Design of spaces by william whyte
- 1. DESIGN OF SPACES BY WILLIAM W WHYTE Instructor: Dr. Anna Grichting - TA: Arch. Luzita ball Presented by Somaia El-Sherif Sunday 22 March 2015 DAUP – Department of Architecture & Urban Planning ARCT421- Introduction to Urban Design and Planning
- 2. Content page About the Author The street life project Project methodology How cities use economic incentives? The problem and start of the project Effect of demography on the use of spaces What attracts people in parks ? Seating Pedestrian and activity zoning Accessibility Relevance to the city of Doha Doha Public Parks List of References
- 3. About the Author William W Whyte (October 1, 1917 — January 12, 1999) American urbanist, organizational analyst, journalist and people-watcher He is considered the mentor for Project for Public Spaces because of his seminal work in the study of human behavior in urban settings While working with the New York City Planning Commission in 1969, Whyte began to wonder how newly planned city spaces were actually working out – something that no one had previously researched. This curiosity led to the Street Life Project, a pioneering study of pedestrian behavior and city dynamics. He always believed that the greatest lesson the city has to offer us is the idea that we are all in it together, for better or for worse,
- 4. About the Author William W Whyte For sixteen years William Whyte walked the streets of New York and other major cities. With a group of young observers, camera and notebook in hand, he conducted pioneering studies of street life, pedestrian behavior, and city dynamics. Whyte and his team trained Super 8 cameras on plazas, streets, playgrounds, and other small urban spaces and simply watched, via time-lapse photography, what people actually did. What they found led to changes in the way we view the social settings of cities. City: Rediscovering the Center is the result of that research, a humane, often amusing view of what is staggeringly obvious about the urban environment but seemingly invisible to those responsible for planning it.
- 5. The street life project Produced exceptional study of How people used urban spaces Provided set of urban design guidelines for New York and have been used in many other cities
- 6. Project Methodology An Excellent example of how to do an urban research •Observation •Checking against hypothesis, previously set •Filming •analyzing the films (Time-lapse videos) •Creating circulation pattern from dawn to dusk •Charting how people used the spaces •Taking notes during different times during the day / all over the year •Gender •Couples or in groups •Where did they sit ? •Interviewing people : •Where they worked ? •How frequent they used the plaza? •What did they thought of it ?
- 7. How cities use economic incentives ? There is a strong market for additional office spaces in the central businesses districts of many cities Zoning ordinances set limits on height and bulk of office buildings Permission to build more office space than zoning allows is worth money for developers New York city awarded developers “Density Bonuses” allowing them to build more office space if the private developers agreed to provide park and plaza space at the street level While some developers worked hard to design attractive parks and plazas, others just wanted to build something that
- 8. The problem and start of the project On most plazas there were few people In the middle of the lunch hour on a beautiful day the number of people sitting on plazas averaged four per thousand square feet of space – an extraordinarily low figure for so dense a center
- 9. Effect of demography on the use of spaces A good new space builds a new constituency, it gets people into new habits and encourage them to use new paths The best-used places tend to have higher than average proportion of women
- 10. 1. Location • Major avenues, attractive side views, close to bus stations, pedestrian sidewalks huge flow 2. Sun & aesthetics • Wasn’t a major factor in concluding popularity of plazas 3. Amount of space and its shape • Not a major factor as well , refer to graphs 4. Seating area • Whatever were the attractions, it will never induce people to use the space if there’s no spaces to sit What attracts people in parks ? (FACTORS)
- 11. What attracts people in parks ? Amount of space Location Retrieved from “The city: rediscovering the center” book
- 12. Seating Integral seating The basic kind of seating built into place such as steps and ledges Sitting height Benches Chairs
- 13. 1. Integral seating Horizontal metal strip with saw-tooth pointsJagged rock set into concrete Railing placed to hit your back !
- 14. 2. Sitting height Thanks to slopes , ledges usually have different height Conclusion showed that people will sit at any height ranges from 30 cm to 90 cm , specified in the zoning (considering different age groups) Human backside dimension , Ledges to be double-side used
- 15. 3. Benches Most often fitted in modular forms, spaced equidistant from one another, that looks pleasant in plan view How benches fill-up ? First arrival takes the first end, second arrival takes end of another benches, the subsequent arrivals will take any end spots that are vacant
- 16. 4. Movable Chairs The possibility of choice is important as much as the exercise for it Moving for shade or for privacy Grass, for picnicking, napping or sun-bathing and psychological benefits 1 2 3 4
- 17. Pedestrian and activity zoning Old NYs’ zoning codes called for “Pedestrian circulation areas” away from “activity areas” Sunken and elevated plazas tend to attract low flow of people > new code called for 3 feet difference More east the flow between the street and the plaza the more easy people will go to sit
- 18. Accessibility Handicapped facilities , Drinking-Water fountains Back rests for seats
- 19. Relevance to city of Doha, Qatar
- 20. Barzan Olympic Park ledges and wooden benchesMIA park movable chairs and view to Westbay towers Fixed chairs and tables at Al-Ruwais Park Benches at the pathways and at the nodes of passages at different parks Public outdoors parks and plazas observation of types of seating and activities
- 21. Parks for a comfortable weather day, benches with no shading canopies at Al Khesah Occasions Square at the right and the green carpet park “Al-Bossat AL-Akhdar” to the left, what makes them special is the large space of green grass with little paved walkways passing through Abu Dhalouf Park provides Beach, barbeque and a boat ride as well as shading canopies without fixed Al-Morona and Al-Moroub parks are attracting male visitors. Activities such as football playing and workers usually taking nab
- 22. Al-Rumiela park, benches to the back of the water feature looking towards stalls and shops Benches at Onaiza Park, shaded by trees, not considering the back side & not comfortable for waiting for so long ideal Colorful circular fixed seats oriented to have a full view of different parts of the park Benches at Park 65 works as waiting area, park is more of urban playground to different age groups
- 23. The Huwaila Four park & Dahl El-Hamam parks Fixed benches at corners and meeting points Benches looking to each other more for friends and family gatherings Fixed seating area under canopies, zoning for privacy Theatre fixed space for family events
- 24. Aspire park Fixed sophisticated benches oriented to best views are not used much by people Groups tend to sit on the grass or families bring their own chairs
- 25. Katara cultural village High-back traditional benches aligned with the esplanade Coffee shop tables and chairs on the beach Benches along the secondary shaded streets Tourists using the theatre low-rise walls for sitting
- 26. List of References http://www.pps.org/reference/wwhyte/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Whyte http://www.outwalking.net/architecture_and_design/ Whyte, William H.. City : Rediscovering the Center. Philadelphia, PA, USA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 6 March 2015. https://verdantcities.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/40180658/ http://www.justhere.qa/category/make-it-home/parks-recs/page/2/
Editor's Notes
- #8: This helps explain the huge difference in quality of urban parks and plazas in newyork city
- #10: Women are more discriminating than men as where to sit and more sensitive to annoyances
- #11: Some of the worst plazas were in the best spots
- #15: At peak times people may sit on both sides but they won’t be comfortable doing it. They will be sitting on the forward edge, awkwardly.