FINAL PRESENTATION BOARDS

The final presentation was good in the sense that I was satisfied with what I had produced for the whole module because this was my first time of approaching design in the way that I did. The shortcomings were on the practical aspect of the design, whether it was possible to attach all cables to the existing walls with either permission or by contractual agreements with Boots and Argos. 

The second thing in question was the cables and what their purpose was, well when I was designing the project, what I had in mind firstly,  was for the threads to, from the nature of the openings between them, create a level of transparency between the major spaces of the shop and the public, that which would create a visual intrigue for the people passing by on lower parliament street as they would be able to see different activities related to bridal shop experience all at once. Secondly, to play a part in design by creating openings (paving ways) and leading people from one major space to another, this happens as two ends of the profiles blend with each other before continuing to the next profile. 

This wasn't fully discussed during presentation as the focus was on the practicability of the design. However, I would like to conclude by stating that it was another project and another adventure with new discoveries, new skills acquired and I hope these new skills will come in handy for my thesis which starts in January.

First Board without shelf

Second board

WEEK 6 & 7

Sketch plans and Initial Technical considerations

I focused on producing plans in the last two weeks since the deadline for the project was fast approaching and I felt I had made clear my position with the explorations that I did earlier. The technical aspects of the project focus on the structure of the 'threads' which will be steel cables and the general construction strategy. Another major aspect was the fact that I planned on making the 'threads becomes the actual partition of spaces.

Technical sketches

Sketch of plans and sections

On the issue of enclosure of the spaces, I sketched out three different options of how the space could enclosed. The first was practical in the sense that the cables would be left to be the partitions between spaces however it was difficult to determine how the front facade could be temporarily movable. The second was a more conventional approach whereby the 'threads' become mullions with glazing in between, this approach made the design a bit more rigid. The third and potentially, the emergent solution is that the spaces are enclosed in a fully transparent seamless glass box. This appears to work because the quality of the internal are left untouched and the environmental problem of heating and cooling could be tackle through the glazed layer.

Enclosure Options

WEEK 5: EXPLORATIONS

GOING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL IDEA

After a few tutorials, I realised that there was a great leap from my very original idea of making connections with threads and the conceptual design exploring the idea of threading spaces together. Therefore I decided to make a practical representation of the idea which emanates from how two different sheets of fabric can be     connected together with threads, I saw the site as a hollow space and the two existing walls as sheets and my intervention being what connects these two 'sheets of fabric' together.

Threading exercise that represents the concept.

Sketches and sketch plans and sections exploring the threading concept

Exploratory models

INTERIM REVIEW

I took the idea of stitching forward as I wanted it to inspire my design of spaces. I took from the process of stitching the fact that the thread is what connects the different sheets of fabric together and in doing so it would have to move in and out of the fabrics thereby appearing in one face of the the joined fabric and disappearing in another face. This pushed me to make a sketch illustrating how my spaces could act as the thread which stitches the building with the site literally and these spaces are as well connected by 'threads' such as corridors and walkways within the building. This is the feeling I intend to embed with my spaces, the feeling of going in and out. 

After the review, I realised that although it's a good idea to use the stitching process as an inspiration for my plans, I should still continue to explore the idea such that my plans wouldn't have to appear overwhelmed by the constraints of the site, rather, it should follow my idea and respect the site constraints.

Sketches

Top view of physical sketch model

Interactive Shop Front

Fitting room concept

SITE ANALYSIS

The site analysis for this project was done in groups and our group decided to concentrate more on gathering qualitative data from the site but in such a way that general and sufficient quantitative data could also be drawn from the analysis. 

All of our analyses in the group was in form of video footage and we were able to go back and study these videos to inform our conclusions during the analysis. The main aim of doing the analysis this way was to see if we could provoke a reaction from the public users in and around the site and also to get people to interact with the site being that the site's present state did not encourage all of this. Therefore, we wanted to intervene    and get a reaction. All of the other quantitative data related to environmental issues such as wind, rainfall, sun path, pedestrian and traffic flow were covered in the video footage we took at different times of the day. 

