HUMAN SCALE AND URBAN SPACE

Heena Fatima Nidhi JoshiSonika Shetty

Human Scale:• "Human scale" is considered as a measure "related to the size of our body, the speed of

our movement, and our ability to identify and talk with other human beings“

• These are examples of the many questions urban designers should deal with, but which they often ignore having been forced to adopt dimensions and sizes already determined by zoning regulations.

• In what relationship should the width of the square be with the various heights of the buildings that enclose it?

• What is the proportional ratio between the width of the street and the height the buildings that enclose it?

• When can it be said that one building is in scale with its Surroundings? • The oversized nature of the city centers, streets and squares which we have built is too vast

to give a sense of security to their users, and too dull compared with older models to encourage people to meet ,and socialize.

• The streets and squares of neighborhoods built today are not the products of surrounding architectural forms. The usual practice is to lay out the streets ,and once the land has been divided into lots according to prescribed subdivision by-laws, buildings are built without regard one for the other, creating spaces in which it is impossible for people to feel comfortable when they gather or relate to one another, or to simply enjoy their everyday movements from one place to another.

• In our daily lives there are certain places that attract us visually much more than others. There are some streets we find more pleasant than the rest .

• Urban design has enormous potential to stimulate and excite the mind just as the inferior built environment can debilitate it.

• Although people do not necessarily understand all the design principles that comprise their built environment, their acceptance or rejection of particular place can be seen as a gauge of their approval as to whether a design works or not.

• Our mental requirements derive from the bipolar needs of the human mind: we are simultaneously hungry for excitement and tension as well as eager to feel secure and in harmony with our environment.

STREETS BEFORE AND AFTER FURNISHINGS AND TREES

• An urban space is formed only if its elements are designed and placed in relation to one another, where their shape and scale give meaning to the space between them.

• Harmonious proportions and balance are not only important for the satisfaction of our aesthetic sensibility but they can influence our social life as well. They have a healing force "to break down person-to-person and person-to-city alienation“

• The visual quality of an environment must satisfy our intellectual and emotional needs as well as support the

social aspects of our lives.

Curran suggests its H/W ratio he 1/1.5; this scale offers a strong sense of identity to the street

1:2

1:1.5

1:1

• Perception of scale is based on psychological constitution and is inseparable from its connection with the human dimension. unavoidably having a profound influence on the users of the space it creates.

• In a wider and larger street we tend to walk more rapidly, while smaller streets of more intimate scale are usually associated with slower movement.

• Wide streets suggest the dominance of vehicular traffic; but sidewalks with additional elements such as trees, street furniture. and arcades create a more intimate scale indicative of slower movement and are conducive to social activities.

• The block- Level street with a D/H ratio of 1/1 serves exclusively for pedestrian use .

•Ashihara examining Asian street adjusted the critical ratios more correctly and gives 0.6 as the lower and 1.6 as the upper limit. He claims that 1.6 promotes spaciousness and a feeling of isolation while 0.6 gives the street a sense of crowdedness

• The way an object enters our field of vision is defined “ by the angle formed by the rays from our eye to the outline of the object “, and by the capacity of our eyes to see two thirds of the field of vision above the level of the eye and two thirds below.

• “ Human scale” in terms of visual form is a concept which defines the distance at which the wholeness of an object , as well as its smallest recognizable part, selected as a module can be seen at a glance.

• At an angle of 27 degrees , at a ratio between height and distance (H/D) of 1:2 an object is perceived “as a little world in itself”. Such a relationship characterizes “intimate human scale”.

• At an angle of 18 degrees and (H/D) ratio 1:3 an object is a part of its surroundings but still dominates it, while at an angle of 12 degrees and (H/D) 1:4, an object becomes part of its surroundings.

• The angle of 45 degrees (H/D) ratio of 1:1 produces the best distance from which the details can be observed in relation to the whole.

•Perception of an object is defined by the viewers’ distance from it.

• Patterns of streets and squares have characterized our cities since ancient times. and our urban experience has been greatly affected by their scale

• Ashihara (1983) finds that the width of the building facades in relation to the breadth of the street is also important in defining the scale of the street. When a relatively narrow street is fronted by buildings with wide facades. Its overall atmosphere suffers.

• The perfect street is a harmonious space, with the continuity and rhythm of its enclosure.

• If the W/D ratio is higher, the townscape is isolated, while a low W/D ratio gives the exterior space of the street an interior quality. The sketch illustrates how a sense of space may be transformed by changing the W/D ratio.

•W/D ratio = 1.

•W/D ratio = 0.6.•The street with low W/D ratio looks more active.

• Nowadays, to create human-scaled open spaces involves issues not only of aesthetics but also of economic profitability, environmental consciousness and social responsibility.

• The main aim of the emerging planning concepts is to address a physical form that will better respond to the present socio-demographic. economic and environmental situation either to revitalize urban centres or to order suburban growth

•Making streets comfortable and attractive for pedestrians is one of the many planning principles characteristic of the current car-dominated environment.

• our perception is polarized between two forces which the human mind tries to put in balance. On one side there is complexity, variety and randomness and on the other pattern, uniformity and rhythm.

• Scale results when unity and pattern prevail over disorder and anarchy.

• The way for a building to be in scale with its surroundings is not a question of the same height, material, building type or color. but of how the critical ratio between the variety and uniformity or these elements is maintained

• In order to achieve a unity of scale, the rate of similarity of a grouping of elements should be around 60 percent.

• Ashihara (1983) finds the natural length of Asian shopping streets to fall between 300 and 600 meters. since any longer would imply the loss of their coherence and unity.

• The character of a shopping street suggests that its length should not exceed the distance that could be comfortably covered by walking; this practice Ashihara claims was used in all linear spaces of the past

• While an enclosed vista brings a street to an end, deflection, curvilinear shape, punctuation ,projection or recession and narrows are some of the other design methods that can modify the scale of a street to make it look shorter and enclosed but still suggest progression of movement

PUNCTUATION: in the continuity of a street, a pause can be created which might encourage us to rest for a moment

DEFLECTION : A building deflected at the end of a closed vista could suggest that there is a place not yet seen of which this building may be a part.