GATE Architecture Question

Regarding three Books- Townscape by Gordon Cullen

                                            - Image of City by Kevin Lynch

                                            - Defensible Space by Oscar Newman

Serial Vision: English architect and urban designer Gordon Cullen developed the term serial vision to describe what a pedestrian experiences when moving through a built environment. (Townscape)

·         Occupied territory:  « Shade, shelter, amenity and convenience are the usual causes of possession. The furniture of possession includes floorscape, posts, canopies, enclaves, focal points and enclosures ». (Cullen, 1971, p.23)

·         Viscosity:  « Where there is a mixture of static possession and possession in movement, we find what may be termed viscosity: the formation of groups chatting, of slow window-shoppers, people selling newspapers and so on. » (Cullen, 1971, p.24)

·         Enclave:  « The enclave or interior open to the exterior and having free and direct access from one to the other is seen here as an accessible place or room out of the main directional stream  » (Cullen, 1971, p.25)

·         Enclosure:  «  It is the basic unit of the precinctual pattern ; outside, the noise and speed of impersonal communication which comes and goes but is not of any place. Inside, the quietness and human scale of the square, quad or courtyard ». (Cullen, 1971, p.25)

·         Focal point:  « Coupled with enclosure (the hollow object) is the focal point, the vertical symbol of congregation. In the fertile streets and market places of town and village it is the focal point (be it column or cross) which crystallizes the situation, which confirms ‘this is the spot. Stop looking, it is here ». Cullen, 1971, p .26)

Urban Imageability: “Image of City” by Kevin Lynch

·         District: Area of homogeneous character recognized by clues.

·         Node: Strategic foci into which observer can enter.

·         Landmark: Important location.

·         Pathway: Act as lateral reference and often path as well.

Defensible Space: The defensible space theory of architect and city planner Oscar Newman encompasses ideas about crime prevention and neighborhood safety. The theory developed in the early 1970s, and he wrote his first book on the topic, ‘Defensible Space’ in 1972. Newman focused on explaining his ideas on social control, crime prevention, and public health in relation to community design.

source: GATE Arch/Planning by B K Das available on amazon.in