We brainstormed, and our initial plan was to place something in the site and get people to notice it and hopefully interact with it. We decided to place a box on site  with a small window through which people could take a peek through and have a link to our website inside so that we could know the number of people that actually noticed the site and went in to interact with it. 

INTERVENTION STAGES

   

Our initial plan wasn't productive because people were walking past the site without even noticing the presence of the 'big white box', we had to improvise and device another means with which people would be more comfortable with in terms of ease of access and interest level.

People interacting

Eventually, we were satisfied with the result as more and more people began to interact with the site and also with themselves. We were able to get over 400 hits on the blog and the presentation went very well because this was not done by any other group and the results of our analysis was very original, something everyone can learn from. For detail information on the group work, visit our blog http://marchfabric.blogspot.co.uk/

MAIN INTERVENTION

Final turn out

Week 2 : 1:5 MODEL

We were asked to take a big leap and prepare a 1:1 or 1:5 model of a fitting within our building. I wanted to carry on with my idea of exploring the stitching process.
I made a number of sketches simulating stitching as a method of joinery of two different materials. Therefore, I began to think of things like furniture, window frames, built in mirrors.

Sketches

Eventually I decided to do a reception desk where I could reveal the way stitching could be used as a construction method for built in furniture. I also did the reception desk because my main idea is stitching and revealing the stitching process, therefore, I envisaged the first point of contact between a prospective user of my building and I thought of that point of contact as where Kula, the client, or her employee would welcome the users into the building and I wanted to reveal that idea right from that point of contact.
In terms of the execution of the reception table itself, I can't say it was completely successful because I felt, after the crit, that the idea just ran through the top of the table and did not really run through the whole table including all of its members, also, It did not seem to be specific to its setting.

Physical model of 1:5 reception desk

VERTICAL STUDIO TWO

TEXTILE AND ARCHITECTURE

 The vertical studio module for this year is focusing on linking textile production processes with architecture. In the very first session, we visited looms in the school of arts in Bonington, Nottingham Trent University in order to expose us to the textile making processes and for us to begin to have an idea of how these processes can inspire concepts for our respective designs. The theme of design is fixed and we are all to design a bridal shop for a client who presently owns a bridal shop in lace market Nottingham; Kula Tsurdiu (http://www.kulatsurdiu.co.uk/). The client brief entails providing a proposal for a bridal shop in a different site as the client seeks to expand her business.

Present site situation

The site that was given to us is presently a dead space which sits between a prominent thick black brick wall of Boots of Victoria centre and the side of argos outlet just along Lower parliament street, Nottingham. This is obviously a challenging site as there are many constraints and it would be interesting to see how I can address these site issues not only from a physical perspective but from an economic and social perspective as well.

WEEK 1: EXPLORATION OF TEXTILE MAKING IN RELATION WITH THE SITE

Tasks are allocated on weekly basis and the first task was to explore concepts and ideas related to textile making but confined within the site as a way of representing the first response to the brief.

I thought of different things to do but while searching the net for inspiration, I came across the idea of thread art and thread sculpting. Immediately, this connected me to the dress making process of stitching and I analysed some of these examples and interpreted them as 'creatively revealed stitching processes'. After this I began to explore with test models to see what I could come up with and if I could apply this idea to my site. I was also at the same time experimenting with colours to see what kind of effects I could get from it

Test and unfinished final models

I then decided to make the colours have a meaning, that is when I started to think of treating this as a preliminary architectural concept model where, the colours would represent different zones and functions of the proposed building and having curved characters to suggest a potential roof scape for the building.

Final piece

The final model was exhibited along with all the other models from the students. This I felt was a good way to introduce ourselves to the project. It was interesting to see a lot of abstract ideas which have a strong potential of significantly influencing the future design process.

http://s22.postimg.org/70wojuhht/4gxpl.gif

FINAL PRESENTATION OF MUSIC THEATRE

Further to the master plan done as the first part of the Intervening in the city module, We individually had to select a site from the master plan and propose an intervention for that site. The site was between two historical buildings which were Nottingham's Castle and St. Nicholas Church. In my research, I was able to find a musical connection between the two historic buildings and therefore I decided to establish that connection both metaphorically and physically through my proposed intervention. The project is a music theatre that focuses on instrumental music and historically informed performances. In relation to the principles of the master plan, the projects seeks to satisfy the principles which are about revitalising social interaction and heritage and preservation in the broad marsh area of Nottingham.

