014). Following this argument, it is ascertained
that design has become a method for camouflaging the occupation and privatization of
public space under an aesthetic shroud. Echoing Gramsci (1992), this new form of power is
inflicting control under the guise of making public spaces more attractive and‘designed’. In
an era of design and designer-stars, a different path should be taken.
Following Papanek’s seminal book DesignfortheRealWorld (1984), Margolin and Margolin
(2002) urged designers to not think of finding answers to the question of design, but rather
to rephrase their questions completely, i.e., while classic design urged designers to redefine
known questions, resulting in an abundance of [unnecessary] objects, Margolin and Margolin
urged designers to ask whether these objects are needed in the first place, rather than
redesigning or improving them. Coupled with Maldonado and Cullars’(1991) famous essay
on the political ramifications of comfort, it will be suggested that design’s political involve-
ment has yet to flourish. In order to better understand the users’ point of view, designers
turned to ethnography for methodological ways to better understand the socio-cultural
relations between the person and the material surroundings.
Methodological notes: towards design anthropology for urban design
research
Prior to the discussion of the case studies, some methodological aspects of this research will
be presented. As mentioned above, the case studies present a wide range of spatial and
social phenomenon; travelling between Israel’s wealthy centre ofTel Aviv and the country’s
most marginalized community of the Bedouins of the Negev, these cases will be discussed
by using a mixture of semiotics, material culture and design anthropology. In more detail,
this research is inspired by comparative urbanism (Robinson 2011) that encourages to strive
beyond the scope of current research which has been profoundly limited by certain
long-standing assumptions embedded in urban design theory ‒ assumptions that propose
the fundamental incommensurability of varying spaces, cities and environments (Robinson
2011, 2). As such, this paper aims to raise questions regarding new tools to perceive and
analyze contemporary design, its practices and politics. Importantly, it will be argued, com-
paring two different contexts, and it will draw attention to the understanding of urban design
not solely as technical or instrumental spatial practice, but rather as a field of knowledge
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4. Journal of Urban Design 3
production and as an arena of circulation of materials, imagery and imagination within any
given socio-political context.
The main methodological research method was design ethnography mixed with sub-
ject-oriented interviews. Indeed, while the term‘place-making’(Pink 2012), alluding to the
subjectivity and flexibility of spaces, is an alluring concept, it would be better to view places
as an amalgam of material, visual and aesthetic decisions stemming from political dynamics
of power, control and resistance. The findings discussed throughout this paper are based
on extensive documentation and informal interviews with inhabitants of Tel Aviv and the
Negev region. The fieldwork started in 2006 and lasted 10 years. This included ongoing
observations in the different sites, photography as well as‘cultural reading of space’, as it has
been coined by David Sibley (1998).
Roland Barthes, one of the leading theoreticians of semiotics, conceptualized some the-
oretical terms, such as the myth, denotative and connotative meanings among others which
have become key concepts (Barthes 2012, 1977a, 1977b, 1994). In these classic texts, Barthes
explains that each representation, visual, textual or material, has two meanings: a denotative
meaning in which the ‘simple’ and obvious traits are illustrated, and a more ‘complex’ and
culturally dependent one, called connotative. When analyzing material objects, and in the
case here ‒ designed spaces and objects ‒ the object’s connotative dimensions are normally
highlighted (Penn 2000).
While using Barthes’ theory in relation to semiotic systems, it is possible to understand
the various meanings of colour, material selection, shapes and forms, all of which consist of
the practical world of designers’ professional work. In de Saussure’s (1916 [2011]) classic
view, the sign is composed of a signifier (a word or symbol) and a signified (in the case here,
the designed object), a view which was ultimately continued and elaborated by Baudrillard
(1968 [2005]).
Barthes describes the relation between a material object (in this case, a Citroën DS) and
the world of low bourgeoisie. In his seminal work Elements of Semiology (1977b), Barthes
adds to the classic semiotic theory presented by de Saussure (1916 [2011]) to interpret lin-
guistics as well as visual structures as semiotic systems. This is the basic hypothesis (for
example, Eco 1979, 1986) in which socio-cultural linguistic systems, seen as a combination
of the signified and the signifier, can be implemented in other disciplines, such as visual
communication or graphic design. Symbols, gestures, colours and materials combine to
create a complex visual system of meanings.
