WEEK 02- READ THE CITY

CITY WALK:
PATHS, EDGES, NODES, LANDMARKS, LIMITS

Kevin Lynch's concept from, "The Image of the City" uses the above five elements to break down and analyse the components of a city. These elements can help us as designers on how to design a space or building and the influences it has on it. The series of sketches below is an example of Gordon Cullen's serial vision depicting the key elements in each one.

Intersection on Alice St and George St.

This sketch is framed by the trees of the Botanic Gardens and is the main entrance way for students going to QUT. Both the buildings on this intersection are from the 1800's with the key landmark being, Parliament House which is still a key landmark today. There is a large buffer space in front of Parliament House which keeps the building distant from the growing construction of new buildings (shown in the diagram on right). The fence line is a limit which prevents people from wandering through the gardens. It directs the flow of pedestrians and creates an edge between the natural and built environment.

There are two different building typologies in this sketch, the old and historical and the new and modern. The more modern buildings boundaries seem to blend into the footpaths and allow for pedestrians to move around freely whilst the older buildings have fences which dictate the flow of pedestrians. The more historical buildings are very earthly and symmetrical which seems to give the surrounding space a very stationary feel.



 

 

The park area makes the space very open and allows for users to meander through the area. It seems to be a very relaxed area in the city. One the the very few green spaces.

 

The initial feeling from the street is that it appears to be unfinished. The node highlighted in green in the backside of the Myer Centre which is a key building in the Brisbane CBD. The vacant block next to the Myer Centre is a wasted space and has no connection with the street whilst the pub opens up onto both streets, inviting by passers in.

This sketch of the Post Office shows the scale of the building in relation to the surrounding skyscrapers. The materials and architecture are all in direct contrast to each other which I believe makes this building a landmark in the area.

Walking along the river boardwalk a key landmark i noticed was Customs House. Highly noticeable as it is an old building in a very modern and developed area of the city. It's dome shaped roof and heavy stone pillars are some key features. The boardwalk directs users along the rivers edge toward the Howard Smith Wharves.

 

This final sketch shows a feeling of openness. At this point the pathway ends and there is panoramic views of the river and city. The key landmark highlighted in this drawing is the Storey Bridge.