Although general analysis had already been done during the group stage, I wanted to do a site specific analysis so I produced the above collage which comprises of elements that represent historic information, key buildings, environmental analysis such as greenery, sun path and wind direction, exploration of the topography and relationship between the two key buildings with the Nottingham castle to the left and the church to the right, visualisation of making a musical connection and other exploratory work I did on the way.

The music theatre was proposed to consist of three elements namely the main theatre where the main performances are held, an exhibition space for historical music instruments and a workshop for the crafting and making of musical instruments that would then be sold in shops.

The physical and pedestrian connection between the castle and the church was important and the scheme suggests a pedestrian route through which all the other supporting functions of the theatre are easily accessible and visible with active frontages in all faces of the structure.

The scheme also suggests establishing visual connections between the Castle and the Church, most especially the bridge that connects the theatre and the workshop which was designed to be a viewing port between the two key buildings. Below are the key views of the project. I tried to emphasize on the connections and relationship between the two historical buildings.

View from the Castle

View from the Church

View showing the pedestrian route which leads links the castle and church.

BROAD MARSH MASTER PLAN

At the beginning of the Intervening in the city module, We analysed the broad marsh area of Nottingham's city centre as one group and afterwards, with all of the data that had been derived from the site analysis, we progressed to proposing concepts for the redevelopment of the site in smaller groups.
My group comprised of Hauwa Yusuf, Kit Law and Djamel Mestour and myself. Together, we came up with the idea of proposing a vibrant city, the main aim of which was to be able to revitalise this area of Nottingham was in a very passive state. The concept is backed by four principles which are connected to and revolve around each other. The principles were chosen based on the main existing problems  in the site which based on our analysis, we felt had to be improved.
The master plan for the broad marsh redevelopment was then to be designed and  generated from this idea and its principles.

During the analysis stage, we started out by identifying the present areas of social interaction within the site(marked in blue) which were mainly Market square and St. Peters square. With this we concluded that the broad marsh area would benefit from more major sites/squares that encourage social interaction and also the prospects of having a better network of these of spaces.
Another issue with the site was that of connectivity and transportation; the vehicular routes create a big loop around the Coach station which just increases the carbon emissions from the vehicles because this complicated road system could be avoided. Moreover, these routes then define some of the building lines, therefore the buildings act a barrier in which people are denied visual interaction with the rest of the city.
Also illustrated are the historical areas (marked in orange) of the site which, going by the third principle of heritage and conservation, we intended to preserve and promote.

In the master plan, we intervened mostly in the broad marsh shopping centre block by breaking it into smaller units to allow for improved permeability and connectivity. We provided a prominent square where all of the major routes which we proposed meet. The square was proposed to be used for multiple purposes such as gatherings, events, market place to increase the quality of social interaction. It was strategically located at a central area such that there could be both physical and visual connections with the landmarks of the city centre. 

Another major feature of the master plan is the transport hub which is proposed to integrate all modes of public transportation. This was achieved by moving the coach station to the same area as the train station and tram station. This also broke the loop that used to be around the coach station and in doing that created uninterrupted views from station street to the rest of the city centre. It was important to achieve this because that view is what tourists or visitors would experience first after coming out of the station.

Conserving and promoting historical buildings such as Nottingham Castle and St Nicholas church was another objective of this master plan, we proposed having active frontages including retail activities around these areas in order to make them livelier and boost tourism in Nottingham's city centre.

In general, through high quality social interaction, high standard transportation systems and connectivity, Rich heritage conservation and efficient sustainable systems, this master plan was designed to revitalise Nottingham's city centre as a result making Nottingham a vibrant city.

