Hi
> From: Keller Ann Easterling <kae3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Brainstorming:Urban open space
As I see it, your interest-area would seem to offer you a very limited
number of whole-city models to select from :
1. Energy-compact models, whether modern or ancient (eg. walking-urban space)
2. City of the vehicle (whether horse-drawn carriage or automobile)
3. Communications-centred inner urban areas (eg. civic heart, campus-
community)
My first thoughts suggest the need to combine key elements from a variety
of global sources, including :
a. the energy-compact walking town/city (eg. cities like Bath, Avon [UK],
or walled inner-city areas of East and West,
plus
b. aesthetic and well-developed internal public-spaces, such as contemporary
shopping malls
plus
c. energy-efficient, and beautiful examples of the contemporary electronic
university-campus [incorporating a circular ring-road, plus rich diversity
of architectural styles and art forms (fountains, well-located statuary
and other artworks), plus generous woodlands, and diverse gardenscapes
[eg. I have only found 2 campuses which qualify - the University of
Victoria, BC, Canada - site of the forthcoming August, 1994 Commonwealth
Games, and the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane]
To all the above, I would adjust and embrace not only cyberspace / breathing-
space / mental space, but _future-space_ : respecting the potential to
create a global perspective in future city development - drawing on the
well-considered concepts of the most visionary of individuals [including
not just those from the planning sphere, but those serving or saluting
the community [private, public, government, corporate], and from non-material
culture as well - introducing inspiring concepts which elevate our material
minds to those abstract and even transcendental levels, where pure planning
becomes not just artform, but high meditation, or abstract poetry.
Do you have an online copy of your syllabus, please?
Thanks,
Mel Erskine-Richmond
--
[material deleted to focus on my interest-area]
> ... We are looking at new arrangements in both atmospheric and
> non-atmospheric environments and we are looking at ways in which these
> environments critique each other. Are there for instance cybernetic
> operatives of collapse and erasure which can direct spatial operatives.
> Are these part of an existing trend towards consolidation. Can we
> counteract the generic in American urban fabric by thinking about making,
> as do computers, more and more connections in less and less space. We
> are siting a great deal of our conversations not in building but in the
> space between building and consequently often thinking of subtraction as
> growth. A chief focus has been land use. We have tried to examine
> historical and contemporary episodes where land and mind or public
> consciousness were linked as strongly as cybernetics and mind are today.
> These investigations uncover issues about land use, preservation and
> environmentalism today. We are hoping that the comparison of virtual
> environments and environments in the real will serve to unsettle some our
> value assumptions in these areas as well. I am condensing a bit too much.
> Your group may hear from some students in the seminar as we are
> conducting supplemental conversations on the net, and many belong to the
> same news lists. I would be happy to send along a syllabus if you are
> interested.
> Keller Easterling
> Columbia University
>
> On Sun, 10 Apr 1994 archizoom@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> > As part of a professional group advising the new mayor of our city, I am
> > seeking information on the land use planning experience of other cities. Our
> > Mayor has requested that we develop a preliminary set of visions andO
> > guidelines within the next 120 days, and benchmarking other cities in
similar
> > climates and economies is the first of our activities, to be concluded by
the
> > end of April.
> >
> > I am most interested in the subjects of open space and transportation in
> > cities of the future---cities where the promises of electronic highways have
> > begun to result in new urban forms. In these places and times, I expect that
> > the concept of office building has been transformed and along with it the
> > currently necessary concentrations in the urban core.
> >
> > I would be greatful for brainstorming, references, examples, philosophies,
> > theories and any other information you may offer to assist in the
development
> > of our own thinking. Again, my particular interest is in the transformation
> > of approaches to urban open space and transportation in the land use
context.
> >
> > Thank you all in advance. (This message has been posted on the Urban-L and
> > Design-L lists)
> >
>
> From: Keller Ann Easterling <kae3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Brainstorming:Urban open space
As I see it, your interest-area would seem to offer you a very limited
number of whole-city models to select from :
1. Energy-compact models, whether modern or ancient (eg. walking-urban space)
2. City of the vehicle (whether horse-drawn carriage or automobile)
3. Communications-centred inner urban areas (eg. civic heart, campus-
community)
My first thoughts suggest the need to combine key elements from a variety
of global sources, including :
a. the energy-compact walking town/city (eg. cities like Bath, Avon [UK],
or walled inner-city areas of East and West,
plus
b. aesthetic and well-developed internal public-spaces, such as contemporary
shopping malls
plus
c. energy-efficient, and beautiful examples of the contemporary electronic
university-campus [incorporating a circular ring-road, plus rich diversity
of architectural styles and art forms (fountains, well-located statuary
and other artworks), plus generous woodlands, and diverse gardenscapes
[eg. I have only found 2 campuses which qualify - the University of
Victoria, BC, Canada - site of the forthcoming August, 1994 Commonwealth
Games, and the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane]
To all the above, I would adjust and embrace not only cyberspace / breathing-
space / mental space, but _future-space_ : respecting the potential to
create a global perspective in future city development - drawing on the
well-considered concepts of the most visionary of individuals [including
not just those from the planning sphere, but those serving or saluting
the community [private, public, government, corporate], and from non-material
culture as well - introducing inspiring concepts which elevate our material
minds to those abstract and even transcendental levels, where pure planning
becomes not just artform, but high meditation, or abstract poetry.
Do you have an online copy of your syllabus, please?
Thanks,
Mel Erskine-Richmond
--
[material deleted to focus on my interest-area]
> ... We are looking at new arrangements in both atmospheric and
> non-atmospheric environments and we are looking at ways in which these
> environments critique each other. Are there for instance cybernetic
> operatives of collapse and erasure which can direct spatial operatives.
> Are these part of an existing trend towards consolidation. Can we
> counteract the generic in American urban fabric by thinking about making,
> as do computers, more and more connections in less and less space. We
> are siting a great deal of our conversations not in building but in the
> space between building and consequently often thinking of subtraction as
> growth. A chief focus has been land use. We have tried to examine
> historical and contemporary episodes where land and mind or public
> consciousness were linked as strongly as cybernetics and mind are today.
> These investigations uncover issues about land use, preservation and
> environmentalism today. We are hoping that the comparison of virtual
> environments and environments in the real will serve to unsettle some our
> value assumptions in these areas as well. I am condensing a bit too much.
> Your group may hear from some students in the seminar as we are
> conducting supplemental conversations on the net, and many belong to the
> same news lists. I would be happy to send along a syllabus if you are
> interested.
> Keller Easterling
> Columbia University
>
> On Sun, 10 Apr 1994 archizoom@xxxxxxx wrote:
>
> > As part of a professional group advising the new mayor of our city, I am
> > seeking information on the land use planning experience of other cities. Our
> > Mayor has requested that we develop a preliminary set of visions andO
> > guidelines within the next 120 days, and benchmarking other cities in
similar
> > climates and economies is the first of our activities, to be concluded by
the
> > end of April.
> >
> > I am most interested in the subjects of open space and transportation in
> > cities of the future---cities where the promises of electronic highways have
> > begun to result in new urban forms. In these places and times, I expect that
> > the concept of office building has been transformed and along with it the
> > currently necessary concentrations in the urban core.
> >
> > I would be greatful for brainstorming, references, examples, philosophies,
> > theories and any other information you may offer to assist in the
development
> > of our own thinking. Again, my particular interest is in the transformation
> > of approaches to urban open space and transportation in the land use
context.
> >
> > Thank you all in advance. (This message has been posted on the Urban-L and
> > Design-L lists)
> >
>