Sergio Porta, Ombretta Romice, and Tutors

MSc/PgDip/PgCert Urban Design

2011 / 2012

MASTERPLAN 08 Sergio Porta, Ombretta Romice, and Tutors

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 1 Introduction

The MSc in Urban Design is articulated into four phases: 1. Case analysis. You students will work in groups on the study area as part of a larger urban sector, getting to know intimately this area, its links potentials and pitfalls (Studio 1a); 2. Urban Design Strategy. You will propose a Strategic Plan and a Concept Plan, together forming the Urban Design Strategy, for the improvement of this area envisaging actions and projects that deal with services, mobility, housing, and public realm provision (Studio 1b); 3. Street front analysis and coding. You will be requested to work out a complete morphological analysis of street fronts that are assigned by staff. The “front analysis” is carried out by drawing each street front in two boards and by the quantitative analysis of morphological aspects as they appear on drawing. Once all cases have been worked out and all data is available, students and staff derive from that a synthetic Local Urban Code and apply it to the first draft of the Foundation Masterplan (Studio ). 4. Masterplanning and place design. You are led to the production of a Masterplan for sub-areas of the Foundation Masterplan. You will learn how to take action for subdivision of large blocks, a correct management of density as related to transport and land use, how to design safe and liveable streets and how to interpret the existent urban fabric of public and private buildings in relation to streets, land uses, density and transport. Finally, you will be asked to deepen your Masterplan and Code by experimentally developing the design of streets and buildings in a small part of it (Studio 2).

As you students read this brief, the (1) case analysis, the (2) urban design strategies and the (3) street front analysis and coding, as well as the first draft of the Foundation Masterplan have been completed. At the end of the third and latter phase (fig.1), you have constructed preliminary drafts of documents that are essential for the formation of a Masterplan: the Foundation Masterplan and the Street Front Analysis extended on a range of cases that cover a significant spectrum of the local spatial structure of the ordinary urban fabric in Glasgow (these cases will be now put together in a unitary document that we call “Local Template”). The first step in this phase is to complete the work and produce the final Foundation Masterplan and Local Urban Code, which together constitute the Regulatory Framework for the study area. Regulatory Framework and Masterplan are the final product of the course.

Fig.1. The final products of the course: Regulatory Framework (Foundation Masterplan and Local Urban Code) and Masterplan.

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 2 8.1 Scope and objectives

Scope: This is the final phase of the course and therefore it will lead you students to the end products of your entire experience with this MSc in Urban Design. The brief will be then a bit looser than in previous phases. Put it shortly, having learned to walk, you will now be allowed to run. However, before running and expressing your creativity in the design of the Masterplan, you will still be requested to finalize your previous work on the Foundation Masterplan and the Street Front Analysis making them practical and useful for the purposes of a Masterplan. With this done, you will experiment designing a building under your rules, and then you will design streets, squares, public spaces and green areas. In addition, you will design private areas such as ordinary blocks, landmark buildings and specialist areas. The whole complexity of the city will clash on you and this will be probably result scaring, but do not panic: we will still be very precise on telling you not what to do, but how to do it, so that your work will be fairly facilitated at least from the technical side of it.

At the end of this phase, you will be able to: - use a Local Urban Code; - design a Foundation Masterplan; - design a Masterplan; - understand how architects and urban designers should work together for the sake of a sustainable and sound urban environment;

Objectives:

1. To formulate a complete Local Urban Code (LUC) for the study area.

2. To finalize a Foundation Masterplan.

3. To design a Masterplan.

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 3 8.2 Working instructions

Timetable:

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 4 The overall scope of the Masterplan phase is to define the final products of your work as Urban Designers: these products are the Regulatory Framework and the Masterplan. The Regulatory Framework is composed by two documents: the Foundation Masterplan (FM) and the Local Urban Code (LUC). As the FM has been worked out in draft in the previous phase and the LUC will start being compiled now, what you will be asked to do in the first pace is to finalize them. This will be done in the first 2 weeks, and will introduce to the design of the final Masterplan for all your Masterplan areas. You will be requested to develop the Masterplan according to the rules of your LUC and the densities set in your FM.

A substantial amount of time is then left for you to work out the final drawings, models and other materials that you will consider functional for the external examination and the successive end-of-year exhibition.

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 5 WP1 – REGULATORY FRAMEWORK (LUC + FM)

1. Regulatory Framework (LUC + FM) (week 1-3): - Finalizing the Local Urban Code. In the last part of the previous phase you developed a study of several street fronts that are meant to be typical of the urban fabric of Glasgow. Typical in what sense? Typical in terms of density (high, medium and low), use (mixed or mostly residential) and disposition on the ground (aggregated or isolated). How should you use that information?