Conversely, a basic semiotic system is referred to in industrial design as CMF (colour,
material, finish), attesting to the three material and visual attributes of objects. As will be
shown, the semiotic system presented in the research here around the urban landscape
bolsters a significant resemblance. Furthermore, as is the case in Boudrillard’s System of
Objects, so does the urban landscape built around a specific and well-defined semiotic system
which comprises various materials, shapes and colours. In order to better understand this
intricate system the research’s methodology was based on Pink’s (2004) work on visual
ethnography. However, a more suitable method for the urban material setting needs to be
added, which is design anthropology.This multi-layered research made it possible to create
a more nuanced understanding of the material and visual urban setting and design’s influ-
ence of this complex topic. Indeed, regarding the advantages of ethnography to visual or
material studies, Pink’s description is lucid:
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5. 4 H. Yacobi et al.
Although other social scientists also use ethnographic methods, our focus is on ethnography
as practice and specifically with visual ethnography that is informed by anthropological theory
and embedded in anthropological research questions. (Pink 2004, 2)
Indeed, as Pink (2001) correctly explains, visual ethnography is done rather than conducted.
In addition, in this research the best way if not the only way to understand our relation with
the urban landscape is through a journey in and through the visual documentation of
designed objects. Indeed, one of the better linkages between disciplines is the duality of
urban design and material culture and design anthropology.While the former is embedded
in daily materials, the latter deals with the interrelations between these and the persons
inhabiting the urban space, therefore the appropriate way to understand this relation is
through design ethnography. Recently,‘design ethnography’has been replaced by‘design
anthropology’, signalling a change in scope and the emergence of a new anthropological
sub-discipline. Gunn et al. (2013, xiii) claim:
Practitioners of design anthropology follow dynamic situations and social relations and are
concerned with how people perceive, create and transform their environments through their
everyday activities … design anthropology practices occur across different scales and timelines
and involves many disciplines, each bringing their own distinct ways of knowing and doing.
Urban design as a political technology
All that was needed was that the separations should be clear and the openings well arranged.The
heaviness of the old‘houses of security’with their fortress-like architecture, could be replaced
by the simple, economic geometry of a house of certainty. (Foucault 1977, 362)
InJune2014,theIsraeliMinistryofInteriorSecuritypublishedamanualtitledCrimePrevention
through Design. In this publication, which has been considered by professionals and policy
makers as a progressive document, it is possible to read Foucault’s description of the pan-
opticon between the lines. In this materialized battleground, the government and the citizens
face each other, through the former’s attempt to marginalized “unwanted elements in the
public sphere”, as indicated in the title of the report (2014) while implicitly referring to the
homeless or various ethno-class minorities. Through detailed and technical illustrations,
government officials use design theories to politicize urban public and liminal spaces which
fall between public and private spaces, such as strips of land adjacent to a resident’s lawn,
or the redesign of public benches in such a manner that would not allow for sprawling or
sleeping on the bench, to mention a few.
Indeed, the notion of panopticism mentioned above is derived from the work of Foucault
who understood space as a crucial element manifesting power relations (Foucault 1982
[1997]). Furthermore, modern urban space is perceived in Foucault’s words as a‘laboratory
of power’ (Foucault 1977, 204), which has a great relevance to the case here and for the
attempt to order space using urban design. However, Foucault himself developed this theme
far beyond an analysis of the architectural form. Following this line of thought, he described
panopticism as reflecting and symbolizing the location of bodies in space and the hierar-
chical organization of power whenever a particular form of behaviour is imposed (Foucault
1977, 364). Focusing on panopticism as a form of‘political technology’, very often the pan-
opticon in postmodern societies is explained in relation to surveillance technology such as
CCTV (Koskela 2003). However, this paper refers to it as sets of regulations and institutions
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6. Journal of Urban Design 5
that shape urban space (Danahar, Schirato, and Webb 2000, Chap. 5), which is indeed a key
for the ethnography that is detailed below.
