Urban Goliath and Automobile David

Lahore, Pakistan, a city of fragments, where urban layouts conceived from the age-old theories of ‘the urban centre’ periodically fall into discord with newer concepts of the mighty automobile road framework. Where entire neighborhoods are left in the shadows of a tonnage of concrete trying to pass itself of as a bridge, built to facilitate the ‘automobile elite’ [1]. Where public spaces are birth of ‘whatever is left’ and commercialism takes precedence over any other kind of development. Lahore is a very troubled city indeed, victim to the unwanted yet continuous expansion of its limits at the hands of unqualified private and government-based development authorities. Yet for all its years of so-called ‘progress’ (charted it seems, only by the quality of road and not the buildings that line it) it can boast to be little more than a loose affiliation of housing schemes with a pitiful geographical bond to a dying, dilapidated core.

Lahore’s severe dependency on suburbanization is rivaled only by its unyielding impulse to create and bolster road infrastructure. With the majority of Lahore’s population living within a radius of a mere seven kilometers [2] one cannot help but wonder why the rampant development of remote, low-density housing schemes and road widening projects is still allowed. Both types of urban interventions are fully dependent on each other and with expansions to housing societies like DHA (Defence Housing Authority), being proposed and developed around the year, the need for widening roads or laying down new ones to facilitate this growth, will consistently rise. Due to this increase in automobile usage, a remarkably rare and scenic treeline that neighbors Lahore’s famous ‘Canal road’ is now threatened by a Government road-widening project.

We can attribute a significant amount of Lahore’s suffering to the undeniably overwhelming presence of automobiles but more still, to the constant development of roads that fuel the automotive incentive. A 1997 study by NESPAK indicated that up to 60 percent of trips made in Lahore were non-motorized [3]. For many who consider roads to be as integral to a city as arteries are to the human body, NESPAK’S findings would not fair well if they also happened to consider automobiles as a cities ‘blood supply’. Other than catering to an elitist few, bolstering their incentive by impulsively constructing roads goes against all internationally accepted (and now in many countries, enforced) concepts of ‘sustainability’.

In our efforts to find a solution it is important to understand the history of cities and remember, that some urban theories transcend context, forever remaining relevant to any locale in which they are implemented. But we must also understand that these theories, however relevant they may be, do not always result in positive outcomes. It is with that, we should reflect upon the work of the likes of Robert Moses – the man who forever changed the cityscape of New York and Long Island during the 30’s and the 50’s – and realize, where exactly it is we’re headed if we continue down this path of automotive-centric urbanism. Key differences in urban ideologies can be identified when contrasts between Robert Moses’ automobile-centric planning and projects like Ebenezer Howard’s “The Garden City” are drawn. The former often results in layouts that endorse unnecessary distances between commercial and residential zones. More often than not, this leads to an increased growth in automobile usage resulting in the emergence of more roads and bridges, which is hardly considered sustainable in this day and age.

The ideal ‘urban setting’ as Ebenezer Howard envisioned incorporates the ‘traditional countryside with the traditional town’ [4]. In his proposal for ‘The Garden City’ Howard sought to nullify the differences between a life devoid of nature led in a city and a life led in a “culturally isolated rural area” [5]. Howard’s endeavor at sustaining human life in a ‘country-town’ environment captured the importance of pedestrian activity on more than just a societal or humanitarian level, but also catered to many of today’s generally accepted ideals of ‘sustainability’. A city where areas of industrial, commercial, residential or public use are set apart by spatial distinctions and not by their distances from one another is a city that begins to understand the new-age hierarchy of transport systems; that which relegates the automotive culture to give way to the construction of pedestrian/cyclist sidewalks and public spaces.

“Inverting the transportation hierarchy means placing the heaviest emphasis on the pedestrian, who represents the most energy efficient form of transportation and adds a much-needed presence to the city” – As expressed by Stephen Wheeler author of ‘Planning Sustainable and Livable Cities’ can be achieved by creating urban villages [6] that seek to blur senseless boundaries between commercial and residential establishments by bringing jobs closer to workers or vice versa. A common argument against investment in pedestrian infrastructure will usually start with someone expressing how harsh Lahore’s climatic conditions are during most of the year. It’s as if they didn’t get the memo; It’s a hot country. NESPAK’s 1997 case study that was mentioned earlier should be reason enough to acknowledge Lahore’s urgent need for pedestrian infrastructure. If such a large portion of Lahore’s population is indeed taking to the streets on foot and cycle, then investments in pedestrian infrastructure should be made a priority and not a ‘side effect’ of roads designed for automobiles.