CASE STUDY: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS MUSEUM

source:http://aztecstrings.com/wp-content/uploads/Musical-Instrument-Museum-MIM-Phoenix-Arizona.jpg

This museum is located in Phoenix, United states. Its type of exhibitions include historic musical instruments and other related objects to music. Although its architectural representation of materials and structure are quite impressive as the indian timber finish was made to represent the stirations of the Arizona topography and the rythyms of musical composition. I am particulary interested in the layout and organisation of the exhitbition spaces and how the historic musical instruments are a part of a bigger story as people move through the spaces.

http://www.ryancompanies.com/upload/Musical%20Instrument%20Museum%20Int%202%20LG.jpg

One interesting thing that may well be a source of inspiration for the musical theatre that I am proposing is the engagement of people with the exhibits. The historic musical instruments in the museum are from my own view not allowed to be touched therefore, in order for people to engage with them, headphones are provided  so that people can have an idea of what these instuments would sound like if they are being played. The image below illustrates this. The same I feel could be proposed in the intervening in the city project with historical musical instruments of Nottingham.

http://www.motherofalltrips.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Exhibit-Musical-Instrument-Museum.jpg

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

The two models above are development sketch models for the music theatre I am proposing for the site. The biggest block is the theatre hall itself while the connection(bridge) and smaller block is for exhibition of historical musical instruments and it starts from within the theatre block and then continues through the bridge and to the long stretch of the second block. The design intent is for the two blocks to delicately open up and create a courtyard space in the middle where the main public space will be located. The public space is given  a sence of place by defining the route to castle road with slightly inclined curved hard landscape dwarf walls or level changes and the function of these spaces include outdoor musical performances and a cafe.

The ribbons that wrap around the main theatre are placed at different heights/angles to be able to get some degree of natural light into the building if needed otherwise this would be completely shut by blinds. There existence is also to have a colourful effect especially at night when each ribbon could glow in different colour and the changes in the colour could occur in synchrony with the musical performances. 

BOOK: PUBLIC PLACES, URBAN SPACES

THE DIMENSIONS OF URBAN DESIGN

                                                                                       
                                                                                       (http://www.rudi.net/node/6584)

Matthew Carmona, Steve Tiesdell, Tim Heath, Taner Oc

This book more or less like a design manual for the creation of urban and public spaces and places. It breaks urban design down to six dimensions namely morphological dimension, perceptual dimension, the social dimension, the visual dimension, functional dimention and temporal dimension. It suggests that these dimensions have critical roles to play in the thinking process of urban design.

In relation to the intervening in the city course, I think this book could be a relevant resource to inform our designs of public spcaes within our interventions that can relate well with the urban context of the broadmarsh area.

There are two dimensions of urban design detailed in this book that I found interesting. They are:

The Social dimension:
In this section, the authors discuss  the relationship between the physical and social environment. Firstly the understanding of Human behaviour and their basic needs. which are stated as follows:
-physiological needs
-safety and security
-Affiliation needs
-Esteem Needs
-Self actualisation needs

An important issue raised was that of environmental determinism where the " physical environment has a determining influence on human behaviour" also with related variants such as environmental possibilism and probabilism.

"rather than determining human actions or behaviour, design can be seen as a means of manipulating the possibilities of certain actions or behaviours occuring"


The Perceptual dimension
It is important to consider place creation and how people will relate and percieve those spaces. This is linked with what kind of activities take place in the space, its image and environment (physical).
Here are a few case studies of public places.

                                                        Federation square Melbourne

http://m3.i.pbase.com/u14/melbob/upload/41711493.FederationSquareMelbourne.jpg

                                                       Soeuls Cheonggye waterfront

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2006/01/Cheonggye001.jpg

For more case studies, here's a link to see to latest innovative ideas for public places that I think create a sense of place.
http://www.designboom.com/architecture/designboom-2012-top-ten-public-spaces/

CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATION

THIS MODEL EXPLORES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NOTTINGHAM CASTLE AND ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH WITH MUSIC BEING THE COMMON FACTOR. MUSIC HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE ALONGSIDE THE TWO BUILDINGS AND WAS USED FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES. THE CASTLE IS REPRESENTED AS A BLOCK MOUNTED ON THE CASTLE ROCK AND THE CHURCH IS LOCATED AT THE RIGHT END OF THE MODEL. MUSIC ESPECIALLY THROUGH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS WAS PRACTICED IN THE CASTLE AS A FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE ROYALTIES WHILE IT WAS PRACTICED IN THE CHURCH AS A FORM OF WORSHIP. THE DIFFERENCE IN THE COLOURS OF THE STRINGS REPRESENTS THE DIFFERENCE IN PURPOSE OF MUSIC.

