Horus university in Egypt

Faculty of Engineering
Architectural Engineering Dep.
ARC 263- Fall 2024-2025 / level 3

Landscape
&
Urban Design

Dr. Riham Salah

2024- 2025
Ways of seeing the city

What are the visible signs of change in cities?

How can we measure the form of cities?
How do the underlying values of the observer
influence what is observed?
 What are the visible signs of change in cities?

How can we measure the form of cities?

How do the underlying values of the observer influence

what is observed?

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

 Culture: who is there?
Structure: what things are there already?
Rules: what can or cannot be done?
Program: what kinds of new things are needed?
Vision: how can we get there?

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

2017.
 Culture: who is there?
Structure: what things are there already?

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

 Urban Design Elements for a Successful City

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

 “ A city is more than a place in space, it
is a drama in time”

Patrick Geddes

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

 Urban 1. Buildings: creates
and a sense of space.
identity

Design 2. Public Spaces: form the

backbone of a city – forms the
stage and backdrop of city life.
Elements 3. Street Scapes: are part of
what defines a city and what
makes each city unique.

4. Transport: connect parts of

city and help shape them, and
enabling movement.

5. Landscape: helps define the

character and beauty of a city and
creates soft, contrasting spaces
and elements.
© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.
 Let’s talk about:
BUILDINGS

• Buildings are the positive solid elements and

space is the general background against which
they are seen.
© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.
BUILDINGS
Buildings are the most
pronounced elements
of urban design.
In architecture, it is rather helpful to
conceive of a building not only as a solid
but as spaces modeled by solids.
The spaces of the city range from the
space of the street to the space of a park
system and, ultimately, to the vast space in
which an entire city exists.
It is helpful to think of these spaces as
two generic types: formal or “urban
spaces,” usually molded by building
facades and the city’s floor; and natural
or “open spaces,” which represent nature
brought into, and around, the city.
© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.
 Buildings Defining Space and
Buildings In Space
Buildings can stand out in a number of ways, such as by being
physically separate or taller than surrounding buildings, and/or
architecturally distinctive.

In traditional space, where buildings are normally sited adjacent to

one another and flush with the street, their facades form the 'walls' of
open space.
As the only part exposed to view, the facade conveys - and is
designed to convey - the building's identity and character.
Embedded in a dense urban fabric, the building's backs and sides can
be more mundane without detriment to the public realm.
Furthermore, while complete in itself, the facade is also a constituent
part of the larger systems of the 'street’ and the 'urban block'.
© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.
 What makes a good building?

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

BUILDINGS
They shape and articulate space by forming the street walls of the city.
we cannot make a fair judgement of a building without knowing a good deal more about
the building than the appearance from outside.
We must distinguish, for example, between building types.
Judging the merits of a design requires:
- knowledge of the building’s function,
- of the way the building responds to specific needs like energy efficiency,
- of the way the building is constructed and the materials with which it is built
- and of the way it fits into the overall plan of the area.
Design, as the Royal Fine Art Commission pointed out long ago, covers the plan and form
of the building as well as the elevational treatment of the façade.

Well-designed buildings and

groups of buildings work
together to create a sense of
place.
The symbiotic relationship of the forms of mass and space
in architecture: can be examined and found to exist at several
different scales. At each level, we should be concerned not only with
the form of a building but also its impact on the space around it.

1. At an urban scale, we should carefully consider whether the role

of a building is to continue the existing fabric of a place, form a
backdrop for other buildings, or define a positive urban space.
2. At the scale of a building site, there are various strategies for relating
the form of a building to the space around it. A building can:
A. form a wall along an edge of its site and begin to define a positive outdoor
space;
B. merge its interior space with the private outdoor space of a walled site;

A B
C. enclose a portion of its site as an outdoor room and shelter it from
undesirable climatic conditions;
D. surround and enclose a courtyard or atrium space within its
volume— an introverted scheme.
E. stand as a distinct object in space and dominate its site through its
form and topographical positioning—an extroverted scheme;

C D E
F. stretch out and present a broad face to address a view, terminate
an axis, or define an edge of an urban space;
G. stand free within its site but extend its interior spaces to merge
with private exterior spaces;
H. stand as a positive form in negative space.