Tel Aviv: the beautification of boundaries
The work of Rosen and Razin (2008, 2009) on gated communities in Israel reveals that the
present-day development of gated communities is indeed attached to privatization, glo-
balization and the production of a neo-liberal cityscape. Rosen and Razin rightly suggest
that viewing the production of such neo-liberal spaces as part of the weakening of state
intervention is misleading. Rather, they suggest that neo-liberal urban regimes do not imply
the demise of regulation ‘but rather its changing nature’ (Rosen and Razin 2009, 1703). A
similar perspective is also offered by other scholars (Tzfadia 2008;Yacobi 2012), accentuating
the characteristics of gated communities in Israel which are often developed by the private
sector and appropriating public spaces or the accessibility to them in the name of security
and privacy.
The above was also observed in the first visit by the authors to one ofTel Aviv’s new luxury
complexes, where the panopticon was all too visible (see Figure 1). As will be shown in this
section, the A1 luxury complex, a fairly new housing complex at the northern part ofTel Aviv
comprising a circle of buildings guarded by two security entrances, is no different from other
similar neighbourhoods in the use of design and materials as an urban method, warning
pedestrians they are about to enter private property, through the redesign areas on the
threshold between the private and the public (Turner, Harris, and Park 1983). With the use
of high-grade concrete slates, polished wood and other designed elements, this distinction
was safely rooted out. After circling the complex, another less central entrance was found,
guarded by a security officer.
After introducing ourselves as researchers, a conversation was struck. Apparently, the
guard could not grant us entrance unless the matter was discussed with two of his superiors.
Amazingly, the guard described how the highest echelon’s supervisor was sitting in his own
luxury apartment, and was watching this very discussion between the guard and us through
his laptop.Walking out of the complex, the seam between the street and the complex could
be clearly seen, an expensive-looking Mercedes drove out of one of the gates, proving this
was the realm of luxurious German cars, not pedestrians.
Figure 1. A model of a new residence at a sales office in the north of Tel Aviv.
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7. 6 H. Yacobi et al.
In complex A2, situated at the north ofTel Aviv at a new neighbourhood called‘the green-
house’, the situation was similar (Figures 2 and 3). After a discussion with the security officer,
the luxury residence was just visible, heralded by a large pool.There were no visual or material
relations between the design of this complex and the urban settings. Designed by a famous
Israeli architect, catering for the super-rich, this residence was overly unique, glittering with
its white walls and flowing structure.
The Tel Aviv luxury complexes have undergone a process of design evolution in which
the method of exclusion and desegregation between private and public spaces has under-
gone important and acute changes. In the first prototype of a gated community compound
(Figure 4), material features were meant to prevent pedestrians from entering the private
property (spikey metal triangles), while in the second generation the methods were much
more subtle. As luxury complexes have grown increasingly expensive and have targeted
richer clientele, local municipalities have begun to demand lower fences and more invest-
ment in public landscape design.
It is clear that the new model of luxury high-rises offers no walls or fences, only designed
features (Figure 5). However, following Mauss’ classic ‘Techniques of the body’ (1973), the
body knows how to behave according to changing socio-cultural atmospheres. In this case,
using design as a tool for segregation, the body feels the shift from light to shade. The feet
feel the change in material from asphalt or cheap paving stones to the more expensive
concrete slates.
While clothing their promotion of wealthy residents, local municipalities claim these res-
idents improve public spaces and give back to the community. Indeed, on every occasion
observations were conducted, these‘public’spaces were deserted. Again, the more the use
of materials to create a difference between public and private space is present the more
expensive the building (see for example Figure 6).
This use of materials and design to create a physical and metaphoric wall between private
and public spaces is even more pronounced in Zahala, an exclusive neighbourhood in Tel
Aviv. Once a residence for Israel’s military elite, now a home forTV stars and local celebrities,
Zahala is a portrait of the socio-economic shift Israel has been through.While early residences
from the 1950s are an example of low-key and humble vernacular architecture, the new
houses boast contemporary muscular design flaunting each resident’s worth. While the
original architecture of the neighbourhood draws from Israeli history and national identity
Figure 2. The “Greenhouse” complex at the
north of Tel Aviv.