IN THE MODEL, THE CASTLE IS SEEN AS A MUSICAL NOTE WITH ITS OWN STORY WHILE THE CHURCH IS SEEN AS ANOTHER NOTE WITH A DIFFERENT STORY AND THE STRINGS WHICH ARE FIVE IN NUMBER ACT AS THE STAFF THAT CONNECTS THESE TWO NOTES TOGETHER THUS CONNECTING THE STORIES TOGETHER TO CREATE A MELODY. MY PROPOSED INTERVENTION SEEKS TO MAKE THIS CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO HISTORICAL BUILDINGS THROUGH MUSIC.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

THIS COLLAGE IS ILLUSTRATING THE FINDINGS OF A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF MY CHOSEN SITE FOR THE INTERVENING IN THE CITY PROJECT. THE SITE LIES JUST BETWEEN THE CASTLE AND ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH, BOTH OF WHICH HAVE A VERY LONG HISTORY DATING FROM THE EARLY ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES. 

THE SITE ITSELF, WHERE CASTLE COLLEGE LIES,  HAS AN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY AS IT WAS ONCE A WORKSHOP IN THE EARLY 1800 AND LATER BECAME THE PEOPLES COLLEGE. THE PROJECT WILL SEEK TO MAKE SOME SORT OF CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO LANDMARKS.

STUDY TRIP TO COPENHAGEN AND MALMO

                                                           

THE M.ARCH YEAR 1 AND 2 STUDENTS OF NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY EMBARKED ON A STUDY TRIP TO TWO OF THE WORLD'S MOST LIVABLE CITIES, COPENHAGEN IN DENMARK AND MALMO IN SWEEDEN. WE WERE ACCOMPANIED TWO TUTORS AND A VERY EFFICIENT GUIDE. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY TRIP WAS TO EXPOSE US TO NEW AND FEASIBLE URBAN DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH A WELL THOUGHT OUT PROCESS OF PLANNING INFORMED BY CRITICAL ANALYSES AND SURVEYS AS WELL AS HIGHLY EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

IN DENMARK, WE VISITED BUILDINGS IN A NEW URBAN DEVELOPMENT WHICH HAS AN OUTLINE WITH A BREADTH OF JUST 600 METRES. IN THAT URBAN DEVELOPMENT, THERE WERE REMARKABLE CONCEPTS FOR HOUSING. I WAS PARTICULARLY AMAZED WITH HOW CIRCULATION FOR PEDESTRIANS HAD BEEN APPROACHED. A GOOD EXAMPLE IS THE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT JUST ABOUT A MILE AWAY FROM THE CRONNE PLAZA BUILDING WHERE IT COULD ALLOW FOR CYCLING ACCESS TO ALL LEVELS.

THE SECOND NOTABLE BUILDING WAS WHAT I LIKE TO CALL THE MOUNTAIN CAR PARK, IMPRESSIVE ADAPTIVE DESIGN WITH PARKING SPACE UNDERNEATH ENVELOPED BY PERFORATED STEEL MEMBRANES WHICH HAVE AN ARTISTIC IMPRESSION OF MOUNTAINS, THEN WITH RESIDENTIAL UNITS AT THE UPPER LEVELS WHICH ARE CLEARLY DISTINGUISHED BY DIFFERENT COLOURS.

WE VISITED A PROMINENT ARCHITECTURAL FIRM IN DENMARK AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, GHEL ARCHITECTS. THEY PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE RESHAPING OF THE URBAN QUARTER OF MAJOR SPACES IN COPENHAGEN. THE PRJECT MANAGER, LOUISE VOGLEL GAVE US A SHORT PRESENTATION ON HOW THEY APPROACHED THE DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES MOST ESPECIALLY HOW THEIR SURVEY OF NOT JUST THE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES, BUT THE SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES INFORMED THEIR PROPOSALS. I WAS ENLIGHTENED BY THE FACT THAT SITE SURVEYS MADE SUCH A HUGE IMPACT IN RESHAPING URBAN SPACES. I GUESS ITS WORTH SAYING WE WERE ABLE TO MEET GHEL HIMSELF EVEN THOUGH IT WAS JUST FOR A FEW SECONDS.

