Module Six Reflection

The perfect image of a sustainable, and well developed urban area has always been up for debate, with countless different theories and thoughts that have been formed over the years. Of all the different branches of urban design, there’s a select few that have stood the test of time.

Those three images of sustainability are the natural image, cultural image, and technical image. While these three images all strive for the same goal, how they get there varies widely. These sound like exactly what they are named. Natural Image focuses on tying together the natural and built environment, while helping protect our environment as much as possible. On the exact opposite end of the scale, the technical image focuses on a built environment that is the most cost effective and has all of the newest technology.  Regardless of the different debates, one can’t argue that these have had the most lasting impressions, with thousands of examples across the world. Many urban spaces, and even entire cities have been designed based on the factors of these three key elements. From my past experiences, it seems that the cultural image has the largest impact in many parts of the world. Regardless of where you go, all areas try to preserve the culture of that area. Something that is unique to a specific place. This summer while I was visiting China, there were countless cultural centers and culturally influences public spaces. As mentioned in past modules, the Tianjin cultural park is an area that depends on its ability to provide a cultural gathering for the public. Whether that be by allowing them space to practice common traditions for the locals, or providing a cultural museum to teach foreigners, it is clear that culture and old tradition was the largest influence in the design of this space. Another space we visited was Joy City Joy Park in Chengdu. This is a largely cultural influenced shopping mall which wishes to capture the culture of the newer generations. I think it’s great that a designer decided to capture the new and developing culture of a major city. Something that is new and adaptable instead of the very common route of enforcing ancient culture. While both are important to an area, I think it’s important to realize what the public is changing in to as time progresses. Having a very intricate green roof, this is an example of a space that tries to reach sustainability through multiple routes instead of just one.

Moving forward and sustainability are two terms which go hand in hand. We need one to have the other, and together they excel. Again, there are countless theories on the best way to move forward, but all wish to create a better sense of living for the public. Reading through the section lecture, this section really stood out to me in the way that people are wanting to change our everyday living. By far the most interesting is Cittaslow and their beliefs on better living. They believe that slowing down the everyday lives of the public in a city, the public will then be able to enjoy their everyday activities more, which in turn improves the human experience. This is something that I think very few people realize. A lot of the time the designers strive to change a city to the best, newest, most sustainable place. Yes this has been proven to work time and time again, but I find it fascinating that Cittaslow is aiming to change the users and how the use the space, instead of changing the space to match the users. The psychology of every day users has a massive influence on design, and why urban theory is such an important issue, but sadly many designers or organizations do not even take this into consideration.