Figure 3. The “Greenhouse” complex at the
north of Tel Aviv.
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8. Journal of Urban Design 7
of the period, contemporary architecture in the neighbourhood is firmly based on military
tactics (Figures 7a and 7b).These include‘funnelling’(directing the visitor towards the wanted
direction), zigzagging from the street to the residence’s entrance, walling, camouflaging the
entrance and creating a built wall towards the street while the windows face the opposite
direction and more.
Figure 4. Spiky metal triangles in one of
northern Tel Aviv’s luxury complexes.
Figure 5. Using different paving stones as a
sign of occupying the public space.
Figure 6. A decorated gazebo adjacent to the
public pavement, offering shade while creating
clear boundaries.
Figure 7a. Zahala new architecture. Figure 7b. Zahala traditional architecture.
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9. 8 H. Yacobi et al.
The Negev: design as counter-space
... We can see how a counter-space can insert itself into spatial reality: against the Eye and the
Gaze, against quantity and homogeneity, against power and the arrogance of power ... (Lefebvre
1991, 382)
Surprisingly, some similarities were found between the tactics being used by Israel’s wealth-
iest and the Bedouin community in the Negev; while the former is shaped from ‘above’by
professional planners and designers, the latter is an act of design initiated from‘below’. As
will be shown, in both cases the individual uses design and a smart use of materials, shapes
and colours in order to wall himself/herself inside a private space while erasing any contact
with the public sphere.
In the scope of this paper, it will not be possible to discuss details the political history of
the Bedouin community in Israel. However, some background information is crucial in order
to understand the suggested argument. The Arab-Bedouins are Muslims by religion and
speak a dialect of Arabic.They live in Israel in two separate areas: the Negev desert (approx-
imately 120,000 people) and the Galilee (approximately 60,000 people). These two groups
have different origins and there are differences in their ways of life. Socially, the Bedouins
are divided into three main groups: the‘original’Bedouins who are descended from nomadic
ancestors from Saudi Arabia who moved through the Sinai Peninsula into the Negev. The
‘Fallachim’are peasants who joined the‘original’Bedouins in the mid-nineteenth century as
agricultural workers, and the‘Abid’group who were black slaves. The‘original’Bedouins are
considered superior to the ‘Fallachim’ and ‘Abid’ groups (Stern and Gradus 1979; Fenster
1993, 1996; Meir 1997).
After 1948, with the establishment of the state of Israel, only 11,000 (15%) Bedouins
remained in the Negev area. Most of their land that did not fit with state’s legal regulations
was expropriated by the government and transferred into state land through legislation
(Kedar 1998); this land was then redistributed, mainly to the Jewish settlements. It is impor-
tant to note that following the 1948 war most of the Bedouin population were expelled or
fled to Jordan, Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The remaining Bedouin population reacted to the massive land expropriation and to their
new living conditions in a rapid construction of informal settlements, which were defined
by the authorities as illegal. These informal settlements received no supply of basic infra-
structure and services. Furthermore, the Israeli authorities view the expansion of informal
Bedouin settlements as a threat to state control over state land, and therefore regularly
demolish these illegal shelters (Fenster 1993). After the mid-1960s the Israeli government
initiated a plan to re-settle the Bedouins in modern towns in the Negev region.The govern-
ment planned these settlements so that housing, infrastructure, education and health ser-
vices were partly supplied. The Bedouin families who moved into these new towns had to
withdraw any claims on their unregistered land or informal houses in order to be eligible for
subsidized plots of state land in the new Bedouin towns.
With reference to the above, within the Bedouin community the process of walling is
meant as a dual strategy. First, habitants use walls as a material identity which is meant to
demonstrate that the area is used by a specific tribe. Second, this design is meant to create
as low a profile as possible to avoid the ever watching gaze of government officials, leading
to the brutal destruction of ‘unrecognized’ villages. Indeed, in two distinct strategies used
by the Bedouin community in the Negev, the main feature is to keep the community
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10. Journal of Urban Design 9
unnoticed from the‘mainland’. Figure 8 clearly shows the efforts taken by a local community
to remain unseen from the highway. An earthen ramp, coupled with a fence and in some
cases trees or rusted chassis of cars would do this.