F G H
Buildings defining space: Building as an object in space:
Piazza of San Marco, Boston City Hall, 1960, Kallmann, McKinnell &
Venice Knowles
The degree to which spatial and
visual continuity is maintained
between an elevated space and its
surroundings depends on the scale
of the level change.
1
1. The edge of the field is well-
defined; visual and spatial
continuity is maintained; physical
access is easily accommodated.

2. Visual continuity is maintained;

spatial continuity is interrupted;
2
physical access requires the use of
stairs or ramps.

3. Visual and spatial continuity is

interrupted; the field of the
elevated plane is isolated from the 3
ground or floor plane; the elevated
plane is transformed into a
sheltering element for the space
The Acropolis, the citadel of Athens, 5th century B.C.
• The depressed field can be an
interruption of the ground or floor
plane and remain an integral part of
the surrounding space.
• Increasing the depth of the
depressed field weakens its visual
relationship with the surrounding
space and strengthens its definition
as a distinct volume of space.
• Once the original base plane is
above our eyelevel, the depressed
field becomes a separate and
distinct room in itself.
Creating a stepped, terraced, or
ramped transition from one level
to the next helps promote
continuity between a sunken
space and the area that rises
around it.
 Whereas the act of
stepping up to an
elevated space might
express the
extroverted nature or
significance of the
space, the lowering
of a space below its
surroundings might
allude to its
introverted nature or
to its sheltering and
protective qualities.

Theater at Epidauros,
Greece, c. 350 B.C.,
Polycleitos

© Dr. Riham Salah, 2021.

Vertical linear elements can terminate an axis, mark the center
of an urban space, or provide a focus for an urban space along its
edge.

Piazza del Campo, Siena, Italy

A building form can have an L-shaped
configuration and be subject to the following L - shaped
readings. One of the arms of the configuration
can be a linear form that incorporates the corner
within its boundaries while the other arm is seen
as an appendage to it. Or the corner can be
articulated as an independent element that joins
two linear forms together.
A building can have an L-shaped
configuration to establish a corner of its site,
enclose a field of outdoor space to which its
interior spaces relate, or shelter a portion of
outdoor space from undesirable conditions
around it.
L-shaped configurations of planes are stable
and self supporting and can stand alone in
space. Because they are open-ended, they are
flexible space-defining elements. They can be
used in combination with one another or with
other elements of form to define a rich variety
of spaces.
U-shaped organization can define a forecourt for the approach to a
building as well as form an entrance recessed within the building
volume. A U-shaped building form can also serve as a container and
can organize within its field a cluster of forms and spaces.

Villa Trissino at Meledo, From The Four Books on

Architecture, Andrea Palladio
Examples
RESIDENTIAL Bldgs.
These are structures where people dwell.
COMMMERCIAL BLDGS.

Asiatown IT Park, Cebu City

Calyx Centre (left) and RMDA
 INSTITUTIONAL BLDG.
Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu
City

EDUCATIONAL
BLDG.
University of San Carlos
Main Campus, Cebu
City
 GOVERNMENT bldg.
One example is the
Tacloban City Hall, the
administrative building
of the city.

INDUSTRIAL BLDG.
.
REFERENCES

• Watson, D. Plattus, A. & Shibley, Robert. Time saver standers for urban design, The
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, USA, 2003.
• Carmona, M. & Tiesdell, S. Urban Design Reader, Architectural Press, Elsevier, USA & UK,
2007.
• Ching, F. D. K. Architecture: Form, space, and order, Third edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc,
2007.
• Carmona, M. Heath, T. OC, Taner. & Tiessdell, s. Public places, Urban spaces: The
dimensions of urban design, Architectural Press, 2003.