The aim of the street analysis is to collate guidance to use in the design of the Masterplan. Through the street analysis you will have a clear idea of what does it mean in practice to build at, for example, a density of 135 un/ha. If now you need to develop an area in your Masterplan at that density, you can go back to your street analysis and see how other areas in the city that had been built in the past at the same density look like, what are their spatial characteristics and their fundamental measures. In many instances you will discover that you can develop at that density in many different ways, by using different combinations of spatial characteristics. Where do you get the information on what density is indicated in each part of your Masterplan? That information was stored in the Foundation Masterplan in the previous phase, because that is where you have indicated densities (shades of colours downgrading as you move away from a node) and importance of Fronts in relation to streets (i.e. the “+, - and =”) and will be more precisely detailed now.

However, in order to make the street analysis fit to this purpose, you should make its relevant information available for all street front cases, so that roughly all possible types of development are there represented and their spatial characteristics quantified. In short, you have to: 1. Select among all indicators used in the Street Front Analysis only those relevant to the Masterplan and make sure that figures are correct and results reliable. 2. Gather them all in a unified table.

This is what you will do in the first two weeks of this phase. A provisional Local Urban Code (LUC) template table will be circulated to all groups. Groups will have to populate the table with data of the two street front cases that each group analysed. Once this is done, we will uniform all data trying to highlight mistakes and make the calculations uniform and reliable; that is most likely to imply a certain level of re-calculation on original datasets. Once this process is complete and numbers are reliable, you will have a useable LUC.

The LUC will been structured so that summary data are generated for each category of street fronts in terms of minimum, maximum and average values across all cases in each category (i.e. medium density aggregated): these values provide a first quick reference to the ranges of values that characterise each category, but you should keep in mind that cases were originally attributed to each category on the basis of their basic visual appearance, so it may well happen that one case does only partially – or not at all – be consistent to all others in the category. That, in turn, would certainly affect the summary data referred to the category as a whole (especially the max and min values). So, in short, we recommend to use the LUC primarily by looking at single cases and NOT to rely solely, nor mostly, on summary data.

- Finalizing the Foundation Masterplan. In the previous phase you achieved a rough idea of proposed densities in your Masterplan area on the basis of a draft version of the Foundation Masterplan (FM). Densities were there represented symbolically by means of main and sub categories: 1. HIGH DENSITY (1+ Top, 1= Mid, 1- Bottom); 2. MEDIUM DENSITY (2+ Top, 2= Mid, 2- Bottom) 3. LOW DENSITY (3+ Top, 3= Mid, 3- Bottom)

Density were associated to every street front in all transformation areas of your Masterplan area, i.e. in all areas where significant change was proposed in terms of density, uses or building types.

What you need to do now is to move from that symbolic notation to real figures measured in Units per hectares (un/ha). The way to do so is to get from your Concept Plan the existent densities of all confirmation areas within and around your Masterplan area and try to make your proposal for the transformation areas consistent, so that the transition between densities in the transformation (as proposed) and the confirmation (as existent) areas are as smooth as possible. We should avoid abrupt changes in densities between adjacent areas of the city (try for example to avoid having on one side of a street a density of say 250 un/ha and on the other of 40 un/ha).

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 6 A the end of this work you should be able to update the draft Foundation Masterplan realized in the previous phase by replacing symbolic densities on every street front with real numerical densities. This will be your final Foundation Masterplan.

2. Designing the Masterplan (week 4-14): We conceive a Masterplan as a document that deals with three urban information: 1. Built-up land. 2. Streets and squares, 3. Green and open public spaces.

The design of the Masterplan should start from the Built-up land but should be shortly followed by working on the other two information. No doubts that all the endless specific solutions that will make your plan something more than an abstract exercise will come out only by developing the three aspects in parallel. You have to turn a general understanding and a work on the rules into something very sensible to detailed local conditions, and it is only in this phase that you can do that. Our suggestion is to put into being a process of testing and changing solutions across these three levels always keeping in mind that once the rules are clear all exceptions are gold.

- Designing built-up land. What is the Built-up Land? It is the part of the urban territory that is organized in blocks, plots and buildings. The Built-Up Land is constituted by specialist and basic blocks. Basic blocks are those where you have at least a significant presence of residential uses, which might be mixed with compatible manufactures, commercial or service functions. Basic blocks are to be conceived not as units of developments but as the aggregation of plots along their reference streets. It is worth highlighting that many specialist buildings may well find their optimal location in basic blocks by occupying one plot: for example, you may locate a school in one plot as part of an ordinary basic block of the city. Specialist blocks are those where specialist functions take place that occupy the very most of the block; therefore specialist blocks ordinarily are not internally subdivided in plots, or in any case are mostly occupied by one large plot. On one side these specialist functions are major public facilities in general like hospitals, stadiums, libraries or theatres; on the other side these are major private facilities (but of public relevance) for commercial (like commercial centres), directional or productive purposes (like offices or industries). We recommend to limit the use of specialist blocks as much as possible or, in short, to use them only in very exceptional cases: one lesson from our historical cities is that the very most of specialist uses can be fitted in ordinary blocks with benefits at many levels on the city form and use.

