The Concise Townscape

Product Information

The way in which people “slow down”—to talk, meet, window- shop, buy a newspaper—in a healthy urban environment. example in India, where this introduction is being written: the approachfrom the Central Vista to the Rashtrapathi Bhawan1 in New Delhi.There is an open-ended courtyard composed of the two Secretariatbuildings and, at the end, the Rashtrapathi Bhawan. All this is raisedabove normal ground level and the approach is by a ramp. At the topof the ramp and in front of the axis building is a tall screen of railings.This is the setting. Travelling through it from the Central Vista we seethe two Secretariats in full, but the Rashtrapathi Bhawan is partiallyI The President's Residence, latelv Vicere~a1 Lodge.

Records and Archives » The Gordon Cullen Archive - Westminster

Conformity, from the point of view of the planner, is difficult to avoidbut to avoid it deliberately, by creating artificial diversions, is surelyworse than the original boredom. Here, for instance, is a programme torehouse 5,000 people. They are all treated the same, they get the samekind of house. How can one differentiate? Yet if we start from a much An important application of our CGI technology is visualising a landscape or environment from a moving viewpoint, such as from within a vehicle. Unlike traditional viewshed analysis, which involves a fixed viewpoint, dynamic viewsheds represent the changing perspective of an observer in motion. [viii] How to explain? Example: the nearest to hand at the time of writing isSees cathedral near Alen'Y0n,p.I4. The Gothic builders were fascinated bythe problem of weight, how to support the culmination of their structures,the vault, and guide its weight safely down to earth. In this buildingweight has been divided into two parts. The walls are supported bysturdy cylindrical columns: the vault itself, the pride of the endeavour,appears to be supported on fantastically attenuated applied columnswhich act almost as lightning conductors .of gravity between heaven andthe solid earth. The walls are held up by man, the vault is clearly heldup by angels. 'I understand weight, I am strong', 'I have overcomeweight, I am ethereal'. 'We both spring from the same earth together, weneed each other'. Through the centuries they commune together inserenity. Physics-based precision: This enables accurate modelling of sightlines, lighting and weather conditions, vehicle and pedestrian flow, vegetation, and surrounding infrastructure. Getting the balance of enclosure, mystery, concealment, and openness right is difficult – hence why digital simulations that combine all these different factors are so valuable.

Serial vision theory is deeply rooted in how humans perceive and navigate their surroundings. As we move, we continuously process new information, updating our mental map of the area. Architects, city planners, and urban designers must carefully plan these visual sequences to ensure interesting, engaging, and easy-to-navigate urban spaces. Naturally, a lot of this is a direct response to Le Corbusier , whose work I’m now reading and just became aware of because of how he declared war on all of these concepts. Enjoyable narrative and journey: Just as a story unfolds chapter by chapter, urban spaces can be ‘read’ in sequence. Utilising serial vision, urban designers and planners can craft journeys that evoke specific emotions or reactions, enhancing the overall experience of space and creating a coherent urban narrative.

Drawing the Townscape: the Centenary of Gordon Cullen. Drawing the Townscape: the Centenary of Gordon Cullen.

precinctsLeft, in this significant picture, canbe seen the whole urban pattern as itwas and to some extent still is. Insideis the tightly built-up pedestrian townwith its enclosures and no doubt areasof viscosity, its focal points and en­claves. Outside are the expresswaysfor car and lorry, train and shipwhich exist to serve and vitalize theprecincts. This is the traditionalp~ttern at its clearest. The smallphotograph below shows some ofthese elements at their most dis­organized, the chaotic mixture ofhouses and traffic in which bothpedestrians and traffic suffer a dimi­nution of their proper character. Additionally, the link between urban space’s size, form, and configuration and a city’s quality may be observed aesthetically.This is the city as collective enterprise, a collective that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Like Capra's theories of connection, a city is not just a collection of discrete things like streets and buildings, but rather embodies the art of relationship: how things fit together, the spaces created between them, how people use and live in buildings, but also move between them. Now turn to the visual impact which a city has on those who live init or visit it. I wish to show that an argument parallel to the one putforward above holds good for buildings: bring people together and theycreate a collective surplus of enjoyment; bring buildings together andcollectively they can give visual pleasure which none can give separately. Cullen’s ideas about urban design, including serial vision, markedly shaped the course of town planning in the 1960s. Gordon Cullen sketch – diagrammatic analysis of space produced after walking around the town centre for Vivat Ware: Strategies to Enhance an Historic Centre (1974), a report prepared for East Hertfordshire District Council, UK. Image source: Urban Design Quarterly Drawing serial vision: examples Skyline, rhythm, and grain These serial vision sketches depict the journey walking through a city street. The hand-drawn townscape analysis captures the undulating skyline (see the Gordon Cullen quote below), highlighting the repetition and arrangement of forms within and between façades. The positioning of windows, doors, and overhanging balconies establishes a natural rhythm and grain within the streetscape, contributing to a dynamic and engaging visual experience.

Welcome | Urban Design Group

In Townscape, the environment is apprehended ‘almost entirely through vision’ and not only acts as a means of navigation but also evokes our ‘memories and experiences and emotions.’ The key components are Serial Vision - the experience of the city as an uninterrupted sequence of views that unfold like stills from a movie, Place - designing for experience according to the position of the body within the environment, and Content - the colour, texture, scale, style and character. Collectively they add up to the fabric of a place, with Cullen presenting a methodology for urban visual analysis and design based on the psychology of perception, the human need for visual stimulation, and notions of time and space. Through numerous case studies of the streets and publics spaces of places such as Shepton Mallet and Basildon, and including Liverpool Cathedral precinct and a re-imagined London Bankside, Cullen explores the ‘art of relationship’: ‘Bring people together and they create a collective surplus of enjoyment; bring buildings together and they can give visual pleasure which none can give separately’. Cullen advocated an artistic approach to using environmental ‘elements’ including buildings, trees, water, traffic, advertisements and so on, each of which was to be woven together in such a way that drama was released.Now turn to the visual impact which a city has on those who live in it or visit it. I wish to show that an argument parallel to the one put forward above holds good for buildings: bring people together and they create a collective surplus of enjoyment; bring buildings together and collectively they can give visual pleasure which none can give separately. (7) Cullen, T., 2022. The Concise Townscape By Gordon Cullen [PDF|TXT] . [online] Pdfcookie.com. Available at: [Accessed 21 July 2022].