CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.2 M EANING IN THE U RBAN S CALE
2.2.2 The Cohesive City
26 image of a city based on the different zoning such as a cultural precinct or municipal precinct. Nodes are generally intensive focal points which the observer enters such as where paths or transportation routes end or intersect giving rise to a point of importance or rather a point which creates a powerful mark on the observer’s image. Landmarks are similar yet are not entered by the observer; they are an external physical element which is easily identifiable (Lynch 1960: 48). It is the combination of the qualities of these various elements which gives meaning within the urban environment and develops the mental image of the observer.
27 compression and the interlocking of axes connected to these large masses. Roman architecture achieves a harmony of design as a result of the similar theme in the form of sheer mass modulated and unified through the use of colonnades and the visual connection of axes (Bacon: 1967; 68). However, even though mass is used a cohesive city is created within the mind of the public.
During medieval times the scale of buildings seen in classical times disappeared. The city design was based on rational principles but unlike in Roman times where the city was viewed in terms of individual rigid connections between masses, the city is seen as an organic entity and as complete whole which Bacon believes is one of the most important contributions by the medieval era. Bacon describes how through design dispersal a unity is achieved between the scale of the neighborhood and the scale of the city (Bacon:
1967; 79) using the example of a large central cathedral surrounded by smaller ones in surrounding neighborhoods. Here there is the establishment of dominant and subdominant themes where the citizen feels pride in the immediate neighborhood but is still connected to the city as a whole (Bacon: 1967; 87).
During the Renaissance era designers of the time created a rational basis for the extension of the city in accordance with the new larger scale of the city where elements were constructed such that created psychological and visual centre’s which became the orientating point for later work (Bacon: 1967; 93).
During this time order was created from chaos through the definition of axis originating from these orientating points, the directional force was an important element in creating unity and coherence. During this time the integration of the architecture of buildings and the modular placement of sculpture established that the space itself could be the subject of the design such as was seen in the great piazzas of the time.
Furthermore, during the Baroque period, designers deliberately planned a network of lines of design energy on a city wide basis, providing channels for the transmission of the design energy of existing buildings and creating locations calling for new design. The example is given of the simple placement of obelisks in Rome at important nodes which unified the separate nodes and the city into a complete whole. This example shows that a single point in space can achieve a powerful design force as the obelisks became the organizing factor of the immediate vicinity and acted as the termination points of the various movement systems with their influence extending along the lines of connectivity strung between them (Bacon: 1967;
117).
In contrast to these very unified ideas of city wide design the modernist planning as exemplified by Le Corbusier's vision of an austere and completely ordered environment which harbored ideas of disconnection. Le Corbusier’s vision allowed for the design of the land and the building as separate entities
28 and the arbitrary placement of the building on the land without regard to the environment and without a total city design principle to adhere to (Bacon: 1967; 217). With reference to the new city of Chandigarh, Le Corbusier screens off any awareness of the existing city in his architecture and creates what is essentially a vast series of islands. His buildings fail to connect to each other and to the city as a whole and thus Bacon believes that it is impossible to learn from Le Corbusier when seeking application to the larger problem of the city (Bacon: 1967; 219). This isolation is evident though the use of the public plaza at the centre of the political institution of power. The vast open space intended for public gatherings is only ever used as a transit space for people working in the complex. (Vale 1959: 115)
When considering the urban environment in terms of a semiological view, the urban environment would be considered as the combination of architectural objects into an integrated whole. As in language where word is part of the language, so architecture is part of the language of the urban fabric. Although the city grows as an organism, architecture and urban objects should be designed to integrate with the meaning of the urban whole (Krampten 1979: 66). In this sense the meaning given to city should be considered above the meaning of its components. However, in South African cities where a new democratic government has taken over from a divisive regime, the problem is how to reintegrate the city structure into a system which is appropriate to the new political power. In this sense the components will have to redefine the whole.
Figure 13. A sketch done by Le Corbusier which epitomizes the isolation of the building from the urban fabric (Source: Bacon 1967: 231).
Figure 14. Chandigrah, separated by earth mounds from the city (Source: Bacon 1967: 231).
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