- Basic Blocks components: - Building Types. Buildings should be designed in plan: the boundary of each building in your Masterplan should be filled with a color that indicates its type according to the same legend that you used in Table 2 of the Block Analysis. Derive the basic geometry of your new buildings that you are proposing from what you found on the ground in the Street Front Analysis for the same types of buildings (we want you to indicate the typologies you have picked, and also how you have modified them through the application of the LUC). The proposed number of floors must also be superimposed on the building footprint. Once you have done this for every front of the block, the resulting density must be consistent with the indications that you have in your Regulatory Plan. - Active frontages. Mark with clearly visible symbols (i.e. red dashed line) those front that are supposed to be “active”, in the sense that they host retail/commerce and service activities at the ground floor with a direct entrance from the street. - Landmark buildings. Mark with a symbol those buildings that in your opinion, because of their prominent location, exceptional visibility or use importance, can be valued as “landmarks”. Such buildings, exactly for their exceptionality, will NOT follow the rules established in your Local Urban Code. - Plots. Clearly draw on your plan the lines of each plot constituting your fronts, and blocks. This information is perhaps the most important in your Masterplan, so make it clear and visible. When combining plots within a front, and fronts within a block, you will not only apply the information from the LUC, but will need to adapt them to each specific circumstance (for example corner plots will be difficult to design and you will need special attention in each case). - Stages. With the word “stage” we intend coherently and uniformly designed frontages that do not follow the rules of diversity normally dictated by the Local Urban Code, but behave in a special way which you decide to mark an important event, or place (for example, all fronts facing on a public space which for you is important and has a certain value, might be in your masterplan treated with very

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 7 similar rules, like same height, number of stories, frequency of entrances to ground floor) even if the LUC suggested differently. This is your design decision: you can break the rules of the LUC when you want to emphasize something.. Mark in a clearly visible way the street fronts (or parts of) that in your opinion should be treated so that uniformity of design prevails. The meaning of this component is that while diversity is a value in general terms, yet in some special cases uniformity is a more desirable, or appropriate value. Think for example of the many marvelous crescents that punctuate the urban landscape of the best Victorian neighborhoods of UK cities. The point is that uniformity should not be a rule, but it is extremely valuable as an exception wherever it helps in remarking particular places: that uniformity actually adds to the diversity of the city fabric at a larger scale. Stages should be located in special places where you want to put emphasis on particular characters of the street space. - Private open spaces. Private open spaces are gardens, frontyards and backyards internal to a plot. - Shared open spaces. Shared open spaces are courtyards, gardens and small parks that are shared by more than one plot.

- Specialist Block components: - Buildings layout. Draw the footprint of specialist buildings. This should be intended as a non-prescriptive indication that nevertheless makes clear the rough position of the building in the block. That also applies to specialist buildings that sit within basic blocks: if the block has many plots, you should delineate the position and rough footprint of the specialist building in its plot. - Function: all specialist buildings of a public nature should be filled with bright blue color, while all those of a private nature should be filled in purple. Add a label to make it clear the particular function of the building, if relevant. - Alignment with the street: indicate the prescriptive alignment of the buildings to the street fronts. - Primary and secondary entrances: indicate the location of primary and secondary entrances to the buildings. - Open space (courtyard, gardens, parking…): design the intended layout of open shared spaces within the block.

- Designing Streets and Squares. - The process of designing streets and squares does not begin with drawing in plan. It begins by recognizing street types as defined in your proposed concept plan and reported in your Foundation Masterplan.

Fig.4. An example of Street Design Standard for one street type in Cavriago, Italy: existent situation (left) and proposal (right). Source: Human Space Lab.

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 8 - Produce street design standards for every street type by drawing existing and proposed plan/sections at 1:200 (fig.4). Important features of design standards are the width and the level of the public right of way, and within it: sidewalks, carriageways, vehicular lanes (specify where cars and other public transport vehicles run), medians, tree lines and whatever other physical elements are though to be relevant for that type of street. You can do this exercise and get ideas about proposed alterations to current streets by looking at examples of streets which you think work well. Our library has got several examples, where you can for instance get ideas on Traffic Calming techniques, co-existence of different traffic modes, degree of closure of a street section etc. Use references, and not just plug in pictures! Draw, sketch, measure good examples. We are not re-inventing the wheel here, we need to be considerate enough to know what works elsewhere and how to adapt it to our circumstances. - The design standard in the first place indicates a proposed strategy of Traffic Calming. Traffic Calming is a set of design principles and techniques that ensures the safe and mutually beneficial coexistence of vehicles and pedestrians/bicyclists on all urban streets. Urban streets with a different position in hierarchy will be therefore treated differently, with higher priority to vehicles at higher hierarchical grades and vice-versa. Fundamentals of Traffic Calming will be the subject of a dedicated lecture; bibliographic references will be suggested in due course.