WE MIGHT HAVE ALL HEARD ABOUT THE WATER FRONT HARBOUR IN COPENHAGEN AS I HAVE USED IT AS A CASE STUDY SEVERAL TIMES, WELL IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT TO FINALLY BE THERE IN PERSON. EVEN THOUGH WAS NOT AS LIVELY AS IT WOULD BE DURING THE SUMMER, IT WAS STILL A BRILLIANT ATMOSPHERE AND WE WERE ABLE TO LEARN JUST WHAT IT TAKES TO SUSTAIN IT. THE ABUNDANCE OF RESTAURANT IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA MADE CONVENTIONAL WASTE MANAGEMENT A DIFFICULT TASK, HOWEVER, WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH BASICALLY WORKS WITH SUCTIONS AND PIPES MAKES IT A WHOLE LOT EASIER. THE SYSTEM WORKS WITH A NETWORK OF UNDERGROUND PIPES THAT DIRECT ALL THE WASTE TO ONE CONTAINER WHICH IS PERIODICALLY EMPTIED THE WASTE IS BURNT IN A FURNACE, THE HEAT GENERATED THEN IN TURN PROVIDES ENERGY FOR RE-USE. THIS WAS AMAZING TO SEE. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THIS SYSTEM CAN BE INCORPORATED IN THE INTERVENING IN THE CITY MODULE FOR THIS YEAR.

INTERVENING IN THE CITY

Trinity square from Mubarak IA

This was an introductory exercise to the intervening in the city module of the M.arch Year 1 course at Nottingham Trent University. Together in pairs, we researched on some of the major urban interventions in the city of Nottingham, their historical developments and impacts on the built, social, political and economic environment.
Together with Aisha Awwal, we chose to pick Trinity square which is presently a mixed development as our case study.

BOOK REVIEW

WORLD CLASS PLACES

The Governement's strategy for improving quality of place. HM Government

http://www.veilig-ontwerp-beheer.nl/publicaties/world-class-places-the-government2019s-strategy-for-improving-quality-of-place/view

This publication looks mainly into quality of spaces, how the general public perceive and react to them, the progress made by the government to make set policies work and the challenges faced in the transformation of places. A few case studies have also been picked out to prove how much planning whilst bearing quality of space in mind could be successful.

From my understanding of the publication, An urban development which lacks quality lacks the following:

 Variety of homes, spaces and efficient services
 Proper treatment of historic places
 Well planned buildings which are visually appropriate
 High quality green spaces.

Therefore, If I try to relate these elements back to the present situation of the Broadmarsh centre area in Nottingham, I would say that it tends to fall short to an extent in each the above stated elements.
Particularly the treatment of the major historic places and the proper planning of buildings.

Reading this has made me more cautious what impacts the proposed changes on the broadmarsh centre might have on the people; the users of the spaces and how attached it could make them feel.

Two of which are:

The importance of planning and designing for all; the old and the young, families and friends.

 By doing so, there will a much better sense of community and belonging, The inhabitants would feel much safer and would also feel free to interact with the environment and neighbours.

This can be achieved by providing easy access and good connectivity from one zone to another while bearing in mind the movement of both the handicap and the young children who would as well want to use these spaces.

Another way is by providing public gathering spaces with natural elements like water features and green
spaces in parks and squares where different people can meet and interact.

Planning for the distant future and not the immediate future

A very good case study used in the publication was that of Edinburgh, planned and built about 200 years ago and that plan still exists today. After looking at the case of Edinburgh, it amazing how Broadmarsh centre has just been around for over a decade and there are already plans to redevelop the area.
This makes one wander, what did Edinburgh do to last all these years?

I think this revolves mostly around how the connectivity of the area was approached during design and planning stage. Once the connectivity is functional, considers other factors such as pedestrian/vehicular movements, important link to historic areas, placement of squares at strategic points, etc. then what is left is to look at the blocks of building and how these blocks could allow for future use even if it is for a different programme.

