STREET SECTIONS- A CHARACTER ANALYSIS

©ALTAMASH KHAN

PRELUDE

©ALTAMASH KHAN

RETAIL / APARTMENT

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Restaurant

Parking

Parking

Residential

Residential

Residential

AKUNA STREET

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RY

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COMMERCIAL

PublicCorridor

HAVING RELOCATED FROM OVERSEAS, THIS IS ONE AMONGST THE MANY ASPECTS OF DESIGN AND CULTURAL SHIFT THAT SEEM NOTICEABLY OBVIOUS TO ME.

I FOUND AKUNA STREET FASCINATING AND YET INTRIGUING. FASCINATING BECAUSE IT IS LOCATED IN CIVIC, THE HEART OF CANBERRA. YET INTRIGUING BECAUSE IT IS BARELY POPULATED DURING THE DAY.

HAVING MOVED FROM A COUNTRY OF 1 BILLION+ POPULATION, TO COME ACROSS STREETS THAT ARE PERPETUALLY EMPTY AND LACKING IN ACTIVITY DESPITE BEING IN THE DOWNTOWN CORE (DIAGONALLY ACROSS A SHOPPING MALL) PROVOKE THE DESIGN

SENSES OF THE MIND.

THIS WAS THE FIRST NOTICEABLE ASPECT OF DESIGN-INTENT-GONE-WRONG CAPTURED BY ME AND WILL NOT BE THE LAST.AN ATTEMPT HAS BEEN MADE TO ARTICULATE RESPONSIVE AND HUMAN CENTRED DESIGN THROUGH THE UTILIZATION OF

SOME CLASSIC TOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN

I INTEND TO FURTHER EXPAND UPON THIS BODY OF WORK BY TAKING UP DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF A CITY AND DISSECTING IT USING THE SAME PARAMETERS OUTLINED IN THIS STUDY.

EXISTING AERIAL VIEW

©ALTAMASH KHAN

EXISTING STREET VIEW

©ALTAMASH KHAN

EXISTING STREET SECTION

©ALTAMASH KHAN

RETAIL / APARTMENT

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Restaurant

Parking

Parking

Residential

Residential

Residential

AKUNA STREET

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RY

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COMMERCIAL

PublicCorridor

Width

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ANALYSIS – COMMERCIAL ZONE

©ALTAMASH KHAN

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Restaurant

Parking

Parking

Residential

Residential

Residential

AKUNA STREET

BO

UN

DA

RY

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PublicCorridor

1. PASSIVE SURVEILLANCE OF CORRIDOR – NONEREASON: OFFICES HAVE MIRRORED GLASS THUS NO INTERACTION BETWEEN OFFICES AND CORRIDORSOLUTION: PROVIDE PASSIVE SURVEILLANCE

2. HUMAN PROPORTION – NONE (THIS LEADS TO LACK OF HUMAN CHARACTER)REASON: RATIO OF HEIGHT TO WIDTH = 2.5 to 3SOLUTION: USE GOLDEN RATIO OF 0.5 TO 2.0 FOR HEIGHT:WIDTH

3. ACTIVITY USE – NILREASON: LACK OF INTERACTIVE USES ON GROUND LEVELSOLUTION: PROVIDE FOR USES SUCH AS RETAIL/RESTAURANT SPACES AT GROUND LEVEL

4. CONSISTENCY OF CHARACTER – HIGHREASON: CONSISTENCY IN FAÇADE AND BUILDING USE. HOWEVER PROVISION OF RETAIL/RESTAURANT SPACES AT GROUND LEVEL WILL NOT AFFECT CONSISTENCY OF CHARACTER AND AS SUCH MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA

©ALTAMASH KHAN

RETAIL / APARTMENT

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Restaurant

Parking

Parking

Residential

Residential

Residential

AKUNA STREET

BO

UN

DA

RY

COMMERCIAL

CANOPY

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PublicCorridor

1. PASSIVE SURVEILLANCE OF CORRIDOR – YES BUT PARTIALREASON: RETAIL ACTIVITY AT GROUND FLOOR LEVEL BUT ONLY AT CORNERSOLUTION: PROVIDE RETAIL USE AT NOT JUST CORNER POINTS BUT REGULAR POINTS OF INTERVAL

2. HUMAN PROPORTION – YES BUT PARTIALREASON: RATIO OF HEIGHT TO WIDTH = 1.0 WHICH IS IDEAL. HOWEVER CANOPY IS PROVIDED ONLY IN FRONT OF RESTAURANT, AND NOT ALONG ENTIRE BUILDING FRONTSOLUTION: ENSURE CANOPY FOLLOWS ALONG ENTIRE BUILDING FRONT.

3. ACTIVITY USE – YESREASON: INTERACTIVE USE AT GROUND LEVEL

4. CONSISTENCY OF CHARACTER – POORREASON: INCONSISTENCY IN FAÇADE AND BUILDING USESOLUTION: PROVIDE FOR CONSISTENCY IN FAÇADE THROUGH CANOPY ALONG ENTIRE BUILDING FRONT, AND, PROVIDE FOR CONSISTENCY OF BUILDING USE / FUNCTIONSUCH AS RETAIL/RESTAURANT SPACES AT GROUND LEVEL

Width

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ANALYSIS – RETAIL / RESIDENTIAL ZONE

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON:

©ALTAMASH KHAN

RETAIL / APARTMENT

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Restaurant

Parking

Parking

Residential

Residential

Residential

AKUNA STREET

BO

UN

DA

RY

BO

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DA

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COMMERCIAL

PublicCorridor

1. CHARACTER:CAN BE ACHIEVED THROUGH THE USE OF SCALE, MATERIALS, COLOUR, ARCHITECTURAL STYLE, STREETSCAPE, FUNCTION/USE, DESIGN, DETAILS, MASSING, ET AL.

2. SCALE:SOMEWHERE IN THE REALM OF DESIGN, THE PROPORTIONS OF SCALE HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN IN MODERN ARCHITECTURE. EVEN WITHIN SCALE, THERE ARE GOLDEN PROPORTIONS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO ROAD-WIDTH, BUILDING-HEIGHT, COLUMNS, RECTANGLES, SLENDERNESS RATIOS, AND SO ON, TO NAME A FEW.

3. MATERIALS, COLOUR, AND DETAILS:MATERIALS, COLOUR AND DETAILS ARE TO DESIGN WHAT TISSUES ARE TO THE HUMAN BODY. THEY ARE COMPLEX/VARIED, INTER-RELATED AND CAN POSE MULTIPLE PERMUTATION /COMBINATIONS. FOR INSTANCE DETAILS NEED NOT NECESSARILY BE ARCHITECTURAL, IT CAN BE A DETAIL FOR STREET DESIGN.