I wonder if Cartesian Theory of Descarte can *really* be understood as
relating to the needs of people. It seems to me to be a great imposition
on the way people *would* actually move in the city. Anyway, this is
to be expected from a philosopher who apparently developed his theory
within the withdrawn recesses of his mind and detached from his society!
When one realizes that most of Western European architecture is based on
this thinking, then we could be (or are) in big trouble! Then, when you
realize the influence of European-trained architects---who have trained
many of us---we are in extremely deep trouble! Howard
- - The original note follows - -
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!randolph
From: randolph@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Randolph Fritz)
Newsgroups: alt.architecture
Subject: Re: Chaos Theory
Message-ID: <RANDOLPH.92Oct26173528@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 26 Oct 92 22:35:28 GMT
References: <churayj-251092195026@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<RANDOLPH.92Oct25175843@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<1992Oct26.231427.10335@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Organization: St. Dismas Infirmary for the Incurably Informed
Lines: 26
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In-reply-to: mcgonig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx's message of Mon, 26 Oct 1992
23:14:27 GMT
Ooops! I am embarassed to say that I was arguing ahead of my facts;
the chaotic nature of the travels of people within a city, the fractal
forms of city plans, and the fractal form of population density in a
city seem plain to me, but so far as I know are not scientifically
proven things. Sorry.
People, after all, are not gas molecules--we have goals in our
motions, and inclinations to return to particular places. The
patterns are so definite that city planners and developers have named
them--take a look in the "Laws" section in the back of *Edge City*.
As a first cut at understanding city form in this way, I offer the
following observations and hypotheses:
1. A city is shaped to fit the people travelling within it.
2. People use time-minimization in their activities.
3. People negotiate over urban space, who controls it, who uses it,
and how much of it they have. It is wrong, even in our time, to
call this a market process (though markets do play a part); in
medieval times, markets were much less influential and religious
and craft use of space much more so.
4. Cultures have preferences for particular uses of space; these set
the repeated patterns of a city. (The West has been fond of
towers, light, and space since the Gothic Cathedrals.)
__Randolph Fritz sun!cognito.ebay!randolph || randolph@xxxxxxxxxxxx
relating to the needs of people. It seems to me to be a great imposition
on the way people *would* actually move in the city. Anyway, this is
to be expected from a philosopher who apparently developed his theory
within the withdrawn recesses of his mind and detached from his society!
When one realizes that most of Western European architecture is based on
this thinking, then we could be (or are) in big trouble! Then, when you
realize the influence of European-trained architects---who have trained
many of us---we are in extremely deep trouble! Howard
- - The original note follows - -
Path: psuvm!news.ysu.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!
cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!news2me.EBay.Sun.COM!male.EBay.Sun.COM!male
!randolph
From: randolph@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Randolph Fritz)
Newsgroups: alt.architecture
Subject: Re: Chaos Theory
Message-ID: <RANDOLPH.92Oct26173528@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 26 Oct 92 22:35:28 GMT
References: <churayj-251092195026@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<RANDOLPH.92Oct25175843@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<1992Oct26.231427.10335@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Organization: St. Dismas Infirmary for the Incurably Informed
Lines: 26
NNTP-Posting-Host: cognito.ebay.sun.com
In-reply-to: mcgonig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx's message of Mon, 26 Oct 1992
23:14:27 GMT
Ooops! I am embarassed to say that I was arguing ahead of my facts;
the chaotic nature of the travels of people within a city, the fractal
forms of city plans, and the fractal form of population density in a
city seem plain to me, but so far as I know are not scientifically
proven things. Sorry.
People, after all, are not gas molecules--we have goals in our
motions, and inclinations to return to particular places. The
patterns are so definite that city planners and developers have named
them--take a look in the "Laws" section in the back of *Edge City*.
As a first cut at understanding city form in this way, I offer the
following observations and hypotheses:
1. A city is shaped to fit the people travelling within it.
2. People use time-minimization in their activities.
3. People negotiate over urban space, who controls it, who uses it,
and how much of it they have. It is wrong, even in our time, to
call this a market process (though markets do play a part); in
medieval times, markets were much less influential and religious
and craft use of space much more so.
4. Cultures have preferences for particular uses of space; these set
the repeated patterns of a city. (The West has been fond of
towers, light, and space since the Gothic Cathedrals.)
__Randolph Fritz sun!cognito.ebay!randolph || randolph@xxxxxxxxxxxx