| Architecture Student Chronicles

Which tools are responsible for shaping our cities?

September 14, 2013 by Architect

Identifying factors responsible for shaping our cities

Studying and analyzing the growth of towns at a superficial level gives us a complete idea of the growth of towns and its division of towns depending on its size and population.

To study the growth of towns in depth and to identify the reasons for the development of towns and cities for the way they developed, three tools have been studied. These could be used as design tools for the design of new towns.

Transportation Planning
Land use planning
Food

Interesting facts about how food shaped our cities

We consume good wherever we go since it is our need for survival.

For consumption we need to produce…

With more and more people moving into the cities, the natural landscapes are being destroyed.

We consume meat.

Animals are fed which increase the need for more crop production to feed animals and then animals are consumed by us.

By 2050, it is estimated that twice of us are going to live in the cities. So, there will be 6 billion hungry carnivores to feed by 2050
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The future development in Brighton and Hove

July 27, 2013 by Architect

The redevelopment of Brighton and Hove

30 years ago, sea side towns like Brighton were dead. The towns and cities around Brighton are being reborn. These are exhilarating times. New settlements are springing up. South and south east pressure is increasing because people are moving out of London.

Cities are densely populated and the density is on the rise. Controversy is raging. It is the crucial time for Brighton and Hove.

It is estimated that the population of Brighton will increase 22000 in the next ten years.

3 radical developments altering Brighton seafront

1) 176m high spike – designed by the people who designed London Eye

2) At the Marina, far east end of the city, huge 40 storey tower – centre of more than 850 new apartments with some restaurants and shops.

3) Far west of the front – most controversial project – a plan to rebuild King’s sports centre along with another 750 more flats.

Bogota – A sustainable city

July 23, 2013 by Architect

Sustainable Living introduced in the city of Bogota

How could a modern way of life that threatens our planet to have become our way of life?

Opportunities to reinvent and redesign

Could poverty be connected by hope through way of design?

America has huge inequalities. People migrating from rural areas to the cities has increased considerably.

In 100 years, Bogota grew from 100,000 persons to 7 million. It has grown in an illegal way.

There is lack of infrastructure, quality, security and safety. No good leaders. They had no direction. They had no money for the progress of the city. The quality of life in Bogota was the worst in Columbia and Latin America. People hated Bogota for what it was. It was a city without hope and self esteem.

City Design

They wanted to make a city for the people and not for cars. Changing the way of life was the focus of the designers in Bogota. It was believed that Sustainable Urban design will lay the foundation for social justice. The way we design cities would have an impact on our lifestyles which would determine our happiness and well being.

For example: Amsterdam

As it is said, fish needs to swim, we need to walk not in order to survive but be happy. For 5000 years, we had pedestrian streets only. So when cars appeared, the street should have been divided into two halves; half for cars and the other half for pedestrians to keep the balance.

Designers thought that correcting this enormous error was a necessity and could only be achieved by putting some restriction to car use.

Every Sunday, in Bogota 120km of main arteries are closed from 7 am to 2.00pm in the afternoon. All people are brought together and all the vehicles are blocked. This helps people to interact with each other. This has been going on every Sunday since 1982 and has been growing since then. This is a way in which they are trying to reduce car use in Bogota by getting people to cycle on the main streets on Sundays.

Design of towns today | Sustainable Town planning

July 19, 2013 by Architect

What is town planning?

The difference between town planning and architecture should be noted. The town planning expresses an era. The architecture reveals its spirit.

Evolution of planning

In the ancient times, the primitive men used to stay in tribes and they formed groups for mutual protection for carrying out business activities and maintaining a social life. The location of the settlements was decided taking into consideration the ease of defense, climatic factors, business facilities etc.

radial network london — Combination of concentric and radial pattern | London

As such cities, are as old as civilization as seen from the verbal connection between the words ‘city’ and ‘civilization’. By civilization, we mean urban civilization. There were obviously human groups before that period.

Designing towns today

Today, designing towns is not as easy as it used to be in the past. We have to deal with problems that did not exist in the past.

The requirements for the design of towns today:

Road network for cars

Town planning professionals have to consider the planning for the next 40 years while they plan the road network for the new city. Designing the road network itself constitutes a lot of complex calculations including increase in population density, wealth, increase in the number of private vehicles, public transport etc.

Public transport

We have to hire transportation planning professionals in order to establish an efficient public transport network for the automobiles. But this is not possible only with the help of transportation planning professionals. Town planners and transportation planning professionals have to work hand in hand in order to complement the road network with the new public transport.