That being said I think the main problem of the Broadmarsh area is the connectivity, that has made all the building blocks just fit into the pockets created by the high traffic roads and very little pedestrian ways.

What can be done to resolve this is to ensure a highly functional connectivity network that considers factors such as users, traffic flow of people, links to the popular places, links to squares, future improvements. etc.

http://www.veilig-ontwerp-beheer.nl/publicaties/world-class-places-the-government2019s-strategy-for-improving-quality-of-place/view

This publication has enlightened me on quite a number of issues relating to the quality of places that are sometimes not considered during urban design and master planning but have great merits to the city or area in which the master plan is proposed if considered.

BOOK REVIEW

SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN, SUSTAINABLE URBAN DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, FAUNA, FLORA, GREEN ROOF, ROOF GARDEN, CONTEXT THEORY

(By Lambert M. Surhone, Miriam T. Timpledon, Susan F. Marseken)

(http://www.buchoffizin.de/produkt/9786130485542.html?tx_crondavcommerce_pi%5Btabclass%5D=singleview&tx_crondavcommerce_pi%5Btabid%5D=1&cHash=de7e14dde7)

·     This book is a high quality collection of Wikipedia articles  prepared by experts in the field and collated by the authors. The articles are centred on elements of landscape architecture and general issues relating to sustainability and landscapes.

·         The articles cover various aspects of sustainability and environmental awareness in general, however, there are a few which can positively influence any urban intervention such as that of broad marsh shopping centre area in Nottingham. They are:

1.    Sustainable urban drainage systems

The basic idea behind the Sustainable Urban drainage systems (SUDS) is the procedure of collecting surface water such as storm water run offs, purifying it before releasing it back to the water courses in order to avoid pollution, floods, contamination etc.

The article has pointed out about five SUDS techniques which are:

“-   source control

-       Permeable paving such as pervious concrete

-       Storm water detention

-       Storm water infiltration

-       Evapo-transpiration (eg. From a green roof)”

2.    Green transport



Wind powered vehicle
http://ecofriend.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/windpowered-car_KXfzm_5965.jpg



 The book looks at the normal system of transport and how much negative impact it has on the environment form a social and economic perspective. From a social perspective in the sense that non-green transport systems such as cars cause things like air pollution, noise and inactivity from high traffic and economic in the sense that there is sometimes insufficient balance between cost and time efficiency. A green or sustainable transport system would be one that considers sustainability from an economic, social and environmental point of view. According to the book, the main forms of green transport are:

-       Walking or Ambulation

-       Bicycling or cycling

-       Green vehicles (Low carbon emission vehicles,

-       Solar vehicles or Wind powered electric vehicles.

BOOK REVIEW

A PATTERN LANGUAGE

TOWNS. BUILDINGS. CONSTRUCRTION (By Christoper Alexander)

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e6/A_Pattern_Language.jpg/250px-A_Pattern_Language.jpg)

·         This book is the third of three volumes namely “The timeless way of building”, “An Oregon experiment” and this one, “A pattern language”.

·         The three volumes were prepared in order to create an appropriate response to design and planning issues and also to create a suitable and highly beneficial approach to the same issues.

·         In, the first volume, the author made emphasis on ‘language’ and how choosing the best type of language to interpret and communicate ideas and solutions to problems could help in the design and construction of buildings.

·         The proposed means of approaching design in any kind of project be it a small or large scale project, a furniture design, an urban design, a renovation was described in this book as ‘patterns’.

·         These book has made mention of about 250 different patterns that could be regarded as different approaches towards different projects and these patterns are designed by the author (after a lot of research of course) in such a way that there would be room for the development of more patterns emanating from the original 250 patterns.

·         The overall idea of the implementing a pattern language in projects is described by the author as a way of designing or planning an area in relation with its wider context especially natural and social contexts, how they connect. It could also be seen as a ‘sustainable’ way of approaching projects because considerations are more and focused towards not just the end product but what happens after the end product.

·         This book in my own opinion tried to focus on the non-apparent, psychological connection between human beings and their environment and their unconscious responses to the changes in the environment.

·         This book is very intriguing  as it continues to make the readers curious to find out how any of the patterns can help with their project issues.