In a more innovative example, spontaneous design becomes the innovative solution to
escape unwanted attention from state officials. While mosque minarets are highly visible
and costly, the clever use of materials and colours create a difference. As seen in Figure 9,
local residents use the existing platform for dual purposes (on the right a ladder serving as
a platform for speakers announcing prayers can be seen). In other cases (Figure 9 left), local
residents used cheap materials to quickly erect a temporary minaret, knowing it would be
destroyed by the government several weeks later. Interestingly, while using metal sheets
for the minaret, the builders chose to artfully paint it as a stoned pillar, creating an illusion
of longevity.
Discussion: semiotics, politics and design
City spaces are experienced by people who live in them in many different ways. ‘Culture’ for
some can be‘oppression’to others … (Zukin 1995, 293–294)
The above quotation by Sharon Zukin accentuates the well-discussed Lefebvrian thinking
of space as a social product (Lefebvre 1991). Space as a social product thus shapes socio-
political relations and in turn is shaped by them. Furthermore, the description of design
harnessed as a politicized tool echoes with Lefebvre’s famous discussion of the‘right to the
city’(Lefebvre 1996). This claim also highlights the necessity to theoretically analyze urban
design as a multi-layered phenomenon involving politics, symbolic meaning and materiality.
Such a vein of thinking inspired this paper which discussed the ways in which urban design
from‘above’as well as from‘below’are not separate components in producing space in the
case of Israeli contested landscape. Rather, as shown in this paper, these are complementary
approaches which are rarely discussed together.
An illustration of the mixture of‘above’and‘below’approaches towards design could be
articulated through the social, cultural and architectural aspects of the enclave. Historically,
the rich have always tended to keep their belongings walled, yet at the outskirts of the city,
the spread of the consumer culture led to their reallocation in the city centre. This led to
small areas in central locations being completely segregated and closed to the public. As
shown in this paper, this tendency is rapidly starting to engulf adjacent public areas as well.
Since this urban phenomenon is worth attention, several relevant concepts need to be
outlined.
Indeed, the spaces discussed in this paper could be described as a mixture of a citadel
and an enclave. In both cases, a material manifestation of excluding oneself is the erection
of walls and fences, even if these are designed and aesthetic.Walling out, as has been shown,
is the extreme physical form of social and economic withdrawal.Walling out may be involved
in the formation of an exclusionary enclave, and is also involved in the formation of a citadel.
Fortification is the voluntary coming together of a population group for purposes of pro-
tecting, strengthening and symbolizing dominance. Fortification is the process of forming
a citadel. While this urban phenomenon is usually associated with the rich and powerful,
when the formation of a citadel is made out of necessity and by the government, targeted
at the low-income populace, the relevant term would be an enclave. An enclave is an area
of spatial concentration in which members of a particular population group, self-defined by
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11. 10 H. Yacobi et al.
ethnicity or religion or otherwise, congregate as a means of protecting and enhancing their
economic, social, political and/or cultural development (Marcuse 2005, 17). In some cases,
the enclave culture takes a different form, as a strong social group, backed by the govern-
ment, and acts to create an enclave out of strength rather than weakness (Almond, Appleby,
and Sivan 2003).While in the case of the luxury high-rises this is indeed the case, the Bedouins
of the Negev present a different approach, as will be shown in the following paragraphs.
The urban forms presented so far have recently been discussed by researchers, yet the
focus is usually on socio-cultural dimensions or geo-political ramifications of such phenom-
ena. However, the role of design (both urban as well as industrial) is mostly ignored.
Furthermore, while urban planners’ideology is much-discussed in academic literature, the
role of design and designers is usually overlooked, assuming such interventions as less con-
tested. Yet the visual and material analysis of design sheds light on the ways in which the
use of materials and aesthetics serves the larger ideologies of power, such as the privatization
of space, realized by the act of design. On the other hand, the ethnographic approach also
reveals that creating an informal vernacular dictionary of materials, forms, colours and shapes
materialize counter politics of resistance in daily surroundings.
