AN ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY
RYTHM OF PLACE AND THE MAKING OF THE CITY
Rhythm is inextricably linked to Time, as Space is to Architectural Intentions Rhythm is of cyclical manifestations Space is simultaneously of particular and universal involvement.
Rhythm as defined through the motion and stasis of : the natural world, human makings of space, and the conscious and subconscious human participation in both of these realms.
Through these three entities the elucidation of architectural scale, texture and orderliness is possible.
Human makkings are connected to the natural world through the Acts of Art.
One indicative mark of any culture is the degree to wich a « spirit of involvement » is manifest in the public realm.
As architects it is important to recognise that our contemporary cultural situation defies the capture of rythm and the making of space in the traditional sense, for there exists both a universal and a particular discordance of rythms in our modern condition. Our site and its place that it creates is our attempt at recreating a space of accord and harmony.
The site, destined to be made into an ordered place, presently speaks of a limited natural rhythm with a minimum of physical human influencce and markings. Our architectural interpretation will add a distinguisable and yet integrative layer of human participation to the nature of the site in the aim of creating place.
The spirit of involvement that will act as the cohesive force throughout the design and execution of this architectural making willbe the notion of the "cooperative". A collection of responsible ideas and participants whose objective it is to create the basis of an ordered and comprehensive architectural environment . This collective acknowledges the diversity of opinions and attitudes that is inherent in the modern condition without resorting to the ambiguous and the over-relative. The cooperative has explicit philosophical and cultural considerations as well as socio-economic ones.
PARAMETERS OF ANALYSIS
The City
When the suburban realm emerged, it presented a mode of existence wich was a direct contrast to and distinct from that of the city. Today the elements which once highlighted the individuality of each environment have become less distinguishable for there are certain concepts inherent in the suburban realm which are encroaching upon the urban environment and creating detrimental affects.
The notions of the city must be reaffirmed in order to regain the uniqueness of the city. The loss of distinction between the two realms only brings closer their mutual destruction.
The city is defined through the articulation of its public, semi-public and private spaces. The delineation between the public and private realms should ne acheived by the successful and integrative resolution of its semi-public spaces.
Elements of modern urban planning directly influence the existance of these realms. The city is defined by;
-the urban wall. Unbroken by setbacks along the street,
-densities wich take advantage of the municipal infrastrucutre.
-mixed zoning wich may encourage the integration of various daily activies.
The city is composed of, and gains its energy from, the multiplicity of its people, their movements and activities.
The altered experiences of movement and time as perceived through the movement of our bodies (and not our cars) through space is fundamental to the articulation of the city experience.
The Family
Demographie realities reveal the degeneration of the nuclear family with its attendant political and economic repercussions. The urban realm must accomodate the redefined family;
The single parent livingwith children, combined familias of unrelated single parents, single parents livingwith grand parents, single unrelated individuais livingtogether, the single elderly or handicapped person.
The neighbourhood is a microcosm of the city. It must provide services essential to the daily life of familias such as food, retail, recreational and entertainment services. It is vital to modern familias with children to have child care facilities as an integrated element in the collective or neighbourhood realm, that is child care which is located close to home.
It is in the best interests of the city to decrease the use of the car and either encourage the inhabitants to employ other modes of movement or provide essential services to family life in close proximity to the home.
In the quartier of George-Vanier, 54% of familias are single-parents with children. As well persons of 65 years of age and more compose 17% of the population.
Statement of Interpretation
The making of space involves the generation of an understanding of how to dwell and why one dwells in any one particular place. The creation and ultimate existance of a unity of spirit amongst all places of dwelling can be acheived through the integration of the three realms of societal consciousness --the private, the collective (the semi-public), and the public realms of existance.
The making of space is a communal activity for which no one individual or disciipline of knowledge can claim complete control. As architects we participate in the making of space along with its inhabitants. The making of the space is not complete until its inhabitants are present and the mark of rhytmic time has been made through a daily, weekly, monthly, seasonly, and yearly framework.
Our site exists in its present time, empty and formless, except for its natural constituants of, its orientation to the daily rhythm of the sun, and its light markings of human passage.
There exists a condition of architectural void that is not neutral. The perpetual stare of the soulless mass undetachably located along the site's eastern edge need be addressed. The squat like and sporadic condition of the remaining built entities belies a particularly contemporary condition of Little Burgundy and its surrounding communities. Yet the site derives positive energy from the presence of its adjacent community buildings that speak of an urbanity that was once source for integrative fabric. The issue is not to employa nostalgie approach to the design and creation of place but rather to accomodate the present condition within a framework of enlightened critical design.
The constituent elements of attitude of critical design include a re-examination of some of the most fundamental aspects of our present day assumptions about the nature of the city. Of prime importance to the making of space is the relationaship between its particular place and the framework of the city that it is required to inhabit. An analysis of the urbanity of place is crucial aspect of our critical redesign. Uurbanity requires certain crucial architectural and urbannistic formulations.
(Competitor's text excerpt)
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