For this module, the PowerPoint and
reading touch a little more on how and why things are designed, and how people
may react to these designs. There are countless theories as to the best route
to take to design a successful place, but three specific theories were touched
on in the PowerPoint. These include Societal Theories, Formal Theories, and
Environmental Theories. Each has a very different focus from each other, but
all strive for the same end goal, to create a useable and comfortable space.
Societal theory, although has similarities, is much different than the other
two mentioned. Societal focuses on design that best benefits the city in an
economic standpoint, and how to create more income for the said city in which
it’s located. While this is a necessary focal point, I think that it takes away
from the experience of a place. While societal focuses on the benefit of the
city, formal theories and environmental theories focuses on the design to best
benefit the users that encounter the space. To me, Environmental theory, which
focuses on creating a space that can be livable, letting the users live and
grow, has the highest success rate when it comes to the opinions of the users. Relph
talks about ideas of “insideness” and “outsideness” that users could feel while
experiencing a space, and environmental theory tackles this the best, creating
a place that the users feel the sense of insideness, and comfort in a familiar
or unfamiliar place. For me, this is the most important aspect of a successful
urban design. This summer I was lucky enough to visit Tianjin, China, and while
we were there we visited a cultural park which a focal point that attracts
people of all ages and races. It created spaces that each generation could feel
comfortable and enjoy the activities that they love the most. Even though this
was somewhere I never even knew existed going into it, it created an area that
myself and the entire group felt comfortable exploring, whether it be walking
around the traditional dancing squares, or enjoying the water show that was put
on in the central pond. This was more impactful than other places that we
visited, because it seemed like it tried to cater to the wants and needs of
every individual that walked through the site. While still in China, in Changchun,
we worked on a project located in Xinmin street, which held quite a bit of
historical significance. Our project followed many traits of Formal theory
practice. Along this street were several historical buildings that we were required
to maintain for the future project. Walking through this street, it was amazing
to see some of these buildings, and the design that went into them, but it held
much less significance to me. Even though it was interesting to see, it did not
cater to the peoples wants, it was more focused on the historical preservation,
creating an image of the city, and even trying to create a tourist attraction
to the city, which would fall back under societal theory practices.
While
all theories have their good and bad traits, everyone has had successful
practices, as well as unsuccessful practices. Depending on the area and culture
of a city, each practice may excel more than others. It’s up to the
interpretation and opinion of the individual users to decide what is most
successful, and which will benefit the city the most.
