Field of Dreams 1 An Urban Study Burntisland

Monday 26 – Friday 30 October 2009

Architecture exists within a cultural, social, economic, political, administrative and physical context. It has always been the result of combinations of these factors. Historically, in urban settlements, apart from certain types of buildings such as castles and cathedrals, built form tended to be confined to the designated plots left over after the public space had been defined for routes and nodes of activity (streets, markets, representational spaces).

Interesting examples of this are the City Chambers in

Edinburgh and Glasgow, both of which, despite their

obvious importance culturally, politically and

administratively, defer to the surrounding urban form..

In the early 20th century this relationship was changed through ideas introduced by the ‘Modern Movement’, partly as a reaction to the conditions in the industrial cities of the 19th century. Subsequently, the idea of ‘form follows function’, the advances in public and private transport, the subsidies offered by central government to use certain construction methods and the demands of the development industry have generated a disparate built form/open space relationship in urban areas and through the creation of the suburbs.

Changing urban structure: Lille

Reactions to the diffusion of the urban form and the creation of mono-functional areas of use are varied and the debate continues.

As designers of the processes which create the built environment and the products which result, it is our responsibility to be aware of factors affecting the current debate and how we can contribute to it.

Description

This one week project is intended as a brief introduction to the subject of urban design. There are two main strands one related to product the other to process. The product will be a proposal for part of Burntisland, a small settlement in Fife which illustrates many of the issues faced by similar settlements throughout Scotland: loss of industry, loss of self-administration, increased commuting, pressure for residential development. On the other hand it is set in a beautiful location offering a high quality of life and the potential to fulfill many of the aspirations projected by self-sufficient, sustainable lifestyles.  The process involves the use of a simple approach, method or sequence of activities for addressing a study of this type. What are the stages of the study, which factors might be taken into consideration, how is information used to inform courses of action. While the approach used is not exclusive, it offers a starting point for investigations of this type.

Fife south coast

Burntisland

Burntisland docks

View from the bay

Views from the Binn Hill

People

For the survey and evaluation each group will investigate a selected subject and will report its evaluation of that subject back to the whole class so that all groups have the same basic information from which to develop their conclusions, exploration and synthesis.

During the exploration, synthesis and communication days each group will work separately on a direction for future development (framework, strategy, overview) and an example of how that might be manifested in three dimensions (proposal, masterplan, realization).

Tasks

Subjects for evaluation

A History:social, cultural, economic and physical developments over timeB Context:physical location, regional and local political and administrative policiesC Economic:census data including current indicators such as employment rates and sectors, land and property ownership, average incomesD Social:census data including population, age and gender profile E Perception:what do people think about Burntisland, positive and negativeF Use/activity:land uses and the activities related to themG Movement:vehicular and pedestrian, the quantity and quality at varying timesH Built form:densities, typologies, layoutsI Open space:topography, soft/hard, enclosed/diffuse, public/private

Submission There will be a report with nine investigative sections each contributing to a whole and with nine design sections each displaying different possibilities.

In the evaluation there will be two pages devoted to each subject, one with figures the other with text. The pages will contain only the key issues resulting from the survey and analysis, a minimum of one issue and maximum of three.

For the exploration and synthesis each group will provide four pages, one will consider the strategic direction for the selected area of the settlement and the others will illustrate design ideas for a ca. two hectare site in the selected area. The illustrations will show a plan, sections and 3D images of the proposed area’s relationship to an edge (existing development, road/rail route or water). The images will illustrate how the uses, movement channels, built form and open space are composed to form a layout. The usual scale for working with such proposals is 1:500.

At the end of the exercise each group should submit its work in an electronic format. The report should be prepared using Adobe InDesign and conform to the following requirements:  Page: A3 landscape. Margins: Top 25 mm, left 25mm, right 25 mm, bottom 15 mm

Format: four column

Font: Universe – HEADING UPPERCASE 18 POINT BOLD. Sub-Heading 14 Point Title Case Bold. Body text 12 point sentence case.

The report must include a title page, contents page with page numbers, list of illustrations (with sources), names of group members and a list of references at the end using the Harvard Referencing system.

Timetable

Monday Survey; site visit, investigating and collecting information about the subject allocated. Tuesday Evaluation; ordering and analysing the information to draw conclusions which will help the creative process for you and your colleagues. Sharing the results of the evaluation by presenting two sheets defining the key issues for consideration. WednesdayExploration; refining the key issues, considering and examining alternative scenarios for future development; Thursday Synthesis; developing a selected alternative in three dimensions; Friday Communication; presenting the selected alternative and the process which allowed you to reach that product to your colleagues and members of staff. You will use four sheets one of which will contain the concept, direction or strategy and the others will contain examples of the selected area using plan, section and 3D representation. The presentations will begin at 13.30 in the Architecture Crit Room. Each group will be allocated a maximum of 10 minutes to present its proposals with a further 5 minutes for discussion.