No city is beyond the prospect of repair, but with power resting in the hands of an ignorant few, hope remains in short supply. If the builders of this city – The Architects, Engineers, Developers and Urban Planners – continue to emulate automotive-dependent ‘palm-tree havens’ like Dubai, then Lahore’s true potential will never be realized. We live today in a city that suffers not only from a severe identity crisis but a city that remains relentless in sustaining itself based on conventions condemned by most of the world. As a result, a huge amount of its population lives in slums, yet the government’s desire to maintain its roads continues to take precedence over the development of middle-class housing schemes time and time again.

Lahore, with its clusters of poorly constructed hovels piled onto each other, stretching out like creepers across the side of an imposing bridge denying them daylight. Lahore, with its frustrated droves of motorists congesting hot cracked roads left in utter disrepair. Lahore, with its cyclists and pedestrians squeezed into small gaps between tiny sidewalks and uncompromising motorists. Lahore, a city brought to its knees because of the automotive incentive. Lahore…

A city in suffering.

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[1] “Automobile Elite” – ‘Wake up to the new urban reality‘ by Rafay Alam, The News

[2] ‘Wake up to the new urban reality‘ by Rafay Alam, The News

[3] “1997 Integrated Master Plan for Lahore, NESPA” - Wake up to the new urban reality by Rafay Alam, The News

[4] http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/Home/19321 Article by Dnaim: “Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Concept”

[5] http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/Home/19321 Article by Dnaim: “Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Concept”

[6] ‘Urban Villages”, pg.491 Ch 8 – ‘Planning Sustainable and Livable Cities’ by Stephen Wheeler

Portfolio Sample Pages

During first semester, 3rd year, I applied to the AA and got admission in the first year level (unfortunately) these are some pages of the sample portfolio I sent them. Will discuss these projects individually over time.

Sustainable Design

A study on:

“Sustainable Architecture Module:

Introduction to Sustainable Design

by,

Jong-Jin-Kim and Brenda Rigdon”

Sustainable Design: Overview and proposal

In terms of sustainability, definitions of Growth and Progress need to be developed beyond the already set models. Existing concepts will soon stand at a vital crossroads. Either they can follow traditional models that focus only on GNP growth credited to capitalist consumerism or, create newer models to define ‘growth and progress’ on the basis of analysis that take into account entire economic life cycles.

Economic development often manifests itself through architecture. It is the driving force behind the built environment and with the increase of new buildings allows for examples in which the environment is either helped or harmed.
To identify these examples, and if negative, to prevent them from being repeated, architects must be educated in the principles of sustainable design. Architects must be presented with a multi-facetted conceptual framework comprising of three primary foci: principles, strategies and finally, methodologies.

The first Principle discusses the economizing of resources; curbing the use of nonrenewable ones. The second Principle details the difference between the life cycle of a sustainable building and that of a conventional one. Lastly, the third principle “Human Design” taps into the requirements of man, to determine how ‘livable’ a sustainable design space can be.

Every principle can then be divided into detailed sections that give way to strategies. These strategies provide detailed outlines, leading to methods for achieving sustainability. One such example of these sub-categories can be the ‘Post-Building Phase’ that falls under Principle 2: Life cycle Design. The Post-Building(1) Phase suggests materials be salvaged from buildings that have outlived their usefulness and be reused, in prospective projects.
The standards of humanitarianism coupled with those that promote environmental awareness form a schema, upon which a basic route for sustainability is encountered.

Through this study on sustainability and its already determined constituents, inferential outcomes extremely indicative of local sustainable design solutions can be reached.
A holistic review of the entire study can provide an overview, whereas attention towards details relevant to local energy conservation concerns can be used to route out localized issues, towards which, again, a dialectic study between generic and specific can lead to solutions.
Finding a solution that maintains the delicate balance of the ecosystem through designs sensitive to both living organisms and inorganic elements is sustainable architectures’ most sought after goal.









Citations:
(1). Sustainable Architecture Module: Introduction to Sustainable Design, Page 12, Principal 2: Life Cycle Design, Post-Building Phase

Transparencies in Architecture

Recommended preliminary reading:
Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal
Author(s): Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky
Source: Perspecta, Vol. 8 (1963), pp. 45-54
Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta

This is a research paper discussing some of the key points in “Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal”

“The Bauhaus, insulated in a sea of amorphic outline, is like a reef gently washed by a placid tide” – Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky

The Dictionary definition of Transparency states transparency as being something that is clearly evident and present in its absolute visual entirety. Transparency can be literal, as the physical quality of a substance, for example the transparency of a glass wall, or a phenomena like that seen in the quality of organization of spaces. Transparency, as the author describes it, associates with more than just the observable phenomena, it possesses overtones that make obvious its interconnected relationship with spatial orders and organization.
The edifice on which the authors build their argument, deviates from the conventional views of most critics; where discussions on ‘phenomenal transparency’ are dismissed without much scrutiny, the resulting effect restricts the association of transparency particularly to materials used in architecture.

