Module Two Reflection

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.