Module Three Reflection

           Urban Designers and significant theory thinkers come from all different backgrounds and professions, and all have very similar, yet can have very distant relations when it comes to their ideas and theories. The PowerPoint goes through and talks about the different theorists that have had a significant impact on the thought processes of design as we know it. It briefly touches on the different thoughts and ideas of these thinkers, and tells the background they have, and how they tie into design. These Urban Thinkers come from backgrounds of architects, writers, Professors, and of course, urbanists. It’s amazing that even though these people have such different backgrounds, they all aspire to reach similar goals; to create a better space for the public, regardless of the social groups that are involved, or where the city is located. As you read through the readings, they dive into more detail about the different thoughts of these urbanists. One of the articles that particularly stood out to me was “The Image of the Environment” and its comparison with “The City Image and its Elements” by Kevin Lynch. In “The Image of the Environment, it touches on some of the basic concepts that help users personally identify with a space, whether this be with local users, or a visitor who has never been to this space before. Lynch identifies this as the ‘legibility’ of a space or city. He defines legibility as how easily different parts of a space can be recognized and imagined as a whole space. He argues that this is one of the most important aspects that a city must have to make a lasting impression on the user. This so called legibility derives from a few different aspects of a successful image. To have a lasting impression, these designed places must have identity, structure, and meaning behind the design. I definitely agree that this is an important aspect for a memorable experience in a space. This summer in Tianjin, China, we visited a huge cultural square, something that I believe to be an extremely successful design. As I read through these readings, it helps put a reason behind why I enjoyed these spaces so much. This massive urban park had all three of these important keys, and they were executed in a very unique way. At the end of the square, outside the large central pond, was a theater house that overlooked the water, creating quite the image. In addition to this, the water was also home to a water show, where there would be music played throughout the park, and massive water jets would shoot water into the air. This created a very strong identity or the place, something that both locals and tourists can recognize as this cultural park. This park also had a very well organized layout, with structure as libraries, museums, and the theater house laid out around it, as well as squares and landmarks for the space. This layout made for a good structure to the space which made it quite easy to navigate through, making for a very comfortable experience. Lastly, with the different urban squares laid out among the park, it allowed for large groups of different social groups to gather and enjoy past times that they all love. This could be the elderly doing their aerobic dance exercises, the children exercising on rollerblades or with jump ropes, and a place to display different talents, among several other spaces. This put the cap on top, adding both a practical and emotional meaning to the space, which could be the most important for creating an impression in the user.