Fig.5. The street design standard of fig.4 transformed into the actual design of the real street in Cavriago, Italy: notice that the design varies as the street traverses different contexts, but still following the same standard. Source: Human Space Lab.

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 9 - Clearly indicate the location of proposed “ped-priority precincts”. In this context, we define “ped-priority precincts” those public spaces fronting the entrance to particularly sensible public facility, where a special priority to pedestrians must be ensured. Ped-priority precincts may typically be spaces in the immediate proximity of entrances to hospitals, theatres, schools, centers for sport and recreation, gardens and parks, or any highly frequented public amenity. Ped-priority precincts are set only in spaces that are NOT just for pedestrians: in such pedestrian areas, in fact, there is no scope to prioritize pedestrians, who by definition already dominate the space. Rather, ped-priority precincts are set in spaces shared by vehicles and pedestrians, i.e. urban streets. As a rule, streets with a certain position in hierarchy, within a ped-priority precinct will nevertheless be designed according to the standards of the lower adjacent rank in hierarchy. Locate ped-priority precincts strategically in a plan at 1:5000/10000 using symbols. - Once all street types have been detailed with a street design standard, come back to the your Masterplan and start trying to apply the standard to all streets within it by re-designing them in plan. This means that your street design standard should now be made place- specific by being responsive to every possible opportunity or challenge coming from the street fronts or the surroundings: themes, inspirations, characters, land-uses, vocations, memories and heritage, views, churches, ped-priority precincts and “stages” (as defined above), everything that qualifies the uniqueness of a place is gold and must be reflected in some way in your street design (fig.5). The process of translating your design standards into a Masterplan design for streets and squares is exactly the process of turning this gold into a detailed design of streets in plan. - In general, try to: . Correlate the width of the street with the height of fronting buildings. . Design a “smooth transition” between public and private domain: refer to Jan Gehl’s “Life Between Buldings” for a notion of what the “transitional space” is and how it should be designed. . Clearly indicate where building fronts at the ground level are supposed to be “active”, i.e. to settle retail commerce and services.

- Designing Green and Open Public Spaces. Green and open public spaces constitute part of the ecological network of the district together with other natural materials such as rivers, streams, woods, tree lines and the like. Green and open public spaces should be distinguished in Parks and Pocket Parks: the former are large green areas equipped for attracting people from the whole district and beyond, while the latter are smaller gardens mainly used by fronting residents. The design of Green and Open Public Spaces should not be conceived as an architectural or landscape design, but again should express limits, opportunities and requirements that according to the urban designers view must be embedded in their future arrangement, i.e. views to be preserved, path or connections to be ensured, accesses to be provided, fencings or walls... Read what Jane Jacobs has got to say about urban parks as a start (1961).

In addition, once you have the basic joists of your masterplan, you will need to select a number of special places, which hold a particular interest or quality for you. These might be streets, squares, blocks... special portions of your masterplan which you will need to describe graphically in detail, through sketches, renderings (especially AAD students), elevations... you can chose the means to illustrate them. The purpose of this set of places is to describe the vibrant, human, urban dimension of your piece of designed city. You can decide to illustrate the ‘before’ and ‘after’ your intervention, to demonstrate why this portion of city now works, will be used, looked after and treasured. You do not need to select special buildings, but you can take ordinary parts of your masterplan, for example a portion of a new residential quarter. Whatever place you select, you will need to be detailed: character means proportions of parts and between parts (so you will need an overall sketch/section, elevation), but also details, so you will need examples of detailed design decisions, such as materials, kerbs, planting, elevations, colours etc.

You can find plenty of examples on how to render the quality of a place – just browse the Internet and select one of more you think you can implement and you feel comfortable with. Do not be scared! These drawings must convey excitement! Each student should select 3-4 spaces, and each of them should become a collection of drawings which when combined clearly tell a story. Do not forget to put people in these representations, because their purpose is to show how spaces are used.

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 10 ______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 11 3. Final Layout and Exhibition (week 15-17): - Final Layout and Exhibition. Between the end of the Design Workshop and the Final Exams you students have 4 full weeks to finalize the layout of your work and set up all materials for the final exhibition. Details on the exhibition, timescale, spaces and the like, will be given during the course.

Bibliography: www.pps.org Manual for Streets (Download online) http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/manualforstreets

Allan Jacobs (1995) Great Streets. MIT Press

______Masterplan Brief 08, 2011/12. 12