It can be concluded that the new high-rises’choice of design portray an image of open-
ness, accessibility and lack of fences that fits with the vision of the current agenda of urban
design (Sennet 2015). However, it is suggested that this subtle way of subjugating social
Figure 8. Walling techniques in a Bedouin community in the Negev.
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12. Journal of Urban Design 11
space is much more dangerous than previous more acute models; the apparent openness
and accessibility to public space masks privatization of space, separation which is based on
ethnic and class affiliation and the appropriation of space by those in power in the neoliberal
city.
While the term‘gated community’is well researched, in this paper the role of urban design
in the creation of an urban enclave has been highlighted. Mary Douglas (2007) describes an
enclave culture via a basic equation in which our quality of life equals ideology, social organ-
ization and behavioural norms.This behaviour is clear when looking at urban design’s influ-
ence on daily movement through the cityscape: the places being avoided, the zones that
are somehow known to be used, or those that are explicitly blocked. Cresswell (2010, 20)
describes such aspects of mobility:
The fact of physical movement ‒ getting from one place to another; the representations of
movement that give it shared meaning; and, finally, the experienced and embodied practice of
movement. In practice, these elements of mobility are unlikely to be easy to untangle.They are
bound up with Situating Everyday Life one another.
As luxury apartments enclose their tenants in a golden bubble, the remaining city’s inhab-
itants are marginalized from a growing number of public places. As such, movement is
Figure 9a. A temporary minaret coloured as if
made of stone in the Negev.
Figure9b. AminaretdisguisedasaladderintheNegev.
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13. 12 H. Yacobi et al.
hindered by urban design that aestheticizes urban space ‒ as Sharon Zukin (1995) suggests
‒ by producing a more‘ordered’landscape that aims to hide the undesirable.
While the end result of the Bedouin community is somewhat similar, i.e., they strive to
evade the government’s gaze, the tactics are different. Living in a state of constant uncer-
tainty, the Bedouin community uses design as a way to materialize temporal spaces. As
shown in this paper, the colouring of a minaret in such a way as to resemble a stone wall
tries not only to aestheticize the space but also to break its temporality. In other words,
contrary to classic approaches, radical design is better articulated in a marginalized com-
munity than in the richer urban centres. Bedouin design is manifested as a tool to demon-
strate self-reliance, as in De Certeau’s (1984) famous description of design as a quiet and
aesthetic form of protest.
As demonstrated in this paper, panopticism cannot be understood and analyzed only
through the architectural dimension of space or through the interpretation of the form, as
noted by Foucault himself (1982, 376–377):
... Architecture ... is only taken as an element of support, to ensure a certain allocation of people
in space ... as well as the coding of their reciprocal relations. So it is not only considered as an
element in space, but is especially thought of as a plunge into a field of social relations ...
Here stands the theoretical link to Lefebvre’s notion of space. Lefebvrian understanding of
the simultaneous production of space (i.e., the conceived, perceived and lived) paves the
road for a new understanding of power relations and their effect on the design of spaces.
Furthermore, this attitude also gives attention to the‘bottom-up’counter products and their
potential effect in transforming reality. In other words, colours, materials, textures and shapes
are not merely parts of a structuralist semiotic system, but rather cleverly used ways to
politicize spaces and marginalize communities. Indeed, hegemonic oppression calls for a
reaction, which comes in the form of initiatives taken by the Bedouin community. As noted
by Koskela (2003, 306):
Control is never completely hegemonic. There is always an element of resistance. Surveillance
can be turned to‘counter surveillance’, to a weapon for those who are oppressed.
The conceptualization and the role of‘bottom-up’design as an alternative pattern of social
opposition is important. To conclude,‘bottom-up’design is characterized by the formation
of autonomous acts, reflecting personal and social needs that often contradict the interests
of those in power. These acts are based on existing social networks, and despite their infor-
mality they identify the limits of the state’s control which requires compliance with a dictated
social order (Holston 1989). Moreover, this pattern of objection, despite its arbitrariness,
produces social and political consciousness and thus has a subversive potential.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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