Endowing figures with transparency, as the authors discuss, goes beyond materials. Physical, or literal transparency can be achieved through materials, yes, but phenomenal transparency is a fairly harder concept to grasp and apply. Phenomenal transparency can be achieved when two forms, or figures, ‘interpenetrate’ without compromising line of sight to each other, the authors put it as “Two figures able to interpenetrate without an optical destruction of each other”
In light of the above consideration, conventional understandings begin to cross over into the realm of ambiguity, no longer remaining ‘clear and evident’ as defined by literal definitions of transparency. This is due mainly, to the interpretive nature of spaces that accommodate such “interpenetrating figures” as a result transparency transforms from that which is clear, to something that is equivocal.

This ambiguity is noticed when overlapping figures begin to disrupt spatial dimensions; this disruption is often the result of a common overlapped area, a situation where a visual disconnection is encountered. At this point introducing transparency would restore the disconnection, however, introducing transparent materials may not be the only means through which transparency can be achieved, at this point an important question must be asked: Is there a sense of greater involvement by something beyond the realm of physical transparency that can be added to this particular equation?

To reach a conclusion, one would have to first amount to a greater understanding of the difference between the two transparencies, literal and phenomenal. The authors state, concerning the foregoing discussions of phenomenal transparency in light of spatial context that “it is intended simply to give a characterization of species” the authors then stress on the importance of understanding the distinctions and continue “but also to warn against the confusion of species”.

Literal transparency can be sourced to originate from cubist painting and ‘The Machine Aesthetic’. The key difference between Transparency described in paintings by Cubist artists the likes of Picasso and La Sarraz, and Transparency in Architecture is that in the 2-dimensional platform, transparency remains restricted to pictorial representations and implications of the three dimensions, whereas Architecture, as the authors put it, “Is provided with the reality rather than the counterfeit of three dimensions” the authors state that “literal transparencies become physical fact” and “Phenomenal transparency, for this reason, is more difficult to achieve”.

If the two forms of transparency were presented as dialectic, then if literal transparencies are physical fact, phenomenal transparencies transcend physicality and as a result bypass common observations and perceptions of it. For example, Le Corbusier’s Palace of the League of Nations, a building expressed by the author as the “Essence of that phenomenal transparency which has been noticed as a characteristic of the central post-cubist tradition”, is a building that possesses a minimal display of material transparency and visual flow, instead it works with “planes that are like knives” 1. In a situation like the one Corbusier created within the Palace of the League of nations, the kind of transparency witnessed here is purely experiential, though most of its environment presents hints of various programs and components, only at a specific point does it allow you full visual access to them, such is the nature of phenomenal transparency.

It would suffice to say, that transparency can be deeply influenced by spatial organization, where a semi-pervious entity, like the body of trees in the heart of Le Corbusier’s “Palace of the League of Nations”, act to obstruct the line of sight leading to the Palace entrance quay, only to re emphasize it when the visitor has finished crossing the trees. It is at this point we can inquire on how exactly to attribute traits of phenomenal transparency to this particular building. To delve into this exploration, observation coupled with an intellectual understanding of transparency is required. This observation, that leaks into the realm of studying both the apparent and vague, intrinsic elements present within the spatial organization lead to an understanding of spatial ‘distinctions’.

These distinctions are categorically used in the organization of the entire building to emphasize and frame a visitor’s line of sight. This ‘framing’ effect can be understood as a form of transparency, where one figure or form, interpenetrates with another but instead of being literally transparent, instead frames the figure it is interpenetrating with.
In the same building, the authors express the irrefutable effect of the gardens on the visitor, on crossing the volume of trees the visitor finds himself before the Main assembly hall of the League of nations, yet his gaze is directed sideways towards the gardens and lake, in light of this, is it possible that transparency also lies in the contrast of things?

Perhaps the endeavor of clarifying the spatial context within which phenomenal transparency becomes a possibility is one that requires holistic understandings of all spatial elements ranging from physical materials to the purely equivocal play of vision, volume and void. Perhaps, phenomenal transparency is indeed not the transparent cladding of a building but the setting through which the nakedness of a structure is seen either through contrast or distinction, or both, perhaps its phenomena is woven deeply into the spatial organization of an architectural construct, regardless, it remains a constituent of modern architecture, and its enigmatic presence must be understood, to both categorize, and prevent confusion.

“If we could attribute to space the qualities of water, then his building is like a dam by means of which space is contained, embanked, tunneled, sluiced, and finally spilled into the lake” – Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky on Le Corbusier’s “Palace of the League of Nations” project




1. Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky
Recommended further reading: Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal Part II