Week 13 Readings: Public Space and Urban/Rural Health

In response to Frampton;


In this article Frampton talks about not only what critical regionalism is, but also he suggests ideas on how to improve modern architecture with regionalism in mind. Frampton basically defines critical regionalism as a response to the lack of focus on site and meaning within modern architecture. He says that modern architecture should still be seen as a progression into the future, but still hold qualities of previous styles that often focused on such ideas as site context, light, climate/microclimate etc. Critical regionalism relates to the ideas of megaform that were previously discussed in class in a sense that critical regionalism focuses on the region as a whole, rather than a very specific point of interest much like the difference between megaform and mega structure. The Bagsvaerd Church mentioned in the reading stood out to me, primarily because of its modernistic style and how even though the style is such, that it brings back ideas of the cultures past into the nave. The expression of the vaulted roof really emphasizes that in section, as seen in the reading as well. After reading this article I'm beginning to think more about perhaps bringing more of a focus on regionalism and more specific critical regionalism into my own work because of the positive benefits of bringing people together and using the site to create a "universal" space.

In response to Waldheim;


After this reading by Waldheim I have gained a general understanding of how landscape can effect urbanism and the planning behind urban areas. It was stated in the article that "landscape is merging as a model for urbanism." This to me makes a lot of sense because creating spaces with landscape, particularly green spaces in urban environments can be critical to the success of not only public space but buildings themselves. With the right amount of focus towards the landscape, a building can really become "complete" if you will by establishing a connection between the two. The "Freshkills" projject in the reading tells us how difficult it is to create such a place where the cultural and social aspects work in a positive way with the infrastructure of the area itself.