Building Context

Question 1

Describe the first early settlements

Answer 1

Living quarters surrounding granary and multi-purpose temple. Palaces and temples later introduced. Greeks added temples for specific uses, agora for marketplace, theaters, stadiums and enclosed the city in walls.

Question 2

Medieval city characteristics and evolution

Answer 2

Started with crossroads of two main streets and grew outward in irregular pattern. Still organized around church and market and city was walled. After gunpowder was invented, star shaped city developed with bastions at each point and organized, radial streets.

Question 3

Renaissance city characteristics and examples

Answer 3

More attention to aesthetics of city planning with symmetrical and radial order that focused on points of interest and creating vistas. Hierarchy of radial boulevard superimposed on secondary grid or existing roads. Ex: London after fire (Christopher Wren) and Paris (Haussmann). Later: Washington DC (L’Enfant).

Question 4

Impact of Industrial Revolution on cities

Answer 4

Became focused on factory towns that were overcrowded, filthy and devoid of open space. Reformers housing conditions and open space design. Garden City (Howard) designed as a result. City Industrielle (Garnier) was first attempt at zoning to separate uses. USA implemented gridiron street system like in Philadelphia and Savannah. Fredrick Law Olmsted brought focus to landscape design. FLW and Le Corbusier envisioned cities with vast open spaces.

Question 5

Development philosophies/concepts reacting to rise of the suburbs

Answer 5

Urban sprawl: uncontrolled expansion with little concern for urban planning.
New Town: Intended as autonomous towns near big cities but end up being reliant on them for jobs, economy.
New Urbanism: Neighborhoods used for mixed use, reducing dependence on cars, building for pedestrians, connections to open space.

Question 6

5 Development Patterns

Answer 6

1. Expanding grid: Extends outward until reaches natural feature. Other patterns superimposed on it in larger cities. Ex: Philadelphia.
2. Star: Dense urban core with radiating spokes of transit. Ex: Chicago
3. Satellite: Dense urban core surrounding by other major urban areas. Often connected by a beltway. Ex: Houston
4. Field Pattern: No central focus or otherwise organizing scheme. Ex: LA
5. Megalopolis: When 2 or more major urban centers near each other grow together as the space between is developed. Ex: New England, Southern California

Question 7

The Image of the City

Answer 7

1960 book by Kevin Lynch exploring idea of imageability (quality of a physical environment that evokes a strong image). 5 basic elements of the urban image:

1. Paths
2. Edges
3. Districts
4. Nodes
5. Landmarks

Question 8

Superblock

Answer 8

Large block without roads. Idealized community with houses around perimeter and shared open space in the middle. Our reliance on cars results in better usage of perimeter than interior.

Question 9

Planned Unit Development (PUD)

Answer 9

Large parcel with mixed uses and different zoning regulations (no individual setbacks). Efficient groupings of buildings allows the extra land to be used for open/common spaces.

Question 10

Transit Oriented Development

Answer 10

Housing, commercial and support services located near transit nodes to discourage use of cars and rely on public transit for all urban living needs.

Question 11

Density

Answer 11

Ratio of people: area. Does not give total number of people or how they are distributed. Not to be confused with crowding.

Question 12

Sociopetal / Sociofugal

Answer 12

Incourage / discourage social interaction

Question 13

Cluster designs

Answer 13

• Same # of units in a tract but grouped together for greater density, therefore preserving more open space. -Reduces visual impact of new development.
• Allows more buffer space between incompatible uses.
• preserves natural features/functions
• contributes to rural character
• benchmark for future projects

Question 14

Characteristics of a quality community (from Save our Lands, Save our Homes, Thomas Hylton)

Answer 14

1. A sense of place
2. Human scale
3. Self-contained neighborhoods
4. Diversity
5. Transit-friendly design
6. Trees
7. Alleys and parking lots to the rear
8. Humane architecture
9. Outdoor rooms
10. Maintenance and safety

Question 15

Lot layouts

Answer 15

1. Grid
2. Deep/narrow
3. Wide/shallow
4. Alley houses

Question 16

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) 2 methods

Answer 16

1. Create better quality spaces

2. Situational prevention to address trouble or hot spots

Question 17

Requirements for crime to happen

Answer 17

1. Likely offender
2. A target
3. Absence of a capable guardian (CPTED focuses on creating physical evidence of a capable guardian to deter crime)

Question 18

3 Aspects of Defensible Space

Answer 18

1. Territory
2. Access
3. Surveillance (seeing and being seen is more important than lighting)

Question 19

Terrorism threat deterrents

Answer 19

1. Target hardening
2. No escape route may not help
3. Setback
4. Barriers
5. Access
6. Landscape
7. Grade change

Question 20

Recommended footcandles for site lighting

Answer 20

(for Lux x10)
0.2-1 Bikeways
1-2 Parking areas
5 Building entry, active use 
20 Loading areas
50-100 Bulletin boards/kiosks

Question 21

Successful commercial sites

Answer 21

1. Demographics
2. Traffic
3. Visibility
4. Intersection
5. Visual access
6. U shaped retail strip